Megillah, Daf Kaf Bet, Part 2
Introduction
In yesterday’s section we learned that on Rosh Hodesh in order to fulfill all of the rules of Torah reading (how much of a passage must be read, how much may be left over at its end, and how many verses each reader must read), Rav says that they would repeat a verse and Shmuel says that they would split a verse in half. Today’s section raises some difficulties on these exceptional solutions.
מיתיבי: פרשה של ששה פסוקים קורין אותה בשנים, ושל חמשה פסוקים – ביחיד.
קרא ראשון שלשה – השני קורא שנים מפרשה זו ואחד מפרשה אחרת, ויש אומרים: שלשה, לפי שאין מתחילין בפרשה פחות משלשה פסוקים.
ואם איתא, למאן דאמר דולג – נדלוג, ולמאן דאמר פוסק – נפסוק! – שאני התם, דאפשר בהכי.
They brought an objection [against both these views]: A section of six verses is read by two people, a section of five verses must be read by one.
If the first read three verses, the second reads the remaining two from this section and one from the next; And some say that he reads three from the next, because we do not begin a section with less than three verses.
Now if it is as you said, then according to the one who says he should repeat, let him repeat, and according to the one who says he should divide, let him divide?
It is different here, because this is possible.
The baraita cited here is raised as a difficulty on both Rav and Shmuel. It describes a regular Torah reading. As I stated earlier, what exactly a person was to read was not determined in the Talmudic period. So if he had an Aliyah and the section had six verses, the first reader could read three and the next could read three. No problem. But if there were only five, then the best option would be for the first reader to read them all. But if he read only three, one opinion holds that the second reader could read the remaining two of this section, and the first verse of the next section. But others say that the second reader would have to read three of the next section, because one does not begin a section by reading less than three verses.
In any case, neither opinion holds that we do what Rav and Shmuel would suggest read a verse twice or divide a verse in half. Therefore the baraita is a difficulty on both opinions. [It seems more of a difficulty against Rav, because according to Shmuel if the first reader read the entire third verse, the next reader would not have the option of dividing it. Some commentators do read it this way.]
The Talmud resolves the difficulty by stating that in this case it was possible to continue with the next section, because the baraita refers to a regular Torah reading. In the case of Rosh Hodesh (and the ma’amad, see yesterday’s section) there are prescribed sections to read. One cannot continue with the next section.
אמר רבי תנחום אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: הלכה כיש אומרים. ואמר רבי תנחום אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: כשם שאין מתחילין בפרשה פחות משלשה פסוקים – כך אין משיירין בפרשה פחות משלשה פסוקים.
פשיטא! השתא ומה אתחלתא, דקא מקיל תנא קמא – מחמירי יש אומרים, שיור דמחמיר תנא קמא, לא כל שכן דמחמירי יש אומרים? –
R. Tanhum, said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi: The halakhah follows the "others says".
R. Tanhum also said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi: Just as at the beginning of a section not less than three verses should be read, so too at the end of a section not less than three verses should be left.
This is obvious! Now that in regard to the beginning of a section where the first tanna is lenient the alternative opinion is strict, is it not certain that in regard to the verses left [at the end of the section] where the first tanna is strict the alternative opinion will also be strict.
R. Tanhum says that the halakhah follows the opinion attributed to "the others say" once one begins reading a section, he must read at least three verses.
He also says that just as one may not begin a passage without reading three verses, so too one must not leave less than three verses in a section.
The Talmud thinks it obvious that one should not leave less than three verses and explains why. The first tanna in the baraita said that one could start a section and read less than three verses. The alternative opinion was stricter. But when it came to leaving verses at the end of a passage the first opinion said that if there were five verses the reader should read them all. Even he was strict on this issue because he doesn’t want one to leave less than three verses. If the usually lenient first opinion is strict, all the more so we would know that the alternative opinion is strict.
So why did R. Tanhum need to tell us something we could have figured out on our own?
מהו דתימא: נכנסין – שכיחי, יוצאין – לא שכיחי דמנחי ספר תורה ונפקי, קמשמע לן.
What might you have said? People who enter [the synagogue late] are common but people who go out and leave the Sefer Torah while it is being read are uncommon; therefore he tells us [that we do not think this].
This section answers what we might have thought had R. Tanhum not told us that we don’t leave less than three verses in a section. The reason we don’t leave less than three verses is that someone might go out after the first person had read and think that the next reader would read only two verses, which is not sufficient for a Torah reading. The reason we don’t begin with less than three, is that someone who came in and heard the third verse of a section being read as the first verse of an Aliyah might have thought that the previous reader had read only two. We might have thought that it is common for people to come in late, but not common for them to walk out in the middle of a Torah reading (anyone who has been to my shul would never think such a thing). Therefore, we shouldn’t allow people to read less than three in the beginning of a section, but we could allow them to leave less than three. They won’t walk out so they’ll hear the next reader reading at least three verses. To let us know that people do come in late and leave early, R. Tanhum states that one should not begin a passage with less than three verses.
ותנא קמא מאי שנא שיורי דלא – משום יוצאין, אתחולי נמי – גזירה משום הנכנסין! – אמרי: מאן דעייל – שיולי שייל.
But now with regard to the First Tanna: Why does he forbid leaving [less than three verses]? Because of people going out of synagogue. But at the beginning also he should take decree on account of people coming in?
I can say that a person coming in asks [how much has been read].
The Talmud now asks why the first opinion allows one to begin with less than three verses, but not end leaving less than three.
The answer is that he assumes that when someone comes in late to the synagogue he will ask what the previous person read. He won’t just assume they read only one or two verses for the entire Aliyah. Since people won’t make a mistake, one is allowed to begin a passage and read less than three verses.
שלח ליה רבה בריה דרבא לרב יוסף: הלכתא מאי! שלח ליה: הלכתא דולג, ואמצעי דולגן.
Rabbah the son of Raba sent to R. Joseph: What is the law? He sent him back: The law is that the verse is repeated, and it is a middle reader who repeats.
This ends the passage about Rosh Hodesh, and reflects how we observe the halakhah today. The halakhah accords with Rav who says that we repeat a verse. R. Joseph says that it is the middle reader, the second one, who goes back a verse and repeats the third verse said by the first reader. Thus the first reader reads the first three verses, the second reader reads verses 3-5. The third reader reads verses 6-8, completing the first passage, and then continues with the next passage which has only two verses. The fourth reader reads the entire final passage.