Berakhot 27a — the Talmud in English

These are the Rabbis.

And over what did they disagree? Rather, necessarily, wherever Rabbi Judah says “until”—“until” is not inclusive.

The Gemara rejects this:

Rather, what

you have

said is “until,” and not

until inclusive?!

If so,

come and hear the end

in our Mishna:

“And the additional offerings—the entire day. Rabbi Judah says: Until seven hours.”

But if “until, and not inclusive,” it follows that, according to Rabbi Judah, the time of the additional offering is only until the beginning of the seventh hour,

and

this is impossible, for

it was taught: If there were before him two prayers

that he must pray,

one of the additional offering and one of the afternoon prayer—

he prays

first the prayer

of the afternoon prayer, and afterward that of the additional offering,

because

this one,

the afternoon prayer,

is frequent,

for its obligation is every day,

whereas this one,

the prayer of the additional offering,

is not frequent,

for it applies only on Sabbaths, Festivals, and New Moons. And the frequent and the non-frequent—the frequent comes first.

Rabbi Judah says:

He prays first the prayer

of the additional offering, and afterward that of the afternoon prayer,

because

this one,

the additional offering, is a mitzva

that passes,

since its time is only until seven hours,

whereas this one,

the afternoon prayer,

does not

pass

immediately, for there is time for it until pelag ha-mincha.

Granted, if you say that “until

seven hours”

is inclusive,

and it follows that the time of the additional offering extends until the end of the seventh hour—

this is how you find

according to Rabbi Judah

two prayers at the same time,

for from the middle of the seventh hour [that is, six and a half hours] until its end is the time suitable both for the additional offering and for the afternoon prayer. And according to Rabbi Judah, he must give the additional offering precedence over the afternoon prayer.

But if you say, “until, and not inclusive,”

and according to Rabbi Judah the time of the additional offering is only until the beginning of the seventh hour—

how do you find

at all a time suitable for

two prayers

these

at the same time?

For

once its

time

of the afternoon prayer

has arrived, which is from six and a half hours,

its

time has already

gone,

the prayer of the

additional offerings,

which ended at the beginning of the seventh hour!?

Necessarily, “until” is inclusive, and Rabbi Judah’s intention is that the time of the additional offering prayer extends until the end of the seventh hour [and therefore it can be at the same time as the afternoon prayer], and if so, also with regard to the morning prayer, his intention is “inclusive,” namely, until the end of four hours.

The Gemara returns and asks:

Rather, what

you have

said is “until” inclusive?

If so,

the beginning is difficult,

of our Mishna, in which we learned, “The afternoon prayer is until pelag ha-mincha.”

And if “until” is inclusive, it follows that even according to Rabbi Judah one prays the afternoon prayer until evening, and if so, the question returns—

what difference is there between Rabbi Judah and the Rabbis?!

The Gemara answers: In fact, “until” is inclusive. The time of the morning prayer is until the end of the fourth hour, and likewise the time of the additional offering is until the end of the seventh hour. Therefore Rabbi Judah said that in the second half of the seventh hour there is a time for both prayers, and one cannot object from his statement that the time of the afternoon prayer is “until pelag ha-mincha,” because:

Do you think that this “until

until

the first half

of the

afternoon prayer”

means the

last half [

the second half] of the time of the small afternoon prayer

is what he is saying?

That is not his intention. Rather,

he is saying, until the first half, and the period of an hour and a quarter—the first part of the time of the “small afternoon prayer”—is called “pelag ha-mincha.” Until this hour, inclusive, is the time of the afternoon prayer according to Rabbi Judah. But the Rabbis disagree and hold that its mitzva continues until evening.

And what Rabbi Judah said in the beraita, that the end of the time of the afternoon prayer is “the last half of the afternoon prayer”—

there is no intention to include in this also the second period, until night. Rather,

he did not intend to include the second period, which lasts until night. Rather,

and this is what he is saying: When does the first half end [

finish]

which is the end of the time of the afternoon prayer,

and

the last half begin?

Once eleven hours less a quarter have passed,

for this is the hour established as the end of the time of the afternoon prayer.

It follows that “until pelag ha-mincha” in our Mishna is the first half, “inclusive,” meaning that one prays throughout the first half of the time of the small afternoon prayer. Whereas in the beraita I explained it as the end of the afternoon prayer’s time, and concerning this he said that it is at the end of the first half and the beginning of the last half.

Rav Nahman said: We too have learned

that “until four hours” means “until” inclusive:

For we learned [Eduyot 6:1]:

Rabbi Judah ben Bava testified to five matters.

1.

That they induce the minor girl to perform refusal,

a minor girl whom her brothers or mother married off after her father’s death: by Torah law, she has no betrothal, . Only the Rabbis enacted that the betrothal performed by the mother should be a betrothal. But she leaves the husband’s authority through refusal, by saying, “I do not want him.” And Rabbi Judah ben Bava testified that there is a circumstance in which it is a mitzva for the court to teach her to refuse him.

2.

And

he testified

that a woman may be permitted to remarry on the basis of one witness

who testifies that her husband died, even though this is a matter of forbidden relationships and requires two witnesses; the Sages were lenient regarding a woman’s testimony because of the plight of an abandoned wife .

3.

And

he testified

concerning a rooster that was stoned in Jerusalem because it killed a person [

it pecked the crown of a baby’s head at the place where the brain is soft and pierced his brain, and he died], whose law is like the law of an ox that killed a person. 4.

And

he testified

concerning wine that was forty days old—

that it was poured on the altar.

And it was considered intoxicating wine suitable for pouring.

5.

And

he testified

concerning the morning daily offering, that it was brought at four hours,

and not afterward.

