מנחות 31:2 — Soncino English Talmud

for does it say ‘Wherever he stated his view in the Mishnah’? It simply says, ‘Wherever he stated his view’. R. Ze'ira said in the name of R. Hananel who said it in the name of Rab, If a rent [in a scroll of the Law] extended into two lines [of the script] it may be sown together; but if into three lines it may not be sewn together. Rabbah the younger said to R. Ashi, Thus said R. Jeremiah of Difti in the name of Raba: The rule that we have laid down, namely, that if it extended into three lines it may not be sewn together, applies only to old scrolls; but in the case of new scrolls it would not matter. Moreover ‘old’ does not mean actually old, nor ‘new’ actually new, but the one means prepared with gall-nut juice and the other means not so prepared. It is [permitted to sew it] only with sinews but not with thread. R. Judah b. Abba raised the question: How is it if [the rent extended] between the columns or between one line and another? — This remains unanswered. R. Ze'iri said in the name of R. Hananel who cited it in the name of Rab, If a mezuzah was written in lines consisting of two words each it is valid. The question was raised: How is it if the first line consisted of two words, the second of three, and the third of one word? — R. Nahman b. Isaac answered, Certainly [it is valid], for it has merely been written like the song. An objection was raised: If he wrote it like the song or the song like it, it is invalid! — That was taught in connection with a scroll of the Law. It has also been reported: Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Johanan (others say: R. Aha b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Johanan), If the mezuzah was written [in lines of unequal length consisting of] two words, three words, and one word, it is valid, provided it was not in the form of a tent, nor tail-like. R. Hisda said, The words, ‘above the earth’ must be [alone] in the last line. Some say [they must be written] at the end of the line, others say at the beginning. ‘Some say, at the end of the line’, for it is written, As the heaven is high above the earth. ‘Others say, at the beginning’, as the heaven is far from the earth. R. Helbo said, I have seen R. Huna rolling up the mezuzah beginning at ‘one’ and finishing at ‘hear’; moreover, he left [the space between] the sections closed. An objection was raised: R. Simeon b. Eleazar said, R. Meir used to write [the mezuzah] on duksustus, in the form of a column,^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ

^ᵃnote:But the whole sheet of parchment must be removed.
^ᵇnote:And no matter how far the rent extended, it may be sewn together again.
^ᶜnote:In that case even though old it is strong, and will withstand any rent, and therefore it may be sewn together again. This is the interpretation according to Alfasi, Hil. Sef. Tor., and Maim. Yad, Sef. Tor. IX, 15. Rashi explains: if treated with gall-nut juice it becomes darkened and is at once regarded as old. A very difficult explanation.
^ᵈnote:I.e., to such an extent that had it been in a column it would have gone beyond three lines of script. The question is whether it may be sewn together or not.
^ᵉnote:V. Glos.
^ᶠnote:The lines were of unequal length thus: **
^ᵍnote:Sc. the song of Moses, Ex. XV. In the first column of the song the lines are of unequal length, v. Meg. 16b.
^ʰnote:The words in the consecutive lines must not increase in a regular order, that is, like a tent, narrow above and wide below thus: ** nor decrease in a regular order, that is, tapering off like a tail thus: ** V. Sh. Mek. notes 5 and 6.
^ⁱnote:Deut. XI, 22; the last words in the mezuzah.
^ʲnote:Ps. CIII, 11. The penultimate line in the mezuzah ends with ‘the heaven’, so that if ‘above the earth’ were written at the end of the last line it would be seen that ‘the heaven’ is directly above ‘the earth’, in conformity with the expression in Psalms.
^ᵏnote:And the furthest distance between these words is obtained by placing ‘the heaven’ at the end of the penultimate line and ‘the earth’ at the beginning of the last line.
^ˡnote:The opening line of the mezuzah is: Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One (Deut. VI, 4): and as Heb. is written from right to left, it is clear therefore that R. Huna used to roll up the mezuzah beginning at the left with the word ‘one’ and finishing at the right with the word ‘hear’.
^ᵐnote:I.e., he began the second passage in the mezuzah on the same line as that on which the first passage ended, allowing only a short blank space between the two passages.
^ⁿnote:xuyxuxfus. In making parchment it was the usual practice to split the thickness of the skin and divide it into two sheets, each sheet being treated and prepared. The parchment made from the inner sheet, i.e., the side next to the flesh of the animal, was regarded as the best quality (this was known as ;ke, and that made from the outer sheet, i.e., the side next to the hair, was an inferior quality (this was known as xuyxuxfus).