Gemara Clarity

Menachos 99b

מנחות צ״ט ע״ב

Menachot 99b

Learn Menachos 99b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 99b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Guarding one's Torah learning, the changing of the לחם הפנים, and what 'לא ימוש' requires

Overview

The amud opens with teachings of ריש לקיש about the honor of Torah. He says stopping Torah study can sometimes be its foundation, as when משה broke the לוחות. He also says a תלמיד חכם who sinned is not shamed in public, and that forgetting even one thing from one's learning is a לאו. רבינא counts two לאוין in forgetting, and רב נחמן בר יצחק counts three. The גמרא then limits the rule: it does not cover forgetting through אונס or learning that was too hard. Next, a משנה describes how the לחם הפנים was changed each שבת. It covers the marble and gold tables, eight כהנים sliding the bread on and off, and רבי יוסי's view that a short gap is still 'תמיד'. It also gives what happens when יום כיפורים falls on or before שבת. From רבי יוסי's reading of 'תמיד', the גמרא learns that a little Torah in the morning and evening fulfills 'לא ימוש'. Different views follow on what that פסוק demands. The amud ends with חזקיה's דרשה that הקדוש ברוך הוא lures people from death to life, and this continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שֶׁבִּיטּוּלָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה זֶהוּ יִסּוּדָהּ,

that the neglect of Torah is its foundation,

דִּכְתִיב: ״אֲשֶׁר שִׁבַּרְתָּ״,

as it is written: 'which you broke.'

אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמֹשֶׁה:

The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moshe:

יִישַׁר כֹּחֲךָ שֶׁשִּׁבַּרְתָּ.

Well done that you broke them.

The steps (30)

  1. StatementSometimes stopping Torah study is what builds it
  2. StatementA Torah scholar who sinned is not shamed in public
  3. StatementForgetting even one thing from your learning is a prohibition
  4. ProofWhy the פסוק counts as a prohibition
  5. Statementרבינא: forgetting breaks two prohibitions
  6. Statementרב נחמן בר יצחק: forgetting breaks three prohibitions
  7. StatementForgetting only counts when it is by choice
  8. StatementLearning that was too hard is also excluded
  9. StatementTorah and the soul both formed in forty
  10. ProofThe parable of the bird given to a servant
  11. StatementTwo tables in the entrance hall for the showbread
  12. StatementWhy the old bread goes on a gold table, and the gold table inside
  13. StatementEight priests take part in the bread switch
  14. StatementSliding the bread so the table is never empty
  15. Statementרבי יוסי: a short gap is still 'always'
  16. StatementThe old bread goes out, the frankincense is burned, and the loaves are shared
  17. StatementWhen יום כיפורים falls on שבת, the bread is shared at night
  18. StatementWhen יום כיפורים falls on Friday, the goat is eaten Friday night, even raw
  19. Statementרבי יוסי: the table only must not stay empty overnight
  20. Statementרבי אמי: one chapter morning and evening fulfills 'it shall not depart from your mouth'
  21. Statementשמע morning and evening fulfills 'Shall not depart'
  22. Statementרבא says it is a מצוה to tell the ignorant
  23. Questionבן דמה asks about studying Greek wisdom
  24. ResponseFind an hour that is neither day nor night
  25. Statementרבי יונתן: the פסוק is a blessing, not a command
  26. Proofה׳ blesses יהושע for loving Torah
  27. StatementTorah is not a burden, but you cannot exempt yourself
  28. Statementחזקיה opens a דרשה on a פסוק in איוב
  29. StatementPeople lure toward death, God lures toward life
  30. ProofThe narrow mouth is the opening of גיהנם