Menachot 31

On yesterday’s daf, the Talmud explained that a piece of parchment must be large enough to contain three to eight columns of text in order to be fit for use in a Torah scroll. Each column must be wide enough to contain the word lemishpekhoteikhem three times, and there must be room for a two-finger breath space between each of the columns. 
The rules for a mezuzah are different. As we learn on today’s daf: 

Rabbi Ze’eiri says that Rav Hananel says that Rav says: A mezuzah that one wrote two by two is fit.

In other words, if one can fit at least two words per line, the mezuzah scroll is fit.

The mezuzah scroll contains two paragraphs from the Torah, Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21. These are the first two paragraphs of the Shema that are recited in the evening and morning prayer services. Maimonides tells us that it is a universal custom for a mezuzah parchment (klaf) to have 22 lines. This means that each of the lines have between five and nine words per line — far more than the minimum of two allowed by Rav. If a scribe were to follow Rav’s ruling, they could potentially write a much longer, narrower klaf.
A klaf is produced from the skin of kosher animals, a process that makes it expensive to produce. Given that the klaf of a mezuzah is rolled up and placed inside a case, its exact shape does not matter so much and it makes sense that the rules allow for variation. Rav’s opinion allows for the use of a wide variety of lengths and widths, as long as the klaf has space for the required words. This potentially enables a scribe to make use of spare pieces of parchment that are irregularly shaped.

On today’s daf, we also encounter a particular rule about the placement of the final words on the klaf:

Rav Hisda says: One writes the last two words of a mezuzah, “above the earth,” by themselves on the final line.
 
The sages follow up by arguing about their precise alignment:

Some say that one writes this phrase at the end of the final line, and some say that one writes it at the beginning of the final line.

This is not just aesthetic preference, but laden with meaning. Deuteronomy 11:21 explains the benefits of following the instructions provided in the paragraph that it concludes, namely, “… so that you and your children will endure in the land that God swore to your ancestors to assign to them, as long as there is a Heaven above the Earth.” The difference of opinion about where to place the final words has to do with a disagreement with how we should understand the verse.

Some say that the phrase emphasizes that Heaven sits above the Earth. To represent this graphically, these sages say that the last words should be aligned to the left (because Hebrew is written right to left, this means the end of the row). This means that the word Earth literally sits under the word Heaven. Those that say that the phrase “above the Earth” should be aligned right (at the start of the line) understand the verse to be emphasizing how the heavens are far removed from the Earth. In the post-talmudic era, this tradition won out — the words are aligned to the right, as is the norm for written Hebrew, giving a nod to the notion that God’s realm is far removed from ours.
 
This interpretive tradition is for the most part hidden within the mezuzah casings that hang on our doorposts. It is our study of Daf Yomi that brings it out into the light of day, letting us know that the message of the mezuzah is not only contained within the words found on the klaf, but also where they sit in relation to each other.

Read all of Menachot 31 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on February 11, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.