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Text Excerpt
אקמטרא — ככלי בתוך כלי דמי. אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: ספר תורה — צריך לעשות לו מחיצה עשרה. מר זוטרא איקלע לבי רב אשי, חזייה לדוכתיה דמר בר רב אשי דמנח ביה ספר תורה ועביד ליה מחיצה עשרה. אמר ליה: כמאן? כרבי יהושע בן לוי? אימר דאמר רבי יהושע בן לוי דלית ליה ביתא אחרינא, מר הא אית ליה ביתא אחרינא? אמר ליה: לאו אדעתאי.
atop a chest is like a vessel within a vessel. On a similar note, R' Yehoshua ben Levi said: One who wishes to engage in marital sex in a room in which there is a Torah scroll, must erect a partition 10 handbreadths high. The Talmud relates: Mar Zutra happened to come to the house of Rav Ashi and he saw that in the bed chamber of his son Mar bar Rav Ashi, there was a Torah scroll, and a partition of 10 handbreadths had been erected for it. He said to him: In accordance with whose opinion did you do this? Is it in accordance with the opinion of R' Yehoshua ben Levi? Say that R' Yehoshua ben Levi said this only as a makeshift solution in exigent situations, when he has no other room in which to place it, but don’t you, Master, have another room where you could place the Torah scroll? He said to him: Indeed, that did not enter my mind.
כמה ירחיק מהן ומן הצואה — ארבע אמות. אמר רבא אמר רב סחורה אמר רב הונא: לא שנו אלא לאחוריו, אבל לפניו — מרחיק מלא עיניו, וכן לתפלה.
We learned in the Mishnah: And, how far must one distance himself from urine and from feces in order to recite Shema? 4 cubits. Rava said that Rav Seḥora said that Rav Huna said: They only taught that it is sufficient to distance oneself 4 cubits when the feces are behind him, but if they are before him he must distance himself to the point that it is no longer within his range of vision; and the halakha is the same for prayer.
איני?! והא אמר רפרם בר פפא אמר רב חסדא: עומד אדם כנגד בית הכסא ומתפלל! הכא במאי עסקינן? בבית הכסא שאין בו צואה.
The Talmud challenges this: Is that so? Didn’t Rafram bar Pappa say that Rav Ḥisda said: One may stand opposite a latrine and pray. The Talmud resolves this contradiction: With what are we dealing here? With a latrine that has no feces, and therefore there is no need to distance himself to that extent.