Menachos Daf 35 - Hilchos Tefilin
Summary
- The shiur on מנחות דף ל״ה continues the הלכות of תפילין, beginning with the פסול that results when the פרשיות are arranged שלא כסידרן, and then presents a sequence of details that are הלכה למשה מסיני, including the תיתורא, מעברתא, שין, שחורות הרצועות, and the ריבוע of תפילין. The narrative moves through disputes among אמוראים and later explanations in ראשונים and פוסקים about how to define these requirements, how to treat tears in the בתים and snapped רצועות, and what constitutes acceptable repair or minimum שיעור. The sugya concludes with statements about the קשר של תפילין, its proper appearance and placement, and brief אגדתא connecting תפילין של ראש to “וראו כל עמי הארץ” and to the “אחורי” shown to משה רבינו.
- Dr. David Landrau sponsors the shiur in honor of his wife and children and לעילוי נשמת his mother גולדה בת שמחה עליה השלום, הנשמה שתהא לה עליה. The shiur begins at אמר רב חננאל on the bottom of ל״ד עמוד ב׳ and frames the day’s learning as a continuation of the דינים of תפילין.
- Rav Chananel בשם Rav rules that if one switches the פרשיות so they are not in the סדר written in the תורה, the תפילין are פסולות. Abaye limits the פסול to cases of exchanging inner and outer placements, while allowing exchanges within the inner pair or within the outer pair. Rava rejects Abaye’s distinction and concludes that any deviation from the proper order renders the תפילין פסול, and the shiur states that the halacha follows Rava.
- Rav Chananel בשם Rav states that the תיתורא of תפילין is הלכה למשה מסיני, described as the folded leather base formed from the same piece of עור. Abaye states that the מעברתא, the grooved passage through which the רצועה is inserted, is הלכה למשה מסיני, and that the שין on the תפילין של ראש is הלכה למשה מסיני. Abaye requires that the חריץ separating the בתים reach down to the מקום התפר, while Rav Dimi מנהרדעא says this is not required if the separation is recognizable from above.
- The בית יוסף בשם ארחות חיים gives a reason that the שין alludes to the number of days in a regular year when one wears תפילין, stated as three hundred. The בית יוסף also quotes from the רי אכסנדרי that the שם הוי״ה in אתב״ש is שין and yields a גימטריא of three hundred, making the שין a representation of a שם on the תפילין. Rav Schachter בשם Rav Chaim Volozhiner is cited defining תשמישי קדושה as items associated with כתב של תורה, and the shiur applies this to the greater קדושה of תפילין של ראש over תפילין של יד because of the additional letters. The shiur relates a view attributed to Rav Soloveitchik that קדושה emanates from the presence of the ארון and כתב של תורה, and ties this to discussions about whether a בית הכנסת has the status of תשמישי קדושה.
- Tosafos בשם שימושא רבא states that the right-side שין has three arms and the left-side שין has four arms, and this is presented as not מעכב even if reversed. The ראש and מרדכי interpret “right” and “left” as the sides of the מניח, while רבינו יהונתן is presented as describing the opposite arrangement, and the בית יוסף resolves the discrepancy by reading his “right” and “left” as the perspective of the קורא. The בית יוסף בשם מגיה בסמ״ג explains the four-headed שין as reflecting the form of the engraved כתב on the לוחות, where the interior spaces are formed by air through engraving.
- Abaye rules that the קלף must be checked before writing because a defect could prevent כתיבה תמה. Rav Dimi מנהרדעא says checking is unnecessary because the קולמוס reveals any meaningful נקב during writing, and an imperceptibly tiny defect that inks over does not create a problem.
- Rabbi Yitzchak states that רצועות שחורות are הלכה למשה מסיני. The משנה ברורה cites the ספר ברוך שאמר that the ideal is black like a raven, and the ביאור הלכה describes repeated blackening as a הידור while stating that any shade called black suffices מדינא. Tosafos reports that some made בתים from white leather, and the ראש and רמב״ם frame black batim as נוי תפילין rather than מעכב, while the מרדכי בשם רי and the ב״ח assert that the batim must also be black. The שיur states that the שולחן ערוך treats black batim as a מצוה but not מעכב, while non-black רצועות render the תפילין פסול.
- A ברייתא states that רצועות may be ירוקות, שחורות, or לבנות, but not אדומות due to גנאי and “דבר אחר” concerns. Stories are brought of a תלמיד of רבי עקיבא using תכלת and of הורקנוס בנו של רבי אליעזר בן הורקנוס using ארגמן, and both sages are said not to have protested only because they did not see it, and they would not have allowed it had they seen it. The Gemara resolves the contradiction by distinguishing between the inner side of the strap, which may be various colors, and the outer side, which must be black; it still forbids red inside because straps can flip and become visible.
- A teaching states that תפילין מרובעות are הלכה למשה מסיני. Rav Pappa specifies that the stitching must be square and the diagonal proportion must match that of a true square. A משנה about one who makes תפילתו עגולה is brought as a possible support, and Rav Pappa answers that the משנה addresses a dangerous אגוז-like shape, while the halacha here requires squareness even absent that סכנה.
- Rav Huna rules that as long as the upper surface remains intact, tears between batim do not invalidate. Rav Chisda says that if two walls tear the תפילין remain כשרות, but if three tear they are פסולות, and Rava qualifies that two are only כשר when they are not adjacent. The Gemara limits the adjacent-tear פסול to new תפילין, while older תפילין are not treated the same, and Rav Yosef defines “new” and “old” by whether the עור retracts after stretching and by whether the תפילין will follow the strap when lifted.
- When Abaye’s רצועה snaps, he asks whether he may tie it, and Rav Yosef answers from “וקשרתם” that the knot must be a קשירה תמה. A question is raised about stitching the strap so the seam is inside, and the response is “פוק חזי מאי עמא דבר,” with Rashi understanding that people do not stitch snapped straps and instead replace them, while Rabbeinu Tam reads the phrase as permitting stitching. The ראש limits the concern to the strap that wraps around the head or arm and permits stitching the hanging portions.
- Rav Pappa states that גרדומי רצועות are כשרות, but the Gemara challenges this from בני רבי חייא who validate גרדומי תכלת and גרדומי אזוב and do not state such a rule for straps. The Gemara distinguishes that תכלת and אזוב are תשמישי מצוה whereas straps are תשמישי קדושה, and it infers that straps have a שיעור. Rami bar Chama בשם Reish Lakish gives the שיעור as עד אצבע צרדה, and the sugya records differing demonstrations of the measure by Rav Kahana and Rav Ashi, along with varied practices of Rava, Rav Acha bar Yaakov, and Mar brei d’Ravina regarding handling excess strap length.
- Rav Yehuda bar Rav Shmuel bar Sheilas בשם Rav states that קשר של תפילין is הלכה למשה מסיני, and Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak says its נוי is displayed outward. When Rav Ashi’s strap flips, Mar Zutra points out that the outward-facing beauty is lost, and Rav Ashi says he did not notice. The verse “וראו כל עמי הארץ כי שם ה׳ נקרא עליך ויראו ממך” is connected in a ברייתא to תפילין שבראש, and a teaching states that Hashem showed משה רבינו the קשר של תפילין in the context of “וראית את אחורי.” Rav Yehuda adds that the knot must be positioned high and centered as symbolic statements that ישראל should be למעלה and לפנים.
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