Nedarim 37

הא קא משמע לן דאפילו במקום שנוטלין שכר על המקרא שרי למשקל על המדרש לא שרי למשקל

The Gemara answers: This teaches us that even in a place where one takes payment for teaching, for teaching Bible it is permitted to take payment, but for teaching midrash it is not permitted to take payment.

מאי שנא מדרש דלא דכתיב ואתי צוה ה׳ בעת ההיא ללמד אתכם וכתיב ראה למדתי אתכם חקים ומשפטים כאשר צוני ה׳ מה אני בחנם אף אתם נמי בחנם מקרא נמי בחנם

The Gemara asks: In what way is midrash different from Bible, that one may not take payment for teaching it? Based on that which is written, which Moses said to the people: “And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and laws” (Deuteronomy 4:14), and also that which is written: “Behold, I have taught you statutes and laws, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it” (Deuteronomy 4:5), God said: Just as I teach you for free, without payment, so too you also shall teach for free. There should be no difference between Bible and midrash, and Bible too, like midrash, should be taught for free.

רב אמר שכר שימור ורבי יוחנן אמר שכר פיסוק טעמים

Rav said: As Bible is typically taught to children, one who teaches Bible takes payment for watching the children. And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He takes payment for teaching punctuation of the text with cantillation notes.

תנן לא ילמדנו מקרא בשלמא למאן דאמר שכר פיסוק טעמים היינו דלא ילמדנו אלא למאן דאמר שכר שימור גדול בר שימור הוא בקטן קתני

We learned in the mishna that one for whom benefit from another is forbidden by a vow, that other person may not teach him Bible. Granted, according to the one who says that the payment is for teaching punctuation of the text with cantillation notes, this is the reason that he shall not teach him Bible, as teaching punctuation is a component of teaching the biblical text. However, according to the one who says it is payment for watching the students, is an adult one who requires watching, and would payment be taken for doing so? Since the teacher typically does not receive payment for teaching adults, there is no benefit when he teaches for free the one for whom benefit is forbidden; why, then, is it prohibited? The Gemara answers: The mishna is teaching about the case of a minor who requires watching and who is prohibited by a vow from deriving benefit from the teacher.

אי בקטן אימא סיפא אבל מלמד את בניו מקרא קטן בר בנים הוא חסורי מחסרא והכי קתני לא ילמדנו מקרא בקטן אם היה גדול מלמדו לו ולבניו מקרא

The Gemara asks: If it is the case of a minor, say the latter clause of the mishna: However, he may teach his sons Bible. Is a minor one who is capable of bearing sons? The Gemara answers: The mishna is incomplete, and this is what it is teaching: He may not teach him Bible, in the case of a minor. If the student is an adult, he may teach him and his sons Bible. He may teach him because he does not require watching, and he may teach his son because the payment is for watching his son.

מיתיבי תינוקות לא קורין בתחילה בשבת אלא שונין בראשון בשלמא למאן דאמר שכר פיסוק טעמים היינו דאין קורין בתחילה בשבת אלא למאן דאמר שכר שימור אמאי אין קורין בתחילה בשבת ואמאי שונין בראשון הא איכא שכר שימור דשבת

The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita: Children may not read a passage in the Bible for the first time on Shabbat; however, they may review a passage that they already learned once. Granted, according to the one who says that payment for teaching Bible is for teaching punctuation of the text with cantillation notes, this is the reason that children may not read a passage in the Bible for the first time on Shabbat, as it would be necessary to pay the teacher. However, according to the one who says it is payment for watching the children, why may children not read a passage in the Bible for the first time on Shabbat? And why may children review a passage that they already learned once? Isn’t there payment for watching the children on Shabbat in both cases?

וליטעמיך שכר פיסוק בשבת מי אסור הבלעה היא והבלעה מישרא שרי דתניא השוכר את הפועל לשמור את התינוק לשמור את הפרה לשמור את הזרעים אין נותנין לו שכר שבת לפיכך

The Gemara responds: And according to your reasoning, is receiving payment for teaching punctuation prohibited on Shabbat? It is a case of incorporation of the payment for teaching on Shabbat into the teacher’s weekly salary, and incorporation is permitted, as it is taught in a baraita: One who hires a day laborer to watch a child, to watch a cow, or to guard seeds does not give him payment for Shabbat. Therefore,

אם אבדו אינו חייב באחריותן ואם היה שכיר שבת שכיר חדש שכיר שנה שכיר שבוע נותן לו שכר שבת לפיכך אם אבדו חייב באחריותן

if the items that the laborer was entrusted to watch were lost on Shabbat, he does not bear financial responsibility to compensate the owners for them, since he is not a paid bailee on that day. And if he is a laborer hired for a week, hired for a month, hired for a year, or hired for seven years, the one who hired him gives him payment for labor performed on Shabbat as well. Therefore, if the items were lost on Shabbat, he bears financial responsibility to compensate the owners for them. If payment for Shabbat is incorporated within payment for a longer period, it is not prohibited to accept payment for permitted actions performed on Shabbat.

