Menachos 37
Summary
- A sponsor dedicates the learning לעילוי נשמת מרש מרים שרה בת יעקב משה and prays that her נשמה should have an עליה. The text derives that תפילין של יד is placed on the left arm through pesukim that distinguish *yad* from *yamin*, presents רבי יוסי החורם’s challenge that *yamin* can be called *yad*, and resolves the placement through comparisons between writing and tying and through reading *yadkha* as the weaker hand. The text defines the locations for תפילין של יד on the קיבורת and תפילין של ראש on the קדקד, includes the two-headed child case for פדיון הבן with a ruling of ten סלעים based on גולגולת, and concludes the תפילין sugya with proofs that the תפילין must be placed where they are normally concealed and aligned with the heart. The text then moves to ציצית, frames the dispute whether four ציצית are one mitzvah or four mitzvot, gives several practical differences, states a reported ruling like רבי ישמעאל but rejects it, and closes with a Shabbat incident where כבוד הבריות interacts with wearing a garment whose ציצית tore, ending with הדרן עלך הקומץ and a blessing to complete מנחות and all of ש״ס.
- A sponsor dedicates the learning לעילוי נשמת מרש מרים שרה בת יעקב משה and states that her נשמה should have an עליה. The learning begins in מנחות דף לז starting on לו עמוד ב near the words תנו רבנן.
- A baraita interprets *yadkha* as referring to the left hand, making תפילין placement on the left arm. The baraita proves this by citing pesukim that juxtapose *yad* with *yamin*, including אף ידי יסדה ארץ וימיני טפחה שמים, ידה ליתד תשלחנה וימינה להלמות עמלים, and למה תשיב ידך וימינך מקרב חיקך כלה, and treats *yad* as distinct from *yamin* so that *yad* means left while *yamin* means right.
- Rabbi Yosi ha-Ḥorem is presented with a disagreement between Rashi and Tosafot about why he is called חורם. Rashi explains that חורם refers to a nose set into the face, while Tosafot rejects this as degrading and explains חורם as a place Rabbi Yosi came from.
- Rabbi Yosi ha-Ḥorem states that *yamin* can be called *yad* from וירא יוסף כי ישית אביו יד ימינו. The Tanna Kamma answers that only the phrase יד ימינו is called *yad*, while *yad* alone is not called right and therefore refers to the left.
- Rav Natan derives left-arm placement without the earlier distinction by reading וקשרתם וכתבתם to equate tying with writing. Rav Natan states that just as writing is done with the right hand, tying is done with the right hand, and since tying is done with the right hand, placing the תפילין is on the left.
- The text asks how Rabbi Yosi ha-Ḥorem knows that הנחה is on the left and answers that he learns it from the same source as Rav Natan, from the linkage of writing and tying. Rav Ashi derives it from *yadkha* written with a ה, reading it as לשון נקבה and identifying the תפילין arm as the weaker hand, which is the left for most people. Rashi also brings an alternative reading with a slight textual change that splits *yadkha* into יד כהה, meaning the weaker hand.
- Rav Abba challenges Rav Ashi by suggesting *yadkha* could mean the strong hand. Rav Ashi responds that the word is not written with a ḥet but with a kaf, so it is read as יד כהה or as the feminine form implying weakness.
- A tannaitic framing states that *yadkha* with a ה refers to the left hand. Others say that *yadkha* comes לרבות גידם, including a person with a ruined or cut-off arm regarding the obligation of תפילין.
- Another baraita rules that a person with no arm at all is פטור מן התפילין. Others again say *yadkha* לרבות גידם, obligating a person whose hand is unusable.
- A baraita rules that an *iter* places תפילין on his right arm because that is his “left,” meaning his weaker side. A conflicting baraita says he places on his left, the left of all people, and Abaye resolves that baraita as referring to someone who is שולט בשתי ידיו, who then places like a right-handed person.
- The בית מדרש of Menashe interprets על ידך as זו קיבורת, which Rashi explains as the bicep area on the upper arm. The same source interprets בין עיניך as זו קדקד for תפילין של ראש. The בית מדרש of Rabbi Yannai defines קדקד as the place where a baby’s skull is soft, מקום שמוחו של תינוק רופס.
