Menachot 36 – When to Put on Tefillin

The proper time to don tefillin is the first light of dawn. If one rose earlier than that, to go out on the road, and did not want to carry the tefillin in his hands, lest they become lost, he can don them immediately. When the prescribed time comes – that is, when he is able to recognize a friend at a distance of four steps – he should touch them and then recite the blessing.

The latest time to wear tefillin is when the sun sets. Rabbi Yakov says that one may leave the tefillin on until people have stopped walking the streets and no one can longer see him any longer. The Sages say that he may wear it until the time he decides to go to sleep. There a few possibilities to explain this argument: that the Torah prohibited wearing tefillin after sunset, that the Sages prohibited this out of concern for people falling asleep in their tefillin, or that no such prohibitions exist.

The rulings above apply mostly to the earlier times, when people wore tefillin all day. Nowadays they wear the tefillin only during the morning prayer.

Art: Adolph von Menzel- Schlafender - Man Asleep

Menachot 35 – Tefillin

The Torah refers to the head tefillin three times, once with an extra letter vav, which teaches that the head tefillin must have four compartments – these are the words of Rabbi Ishmael. However, Rabbi Akiva says that this derivation is not needed. Rather, the word for tefillin (totafot) itself hints at the number four, since “tot” means “two” in the Cafti language, and “fot” means “two” in the Afriki language.

You might think to make four separate compartments out of four separate pieces of hide. However, the Torah said that it will be “remembrance” - one remembrance, and not two or three. How do we reconcile this? We take a piece of hide and shape it into four connected compartments. Then we take one scroll and write the four required passages from the Torah on it, and bend them and insert them in such a way that each passage goes into its own compartment.

However, the tefillin that goes on the arm, about which the Torah says “it will be a sign for you,” consists of one compartment, with the scroll containing four passages.

Art: Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt - Portrait Of An Old Man Rabbi

Menachot 34 – Why Write the Mezuzah on a Scroll

Since the Torah said, “And you will write them (those words) on the doorposts of your house,” you might think to write them directly on the stones of the doorway. However, we learn otherwise by comparing this writing to the writing of the divorce document, Get, which should be “on a scroll,” and this teaches us that the mezuzah is written on a scroll, and is then affixed to the doorpost.

But perhaps we should rather compare it to the writing of the words of the Torah on the stones, as the Jews did when on their entry to Israel? - We prefer to compare writing that applies in all generations (mezuzah) to writing that applies in all generations (Get), and not to writing which only happened once.

A better derivation is from the words “and you will write” (uchtavtam) themselves, which can be translated as “complete writing” - that is, on the scroll, and not on the stones. Now that we have this direct derivation, what do we need the previous one for? - You might still think to engrave the words on a stone, then attach the stone to the doorpost. This teaches otherwise.

Art: Laurent de La Hyre - Moses and the Tablets of the Law

Menachot 33 – Where to Put a Mezuzah

If the mezuzah was hung on the doorpost in a rod, it is not a mitzvah and poses danger. Some say that the danger is being without the mezuzah protection, and some – that he may bang his head against it. However, the servants of the king Munbaz, who were always traveling, would put the mezuzah that way, to remind themselves of the commandment.

If one affixed the mezuzah to the doorpost like a bolt, that is, horizontally, it is invalid. That is the explanation of Rashi. Rabbeinu Tam, however, says that it would be unseemly for the mezuzah to be upright, since the Torah in the Ark was lying down, and he explains “like a bolt” as vertical, thus invalidating a vertical position. Tosafot say that the Talmud here alludes to three positions, one of them being like a letter L, and that this one is valid both according to Rashi and to Rabbeinu Tam.

The study hall of Rabbi Yehudah the Prince did not have a mezuzah. According to Rashi, it was another door, but the study hall does require a mezuzah; according to Tosafot, it does not, and the custom is to affix it without a blessing.

Art: Edouard Brandon - Rabbinical Students In A Classroom

Menachot 32 – How to Write a Mezuzah

The last words of the mezuzah - “on the earth” - must appear alone on the line. Some take it to mean at the end of the line, so that “heaven” appears directly over “earth,” to indicate that your days be prolonged like the height of heaven over the earth. Others say that it means at the beginning of the line, so that “earth” is as far as possible away from “heaven,” to indicate that the days of your life be prolonged like the heaven is far from the earth.

If a Torah scroll wore out it may not be made into a mezuzah by cutting out the two required paragraphs, sewing them, and affixing them to the doorpost, because we may not lower objects in sanctity but only bring them up. So lowering in sanctity is the only problem, but if not for that, we could? What about the requirement to write the mezuzah on the outer, tougher part of the skin? - That is only the preferred procedure.

In addition, mezuzah requires scoring with thin lines before writing, and it does not have to be copied from a text, because everyone knows it by heart.

Art: Johann Hamza - An Old Man Reading

Menachot 31 – How to Repair a Torn Torah Scroll

If the margin of a Torah scroll tore and the tear extends two lines into the writing, one can sew it, and the scroll is still valid. If, however, it extends three lines into the writing, he should not sew it; rather, he should replace the entire sheet. And that which we said that three lines should not be sewn is only true of an old parchment, but with the new parchment it is not a problem. “Old” does not mean literally old, but one that was treated with gallnut juice, and “new” means one not treated with gallnut juice. Some explain it to mean the opposite: a “new” parchment is one treated with gallnut juice, for this makes the parchment strong, and the seam will hold. If one remembers that gallnut juice is a prerequisite for a Torah scroll anyway, the explanation becomes even more complex.

Sewing the tear should be done with sinews, the same material used for sewing the sheets together, and not with threads. The custom, however, is to sew with silk threads, which leads to further study and to the interpretation of the above rule in a different way.

Art: Vincent van Gogh - Woman Sewing

Menachot 30 – Writing a Torah Scroll

If one writes a Torah scroll, he can conclude the last words, “before the eyes of all Israel,” even in the middle of the line, and some say, he must conclude it in the middle of the line. With his lines, he must go all the way to the bottom of the column, shortening the width of each successive line if needed.

Every Jewish man must write a Torah scroll during his lifetime. One who buys it fulfills the commandment, but not in the optimal way. If he bought the scroll and corrected even one letter, it is counted as if he wrote it.

Each piece of the parchment on which the scroll is written must contain between 3 and 8 columns. The margin at the bottom of each column must be a hand-breadth, and at the top – three finger-breadths. However, he must not reduce the size of the script to preserve the margins, but keep it uniform and beautiful, even if the margin becomes slightly narrower because of it.

Art: Marc Chagall - Rabbi with a Torah