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Menachos 97a

מנחות צ״ז ע״א

Menachot 97a

Learn Menachos 97a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 97a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The שולחן: its status as a wooden vessel, a person's table bringing כפרה, the panels and rods and שבת, and the size of the אמה in the מקדש

Overview

The amud begins with רבי יוחנן's rule that a covered wooden vessel always takes the status of its metal covering. That seems to make the gold-covered שולחן a gold vessel. The גמרא answers that the שולחן is different because a פסוק in יחזקאל calls it 'wood'. That פסוק switches from 'מזבח' to 'שולחן'. רבי יוחנן and רבי אלעזר learn from this that today, without a בית המקדש, a person's table brings כפרה. Next, רב קטינא finds the gold panels and rods of the שולחן in a פסוק in שמות. רבא first challenges this, because handling the rods does not override שבת. He then takes the challenge back, using רבי עקיבא's rule that work which can be done at another time does not override שבת. A ברייתא describes how the rods were taken out before שבת and put back after it, and how many rods each loaf needed. Finally, the גמרא opens a new topic: an argument between רבי מאיר and רבי יהודה about the size of the אמה in the מקדש, which רבי יוחנן says both learn from one פסוק.

Opening lines

לְבִזְבְּזָיו, אוֹ בְּשֶׁלֹּא חִיפָּה אֶת לְבִזְבְּזָיו?

its rim, or even where he did not cover its rim?

וְאָמַר לֵיהּ:

And he said to him:

לָא שְׁנָא צִיפּוּי עוֹמֵד,

There is no difference with a permanent covering,

וְלָא שְׁנָא צִיפּוּי שֶׁאֵינוֹ עוֹמֵד,

and no difference with a covering that is not permanent;

The steps (14)

  1. ResponseA covered vessel always follows its covering
  2. ChallengeMaybe acacia wood is too important to be cancelled
  3. ResolutionThe פסוק calls the שולחן wood
  4. QuestionWhy does the verse switch from altar to table?
  5. ResponseToday a person's table brings atonement
  6. QuestionWhere do we learn the gold panels of the Table?
  7. ResponseA verse lists the molds, bowls, panels and rods
  8. ChallengeIf the rods are from the Torah, why don't they override Shabbat?
  9. Rejectionרבא takes back his challenge
  10. ResolutionThe rods are only there to stop mold, so they can wait
  11. ProofA ברייתא describes removing and replacing the rods
  12. StatementHow many rods each loaf needs
  13. StatementHow big was an אמה in the מקדש
  14. StatementBoth opinions come from one verse