Berakhot 16a — the Talmud in English

The Tzelach and the Gra wrote that the reference is not to a wicked person, but to a righteous person whose judgment is that he must pass through Gehenna [see Zohar, vol. 3, 228], and this may be the intention of the Zohar [there, Ra'aya Meheimna, 153], that completely righteous people are judged in coolness, as we say, “they cool,” etc. See Menorat Ha-Maor [ Lamp 3, section 3], that one who is precise is not completely exempt from punishment, but they merely ease it for him. However, Rabbeinu Hananel wrote: “Even a wicked person who has become liable to descend into Gehenna, if this merit is in his hand, they cool for him the fire of Gehenna and give him relief from the remnants of the burning,” and this is likewise explained in the She'iltot [ the end of Va'etchanan], and see Maharsha. And the Beit Yosef [62] wrote that it is measure for measure: through his precision he moves his natural heat, and corresponding to this they cool for him the heat of Gehenna; and in Ein Yaakov he wrote that this is because he recited with deliberation, and every boiling thing, if one waits for it, cools. And

further

Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina, said: Why were ![](pamud.bmp "

Exact location of the folio")

“tents” juxtaposed with “streams,” as it is written [

Numbers 24:6]

“Like streams they are spread out, like gardens beside a river, like tents

planted, etc.”? —

To tell you: Just as streams raise the person

who immerses in them

from impurity to purity, so too tents,

houses of study,

raise the person

who sits and studies in them

from the scale of liability to the scale of merit —

and they help return him to the proper path even after he has sinned.

We learned in the Mishna:

One who recites [the Shema] out of order has not fulfilled [his obligation],

if he read and erred, he must return to the place where he erred.

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi were tying a canopy

tying and erecting a wedding canopy

for Rabbi Elazar.

He said to them,

Rabbi Elazar:

In the meantime,

while you are finishing erecting it,

I will go and hear a matter in the house of study, and come and tell it to you.

He went and found a tanna,

an amora who recited baraitot,

who was teaching

what he had taught

before Rabbi Yohanan

a baraita that says:

If he recited

the recitation of the Shema

and erred

in skipping a word or verse

and does not know where he erred,

if he became aware that he had erred while he was holding

in the middle of a section,

and knows in which section he is holding,

he must return to the beginning

of the section and recite it until its end, for if he were to recite only the verse that he omitted, he would be found to be reciting out of order .

And if he knows that he completed one section and is now standing

between one section and another,

but does not remember which section he completed,

he must return to

the space after

and begin reading the section “And it will be, if you heed.”

And if he knows that he is before the recitation of “And you shall write them,” but he is uncertain

between “writing” and “writing” —

he does not remember whether he must say “And you shall write them” in the first section or the second,

he must return to

read from

“writing”

in the

first section.

Rabbi Yohanan said to

the tanna who taught before him:

They taught

that he returns to “the first writing”

only

in a case

where he did not begin

saying

“so that your days may be multiplied”; but

if

he began

saying

“so that your days may be multiplied,”

he need not return, because we assume that

he took it up by habit and comes [to it].

He recited the reading up to this point according to his habit, and once he reached this verse, certainly he had finished reciting the first two sections .

Rabbi Elazar came

and

said to them —

to Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi — what he had heard in the house of study,

They said to him: If we had come only to hear this matter, it would have been enough for us!

Mishna:

The workers

who were occupied with their work at the top of the tree or at the top of the tier of stones, and the time for reciting the Shema arrived,

recite at the top of the tree and at the top of the tier of stones [

a construction of stones]. For in the recitation of the Shema one needs intention only for the first verse, and this intention can also be directed in these places.

Which they are not permitted to do in prayer.

They cannot pray there. For prayer is a request for mercy and one must direct his intention throughout it, while one who prays at the top of the tree or the tier of stones fears lest he fall, and because of his fear he cannot direct his intention.

B.

