Menachos 30a

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Menachot 30a

Learn Menachos 30a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 30a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

How a ספר תורה ends, the reading of its last eight פסוקים, the value of writing one, and the rules for laying out its columns and margins

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the previous discussion: extra letters in a ספר תורה are not a problem. The גמרא then brings רב's ruling that a ספר תורה may end in the middle of a column. After a challenge from a ברייתא, the גמרא explains that רב meant the ends of the חומשין inside the scroll, and that the very end of the תורה may stop in the middle of a line. The הלכה follows רב אשי: the תורה must end specifically in the middle of the last line. Next comes רב's rule that the last eight פסוקים of the תורה are read by one person. The גמרא ties this to the מחלוקת over whether יהושע wrote them or משה wrote them with tears. It concludes that the rule fits both views. רב then teaches that writing a ספר תורה yourself is like receiving it at סיני, and רב ששת adds that correcting even one letter counts as writing it. Finally a ברייתא lays out the scroll: columns per sheet, line width, margins, and the spaces between lines, words and letters. It also forbids shrinking the writing to save space and splitting a word into the margin.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. ConclusionExtra letters are not a problem
2. Statementרב rules that a סופר may finish a ספר תורה even mid-column
3. ChallengeA ברייתא says not to finish mid-column
4. Resolutionרב was talking about חומשין
5. ChallengeBut רב said 'ספר תורה'
6. ResolutionThe חומשין inside a ספר תורה
7. Challengeרב also said the end of the תורה may be mid-column
8. ResolutionThat ruling meant the middle of the line
9. Statementרבנן and רב אשי disagree about ending mid-line
10. ConclusionThe הלכה: specifically mid-line
11. StatementThe last eight verses are read by one person
12. QuestionWhose opinion does רב follow?
13. Proofרבי יהודה: יהושע wrote the last eight verses
14. Challengeרבי שמעון: the ספר תורה was not missing anything
15. Resolutionמשה wrote the last verses with tears
16. ChallengeDoes רב's rule go against רבי שמעון?
17. ResolutionIt can fit רבי שמעון: they were already different
18. StatementBuying a ספר תורה versus writing one
19. StatementCorrecting one letter counts as writing it
20. StatementA sheet must have three to eight columns
21. StatementColumns should be neither too narrow nor too wide
22. StatementSplitting a nine-column sheet evenly
23. StatementThe last sheet of the scroll may be short
24. ChallengeCan a whole sheet be just one verse?
25. ResolutionRead it as one verse in one column
26. StatementHow wide the margins must be
27. StatementSpaces between lines, words and letters
28. StatementDo not shrink the writing to save the required spaces
29. StatementA five-letter word may not be split into the margin