Gittin 60a — the Talmud in English

After them

[after the priest, Levite, and Israelite] whom do they call?

Who is called?

That is: Is there some order for those called after them, because of the ways of peace?

It was not in his possession

[Rabbi Helbo did not know how to answer].

Rabbi Helbo

came

and asked him

[Rabbi Helbo came and asked]

Rabbi Yitzhak Nappaḥ

the question that he had been asked:

He said to him

Rabbi Yitzhak Nappaḥ said to Rabbi Helbo:

After them they call

the

Torah scholars appointed as leaders over the community.

And after them

the

Torah scholars fit to be appointed as leaders over the community,

and these are those whom people ask a matter of halakha in every place, and they state it.

And after them

the

sons of Torah scholars whose fathers are appointed as leaders over the community,

and because this contains honor for their fathers.

And after them

the

heads of synagogues, and

the

every person.

The sons of the Galilee

sent a messenger

to Rabbi Helbo

to ask him:

What is [the law] concerning reading from Pentateuchs

[they are written like a Torah scroll, ] except that they are divided into five Pentateuchs],

in the synagogue in public?

It was not in his possession

for Rabbi Helbo to answer.

Rabbi Helbo

came,

asked him

[Rabbi Helbo came and asked]

Rabbi Yitzhak Nappaḥ

the question that he had been asked, and he too

did not have it in his possession

[did not know what to answer].

Rabbi Helbo

came and

asked

this question

in the study hall

[in the study hall];

and they resolved it from this which Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: A Torah scroll from which one sheet is missing

one does not read from it;

and all the more so when it is only one Pentateuch, one does not read from it.

And the Gemara rejects the proof:

It is not so!

There,

in the case of a Torah scroll from which one sheet is missing,

it is deficient

in

in its designation,

that is: it is called a “Torah scroll,” yet it is deficient.

But

here,

with Pentateuchs,

it is not deficient in its designation,

for according to what they are called—“Pentateuchs”—there is no deficiency in them.

Rabba and Rav Yosef both say: One does not read from Pentateuchs in the synagogue, because of the honor of the public,

so that they will not say that they do not have a complete Torah scroll, and this is a disgrace to them.

Rabba and Rav Yosef both say: This scroll

of the Haftarot

[a scroll in which the Haftarot are written]

it is forbidden to read from it on Shabbat

[it is forbidden to read from it on Shabbat].

And we explain:

What is the reason?

Because

it was not permitted to be written

less than one complete book for itself.

Bar Rav Ashi said: To carry it

on Shabbat

is also forbidden.

What is the reason?

For it is not fit to read from it

[for it is not fit to read from].

And the Gemara rejects:

It is not so!

It is permitted to carry it

and it is permitted to read from it

[it is permitted to carry it and it is permitted to read from it]—

And because

for

we indeed find

Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish

who

both study from a book of aggada

[a book of aggada]

on Shabbat—

Yet it was not permitted to be written,

for it is forbidden to write the Oral Torah, so how did they read from it?!

Rather,

necessarily,

since it is impossible

that they not be written, because hearts have diminished and the Torah is forgotten; therefore concerning this it is said:

“It is a time to act for the Lord

they have voided Your Torah.”

And if so,

here too,

with a scroll of the Haftarot,

since it is impossible

for every community to write a complete book from the Prophets, as they lack the ability to do so, therefore concerning this it is said:

“It is a time to act for the Lord

they have voided Your Torah.”

He asked,

asked

Abaye of Rabba:

What is the law concerning writing a scroll for a child

in which one or two sections from the Torah are written, in order

to learn from it?

Let it be asked,

this uncertainty should be raised both

according to the one who says:

“The Torah was given scroll by scroll”,

each section that Moses heard from the Almighty he would write; and when the entire Torah was completed, Moses joined them with sinews and sewed them.

And

let it also be asked according to the one who says:

“The Torah was given

[complete, defined, and whole]

sealed”,

that is: before all the sections had been spoken, Moses did not write them, but preserved them by heart; only when all the sections were completed did Moses write the entire Torah as one.

And the Gemara explains how

the question should be according to the one who says:

“The Torah was given scroll by scroll”:

Should we say:

since

at first

scroll

by scroll it was given,

then even today

they write

them scroll by scroll.

Or perhaps: Since they have been joined, they have been joined,

once all the sections were joined, thereafter they write only the entire Torah as one.

And how

should the question be according to the one who says:

“The Torah was given sealed”:

Should we say:

since “

Torah

was given sealed,”

they do not write.

Or perhaps: Since it is impossible, they write.

He said to him

Rabba to Abaye:

They do not write! And what is the reason?

Because they do not write.

He raised an objection to him

to Rabba, who said that they do not write:

But we learned concerning Queen Helene:

She too made a tablet of gold, upon which the section of the sotah was written;

so it follows that they write even one section.

