Megillah, Daf Kaf Vav, Part Six

 

Introduction

Today’s section contains a very interesting dispute over which is greater the house of prayer or the house of study.

 

רב פפי משמיה דר’ [דרבא]: מבי כנישתא לבי רבנן – שרי, מבי רבנן לבי כנישתא – אסיר. ורב פפא משמיה דרבא מתני איפכא.

אמר רב אחא: כוותיה דרב פפי מסתברא, דאמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: בית הכנסת מותר לעשותו בית המדרש, שמע מינה.

 

R. Papi said in the name of Rava: To turn a synagogue into a study hall is permitted; to turn a study hall into a synagogue is forbidden.

R. Papa in the name of Rava taught the opposite.

R. Aha said: The statement of R. Papi is the more reasonable, since R. Joshua b. Levi said: It is permissible to make a synagogue into a bet hamidrash. Learn from this.

 

According to one opinion, it is permitted to convert a synagogue into a study hall for rabbis, but not the opposite. But according to another opinion it is permitted to turn a study hall into a synagogue, but not the opposite. This seems to be a dispute over which takes priority the study of Torah or prayer. I find it interesting that both opinions are given voice, even if the first opinion is preferred. This is not an easy question and one can make arguments for both sides.

 

דרש בר קפרא: מאי דכתיב +מלכים ב’ כ"ה+ וישרף את בית ה’ ואת בית המלך ואת כל בתי ירושלים ואת כל בית גדול שרף באש. בית ה’ – זה בית המקדש, בית המלך – אלו פלטרין של מלך, ואת כל בתי ירושלים – כמשמען, ואת כל בית גדול שרף באש.

רבי יוחנן ורבי יהושע בן לוי חד אמר: מקום שמגדלין בו תורה, וחד אמר: מקום שמגדלין בו תפלה. מאן דאמר תורה, דכתיב +ישעיהו מ"ב+ ה’ חפץ למען צדקו יגדיל תורה ויאדיר. ומאן דאמר תפלה דכתיב +מלכים ב’ ח’+ ספרה נא… הגדלות אשר עשה אלישע. ואלישע דעבד – ברחמי הוא דעבד. תסתיים דרבי יהושע בן לוי הוא דאמר מקום שמגדלין בו תורה, דאמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: בית הכנסת מותר לעשותו בית מדרש, שמע מינה.

 

Bar Kappara gave the following derashah: What is it that is written, "And he burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem even every great house he burned with fire" (II Kings 25:9)? "The house of the Lord" this is the Temple. "The king’s house": this is the royal palace. "All the houses of Jerusalem": literally.

"Even every great house he burned with fire :

R. Yohanan and R. Joshua b. Levi gave different interpretations of this. One said, it means the place where the Torah is magnified; the other said, the place where a prayer is magnified. The one who says Torah bases himself on the verse, "The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness sake to make the Torah great and glorious" (Isaiah 45:21).

The one who says prayer bases himself on the verse, "Tell me .the great things that Elisha has done" (II Kings 8:4); and what Elisha did, he did by means of prayer.

It may be presumed that it was R. Joshua b. Levi who said, "the place where Torah is magnified", since R. Joshua b. Levi said that a synagogue may be turned into a bet ha-midrash; learn from this.

 

The interpretation of the verse from II Kings is related to the above debate over which is greater, the house of prayer or the house of study. The verse says that Nebuchadnezzar burned "every great house." What were these "great houses"?

One opinion (R. Joshua ben Levi) holds that they were study halls and uses as proof a verse that refers to the Torah as great. The other opinion holds that they were synagogues and uses as proof a verse that refers to the great things accomplished by the prophet Elisha through prayer. These opinions match the opinions from the above dispute about whether one can convert a study hall into a synagogue and vice versa.