- Determining if the זמן השחיטה had arrived
The opening Mishnah of the third perek states, אמר להם הממונה – The administrator, which Rashi defines as the Sgan Kohen Gadol, says to the assembled Kohanim, צאו וראו אם הגיע זמן השחיטה – “Go out and see if the time of the shechitah for the morning tamid has arrived.” If it had arrived, the observer would say "ברקאי" – “Dawn”. Masya ben Shmuel says: האיר פני כל המזרח – “The entire eastern sky has lit up.” He would then be asked, עד שבחברון – “As far as Chevron?” and he says, “Yes!” Why was this necessary? Because one time the moon’s light rose over the horizon close to morning, and they thought the east had lit up from the sun, and so they shechted the tamid והוציאוהו לבית השריפה – but then had to take it out to the place of burning.
- There have always been yeshivos
Rebbe Chama b’Rebbe Chanina said, מימיהן של אבותינו לא פרשה ישיבה מהם – From the days of our forefathers, yeshivos did not depart from them. He learns from the presence of “zekeinim”, elders, in Mitzrayim and the midbar that yeshivos were present there. He continues, אברהם אבינו זקן ויושב בישיבה היה – Avraham Avinu was an elder sitting in a yeshivah, as it says, ואברהם זקן בא בימים – And Avraham was a zakein, well on in years. Passukim are brought to prove that Yitzchak and Yaakov were also elders who sat in yeshivos. Eliezer, the eved of Avraham, was also a zakein sitting in yeshivah, as it is written, ויאמר אברהם אל עבדו זקן ביתו המשל בכל אשר לו – Avraham said to his servant, the elder of his household, who controlled all that was his.
Rebbe Elazar expounded the end of the passuk המשל בכל אשר לו – Who controlled all that was his, to mean, שמושל בתורת רבו – that Eliezer had dominion over the Torah of his master. The passuk refers to Eliezer as הוא דמשק אליעזר – Rebbe Elazar interpreted this to mean, שדולה ומשקה מתורתו של רבו לאחרים – that Eliezer drew from the Torah of his master and gave it to others to drink. Rashi explains that the word דמשק is an acronym for the words דולה ומשקה – he draws and gives to drink.
- Avraham Avinu fulfilled the entire Torah
Rav said, קיים אברהם אבינו כל התורה כולה – Avraham Avinu fulfilled the entire Torah, as it is written, עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקלי וישמר משמרתי מצותי חקותי ותורתי – Because Avraham obeyed my voice, and observed My safeguards, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.
Rava said, and some say it was Rav Ashi, קיים אברהם אבינו אפילו עירובי תבשילין – Avraham Avinu fulfilled even the d’Rabbanon of eruvei tavshilin, as it is written in the passuk, תורתי – My laws, in the plural, אחת תורה שבכתב ואחת תורה שבעל פה – which indicates both the Written Law and the Oral Law.
