כוּדּ סוּסְ סוֹטְ : Daf Ditty Shabbes 79

Hamlet. Is not made of sheepskins? Horatio. Ay, my lord, and of calves' skins too.

רַמָא :בַר סוֹטְסוּסְכוּדּ יֵרֲה אוּה .ףָלְקִכּ הַמ ףָלְק ןיִבְתוֹכּ ויָלָﬠ ןיִלּיִפְתּ — ףַא סוֹטְסוּסְכוּדּ ןיִבְתוֹכּ ויָלָﬠ .ןיִלּיִפְתּ :ןַנְתּ :ןַנְתּ .ןיִלּיִפְתּ ויָלָﬠ ףָלְק יֵדְכּ בוֹתְּכִל הָשָׁרָפּ הָנַּטְק ןיִלּיִפְתַּבֶּשׁ איִהֶשׁ עַמְשׁ״ ,״לֵאָרְשִׂי ףָלְק — ,ןיִא סוֹטְסוּסְכוּדּ !?אָל .הָוְצִמְל אָתּ :עַמְשׁ :עַמְשׁ אָתּ .הָוְצִמְל !?אָל סוֹטְסוּסְכוּדּ ,ןיִא הָכָלֲה הֶשֹׁמְל ,יַניִסִּמ ןיִלּיִפְתּ לַﬠ ףָלְקַּה הָזוּזְמוּ לַﬠ ְסוּסְכוּדּ .סוֹט ְ ק ָל ף — םוֹקְמִבּ ,רָשָׂבּ סוֹטְסוּסְכוּדּ — םוֹקְמִבּ .רָﬠיֵשׂ .רָﬠיֵשׂ םוֹקְמִבּ . הָוְצִמְל

Rav said: Dokhsostos has the same legal status as parchment:

Just as one may write the portions of the phylacteries on parchment, so too, one may write the portions of the phylacteries on dokhsostos.

The Gemara asks, we learned in the mishna: The measure that determines liability for carrying out parchment is equivalent to that which is used to write the shortest portion in the phylacteries, which is the portion of Shema Yisrael.

By inference: Parchment, yes, the portions of the phylacteries may be written on it.

Dokhsostos, no, the portions of the phylacteries may not be written on it.

The Gemara answers: That is no proof, as the mishna is referring to the optimal manner in which to fulfill the mitzva, i.e., writing the portions of the phylacteries on parchment. However, one fulfills the mitzva by writing on dokhsostos as well.

Come and hear that which was taught in a baraita: It is a transmitted to Moses from Sinai that the portions of the phylacteries are written on parchment, and a mezuza is written on dokhsostos.

When writing on parchment, one writes on the side of the hide that faced the flesh; on dokhsostos, one writes on the side of the hide on which there was hair.

This contradicts the opinion of Rav, who said that phylacteries may be written on dokhsostos.

The Gemara answers: The baraita is also referring to the optimal manner in which to fulfill the mitzva.

When the hide is processed, the skin of the animal is split into two parts. The outside piece is . סוטסוסכוד and the inside piece, closer to the flesh, is called ףלק called

