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Bava Basra 14a

בבא בתרא י״ד ע״א

Bava Batra 14a

Learn Bava Basra 14a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Scroll layout and margins, the proper size of a ספר תורה, and where the ספר תורה was kept in or beside the ארון

Overview

The גמרא first explains the line 'if he wants to cut, he may cut': the books are laid out so that the scroll can be cut neatly between them. It then sets this ברייתא against another one that seems to give the same blank margin at both ends of a scroll. רב נחמן בר יצחק says each end gets the amount it needs. רב אשי says the second ברייתא is about a ספר תורה, which has a pole at each end. Next, a ברייתא teaches that a ספר תורה's height should equal its rolled-up circumference, and רבי gives six טפחים for a scroll on גויל. Stories follow about how rarely scribes achieved this, and about two reports of 'four hundred' that are read in a smaller way. Then the גמרא brings a ברייתא about the measurements of משה's ארון. רבי מאיר places the ספר תורה inside it, and רבי יהודה places the ספר תורה on the פלשתים' chest beside it. The ברייתא's explanation of 'אין בארון רק' for רבי יהודה continues on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

וְאִם בָּא לַחְתּוֹךְ – חוֹתֵךְ.

And if he wishes to cut, he may cut.

מַאי קָאָמַר?

What is it saying?

הָכִי קָאָמַר:

This is what it is saying:

שֶׁאִם בָּא לַחְתּוֹךְ – חוֹתֵךְ.

so that if he wishes to cut, he may cut.

The steps (28)

  1. StatementThe last line of the scroll-layout teaching
  2. QuestionWhat does this line mean?
  3. ResponseThe layout is arranged so that cutting is possible
  4. ChallengeAnother teaching about blank space at both ends
  5. ChallengeEither way, the two teachings clash
  6. ResolutionEach end gets its own measure
  7. ResolutionThe second teaching is about a ספר תורה
  8. ProofA ספר תורה is rolled toward its middle
  9. ProofThe scribes of ירושלים did it this way
  10. StatementA Torah scroll's height should equal its circumference
  11. QuestionThey ask רבי how tall a Torah scroll should be
  12. ResponseSix טפחים on גויל, unknown on קלף
  13. Statementרב הונא got it right only once in seventy
  14. Statementרב אחא בר יעקב succeeds on his first try
  15. StatementReport that רבי אמי wrote four hundred Torah scrolls
  16. RejectionPerhaps he wrote only one verse four hundred times
  17. StatementReport that רבי ינאי planted four hundred vineyards
  18. RejectionPerhaps they were the smallest possible vineyards
  19. ChallengeA challenge begins from the size of משה's Ark
  20. StatementThe size of the לוחות and the space left along the length of the ארון
  21. ProofA פסוק shows that a ספר תורה was in the ארון
  22. StatementThe space left across the width of the ארון
  23. Statementרבי יהודה holds the אמה is five טפחים
  24. StatementMeasuring the ארון's width in רבי יהודה's view
  25. ProofA פסוק that mentions the pillars
  26. StatementThe פלשתים' chest stood beside the ארון
  27. StatementThe ספר תורה lay on the chest, beside the ארון
  28. QuestionHow does רבי יהודה explain 'אין בארון רק'?