Menachos 39
Summary
- A sponsored learning for לעילוי נשמת מרס מרים שרה בת ר' יעקב משה הורניש נשמתה שתהא לה עליה continues the halachot of ציצית in מנחות דף לט, beginning at אמר רב בר אבוא. Rav’s ruling about a string snapping at the base is tested against a ברייתא that validates remaining stubs only when they retain a minimum usable length, defined as כדי לענבן. The sugya then sets rules for the כריכות and חוליות, their ideal proportions and numeric bounds, and records a dispute between רב and רב בר בר חנה about whether ציצית may be entirely גדיל without dangling פתיל. The daf concludes with the interplay of garment materials and strings, permitting צמר and פשתן broadly while debating whether silk garments are obligated מן התורה, and it anchors רב נחמן’s view in a teaching of תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל while noting a conflict with another teaching from the same school.
- A sponsored learning is stated as לעילוי נשמת מרס מרים שרה בת ר' יעקב משה הורניש נשמתה שתהא לה עליה.
- A Rav teaching transmitted by Rav bar Avua states that if a ציצית string snaps מעיקרו at the base where it connects to the בגד, the ציצית is פסולה. A ברייתא limits invalidation to the initial making, but after the ציצית is made בכשרות it remains valid with שיורי גרדומיו כל שהוא. The Gemara rejects reading this as two separate cases of partial remainder versus total severing and instead treats it as one rule requiring a defined remnant. A specific minimum is required, set as כדי לענבן, enough remaining length to tie.
- Rabba states in the name of Rav that חוט של כרך עולה מן המניין and the wrapping string counts among the required strings. Rav Yosef corrects the attribution and says this statement is from Shmuel, not Rav. A supporting transmission cites Rabbi Yoshiyah of Usha reporting it משמיה דשמואל, reaffirming that the wrapping string counts.
- Rabba reports in the name of Shmuel that *tekhelet* שכרך רובה כשרה, using *tekhelet* to mean the entire ציצית fringe rather than the blue wool. Rav Yosef reverses the attribution and assigns this ruling to Rav, and a chain of transmission presents it explicitly in Rav’s name. Rav’s version adds that even if it has only one *khulyah* it is כשרה, while the נויי *tekhelet* standard is שליש גדל ושני שלישי ענף. A ברייתא in the name of Rabbi defines the minimum *khulyah* as כדי שיכרוך וישנה וישלש, enough to wrap once, repeat, and wrap a third time.
- A ברייתא sets that one who reduces should not have fewer than seven *khulyot* and one who adds should not exceed thirteen. Seven corresponds to שבע רקיעים. Thirteen corresponds to שבע רקיעים וששה אוירן שביניהן, the seven heavens plus the six spaces between them.
- A ברייתא requires that when beginning the windings one starts בלבן, derived from הכנף מן כנף with the corner matching the garment’s white. It also requires that when finishing one concludes בלבן because מעלין בקודש ואין מורידין. The sequencing permits winding with the תכלת after beginning with white while still ending with white.
- A man passes Rav and Rav bar bar Chana wearing a garment that is entirely תכלת with ציצית, and his fringe is entirely גדיל with no ענף of loose strands. Rav says יאי גלימא ולא יאי תכלתא, approving the garment but rejecting the fringe. Rav bar bar Chana says יאי גלימא ויאי תכלתא, approving both. Rav bar bar Chana reads the verses of גדילים and פתיל as permitting either all גדיל or all פתיל, while Rav holds that dangling פתיל is always required and that גדילים serves to teach the count, deriving גדיל as שנים and גדילים as ארבעה and requiring עשה גדיל ופתיל מתוכו.
- Shmuel in the name of Levi rules that חוטי צמר פוטרים של פשתן, allowing wool strings for a linen garment despite מן כנף. The Gemara questions whether linen strings can likewise exempt a wool garment, weighing the adjacency of לא תלבש שעטנז צמר ופשתן יחדיו to גדילים תעשה לך as permitting *sha’atnez* for ציצית in both directions. A statement in the name of Rav Yehuda rules that חוטי צמר פוטרים של פשתן ושל פשתן פוטרים של צמר and adds that חוטי צמר ופשתן פוטרין בכולן, extending this even to garments such as שיראין.
- Rav Nachman says השיראין פטורים מן הציצית. Rava challenges him with a ברייתא that השיראין והכלך והסריקין כולם חייבים בציצית, and Rav Nachman answers that their obligation is מדרבנן, not מדאורייתא. Rava presses that the ברייתא also says וכולן צמר ופשתן פוטרין בהן, and Rav Nachman responds by rereading it as permitting either צמר or פשתן strings but not *sha’atnez* together. Rav Nachman supports this by citing the continuation that they are exempted by their own kind and do not exempt a different kind, aligning this with a דרבנן obligation.
- The Gemara rejects Rav Nachman’s proof by adopting Rava’s reconciliation: צמר ופשתים פוטרין בין במינן בין שלא במינן, while other materials only exempt their own kind and cannot exempt a different kind. Rav Nachman is then aligned with תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל, which reads unspecified בגד in the Torah as limited to צמר ופשתים because the Torah specified them in at least one context, yielding אף כל צמר ופשתים and making only wool or linen garments obligated in ציצית מן התורה. Abaye states that this teaching displaces another תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל about צרעת that expands “או בגד” to include צמר גמלים, צמר ארנבים, נוצה של עזים, and materials such as אבקא וסריקין ושירויין, creating an internal tension between the two traditions.
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