Shifting focus from the object that is carried to the subject who is doing the carrying. Right hand, left hand, in your lap, on your shoulder. Alternatively, carrying in an alternative way - with a "shinui," not the normal way of carrying - that exempts the carrier from culpability for the act of carrying. What about carrying on your head?! Anshei Hotzel (or Hutzal) did regularly carry their baskets on their head. The Gemara emends this text itself... Also, a woman who wears a "sinar" (pants? pantaloons? a skirt over jeans?) - indusputed (!) halakha. Plus: When carrying must be divided among 2 people. Who's Who: Bnei Kehat.

Purpose and intent, when it comes to carrying tiny amounts. And how that differs across people, and across plans, which change. Plus: Lining up the opinions of the mishnah. Also: what happens when the act of carrying even this tiny amount is not completed? And what happens when one person completes the plan of another - can we really transfer intent? And if so, how far does that principle go? Finally, when changing your mind doesn't change your obligation.

Back to Shabbat topics, and minimums for carrying to be obligated in bringing a sin-offering - including a list of items that require an offering no matter how little of them you carry. In contrast: When it comes to metals, various substances were used to protect the Temple, to clean the lamps, etc. That is, when it comes to donations to the Temple, "any amount" is too little - rather, the amount has to be of actual use to the Beit HaMikdash. Plus: The "mekek," and the need to protect the scrolls in the Beit HaMikdash.

When the Satan went to God, asked for the Torah, searched the world for it, and finds it, as per God's instruction, with Moshe Rabbenu. What is this all about? Namely, what is "the Satan" in rabbinic literature? Again, what's going on here? What is this passage all about? Exploring the place of Torah and humanity in creation - and the need for people doing mitzvot. How could the perfect Torah be given to imperfect mankind?! Where's the sense in that?

Were Bnei Yisrael forced to keep the Torah? That seems inappropriate. But was there any other way for God to give the Torah? An encounter between humanity and the Divine seems to go beyond human experience. Also: the semblance of free choice, from former refuseniks to our post-Israel experiences, and the potential paradox of choice. So is that coercion per se, or helpful? That close encounter with God may not be all that comfy - just because we want it to be. Yet, Bnei Yisrael do accept the Torah freely in the time of the Purim story. Plus: the words of the Torah shatter into 70 languages, a message of accessibility, across nations and cultures.

When did the giving of the Torah actually take place? Figuring the precise date of the first year. Also: preperatory separation between husbands and wives. And his personal kal vachomer, to separate from his own wife,in perpetuity. Breaking the tablets. Moshe's own sense of the right thing to do. Also: an interplay between God, Moshe, Bnei Yisrael, in the context of getting the chronology of events right. Plus: the relay conversation from God to Moshe to Bnei Yisrael, and back again. What was the substance of that conversation? The mitzvah of setting boundaries, or the punishment and reward system of mitzvot (or the reward and punishment system, if you will).

The fourth of the four asmakhtah mishnayot, with four topics within the one mishnah: polatet shikhvat zera, bathing an infant who has undergone brit milah on Shabbat, separation of husband and wife, anointing on Yom Kippur. Which leads into a discussion of the separation between husbands and wives during the giving of the Torah. Via hints of non-legal verses from Tanakh. Also, how the Gemara delves into the first category at length, and why that feels prurient. Plus: separation between husbands and wives at Mount Sinai - when, exactly, did that begin? How, exactly, did they handle it? Also: the importance of careful reading of the entirety of Torah.

Asmakhtah, again. And a whole new discussion: kilayim, the prohibition against sowing seeds together. Mapping out the garden... And on to the salvation of the Jewish people at the end of days. Which leads into a question about rabbinic authority when it comes to agriculture, of all things. Yet the Torah itself, claims the Gemara, teaches a great deal about agriculture - for example, the inference possible from the concerns not to encroach on your neighbor's land. Which has implication for planting. And the all-encompassing nature of Torah and halakhah.

What's What: Midras tumah. When boxes are contaminated, as it were, with tumah - when they open from the side or from the top. Whereas a very large box is not rendered impure. Now, what about earthenware? That's not able to be rendered impure in this way. So, what about the ship? The difference between midras tumah and the handling of an object that renders it impure.

The importance of context, when the backdrop of idolatry shows up here. Also: What's What: Tumat Heset - the tumah that is transferred when moving an object of idolatry. Plus: A new mishnah, with another divergent, and somewhat cryptic topic, and the unpacking of it by the Gemara, about the impurity - or lack thereof - of a ship.