A groom

who married a virgin on Wednesday [as was customary in the time of the Mishna]

is exempt from reciting the Shema on the first night

of Thursday night

until the conclusion of Shabbat

which are four nights

if he has not performed the act —

as long as he has not had intercourse. For he is preoccupied with the thought of intercourse, and cannot direct his intention, and he is exempt because it is a thought of a mitzva, and one occupied with a mitzva is exempt from the mitzva.

And this applies specifically to the recitation of the Shema at night, when his thought is preoccupied, but he is obligated in the recitation of the Shema in the morning, because Israel are holy and during the day he diverts his attention from the thought of intercourse .

And there was an incident involving Rabban Gamliel

who married a woman and recited

the recitation of the Shema on

the first night. His

students said to him:

Behold,

you taught us, our teacher, that a groom is exempt from reciting the Shema!

He said to them: I will not heed you to abolish from me

the recitation of the Shema, which is acceptance of the yoke of

the Kingdom of Heaven even for one hour.

Gemara:

The Sages taught: The workers recite

the recitation of the Shema

at the top of the tree and at the top of the tier of stones.

But they do not pray there the prayer of “Eighteen,”

but they pray at the top of an olive tree and at the top of a fig tree

while they are occupied with them. Because their branches are numerous and they can stand there without being cramped, and there is no fear of falling, and they can direct their intention there properly .

And

if they are standing at the top of

all the other trees —

they descend below and pray.

And the employer —

in either case —

whether from olive and fig trees or from other trees,

descends below and prays.

For he is independent and is not bound to work, and is obligated to descend.

Because his mind is not settled

because he fears lest he fall; and if they were lenient with workers because of the interruption of work, they were not lenient with the employer, but with regard to the recitation of the Shema, the law of the employer is like the law of a worker, and he does not descend .

Rav Mari, son of the daughter of Shmuel, challenged Rava: We learned: The workers recite

the recitation of the Shema

at the top of the tree and at the top of the tier of stones

even while they are occupied.

Apparently —

the recitation of the Shema does not require

intention.

For it is impossible to have intention while they are occupied with their work.

And he raises a contradiction: One who recites the Shema must direct his heart, as it is stated, “Hear, Israel.” And elsewhere [

Deuteronomy 27:9]

it says, “Pay attention and hear, Israel.” [“Pay attention” — to place it upon the heart; that is, to direct one’s intention, while “hear” means hearing with the ear.]

Just as there

the “hearing”

must be with “pay attention,” so here

the recitation of the Shema must be

with “pay attention.”

Rava fell silent

Rava.

He said to him,

Rava to Rav Mari:

Have you heard anything about this?

He said to him,

Rav Mari:

This is what Rav Sheshet said: The explanation of the Mishna is as follows: The workers recite at the top of the tree —

The Mishna is to be explained as follows: Craftsmen recite the Shema at the top of a tree—

and this means

that they interrupt their work and recite. In order that they should recite with intention, they are permitted to interrupt their work, and it follows that the Mishna also agrees with the baraita that the recitation of the Shema requires intention.

The Gemara objects:

But it was taught: “The School of Hillel says: They are occupied with their work and recite

the recitation of the Shema.” And it is proven that intention is not necessary, for it is impossible to have intention while engaged in work?

The Gemara answers:

It is not difficult —

this

the Mishna deals

with

the recitation of

in which there is an obligation to have intention while reciting it , and therefore they must be interrupting their work while reciting it.

and therefore they must interrupt their work while reciting it.

Whereas

this —

the baraita deals

with

the recitation of

in which one need not have intention, and therefore they may recite even while occupied with their work.

The Sages taught: The laborers who were performing work for an employer —

recite the Shema, and recite the blessings before it and after it. And they eat their bread and recite the blessings before it and after it. And they pray the Eighteen-prayer. But they do not go before the ark

when they pray by themselves, they do not bring down a prayer leader to repeat the prayer,

and they do not raise their hands,

because this involves an excessive interruption of work.

