Megillah, Daf Kaf Het, Part 5
Introduction
This section continues the interpretation of the Mishnah.
ואין ניאותין בהן. אמר רבא: חכמים ותלמידיהם מותרין. דאמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: מאי בי רבנן – ביתא דרבנן.
And we do not dress (adorn) ourselves in them.
Rava said: The sages and their disciples are permitted, since R. Joshua b. Levi has said: What is the meaning of "Be Rabbanan"? The rabbis house.
According to the Mishnah, it was forbidden to get dressed in the synagogue, or adorn oneself in some other way. Rava says that this rule does not hold for rabbis, since the synagogue (or bet midrash) is called the "rabbis’ house."
There is some confusion or perhaps overlap in these sources between the synagogue and the bet midrash. This probably reflects the fact that synagogues were used for study and rabbis prayed in the bet midrash. To this day, there is no clear distinction between the two.
ואין נכנסין בהן בחמה מפני החמה ובגשמים מפני הגשמים. כי הא דרבינא ורב אדא בר מתנה הוו קיימי ושאלי שאילתא מרבא, אתא זילחא דמיטרא. עיילי לבי כנישתא. אמרי: האי דעיילינן לבי כנישתא – לאו משום מיטרא, אלא משום דשמעתא בעא צילותא כיומא דאסתנא.
Nor do we go into them in summer to escape the heat or in the rainy season to escape the rain.
As was the case with Ravina and R. Ada b. Matanah who were once standing and asking questions of Rava and it started to rain.
They went into the synagogue and said: We came into the synagogue not because of the rain, but because the discussion of the tradition requires clarity, like a clear day.
Ravina and R. Ada b. Matanah are asking questions from their teacher Rava when it starts to rain hard outside. They go into the synagogue, but are quick to declare that they have not done so merely to escape the rain. Rather, in order to concentrate on their studies they need to be able to focus as if it was a clear day. Studying Torah outside in the rain is not a good way of learning.
אמר ליה רב אחא בריה דרבא לרב אשי: אי אצטריך ליה לאיניש למיקרי גברא מבי כנישתא, מאי? – אמר ליה: אי צורבא מרבנן הוא – לימא הלכתא, ואי תנא הוא – לימא מתניתא, ואי קרא הוא, לימא פסוקא. ואי לא – לימא ליה לינוקא: אימא לי פסוקיך. אי נמי, נישהי פורתא וניקום.
R. Aha the son of Rava asked R. Ashi: If a person needs to call another out of a synagogue, what is he to do?
He said: If he is a rabbinical scholar, let him say some halakhah; if he is a tanna, let him recite a mishnah; if he is a kara, let him say a verse of Scripture; if none of these, let him say to a child, "Tell me your verse."
If not, let him stay a little while and then get up.
Since one is not allowed to go into a synagogue unless there is some sacred reason, he cannot just go in to call someone out. So what is he to do if he does need someone who is inside?
The first option is to go in and recite some teaching or tradition he knows: either a halakhah, a Mishnah or a verse. A halakhah a tradition that also explains the reason for the tradition. It may include a midrash. A tanna recites a "mishnah," a short teaching with no explanation, from memory, even if he does not fully understand it. A "kara" is one who memorizes the Tanakh. If the person does not know even know a verse, then he can ask a child to recite the last verse that the child had been learning.
If he can’t use one of these options, then he should just sit around outside and hope the person he wants comes out. The Talmud does not allow him to go into the synagogue just to call someone out. The synagogue’s holiness was taken very seriously.
ומספידין בהן הספד של רבים. היכי דמי הספידא דרבים? – מחוי רב חסדא: כגון הספידא דקאי ביה רב ששת, מחוי רב ששת: כגון הספידא דקאי ביה רב חסדא.
רפרם אספדה לכלתיה בבי כנישתא, אמר: משום יקרא דידי ודמיתא אתו כוליה עלמא.
רבי זירא ספדיה לההוא מרבנן בבי כנישתא, אמר: אי משום יקרא דידי, אי משום יקרא דידיה, דמיתא, אתו כולי עלמא.
And we deliver a public eulogy in them.
What is meant by a public funeral address?
R. Hisda showed: For instance, a eulogy at which R. Sheshet is present.
R. Shesheth showed: For instance, a eulogy at which R. Hisda is present.
Rafram eulogized his daughter-in-law in the synagogue, saying: For my honor and for the honor of the dead all the people will come.
R. Zera eulogized a certain rabbinical student in the synagogue, saying: Either for my honor and for the honor of the dead all the people will come.
The mishnah had stated that a public eulogy can be done in the synagogue. This seems to be a eulogy for a public figure that died, assumedly in the eyes of the rabbis, a rabbi.
R. Hisda and R. Sheshet both say that if the other is present at the eulogy, then it must be a "public eulogy." Rashi explains that their presence implies that one of the rabbinical students in their bet midrash had died. Although it wasn’t the leading member of the bet midrash who was being eulogized, the fact that it was a rabbi is sufficient for the eulogy to be considered public.
In the second half of this section, two rabbis eulogize others in the synagogue, claiming that by doing so, many people will come. The fact that the rabbi is offering the eulogy ensures that it will be considered a public eulogy.