Berakhot 17b — the Talmud in English

“There shall be no breach” -

that our group should not be like David’s group, from which Ahithophel emerged

who made a breach in the kingship of the House of David.

“And there shall be no one going forth” -

that our group should not be like Saul’s group, from which Doeg the Edomite emerged

to a bad culture.

“And there shall be no outcry” -

that our group should not be like Elisha’s group, from which Gehazi emerged,

who was a leper, and it is written concerning a leper, “Unclean, unclean, shall he call,” and this is “outcry”.

“In our open places” -

that we should not have a son or a student who spoils his dish in public,

like Yeshu the Nazarene, who expounded deviant teachings and led the public astray.

And the Gemara brings an additional dispute of those same amoraim in the explanation of a verse in the Book of Isaiah [46:12

“Hearken to Me, mighty of heart, far from righteousness” [

Isaiah 46:12].

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

disputed its interpretation:

One said,

this verse refers to righteous people who are “mighty of heart,” strong in the service of God. Therefore, although

the entire world is sustained by charity,

by the charity of the Holy One, blessed be He, and not by the merit in their possession,

they,

the righteous, do not wish to receive charity, but rather

are sustained by the arm,

by the merit in their possession; and they were called “far from righteousness” because they do not require the righteousness of the Holy One, blessed be He.

And one said, the entire world is sustained by their merit

of the righteous.

But they are not sustained even by their own merit.

For they do not have enough for their needs, and they support themselves with difficulty. And “far from righteousness” means from the righteousness of their deeds, and they serve not in order to receive a reward.

As Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav.

For Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Every single day a Divine Voice goes forth from Mount Horeb and says: The entire world is sustained for the sake of Hanina my son,

and Hanina my son, it is enough for him to have a kav of carobs from one Shabbat eve to the next Shabbat eve.

And

all the amoraim who explained above that the verse refers to righteous people

disagree

with

Rav Yehuda,

who explains that the verse’s intent is wicked people.

For Rav Yehuda said: Who are “the mighty of heart”? -

The foolish Gubai.

The name of a nation in Babylonia.

Rav Yosef said: Know

that this is so,

for no convert converted from among them.

And this is evidence of their foolishness and wickedness.

Rav Ashi said: The people of Mata Mehasya,

the gentiles who lived there,

are mighty of heart,

since

they see the glory of the Torah twice a year,

for they would see the greatness of the honor of the Torah when the Jews gathered there twice a year to hear Rav Ashi’s lecture: in Adar they gathered to hear the laws of Passover, and in Elul, the laws of the festival. And nevertheless they were not impressed by this,

and no convert converted from among them.

We learned in the Mishna:

A groom, if he wishes, may recite.

The Gemara raises a difficulty:

Is it to say that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel is concerned about conceit,

and therefore he said, “Not everyone who wishes to assume the Name may assume it,” because if he was not established before the public as a scholar and pious man, this is nothing but pride, by which he shows himself capable of concentrating,

whereas the Rabbis are not concerned about conceit.

But we have heard the opposite from them!

For we learned: In a place where the practice is to perform work on the Ninth of Av, they perform it. In a place where the practice is not to perform work, they do not perform it. But everywhere,

whether in a place where the practice is established or in a place where it is not established,

Torah scholars desist

from work on the Ninth of Av because of mourning.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says: A person should always make himself like a Torah scholar.

And if he wishes to desist, he is permitted. And it follows that he is not concerned about conceit.

And apparently,

the Rabbis’ statement contradicts the Rabbis’ statement,

for regarding a groom they said that everyone is permitted to say that he is capable of concentrating during the recitation of the Shema, whereas regarding the Ninth of Av they said that not everyone makes himself like a Torah scholar.

And also

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s statement contradicts Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s statement,

for regarding desisting from work on the Ninth of Av he is not concerned about conceit, and every person makes himself like a Torah scholar, whereas regarding the recitation of the Shema he holds that a groom who is not pious should not recite because of conceit.

And the Gemara answers:

Rabbi Yohanan said: The positions are reversed!

The tanna who arranged them made an error in one of the Mishnayot, and reversed the positions; in truth, the one who prohibits a groom from reciting also prohibits a person who is not a scholar from desisting from work on the Ninth of Av.

