Siman - Yoma Daf 11

  • Mezuzos on the gates

The Rabbanon taught in a Baraisa, the passuk says:, "ובשעריך" –And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, – This teaches that whether they are gates of houses, gates of courtyards, gates of provinces, or gates of cities, יש בהן חובת מצוה למקום – They all have a chiyuv mitzvah to the Omnipresent, for it says,  "וכתבתם על מזוזת ביתך ובשעריך"– and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. The word “gates” is plural.

Rashi explains that שערי מדינות – gates of provinces, require mezuzos in a case where the province is surrounded by mountains and forests for many miles, and people can only enter through gates. He mentions the land of Hagar, which is presumably Hungary, as an example of such a province.

  • Machlokes if a mezuzah is required for a curved archway

It was taught in a Baraisa, In a case of a כיפה  - curved archway, רבי מאיר מחייב במזוזה וחכמים פוטרין – Rebbe Meir requires a mezuzah and the Chochomim exempt it from a mezuzah. ושוין שאם ברגלה עשרה שחייבת במזוזה – But they agree that if its legs, (referring to the archway’s sides), have a height of ten tefachim before they begin to arch inward, the archway requires a mezuzah, since we can entirely ignore the curved portion and use the vertical sides of ten tefachim as the sideposts.

Abaye clarifies that Rebbe Meir and the Chochomim disagree in a case when the archway is ten tefachim high and the archway’s legs have a height of three tefachim before the opening between them narrows to less than that four tefachim, but the archway is not four tefachim wide along the entire minimum height of ten tefachim, ויש בה לחוק להשלימה לארבעה – however, the wall surrounding the archway is large enough to allow one to carve into it, to complete the entranceway to the full four tefachim along the height of the ten tefachim. Rebbe Meir holds חוקקין להשלים – we view the entrance as if it is enlarged since it has the potential to do so, but the Rabbanon hold אין חוקקין להשלים – we do not take the potential into account but consider the archway as it presently stands.

  • ביתך – דרך ביאתך

It was taught in a Baraisa, בית הכנסת ובית האשה ובית השותפין חייבת במזוזה – A shul, a house of a woman and a house owned by partners, require a mezuzah. One might have thought, ביתך – “your house” implies “and not her house” and “not their houses,” referring to a shul and house owned by partners. The Gemara asks why we do not actually derive these conclusions, and answers because the next passuk states, למען ירבו ימיכם וימי בניכם – In order to increase your days and the days of your sons, הני בעו חיי והני לא בעו חיי – Do these people who own houses independently have a need for long life, but not women and partners? Of course not.

The Gemara then asks, then what is the need of the passuk stating, ביתך, and brings Rava, who answers דרך ביאתך – The word ‘your house” may be read, ‘your entry’ indicating that the mezuzah should be affixed the way you enter, and when a person lifts his feet to enter a house, he lifts his right foot first. The Torah therefore teaches that the mezuzah should be affixed on the right side as a person enters.