He'aros on Daf 70-72a

1. Maalin metrumah leyuchsin - I hope to discuss this when we reach Daf 76 about the 4 mothers. (Update: here.)
   
   
2. Mishpacha shenitm'ah nitm'ah. As Rambam brings in the end of Hil. Melachim, Bnei Yisrael will be sorted into shevatim, but if a mamzer was incorporated into a family, he will remain there and Mishpacha shenitm'ah nitm'ah. The gemara does not say this, but see Rashi in Tehillim 87:6 : "In the future, when G-d will judge the nations, He will count the Jews who were swallowed up among them and those coerced among them and He will remove them [the Jews] from them [the non-Jews] and He will say 'this was born from those of Zion' and He will choose them for Himself. And this is what Yeshaia says (66)...and where is this said? 'The Hidden ones are [known] to G-d' (Devarim 29)." (Assist to my father who saw this in note in Stone Chumash.)
   
   
3. 71a The 4 letter Name. See Griz (Brisker Rav) on Parshas Shemos: See Rashi that we learn of 2 names, the written name and the pronounced name. The written name is part of Torah Shebichsav, and the pronounced name is part of Torah Shebal Peh which is transmitted from generation to generation. That is why the pasuk says "My Name" which is the written name "forever" and by "my rememberance" which is the pronounced name, says "from generation to generation," which is transmitted that way like Torah Shebal Peh. We can also explain this based on Psachim 50, what does the pasuk mean when it says "on that day G-d will be One and His name One," that leolam haba the pronounced name will be the same as the written name. That's why by "My name" which is the written name, it says "forever," - even leolam haba it will be [the written name], but by "my rememberance" which is the pronounced name, it says "from generation to generation,"- only in olam hazeh it will be pronbounced this way but it will not be pronounced this way in Olam Haba.
   
   And see Gr"a in Kol Eliyahu on Naso by Birkas Kohanim - Sifri says the Kohanim bless [the people] in the Mikdash as it says "vesamu es shmi." How do we know they bless outside the mikdash? "Bechol makom asher azkir es shmi..." And it is perplexing. We can explain that it is known that in the Mikdash they would pronounce the Name as it is written and that is called "My Name," but outside the Mikdash we only use the kinuy (roughly translated as nickname) and that's only a zeicher to the Name, and that's the pasuk in Shemos "Ze zichri liolam" (see Griz above). This is the explanation of the Sifri: "vesamu es shmi" is only in the mikdash, where the name is pronounced as it is written, and outside the mikdas from "Bechol makom asher azkir es shmi..." azkir is only a zikaron to the name, not the real name.
   
   There is a famous Rogatchover on the pasuk at the end of Beshalach - Ki yad al kes kah, the midrash says "My Name is not complete nor is my Throne complete while Amalek survives" (kes instead of kiseh, and Kah instead of regular shem Hashem) - it's a little similar to the Brisjer Rav's second explanation ,that the name will be different leasid lavo.
   
   
4. 71b. Zeiri carried Rabi Yochanan over the water, and Rabi Yochanan tried to marry off his daughter to Zeiri. This is interesting - see Bava Metzia 84a how Rabi Yochanan and Reish Lakish jumped over a river and Rabi Yochanan got Reish Lakish to return to the Torah and he would let Reish Lakish marry his sister, and then Rabi Yochanan had to carry Reish Lakish back over the water. It's strange how both stories with Rabi Yochanan, and the marriage of his sister & daughter involve someone being carried over water. Maybe it is symbolic and not merely literal.
   
   The wives of our patriarchs Yitzchak and Yaakov, Rivka and Rachel, were found by the local well. I explained this significance based on the distinction between a mikva, a pool of 40 saah of water, and a maayan, a natural spring which also grants tahara, but does not require a minimum amount of water. Why not? A maayan is connected to all of the waters of the earth - much more than 40 saah - through underground channels. A mikva is a self-supporting pool, so it needs a minimum shiur. Somehow, I think the wells here represent a maayan and show that there was a connection between Yitzchak and Rivka, and between Yaakov and Rachel. (I'm not sure if wells back then were dug and they collected rain, or they were like artesian wells or holes that hit an underground spring. I think it was the latter, because during the dispute with Avimelech, Yitzchak's servants told him "we found water." So it must be they dug looking for a spring.)
   
   
5. 72a What do Talmidei Chachamim look like? Malachei Hashareis. See Chagiga 15b explain the pasuk in Malachi "ki malach Hashem Tzevakos hu." It seems a rebbi must have a purity of spirit and purity of action like a malach, who fulfills G-d's will without question.
   
   
6. Up Next: Next week (Happy Chanukah!) I hope to discuss the end of the Chashmonaim and Hordus (Herod), which will include the Gemara "Kol de'amar mibeis Chashmonaim ana, avda hu." I will discuss the story of Yanai (daf 66a) as explained by Maharsha in great detail and bring applications of Maharsha's explanation to other Halachik topics.
   
   I hope to also post about freeing a slave "hameshachreir avdo over ba'asei."
   
   Maybe from Yanai I will discuss Srarah (for Yanai and Aggripas- Sotah end of Ch. 7). Stay tuned.