.is supposed to be written on the outer part of this inner skin זמ ו הז The

הכל השמל יסמ נ י יליפת ן לע ףלקה אלו לע סוטסוסכודה אלו לע וגה .לי יבתוכ ן לע ףלקה םוקמב רשב םאו יש הנ הנ יש םאו רשב םוקמב ףלקה לע ן יבתוכ .לי וגה לע אלו סוטסוסכודה לע אלו ףלקה לע ן יליפת י נ יסמ השמל הכל ספ ו ל והמ ףלק והמו סוטסוסכוד רועה תעשב ודוביע ןיקלוח ותוא ינשל ' קלחהו וציחה ן אוהש דצל רעשה ארקנ ארקנ רעשה דצל אוהש ן וציחה קלחהו ' ינשל ותוא ןיקלוח ודוביע תעשב רועה סוטסוסכוד ףלק נפהו ימי קובדה רשבל ארקנ סוטסוסכוד יפל הז יכ ירמא נ ן םיבתוכ לע ףלקה םוקמב רשב יה י נ ו םוקמ יה רתו רתו יה םוקמ ו נ י יה רשב םוקמב ףלקה לע םיבתוכ ן נ ירמא יכ הז יפל סוטסוסכוד ארקנ רשבל קובדה ימי נפהו ףלק בורק רשבל יהד י נ ו םוקמב ורובח אוהשכ קובד סוטסוסכודל םיפלקו נלש ו יאש ן םיקלוח םתוא י ש םהל ד י ן ףלק ףק ןיד םל םיבתוכו םהילע דצל רשב המש םיררגמש ותפילק ילעה ו הנ םוקמבש רעש ניא ו אלא ידכ המ ךירצש נקתל ו ונת יצ מ ד ל ונארשםקב נויע ופל ירמ מ ש צ הל יתכ וקילחהל וליפאו םא יה ו םיקלוח רועה נשל םי היה ךירצ ררגל נממ ו ךכ דצמו רשבה םיררוג הברה דע יאש ן ןישד בהםרו רב צו כ מ רלךר י ינלרע ילח הם ויא קלה : ראשנ אלא ףלקה דבלב לה אא רש

It is a Received Tradition going back to Moses that [are written] on the layer, not on dukhsustos or gewil; on the klaf layer, on the flesh side and any variation is invalid.

What are [these layers]? When a raw skin is split thickness-wise, the outer layer towards the fur is klaf and the inner one towards the meat is dukhsustos.

Thus when we say "the flesh side of the klaf" we mean the side closer to the flesh i.e. where it connects to the dukhsustos.

Our parchment which is not split, is halachically klaf and we write on it on the flesh side since what is scraped away from the hair side is just enough to smooth it out and would be scraped off even if we were to split the hide, while on the inside all the dukhsustos is scraped away.

Shulchan Aruch O. C. 32:7

upon ףלק is toward the flesh, it is referring to the layer of the ףלק When the Baraisa says that the where the writing must take place. In other words, we write the chapters of the shema for the ףלק tefillin on the inside of the

is toward the hair, it does not mean that the סוטסוסכוד Similarly, when the Baraisa says that .itself is toward the hair, because this it is not the case סוטסוסכוד

is on the outer-side of this inner layer of skin, which is זמ ו ז תו Rather, it means that the writing of the side closer to the hair. There is another term used in this context.

This is the full skin, unsplit. The hair is removed and the. ליוג A sefer is written upon surfaced is smoothed by being scraped off. On the side facing the flesh of the animal nothing is removed, and it is smoothed out.1

itself is the inside layer of this split ףלק it means that the, רשב קמב ו ם ק ל ף When the Baraisa says it means that this layer is that which is toward, סוטסוסוד רעיש םוקמב skin. Similarly, when it says the skin, meaning the outer layer of this split hide. According to these Rishonim, the Baraisa does not tell us where the writing itself must be, but they explain that it is not along the split itself, but it is rather along the outside layers of the relative pieces.2