- Plimo asks Rabbi about someone with two heads and on which head he puts תפילין, and Rabbi responds that he must go into גלות or accept שמתא for mocking. A man then arrives and reports that a two-headed baby was born to him and asks how much must be given to the כהן for פדיון הבן. An elder teaches Rabbi that he must give ten סלעים.
- A teaching from Rami bar Ḥama derives from פדה תפדה that one might think redemption applies even if the child died within thirty days, and then limits it with אך פדה תפדה so redemption applies only if the child lived. The text answers that the two-headed case differs because the Torah ties redemption to גולגולת in חמשת שקלים לגלגולת, so two skulls require a double פדיון.
- A baraita interprets על ידך as the upper part of the arm and rejects placing on the hand itself by analogizing “hand” tefillin and “head” tefillin so both are on a “height.” Rabbi Eliezer derives placement on the upper arm from והיה לך לאות, reading it as לך לאות ולא לאחרים לאות so the placement is normally covered. Rabbi Yitzḥak derives it from ושמתם את דברי אלה על לבבכם וקשרתם so the placement is כנגד הלב, and Rav Ḥiyya and Rav Aḥa son of Abaye align the תפילין accordingly.
- Rav Ashi sits before Amimar with a wound and a cut sleeve that leaves the תפילין visible. Amimar challenges him with לך לאות ולא לאחרים לאות, and Rav Ashi answers that this requirement refers to the usual placement location that is normally only an אות for the wearer even if circumstances sometimes expose it.
- A baraita interprets בין עיניך as the upper part of the head and proves it by comparing it to לא תשימו קרחה בין עיניכם למת, which is understood as the place where one can make a bald spot, namely where hair grows. Rabbi Yehuda adds that the comparison between hand-tefillin and head-tefillin places both where only one kind of נגע applies, excluding the forehead area between the eyes because it has both flesh and hair and could involve both white hair and yellow hair standards, while the top of the head aligns with a single nega category.
- The text moves to the mishnah that ארבע ציצית מעכבות זו את זו because they are one mitzvah, while Rabbi Yishmael holds they are four separate mitzvot. Rav Yosef states the difference is סדין בציצית, permitting *sha’atnez* only when the full mitzvah exists according to the Tanna Kamma, while Rabbi Yishmael treats each corner as its own mitzvah. Rava bar Ḥina states the difference is a five-cornered garment, with the Tanna Kamma requiring four ציצית and Rabbi Yishmael requiring five. Ravina states the difference is Rav Huna’s rule that going out on Shabbat with a garment not properly fringed incurs חטאת, which applies to three-of-four according to the Tanna Kamma but not according to Rabbi Yishmael.
- Rav Sheshet son of Rav Idi rules that one who cuts a garment corner does not remove the obligation and instead makes it into a five-cornered garment. Rav Mesharshiya rules that one who ties corners or folds a garment and attaches it does nothing because it is treated as if untied and will come undone. A baraita supports this by treating tied flasks as not fully functional vessels for tum’ah except for the Arab style where tying is the standard. Rav Dimi of Nehardea rules that even sewing a folded garment does nothing because the stitches can be cut and the garment reopened.
- Rav Yehuda in the name of Shmuel states הלכה כרבי ישמעאל. The text then states ולית הלכתא כוותיה.
- Ravina walks behind Mar bar Rav Ashi on Shabbat and a corner string tears, and one version says Ravina does not inform him until they reach his house, where Mar bar Rav Ashi says he would have removed the garment if told earlier. The text challenges this with גדול כבוד הבריות שדוחה לא תעשה שבתורה and answers, via Rav bar Shava before Rav Kahana, that this refers to בלאו דלא תסור and applies when the prohibition is rabbinic. Another version says Mar bar Rav Ashi relies on כבוד הבריות to keep it on, and the text answers that the case is in a כרמלית דרבנן so כבוד הבריות overrides.
- The text ends with הדרן עלך הקומץ and מזל טוב on finishing the third chapter of מנחות. The text expresses a hope to finish the entire מסכת מנחות and all of ש״ס together and says the learning will resume tomorrow with the new chapter.
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