Sotah 9:14 - 9:15

בפולמוס של אספסיינוס – the army that Vespasian brought against Jerusalem.

גזרו על עטרות חתנים – they would make garlands for the grooms from salt stone which is clear like the appearance of a jewel and they dye it with sulfur–bitumen like the appearance of embroidery which they call NEEL. And there are those who interpret–explain it as garlands of myrtle and of roses and both are forbidden, but only garlands of reeds are permitted.

ועל האירוס – it is made like a winnow–sieve whose walls are round and they spread on its mouth a thin piece of leather and beat it with a thin mallet and it emits a clear sound and it the foreign language we call it TANBORO.

עטרות כלות – similar to a city that is made from gold.

ושלא ילמד אדם את בנו יונית – the explanation is Greek wisdom and there are hints and riddles that the Greeks had and only those who were accustomed to them would know them, and in the Gemara (Talmud Sotah 49b) it explains the reason because of an incident when the Hasmonean kings fought one another (the allusion is to the struggle between the two sons of Alexander Jannaeus, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus; Hyrcanus had the assistance of the Romans who besieged Jerusalem). Those who were inside would let down to those who were outside denarii (i.e., money) in a basket and haul up for them [animals for] the daily offerings. There was one elder there who was learned in Greek wisdom, speaking with them in Greek: As long as you are engaged in the Temple service, they will never surrender to you. That same day, they let down denarii in the basket and hauled up for them a pig. At that time, they said: “Cursed be the person who raises a pig and cursed be the man who teaches his son Greek wisdom.

בפולמוס האחרון – this is the destruction of the [Second] Temple and it was of Titus.

באפריון – like a tent of golden robes and cloaks.

ורבותינו התירו שתצא כלה באפריון – because of modesty and such is the Halakha.

בטלו מושלי משלים – such as the parables of the foxes that we state in [Tractate] Sanhedrin [38b] when Rabbi Meir would expound on the lesson and would divide his exposition into three parts: one-third devoted to legal discussion, one-third to homily and one-third to parables.

השקדנים – they are attendant on the doors of the Academy–Bet Midrash night and day as we state in [Tractate] Yevamot [63b] as Ben Azzai stated: What can I do when my soul is attached to–in love with the Torah.

הדרשנים – he was expert in Midrash and the rationales of the Biblical verses, as it states [Talmud Berakhot 12b – actually Tractate Berakhot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 5]: “And I did not succeed (in proving) that the Exodus from Egypt should be mentioned at night until [I heard] the exposition of Ben Zoma.”

בטל כבוד תורה – He would give attention to expound upon each and every stroke on letter [Tractate Menahot 29b]. This is the great honor of the Torah which has nothing to abolish it.

שבטלו אנשי מעשה – they do wondrous deeds as we state in [Tractate] Taanit [25a]: he will ordain that vinegar should burn, and to goats that they should bring wolves on their horns.”

קטנותם של חסידים – they wee the pious individuals walking and becoming scarce and he was from their most inferior and their end.

משמת רבן גמליאל הזקן בטל כבוד התורה – and until he died [Tractate Megillah 21a], there was health in the world, and hey would study the Torah while standing. And when he died, feebleness of strength came to the world and they began to study while sitting, and this is the abolishment of the honor of the Torah.

משמת רבי בטלה ענוה – the students of Rebbe (i.e., Rabbi Judah the Patriarch) added and wrote this in the Mishnah.