Berakhot 23a — the Talmud in English

One held:

if he paused for enough time to finish the whole [prayer], he returns to the beginning.

And one held:

he returns

to the place where he stopped.

Rav Ashi said:

If so,

this “if he paused

to finish the whole [prayer],” or

“if he did not pause” should have been required

to distinguish between the statements of Rav Hisda and Rav Hamnuna. And since they did not distinguish in their statements between one who paused for enough time to finish the whole [prayer] and one who did not pause, infer from this that the one who holds that “he returns to the beginning” said so in every case, even if he did not pause for enough time to finish the whole [prayer].

Rather,

necessarily,

everyone

held that

if he paused for enough time to finish the whole [prayer], he returns to the beginning.

And there, they disagree

when he did not pause for a period of time sufficient to finish

[the prayer].

For one held:

Since at the beginning of the prayer he needed to relieve himself to the extent that he could not restrain himself until the end of the prayer,

he is a disqualified person

from the beginning of the prayer,

and he is not

a person

fit

to pray,

and his prayer is not a prayer

from the outset. Therefore, he returns to the beginning even if he interrupted only briefly.

And one held: He is a fit person,

since he needed only to urinate ,

and his prayer

which he prayed until the urine began to flow is considered

a prayer,

and therefore he returns only to the place where he stopped, if it was a brief interruption, during which he did not pause for enough time to finish the entire prayer.

The Sages taught: One who needs to relieve himself —

he should not pray

. And if he prayed —

his prayer is an abomination .

Rav Zevid said, and some say Rav Judah: They taught

that he is forbidden to pray

only

when

he cannot restrain himself, but if he can restrain himself —

his prayer is a prayer.

And how much

must he be able to restrain himself so that he is permitted to begin the prayer?

Rav Sheshet said:

When at the beginning of his prayer he is capable of restraining himself for the time required to walk

up to

a parsa [

whose measure is one hour and one-fifth] .

There are those who transmit it

according to the words of Rav Zevid

with regard to the beraita,

in the beraita itself:

When is this matter said

that one who needs to relieve himself has no prayer? —

When he cannot restrain himself. But if he can restrain himself —

his prayer is a prayer.

Rather, Rav Zevid added to the words of the beraita:

And how much

must he be able to restrain himself?

Rav Zevid said: Up to a parsa.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: One who needs to relieve himself must not pray,

because of

that which is stated: [

Amos 4:12]

“Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.”

And Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: What is the meaning of that which is written [

Ecclesiastes 4:17]:

“Guard your foot when you go to the house of God”

—its meaning is:

Guard yourself lest you sin,

and you will need to come to the house of God to bring an offering for your sin.

And if

nevertheless

you sin —

bring an offering before [Him].

And it says afterward:

“And be near to hear.” And

And

Rava said

that this is its meaning:

Be near to hear the words of the Sages —

that when they sin, they bring an offering and repent.

And you too should do likewise: repent when you bring your offering.

“The offering of fools is a sacrifice” —

Do not be like fools,

who sin and bring an offering, but do not repent.

“For they do not know

[the fools]

to do evil.”

And the Gemara wonders:

If so,

that the meaning of the verse is that the fools do not know how to do evil—why were they called “fools”? Are they not

righteous people?!

The Gemara explains:

Rather,

this is the meaning of the verse:

Do not be like fools, who sin,

and also

bring an offering, but

nevertheless

do not know whether they are bringing it for good

as merely a sacrifice,

or whether they are bringing it for evil

as a sin-offering, because they do not know what their sin is.

And thus

the Holy One, blessed is He, said: They do not distinguish between good and evil,

for they do not know how to recognize their sin—

and they bring an offering before Me?!

Rav Ashi, and some say Rabbi Hanina bar Pappa, said:

The verse said as follows:

“Guard your foot” —

guard your orifices

between your legs, so that you attend to them beforehand,

when you stand

in prayer before Me.

The Sages taught: One who enters a lavatory

wearing tefillin —

he removes his tefillin four cubits away, and enters

the lavatory while holding them in his hand. For the disgrace to the tefillin applies only when he enters with them exposed on his head, but not when he holds them in his hand .

Rav Aha bar Rav Huna said that Rav Sheshet said: They taught

that he must remove the tefillin at a distance of four cubits

only

when the matter concerns a

permanent lavatory

in which there is already excrement.

But an improvised lavatory —

he removes them beside it and holds them in his hand,

and relieves himself immediately.

And when he exits

the lavatory and wishes to put on the tefillin —

he distances himself four cubits and puts them on.

And the reason for this is

because he has made it

now into a lavatory in which he relieved himself—into a

permanent lavatory.

