Menachos 28b

מנחות כ״ח ע״ב

Menachot 28b

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

Open Menachos 28b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

משה's trumpets, the materials of the מנורה, and the מנורה's measurements and decorations

Overview

The גמרא finishes a ברייתא: every כלי that משה made stayed valid for later generations, except the חצוצרות. To find out why, it looks at the word 'לך'. That word alone cannot be the reason, since the ארון also says 'לך'. The answer is that the trumpets have 'לך' written twice. Next comes a ברייתא about what the מנורה may be made from. רב פפא and רב יוסף disagree about what רבי and רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה argue over: cheap metals, or wood. רב יוסף proves from two more ברייתות that any metal is fine and only wood is disputed. Along the way we learn that one may not copy the מקדש's seven-branched מנורה. Then שמואל, quoting an elder, gives the מנורה's full blueprint: 18 טפחים tall, with 22 גביעים, 11 כפתורים and 9 פרחים, all of them required. The גמרא begins checking these numbers against the פסוקים, and the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (22)

1. Statementמשה's vessels stay valid, but not the trumpets
2. QuestionWhy were the trumpets different?
3. Challenge'For you' cannot mean 'only you', because the Ark also says it
4. ChallengeThe 'for you' of the trumpets may teach something else
5. ResolutionThe trumpets say 'for you' twice
6. StatementWhich materials are valid for the מנורה
7. Questionרב יוסף asks how the dispute should be understood
8. ResponseBoth use generalizations and details but read the detail differently
9. Challengeרב יוסף brings a different version where the dispute is about wood
10. ResponseThe dispute is about which method of reading to use
11. Responseרבי's reading: generalization, detail, generalization teaches 'metal'
12. ResponseHow רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה reads the פסוק as include, exclude, include
13. Challengeרב פפא says the opposite: drop your ברייתא for mine
14. ProofFirst proof: another ברייתא where the only argument is about wood
15. ProofSecond proof: no copying the מקדש, not even a seven-branched מנורה of other metals
16. Statementרבי יוסי ברבי יהודה: not even a wooden copy, like the חשמונאים made
17. RejectionThe חכמים: the חשמונאים' מנורה was iron, not wood
18. StatementThe height of the מנורה and its lower section
19. StatementThe three pairs of branches and the top of the מנורה
20. StatementWhat the decorations look like and how many there are
21. StatementEvery single decoration is required
22. ChallengeGranted, the 22 cups come straight from the פסוקים