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Laws of Mezuzah
Laws of Scribes
Sources
A
The Gemara returns to the discussion about the
halakhot
of writing a
mezuza
.
Rav Yehuda says
that
Shmuel says:
If one
wrote
a
mezuza
in the manner of
a missive
that one composes to a friend, i.e., without being exact about the lettering of each word, it is
unfit. What is the reason?
This is
derived
by a verbal analogy between
“writing,”
and
“writing,” from a scroll,
which must be written in precisely the correct manner…
Menachot 32b:8-33b:2
Rav Yosef, son of Rava, taught in the name of Rava:
If one
dug one handbreadth deep
into the doorpost and placed a
mezuza
there, it is
unfit.
The Gemara suggests:
Let us say
that the following
baraita
supports his
ruling: In a case where one
affixed
a
mezuza
deep
in the wooden doorpost
of an entrance,
or
after placing it in the entrance one
added [
tala
]
an inner
framework [
malben
] to it
that covers the doorpost,
if there is
a depth of
one handbreadth there…
Menachot 33b:4-34a:6
§
Rabbi Ze’eiri says
that
Rav Ḥananel says
that
Rav says: A
mezuza
that one wrote two
by
two,
i.e., two words on each line, is
fit. A dilemma was raised before
the Sages: If one wrote
two
words on one line,
and three
words on the following line,
and one
word on the line after that,
what is
the
halakha
?
Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: All the more so
that it is fit,
as he prepared it as
one writes
a poem
in the Torah scroll…
Menachot 31b:5-32a:9
§ The Gemara continues its discussion of the crowns on letters of the Torah:
Rava says: Seven letters require three crowns [
ziyyunin
], and they are
the letters
shin
,
ayin
,
tet
,
nun
,
zayin
;
gimmel
and
tzadi
. Rav Ashi says: I have seen that the exacting scribes of the study hall of Rav would put a hump-like stroke on the roof of
the letter
ḥet
and they would suspend the
left
leg of
the letter
heh
,
i.e., they would ensure that it is not joined to the roof of the letter.
Menachot 29b:6
§
Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Meir:
With regard to
two craftsmen’s booths, one within the other,
as potters would build two booths, an inner one used as living quarters and an outer one for plying their craft and selling their wares,
the inner one is not
fit for fulfillment of the mitzva of
sukka
,
since the potter resides there year-round and it is not evident during the Festival that he is residing there for the sake of the mitzva of
sukka
.
And
since it a permanent residence…
Sukkah 8b:2
§ The Gemara resumes the discussion of the High Priest’s relocation to the
Parhedrin
chamber.
The Rabbis taught: None of the chambers in the Temple had a
mezuza
except for the Chamber of
Parhedrin
, in which there was a place of residence of the High Priest.
Only residences in which one sleeps require a
mezuza
, and the only chamber in the Temple that fits that description was the
Parhedrin
chamber.
Rabbi Yehuda said:
That is not the reason; after all…
Yoma 10a:13-11b:9
and from phylacteries, but
they
are obligated in
the mitzvot of
prayer,
mezuza
, and Grace after Meals.
The Gemara explains the rationale for these exemptions and obligations.
Berakhot 20b:1
The Gemara notes:
That
distinction
is also taught
in a
baraita
: In the case of
one who resides in a guesthouse [
pundaki
] in Eretz Yisrael, or one who rents a house outside of Eretz Yisrael, for
the first
thirty days
he is
exempt from the
mitzva of
mezuza
; from then on
he is
obligated. But one who rents a house in Eretz Yisrael
must
affix a
mezuza
immediately, due to
the
settlement of Eretz Yisrael.
Menachot 44a:13
How is a
mezuzah
written? The two portions,
Shema
and
V'hayah im shamo'a
, are written on one piece of parchment in a single column. Approximately half a fingernail of space should be left above and below [the writing].
Should one write [a
mezuzah
] in two or three columns, it is acceptable, as long as it not written tail-shaped, in a circle, or tent-shaped. If it was written using any of these forms, it is not acceptable.
If it was not written in order - e.g., one wrote the passage [
V'hayah im shamo'a
] before the passage [
Shema
] - it is not…
Mishneh Torah, Tefillin, Mezuzah and the Torah Scroll 5-6
Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: Anyone who has phylacteries on his head, phylacteries on his arm, ritual fringes on his garment, and a
mezuza
on his doorway is strengthened
from
all
sides
so that he will not sin, as it is stated
in the verse:
“And a threefold cord is not quickly broken”
(Ecclesiastes 4:12). This is interpreted as an allusion to the three mitzvot of phylacteries, ritual fringes, and
mezuza
.
