תלמוד על מגילה 4:1

²¹This paragraph is also in Megillah 4:5 (75b l. 52), ל. Quoted in Tosaphot Yeshenim70a. There²²Mishnah Megillah 4:5., we have stated: “One skips in prophets; one does not skip in the Torah.²³Public readings of the Torah must present a continuous text. Readings from the Prophets may be pieced together, such as in the Ashkenazic Haftara to Yitro, Is. 6:1–7:6, 9:5–6.” “One skips in prophets,” but one does not skip from one prophet to another, except that one is permitted to skip between the Twelve Prophets²⁴The 12 minor prophets are considered one book. The Ashkenazic Haftara for the Sabbath between New Year’s day and Yom Kippur is composed of Hos. 14:2–10 and either Joel 2:15–27 or Micah7:18–20.. “One does not skip in the Torah.” Rebbi Jeremiah in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: Because one does not scroll the book of the Torah in public. Rebbi Yose asked, think of it, if it was a small paragraph²⁵If one continues on the same page after an interruption, nothing has to be scrolled.? But so that Israel should hear the Torah in due order. But did we not state: “he reads after the death⁴Lev. 16:1–34. and but on the tenth day”⁵Lev.23:26–32.? There is a difference since this is the order of the day. You should know this, as Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, one never recites from memory but here he recites²⁶The sacrifices detailed in Num.19:7–11 (offered by the High Priest in his year-round “golden” garments) are completely different from those required by Lev. 16, for whose service white linen garments are prescribed. Therefore mention of the text in Num. 19 is essential, but scrolling such a large distance would be an interruption of the public service.. Rebbi Yose ordered Bar Ulla, the beadle of the synagogue of the Babylonians: If there is one Torah²⁷On a day which requires reading two different sections, such as a New Moon celebrated on a Sabbath, or a holiday. Then the Torah has to be scrolled, but this should not be done in public., scroll it behind a curtain. If there are two, take away one and bring the other²⁸This is current Sephardic practice, in contrast to current Ashkenazic procedure where the second Torah is brought before the first is lifted..

“And the blind person.” Rebbi Abba said, who stated “the blind person”? Rebbi Jehudah, for Rebbi Jehudah frees him from all obligations of the Torah³⁹Soṭah 2:6 (Note 201), Babli Bava qamma 87a., as we have stated there⁴⁰Megillah Mishnah 4:7.: “Rebbi Jehudah said, anyone who never saw light in his life may not cover the Shemaˋ.⁴¹He cannot lead the congregation in the recital of the benedictions before and after the recitation of the Shemaˋ since they start with a praise of God for the creation of the celestial shining bodies. The majority opinion holds that while a blind person cannot see the sun’s light, he profits from it since other people who can see can help him during daylight.” Therefore, if he saw once he may cover. And both of them explained the same verse, without seeing⁴²Num. 35:23, part of the definition of involuntary homicide. Babli 9b, Sifry Num. 160. As the Babli explains, the double restriction mentioned by the verse, unintentional, without seeing, has to be read as an inclusion.. Rebbi Meïr says, to include the blind person. Rebbi Jehudah says, excluding the blind person. ⁴³A parallel to this paragraph is in Megillah 4:7. One has to read “Jehudah” for Meïr, as in Megillah, since only for R. Jehudah are two opinions recorded. Also “there” means Makkot, “here” Megillah. The argument of Rebbi Meïr seems inverted. There he says, excluding, but here he says, to include. Rebbi Ḥanina the son of Rebbi Hillel said, the Mishnah is about one sitting in a dark house. So we are saying, “one sitting in a dark house may not cover the Shemaˋ.⁴⁴In his explanation, R. Jehudah does not exclude the blind person but one born and raised in a cave who never saw daylight.” But here, without seeing, to include the blind person. How do the rabbis read without seeing? To include one who smites in the night⁴⁵He is included in the list of the exiled together with the blind person..

There¹⁹⁵Mishnah Megillah 4:5., we have stated: “One winds in Prophets¹⁹⁶In the public reading from Prophets after the Sabbath reading from the Torah, it is permissible to piece the reading together from different chapters of one prophet. but one does not wind in the Pentateuch.” One winds in one prophet, but not from one prophet to another, but among prophets of the Twelve it is permitted¹⁹⁷Since all 12 minor prophets are written together in one scroll, moving from one to the next is like winding in one of the major prophets, each of which is written in his own scroll.. But one does not wind in the Pentateuch; Rebbi Jeremiah in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: Because one does not wind the Torah in public. Rebbi Yose asked, think of it, if it was a small portion¹⁹⁸In the Palestinian 3½ year cycle, it might be that the portion was too small to be read by seven different persons; may some readers read from another place after the allotted portion was already recited?? But that Israel should hear it in its order¹⁹⁹Even if one reads more than the allotted portion on one Sabbath, it must be a continuous text.. But did we not state²⁰⁰The Mishnah here.: “He reads ‘after the death¹⁸⁵Lev. 16:1–34, the description of the Atonement service.’ and ‘but on the tenth¹⁸⁶Lev. 23:26–32. Winding from Chap. 17 to 23 does not take much time.’ ”? It is different here, because that is the order of the day²⁰¹This is a holiday reading, not a Sabbath reading; it has to concentrate on the texts dealing exclusively with that holiday.. Know that it is so since Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, one does not recite by heart, and here he recites by heart²⁰²From the text too far removed to be wound without inconveniencing the public.. Rebbi Yose commanded Bar Ulla, the organizer of the congregation of Babylonians: When the Torah has been brought back, wind it behind the curtain²⁰³In Yoma, the text reads: כַּד דְּהִיא חָדָא אוֹרִיָּא תְּהֵא גַייֵל לָהּ לְהָדֵי פָרוֹכְתָא. “When you have only one Torah, wind it by the curtain.” The text here is preferable since a good organizer will wind the Torah well before it is used the next time. The editors who mishandled the text, replacing the text here by that from Yoma in modern editions, probably never were Torah readers themselves.. If there are two, return one and bring the other²⁰⁴This is not the common usage where one takes out both scrolls and reads from them one after the other. This shows that in Babylonia already in Talmudic times one read from two different scrolls at special occasions (in particular, holidays). One has to correct the statement by Elbogen (cf. Note 205, p. 127) that this practice is not recorded before Rav Yehudai Gaon..