Parallel
מנחות 34:2
Soncino English Talmud · Berean Standard Bible
Our Rabbis taught: It is written, Letotefeth, letotefeth, and letotafoth, making four in all. So R. Ishmael. R. Akiba says, There is no need of that interpretation, for ‘tot’ means two in Katpi and ‘foth’ means two in Afriki. Our Rabbis taught: I might have said that one should write [the Scriptural portions] upon four pieces of parchment and put them in four compartments made out of four pieces of leather; the verse therefore says, And for a memorial between thine eyes: one memorial I commanded you, but not two or three memorials. How then should one do? One should write them upon four pieces of parchment and put them in four compartments made out of one piece of leather. If, however, one wrote them upon one parchment and put them in the four compartments, that is sufficient. There must be a blank space between each [portion]. So Rabbi; but the Sages say, This is not necessary. They agree, however, that between each there must be a line or a thread. And if the divisions [between the compartments] were not noticeable, they are invalid. Our Rabbis taught: How must one write them? The portions for the hand-tefillah one should write upon one piece of parchment; if one wrote them upon four pieces of parchment and put them in one compartment that is still valid. They must, however, be fastened together, for it is written, And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand and as outside it is one sign, so inside, too, it must be one sign. This is the opinion of R. Judah. But R. Jose says, This is not necessary. Moreover, said R. Jose, R. Judah Berabbi concedes to me that if a man has no hand-tefillah but has two head-tefillahs, he may cover up one of them with a skin and place it [on his arm]. ‘Concede’, [you say,] but that is the very issue between them! — Raba answered, R. Jose's statement proves that R. Judah withdrew his opinion. Surely this cannot be, for R. Haninah sent [from Palestine] the following ruling in the name of R. Johanan: The hand-tefillah may be converted for use on the head but the head-tefillah may not be converted for use on the arm, for one may not bring down what is of a higher sanctity to a lower sanctity! — This is no difficulty, for one [ruling] refers to an old one and the other to a new one. And according to him who maintains that the mere designation [of a thing for a certain purpose] has a certain force, [we must say that the owner] had made a reservation with regard to it from the very outset. Our Rabbis taught: What is the order [of the four Scriptural portions in the head-tefillah]? ‘Sanctify unto Me’ and ‘And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee’ are on the right, while ‘Hear’ and ‘And it shall come to pass if ye shall hearken diligently’ are on the left. But there has been taught just the reverse? — Abaye said, This is no contradiction, for in the one case the reference is to the right of the reader, whereas in the other it is to the right of the one that wears them; the reader thus reads them according to their order. R. Hananel said in the name of Rab, If a man reversed the order of the Scriptural portions, it is invalid. Abaye said, This is so
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