Rav Shisha, son of Rav Idi, said: In truth, do not

reverse,

but rather distinguish between the laws as follows:

The Rabbis’ statement does not contradict the Rabbis’ statement.

For

with regard to the recitation of the Shema, since everyone recites, and he

the groom

also recites, it does not appear as conceit,

for he conducts himself like everyone else.

But there,

with regard to the Ninth of Av,

since everyone performs work and he does not perform work, it appears as conceit,

and therefore the Rabbis obligated him to perform work.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s statement does not contradict Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s statement.

Here,

with regard to the Shema,

the matter depends on concentration, and we are certain that he is unable to direct his mind.

Therefore, when a groom recites, he appears to be becoming conceited.

But there,

with regard to desisting from work on the Ninth of Av,

one who sees

him, who is not performing work, does not understand that he is desisting because of the Ninth of Av; rather,

he says: It is work that he does not have; go out and see how many idlers there are in the marketplace

even on workdays. Therefore there is no concern about conceit, for they will say that he has desisted because he did not find work to engage in.

We shall return to you, chapter “One who was reading.”

Matanita:

1.

One whose dead lies before him,

that one of the relatives over whom he is obligated to mourn has died, and he is obligated to bury him, he is

exempt from reciting the Shema, from prayer, and from tefillin,

and from all the mitzvot

[positive]

stated in the Torah.

Because he is preoccupied with the thought of his burial, and this is a preoccupation with a mitzva, which exempts one from reciting the Shema.

2.

The bearers of the bier and their replacements

[for it was customary for the bearers of the bier to exchange places, because they all wished to gain the mitzva],

and

those designated to be

the replacements of their replacements, the

[same] bearers of the bier

who are before the bier,

who have not yet carried it,

and

those same bearers of the bier

who are after the bier,

who have already carried it, have differing laws with regard to Shema and prayer, as follows:

The

same ones

who are before the bier,

if there is

a need for them

to carry the bier,

are exempt

from reciting the Shema, because they have not yet fulfilled the mitzva, and they are preoccupied with fulfilling it.

And the

same ones

who are after the bier,

even if there is still

a need for them, are obligated

to recite, since they have already fulfilled their obligation with regard to the mitzva of carrying the dead ; they are not so preoccupied with the mitzva.

And

between

these

who are before the bier

and

between

these

who are after it —

they are exempt from prayer.

For its obligation is only rabbinic and not from the Torah, and therefore a little preoccupation is enough to exempt them from prayer.

They buried the dead, and returned

from the cemetery to the place where they would comfort

if they can

the comforters

begin and finish

even the first verse of the Shema

before they reach

the mourners

the line

in which they would comfort the mourner, surrounding him with a line upon their return from the grave,

they should begin

to recite .

And if not,

that they cannot finish even the first verse —

they should not begin.

For comforting mourners is a mitzva of acts of kindness, and its obligation is from the Torah.

Those standing in the line, the inner ones,

who see the mourner’s face,

are exempt

from reciting the Shema, because they must speak with him and comfort him,

and the outer ones,

who do not see the mourner’s face and stand there only for his honor,

are obligated

to recite the Shema, because they have no impediment to doing so.

Gemara:

The Gemara precisely infers: If the dead person was

lying before him,

in the same room,

no —

then he is exempt from all the mitzvot.

And

if it is like

when he is not lying before him,

for example, he is in one house and the dead person is in another house,

not —

he is not exempt.

And we raise a contradiction

to this from what we learned in a

beraita:

One whose dead lies before him eats in another house, because if he ate before him, he would appear as one who mocks the poor.

And if he has no other house

in which to eat,

he eats in his fellow’s house. And if he has no fellow’s house,

for example, he lives among gentiles,

he makes a partition

between himself and the dead person

and eats. And if he has nothing with which to make a partition —

he turns his face and eats.

And he does not recline and eat

in the manner of those who recline in importance on a bed upon their left side.

And he does not eat meat, and he does not drink wine

. And he does not recite a blessing,

he is not obligated to recite the blessing of ha-motzi [but if he wishes, it is permitted for him to recite it ].

And he does not join for a zimun,

he does not need to recite the blessing of the Birkat ha-Mazon.