Menachos 29b

מנחות כ״ט ע״ב

Menachot 29b

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

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Topic

Broken letters in תפילין, the crowns and shapes of the letters, and fixing a ספר תורה with mistakes

Overview

This amud starts with two real cases of תפילין where a hole cut off the leg of a letter. רבי אבא rules by measuring what is left of the leg, and רבי זירא rules by asking whether an average child can still read the word. Next comes רב's famous אגדה: משה finds הקדוש ברוך הוא tying crowns on the letters. He sees רבי עקיבא's class, and later sees רבי עקיבא's cruel death, and each time he is told 'שתוק, כך עלה במחשבה לפני'. רבא and רב אשי then teach which letters get crowns and how careful scribes wrote the חי״ת and the הי״ת. The גמרא explains the shapes: this world was created with ה, which has an open bottom for free choice, a gap at the top for תשובה and a crown for the one who returns. עולם הבא was created with the small, bent יו״ד. The amud ends with the laws of fixing a ספר תורה that has mistakes. A ברייתא refutes רב's number of errors, and only missing letters count toward the limit. The amud closes with the case of אגרא's scroll, which had extra letters.

Opening lines

The steps (44)

1. QuestionA hole cuts off the leg of a ה
2. Responseרבי אבא: it depends on how much of the leg is left
3. QuestionA hole cuts off the leg of a ו
4. Responseרבי זירא: test it with an average child
5. Statementמשה finds God tying crowns on the letters
6. ResponseThe crowns are for רבי עקיבא
7. Statementמשה sits in רבי עקיבא's class and does not understand
8. Conclusion'A law given to משה at Sinai' puts משה at ease
9. Questionמשה asks why the Torah is given through him
10. ResponseGod says: Be silent, this is My plan
11. Statementמשה asks to see רבי עקיבא's reward and sees his death
12. Challengeמשה protests: This is Torah and this is its reward?
13. ConclusionGod answers again: Be silent, this is My plan
14. StatementSeven letters need three crowns
15. StatementHow careful scribes wrote חי״ת and הי״ת
16. StatementThe meaning of the hump on the חי״ת
17. QuestionWhy the heh's leg hangs: a question on a verse
18. Responseרבי אמי: Trusting in God gives shelter in both worlds
19. Questionרבי יהודה נשיאה clarifies: Why ביה and not יה?
20. ResponseThe two letters of יה stand for two worlds
21. ProofA פסוק shows this world was created with ה
22. QuestionWhy was this world made with ה?
23. ResponseThe ה is open like a porch
24. QuestionWhy does the leg of the ה hang loose?
25. ResponseThe gap at the top lets the one who does תשובה back in
26. ChallengeWhy not come back in the same way he left?
27. ResolutionComing back needs help from Heaven
28. QuestionWhy does the ה have a crown?
29. ResponseGod ties a crown for the one who returns
30. QuestionWhy was the עולם הבא created with a יו״ד?
31. ResponseBecause the righteous are few
32. QuestionWhy is the top of the יו״ד bent?
33. ResponseThe righteous bow their heads because their deeds are not equal
34. Statementרב יוסף: two rulings of רב about scrolls, each refuted
35. Statementרב: two errors per column can be fixed, three means the scroll is put away
36. RejectionThe ברייתא: three errors can be fixed, four means put away
37. StatementOne perfect column saves the whole scroll
38. StatementOnly if most of the scroll is written well
39. Questionאביי: what if that column has three errors?
40. ResponseSince it can be fixed, it counts as fixed
41. StatementThe limit applies only to missing letters, not extra ones
42. QuestionWhy are missing letters a problem?
43. ResponseBecause it would look speckled
44. StatementAgra's scroll with extra letters