In their time there were no permanent lavatories made from pits in the ground designated as lavatories; rather, there were scattered places throughout the field.

Therefore, a place in which there was already excrement was considered a “permanent lavatory,” whereas a new place, in which there had not yet been excrement, and in which he now relieved himself for the first time, was called an “improvised lavatory.”

They raised a dilemma before them: What is [the law] that a person should enter wearing the tefillin

on his head

into a permanent lavatory —

to urinate

only?

Ravina permits,

Rav Adda bar Matna forbids.

They came and asked Rava. He said to them: It is forbidden,

because

we are concerned lest he relieve himself in them. And some say:

because he is concerned

lest he break wind in them.

It was taught in another [beraita]: One who enters a fixed privy removes his tefillin at a distance of four cubits, and places them in a window adjacent to the public domain, and enters.

And when he goes out—

he distances himself four cubits

and puts them on; these are the words of Beit Shammai.

And Beit Hillel say: He holds them

while the tefillin are

in his hand,

and enters.

Rabbi Akiva says: He holds them in his garment and enters.

The Gemara is astonished: Could it enter your mind that

in his garment

he can hold them?

There are occasions when he forgets them,

for he forgets them—

and they will fall?!

The Gemara explains:

Rather, say: He holds them

while they are concealed

in his garment and in his hand,

and enters, and places them in the holes adjacent to the privy.

And he places them in the holes adjacent to the privy,

but he should not place them in the holes adjacent to the public domain, lest passersby take them and he come to suspicion

and

as there was

the incident involving one student who placed his tefillin in the holes adjacent to the public domain, and one prostitute came and took them, and came to the beit-midrash and said: “See what so-and-so gave me as my payment!”

When that student heard this, he went up to the roof and fell and died. At that time they instituted that he should hold them in his garment and in his hand and enter.

The Sages taught: At first they would place the tefillin in the inner holes

of the fence surrounding the field in which he relieves himself,

which are adjacent to the privy.

But mice would come and take them.

They instituted that they should place them in windows,

namely, in the holes of the fence of the field where he relieves himself, on the outer side of the fence, where there are “windows”

adjacent to the public domain,

and there mice are not commonly found, because of the people walking in the public domain.

And

still

passersby would come and take them.

They instituted that he should hold them in his hand and enter.

Rabbi Miyasha, son of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, said: The halakha is—

he rolls them

the tefillin with their straps

like a scroll, and holds them in his right hand

opposite his heart.

Rav Yosef bar Manyumi said in the name of Rav Nahman: Provided that a strap does not protrude from beneath his hand

to the measure of

a handbreadth.

Since it possesses sanctity, because the cases of the tefillin are tied with it, and in their knots something resembling two letters of the Name Shaddai is formed—[the dalet in the head-tefillin and the yod in the hand-tefillin].

Rabbi Yaakov bar Aha said in the name of Rabbi Zeira: They taught

that one who enters the privy rolls the tefillin like a scroll

only when there is

still

time during the day to put them on; but

if

there is no time during the day to put them on—

he makes for them

a garment

like a pouch

whose height is

a handbreadth, and places them

in it and enters the privy with them.

Rabba bar bar Hana said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan:

When he comes to relieve himself

during the day—

he rolls

the tefillin in their straps

like a scroll and places them in his hand opposite his heart.

And at night,

when he removes them and wishes to conceal them and place them on the ground until morning—

he makes for them something like a pouch one handbreadth [high],

so that there will be an “ohel” that is recognizable as something separating between the tefillin and the ground,

and places them

the tefillin inside the “ohel”—the pouch.

Abaye said: They taught

that one must make something like a pouch one handbreadth

only with a vessel that is their vessel

of the tefillin, for since it is the vessel of the tefillin, it is not considered a separation between them and the ground until he makes something resembling an ohel of the measure of a handbreadth.

But with a vessel that is not their vessel—

it is considered an “ohel”

even

if its height is

less than a handbreadth.

Mar Zutra said, and some say Rav Ashi: Know this,

that vessels are considered an “ohel” that separates even when the vessel is small, to a measure less than a handbreadth,

for small jars

of earthenware sealed with a tight-fitting cover, even though they are less than a handbreadth—

they protect

what is inside them from contracting impurity

in the ohel of a corpse.

Because these vessels are considered an ohel in their own right, separating from the impurity in the ohel.

And Rabba bar bar Hana said: When we would follow Rabbi Yohanan, when he wished to enter the privy, when he was holding a book of aggada—

he would give it to us.

But

when he was holding tefillin—

he would not give them to us,

but would enter with them while they were properly covered.

He said: Since the Sages permitted us

to bring them in—