Berakhot 17a — the Talmud in English

Rav Safra,

after his prayer—

said thus: May it be Your will before You, Lord our God, that You establish peace ![](pamud.bmp "

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in the heavenly entourage,

among the group of the ministers of the nations, for when there is contention among the ministers of the nations above, there is also strife among the nations below.

And

likewise establish peace

in the entourage below,

among the group of the sages,

and between the students who engage in Your Torah. Between those who engage in it for its own sake and those who engage in it not for its own sake

but for the sake of honor or to receive reward.

And all those who engage in it not for its own sake

but in order to antagonize,

may it be Your will that they engage in it for its own sake.

Rabbi Alexandri, after his prayer—

said thus: May it be Your will before You, Lord our God, that You establish us at a corner

of

light, and do not establish us at a corner

of

darkness. And let our heart not grieve, and let our eyes not darken.

Some say:

This prayer,

Rav Hamnuna recited it. And

these were

Rabbi Alexandri, after he prayed, said thus: Master of the worlds, it is revealed and known before You that it is our will to do Your will, and what prevents

us, so that we do not do Your will?

The leaven in the dough,

the evil inclination in our hearts, which makes us leavened like leaven that makes the dough leavened, and causes us to sin with prohibitions,

and the subjugation of the kingdoms,

which prevent us from fulfilling the mitzvot; therefore,

may it be Your will before You that You save us from their hand, and may we return to doing the statutes of Your will with a complete heart.

Rava, after his prayer, said thus: My God! Before I

was formed, I was not worthy,

I was not important and fit to be formed.

And now that I have been formed,

I have no importance at all, but I am still important

as though I had not been formed. I am dust in my life, all the more so in my death,

I am literally dust.

Behold, I am before You like a vessel filled with shame and disgrace

because of transgressions that I committed.

May it be Your will before You, Lord my God, that I sin no more. And what I have sinned before You, cleanse,

finish and completely remove,

through Your abundant mercies, but not through sufferings and evil illnesses.

And this is,

this prayer is the wording of

the confession of Rav Hamnuna the Small on the Day of Atonement.

Mar, son of Ravina, when he would finish his prayer, said thus: My God, guard my tongue from

speaking a

bad

word, and

guard my lips from speaking deceit.

And to those who curse me—

let my soul be silent.

And let my soul

be like dust to everyone.

Open my heart to Your Torah, and let my soul pursue Your mitzvot.

And save me from a bad occurrence, from the evil inclination, and from a bad woman, and from all evils that are about to come upon the world. And all those who think evil of me, quickly annul their counsel and spoil their thoughts. [

Psalms 111:10]

“May the sayings of my mouth and the meditation of my heart—

be acceptable before You, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Rav Sheshet, when he would sit in a fast, after

he prayed, said thus: Master of the worlds, it is revealed before You that when the Temple was standing, a person sinned and brought an offering. And only its fat and its blood were brought from it, and he was atoned for. But now I have sat in a fast, and my fat and my blood have diminished. May it be Your will before You that my fat and my blood that have diminished be considered as though I brought them before You upon the altar, and that You accept me favorably,

accept my fast and my prayer favorably.

Rabbi Yohanan, when he would finish the book of Job

[and Job departed from the world with a good name],

said thus: The end of a person is death, and the end of an animal is slaughter. And all—

stand for death. Fortunate is one who grew up in Torah, and

continues still to be

occupied with Torah,

and gives satisfaction to his Creator, and grows up with a good name, and departs from the world with a good name. And concerning him Solomon said [

Ecclesiastes 7:1],

“A good name—

is better than good oil, and the day of death—

than the day of his birth.”

It was habitual in the mouth of Rabbi Meir,

this matter was habitually in his mouth to say, as though it were a scriptural statement:

Complete,

learn,

with all your heart and with all your soul, to know My ways, and to be diligent at the doors of My Torah.

For every word in the Torah is like a door opening to several rooms of the house. For in the Torah only the bodies of the mitzvot were stated, while in the Gemara all the details of the laws were explained.

Guard my Torah in your heart

[when you think],

and My fear shall be opposite your eyes

[when you perform an act].

Guard your mouth from every sin

[when you speak],

and purify and sanctify yourself from every guilt and iniquity

[even in permitted matters].

And

then

I shall be with you in every place.

It was habitual in the mouth of the Sages of Yavneh:

I, the one who engages in Torah,

am a creature

I am.

And

also

my fellow

who is an ignoramus,

is a creature

he is. And he has a heart like mine, to distinguish between good and evil.

I

my work is in the city, and my work is more comfortable than his work.

And he

his work is in the field.

I rise early for my work, and

also

he rises early for his work.

Just as he does not presume

to undertake

my work, so I do not presume to undertake his work.

And lest you say

that he is correct in his way, in not studying at all, because only

I

am

the one who studies more

Torah,

and

if

he,

even if he studied a little, would not see blessing in his study, but would be in the category of

the one who studies less

in his study, because he would not have an open heart to increase Torah like me, and since he studied less he would have no reward—

One must not say so! For there is reward both for the one who studies less and for the one who studies more, as

we have learned: The one who does much and the one who does little

will receive reward,

provided that he directs,

the one who studies less and the one who studies more,

his heart toward Heaven.

