Megillah 23a — the Talmud in English

Rav Hiyya bar Avin said: I saw Abaye ![](pamud.bmp "

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and Rava—

that they prayed at an angle.

That is, they inclined onto their sides, and they did not fall upon their faces entirely, because a distinguished person is not permitted to fall upon his face.

We learned in our Mishna:

“On a Festival, five; on Yom Kippur, six; and so forth.”

And we raise an objection:

“Whose opinion is the Mishna? Neither Rabbi Ishmael nor Rabbi Akiva!”

For it was taught in a beraita: “On a Festival—

they read

five. And on Yom Kippur—

six. And on Shabbat—

seven. One may not decrease them, and one may not add to them. The words of Rabbi Ishmael.”

Rabbi Akiva says: “On a Festival—

they read

five. And on Yom Kippur—

seven. And on Shabbat—

six.

One may not decrease them, but one may add to them.”

If so,

whose opinion is the Mishna?

If it is Rabbi Ishmael—

the addition is difficult,

for the Mishna teaches that one may add to them!

And

if it is Rabbi Akiva—

six and seven are difficult,

for he said that on Yom Kippur there are seven, and on Shabbat six, whereas in the Mishna it teaches that on Yom Kippur there are six, and on Shabbat seven!?

Rava said:

The Mishna is the view of

the tanna of the academy of Rabbi Ishmael.

For the tanna of the academy of Rabbi Ishmael taught: “On a Festival—

they read

five. On Yom Kippur—

six. On Shabbat—

seven. One may not decrease them, but one may add to them, the words of Rabbi Ishmael.”

And we raise an objection: If so,

it is difficult

this

that

the academy

of Rabbi Ishmael

permits adding—

against Rabbi Ishmael

of the beraita above!?

And we answer:

They are two tannaim

and

according to Rabbi Ishmael.

One stated it in his name in this manner, and one stated it in that manner.

Who is the tanna for this, which was taught in a beraita: “On a Festival

in the morning

they arrive late

at the synagogue, because they need to labor over the meal of the day ,

and they leave early

because of the joy of the Festival.

“On Yom Kippur—

they arrive early and leave late.

“And on Shabbat—

they arrive early,

because they are not occupied with the needs of the meal, for they have already prepared everything during the preceding day; and if so, they can hurry their arrival at the synagogue, in order to recite the Shema like the veteran worshippers.

And they leave early—

because of the enjoyment of Shabbat.”

Shall we say that it is Rabbi Akiva

who holds that

there is one additional person

in the reading of Yom Kippur, on which they read seven, whereas on Shabbat they read six, and therefore they leave later than on Shabbat?

And we reject this: No.

You may even say that it is Rabbi Ishmael

who holds this. And the reason that they leave later on Yom Kippur is because

the order of the day is more extensive [

the order of the day's prayer].

And we inquire about it:

These three, five, and seven

readers,

corresponding to what

are they?

Rabbi Yitzhak bar Nahmani and one

amora

of his group disputed it. And who is he [

who is that amora who disputed with him]?

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi.

And

there are those who

say it

thus: They disputed it,

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi and one of his group; and who is he—

Rabbi Yitzhak bar Nahmani.

And

there are those who

say it: Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani

is the one who disputed with him.

One said: They correspond to the Priestly Blessing.

For in the first verse of the Priestly Blessing there are three words, in the second verse five words, and in the third verse seven words.

And one said:

The three readers

correspond to the three guardians of the threshold [as stated in II Kings 25:18]. The five readers correspond to

[as stated in II Kings 25:18]. The five readers correspond to

five of the

seven

who saw the king's face—

who were important, as is stated there [ibid., verse 19]. And the seven correspond to

the seven who saw the king's face,

as it is written: “The seven princes of Persia and Media who saw the king's face”.

Rav Yosef taught:

These

three, five, and seven—

correspond to

the three guardians of the threshold, the five of those who saw the king's face, and the seven who saw the king's face.

Abaye said to him: Until now, why did our master not explain this matter to us

?

He said to him: I did not know that you needed it. And have you ever asked me for a matter and I did not tell you?!

Jacob the heretic said

to Rav Yehuda: These six

readers

of Yom Kippur, corresponding to what

are they?

He said to him: They correspond to the six who stood on Ezra's right, and the six on his left. As it is stated: “And Ezra the scribe stood upon a wooden platform which they had made for the matter, and there stood beside him Mattithiah and Shema and Anaiah and Uriah and Hilkiah and Maaseiah on his right, and on his left Pedaiah

and Mishael and Malchiah and Hashum and Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam.”

And we raise an objection:

But

these

who stood on his left—

there were seven!?

And we answer:

“Zechariah”—

that is “Meshullam.”

And why did they call

Zechariah

“Meshullam”?

Because

he was complete in his deeds,

for he was perfect in his deeds.

The Sages taught: Everyone may be included in the count of seven. And even a minor,

and even a woman .

But the Sages said: A woman should not read from the Torah—

because of the honor of the congregation.

They raised a dilemma before them: The concluding reader—

what is the law concerning his being included in the count of seven

readers? Is his reading considered like one of the readers, or perhaps seven readers are required apart from the concluding reader? They disputed it:

Rav Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba. One said—

he is included, and one said—

he is not included.

And this is how they disputed:

The one who says that he is included—

for he reads

like all the readers.

And the one who says that he is not included—

as Ulla said.

For Ulla said: Why must the concluding reader who reads from the Prophets first read from the Torah?

Because of the honor of the Torah,

so that the honor of the Torah and the honor of the Prophet should not be equal.

And since it is because of the honor of the Torah

that he reads from the Torah, and it is not an obligation—

he does not ascend for the count.

We raise an objection: “The concluding reader who reads from the Prophets may not read fewer than twenty-one verses, corresponding to the seven who read from the Torah.”

And if it is so

that the concluding reader is not included in the count of the readers, but seven read apart from him, then

twenty-four

verses

would be

corresponding to the readers, for there are eight!?