Gemara Clarity

Menachos 32a

מנחות ל״ב ע״א

Menachot 32a

Learn Menachos 32a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How to write a מזוזה: the blank space above and below, whether the passages are written open or closed, and whether the parchment rules for תפילין and מזוזה are required or only ideal.

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a ברייתא. In it, רבי שמעון בן אלעזר's teacher wrote a מזוזה with blank space above and below and with the two passages written open, because they are not next to each other in the תורה. רב ruled like רבי שמעון בן אלעזר. The גמרא answers that he meant only the blank space, which must be as wide as a scribe's clip. אביי proves this. רב holds that custom cannot be overturned, as his statement about אליהו and חליצה with a סנדל shows. The custom is to write the passages closed. רב נחמן בר יצחק offers another approach: closed is the ideal מצוה, but open is also valid. A ברייתא about turning a worn ספר תורה or תפילין into a מזוזה is brought to support him, but the proof is pushed off. The גמרא then discusses whether the rule that תפילין go on קלף and a מזוזה on דוכסוסטוס is required or only the ideal. That discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְעוֹשֶׂה רֶיוַח מִלְּמַעְלָה וְרֶיוַח מִלְּמַטָּה,

And he would make a space above and a space below,

וְעוֹשֶׂה פָּרָשִׁיּוֹתֶיהָ פְּתוּחוֹת.

and he would make its passages open.

אָמַרְתִּי לוֹ: רַבִּי, מָה טַעַם?

I said to him: My teacher, what is the reason?

אָמַר לִי: הוֹאִיל וְאֵין סְמוּכוֹת מִן הַתּוֹרָה.

He said to me: Since they are not adjacent in the Torah.

The steps (18)

  1. StatementThe teacher's מזוזה: blank space and open passages
  2. ChallengeDid רב rule that the passages must be open?
  3. ResolutionNo, רב was talking about the blank space
  4. QuestionHow much blank space?
  5. ResponseThe space of a scribe's clip
  6. Proofאביי: of course רב meant the space, because the custom is closed
  7. ProofThe source that רב follows custom: אליהו and חליצה (first version)
  8. ProofThe second version of רב's statement about אליהו and חליצה
  9. ConclusionBoth versions agree on custom, so רב must have meant the space
  10. Resolutionרב נחמן בר יצחק: closed is the ideal, but open is also valid
  11. ProofA ברייתא about worn scrolls seems to support רב נחמן בר יצחק
  12. RejectionMaybe the ברייתא means only patching a few lines
  13. Challengeתפילין and מזוזה are written on different kinds of parchment
  14. ResolutionThe parchment rule is only the ideal way
  15. ChallengeA ברייתא says switching makes it פסול
  16. ResolutionThat ברייתא is about תפילין
  17. ChallengeA ברייתא says switching in either one is פסול
  18. ResolutionBoth cases in that ברייתא are about תפילין