It was habitual in the mouth of Abaye: A person should always be cunning in fear,

that he should act against the evil inclination with every kind of cunning, in order to fear his Creator.

And likewise he should conduct himself in the manner of

“A soft answer turns away wrath,” and

he should be

one who increases peace with his brothers and with his relatives, and with every person, and even with a gentile in the marketplace, so that he will be beloved above and pleasant below, and accepted by people.

They said about Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai that no person ever preceded him in greeting, not even a gentile in the marketplace .

at the same time, through his evil deeds, be considered one who kicks his father and mother, his teacher, and one who is greater than he in wisdom and in number. As it is stated [ Psalms 111:10]: “The beginning of wisdom

It was habitual in the mouth of Rava: The purpose of wisdom,

its essence is that it should be accompanied by

repentance and good deeds

so that a person should not read and review

Torah,

and

at the same time, through his evil deeds, be considered

one who kicks his father and his mother, and his teacher, and one who is greater than he in wisdom and in number. As it is stated [

Psalms 111:10],

“The beginning of wisdom—

fear of the Lord, good understanding for all who do them.” [

“For those who learn them” is not stated, but “for those who do them,”]

for had it said “for those who learn them,” it would have implied one who studies wisdom even if he does not fulfill it. Therefore it says “for those who do them,” whose meaning is those who fulfill what they have learned.

Another version:

“For those who do” is not stated, but “for those who do them”—

for those who do them for its own sake, and not for those who do

them not for its own sake.

For “those who do” means those who do the deeds, whereas “those who do them” means that they make themselves, that is, not for its own sake.

And anyone who acts not for its own sake,

it would have been better for him not to have been created! For it emerges that his creation was in vain.

It was habitual in the mouth of Rav:

not like this world is the World to Come. For

the World to Come has neither eating nor drinking, nor propagation nor procreation, nor business dealings,

nor jealousy nor hatred, nor competition,

but rather—

the righteous sit with their crowns on their heads .

That is, they are free from the yoke of subjugation.

and enjoy the radiance of the Divine Presence. As it is stated [

Exodus 24:11]

“And they saw the God of Israel, and they ate and drank.”

That is, they were satiated by the radiance of the Divine Presence as though they had eaten and drunk.

Great is the promise that the Holy One, blessed is He, made to the women, more than to the men

. As it is stated, [

Isaiah 32:9]

“Complacent women, arise; hear my voice, confident daughters, listen to my speech.”

And they expounded: “complacent” refers to this world, and “confident” to the World to Come. That is, the Holy One, blessed is He, promised women two worlds, even though they do not perform the mitzvot on account of which a person merits the World to Come. Therefore the promise to women is considered greater than that to men, for they merit the World to Come only by virtue of performing mitzvot.

And the Gemara raises an objection:

Rav said to Rav Ḥiyya:

women,

by what merit

[do they merit] the World to Come? For surely the Holy One, blessed is He, grants the World to Come only by virtue of Torah study.

And the Gemara explains:

by bringing their sons to the synagogue—

by virtue of their concern for the Torah study of their sons and bringing them to the place of study, in the synagogue.

And by sending their husbands to the house of the scholars,

for they enable their husbands to study in the house of study, where Mishna and Gemara are studied.

And by waiting for their husbands until they return from the house of the scholars.

They wait for their husbands and give them permission to go and study Torah in another city. And the one who causes the deed is greater than the one who performs it; therefore they merit the World to Come by virtue of the Torah of their sons and husbands.

When the scholars were taking leave

of one another, for each one would request permission from his fellow to return to his home and his land,

from the house of Rabbi Ami—and some say

when they were leaving

the house of Rabbi Ḥanina—they would say to him as follows: “May you see your world during your lifetime,

so that you find all your needs,

and may your end be for the life of the World to Come, and your hope for generation after generation. May your heart contemplate understanding, your mouth speak wisdom,

and your tongue utter songs of joy; may your eyelids look straight before you,

so that you understand Torah in accordance with halakha.

May your eyes shine with the light of Torah, and your face shine like the radiance of the firmament; may your lips express knowledge, and your kidneys rejoice in uprightness; and may your feet run to hear the words of the Ancient of Days [

an appellation for the Holy One, blessed is He, in Daniel 7:9].

When the scholars were taking leave from the house of Rav Ḥisda—and some say, from the house of Rav Shmuel bar Naḥmani—they would say to him as follows: “Our chiefs are laden,

there is no breach, no going out, and no cry in our streets”! [

Psalms 144:14]

And the Gemara explains their intention:

“Our chiefs are laden”—

Rav and Shmuel, and some say Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Elazar

disagreed in explaining the verse:

one

said: “Our chiefs,”

our teachers

in Torah, and “are laden,”

burdened

with mitzvot.

And one said: “Our chiefs are laden with Torah and mitzvot, and are laden with afflictions.”