Menachos Daf 30 - Laws of Writing a Sefer Torah
Summary
- The דף centers on הלכות כתיבת ספר תורה, including when errors require תיקון versus גניזה, how one flawless דף can validate repairing an otherwise flawed ספר, and why missing letters are treated more severely than extra letters. The גמרא addresses how the last eight פסוקים were written and why they receive special reading status, contrasts buying a ספר תורה with writing one and the significance of correcting even one אות, and sets detailed rules for the layout and spacing of יריעות, columns, lines, words, and letters. The sugya also presents multiple תנאיים and אמוראיים approaches to fixing a mistaken replacement of a שם השם, then turns to the claim that הלכה follows רבי שמעון שזורי everywhere and searches for the original context of that sweeping rule through several proposed cases.
- Today's שיעור is sponsored by Dr. David Lander in honor of his wife and children and לעילוי נשמת his mother Golda בת Simcha עליה השלום. The נשמה should have an עליה, and thanks are given for the continued sponsorship of the דף יומי.
- Rav Yosef cites two rulings of Rav in ספרים that face a ברייתא-based תיובתא. Rav says a ספר תורה with two mistakes on each דף is repaired, while three mistakes per דף leads to גניזה, but the ברייתא sets the threshold at three to repair and four to place in גניזה. A view in תשובות הרשב"א החדשות explains יגנז as putting it away until it is repaired via גרירה, distinguishing routine תיקון from תיקון that requires scraping, though the straightforward reading takes יגנז literally as גניזה.
- The גמרא teaches that one completely correct דף can save the entire ספר by making it worthwhile to repair, and Rav Yitzchak bar Shmuel bar Marta says this applies when רוביה דספרא is written properly, understood by רש"י as most of each דף being error-free. Abaye asks about a case where one דף has three errors while others have four, and Rav Yosef answers that since the three-error page is repairable it is fixed and then becomes the perfect page that saves the rest.
- The rule requiring גניזה for four mistakes per דף is limited to חסירות, while יתירות are fixed by scraping without concern. Rav Kahana explains חסירות are not corrected because adding letters makes the ספר look מנומר and violates זה קלי ואנוהו, whereas removing extra letters is not degrading. Agra, the father-in-law of רבי אבא, has יתירות in his ספר and רבי אבא rules that the concern applies only to חסירות.
- Rav rules that one finishing writing may complete even באמצע הדף, but a ברייתא requires not finishing באמצע הדף and instead narrowing the writing to reach the end. The גמרא resolves that Rav speaks about חומשין, while at the end of the full ספר תורה one must reach the end of the דף by compressing lines.
- A statement reported as Rav saying “לעיני כל ישראל באמצע הדף” is reinterpreted as באמצע שיטה, and the conclusion is that “לעיני כל ישראל” may be in the middle of a line but not in the middle of a column. The practice yields a final column that may be narrower to ensure the text reaches the bottom, while the last words may end mid-line.
- Rav states that the last eight פסוקים are read by a יחיד in the בית הכנסת, and רש"י explains this as not splitting them between two עליות. Additional interpretations are brought, including Rabbeinu Meshulam that the עולה reads those פסוקים without a designated בעל קורא, and the ר"י מיגאש that the section is separated because it may be יהושע’s writing, while also suggesting the opposite to avoid highlighting a difference.
- The רמב"ם rules that these eight פסוקים may be read even without a מנין, and the מרדכי says they should be read by a מיוחד, a תלמיד חכם, tying this to the prominence of חתן תורה. The differing treatment initially appears aligned with רבי יהודה (or רבי נחמיה) who says יהושע wrote the last eight פסוקים because משה could not write “וימת שם משה,” while רבי שמעון insists the ספר תורה cannot lack even one letter and משה wrote all of it. רבי שמעון explains that up to that point Hashem אומר and משה אומר וכותב, while the last eight are Hashem אומר and משה כותב בדמע, supported by the ירמיהו account of ברוך בן נריה writing from ירמיהו without oral repetition due to sorrow.
- The gמרא reconciles Rav’s special reading rule even with רבי שמעון by saying that since those פסוקים were written differently they are read differently. Tosafos and the מרדכי derive a practice for סופרי סת"ם to say each word before writing to avoid error, while the ספר התרומה and סמ"ג limit this to dictation rather than copying, and the טור and שולחן ערוך present the halachic framing. The משנה ברורה reports disagreement among later authorities about requiring verbalization even when copying fluently, and the ב"ח explains the recitation as sanctifying the letters rather than preventing mistakes.