And
the verse
states: “The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him, and delivers them”
(Psalms 34:8)…
Menachot 43b:12
The Laws of Mezuzah
It is a positive commandment to write the sections of Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), and of
Vehayah Im Shemoa
(Deuteronomy 11:13-21), and to affix them upon the doorposts of the entrance, as it is written:
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates
(Deuteronomy 11:20). And one needs to be very careful with it. It is as the sages, may their memory be blessed, said, "Anyone who has tefillin on his head and on his arm, tzitzit on his garment, and a mezuzah on his entrance is assumed to not sin" (Menachot 43b)…
Tur, Yoreh De'ah 285-291
§ Apropos the above discussion, the Gemara asks:
Who
is the
tanna
who
taught that which the Sages taught:
The halakhic status of
a house in which there is not
an area of
four cubits by four cubits
is not that of a house? Therefore,
halakhot
in the Torah or the mishna that are relevant to a house do not apply to a house that size. Consequently, it is
exempt from
the mitzva of placing a
mezuza
on its doorpost;
and
it is exempt
from the
obligation of establishing a
parapet
around its roof…
Sukkah 3a:13-14
GEMARA:
The Sages taught: Over a
food
item whose growth is not from the earth, for example, meat from domesticated animals, non-domesticated animals, and fowl and fish, one recites: By whose word all things came to be.
So too,
over milk, and over eggs, and over cheese, one recites:
By whose word
all things
came to be. This is not only true with regard to items that come from animals, but
over moldy bread, and over wine that fermented slightly, and over a cooked dish that spoiled, one recites: By whose word all things came to be…
Berakhot 40b:14
The Gemara relates that
Rav Sheshet
once
found Rabba bar Shmuel
and
said to him: Did the Master teach anything with regard to
the
halakhot
of
the form of a doorway? He said to him: Yes, we learned
in a
baraita
: With regard to
an arched gateway, Rabbi Meir deems
the owner
obligated to
affix
a
mezuza
, and the Rabbis deem
him
exempt. However, they
both
agree that if its supports,
the vertical sides of the gate before it arches,
are ten
handbreadths high,
that
the gate
requires
a
mezuza
.
Eruvin 11b:14
The Gemara elaborates:
If he wrote it;
wrote
what? If you say
that it is referring to a
mezuza
, do we write a
mezuza
on
parchment? Rather, isn’t
it referring to
phylacteries?
Apparently, as Rav said, there are Sages who hold that the portions of the phylacteries may be written on
dokhsostos
. The Gemara rejects this:
And according to your reasoning, do we write phylacteries
on
gevil
? Rather, that
baraita
was taught with regard to a Torah scroll…
Shabbat 79b:5
The students in the study hall
raised a dilemma before Rav Sheshet: Upon whom
is the obligation to affix
a
mezuza
(see Deuteronomy 6:9)? The Gemara expresses surprise at the question: Why did they ask about
a
mezuza
; doesn’t Rav Mesharshiyya say:
Affixing
a
mezuza
is the obligation of the resident?
It is certainly the responsibility of the renter. The Gemara emends the dilemma:
Rather,
their dilemma was:
Upon whom
is the responsibility to prepare the
place
where the
mezuza
will be affixed, e.g…
Bava Metzia 101b:19-102a:2
The Gemara explains why that cannot be the reason:
If that is so,
the same can be said about the prohibition against renting
houses,
as it
also involves two
problems:
One
is aiding gentiles in
encamping
in the
land, and
the other
one
is
that
it
releases
the house
from
the mitzva of
mezuza
. Rav Mesharshiyya says
in response: Affixing
a
mezuza
is the obligation of the resident,
rather than an obligation that applies to the house…
Avodah Zarah 21a:4
They raised a dilemma before Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak:
With regard to
one who lets a house to another on the fourteenth
of Nisan,
upon whom
is it incumbent
to search
for leaven? Is it incumbent
upon the lessor to search
for leaven,
as the leavened bread is his; or
is it
perhaps
incumbent
upon the lessee to search, as the
source of the
prohibition is in his domain
since he will be living in the house during Passover? He answered:
Come
and
hear
an answer from a
baraita
: With regard to
one who lets a house to…
Pesachim 4a:9
The term “your house [
beitekha
]” is similar to the term: You enter [
bi’atkha
], indicating that one places the
mezuza
in the
way
that
you enter
the house. When a person lifts his foot to begin walking, he lifts his right foot first. Therefore, the
mezuza
is affixed
to the right
side of the doorway, as one enters.
Chullin 136a:1
From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Menachot 28a) that these two sections impede each other; and even one writing impedes upon them. [This is] meaning even one letter that is not done properly — such as if the [blank] parchment does not encircle it from its four sides — impedes the [validity] of the mezuzah. And [also] that which they said (Menachot 34a) that the obligation of the mezuzah is to place it on the doorpost of his entrance from the right, as it is stated…
Sefer HaChinukh 423:3-4
Laws of Scribes
דיני סת"ם
Fundamental Laws of Scribes
Laws of Tefillin
Laws of Mezuzah
Laws of The Torah Scroll
Laws of Scribes
Writing a Torah Scroll
Sheets
דפי מקורות
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