Menachot 31b (לא:) — the Talmud in English

For

did he say

Rav Hanina, “The halakha follows Rabbi Shimon Shezuri

in our Mishna,”

which implies that the halakha follows him specifically in a Mishna but not in a beraita? Yet

he says, “Every place where

Rabbi Shimon Shezuri taught, the halakha follows him,”

he said,

and if so, this halakha too is included in that principle!

Rav Zeira said that Rav Ḥananel said that Rav said: If a tear

was made in the sheet of a Torah scroll from top to bottom or from bottom to top,

that comes through two lines

within the writing [and in such a manner that no writing was torn, for example, between the letters],

he may sew

the tear, and the Torah scroll is fit.

But if the tear enters

three

lines,

he may not sew

the tear. Rather, he must remove the entire sheet. [Because the sewing is not aesthetically pleasing. Rivash, responsum no. 10]. 72.

Rabba Zuti said to Rav Ashi: This is what Rabbi Yirmeya of Difti said in the name of Rava. When we say

that if the tear enters

three lines, he may not sew it, we said this only with regard to an old sheet

of parchment, in which the sewing is unattractive.

But with regard to a new one,

new parchment,

we have no concern!

And when we say “old” and “new,”

“old”

does not mean

truly old, nor “new”

does it mean

truly new. Rather, this

means that a sheet is considered new when

it was not treated with gallnut

and the parchment was not processed with gallnuts, even if it is old;

and this

which is considered old refers even to new parchment that was

treated with gallnut,

when the parchment has been processed with gallnuts, in which case it is black and appears old. 74.

And this applies

when sewing a Torah scroll

with sinews

of an animal, as only with them may one sew,

but with threads,

woven threads,

not

may he sew it!

Rav Yehuda bar Abba raised a question:

A Torah scroll in which there was a tear in the margin

between one page and another,

and the tear reached opposite the writing, and the length of the tear was opposite more than three lines of writing; or the tear was

between one line and another—

what

is the ruling? Does it have a remedy through sewing, or not?

And we conclude:

The matter remains unresolved!

Rav Zeiri said that Rav Ḥananel said that Rav said: A mezuzah that one wrote

in short lines, writing

two words at a time

in each line, is

fit!

They raised a question:

If in the first line he wrote

two

words, and in the second line he wrote

three

words, and in the third line he wrote only

one

word,

what is the ruling?

Rav Naḥman said: All the more so

that it is fit, because

he made it like

writing

a song!

For it resembles the form in which the Song of the Sea is written: At first one writes a long line, and beneath it a line shorter than it, which is not as long as the line opposite it above!

The Gemara raises an objection: If he made it [

at this point the Gemara assumes that the reference is to a mezuzah]

like

the form of writing

a song, or if he wrote in a Torah scroll

the song in this manner [that is, he wrote the song in the ordinary form of writing], it is

the song in its form

writing

that is unfit?!

And we answer:

When that baraita was taught, it was with regard to a Torah scroll,

not a mezuzah. It was referring to one who wrote the other passages of the Torah in the form of a brick upon a column, for such writing is fit only for writing the song, and not for writing other passages. 81.

It was also stated: Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said—and some say that Rav Aḥa bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: A mezuzah that he made

by writing three lines, and in those three lines he wrote in the first

two

words, and in the second line he wrote

three

words, and beneath it, in the third line, he wrote only

one

word, it is

fit,

provided that he does not make it like a hut,

like a tent that is broad below and narrow above [that is, one word, two, and three].

And provided that he does not make it like a tail [

that is, three, two, one].

Rav Ḥisda said:

One who writes mezuzot must write the mezuzah’s final two words, which are

“upon the earth,”

by themselves

in the final line

of the mezuzah!

Some say

that one writes “upon the earth”

at the end of the line, and this is the form of the writing: “To give them, as the days of the heavens upon the earth.”

in the following arrangement: “to give them, like the days of the heavens upon the earth.”

And some say

that one writes them

at the beginning of the line, and this is the form: “To give them, as the days of the heavens upon the earth.” 83.

in the following arrangement: “to give them, like the days of the heavens upon the earth.” 83.

The one who says

that one writes them

at the end of the line

holds that, since it is stated in Psalms,

“As high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is His kindness toward those who fear Him,” one must write the words “as the days of the heavens” above the words “upon the earth,” indicating that just as the heavens are high above the earth, so will your days be prolonged.

And the one who says

that one writes them

at the beginning of the line [and the days of the heavens are not written above “the earth”] holds that one must distance the earth from the heavens, for this is the meaning of the verse:

“Just as the heavens are distant from the earth,

so will your days be prolonged!

Rabbi Ḥelbo said: I saw Rav Huna rolling it

the mezuzah

from “one” toward “Shema.”

He would fold the mezuzah from the word “one,” which is on the left, toward the word “Shema,” which is on the right. The word “Shema” is written at the beginning of the first line of the mezuzah, and the word “one” at the end of the line. When he rolled the mezuzah in order to place it in the doorway, he began folding it from the word “one” until he reached the word “Shema.” 84.

In the Torah there are two types of sections: an open section and a closed section. An open section is a new passage that is not connected to the preceding one, whereas a closed section continues the passage before it . In an “open” section, the writing begins at the beginning of the line. In a “closed” section, the writing begins in the middle of the line. 86.

And

Rav Huna would make

the

sections

of the mezuzah

closed!

That is, he finished the first section after the beginning of the line, left a space in the middle of the line, and began the second section at the end of that same line.

The hide of an animal has three parts upon which one writes tefillin, mezuzot, and a Torah scroll. They are: gevil, klaf, and dokhsustos. Gevil is hide from which nothing has been removed. Dokhsustos is hide that is divided into two, and the part facing the flesh is called dokhsustos. Klaf is the part facing the hair [and some have written the opposite].

The Gemara raises an objection: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: Rabbi Meir would write it on dokhsustos, like a sheet,

that is, like a long and narrow column.