- The meaning of כותב בדמע is presented as sorrowful writing, while the מהרש"א argues the absence of verbalization avoids false declaration and suggests tears render it unlike standard writing. The מלא הרועים and the גר"א in קול אליהו interpret בדמע as דמוע, writing the letters without clear spacing so the content of משה’s death is not expressed as a readable statement.
- Rav teaches that buying a ספר תורה מן השוק is like *chotef mitzvah* מן השוק, while writing one is credited as if receiving it at הר סיני. Rav Sheshet says that correcting even one letter in a purchased ספר credits a person as if he wrote it. רש"י understands the buyer fulfills the mitzvah but on a lower level, while Rabbeinu Yehonasan explains that convenience invites prosecution because the person might not have done the mitzvah without ease. Tosafos is read as implying a more favorable view of purchasing, and the רמ"א rules that buying an already corrected ספר does not fulfill כתיבת ספר תורה, while the גר"א sides with רש"י that it fulfills but is inferior to writing.
- The ברייתא sets that a יריעה should contain between three and eight דפין, avoiding too many narrow columns that resemble an איגרת and avoiding overly wide columns that make the reader’s eyes wander. The proper column width is given as the space to write “למשפחותיכם” three times. If a יריעה fits nine דפין it is split, and the preferred division is four and five, with an alternate understanding attributed to Rabbeinu Yehonasan that avoids too many consecutive small three-column sections.
- The limitation on column counts applies to the beginning and middle of the ספר, but at the end even one פסוק or one דף can be on its own יריעה, clarified as arranging a very narrow final column so the writing reaches the bottom. This is cited as a precedent used by רבי מאיר שפירא in thinking about how the last partial דף of a מסכת can still count as a דף.
- The prescribed margins are a טפח at the bottom and three אצבעות at the top, with two אצבעות between columns, while in חומשין the bottom is three אצבעות, the top is two אצבעות, and the space between columns is a גודל. Between lines the spacing is given as a full line, creating a double-spaced format, and תשובות דברי חיים יו"ד ח"ב סימן קל"א states the practice is no longer followed because it was only for beauty and current tradition does not treat it as יפה, adding that even if אליהו would instruct otherwise it would not be accepted. Between words the space is כמלא אות קטנה and between letters it is כמלא חוט השערה to ensure מוקף גויל, and one may not compress the כתב to accommodate required spacings above, below, between lines, or between פרשיות.
- A five-letter word at the line end may be split so that three letters remain inside the column and two extend into the margin, while a two-letter word like “את” may not be pushed into the margin and must be moved to the start of the next line. A מחלוקת רמב"ם והרא"ש is noted regarding even-letter words and whether an equal split is acceptable.
- A ברייתא presents multiple approaches when a scribe writes the wrong word where a שם השם belongs. רבי יהודה requires scraping what was written, writing the scraped word above, and placing the שם on the מקום הגרר. רבי יוסי allows hanging even the שם, placing it between lines without scraping. רבי יצחק allows erasing and writing the שם on the מקום המחיקה even though it leaves a mark. רבי שמעון שזורי requires the entire name to be hung as a unit and not partially. רבי שמעון אלעזר משום רבי מאיר forbids writing the name over גרר or מחק and forbids hanging it, requiring the entire יריעה be removed and placed in גניזה.
- Amoraic rulings follow, with Rav Chananel quoting Rav that hanging the name is permitted and Rabbah bar Chanah quoting Rav Yitzchak bar Shmuel that erasing and writing the name on the erased place is permitted. The repetition beyond simply citing the תנא is explained by the need to clarify due to reversed attributions.
- Rabbah bar Chinah reports in the name of Ulla and רבי חנינא that הלכה follows רבי שמעון שזורי, and moreover that wherever רבי שמעון שזורי teaches, הלכה follows him. The גמרא challenges whether this statement is rooted in the current case of טועה בשם because the sugya already lists other amoraic rulings there and the formulation appears as a new topic rather than a continuation.
- The גמרא proposes alternative contexts, including the case of בן פקועה where רבי שמעון שזורי says even a five-year-old animal plowing in the field remains permitted by the mother’s שחיטה, yet notes that a known ruling there is attributed to Ze’iri in the name of רבי חנינא without pairing Rabbah bar Chinah’s report. The sugya then considers the גט cases of היוצא בקולר, המפרש, היוצא בשיירה, and רבי שמעון שזורי’s הרחבה to אף המסוכן. Another proposed context is תרומת מעשר של דמאי שחזרה למקומה where רבי שמעון שזורי permits reliance on the seller’s word, but רבי יוחנן is cited as ruling like רבי שמעון שזורי only in מסוכן and in תרומת מעשר של דמאי, leaving the sweeping “everywhere” claim unresolved at this point and setting up further possibilities to continue.
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