Megillah 29a

מגילה כ״ט ע״א

Learn Megillah 29a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Megillah 29a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Honoring the dead, the שכינה in exile, the holiness of בתי כנסיות and בתי קברות, and the four special שבת readings

Overview

The amud opens with a ברייתא: we stop תלמוד תורה to escort the dead and to bring a bride to her wedding, but only when there are not already enough people. רב, עולא, and רב ששת each define 'enough' differently, and for a scholar who taught others there is no limit at all. Next, רבי שמעון בן יוחי teaches that the שכינה went with ישראל into every exile and will return with them. אביי names the synagogues in בבל where the שכינה rests, and two stories show the שכינה coming there. Several sages read פסוקים to show that בתי כנסיות and בתי מדרשות are a 'מקדש מעט', and רבי אלעזר הקפר says they will one day be moved to ארץ ישראל. בר קפרא teaches that the mountains that competed with סיני were 'blemished', and רב אשי learns that an arrogant person is a בעל מום. The גמרא then returns to the משנה's rules about a ruined בית כנסת: the shortcut ban and its exceptions, and the grass growing inside it. It also brings parallel rules about respecting a בית הקברות. Finally, a new משנה lists the four special שבתות readings and the other days that interrupt the regular order. The גמרא begins discussing it by quoting the משנה about the שקלים announcement, a discussion that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (43)

1. StatementWe stop Torah learning for a funeral or a wedding
2. Proofרבי יהודה ברבי אילעאי actually did this
3. StatementOnly when there are not enough people already
4. QuestionHow many people count as enough?
5. Responseרב's answer: twelve thousand men and six thousand horns
6. Responseעולא's answer: a line from the city gate to the burial place
7. Responseרב ששת: as the Torah was given, so it is taken
8. StatementFor one who taught others, there is no limit
9. Statementרבי שמעון בן יוחי: the שכינה goes with ישראל into every exile
10. ProofProof from the exile in Egypt
11. ProofProof from the exile in Babylonia
12. ProofIn the future redemption, God will return with them
13. QuestionWhere in Babylonia does the Divine Presence rest?
14. ResponseTwo synagogues, the Divine Presence alternating between them
15. Statementאביי's practice of praying in these synagogues
16. Proofשמואל's father and Levi leave when the Divine Presence comes
17. Proofרב ששת stays, and is allowed to remain
18. Statement"A small sanctuary" means the synagogues and study halls of Babylonia
19. Statementרבי אלעזר: the house of our master in Babylonia
20. Statement"You have been our dwelling place" means synagogues and study halls
21. Conclusionאביי moves his Torah learning into the synagogue
22. StatementThe synagogues of Babylonia will be moved to the Land of Israel
23. ProofProving it with a קל וחומר from תבור and כרמל
24. StatementA Heavenly Voice tells the mountains they cannot compete with Sinai
25. ProofWhy 'peaked' means 'blemished'
26. ConclusionAn arrogant person is considered blemished
27. QuestionBack to the משנה: what is a קפנדריא?
28. Responseרבא: the word means what it sounds like
29. ResponseExplaining the name: instead of going around, cut through
30. StatementIf a path was there first, walking through is permitted
31. StatementEntering for another reason, then leaving through the other side
32. StatementSomeone who came to pray may leave by a different door
33. StatementGrass growing in a ruined בית כנסת
34. ChallengeA ברייתא that seems to allow picking
35. ResolutionThe משנה only forbids picking to feed animals
36. StatementHow to treat a בית הקברות
37. QuestionWhich clause does 'respect for the dead' explain?
38. RejectionIt cannot go on the last clause
39. ResponseIt goes on the first clause
40. StatementWhen the Shekalim portion is read
41. StatementThe order of the remaining special readings
42. StatementSpecial days that interrupt the regular reading
43. StatementQuoting the משנה about the Shekalim announcement