Siyum of Maseches Sanhedrin on an Erev Pesach That Falls on Shabbos

The siyum was made on the final daf of Maseches Sanhedrin. Before the learning itself, two introductory points were presented: the first about the fast of the firstborn and its source, and the second about the difference between an ordinary erev Pesach and an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos.

Introduction I - Taanis Bechorim and the Source of the Leniencies

The origin of the minhag: The fast of the firstborn (taanis bechoros, or taanis bechorim, both forms are used) is not mentioned in the Gemara or anywhere in the words of Chazal. There may be hints to it, but the minhag essentially begins in the era of the Geonim and onward.
Why so many leniencies developed: Since the minhag is not stated explicitly and decisively in the early sources, over the generations people were lenient with it, almost from its inception, and even more so in later generations. Still, the minhag of our fathers is Torah, and it must be preserved.
The practical reason, which is the main one: The firstborn is needed to help with the household preparations on erev Pesach, kashering utensils and burning the chametz, which is strenuous work. If he fasts the entire day, he will reach the Seder night and have to wait until the eating begins at a late hour, especially with daylight saving time, and he simply will not hold up.
Seudas mitzvah: The heter grew out of the fact that a seudas mitzvah (a meal accompanying a mitzvah) allows for leniency regarding the fast (not in every case, and we did not go into the details here). But one cannot arrange a bris milah or a pidyon haben every year, so the siyum became the standard solution.
The drawback of the siyum solution: To make a siyum a person has to learn an entire mesechta. For that reason further leniencies were added, until it became common practice for many people to wait for someone else's siyum and rely on that.

Introduction II - The Difference Between an Ordinary Erev Pesach and One That Falls on Shabbos

On an ordinary erev Pesach: The siyum is made under pressure, since immediately afterward the time for eating chametz ends, and then comes the burning of the chametz and the bustle of the day, with no time to breathe.
On an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos: The biur and the burning were already done beforehand, and there is no time pressure. One can sit and expound until a late hour, and therefore there is room to hold a real siyum, with divrei Torah and not merely the recitation of the Hadran.
The need to fast in such a year: Precisely in a year when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, the practical grounds for leniency do not apply to the same degree, and by the letter of the law there is room to fast.
A touch of Divine providence: The Daf Yomi cycle brought the completion of this mesechta exactly to these days, and that is the merit of the founder of the Daf Yomi.

When Does One Fast When Erev Pesach Falls on Shabbos

A date that is imprecise in any case: The plague of the firstborn took place on the night of the Seder, and even in an ordinary year the fast is far earlier than the event itself. This is one of the reasons to be lenient.
The opinion to fast on Friday: Some poskim said to fast on Friday, since it is preferable to stay closer to the actual date. Although a fast is not really fitting for erev Shabbos, we find something comparable with Asarah B'Teves when it falls on erev Shabbos.
The opinion to fast on Thursday: According to many poskim one fasts on Thursday, and this is the accepted opinion.
The Sephardic custom: They do not fast at all in such a case, although some are stringent.
Those who are meticulous: Since Ashkenazim are divided between Thursday and Friday, some say one needs two siyumim, one on Thursday and one on Friday.

The Device of Taking Food From the Seudah

The question: There is room to discuss whether someone participating in a siyum must actually eat from the seudah, or whether it is enough that he was present and listened.
The solution found in the sefarim: One who does not make two siyumim eats at the Thursday siyum and takes home some of the seudah with him (cake, and possibly also salted fish) and eats it the next day, and in that way it is considered as if he participated in a siyum on Friday as well.

The Learning for the Siyum - Rabbi Yosi Expounded in Tzippori

Rabbi Yosi, that is Rabbi Yosi ben Chalafta, lived in Tzippori, at least at the end of his life, and taught there. His derashah comes as a continuation of the preceding subject, which deals with the tension between Eliyahu HaNavi and Achav.