He said

answered

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish in the name of Rabbi Yannai:

They did not write the passage on the tablet as it is, but

They did not write the section on the tablet as it is, but

in alef-bet

only, that is: in initial letters.

He raised an objection to him

from that which is taught in a beraita:

When he

the priest

writes

a section for a sotah, to erase it upon the water, he

looks at the tablet

that Queen Helene made,

and writes what is written on the tablet,

so it implies that the section was written on the tablet as it is!?

And we answer:

Say: As much as is written on the tablet,

that is: according to the initials that were written on the tablet, the priest would write.

He raised an objection to him

from a beraita that we learned explicitly:

When he writes, he looks at the tablet and writes what is written on the tablet; what is written on the tablet?

“If

he lay with her, if he did not lie with her”!?

And we answer:

Here, with what are we dealing? With alternating writing,

that is: at the beginning of each verse one complete word was written, and afterward in initials.

As the tannaim

tannaim disputed this law, whether one writes a scroll for a child to learn from it:

One does not write a scroll for a child to learn from it, but if his intention is to complete it,

then it is

permitted.

Rabbi Yehuda says:

in

the book

of Genesis

it is permitted to write one scroll

until

the section of

the generation of the Flood,

because it is one subject.

And

in Torat Kohanim [

the Book of Leviticus] it is permitted to write one scroll

until “

And it was on the eighth day,”

which is the completion of the command concerning the offerings.

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Bana’a: Torah -

was given scroll by scroll, as it is stated: “Then I said, Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written concerning me,”

for I remembered the scroll that is in the Torah, as it is stated concerning the daughters of Lot [Genesis 19:15]: “And the angels hurried Lot, saying, Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are found,” and therefore Scripture said “who are found,” to say: by the merit of David, who was destined to emerge from Ruth the Moabite [who was the one daughter of Lot who gave birth to Moab], and by the merit of Naamah the Ammonite [who was the second daughter of Lot who gave birth to Ammon], and this is hinted in the expression “who are found,” for it is written concerning David, “I have found David My servant.”

And therefore he called the Torah a scroll, because at first the section of Bereshit was written, and afterward the section of Noah, and afterward the scroll of Abraham; and this is what David said: “In the scroll of Abraham it is written concerning me.”

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: Torah -

was given sealed, as it is stated: “

Take this scroll of the Torah,”

and it implies that it is one scroll.

And we challenge:

But the other one -

Rabbi Yohanan -

also, it is written “

Take,”

which implies, “it was given sealed”!? And we answer:

That is after it had been joined,

it was not one Torah scroll at the outset, but in the end, when he joined all the sections to one another.

We further challenge:

But the other one -

Reish Lakish -

also, it is written: “

In the scroll of the book it is written concerning me,”

which implies: “it was given scroll by scroll.”

And we answer: the intention is not that part of the Torah was written in a scroll, but

that

the verse in which “scroll” is mentioned means the entire Torah, and because

the entire Torah is called “

a scroll,”

as it is written: [Zechariah 5:3]: “

“

And he said to me, What do you see? And I said: “

I see a flying scroll,”

and this verse was said concerning the Torah.

Alternatively,

therefore the Torah is called “a scroll,”

because of Rabbi Levi [

because of Rabbi Levi],

for Rabbi Levi said:

Eight sections were stated on the day on which the Mishkan was erected,

and those sections were written in separate scrolls because they were needed for that day; and afterward also, when Moses completed the Torah, he did not write it in order, but completed what was missing between one scroll and another, and therefore the entire Torah is called “a scroll.”

And these are

the eight sections that were stated and written on the day on which the Mishkan was erected:

1.

The section of the priests

in the section “Emor,” in which several laws of the priests were stated: “He shall not defile himself,” “These he shall not take [marry],” “Being blemished, he shall not approach to offer the bread of his God”; and this section was stated on this day because on it the priests began to offer, and it was necessary to make their sanctity known.

2.

And the section of the Levites

in the section “Beha’alotekha” [Numbers 8:5]: “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and purify them”; and it was stated on that very day because the Levites began to sing in the Mishkan on that day.

3.

And the section of the impure

in the section “Beha’alotekha” [Numbers 9:6]: “And there were people who were impure through contact with a human corpse and could not make the Pesah on that day”; and this section was stated because the Pesah offering was approaching.

4.

And the section of sending out the impure

in the section “Bamidbar” [Numbers 5:2]: “Command the children of Israel, and they shall send out from the camp every leper, and every one with a discharge, and every one impure through contact with a person”; and this section was stated because on that day three camps were established: the camp of the Divine Presence, the camp of the Levites, and the camp of Israel.

5.

And the section “

After the death,”

which is the section [Leviticus 16:1]: “Speak to Aaron your brother, and he shall not come at every time into the Sanctuary, from within the curtain”; and although the principal subject of this section is Yom Kippur, nevertheless this section was stated on that day because Aaron’s sons died on that day on account of entering without need; therefore the warning was stated that Aaron should not come at every time on that day.