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Menachos 37a

מנחות ל״ז ע״א

Menachot 37a

Learn Menachos 37a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 37a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Where תפילין are worn: the source for the left arm, the left-handed person, the exact spots on arm and head, and the two-headed firstborn

Overview

This amud continues the search for the source that תפילין של יד are worn on the left arm. רבי יוסי החורם shows that the right hand is also called יד, and the other תנא answers that plain יד still means the left. רבי נתן learns it another way: binding is done with the writing hand, the right, so the תפילין sit on the left. רב אשי learns it from the spelling יָדְכָה, read as 'the weak hand,' and defends this against רבי אבא's challenge. Two ברייתות then use the same word either for 'left' or to include a person missing an arm (גידם). A left-handed person (אטר) puts תפילין on his right arm, while one who uses both hands equally uses the regular left. The גמרא then fixes the exact spots: the bicep, and the top of the head where a baby's skull is soft. Finally, פלימו asks about a person with two heads. A real two-headed firstborn arrives, and an elder rules that the father pays ten סלעים, a ruling the גמרא begins to challenge, with the rest of the challenge coming on the next amud.

Opening lines

רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַחוֹרָם אוֹמֵר:

Rabbi Yosei HaChorem says:

מָצִינוּ יָמִין שֶׁנִּקְרָא יָד,

We have found the right hand being called 'yad,'

שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיַּרְא יוֹסֵף

as it says: 'And Yosef saw

כִּי יָשִׁית אָבִיו יַד יְמִינוֹ״.

that his father was placing his right hand.'

The steps (21)

  1. RejectionThe right hand is also called יד
  2. ResolutionThe other view: the right is never called plain יד
  3. Statementרבי נתן: binding goes with writing
  4. QuestionWhere does רבי יוסי החורם learn 'left'?
  5. ResponseHe uses רבי נתן's source
  6. Statementרב אשי: יָדְכָה with a ה means the weak hand
  7. Challengeרבי אבא: maybe it means the strong hand
  8. ResolutionIt is not spelled with a ח
  9. ProofA dispute of תנאים about יָדְכָה
  10. ProofAnother ברייתא: one with no arm at all
  11. StatementA left-handed person puts תפילין on his right arm
  12. ChallengeAnother ברייתא says he uses his left arm
  13. Resolutionאביי: the second ברייתא is about someone who uses both hands
  14. StatementThe exact spots: the bicep and the top of the head
  15. QuestionWhere exactly on the top of the head?
  16. ResponseThe soft spot on a baby's head
  17. Questionפלימו asks about a person with two heads
  18. Rejectionרבי rejects the question harshly
  19. QuestionA real two-headed firstborn arrives
  20. ResponseAn elder rules: ten סלעים
  21. ChallengeChallenge from רמי בר חמא's teaching