Menachos 33
Summary
- Today’s דף is מנחות דף ל"ג, sponsored by שלמה סבוביץ לעילוי נשמת his grandmother's third יארצייט and his grandfather's second יארצייט, sponsored anonymously לזכות גמר חתימה טובה for the מתפללים of BKNW and for all of כלל ישראל, and sponsored by Henry Orlinsky לזכר נשמת Milton Kramer, יחיאל מיכל בן חיים שניאור זלמן הלוי זכרונו לברכה. The entire דף develops many הלכות מזוזה, including several statements of רב יהודה אמר שמואל, the invalidity of certain writings and placements, the role of *heker tzír* and *ragíl* in determining the correct side, the requirement that the חיוב already exist to avoid תעשה ולא מן העשוי, placement height and depth within a thick doorpost, and which structures such as בית מדרש, אכסדרה, and various בית שער configurations are חייב or פטור.
- Today’s דף is מנחות דף ל"ג with a triple sponsorship: sponsored by שלמה סבוביץ לעילוי נשמת his grandmother's third יארצייט and his grandfather's second יארצייט, sponsored anonymously לזכות גמר חתימה טובה for the מתפללים of BKNW and for all of כלל ישראל, and by Henry Orlinsky לזכר נשמת Milton Kramer, יחיאל מיכל בן חיים שניאור זלמן הלוי זכרונו לברכה. The learning begins on דף ל"ב עמוד ב' two lines from the bottom, in the middle of הלכות מזוזה, after two previously learned statements of רב יהודה אמר שמואל about not writing a מזוזה like an אגרת and not hanging it dangerously on a pole.
- Rav Yehudah says in the name of Shmuel that the מצוה is to place the מזוזה בתוך חללו של פתח, within the actual space of the doorway. The גמרא says this is implied by בשעריך, yet it teaches that even though one might think pushing it even farther outward toward רשות הרבים is better than placing it in the טפח הסמוך לרשות הרבים, it still must remain within the חלל הפתח to be the מצוה.
- Rav Yehudah says in the name of Shmuel that if one writes a מזוזה on two separate columns, it is פסולה. A ברייתא that states פסולה when written on two דפין and placed on two סיפין is explained as meaning it is written in a way that is ראויה לשני סיפין, fit to be split into two separate parchments, and that makes it פסולה even if placed on one side, so it supports Shmuel rather than refuting him. The חתם סופר בתשובה אורח חיים סימן ה' explains that the answer could have been phrased as ולטעמיך since the alternative reading is forced, while the בית הלוי suggests the הוה אמינא read שני סיפין as two right-side posts within a very thick doorway rather than right and left.
- Rav Yehudah says in the name of Shmuel that for מזוזה one follows the הכר ציר, placing the מזוזה on the side of the doorway with the hinge socket, defined by Rav Ada as the hole where the door’s pole sits. The גמרא limits this to a case like a doorway between two rooms, such as between גברי and נשי, where both rooms open to רשות הרבים and the hinge indicates which room is primary because the door opens into it. The presentation states that the main rule remains placing the מזוזה on the right when entering the more interior space, regardless of door swing, and that *heker tzír* is applied after other considerations such as what is further in and רוב תשמיש.
- The ריש גלותא tells Rav Nachman to set a מזוזה and then he will put up his doors, and Rav Nachman responds that the doors or doorposts must be installed first and only then should the מזוזה be set. The explanation ties this to תעשה ולא מן העשוי learned from ציצית, applying it to מזוזה so that one may not affix a מזוזה and only afterward create the doorway or build the house around it. The discussion records a מחלוקת הפוסקים about a dining room with a removable roof used for סוכה, where the תשובות ארבעה טורי אבן cites the פרי חדש requiring removal and reaffixing after the roof returns, while the author of ארבעה טורי אבן argues there is no תעשה ולא מן העשוי because the initial קביעה was done when the room was already חייב. The text also reports a related idea attributed to רבי עקיבא איגר regarding a בית becoming פטור when one goes on vacation and the implication that reattachment would otherwise be required, concluding that reliance is placed on the logic that an initially valid עשייה is not invalidated later.
- Rav Yehudah says in the name of Rav that if one places the מזוזה כמין נגר, it is פסולה, and this is explained as placing it horizontally like a peg driven straight in. Rav Yitzchak bar Yosef reports that all the mezuzot in Rabbi’s house were made כמין נגר, and the גמרא resolves that Rav’s פסול refers to one orientation while Rabbi’s practice is a different placement, described as one angled like a slanted form rather than fully horizontal, which is כשר.
- The report about Rabbi adds that the small doorway he used to enter the בית המדרש by his seat had no מזוזה, while a similar doorway used by Rav Huna did have a מזוזה, and the גמרא explains Rav Huna’s was a doorway that people were רגיל to use. Rav Yehudah says in the name of Rav that in מזוזה one follows אחר רגיל, placing the מזוזה on the entrance most commonly used when there are multiple entrances. רש"י is presented as understanding that a heavily used בית מדרש entrance is חייב and Rabbi’s private entrance is פטור, while תוספות and the רא"ש hold that a פתח בית המדרש is inherently פטור and Rav Huna’s doorway was considered a פתח ביתו. The ירושלמי is cited as stating that Rabbi Chanina’s בית מדרש entrance had a מזוזה, and the בית יוסף rules to be מחמיר by placing a מזוזה on a בית מדרש without a ברכה.
