Gemara Clarity

Megillah 28a

מגילה כ״ח ע״א

Learn Megillah 28a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Megillah 28a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Sages' merits for long life, and the holiness of a בית הכנסת even after it is ruined.

Overview

This amud finishes רבי פרידא's list of merits. He never ate meat before the מתנות were separated, which the גמרא calls an extra stringency because the הלכה does not follow רבי יצחק. He also let a כהן lead ברכת המזון. The גמרא challenges this practice from רבי יוחנן and answers that it applied only to a כהן who was his equal in Torah. Several more sages then explain what earned them long life: רבי נחוניא בן הקנה, רבי נחוניא הגדול, רבי יהושע בן קרחה, and רבי זירא. Their answers include not taking honor through another's shame, forgiving others, refusing gifts, being generous with money, and never looking at a wicked person. Next, a new משנה teaches that a ruined בית הכנסת stays holy, so ordinary uses of it are forbidden. Grass growing there is left alone, so the sad sight moves people to rebuild. The גמרא then begins a ברייתא forbidding קלות ראש in a בית הכנסת, such as eating and drinking there, and the list continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְלֹא בֵּרַכְתִּי לִפְנֵי כֹהֵן,

And I never recited the blessing in front of a priest,

וְלֹא אָכַלְתִּי מִבְּהֵמָה

and I never ate from an animal

שֶׁלֹּא הוּרְמוּ מַתְּנוֹתֶיהָ.

whose priestly gifts had not been separated.

דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן:

As Rabbi Yitzchak said that Rabbi Yochanan said:

The steps (32)

  1. StatementTwo more of רבי פרידא's careful practices
  2. StatementThe source for not eating before the gifts are separated
  3. ConclusionThe הלכה does not follow this view
  4. StatementReturning to the practice of letting a כהן lead
  5. ChallengeLetting someone else lead seems to be a serious offense
  6. ResolutionHe meant only a כהן who was his equal
  7. Statementרבי נחוניא בן הקנה lists his three merits for long life
  8. Statementרב הונא refuses to let his student carry his hoe
  9. Statementמר זוטרא forgives everyone before sleeping
  10. StatementBeing generous with money, like איוב
  11. Statementרבי עקיבא asks רבי נחוניא הגדול about his long life
  12. Response'One' means the best of the flock
  13. Responseרבי נחוניא הגדול's three practices for long life
  14. StatementNever taking gifts: the example of רבי אלעזר
  15. Statementרבי זירא: refused gifts but accepted invitations
  16. StatementNot insisting on getting even: רבא's teaching
  17. Questionרבי asks רבי יהושע בן קרחה how he lived long
  18. ResponseHe never looked at the face of a wicked person
  19. StatementLooking at a wicked person dims the eyes
  20. ChallengeWas looking at עשו really what blinded יצחק?
  21. ResolutionBoth causes worked together
  22. Statementרבא's verse forbidding looking at a wicked person
  23. StatementA blessing to reach half of my days
  24. QuestionWhy not all of my days?
  25. ResponseYour sons need their chance to lead
  26. StatementTwo brothers who stayed away from wicked non-Jews
  27. Questionרבי זירא's students ask how he merited long life
  28. Responseרבי זירא lists his lifelong habits
  29. Statementמשנה: a ruined synagogue still may not be used for ordinary things
  30. ProofVerse proof that holiness remains even in ruin
  31. StatementGrass growing in the ruin should not be pulled
  32. StatementNo light-headed behavior in a synagogue, so no eating or drinking