Study Megillah folio 32A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
The Talmud answers: Because there are those who reversed the names in the baraita and attributed the position of R' Yehuda to R' Meir, and vice versa. Therefore, in order to avoid any lack of clarity, R' Zeira stated the halakha explicitly.
A baraita states: When a person reads from the Torah, he should open the scroll and see the place from where he will read, furl it so that it is closed, and recite the blessing, and then he should again open the scroll, and read. This is the statement of R' Meir. R' Yehuda said: He should open the
The Talmud asks: What is the reason for R' Meir’s opinion that the blessing is not recited over an open scroll? The Talmud answers: His reasoning is in accordance with the statement of Ulla, as Ulla said: For what reason did the rabbis say that one who reads from the Torah should not assist the tran
And R' Yehuda is not concerned about this, as he claims that with regard to the translation, there is the possibility of people erring in this way, but with regard to the blessings, there is no concern about people erring. People will realize the blessings are not actually part of the Torah’s text
R' Zeira said that Rav Mattana said: The halakha is that he should open the scroll, see the place from which he will read, and, without closing it again, he should recite the blessing and read. The Talmud asks: If so, let him simply say: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of R' Yehuda.