- Shmuel, transmitted by Rabbi Zeira and Rav Matna, states that the מצוה is to place the מזוזה בתחילה שליש העליון, at the beginning of the top third. Rav Huna says one raises it a טפח above the ground and keeps it a טפח below the lintel, and then the entire span is כשר. A ברייתא attributes Rav Huna’s view to Rabbi Yehudah, while Rabbi Yosi derives a high placement from וקשרתם וכתבתם, learning from תפילין that just as קשירה is בגובה so too כתיבה is בגובה, with רש"י reading this as תפילין של ראש and other ראשונים reading it as תפילין של יד. Rav Huna bar Rav Natan explains Shmuel as following Rabbi Yosi by interpreting “תחילת שליש העליון” as the maximum distance down from the top, not a requirement to place it specifically at the bottom of that third. The summary records that the רא"ש understands the מסקנא as allowing placement anywhere in the upper part, while the רמב"ם rules that לכתחילה it must be at the bottom of the top third and only בדיעבד is higher placement valid, and the בית יוסף connects Rabbi Yosi’s derivation to תפילין של יד to support that placement. Tosafot quotes a ירושלמי that for very tall doorways the mezuzah is placed at shoulder height so it can be seen, and the מרדכי reports in the name of the ר"י uncertainty whether this חולק on the בבלי, while the practical assumption is that it is followed להלכה.
- Rava says the מצוה is to place the מזוזה בטפח הסמוך לרשות הרבים when the doorway is very thick. The גמרא gives two reasons: the Rabbis say so one encounters the mezuzah immediately upon entering, and Rav Chanina of Sura says so that it provides protection to what is inside, referencing the earlier debate whether this is protection from the מצוה or a special סגולה. Rav Chanina teaches a contrast between a human king guarded from outside while he sits within, and הקדוש ברוך הוא whose servants sit within while He guards from outside, supported by ה' שומרך ה' צלך על יד ימינך, and the מהרש"א reads פרק קכ"א בתהילים as relating to מזוזה and protection from harmful מזלות, citing יומם השמש לא יככה וירח בלילה and ה' ישמור צאתך ובואך.
- Rav Yosef bar Rav, in the name of Rava, rules that if the mezuzah is sunk more than a טפח inward it is פסולה. A ברייתא about placing it in *patzín* or covering it with a מלבן and then requiring another mezuzah if there is a טפח is reinterpreted as referring to a פתח שאחורי הדלת, where a right-angle doorway arrangement prevents one mezuzah from being visible from the other entrance, and the גמרא explains that the ברייתא’s formulation is an elaboration of that case rather than a separate statement.
- A ברייתא rules that if doorposts are made of hollow reeds one cuts a reed tube and places the mezuzah inside it. Rav Acha bar Rava limits this to a case where the post is erected first and then cut and filled, while cutting and inserting the mezuzah before erecting the post is פסולה due to תעשה ולא מן העשוי, because the doorway must exist before the mezuzah is affixed.
- Rava states that פתחי שימאי are פטור מן המזוזה. Rav Rachumi and Abaye disagree on the definition: one says it means there is no lintel, and the other says it means there are no proper vertical posts, described as jagged *even yotzei ve-even nichnas* according to Tosafot, and either defect yields a פטור.
- Rav bar Shila says in the name of Rav Chisda that an אכסדרה is פטורה מן המזוזה because it lacks פצימין, and the גמרא clarifies that even if it has posts they are only for structural support of the roof and it remains פטור. Abaye reports seeing porches at Rabbah’s home that had posts but no mezuzah because they were treated as roof supports. A ברייתא that says בית שער אכסדרה ומרפסת חייבים במזוזה is answered as referring to a different type such as אכסדרה דבי רב or an אכסדרה רומיתא, a four-walled structure with many openings, where the חידוש is that it still counts as enclosed enough to be חייב.
- Rachba says in the name of Rav Yehudah that a בי ארזיקי is חייב בשתי מזוזות, explained as a בית שער opening to a חצר with houses opening to the בית שער, requiring a mezuzah both from חצר to בית שער and from בית שער to בית. A ברייתא presents a בית שער opening to a גינה and to קיתוניות, with Rabbi Yosi judging it as a קיתונית and Chachamim judging it as a בית שער. Rav and Shmuel say that from גינה to בית all agree it is חייב because it is ביאה דבית, while the dispute is from בית to גינה; Rabbah and Rav Yosef reverse the axis by saying from בית to גינה all agree it is פטור because it is a garden entrance, and the dispute is from גינה to בית. Abaye and Rava follow Rabbah and Rav Yosef, Rav Ashi follows Rav and Shmuel לחומרא with attention to *heker tzír*, and the conclusion is והלכתא כרב ושמואל לחומרא.
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