refers to the inner layer of the ףלק Some Rishonim (Rambam, Ramban, Ritva) explain the sugya in the reverse. They say that 1 .is the outer layer of the skin which faces the hair of the animal סוטסוסכוד skin, which faces the flesh, while 2 Daf Digest Shabbes 79 שָׁשׁ תוֹרוֹע .ןֵה וְ גּ ליִ ףָלְקוּ .סוּטְסוּסְכוּדְ ו .דַציֵכּ ןיִחְקוֹל רוֹע הָמֵהְבּ וֹא יַּח הָ בֲﬠַמוּ ריִ ןיִ רָﬠֵשַּׂה ִמ וּנֶּמּ .הָלִּחְתּ רַחַאְו ָכּ ָכּ רַחַאְו .הָלִּחְתּ וּנֶּמּ לוֹמ חְ ןיִ וֹתוֹא מְ בּ לֶ .חַ ְ ו רַחַא ָכּ ןיִדְבַּﬠְמ וֹתוֹא .חַמֶקְבּ רַחַאְו ָכּ אָצְפֲﬠָבּ אֵצוֹיַּכְו וֹבּ םיִרָבְדִּמ וַּכְמֶּשׁ ןיִצְ תֶא רוֹעָה רוֹעָה תֶא ןיִצְ וַּכְמֶּשׁ םיִרָבְדִּמ וֹבּ אֵצוֹיַּכְו אָצְפֲﬠָבּ ָכּ רַחַאְו .חַמֶקְבּ וֹתוֹא ןיִדְבַּﬠְמ ָכּ : מוּ זַּחְ קְ ןיִ .וֹתוֹא זְ ו הֶ אוּה נַּה קִ רְ אָ וְ גּ ליִו ָר ִנּהאהה ְו.תאןִק ְַמ

There are three kinds of parchment: gvil, klaf and duxustus. They are made as follows: The skin of a sheep, goat, or other animal, is taken, and after removing its hair, is sprinkled with salt and treated with flour and gall-nut resin, or anything that contracts the pores of the hide and makes it durable. This parchment is called gvil.

RAMBAM, , Hil. Tefillin, and the Chapter 1

According to the Halakhot Gedolot, klaf is the inner layer, adjacent to the flesh, while dukhsustos is the outer layer, on which the hair grows: . נת אי הכלה השמל יסמ נ י יליפת ן לע ףלקה זמו ו הז לע סוטסוסכוד ףלקו םוקמב רשב סוטסוסכודו םוקמב רעש םוקמב סוטסוסכודו רשב םוקמב ףלקו סוטסוסכוד A baraita states: It is a Law given to Moses at Sinai that tefilin are written on qelaf and mezuzah on dukhsustus. Qelaf [is written] where it [faced] flesh; dukhsustus, facing hair.

Hilkhot Tefilin, perek 25 daf 100 in Venice 1548 printing

from Greek δυσχιστός dyschistos) is the name of a type , סוטסוסכוד :Duchsustus (Hebrew of parchment used for religious writings in Judaism.

It is originally a Greek word and one of three Talmudic names for animal skin.

The other two are kelaf and .

The meanings of these terms, however, are the subject of controversy in Jewish law.

According to the , a should, ideally, be written on gevil, but may also be on klaf, Tefillin must be written on Klaf, and Mezuzah should be written on duchsustus, kelaf, or gevil. This instruction is dated to Moses at Mount Sinai. Duchsustus is the animal's dermis, klaf is the epidermis, and gevil is both layers tanned unseparated.

Parchment, is the processed skins of certain animals—chiefly sheep, goats, and calves—that have been prepared for the purpose of writing on them. The name apparently derives from the ancient Greek city of Pergamum (modern Bergama, Turkey), where parchment is said to have been invented in the 2nd century BC. Skins had been used for writing material even earlier, but a new, more thorough method of cleaning, stretching, and scraping made possible the use of both sides of a manuscript leaf, leading to the supplanting of the rolled manuscript by the bound book (codex).

Types of writing materials and methods

In Hellenistic times (c. 300 BC–c. AD 300), official records were often inscribed on stone or metal tablets. Literary works and detailed letters were written on parchment or papyrus, though short or temporary records were written or scratched on potsherds (ostraca) or wax tablets. Scrolls were made by gluing together papyrus sheets (made from the pith of the papyrus reed) or by sewing together parchment leaves (made from treated and scraped animal skins); they were written in columns and read by shifting the roll backward and forward from some wooden support on one or both ends. Such scrolls were used for literary or religious works and seldom exceeded 30 feet (nine meters) in length because of their weight and awkwardness in handling.