And the Gemara raises an objection:

But it was taught:

that the laborers pray only a shortened prayer

corresponding to the eighteen,

namely, the prayer of “Havinenu,” [which has the first and last three blessings in accordance with their law, while the remaining eleven blessings are included in the middle blessing]

And the Gemara answers:

Rav Sheshet said: It is not difficult—

this

beraita, which says that laborers are obligated in the entire Shemoneh Esreh prayer, holds in accordance with

Rabban Gamliel,

who said below [28b]: Every single day a person prays eighteen blessings.

And

that is,

this

beraita, which says that laborers pray only “Havinenu,” holds in accordance with

Rabbi Yehoshua,

who said [there]: Every day a person prays a prayer corresponding to the eighteen.

The Gemara rejects this:

If

the beraita that says that they pray “Havinenu” is according to the view of

Rabbi Yehoshua,

then

why specifically

did it state this law specifically

with regard to “laborers”?

For according to his view,

even every person as well

prays a prayer corresponding to the eighteen!?

And therefore the Gemara explains that there is another distinction between the beraitot:

Rather, both this and that are according to Rabban Gamliel, and

nevertheless

it is not difficult,

because

here—

where they pray a prayer corresponding to the eighteen—this is speaking

of those who perform

labor

for their wages,

who receive payment for their work in addition to their meal, which is at the expense of the employer; therefore they must hurry their work, and they pray only a prayer corresponding to the eighteen. But

here—

where they pray the eighteen—this is speaking

of those who perform

labor

for

only

their meal,

and therefore they do not need to hurry so much.

And the Gemara proves that there is a distinction between those who perform their work for their wages and those who perform it for their meal:

But it was taught [agreeably]:

The laborers who were performing work in the householder’s employ—

recite the Shema, and pray

a prayer corresponding to the eighteen, and

eat their bread, but do not

recite before it

the blessing Who brings forth bread, which is not of Torah origin .

But they recite two blessings afterward,

because the obligation of the blessing after the meal is from the Torah. As it is stated: “And you shall eat and be satisfied, and you shall bless.”

How

do they recite two blessings afterward?

The first blessing,

the One Who sustains,

they recite in its entirety, according to its regulation.

The second—

they begin with the blessing of the Land, and include “Who builds Jerusalem” in the blessing of the Land, because the blessing of the Land and the building of Jerusalem are similar, and they do not recite the blessing of the Good and the Beneficent at all .

When are these words said? When they work for their wages,

but if they perform their work

for

their meal, or if the householder was reclining together with them

for their meal,

and presumably waives his rights to them—

they recite

all four blessings

according to its regulation

of the blessing after the meal.

We learned in the Mishna:

A bridegroom is exempt from the recitation of the Shema.

The Sages taught: “When you sit in your house”—

to exclude one occupied with a mitzva; “and when you walk on the way”—

to exclude a bridegroom. From here they said,

the Sages:

One who brings a virgin

to the wedding canopy

is exempt

from the recitation of the Shema,

but

one who brings

a widow is obligated

in the recitation of the Shema.

And the Gemara explains:

What is the indication?

How is this matter learned from the implication of the verse?

Rav Pappa said: “When you walk on the way”

means that the mitzva of reciting the Shema applies only when he is in a state that is [

like]

“a way,”

and that is

what

walking on a

way

is:

it is

optional,

as when he goes to his business and the like;

so too here,

the obligation of reciting the Shema applies only when he is occupied with a matter that is

optional,

but when he goes to perform a mitzva, he is exempt.

And the Gemara raises an objection: But

are we not dealing

in this verse also with a case

where he is going for the sake of a mitzva, and even so the Merciful One said that he should recite

the recitation of the Shema? And necessarily, one occupied with a mitzva is not exempt from the recitation of the Shema.

And the Gemara answers:

If so,

that the verse is also dealing with going for the sake of a mitzva—

let the verse say “when you walk.” What is the meaning of “when you walk”? Learn from it:

only

when you walk on your own

is one obligated to interrupt and recite the recitation of the Shema—

but

when he walks

for the sake of a mitzva, he is exempt.