Megillah 23b
מגילה כ״ג ב — ד"ה מַתְנִי׳ אֵין פּוֹרְסִין עַל שְׁמַע
Megillah 23b:4
Chachmei Bavel state that public Torah reading, the haftara, and other expressions of sanctity require a quorum of ten, derived from “I shall be hallowed among the children of Israel” and a comparison with the ten spies who constituted an evil congregation.
מַתְנִי׳ אֵין פּוֹרְסִין עַל שְׁמַע, וְאֵין עוֹבְרִין לִפְנֵי הַתֵּיבָה, וְאֵין נוֹשְׂאִין אֶת כַּפֵּיהֶם, וְאֵין קוֹרִין בְּתוֹרָה, וְאֵין מַפְטִירִין בַּנָּבִיא, גְּמָ׳ מְנָא הָנֵי מִילֵּי? אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא בַּר אַבָּא אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, דְּאָמַר קְרָא: ״וְנִקְדַּשְׁתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל״, כׇּל דָּבָר שֶׁבִּקְדוּשָּׁה לֹא יְהֵא פָּחוֹת מֵעֲשָׂרָה. וְאָתְיָא ״עֵדָה״ ״עֵדָה״, דִּכְתִיב הָתָם: ״עַד מָתַי לָעֵדָה הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת״ — מָה לְהַלָּן עֲשָׂרָה, אַף כָּאן עֲשָׂרָה.
MISHNA: One does not recite the introductory prayers and blessing [poresin] before Shema; nor does one pass before the ark to repeat the Amida prayer; nor do the priests lift their hands to recite the Priestly Benediction; nor is the Torah read in public; nor does one conclude with a reading from the Prophets [haftara] in the presence of fewer than ten men. GEMARA: The Gemara asks: From where are these matters, i.e., that ten people are needed in each of these cases, derived? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is as the verse states: “And I shall be hallowed among the children of Israel” (Leviticus 22:32), which indicates that any expression of sanctity may not be recited in a quorum of fewer than ten men. The connotation of ten associated with the word “among” in the portion of Korah is, in turn, inferred by means of another verbal analogy between the word “congregation” written there and the word “congregation” written in reference to the ten spies who slandered Eretz Yisrael, as it is written there: “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation?” (Numbers 14:27). Consequently, just as there, in the case of the spies, it was a congregation of ten people, as there were twelve spies altogether, and Joshua and Caleb were not included in the evil congregation, so too, here, in the case of Korah, the reference is to a congregation of ten people. The first several items mentioned in the mishna are expressions of sanctity, and they consequently require a quorum of ten.
