Menachos 34a

מנחות ל״ד ע״א

Menachot 34a

Learn Menachos 34a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 34a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Which doorways need a מזוזה, where and on what it is written, and the rule that every letter of תפילין counts

Overview

The amud finishes the discussion of a gatehouse and rules, following רב and שמואל, that it gets a מזוזה. רב הונא and רב פפא teach that every entrance needs its own מזוזה, even the doors people rarely use. אמימר adds that a doorway at a corner counts, because the ends of the walls serve as its doorposts. A story about מר שמואל's one-post doorway leads the גמרא to the sources for two rules. The first is that a מזוזה goes on the right side. The second is the dispute between רבי מאיר and the חכמים about a doorway with only one doorpost. A ברייתא then teaches, through a גזירה שוה, that a מזוזה is written on parchment with ink, not on stone. Finally, the גמרא explains the משנה's rule that even one letter invalidates תפילין. It ties this to רב's rule that every letter must be surrounded by blank parchment.

Opening lines

The steps (36)

1. StatementThe gatehouse is built for the garden
2. StatementHow the אמוראים acted in practice
3. ConclusionThe הלכה follows רב and שמואל, stringently
4. StatementAn opening between a house and the upper floor
5. StatementA room with four doors needs four מזוזות
6. ChallengeIsn't that obvious?
7. ResolutionEven if only one door is usually used
8. StatementA doorway at the corner needs a מזוזה
9. ChallengeBut it has no doorposts
10. ResolutionThese are its doorposts
11. Statementרב פפא sees a מזוזה on a one-post doorway
12. ChallengeEven רבי מאיר may only mean a right-side post
13. QuestionWhat is the source for the right side?
14. ResponseYour house means your entering, from the right
15. QuestionHow does that word prove the right side?
16. ResponsePeople step in with the right foot first
17. ProofA second source: יהוידע's chest on the right
18. QuestionWhat is רבי מאיר's view?
19. Responseרבי מאיר obligates, the חכמים exempt
20. QuestionWhy do the חכמים exempt?
21. ResponseThe Torah says doorposts, plural
22. QuestionWhat is the reason for רבי מאיר's view?
23. Responseרבי ישמעאל: two plurals limit the count to one doorpost
24. Responseרבי עקיבא: the extra word 'two' sets a pattern
25. StatementA מזוזה is written on a ספר, learned from another 'writing'
26. ChallengeMaybe compare it to the writing on stones instead
27. ResolutionA מזוזה is compared to a ספר, not to the stones, and is written with ink
28. ChallengeWhy use a comparison when the פסוק says 'on the doorposts'
29. ResolutionFirst a complete writing, then onto the doorposts
30. ChallengeThen why is the comparison needed at all
31. ResolutionWithout the comparison, one might write on a stone
32. StatementThe משנה: the four פרשיות of תפילין hold each other back
33. ChallengeIsn't this obvious
34. ResolutionThe משנה teaches that even the tiny stroke of a י matters
35. ChallengeThe tiny stroke of a י is also obvious
36. ResolutionEvery letter must be surrounded by blank parchment