Megillah 24b — the Talmud in English

Because

there is the honor due to his father and the honor due to his teacher.

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Here too—

it is possible that a child might be mocked, because

there is the mocking of his father and the mocking of his teacher.

We learned in our Mishna:

“One whose clothing is torn may lead the congregation in reciting the Shema, and so on.”

Ulla bar Rav asked Abaye: If a child whose clothing is torn, may he read from the Torah?

Is it possible to say that only an adult is prohibited, because of the verse: “There shall not be found among you anything unseemly” , but a child is not warned against this? Or perhaps there is no difference?

He said to him: Then let your question be about

a

naked

child: May he read from the Torah?

Rather,

why is it obvious to you

that a

naked

person may

not read,

but

because of the honor of the congregation? Here too, a child whose clothing is torn may not read—

because of the honor of the congregation.

We learned in our Mishna:

“A blind person may lead the congregation in reciting the Shema, and so on.” Rabbi Yehuda says: Anyone who has never seen light may not lead the congregation in reciting the Shema.

It was taught in a beraita, a tannaitic source not included in the Mishna: They said to Rabbi Yehuda: Many have sought to expound

the Account of the Chariot

that Ezekiel prophesied,

even

though they

had never seen it in their lifetimes.

Here too, what difference does it make that he has never seen light in his lifetime? In any event, he knows about its nature through study.

And Rabbi Yehuda

could say to you:

There,

in the Account of the Chariot,

the matter depends on understanding with the heart,

that is, on understanding inwardly,

and he intends—

and knows;

therefore it does not matter that he expounds the Account of the Chariot even though he has never seen it in his lifetime.

That is not so

here,

where

because of the benefit

from the lights

he

recites the blessing “Who creates the lights.”

But

he has no benefit

from them, since he has never benefited from light in his lifetime!

And the Rabbis

could say to you: Even though he has never seen light in his lifetime,

he does benefit

from the lights,

in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei.

As it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yosei said: All my days I was distressed over this verse,

trying to understand it, as it is written:

“You will grope at noon as a blind person gropes in the darkness.” But what difference does it make to a blind person whether it is darkness or light?

Until an incident happened to me.

Once I was walking in the deep darkness of night, and I saw a blind person walking along the road—

with a torch in his hand.

I said to him: My son, why do you need this torch?

He said to me: As long as this torch is in my hand, people see me and save me from pits

—that is, holes—

and from thorns and from prickly bushes .

We see that a blind person does benefit from light, and therefore he may recite a blessing over it.

Mishna:

A koen who has bodily defects on his hands—

may not raise his hands

to recite the Priestly Blessing, because the people will look at him. One who looks at the koanim while they raise their hands—their eyes become dim , because the Divine Presence rests upon their hands.

Rabbi Yehuda says: Even one whose hands were dyed with stis—

may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing, because the people will look at him.

Gemara:

A tannaitic teaching states:

these

“bodily defects” that they mentioned

are when they are

on his face,

or on his

hands or feet

—the reference is to defects on the koen’s hands or feet. The reason is that he must remove his shoes when he goes up to the platform to recite the Priestly Blessing. If he has defects on his feet, people will look at him and then come to look at his hands.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: If the koen’s

the

hands

are

covered with white patches

—that is, they have white spots—

he may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing.

It was likewise taught in a beraita: If his hands are covered with white patches—

he may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing.

Likewise, if his hands are

bent

—Rashi explained: folded; the Ran wrote: his hand is bent backward—or

crooked

—bent to the sides —

he may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing.

Rav Asi said: A

koen

from Haifa,

a resident of Haifa,

or

a

koen from Beit She’an,

a resident of Beit She’an,

may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing ,

because the people of those places stammer in their speech: They pronounce the letter alef as ayin and ayin as alef . Thus, in the Priestly Blessing, instead of saying, “May the Lord make His face shine upon you,” they may say, “May the Lord make His face angry toward you,” which is an expression of a curse, since the word “face” can refer to anger, as in the verse: “My presence shall go, and I will give you rest,” meaning a face of anger .

It was likewise taught in a beraita: We do not appoint to lead the congregation in prayer either the people of Beit She’an, or the people of Beit Haifa, or the people of Tiv'on, because they pronounce alef—

as ayin, and ayin—

as alef.

And they impair their prayer .

