Rosh Hashanah 27b

ראש השנה כ״ז ע״ב

Learn Rosh Hashanah 27b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Laws of a damaged, altered, or patched שופר, hearing through echoes, כוונה, and blowing into a pit

Overview

This עמוד finishes the משנה about damaged שופרות. A patched hole matters only if it blocks the blowing. Blowing into a pit counts only if the real שופר sound was heard, and a passerby who hears the שופר or the מגילה fulfills his obligation only with כוונה. The גמרא brings ברייתות about a שופר that was shortened, scraped, plated with gold, placed inside another שופר, or turned around. רב פפא explains that 'turned around' means its ends were reversed, which is unfit because a שופר must be blown the way it grew (רב מתנה on 'וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ'). Next come additions and patches, where רבי נתן allows a horn patch, and רבי יוחנן's limit on this is taught in two versions. The ברייתא then rules on cracks, defines the minimum size of a שופר, and says every natural sound is fit. רב אשי explains a ruling about a drilled horn, and רב הונא explains that blowing into a pit counts for those standing inside it but not for those at its edge. The עמוד ends as רבה begins a statement that continues on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

The steps (32)

1. StatementA punctured שופר that was sealed
2. StatementBlowing into a pit or a large jug
3. StatementHearing from outside the בית הכנסת needs כוונה
4. StatementA ברייתא: a shortened or scraped שופר is fit
5. StatementA שופר plated with gold
6. StatementThe ברייתא repeats the rule of a sealed hole
7. StatementOne שופר placed inside another
8. StatementA second ברייתא: scraping a שופר, and a שופר inside a שופר
9. StatementA שופר that was turned around
10. Statementרב פפא explains what 'turned around' means
11. QuestionWhy does reversing the ends make the שופר unfit?
12. ResponseThe reason, from רב מתנה: blow it the way it grew
13. StatementGlued pieces, additions, and patched holes are unfit
14. Statementרבי נתן: a patch of horn is fine
15. Statementרבי יוחנן limits רבי נתן: most of the שופר must remain
16. ConclusionSo a patch of a different material is always unfit
17. StatementA second version: רבי יוחנן's limit applies to a different-material patch
18. ConclusionInference: a same-material patch is always fine
19. StatementA שופר coated with gold
20. StatementA cracked שופר: along its length or across its width
21. QuestionHow big is 'enough for blowing'?
22. Responseרבי שמעון בן גמליאל: it must stick out past the hand on both sides
23. StatementEvery kind of שופר sound is acceptable
24. StatementA ruling sent to the father of שמואל: a drilled horn works
25. ChallengeIsn't this obvious? Every שופר is drilled
26. ResolutionThe case is where the bone core was drilled through
27. Statementרב הונא limits the משנה about blowing into a pit
28. ProofA ברייתא supports רב הונא
29. ConclusionThe proof stands: it is like רב הונא
30. ChallengeAnother version: the משנה and ברייתא contradict each other
31. Resolutionרב הונא resolves the contradiction
32. Statementרבה is introduced as the next speaker