Menachos 40a

מנחות מ׳ ע״א

Menachot 40a

Learn Menachos 40a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 40a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why the Sages forbade wool ציצית on a linen garment even though the הלכה follows בית הלל

Overview

A ברייתא records that בית שמאי exempt a linen garment from ציצית and בית הלל obligate it, and the הלכה follows בית הלל. Yet in ירושלים, anyone who put wool תכלת on linen was looked at as strange, and רבי explains that the Sages forbade it because people are not experts in the law. The גמרא tries ways to teach the law instead: ten people wearing it in the market, or a public lecture. Neither works, and the ban is then explained as a גזירה because of קלא אילן, a fake blue dye that would leave a person wearing כלאים with no מצוה. The גמרא asks why fake-blue strings shouldn't at least count as white. It answers that white strings can be made of linen, following ריש לקיש's rule that a מצוה pushes aside a prohibition only when you cannot keep both. Since fake dye could be caught by testing, the גמרא switches to a new reason: dye used for testing the color (טעימה) is invalid. Sending letters to warn people is rejected as unreliable. The amud ends as רבא begins a new statement that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (15)

1. StatementDoes a linen sheet need ציצית?
2. ChallengeIn Jerusalem, people found it strange
3. ResolutionThe Sages forbade it because people are not experts
4. ChallengeWhy not publicize that it's allowed?
5. ResolutionPublicizing would only make it look stranger
6. ChallengeWhy not teach it in a public lecture?
7. ResolutionA decree because of fake blue dye
8. ChallengeLet fake-blue strings count as white
9. ResolutionLinen strings are possible, so wool is not allowed
10. Proofריש לקיש's rule: keep both if you can
11. ChallengeWhy not test the dye?
12. ResolutionThe real reason: dye used for testing
13. ChallengeWhy not just send letters warning about the test dye?
14. ResolutionWe cannot rely on letters
15. Statementרבא begins a new comment