- Reading from a sefer of haftarahs, and writing a portion of Torah for a child to learn
Rabbah and Rav Yosef both said: האי ספר אפטרתא – This book of haftarahs (in which only portions of Navi, not whole volumes, are written), אסור למקרי ביה בשבת – is forbidden to read from on Shabbos for the haftarah reading, דלא ניתן ליכתב – because the Torah is not meant to be written in portions and cannot be read from texts written improperly. Mar bar Rav Ashi added that it is muktzeh on Shabbos, since it cannot be read from. However, the Gemara rejects both rulings, because we find that Rebbe Yochanan and Reish Lakish learned from a sefer of aggadah on Shabbos, even though it is forbidden to record תורה שבעל פה (see point 3)!? This proves that כיון דלא אפשר – since it was impossible to continue not to record תורה שבעל פה, because it would be lost, they applied the principle: עת לעשות לה' הפרו תורתך - When it is a time to act for Hashem, they nullified Your Torah. Abaye asked Rabbah: מהו לכתוב מגילה לתינוק להתלמד בה – What is the halachah regarding writing a scroll containing a portion of the Torah for a child to be taught from? He explains how the question is pertinent according to both opinions of how the Torah was given (presented in point 2). Rabbah answered that it may not be written, and the Gemara later concludes it is a machlokes Tannaim.
- Machlokes if the Torah was givenמגילה מגילה , orחתומה
Rebbe Yochanan said in Rebbe Banaah’s name: תורה מגילה מגילה ניתנה – The Torah was given scroll by scroll, as it says: אז אמרתי הנה באתי – Then I said, Behold, I have come, במגילת ספר כתוב עלי –[but] in a scroll of the Book it is written about me (referring to a section of the Torah). Reish Lakish says the Torah was חתומה ניתנה – given as a complete unit, as it says: לקח את ספר התורה הזאת – Take this Book of the Torah. Rebbe Yochanan can explain that this passuk is describing the Torah after it was joined together as a single unit. Reish Lakish, who holds the Torah was given as one complete sefer, explains Rebbe Yochanan’s passuk: דכל התורה כולה איקרי מגילה – because the entire Torah is referred to as a scroll, which he demonstrates from a passuk. Alternatively, he answers based on Rebbe Levi’s statement: שמנה פרשיות נאמרו ביום שהוקם בו המשכן – Eight parshiyos were said the day that the Mishkan was erected, because they were necessary for halachos of the Mishkan. They were written on scrolls at the time, and when the Torah was written, the gaps between them were filled. Therefore, the entire Torah is called “scrolls.”
- תורה שבכתב and תורה שבעל פה
Rebbe Yehudah bar Nachmani darshened: It is written: כתוב לך את הדברים האלה – Write for yourself these words, implying they must be written. But it says in the same passuk: כי על פי הדברים האלה – for on the basis of these words, implying they are given orally (על פי meaning by mouth). This teaches: דברים שבכתב אי אתה רשאי לאומרן על פה – Words given in writing (i.e., Tanach), you are not permitted to transmit orally; דברים שבעל פה אי אתה רשאי לאומרן בכתב – Words given orally (תורה שבעל פה), you are not permitted to transmit in writing. Rebbe Yochanan darshened from this passuk: לא כרת הקדוש ברוך הוא ברית עם ישראל אלא בשביל דברים שבעל פה – Hashem only established a covenant with Yisroel for the sake of the Oral Torah, as it says: כי "על פי" הדברים האלה – for on the basis of these words, כרתי אתך ברית ואת ישראל – I established a covenant with you (Moshe), and with Yisroel.
