Siman - Pesachim Daf 42
- מים שלנו
Rav Yehudah said, אשה לא תלוש אלא במים שלנו – A woman should knead the dough for matzah only with water that “slept” overnight, which means water that was collected the previous day and stayed overnight in a vessel. This is based on a Gemara on 94b that the sun’s position during the winter causes the underground water sources to heat up. Rashi explains that since warmth hastens fermentation, one should draw the water the night before baking to give it a chance to cool. Rav Masnah taught this ruling in a lecture in Papunya in lashon hakodesh, and the word שלנו in lashon hakodesh means “ours,” and the next day everyone brought their pitchers and came to him saying, “Give us water!”, thinking that he meant “our water” (meaning, Rav Masnah’s water). He clarified what he meant.
Rava taught that a woman should not knead the dough in the sun, nor with water heated by the sun, nor with water drained from the bottom of the mulyar, which is warm, ולא תגביה ידה מן התנור עד שתגמור את כל הפת – nor should she raise her hand from the oven, meaning from preparing the dough, until she has completed baking the entire dough.
- Unhealthy and healthy foods
It was taught in a Baraisa, ג' דברים מרבין הזבל וכופפין את הקומה ונוטלין אחד מחמש מאות ממאור עיניו של אדם – Three things increase the solid waste of a person, and bend the posture, meaning they sap one’s strength, and remove one five hundredth of a person’s eyesight: פת קיבר ושכר חדש וירק חי - coarse bread, fresh beer, and raw vegetables which Rashi explains refers to raw leeks, onions and radishes, when eaten frequently in large quantities.
It was taught in another Baraisa: שלשה דברים ממעטין את הזבל וזוקפין את הקומה ומאירין את העינים – Three things diminish the solid waste of person, make the posture erect, and illuminate the eyes, פת נקייה בשר שמן ויין ישן – refined bread, fatty meat and old wine.
- Vinegar from Yehudah and Edom
Rav Nachman said, בתחילה כשהיו מביאין נסכים מיהודה – Originally, when the Beis HaMikdash stood and they would bring libations from the wine of Yehuda, the wines would not sour until they would put barley into them. Rashi explains that in the zechus of the nesachim they would not sour until a fermenting agent like barley was added. They would then call it חומץ סתם – plain vinegar, because this is how vinegar was produced in Yehudah. Now that the Beis HaMikdash is in ruins and libations are no longer brought, this now is the state of wine and vinegar in Edom.
This phenomenon that blessing occurs for either Yisroel or Edom, but not for both simultaneously, is a fulfillment of the passuk in Yechezkel, אמלאה החרבה – I will be filled from the desolate one, which is expounded to mean that אם מלאה זו חרבה זו ואם מלאה זו חרבה זו – if this one is full the other is desolate, and vice versa. Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said that this can be learned from the passuk, ולאם מלאם יאמץ – And one kingdom will be stronger than the other kingdom.