"Rabbi Yosi expounded in Tzippori: Father Eliyahu is short tempered. Eliyahu used to come to him regularly; he then hid himself from him for three days and did not come. When he came, Rabbi Yosi said to him: Why did the master not come? He said to him: You called me short tempered. He said to him: Well, right here the master is showing that he takes offense." (Gemara, end of Maseches Sanhedrin)

(At a siyum the practice is to learn a little, and it counts as though the entire mesechta was learned. Here the last line of amud alef and all of amud beis were learned, so a full daf was in fact covered.)

Why "Father Eliyahu" and Not Simply "Eliyahu"

"Father Eliyahu - my beloved one and my great one." (Rashi)

The uniqueness of the title: Throughout the entire Gemara Eliyahu is referred to by his name, and the title "Father Eliyahu" appears only here, in the words of Rabbi Yosi.
One explanation: Rabbi Yosi is the one about whom it is told at the beginning of Shas that he entered one of the ruins of Yerushalayim, and Eliyahu waited for him at the entrance and taught him why one does not enter a ruin. Since he learned from him, Eliyahu is his rebbi, and a student may not call his rebbi by his personal name, so he called him "Father Eliyahu."
Further explanations: There are additional explanations for the title, and this is one of them.

What Was the "Short Temper" Attributed to Eliyahu

"Short tempered - for he grew angry at Achav and said: 'There shall be neither dew nor rain these years except by my word.'" (Rashi)

The point of the derashah: Eliyahu punished Achav by withholding rain, and for this Rabbi Yosi called him short tempered.
The proof in Rabbi Yosi's reply: Eliyahu used to reveal himself to Rabbi Yosi regularly, and when he did not come for three days because of that derashah, Rabbi Yosi answered him that by taking offense he himself proved that the statement was true.
The words of the Chofetz Chaim: There is a difference between the trait of anger, which is dreadful, and the trait of being short tempered, of taking offense. Being a kapdan is also not a proper trait and has a flaw in it, since such a person does not overlook slights and is overly exacting, but it does not fall into the category of a disgraceful trait. Therefore a person is permitted to say of his fellow that he is a kapdan, even to his face, and there is no lashon hara in it.
A reservation: Some disagree with the Chofetz Chaim on this, and his honor remains in place.

Wicked People in the World and Divine Wrath in the World

"'And nothing of the banned property shall cling to your hand...' As long as there are wicked people in the world, there is Divine wrath in the world. Who are these 'wicked people'? Rav Yosef said: Thieves." (Gemara)

"Our Rabbis taught: When a wicked man comes into the world, wrath comes into the world, as it says: 'When a wicked man comes, contempt also comes.' When a wicked man is lost from the world, good comes into the world, as it says: 'And when the wicked are destroyed, there is glad song.' When a righteous man departs from the world, evil comes into the world, as it says: 'The righteous man perishes and no one takes it to heart, and men of kindness are gathered in and no one understands that the righteous man was gathered in because of the evil.' When a righteous man comes into the world, good comes into the world, as it says: 'This one will comfort us from our labor and from the toil of our hands.'" (Gemara)

Why the tzaddik departs: When the Holy One, blessed be He, brings evil upon the world, the tzaddik departs so that he should not witness the sin of the generation, or so that he should not plead on the generation's behalf.
The precision of the wording: Regarding the tzaddik the terms used are "gathered in" and "departed," while regarding the wicked man the term used is "lost."

"Who Are These 'Wicked People'? Thieves" - The Wicked Man Who Cannot Be Identified

The difficulty: The Mishnah is dealing with the ir hanidachas, the condemned city, whose wicked inhabitants are idolaters. Why then did the Gemara specifically choose thieves and not the idolaters who were under discussion?
One answer from the Acharonim: A thief is a special sort of wicked man. He steals and the victim does not know who he is; he is not like an armed robber whom everybody recognizes. It emerges that a person can appear to be one of the righteous of the nations of the world and in fact be a thief, and there is no way to identify him.
The practical conclusion: In every generation a person must judge his fellow not merely by the impression he makes, but must conduct himself with caution. This is said not as an accusation but as an interpretation.

(As Rav Maimon put it about such a person: "clean shaven underneath the beard.")

