Eruvin 54a

עירובין נ״ד ע״א

Learn Eruvin 54a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Learning Torah out loud and the humility that makes Torah last

Overview

This amud praises learning Torah and explains what makes it last. It opens with ברוריה, who kicked a student for learning silently, and a ברייתא about a student of רבי אליעזר who whispered his learning and forgot it. שמואל tells רב יהודה to learn out loud, and also to enjoy this world's permitted pleasures while he can. רב gives similar advice to רב המנונא. רבי יהושע בן לוי teaches that Torah is a companion on the road and a cure for every part of the body. Several אמוראים then bring פסוקים showing that Torah must be on the lips, and רבא resolves a contradiction in one of those פסוקים. Next comes a series of teachings that link remembering Torah to humility, generosity and tireless review, with מדבר (the wilderness) as a key image. A story shows רבא humbly serving רב יוסף to make peace, and רבא then explains the journey from מדבר to הגיא as rising through humility and falling through pride. The amud ends by starting to compare Torah to a fig tree, a comparison that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. Statementברוריה teaches that Torah must fill your whole body
2. ProofA student who whispered forgot his learning
3. StatementA sinful student spared because he served a great teacher
4. Statementשמואל tells רב יהודה to learn out loud
5. Statementשמואל tells רב יהודה to enjoy this world while he can
6. Statementרב tells רב המנונא to use what he has now
7. StatementTorah as a companion for a lone traveler
8. StatementTorah as a cure for pain in every part of the body
9. StatementA human drug versus Torah, the drug of life
10. StatementTorah is kept inside when it is spoken on the lips
11. ProofA second source: joy comes from the answer of one's mouth
12. ProofA third source: Torah is close when it is in your mouth and heart
13. ProofA fourth source: the heart's desire is granted through the request of the lips
14. Challengeרבא finds a contradiction inside one verse
15. ResolutionDeserving people get their heart's wish, others get what they ask out loud
16. Statementנצח, סלה and ועד mean forever
17. ProofVerses showing that each word means forever
18. StatementA humble scholar is like a loose necklace
19. StatementHumble like a garden bed, generous like perfume
20. StatementCheeks like stone that never wears away
21. StatementIf the first tablets had not been broken
22. StatementEngraved means freedom from foreign rule
23. StatementMaking yourself like a wilderness keeps your learning
24. Statementרבא humbly mixes רב יוסף's wine to make peace
25. Questionרב יוסף asks רבא to explain the chain of verses
26. Responseרבא explains: humility, then gift, then inheritance, then greatness
27. ResponsePride brings him down; returning lifts him up
28. StatementBe like a wild animal that eats its catch right away
29. StatementWhy Torah is compared to a fig tree