Resources for Megillah 29

Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

1. The גמרא says that we are מבטלין תלמוד תורה להוצאת מת ולהכנסת כלה. There is a מחלוקת ראשונים as to whether this is a חיוב or just a היתר to be מבטל. See theרא"שin כתובות in פּרק ב סימן ה who discusses this at length, as well as the ר"ן  here on דף ט': בדפּי הרי"ף. The main cause of disagreement is the גמרא we had earlier in the מסכתא on דף ג that says that מת מצוה  is עדיף than תלמוד תורה. Why did the גמרא say מת מצוה and not a regular מת? It sounds like a regular מת is not עדיף than תלמוד תורה and it is only a רשות to be מבטל. This would also explain why our גמרא mentions that רבי יהודה בר אלעאי was מבטל תורה להוצאת המת. If everyone must do it, what’s the חידוש that רבי יהודה בר אלעאי did it? It must be that it wasn’t really a חיוב but he did it anyway. The רא"ש himself disagrees and says that there is a חיוב even by a regular מת for people to stop learning in order to go to the לויה since the גמרא says כנתינתה נטילתה which sounds like there is a חיוב  to have a large group there. As to the גמרא on דף ג, he says it is לאו דוקא, and the חידוש that רבי יהודה בר אלעאי went is only that even someone who is תורתו אומנתו must go.

Assuming there is a חיוב, why have we not heard of thousands of people going to most funerals? See the חלקת מחוקק in אבן העזר סימן ס"ה ס"ק ב who says the only time you need to stop learning is when you see the כלה, but just knowing there is a wedding (or funeral) in town does not require you to stop what you are doing. However, see the שמואל בית  there in ס"ק ג who disagrees and says that even knowing it is in the city is enough to be מחייב you to come. Perhaps the מנהג is like the חלקת מחוקק.

2. The גמרא gives amounts of people that must do הלוית המת for someone who is קרי תני. The גמרא never explicitly discusses someone who isn’t even a קרי תני. Besides עמי הארץ , there are women and children as well. What is the amount for them? See theר"ן (referenced above) who brings in the name of the גאונים that for a regular person the שיעור would be ten men, whereas the רא"ש just brings that the only amount necessary is enough to be מתעסק בקבורתו. As far as women, see the רא"ש in כתובות פּרק ב סימן ו who brings a מחלוקת where some say she is treated like a person who is not  קרי תני, and others says that since it’s not her fault that she didn’t learn, she is treated like someone who did learn as long as she made sure her husband and kids learned. The same would be true by a child.
3. The גמרא expressly discusses how many people should come to the funeral but does not discuss how many people need to come to a חתונה. See the שיטה מקובצתin כתובות דף י"ז who quotes from the גאונים that there is no upper limit as "ברוב עם הדרת חתן וכלה".
4. The גמרא brings that אביי says that at first he used to learn at home and daven at shul. After he heard the פּסוק that says ה' אהבתי מעון ביתך, he started learning and davening in shul. See the טורי אבןwho asks that there is a גמרא in ברכות that says the exact opposite. There, אביי himself says that he used to learn at home and daven in shul, and after he heard that אין לו להקב"ה אלא ד אמות של הלכה, he decided to daven at home as well. Which is it—daven where you learn or learn where you daven? He says it must be a מחלוקת הסוגיות. See the מרומי שדה who suggests that out גמרא is talking about before אביי had a study (בית מדרש קבוע) and the גמרא in ברכות is discussing after he had a study at home. Only once he had a בית מדרש קבוע could it be called ד אמות של הלכה.

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