Siman - Eruvin Daf 54
The majority of this Daf deals with retaining one’s learning.
- Verbalizing one’s Torah aids in retention
Rav Ami said regarding the passuk, כי נעים כי תשמרם בבטנך יכנו יחדו על שפתיך – For it is sweet when you retain them, meaning the words of Torah, in your belly, set together on your lips,אימתי דברי תורה נעימים – when are the words of Torah sweet? בזמן שתשמרם בבטנך – when you retain them in your belly, meaning that you do not forget them. ואימתי תשמרם בבטנך – And when do you retain them in your belly? בזמן שיכונו יחדיו על שפתיך – when they are set together on your lips, meaning when you arrange the words of Torah in an orderly fashion and express them with your lips.
Rebbe Zeira said that this can be learned from the passuk, שמחה לאיש במענה פיו ודבר בעתו מה טוב – a man has joy in the answer of his mouth; and something in its proper time, how good it is, אימתי שמחה לאיש – when does a man have joy in his learning? בזמן שמענה בפיו – when the answer is in his mouth.
- Repeating a lesson to one’s students four times
A Baraisa presents the סדר משנה, the procedure in which Torah she’baal peh was originally taught to Klal Yisroel, in which Moshe, Aharon, Aharon’s sons and the zekeinim taught the Torah four times.
Rebbe Eliezer said we learn from here, חייב אדם לשנות לתלמידיו ארבעה פעמים – A person is obligated to repeat each lesson to his student four times, for if Aharon, who learned directly from Moshe who learned it directly from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, had to learn this way, הדיוט מפי הדיוט על אחת כמה וכמה – then an ordinary person from an ordinary person all the more so.
Rebbe Akiva says that we learn from the passuk, ולמדה את בני ישראל – And teach the bnei Yisroel, that a person is obligated to teach his student until he knows it. From the passuk, ושימה בפיהם – and put it in their mouths, we learn that one is obligated to repeat a lesson עד שתהא סדורה בפיהם – until it is fluent in their mouths. The Gemara later brings the story of Rebbe Preida who needed to repeat a lesson four hundred times to a certain student, and one time he needed to teach it an additional four hundred times.
- Torah is only acquired with simanin
Rav Chisda said, אין תורה נקנית אלא בסימנין – Torah knowledge cannot be acquired except with simanim, which is learned from the passuk, שימה בפיהם – put it in their mouths, which we expound אל תקרא שימה אלא סימנה – do not read it as שימה but as סימנא. Rebbe Abahu derived this teaching from the passuk, הציבי לך צינים שמי לך – set up signs for yourself, make for yourself, which teaches us עשו ציונים לתורה – make signs for the Torah. Rebbe Elazar derived it from, אמר לחכמה אחתי את ומדע לבינה תקרא – say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and you should call understanding a relative, which teaches us עשה מודעים לתורה – make signs for the Torah.