אלא גבי שבת היינו טעמא דאין קוראין בתחילה משום דיפנו אבהתהון דינוקי למצותא דשבתא ואיבעית אימא משום דבשבתא אכלין ושתין ויקיר עליהון עלמא כדאמר שמואל שינוי וסת תחילת חולי מעיים

Rather, with regard to Shabbat, this is the reason that children may not read a passage in the Bible for the first time on Shabbat, so that the fathers of the children will be at leisure to fulfill the mitzva of delighting in Shabbat. Teaching new material to their children would occupy more of their fathers’ time, limiting their opportunity to fulfill that mitzva. And if you wish, say instead: Due to the fact that on Shabbat children eat and drink more than they are accustomed to eating, their world is heavy upon them, i.e., their head and their limbs are sluggish, and they are incapable of concentrating and studying well, as Shmuel said: A change in routine [veset] in eating and the like causes the onset of an intestinal ailment.

ולמאן דאמר שכר פיסוק טעמים מאי טעמא לא אמר שכר שימור קסבר בנות מי קא בעיין שימור

And according to the one who says that the payment for teaching Bible is payment for teaching punctuation of the text with cantillation notes, and therefore in the case of one for whom benefit from another is forbidden by vow, that other person may not teach his sons and daughters Bible, what is the reason that he did not say that it is payment for watching the children? The Gemara answers: He holds: Do girls need watching? They stay home and are not accustomed to going out.

ולמאן דאמר שכר שימור מאי טעמא לא אמר שכר פיסוק טעמים קסבר (שכר) פיסוק טעמים דאורייתא הוא

The Gemara asks: And according to the one who says that the payment for teaching Bible is payment for watching the children, what is the reason that he did not say that it is payment for teaching punctuation of the text with cantillation notes? The Gemara answers: He holds that the punctuation of the text with cantillation notes is by Torah law; therefore, it is included in the prohibition against taking payment for teaching Torah.

דאמר רב איקא בר אבין אמר רב חננאל אמר רב מאי דכתיב ויקראו בספר בתורת האלהים מפרש ושום שכל ויבינו במקרא ויקראו בספר בתורת האלהים זה מקרא מפרש זה תרגום ושום שכל אלו הפסוקים ויבינו במקרא זה פיסוק טעמים ואמרי לה אלו המסורות

This is as Rav Ika bar Avin said that Rav Ḥananel said that Rav said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And they read in the book, in the Torah of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8)? The Gemara explains: “They read in the book, in the Torah of God”; that is the Bible. “Distinctly”; that is the Aramaic translation. “And they gave the sense”; these are the division into verses. “And caused them to understand the reading”; this is punctuation of the text with cantillation notes, which facilitate the understanding of the verses. And some say: These are the traditions that determine the proper vocalization of the Bible. Rav holds that the cantillation notes are an integral part of Torah study.

אמר רבי יצחק מקרא סופרים ועיטור סופרים וקריין ולא כתיבן וכתיבן ולא קריין הלכה למשה מסיני

On a related note, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The vocalization of the scribes, and the ornamentation of the scribes, and the verses with words that are read but not written, and those that are written but not read are all halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai.

מקרא סופרים ארץ שמים מצרים

The Gemara elaborates: The vocalization of the scribes is referring to words that when they appear at the end of phrases, clauses, or verses, their vocalization changes, e.g., eretz with a segol under the letter alef to aretz with a kamatz under the letter alef; shamayim with a pataḥ under the letter mem, to shamayim with a kamatz under the letter mem; and mitzrayim with a pataḥ under the letter reish, to mitzrayim with a kamatz under the letter reish.

עיטור סופרים אחר תעברו אחר תלך אחר תאסף קדמו שרים אחר נגנים צדקתך כהררי אל

The ornamentation of the scribes are expressions that the scribes understood in a manner that differs slightly from its plain understanding. For example: “Then [aḥar] go on” (Genesis 18:5); “then [aḥar] she will go” (Genesis 24:55); “afterward [aḥar] you will be gathered” (Numbers 31:2); “the singers go before, the minstrels follow after [aḥar]” (Psalms 68:26); “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains” (Psalms 36:7).

קריין ולא כתיבן פרת דבלכתו איש דכאשר ישאל איש בדבר האלהים באים דנבנתה לה דפליטה את דהגד הגד אלי דהגרן אלי דהשערים הלין קריין ולא כתבן

Words that are read but not written are included in the halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. For example, the word “Euphrates” that is in the phrase “as he went to establish his control over the river Euphrates” (II Samuel 8:3) is not written in the text of the Bible. The same is true for the word “man” that is in the verse “now the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man inquired of the word of God” (II Samuel 16:23); and for the word “come” that is in the verse “behold, the days come, says the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananel unto the gate of the corner” (Jeremiah 31:37); and for “her” that is in the phrase “let her not have escape” (Jeremiah 50:29); unto that is in the verse “it has been told me, all that you have done unto your mother-in-law” (Ruth 2:11); and for “to me” that is found in the passage “and she said unto her: All that you say to me I will do. And she went down to the threshing floor” (Ruth 3:4–5); and for “to me” that is in the verse “he gave me these six measures of barley; for he said to me” (Ruth 3:17). These words are read but not written.

וכתבן ולא קריין נא דיסלח

And there are words that are written but not read. For example, the word “may” that is in the verse “may God forgive your servant” (II Kings 5:18) appears in the Bible text but is not vocalized.