- קידוש לבנה
Rebbe Yochanan said that one may recite the berachah for the new moon, עד שתתמלא פגימתה – until its cavity is filled. Amoraim disagree if this means seven days, when the moon is כי יתרא – like a bow filled to its bowstring (half-full), or until sixteen days, when it is כי נפיא – like a sieve (full). We do not recite the berachah of הטוב והמטיב while the moon’s light is increasing, nor דיין אמת while its light is decreasing, since it is אורחיה – its natural way. Rebbe Yochanan said: כל המברך על החדש בזמנו כאילו מקבל פני שכינה – whoever blesses the new month (with קידוש לבנה) in its proper time is as if he greets the Shechinah. A Baraisa teaches: אילמלא זכו ישראל אלא להקביל פני אביהן שבשמים כל חדש וחדש דיים – If Yisroel had only merited greeting the face of their Father in Heaven once every month, it would have been sufficient for them. Abaye said: הלכך נימרינהו מעומד – therefore, we should say [the berachah] standing. Mereimar and Mar Zutra were carried on the shoulders of others when saying the berachah. Rav Acha told Rav Ashi that in Eretz Yisroel, their berachah’s text was "ברוך מחדש חדשים" – Blessed is He Who renews the months, but Rav Ashi objected, and presented the full text said nowadays.
- "מלחמתה של תורה" is found with one who has חבילות של משנה in his hand
The passuk says: כי בתחבלות תעשה לך מלחמה – for with wise counsel shall you wage war for yourself. Rebbe Yochanan explained: במי אתה מוצא מלחמתה של תורה – with whom do you find the battle of Torah? במי שיש בידו חבילות של משנה – With one who has bundles of Mishnah in his hand. Rashi explains that to rule correctly and attain clarity in learning, intellectual acuity is not sufficient; only through a mastery of the text can one resolve one difficult Mishnah from another, etc. Rav Yosef applied to himself the passuk: ורב תבואות בכח שור – much produce comes through the ox’s strength. [Yosef is compared in the Torah to a שור, and the Gemara says that everyone needs the “wheat merchant,” i.e., the master of vast Torah knowledge. Rav Yosef is identified elsewhere as a "סיני", such a master of Torah.]
- The בית הסקילה was outside of Beis Din, and outside the three מחנות
The sixth Perek begins: נגמר הדין מוציאין אותו לסוקלו – After a guilty verdict was concluded, they take him out to stone him. בית הסקילה היה חוץ לבית דין – The stoning place was outside of Beis Din, as the passuk says: "הוצא את המקלל" – “take out” the blasphemer. The Mishnah describes how men are stationed to signal to halt the proceedings if someone comes forward with arguments for acquittal. The Gemara asks that a Baraisa places the execution further away: בית הסקילה היה חוץ לשלש מחנות – the stoning place was outside the three “camps” (Shechinah, Levi, and Yisroel), i.e., outside the city!? It answers that although it must be outside the city, the Mishnah adds that if Beis Din convened outside the city, the stoning must be outside (and at a distance from) the Beis Din, כי היכי דלא מיתחזי בית דין רוצחין – so that Beis Din’s judges do not appear like murderers; alternatively, כי היכי דתיהוי ליה הצלה – so that [the condemned person] should have a possible rescue, by requiring time to reach the place of execution. A Baraisa derives that execution takes place outside the three מחנות, from פרים הנשרפין – the bulls which are burned (outside the three מחנות, which another Baraisa proceeds to derive). Rav Pappa provides another source, and Rav Ashi will provide a third on the next Daf.