In contrast, the church used not scrolls but the codex (book) form for its literature. A codex was formed by sewing pages of papyrus or parchment of equal size one upon another and vertically down the middle, forming a quire; both sides of the pages thus formed could be written upon. In antiquity, the codex was the less honourable form of writing material, used for notes and casual records. The use of the book form testifies to the low cultural and educational status of early Christianity—and, as the church rose to prominence, it brought “the book” with it. Not until the time of the Roman emperor Constantine in the 4th century, when Christianity became a state religion, were there parchment codices containing the whole New Testament. Some very early New Testament manuscripts and fragments thereof are papyrus, but parchment, when available, became the best writing material until the advent of printing. The majority of New Testament manuscripts from the 4th to 15th centuries are parchment codices. When parchment codices occasionally were deemed no longer of use, the writing was scraped off and a new text written upon it. Such a rewritten (rescriptus) manuscript is called a palimpsest (from the Greek palin, “again,” and psaō, “I scrape”). Often the original text of a palimpsest can be discerned by photographic process.

According to the Roman Varro and Pliny's Natural History, vellum and parchment were invented under the patronage of Eumenes of Pergamum, as a substitute for papyrus, which was temporarily not being exported from Alexandria, its only source. Herodotus mentions writing on skins as common in his time, the 5th century BC; and in his Histories (v.58) he states that the Ionians of Asia Minor had been accustomed to give the name of skins (diphtherai) to books; this word was adapted by Hellenized to describe scrolls. Parchment (pergamenum in Latin), however, derives its name from Pergamon, the city where it was perfected (via the French parchemin). In the 2nd century B.C. a great library was set up in Pergamon that rivalled the famous Library of Alexandria. As prices rose for papyrus and the reed used for making it was over-harvested towards local extinction in the two nomes of the Nile delta that produced it, Pergamon adapted by increasing use of vellum and parchment.

Writing on prepared animal skins had a long history, however. Some Egyptian Fourth Dynasty texts were written on vellum and parchment. Though the Assyrians and the Babylonians impressed their cuneiform on clay tablets, they also wrote on parchment and vellum from the 6th century BC onward. Rabbinic culture equated the idea of a book with a parchment scroll. Early Islamic texts are also found on parchment.

One sort of parchment is vellum, a word that is used loosely to mean parchment, and especially to mean a fine skin, but more strictly refers to skins made from calfskin (although goatskin can be as fine in quality). The words vellum and veal come from Latin vitulus, meaning calf, or its diminutive vitellus.

In the Middle Ages, calfskin and split sheepskin were the most common materials for making parchment in England and France, while goatskin was more common in Italy. Other skins such as those from large animals such as horse and smaller animals such as squirrel and rabbit were also used. Whether uterine vellum (vellum made from aborted calf fetuses) was ever really used during the medieval period is still a matter of great controversy. There was a short period during the introduction of printing where parchment and paper were used interchangeably: although most copies of the Gutenberg Bible are on paper, some were printed on animal skins. In 1490, Johannes Trithemius preferred the older methods, because "handwriting placed on skin will be able to endure a thousand years. But how long will printing last, which is dependent on paper? For if ...it lasts for two hundred years that is a long time."

In the later Middle Ages, the use of animal skins was largely replaced by paper. New techniques in paper milling allowed it to be much cheaper and more abundant than parchment. With the advent of printing in the later fifteenth century, the demands of printers far exceeded the supply of vellum and parchment. The heyday of parchment use was during the medieval period, but there has been a growing revival of its use among contemporary artists since the late 20th century. Although it never stopped being used (primarily for governmental documents and diplomas) it had ceased to be a primary choice for artist's supports by the end of 15th century Renaissance. This was partly due to its expense and partly due to its unusual working properties.3

3 Richard Norman, https://www.abaa.org/blog/post/the-history-of-vellum-and-parchment