Lavan the Aramean - The Disguised Wicked Man in the Haggadah

The wicked son of the four sons is not of this type: The rasha in the Haggadah is identified and recognizable, his picture even appears in the Haggados, and he is not at all in the category of the wicked man who cannot be identified.
The disguised wicked man: That is Lavan, of whom it says, "Go out and learn what Lavan the Aramean sought to do to Yaakov our father... for Lavan sought to uproot everything," as opposed to Pharaoh who decreed only against the males.
Hints in his name: The Midrash expounds that his name "Lavan" read backwards is "naval," a degenerate, and one may add to this that the letters of "HaArami" are the letters of "ramai," a swindler.
The difficulty every commentator on the Haggadah confronts: Where is it derived from that he sought to uproot everything? In practice he deceived Yaakov in one matter, giving him Leah in place of Rachel. Many explanations have been offered on this.
The answer of the Vilna Gaon: It is impossible to prove from the verses that Lavan was wicked to such an extent, precisely because he disguises himself, and all that the verse says is "an Aramean destroyed my father," whose meaning is not self evident. Rather, we must rely on Chazal, who expounded "oved avi" to mean that he sought to destroy everything.
What the Acharonim added following him: At the end of the account Lavan says to Yaakov, "The daughters are my daughters and the sons are my sons and the flocks are my flocks," and "I would have sent you off with joy and with songs, with drum and with harp," and on the face of it this makes him look perfectly fine. One must understand that beneath this veneer of affection his true intent lies hidden, and that is the very essence of a disguised wicked man.

Kos Shel Eliyahu

The expression is a late one: Eliyahu does not appear explicitly in the Haggadah, and even the term "kos shel Eliyahu" is not mentioned in the early sources; it may well begin only in the fifteenth or sixteenth century. In this it resembles taanis bechoros, which is likewise a late minhag.
The fifth cup: We drink four cups, and in the Geonic versions of the Gemara there is an opinion of Rabbi Tarfon that there is a fifth cup, over which one completes Hallel HaGadol.
Hallel and the cup: While saying Hallel one holds a cup in hand. The Hallel we say in the Haggadah, "When Israel went out of Egypt," is Hallel HaMitzri, and Hallel HaGadol is said afterward, and according to that opinion it requires a cup for it.
The discussion among the poskim: There are differing opinions as to whether one may drink a fifth cup, since after the afikoman one does not drink.
The source of the name: Over the generations the fifth cup standing on the table acquired the name "kos shel Eliyahu," and here too there is room to discuss whether that is really so.
The explanation attributed to the Vilna Gaon: Since a doubt remains whether a fifth cup is required, we set it out, and Eliyahu will come and resolve the difficulties and the doubts.
The explanation found in most sources: The fifth cup corresponds to the fifth expression of redemption, "and I shall bring," and we anticipate that Eliyahu will come and announce the redemption.
An explanation in a less well known Haggadah: The reading in the Gemara is not "Rabbi Tarfon" but "Rabbi Eliyahu," and that is why the cup is called "kos shel Eliyahu." And it was the Vilna Gaon, whose name was Eliyahu, who uncovered this.

(After the learning the Hadran was recited: "Hadran alach Kol Yisrael yesh lahem chelek v'hadrach alan, Maseches Sanhedrin," with the entire congregation joining in, followed by the special Kaddish D'Rabbanan.)

In passing · Divrei Torah in Place of Seudah Shelishis

The problem: On an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos there is a difficulty in fulfilling seudah shelishis, since one may not eat chametz and one may not eat matzah, and derashos have already been given in shul on this subject.
One of the approaches: Some say one may rely on the words of the Arizal and fulfill the seudah with divrei Torah.
The proof from the siyum: Just as we said regarding the siyum that one who takes food home from the seudah is considered as though he participated in a siyum, so too in the reverse direction: sometimes a person is present at a siyum and it is considered as though he ate, and sometimes he occupies himself with divrei Torah and it is considered as though he ate. From there there is room to learn that this is possible.