Megillah 18b

מגילה י״ח ע״ב

Learn Megillah 18b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How the מגילה must be read and written: order and pauses, a flawed or unfinished מגילה, writing from memory, and invalid writing materials

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a ברייתא: reading the מגילה out of order (סירוסין) does not count. רבי מונא adds that even with breaks (סירוגין), a pause as long as it takes to read the whole מגילה forces the reader to start over. רב יוסף rules like him and tells אביי that the pause is measured by the whole מגילה. The גמרא then brings conflicting versions of how רב and שמואל ruled. רב יוסף accepts רב ביבי's version because שמואל tends to follow a lone, stricter opinion, and he proves this from a משנה in יבמות. Next come ברייתות about a מגילה with missing letters or verses, and about a reader who skips a verse or arrives in the middle. The גמרא defines the משנה's מתנמנם and explains how someone writing a מגילה can fulfill the מצוה: he reads from a complete מגילה in front of him. This leads to רבי יוחנן's rule against writing even one letter from memory, the stories of רבי מאיר and רב חננאל, and the exception for תפילין and מזוזות. The amud ends by defining the invalid writing materials listed in the משנה.

Opening lines

The steps (43)

1. StatementReading the מגילה out of order does not count
2. StatementA long enough pause means starting over
3. Statementרב יוסף rules like רבי מונא
4. QuestionHow long is 'enough time to finish all of it'?
5. ResponseMeasured by the whole מגילה, so the rule stays fixed
6. StatementThe סורא version: רב agrees with רבי מונא, שמואל disagrees
7. StatementThe פומבדיתא version: same positions, different chain of tradition
8. Statementרב ביבי teaches the positions reversed
9. ConclusionFollow רב ביבי's version, because שמואל takes lone opinions seriously
10. ProofProof from the case of a שומרת יבם
11. Proofשמואל rules like the lone stricter opinion
12. StatementA מגילה missing letters or verses is still valid
13. ChallengeChallenge: unclear letters make a מגילה invalid
14. ResolutionAnswer: a whole damaged מגילה versus a small part
15. StatementA reader who skipped a verse must go back and continue from there
16. StatementArriving halfway: start from the beginning
17. QuestionWhat counts as dozing off?
18. Responseרב אשי defines dozing
19. QuestionHow does a writer fulfill the מצוה?
20. RejectionSaying the verse first is reading by heart
21. ResponseMaybe he writes each verse, then reads it
22. ChallengeThe מגילה must be fully written
23. ResolutionHe copies from a complete מגילה
24. ProofA proof for רבי יוחנן?
25. RejectionMaybe it just happened that way
26. StatementReturning to the rule: no writing even one letter from memory
27. ChallengeChallenge from the story of רבי מאיר writing a מגילה from memory
28. Resolutionרבי מאיר was different: his memory of the text was perfect
29. QuestionWhat does 'your eyelids look straight' mean?
30. ResponseTorah words slip away easily, yet they stayed exact for רבי מאיר
31. Statementרב חסדא stops רב חננאל from writing Torah scrolls from memory
32. ChallengeIf perfect memory is not enough, how could רבי מאיר write?
33. ResolutionAn emergency is different
34. Statementאביי allows תפילין and מזוזות to be written from memory
35. QuestionWhose view is אביי following?
36. ResponseA ברייתא in the name of רבי: תפילין and מזוזות may be written from memory
37. ConclusionThe final ruling on ruled lines and writing from memory
38. QuestionWhy may they be written from memory?
39. ResponseBecause scribes know them well
40. StatementQuoting the משנה about invalid writing materials
41. StatementDefining סם
42. StatementDefining סקרא
43. StatementDefining קומוס