Megillah, Daf Kaf Aleph, Part 3
Introduction
Today’s section discusses the mishnah which says that one may sit or stand while reading the Megillah.
גמרא. תנא: מה שאין כן בתורה.
מנהני מילי? אמר רבי אבהו: דאמר קרא +דברים ה’+ ואתה פה עמד עמדי,
ואמר רבי אבהו: אלמלא מקרא כתוב אי אפשר לאומרו, כביכול אף הקדוש ברוך הוא בעמידה.
ואמר רבי אבהו: מנין לרב שלא ישב על גבי מטה וישנה לתלמידו על גבי קרקע – שנאמר ואתה פה עמד עמדי.
GEMARA: A Tanna stated: This [that one may read sitting] is not the case with the Torah.
From where does this rule come? R. Abbahu said: As the verse says, "But as for you, stand here with me" (Deuteronomy 5:28).
R. Abbahu also said: Were it not written in the Scripture, it would be impossible for us to say it: as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, also was standing.
R. Abbahu further said: How do we know that a rabbi should not sit on a couch and teach his students while they sit on the ground? Because it says, "But as for you, stand here with me."
The Talmud limits the mishnah’s rule that one can read while sitting to the Megillah. When reading Torah one must stand.
R. Abbahu derives this from the verse where God tells Moses to stand with him. Moses, who is learning Torah directly from God, must be standing. Rabbi Abbahu goes on to say that the verse may even imply that God is also standing, for it uses the word "with me." However, he admits that such an anthropomorphism is a bit heretical.
Finally, R. Abbahu learns another halakhah from this verse. A teacher should not sit on a couch and teach his students. Rather both should be on the couch or both on the ground. There should not be a hierarchical distinction between the two.
The sugya now continues to discuss the issue of standing or sitting while learning Torah. I should note that there are discussions among Greek philosophers as well as to whether one should sit or stand while studying philosophy.
תנו רבנן: מימות משה ועד רבן גמליאל לא היו למדין תורה אלא מעומד, משמת רבן גמליאל ירד חולי לעולם והיו למדין תורה מיושב. והיינו דתנן: משמת רבן גמליאל בטל כבוד תורה.
Our Rabbis taught: From the days of Moses until Rabban Gamaliel, they would learn Torah only while standing. When Rabban Gamaliel died, sickness descended on the world, and they learned Torah while sitting; and that is what we have learned that "When Rabban Gamaliel died, the honor of Torah was nullified."
This baraita imagines that Torah used to be studied while standing, but now people are weaker or sicker and have to sit while studying Torah. The full honor of Torah was achieved when it was studied while standing, and not as it is now, while sitting.
כתוב אחד אומר +דברים ט’+ ואשב בהר, וכתוב אחד אומר +דברים י’+ ואנכי עמדתי בהר! – אמר רב: עומד ולומד, יושב ושונה.
רבי חנינא אמר: לא עומד ולא יושב אלא שוחה.
רבי יוחנן אמר: אין ישיבה אלא לשון עכבה, שנאמר +דברים א’+ ותשבו בקדש ימים רבים. רבא אמר: רכות מעומד, וקשות מיושב.
One verse says, "And I sat [va’eshev] on the mountain" (Deuteronomy 9:9), and another verse says, "And I stood on the mountain" (Deuteronomy 10:10):
Rav says: He [Moses] stood when he learned and sat while he repeated [what he had learned].
R. Hanina said: He was neither sitting nor standing, but stooping.
R. Yohanan said: Sitting here means only "staying", as it says, "And you stayed [teshvu] in Kadesh many days" (Deuteronomy 1:46).
Rava said: The easy things [he learned] standing and the hard ones sitting.
Two verses are cited here that seem to contradict each other. One verse seems to say that Moses sat on the mountain, whereas the other verse seems to say that he stood on the mountain. So which was it?
Rav says that he learned Torah for the first time while standing, but that when he wanted to repeat things over to learn them better, he sat down. Interesting that Moses is pictured repeating his lessons already on Sinai.
R. Hanina says that Moses was stooping neither sitting or standing. Must not have been an easy forty days!
R. Yohanan interprets the verse according to its simple meaning Moses doesn’t mean to say that he "sat" on the mountain. He simply means to say that he stayed there for forty days.
Finally Rava says that he stood while learning the easier material, but when he got to the harder material, he sat down.
I should also note that we should remember that all of this studying was done without books. Therefore, walking around while talking about Torah is not being compared to sitting and studying from a book. In both cases people are just talking. Personally, I find that my best conversations are when easy running or walking.