Our Gemara on Amud Beis uses an interesting phrase to describe a teaching that Rav Dimi bar Chinenah preserved regarding sacrificial laws: “Margelah Be-Pumei.”

Rashi (Sanhedrin 50b and Berachos 17a) explains that it comes from the root R-G-L, similar to regular or habit, meaning it was a teaching that he worked to say over many times in order to remember, because it was outside of the regular beraisa chain.

This phrase appears regarding seven teachings throughout Shas:

1. Our Gemara — regarding the laws of sanctification of a korban pesach that was not roasted, and a bread offering from a Thanksgiving sacrifice that did not have its bread waved.

1. Sanhedrin 50b — a law regarding which punishment is incurred by an adulterous daughter of a Cohen.

1. Berachos 17a — Rabbi Meir says one should use all his heart and soul to study Torah and understand God.

1. Ibid — Rav taught that the World to Come is qualitatively different from this world, that it is not a corporeal pleasure but a spiritual one (not the “70 doe-eyed virgins” promised in Islam).

1. Ibid — Abaye taught one should be shrewd and clever in developing fear of Heaven.

1. Ibid — Rava taught that the objective and ultimate goal of wisdom is to achieve repentance and character improvement.

1. Ibid — The Rabbis of Yavneh taught: Essentially the sage and the non-learned commoner are one and the same, so long as they are both mindful that they have duties and responsibilities in this world and carry them out with dedication to serve God.

Is there anything in common among these seven teachings? It is notable that five out of seven have to do with ethical precepts; the other two are about sacrifices and particular liabilities of the daughter of a Cohen, respectively.

I have a thought based on the Rashi we saw above. Rashi says this was a statement often and regularly repeated because it was outside of the main corpus of teachings, and presumably, the person wanted to ensure he remembered it. Taking that further, perhaps ethical teachings as well — because they are hard to incorporate into one’s personality — require constant repetition and review.

That leaves us with the other two teachings and how they tie in. We already saw in yesterday’s daf that sacrificial and Temple service required an extra degree of zerizus (zealousness). If so, perhaps that also accounted for the need for repetition. And finally, the teaching regarding the daughter of the Cohen, though not about the Temple service per se, was about a higher level of spirituality and holiness that she was obligated to maintain, which derived from being part of the priestly lineage. Therefore, these two also required an extra degree of repetition and review in order to maintain fidelity.

One last thought: The word margelah can also mean “gem,” as we see in the Targum (Iyov 28:19), and precious stones and jewels are metaphors for Torah, as we see in Makkos (21b), where a novel halacha is described as a pearl discovered beneath the ocean. Perhaps, then, this too was a play on words, referring to particularly valued and precious teachings — ethical teachings and those regarding Temple service — which required a higher degree of regard, repetition, and reverence.