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Menachos 77a

מנחות ע״ז ע״א

Menachot 77a

Learn Menachos 77a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The measures of the תודה loaves, the source for the size of the איפה, and שמואל's rule that measures may be raised by at most a sixth

Overview

This amud finishes the משנה's math for the forty loaves of the תודה. In the wilderness measure the flour is twenty עשרונים, and in the Jerusalem measure it is thirty קבין. The גמרא asks how we know an איפה holds three סאין. רב חסדא learns it from a פסוק in יחזקאל that makes the איפה equal to the בת. A first attempt to prove the size of the בת fails, because we do not know the size of a חומר. A second פסוק works instead: ten בתים make a כור, which is thirty סאין. Then שמואל rules that measures, coins and profits may not be raised by more than a sixth. The גמרא tries three logical reasons for this rule and rejects each one. רב חסדא finally shows that שמואל learned it from a פסוק about the holy מנה, which was raised from 200 to 240. רבינא supports this from our משנה, where five Jerusalem סאין equal six wilderness סאין.

Opening lines

עֲשָׂרָה לְחָמֵץ –

Ten [tenths] for the leavened loaves:

עִשָּׂרוֹן לְחַלָּה,

a tenth per loaf,

וַעֲשָׂרָה לְמַצָּה –

and ten for the מצה loaves:

וּבְמַצָּה שָׁלֹשׁ מִינִין:

and among the מצה there are three kinds:

The steps (20)

  1. StatementDividing the twenty tenths among the loaves
  2. StatementThe same flour in the Jerusalem measure
  3. QuestionWhere do we learn the size of the measure?
  4. Responseרב חסדא: the איפה equals the בת
  5. QuestionHow do we know the size of the בת?
  6. ResponseSuggested source: the בת is a tenth of a חומר
  7. ChallengeBut the איפה is also called a tenth of a חומר
  8. RejectionWe don't know the חומר, so the suggestion fails
  9. ResponseA new פסוק proves a בת is three סאין
  10. Statementשמואל limits increases to one-sixth
  11. QuestionWhat is the reason for the measures rule?
  12. RejectionRising prices cannot be the reason
  13. ResponsePerhaps the reason is אונאה
  14. Challengeרבא: measured items can be returned for any shortfall
  15. ResponseA new reason: protecting the merchant from loss
  16. RejectionRejected: a merchant needs a profit, not just to avoid loss
  17. Responseרב חסדא: שמואל learned it from a פסוק
  18. ChallengeThe problem: the פסוק's מנה comes to 240 דינרים
  19. ResolutionThree lessons from the פסוק
  20. Proofרבינא: the משנה about the תודה fits this