Menachot 30b (ל:) — the Talmud in English

Rather,

he should write

three

letters

within the page, and two

he may write

outside the page! [

That is, he may not place more than two letters outside the page. According to the Rosh in the laws of a Torah scroll] 56 .

When does this apply? When he may write outside the page because he is writing part of the word within the page. But if

there happened to appear before him

at the end of the line

a

complete

two-letter

word,

he may not cast it

into the complete word

between the columns; rather, he returns and writes

the word

at the beginning of the line

that follows. 57 .

With regard to one who errs concerning the Divine Name,

who, instead of writing the Name of God, wrote the following word, which is an ordinary word, he

scrapes

with a knife

what he wrote

in place of the Name of God [the scraping with a knife is done after the ink has dried; he should not erase the ink while it is still wet, since then the erasure is not made properly]. After he has scraped away that word which was written in place of the Name of God, he

“suspends” what he scraped away,

that is, he writes it between the two lines, and such writing is called “suspension,”

and he writes the Name over the place of the scraping—these are the words of Rabbi

Yehuda. [

This refers to a case in which he discovered the error after the other words that follow had already been written. Therefore, he suspends the word following the Name, since he cannot write it later in the line] 58 .

Rabbi Yosei says:

He need not scrape it away; rather,

he may even suspend the Name

between the lines!

Rabbi Yitzchak says:

He need not wait until the ink dries and he can scrape it away; rather,

he may even erase

the ink while it is still wet,

and write

the Name in place of the erasure.

Rabbi Shimon Shezuri says: The entire Name

in its entirety

may be suspended,

but

part of it may not be suspended!

For one may not write part of the Name on the line and part of the Name between the lines , 60 .

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says in the name of Rabbi Meir: One may write the Name neither over the place of the scraping nor over the place of the erasure, and one may not suspend it

between the lines, for this is not its honor. And if it happened that he erred and wrote another word in place of the Name of God, and afterward wrote additional words,

what does he do,

since he has no possibility of erasing and writing in place of the erasure?

He removes the entire sheet

that contains the error

and consigns it to geniza,

because additional Names are written on that same sheet.

It was stated: Rav Ḥananel said in the name of Rav: The halakha is that one suspends the Name!

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak bar Shmuel: The halakha is that one erases and writes

the Name over the place of the erasure.

And we raised an objection:

Let the Master say

Rav Ḥananel said in the name of Rav:

The halakha is in accordance with the Master,

in accordance with Rabbi Yosei, who holds that one suspends the Name.

Let

the Master

Rabba bar bar Ḥana say in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak:

The halakha is in accordance with the Master,

in accordance with Rabbi Yitzchak, who holds that one may even erase and write!? And we answer:

Because

there are tannaim

who reverse them,

attributing Rabbi Yosei’s statement to Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Yitzchak’s statement to Rabbi Yosei. Therefore, they had to rule explicitly, saying either that one suspends, or that one erases and writes. They could not suffice with mentioning the names of the tannaim whose opinions they followed.

Ravin bar Ḥinnena said in the name of Ulla, who said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon Shezuri! Moreover, wherever Rabbi Shimon Shezuri taught a ruling, the halakha is in accordance with him!

And we raised an objection:

Concerning that

concerning which ruling did Ravin bar Ḥinnena say that the halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon Shezuri?

If we say it is concerning this,

concerning what we learned:

Rabbi Shimon Shezuri says: The entire Name may be suspended, but part of it may not be suspended! But it was stated concerning it

concerning this matter,

Rav Ḥananel said in the name of Rav: The halakha is that one suspends the Name! And Rabba bar bar Ḥana said in the name of Rav Yitzchak bar Shmuel: The halakha is that one erases and writes!

And if it is so,

that Ravin bar Ḥinnena said in the name of Ulla that Rabbi Ḥanina ruled in accordance with Rabbi Shimon Shezuri concerning suspending the Name, then

he,

Ravin bar Ḥinnena,

should also say

his words together with the statements of Rav Ḥananel and Rabba bar bar Ḥana. Why were his words stated separately!?

Rather, it is concerning this:

Ravin bar Ḥinnena said that Rabbi Ḥanina ruled that the halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon Shezuri: