Menachos 42 - NBTD
Summary
- The speaker learns a *Gemara* on *tzitzit* and explains practical details of how the strings are prepared, attached, and measured, alongside stories and *psak* that clarify minimum and maximum placement and length. The text presents the disputes of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel about how many strings and how long the hanging part must be, then resolves the apparent contradiction that *tzitzit* “has no *shiur*” by distinguishing between no upper limit and a required minimum. It also develops the requirement that the *tzitzit* should be *notefet al hakeren* and addresses what counts as valid *lishmah* in making strings and dyeing *techelet*, including whether test-dyeing or reusing dye is valid.
- Good morning רבותי! לעילוי נשמת ציפורה פרוס בת מרדכי.
- The *Gemara* describes practices where רב יהודה gives his *tallit* to a laundromat and others create protective solutions for the strings. רב חנינא עבד ליה סיסא by rolling and bundling the *tzitzit*, and רבינא חייטי ליה מיחת by sewing a small pocket area so the *tzitzit* can be protected during washing and then undone afterward.
- A *baraita* states that בית שמאי אומרים ארבע and בית הלל אומרים שלש regarding how many strings are placed and folded at the corner. A story is told about רבה בר בר חנה seeing the מתי מדבר wearing *tallitot* with *techelet*, cutting off strings to resolve the dispute, and then being forced to return them when his animal would not move. The *Gemara* asks וכמה תהא משולשלת and records בית שמאי אומרים ארבע fingers and בית הלל אומרים שלש fingers for the hanging length, with clarification about finger and *tefach* measures.
- אמר רב פפא defines a טפח דאורייתא as ארבע בגודל, שית בקטנה, and חמש בתילתא, depending on which finger-width is used as the unit. The text frames this as depending on which finger is the measuring standard and refers to the average person’s measures.
- רב יהודה requires placement within three fingerbreadths, and אמר רב הונא gives a view of ארבע בתוך ארבע ומשולשלת ארבע, tying placement and hanging length to four. אמר רב פפא rules הלכתא ארבע בתוך שלש ומשולשלת ארבע, establishing four strings, the hole within three fingerbreadths of the edge, and a hanging length of four. The speaker adds that the hole cannot be too far from the edge and also cannot be positioned in a way that produces the wrong orientation of how the *tzitzit* emerge.
- The text challenges the existence of a fixed measure by citing that ציצית means “something that comes out” and that elders of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel said ציצית אין לה שיעור, like לולב אין לו שיעור. The *Gemara* explains that אין לו שיעור means no upper limit but there is a lower limit, and it proves this from the minimum *lulav* requirement of three *tefachim* plus enough to shake it. A report is given that רב חיים קנייבסקי was מקפיד on very long *lulavim*, because length is treated as a *noi*.
- A *baraita* defines ציצית as ענף, and the verse ויקחני בציצית ראשי is read as referring to hair-like strands. אביי requires that the strings be separated, described as וצריך לפרודה כציציתא דארמאי, comparing the look to braided hair above with loose strands below.
- A *baraita* rules that if *tzitzit* is attached directly on the קרן or on the גדיל, it is כשירה, while רבי אליעזר בן יעקב pוסל בשניהם. The statement of רב גידל אמר רב requires ציצית צריכה שתהא נוטפת על הקרן, explained as needing the strings to touch and move along the edge of the garment rather than hanging straight down. The verse על כנפי בגדיהם is used to ground the requirement, and the alignment is attributed to כרבי אליעזר בן יעקב.
- אמר רבי יעקב אמר רבי יוחנן requires extending the placement at least מלוא קשר גודל שבימינו away from the edge. The *Gemara* states וצריך דרב פפא וצריך דרב יעקב, using both as a maximum (within three) and a minimum (at least a thumb-joint breadth) so the placement is neither too far nor too close. The *Gemara* explains that without Rav Pappa one might push it too far inward, and without Rav Yaakov one might place it literally on the corner.
- A story reports that רב סמא notices that Ravina’s corner has slipped and is now less than מלוא קשר גודל from the edge, and he challenges him based on Rav Yaakov’s rule. Ravina answers בשעת עשייה אתמר, meaning the requirement applies at the time of making, and later slippage does not invalidate. Rav Sama is embarrassed, and Rav Ashi tells him לא תסקיף לך and says חד מנייהו כתרי מינן, attributing this to אוירא דארץ ישראל מחכים.
- רב אחא בר יעקב inserts four strings and folds them so that eight go through the hole, then uses a slipknot, holding בעינן תמניא בגלימא to satisfy the language of גדיל גדילים. רב ירמיה מדפתי begins with eight doubled to sixteen through the hole and does not use a slipknot. מר בריה דרבינא follows the standard approach described as putting four through the hole and tying knots so that eight ends emerge.
- רב נחמן finds רב אדא בר אהבה making a blessing לעשות ציצית, and he reports that Rav says ציצית אין צריכה ברכה. Rav Chisda challenges this using Rav’s own statement that *tzitzit* made by an עובד כוכבים is פסולה from the verse דבר אל בני ישראל ועשו להם ציצית, understood as בני ישראל יעשו ולא עובד כוכבים. Rav Yosef explains that Rav Chisda holds a rule that if a mitzvah is valid when done by a non-Jew then a Jew does not bless on its making, and if invalid when done by a non-Jew then a Jew would bless.
- The *Gemara* challenges the rule from *milah* by citing a *baraita* that allows an ארמאי to circumcise when needed, yet a blessing is said on *milah*, and it resolves this by stating that Rav holds a non-Jew cannot perform *milah*. The *Gemara* supports the rule from *sukkah* because סוכת גוים is כשרה and there is no blessing for making a sukkah, only for sitting in it, with the statement that one says שהחיינו when making it for oneself. The *Gemara* raises תפילין as a problem because תפילין made by various invalid writers are פסולין due to וקשרתם וכתבתם, yet no blessing is made for making *tefillin*, only for putting them on.
- The resolution shifts to a different rule: any mitzvah where עשייתה גמר מצוה requires a blessing, such as *milah*, even if it could be done by a non-Jew. Any mitzvah where עשייתה לאו גמר מצוה does not require a blessing on making, such as *tefillin*, even if a non-Jew cannot make it. The text frames *tzitzit* as dependent on whether it is חובת טלית, which would make attaching the completion, or חובת גברא, which ties the obligation to wearing.
- רב מרדכי tells רב אשי that their version differs, and he cites אמר רב יהודה אמר רב: מניין לציצית בעובד כוכבים שכשירה, deriving it from reading דבר אל בני ישראל ועשו להם ציצית as meaning יעשו לכם אחרים. The conclusion drawn is that since a non-Jew can make *tzitzit*, there is no blessing on making it, like *sukkah*.
- The speaker states that according to everyone *tzitzit* must be made לשמה, with a question about whether “making” refers to inserting and attaching or earlier manufacturing like weaving. The *Gemara* rules that strings made from קוצין, נימין, and גרדין are פסולה, while מן הסיסין is כשרה, and Shmuel says even מן הסיסין פסולה because בעינן טוויה לשמה. A תנאי dispute is shown via *tefillin* materials: *batim* overlaid with gold or non-kosher hide are פסולות, kosher hide is כשר אף על פי שלא עיבדן לשמה, and רבן שמעון בן גמליאל requires processing לשמה.
- אביי asks Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yehuda how *techelet* is dyed, and he describes taking דם חילזון וסמנין, boiling it in a pot, and testing a small amount in an egg by dipping wool and then discarding the egg and burning the test wool. Abaye derives that טעימה פסולה and that dyeing requires צביעה לשמה, and the *Gemara* clarifies that the invalidity of the tested wool is משום דבעינן צביעה לשמה. A תנאי dispute addresses whether leftover dye is invalid: חנינא בן גמליאל says it is פסולה from כליל תכלת, while רבי יוחנן בן דהבאי says even מראה שני שבה כשר from ושני תולעת.
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