Megillah 26b — the Talmud in English

But

if

they sold [it] through the seven leaders of the city, in the presence of the people of the city —

the sanctity of the synagogue and the money departed, and

even ![](pamud.bmp "

exact page location")

to drink beer with it

with the money,

beer —

it is well-founded .

At the time of the sale, the sanctity of the synagogue takes effect upon the money. And afterward, the sanctity departs from the money — since their sanctity has weakened .

Ravina had that certain ruin

[a ruin]

of a synagogue.

He came before Rav Ashi. He said to him: What is [the ruling] regarding sowing it

in that place ?

He said to him: Go, buy it from the seven leaders of the city in the presence of the people of the city

— and sow it.

Rami bar Abba was building a synagogue. There was that

synagogue

an old one. He wanted to demolish it

that old synagogue,

and bring bricks and beams

[bricks and beams]

from it —

and bring them there

to build a new synagogue with them.

He sat, and was asking himself

about

this statement of Rav Hisda:

For Rav Hisda said: A person may not demolish

a

synagogue —

until he builds another synagogue.

And this is what he was asking:

There,

the reason of Rav Hisda is

because of

concern for

negligence:

we are concerned that he will demolish the old synagogue and be negligent and not build the new one. But

in a case such as this,

where the demolition of the old one is only for the sake of building the new one, since he wants to take bricks and beams from there,

what ?

He came before Rav Pappa —

and he prohibited him

from demolishing it.

He came

before Rav Huna — and

he likewise prohibited him

from demolishing it .

Rava said: This synagogue, exchanging it and selling it

[exchanging it and selling it] —

is permitted,

because its sanctity takes effect upon the exchange or upon the money, and it has departed from its sanctity so that it may be used .

But

renting it

[to rent it],

and mortgaging it

[to mortgage it] —

is forbidden.

What is the reason?

Because

the synagogue still

stands in its sanctity .

The bricks

[bricks] of the synagogue, likewise —

exchanging them and selling them is permitted; lending them

[to lend them] —

is forbidden

for the above reason.

And

these words —

with regard to

bricks

old,

which had already been built into the wall of the synagogue, and the wall fell.

But with regard to

bricks

new,

which were made for the synagogue —

we have no concern.

And even according to the one who says

concerning one who weaves a garment for a dead person, that it is forbidden to derive benefit from it even if he merely designated it for the dead person, because

designation is significant,

he concedes here that it is permitted to use them.

For

these words

that it is forbidden through mere designation —

such as one who weaves a garment for a dead person,

for through the weaving it immediately becomes fit to be spread over the dead person.

But here,

with the bricks,

it is like

one who makes

spun thread for weaving,

for weaving is still lacking. And with the bricks as well, their placement in the wall is still lacking,

and there is no one who says

that in such a case sanctity takes effect upon them through mere designation .

And if the people of the city gave the synagogue as a

gift,

in order to do ordinary things in it —

Rav Aḥa and Ravina disagreed about it. One —

prohibited, and one —

permitted.

Over what did they disagree?

The one who prohibited

thought: Is it so that

through this,

through a mere gift,

its sanctity will depart

from the synagogue?!

And

the reasoning of

the one who permitted is:

for certainly

if it were not that he had

the recipient of the gift

benefit from it

the giver,

he would not have given it to him

as a gift. Therefore

the gift is again considered like a sale,

and it is permitted .

The Sages taught: Objects serving a mitzva —

are discarded.

Objects serving sanctity —

are placed in geniza .

And these are objects serving a mitzva: a sukka, a lulav, a shofar, and ritual fringes .

And the reason they are objects serving a mitzva is that dwelling in the sukka, hearing the sound of the shofar, and so forth — these themselves are the substance of the mitzva.

And these are objects serving sanctity: a duloskemei

[a satchel or sack] of

books, phylacteries, and mezuzot, and a case for a Torah scroll, and a pouch

[a case and a pouch are the same thing; rather, a case is for a long object, and a pouch is for a short object]

for phylacteries, and their straps

of the phylacteries.

