Gemara Clarity

Megillah 22a

מגילה כ״ב ע״א

Learn Megillah 22a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Megillah 22a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Dividing short Torah readings (דולג and פוסק), and how many people read on a תענית צבור

Overview

On ראש חודש four people read from the תורה, but the paragraphs are short, and every way of dividing them seems to break a three-verse rule. רבא answers from a similar case, the מעמדות reading of בראשית, where five verses were shared by two readers. In that case רב said the second reader repeats a verse (דולג), and שמואל said a verse is split (פוסק). The גמרא explains the reasons for each view and shows that these methods are used only when there is no other option. רבי יהושע בן לוי rules that a reader may not begin a paragraph with fewer than three verses or stop with fewer than three left, and רב יוסף rules that the middle reader repeats a verse. The גמרא then asks how many people read on a תענית צבור. Proofs from the wording of the משנה cancel out. A story about רב reading on a fast day in בבל is debated back and forth, and the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֵין מַתְחִילִין בַּפָּרָשָׁה

One may not begin a paragraph

פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה פְּסוּקִים.

and read fewer than three verses from it.

לִיקְרֵי תְּרֵי מֵהָא

Let him read two verses from this paragraph

וּתְלָתָא מֵהָךְ,

and three from that paragraph,

The steps (34)

  1. ChallengeNo good way to divide the last paragraphs
  2. Responseרבא brings a similar case from the מעמדות reading
  3. ChallengeHow can two people share five verses?
  4. Resolutionרב repeats a verse, שמואל splits a verse
  5. QuestionWhy didn't רב say to split the verse?
  6. Responseרב holds a verse may not be split
  7. ChallengeChallenge to שמואל: splitting was allowed only for children
  8. ResolutionBoth cases have no other option
  9. QuestionWhy didn't שמואל say to repeat a verse?
  10. ResponseRepeating could mislead people entering and leaving
  11. ChallengeQuoting a ברייתא about dividing short paragraphs
  12. ChallengeWhy didn't the ברייתא suggest repeating or splitting?
  13. ResolutionThere, another option was available
  14. StatementThe הלכה follows the יש אומרים
  15. StatementDon't leave fewer than three verses at the end
  16. ChallengeWhy say the rule about leaving verses? It seems obvious
  17. ResolutionWe might have thought people rarely walk out
  18. ChallengeWhy does the תנא קמא worry only about people leaving?
  19. ResolutionA latecomer asks what he missed
  20. Questionרבה בריה דרבא asks רב יוסף for the הלכה
  21. ResponseThe הלכה: repeat a verse, and the middle reader does it
  22. QuestionHow many people read on a public fast?
  23. ProofProof from the משנה: only ראש חודש and חול המועד get four
  24. RejectionThe first clause of the משנה implies the opposite
  25. ConclusionNothing can be learned from the משנה
  26. ProofThe story of רב reading on a fast day in בבל
  27. Proofרב was the third reader, so someone must have read after him
  28. RejectionMaybe רב read the first portion, like רב הונא did
  29. Challengeרב הונא was the top leader, but רב deferred to שמואל, who was a כהן
  30. Resolutionרב honored שמואל only when שמואל was present
  31. ProofSupport that רב read first: he said the opening ברכה
  32. RejectionNo support: this happened after the תקנה that every reader blesses
  33. ChallengeThen He Should Have Said the Closing Blessing Too
  34. ResolutionWhere רב Was, People Kept Coming In