pesachim 107

what to eat & drink in-between days

the king who won't eat before the pesach
and
the Rabbi who spends that day drinking wine

(can havdalah be made on drink other than wine - the local brew? also discussed is the preparation for building up an appetite for the pesach offering and matzah - King Agrippa would not eat and Rava would spend eruv pesach drinking wine)

pesachim 104

how many distinctions and separations can you declare when you notice that you have god on your currency?

pesachim 53

fiery stuff.

the great jewish leader in Rome who roasted a whole goat in the fire on eruv Pesach, learnt martyrdom from the frogs who jumped into the fire.

and saying the blessing over fire at the time it was created. at the conclusion of shabbat.

(discussing the custom of eating/not eating roasted meat on Pesach depends on where you live. but shouldn't eat meat that looks like the sacrificial Pesach lamb outside of the temple, i.e. the whole animal. This introduces us to Theodsius, a jewish leader in Rome, who would roast a whole goat, and the Sages said that if it wasn't him who did this then he would be excommunicated. to prove he was a special case due to his learning rather than being violent, the talmud quotes a fire based teaching of his about martyrdom. and the example of the frogs during the plagues who jumped into ovens to prove God. this page finishes with the next mishna that discusses saying the blessing over fire at havdalah at the end of shabbat)

brachot 53

when making the blessing of distinction and difference
the eye must be able to differentiate between 2 objects that can be seen

and know the origin of the scent that cannot be seen

after all. those sweet spices could have been used by the witches.

(for english translation of this talmud page see here)

brachot 52

one cup of wine - many uses

dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai on the order of blessings

and the contagion of impurity