Rabbi Hiyya said to Rabbi Shimon bar Rabbi: Were you a Levite,

you would be disqualified from the platform because your voice is thick

—your voice is deep—and Levites are disqualified on account of their voices, as we say in tractate Hulin 24a.

Rabbi Shimon came

to

his father and told him

what Rabbi Hiyya had said.

He said to him: Go and tell him:

Rabbi Hiyya, you pronounce the letter het as hei.

When you reach the verse, “And I will wait for the Lord,”

you end up saying, “And I will strike,”

will you not thereby blaspheme and curse?!

Rav Huna said: A person with constantly tearful eyes

whose eyes always shed tears ,

may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing,

because the people will look at him.

We raise a difficulty: Is that so?

But what about that

person with tearful eyes

who was in the neighborhood

of Rav Huna

and raised his hands?!

We answer:

That person was accustomed to it in his city,

as the people of his city were accustomed to him and no longer looked at him.

It was likewise taught in a beraita: A person with constantly tearful eyes may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing. But if he is accustomed to it in his city,

it is permitted .

Rabbi Yohanan said: A person blind in one eye—

may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing.

We raise a difficulty:

But what about that

person blind in one eye

who was in Rabbi Yohanan’s neighborhood and raised his hands?!

We answer:

That person—

was accustomed to it in his city.

It was likewise taught in a beraita: A person blind in one eye—

may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing. But if he is accustomed to it in his city—

it is permitted .

Rabbi Yehuda says: One whose hands were dyed—

may not raise his hands to recite the Priestly Blessing.

A tannaitic teaching states: If most of the people of the city work in such a profession—

it is permitted.

Mishna:

One who says, “I will not lead the congregation in prayer while wearing

colored

garments; I will not lead even while wearing white garments”

—the reason is explained in the Gemara.

Likewise,

one who says:

“I will not lead the congregation in prayer while wearing sandals,”

but

will not lead even barefoot.

One who makes his phylactery

—the phylactery worn on the head—

round

—

it is dangerous, lest it enter his head ,

and it does not constitute a mitzva,

since the phylacteries must be square.

If he placed

his phylactery

on his forehead, or

placed it

on the palm of his hand—

this is the way of heresy.

For the heretics disparage the words of the Sages and follow the written text literally. They say: “Between your eyes”—literally, and “on your hand”—

literally.

But the Sages derived through

a conclusion based on an identical expression—a method of deriving law from the same wording in two passages—that “between your eyes” means the crown of the head, where the brain of an infant is soft; and “on your hand” means the upper part of the arm, the muscle at the top of the upper arm, so that the phylactery is placed opposite the heart.

If he covered them,

the compartments of the phylacteries, with

gold,

meaning that he made the phylactery cases of gold ,

and placed them

or: placed it

on the sleeve

of his garment

of his,

this is the way of the outsiders,

meaning people who follow their own opinions rather than the opinions of the Sages.

The reason one may not place them on the sleeve is that the Sages expounded: “And it shall be for you as a sign”—but not as a sign for others. Therefore, they must be placed specifically beneath the sleeve .

Phylacteries covered with gold are likewise invalid, because it is written: “So that the Torah of the Lord shall be in your mouth,” and we expound: from that which is permitted in your mouth—that everything must be made from a kosher animal .

Gemara:

What is the reason

for the ruling that one who says, “I will not lead the congregation while wearing colored garments,” may not lead even while wearing white garments?

Because

we are concerned that an element of heresy may have entered him,

as the heretics, who worship idols, are particular not to pray while wearing colored garments .

We learned in our Mishna:

“One who makes his phylactery round—it is dangerous, and it does not constitute a mitzva.”

Can we say that we learned

in our Mishna

the following teaching of the Sages: Phylacteries must be square—

this is a law transmitted to Moses from Sinai. And Rava said: This applies to their stitching and to their diagonal.

That is, when stitching them, one must take care not to spoil their square shape by pulling the sewing thread . Their diagonal must likewise be proportionate according to the law: If their length and width are exactly one fingerbreadth, their diagonal must be one fingerbreadth and two-fifths. Thus, our Mishna also teaches that one must not make phylacteries round!

Rav Pappa said:

One cannot derive this matter from our Mishna, because

the Mishna is referring to one made like a walnut,

like a nut , since in that case there is danger that it may enter his head. But if it is round like an egg or a lentil — perhaps it is acceptable.

The one who says: