Menachos 42
Summary
- The text learns a *baraita* about where *tzitzit* may be tied on a garment and aligns Rav’s requirement that *tzitzit* “hang onto the corner” with the view that tying directly on the corner is invalid. It sets the proper placement of the hole for *tzitzit* between *melo kesher gudal* and three fingerbreadths and records an exchange in which Ravina rules that the minimum distance applies at the time of making, not after later tearing. It then presents differing practices for how many strings are inserted, debates whether making *tzitzit* requires a *berakhah*, and reframes the *berakhah* principle around whether the act is the completion of the mitzvah while also treating *tzitzit* as a dispute of *chovat talit* versus *chovat gavra*. It rules that *tzitzit* made from certain garment fringes are invalid, reports Shmuel’s demand for spinning *lishmah*, analogizes this to a *tanna’itic* dispute about tanning *tefillin* hides *lishmah*, and closes with the procedure for dyeing *tekhelet* from *dam chilazon* and the dispute whether test-dye is disqualified.
- Shalom to all introduces today’s *daf* as מ"ב ע"ב, starting about the ninth line with the words תנו רבנן. Today's *daf* is sponsored לעילוי נשמת Mrs מרים שרה בת יעקב משה הורניק נשמתה שתהיה לעילוי.
- The *baraita* rules הטיל על הקרן או על הגדיל כשרה when the *tzitzit* are tied onto the actual *keren* of the garment or onto the *gedil* at the edge. Elazar ben Yaakov invalidates both cases. Rav Gidel says in the name of Rav that ציצית צריכה שתהא נוטפת על הקרן, deriving from על כנפי בגדיהם that the strings are tied slightly above the corner so that they hang onto it, and this follows Elazar ben Yaakov.
- Rav Amram says in the name of Rabbi Yochanan that the hole must be placed so it fills the distance of ימלא קשר גודל from the corner, defined as from the tip of the thumb to the first knuckle. The text requires both Rav Pappa’s measure of within three fingerbreadths and Rav Yaakov’s measure of not closer than *melo kesher gudal*, because Rav Pappa alone implies the closer the better and Rav Yaakov alone implies the farther the better. The placement is therefore between Rav Yaakov’s minimum and Rav Pappa’s maximum.
- Ravina and Rav Sama sit before Rav Ashi, and Rav Sama observes Ravina’s garment corner torn so that the hole is now less than *melo kesher gudal* from the edge. Ravina answers that בשעת עשייה איתמר, meaning the requirement is stated for the time of making and later tearing does not invalidate. Rav Sama becomes embarrassed, and Rav Ashi tells him לא תסתקף לך because חד מנייהו כתריי מינן, explaining that Ravina is from ארץ ישראל and one scholar from ארץ ישראל is like two from בבל.
- Rav Acha bar Yaakov inserts four strings, folds them to eight, inserts them, then forms a slipknot procedure that results in sixteen around the corner, because he holds בעינן תמניא בגלימא to fulfill גדיל גדילים במקום פתיל via the *derashah* of גדילים תעשה לך. Rav Yirmeya miDifti inserts eight strings, yielding sixteen when folded, and does not make the slipknot. Mar brei d’Ravina acts כדידן with four strings folded to eight.
- Rav Nachman encounters Rav Ada bar Ahava making *tzitzit* and reciting a *berakhah* of לעשות ציצית, and Rav Ada answers that Rav said ציצית אין צריכה ברכה. After רב הונא’s passing, Rav Chisda challenges whether Rav really said that, citing Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav that *tzitzit* made by an עובד כוכבים are פסול from דבר אל בני ישראל ועשו להם ציצית. Rav Yosef explains that Rav Chisda assumes a rule that a mitzvah valid through an עובד כוכבים does not require a *berakhah* when a Jew does it, while a mitzvah invalid through an עובד כוכבים does require a *berakhah*, but the Gemara challenges this from *milah* as taught in a *baraita* with Rav Meir and Rabbi Yehuda about an ארמאי versus כותי. The text answers that for Rav, non-Jewish *milah* is invalid, citing Bar Pappa in the name of Rav from ואתה את בריתי תשמור and Rabbi Yochanan from המול ימול, yet it still concludes the original premise fails because סוכה supports it while תפילין refutes it. The text then states a different principle: any mitzvah whose doing is גמר מצוה, such as *milah*, requires a *berakhah* even if a non-Jew could do it, while any mitzvah whose doing is not גמר מצוה, such as making *tefillin* before putting them on, does not require a *berakhah* even if it is invalid by a non-Jew. The text locates *tzitzit* within this dispute, with Rav Chisda and Rav Nachman disagreeing based on whether it is חובת טלית or חובת גברא, and it presents the result that for the view that the obligation is on the garment, attaching completes the mitzvah and warrants a *berakhah*, while for the view that the obligation is on the person, wearing completes the mitzvah and attaching does not warrant a *berakhah*.
- Rav Mordechai tells Rav Ashi that their version differs, reading Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav as teaching that *tzitzit* made by a non-Jew are כשרה because ועשו להם ציצית means others may make for them, including non-Jews. This stands against the earlier reading that בני ישראל יעשו ולא עובדי כוכבים יעשו.
- Rav Yehuda says in the name of Rav that *tzitzit* made מן הקוצים מן הנימין ומן הגרדים are פסולה, while מן הסיסין כשרה. Rav Yehuda reports that when he said this before Shmuel, Shmuel ruled אף מן הסיסין פסולה because בעינא טווייה לשמה, requiring spinning *lishmah* for *tzitzit*. The text connects this to a *tanna’itic* dispute about *tefillin*: gold-covered *tefillin* or those made from עור בהמה טמאה are פסולות, and עור בהמה טהורה is כשרות even without processing *lishmah* according to the first opinion, while Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel requires עיבוד לשמן.
- Abaye asks Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yehuda how *tekhelet* is dyed, and he answers that they bring דם חלזון וסממנין, place it in a pot, boil it, take a little into an eggshell, test it on a piece of wool, then discard the eggshell dye and burn the test wool. The text derives that the test wool is פסול and that dyeing requires צביעה לשמה, and it treats the repetition as explanatory by Rav Ashi: מה טעם טעימה פסולה משום דבעינן צביעה לשמה. A *baraita* records that טעימה פסולה from the verse כליל תכלת according to Chanina ben Gamliel, while Rabbi Yochanan ben Dehavai permits even מראה שני שבה as כשר from ושני תולעת, allowing reuse for a second dyeing.
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