Rava said: At first

[initially]

I thought

that

this kursaya

[a wooden platform] —

is an object serving an object serving sanctity

of sanctity

it is —

and it is permitted.

For one spreads a cloth over the platform, and upon it one places the Torah scroll .

But,

since I saw that they sometimes place

sometimes

a Torah scroll upon it

without a cloth,

I said: It is an object serving sanctity —

and it is forbidden.

And Rava said: At first I thought

that

this parisa,

that is, a cloth that they spread over the ark from within \-

is an object serving an object serving sanctity,

for it is an object serving the ark, and the ark is an object serving the Torah scroll .

But,

since I saw that

sometimes they

fold it

[they fold it],

and place the scroll upon it —

I said: It is an object serving sanctity,

for it serves the scroll itself,

and it is forbidden .

And Rava said: This ark that has become damaged

[an ark that became damaged],

to make from it

[to make from it]

a smaller ark,

smaller than the first —

is permitted.

But to make from it

a platform

[a platform] —

is forbidden,

for this lowers it from its sanctity. For in the ark the Torah scroll is always placed, whereas upon the platform they place the Torah scroll only sometimes [Mishna Berura, section 134, subsection 26] .

And Rava said: This parisa

[the ark curtain]

that has become worn, to make it a parisa for scrolls —

is permitted.

But to make it a parisa

for the Five Books —

is forbidden.

And Rava said: These sacks

[duloskemei]

of the Five Books, and chests

[boxes]

of scrolls —

are objects serving sanctity, and are placed in geniza.

And we raise an objection:

Is it obvious!?

And we explain:

It might enter your mind to say that these are not made for honor,

but

to guard

[for protection]

they are made merely,

and therefore they do not possess sanctity —

it teaches us

that they are made for honor .

There was a certain synagogue of Roman Jews

[Jews who had come from Rome to Maḥoza and made a synagogue for themselves],

which opened into a certain room

[a room],

in which there lay

[which was lying]

a dead person

who had not yet been buried,

and the priests wanted to enter to pray there

in that synagogue, but they could not because of the impurity of the dead, which entered the synagogue through the doorway.

They came and told Rava.

He said to them: Raise the ark

[raise the ark], and

place it

in that doorway,

for

the ark

was a wooden vessel made to remain in place,

that is, made to remain in one place and not to be moved from place to place,

and

the law is that

a wooden vessel made to remain in place —

does not contract impurity, and it interposes

also

before impurity.

For anything that does not contract impurity interposes before impurity.

The Sages said to Rava: But sometimes they move it

the ark

when

[when]

they place a Torah scroll upon it, and it becomes movable when full and when empty,

and in such a case it contracts impurity !?

He said to them:

If so—

it is not possible.

Mar Zutra said: Book wrappings,

and even those of a Torah scroll,

that have become worn—

they make them shrouds

for a met mitzva,

whose needs are incumbent upon the public,

and this is their geniza. .

And Rava said: A Torah scroll that has become worn—

they store it beside a Torah scholar, even one who studies halakhot,

that is, one who did not serve Torah scholars in the study of Talmud and Gemara, but only in Mishnayot and beraitot.

Rav Aha bar Yaakov said: And

they store the Torah scroll

in an earthenware vessel. For it is said: “And you shall place them in an earthenware vessel, so that they may endure many days.”

We see that what is placed in an earthenware vessel is preserved for many days.

Rav Pappi said in the name of Rava: From a synagogue, to

make

a beit-midrash [ [A0022]]beit-midrash]—

beit-midrash ]—

it is permitted. .

But

from a beit-midrash, to

make

a synagogue—

it is forbidden.

And Rav Pappa, in the name of Rava, taught oppositely,

that to make a beit-midrash from a synagogue is forbidden, whereas to make a synagogue from a beit-midrash is permitted.