The Gemara infers that the wording “at four hours” includes the fourth hour itself. If so,

learn from this

that Rabbi Judah’s intention when he said

“until

four hours” is “until”

inclusive.

And we conclude:

Learn from this!

Rav Kahana said: The law follows Rabbi Judah,

that the time of the morning prayer is until four hours and no more,

since we learned in the Choice Book

[in tractate Eduyot, which is considered “choice” because the law follows the testimonies brought in it] that Rabbi Judah ben Bava testified

in accordance with him.

We learned above: Rabbi Judah ben Bava testified

concerning

the morning daily offering, that it was brought at four hours,

like Rabbi Judah in our Mishna, and not like the opinion of the Rabbis, who say that its time is until midday.

The Gemara discusses:

Who is the tanna

of the following beraita, taught in the Mekhilta in the section of the manna?

Concerning the verse [Exodus 16:21]

“And when the sun grew hot, it melted”—

they expounded: The melting of the manna was

at four hours

of the day.

And why

do you say “at four hours”? Or is it not rather at six hours?!

When it says

concerning Abraham [Genesis 18:1]

“at the heat of the day,”

and it did not say “at the heat of the sun”—

behold, six hours is stated,

for this is why Scripture changed its wording: at the sixth hour, “the heat of the day” is the same everywhere, both in the sun and in the shade, and it is not called “the heat of the sun.”

How, then, shall I understand

the verse concerning the manna,

“And when the sun grew hot, it melted”?

Necessarily, it refers to the heat of the sun

at four hours,

which is an earlier time; then there is heat only in the place facing the sun, whereas the shaded place is still cool.

The Gemara discusses this Mekhilta:

whose

is it—who said it? For it is

not

according to the opinion of

Rabbi Judah and not

according to the opinion of

the Rabbis!

For it is said concerning the manna, “They gathered it morning by morning, and when the sun grew hot, the remainder melted.” This implies that the time when it melted was after the morning had passed, and the time for gathering had already ended.

If it is according to Rabbi Judah—

behold,

until

the end of

four hours is also morning, for we concluded above that “until” is inclusive. If so, it is still the time for gathering, and how could it be that it melted at the fourth hour?

since we concluded above that “until” includes the stated time. If so, it would still be the time for gathering, and how could it have melted during the fourth hour?

If it is according to the Rabbis—

the difficulty is even greater, for according to them

until midday is also morning, and at four hours it is still “morning,” and it is still the time for gathering. How, then, did you say that it melted at this hour?

At four hours it is still “morning,” and it is still the time for gathering. How, then, could you say that it melted at that time?

The Gemara answers:

If you wish, say

that this Mekhilta

is Rabbi Judah

’s.

And if you wish, say: It is the Rabbis’

.

If you wish, say: It is the Rabbis,

and in fact until midday is considered “morning.” But only concerning the manna

the verse says, “They gathered it

morning by morning.”

“in the morning.”

And this implies:

divide

the morning

into two mornings, and the time for gathering was in the first half of the morning, which is the first three hours. Whereas “And when the sun grew hot, it melted” was said of the beginning of the fourth hour.

And if you wish, say: It is Rabbi Judah

’s, and he inferred from “morning by morning” that although the end of the morning is at the end of four hours, this

extra “morning”

teaches

to move it earlier [

the end of the time for gathering]

by one hour, meaning that the manna melted at the end of three hours, which is the beginning of the fourth hour.

The Gemara clarifies: It follows

that

f

or everyone, at any rate, “And when the sun grew hot, it melted” means

means

at four hours—

what

[

from where]

does it imply from the verse that this is so?

Rav Aha bar Yaakov said: The verse says, “And when the sun grew hot, it melted”: What is the hour when the place facing

the place facing

the sun is hot, while

the place of

the shade is cool?—

You must say, at four hours!

We learned in the Mishna:

The afternoon prayer is until evening.

Rabbi Judah says: Until pelag ha-mincha.

Rav Hisda said to Rav Yitzhak: There,

with regard to the time of the morning prayer,

Rav Kahana already said: The law follows Rabbi Judah,

that its time is until four hours and no more,

since we learned in the Choice Book in accordance with him!

But

here,

with regard to the afternoon prayer—

what

was established as the law?

Rabbi Yitzhak was silent

and

did not say to him

to Rav Hisda

anything at all.

Rav Hisda said: Let us see for ourselves,

for we have found

that Rav

accepted Shabbat upon himself while it was still day , and

recited

the evening prayer

of Shabbat on Friday while it was still day —

infer from this that the halakha follows Rabbi Yehuda,

for only according to his view does the time of the afternoon prayer end from pelag ha-minha, and the time of the evening prayer begin, even though it is still day .

But according to the Rabbis, since the time of the afternoon prayer lasts until evening, the beginning of the time of the evening prayer is at night and not earlier, because whenever it is still the time of the afternoon prayer, the time of the evening prayer does not begin.

The Gemara rejects: If from the fact that Rav prayed the evening prayer of Shabbat you seek to prove that the halakha follows Rabbi Yehuda, then

on the contrary,

one should prove the opposite, from those who disagreed with Rav.

For

from Rav Huna and the Rabbis not having recited

the evening prayer on any day

until evening

[the evening]—

infer

that

the halakha does not follow Rabbi Yehuda,

but rather the Rabbis, who hold that the time of the afternoon prayer lasts until evening. Therefore they did not pray the evening prayer before the end of the time of the afternoon prayer, which is at night.

The Gemara concludes :

Now that the halakha has not been stated, neither like this one

like the Rabbis,

nor like this one

like Rabbi Yehuda, since even the amoraim disputed this and the matter was not decided—

one who acted like this one has acted, and one who acted

like this one has acted!

For permission is given to each person to adopt one of the views.

Rav happened to come to Rav Geniva’s house, and he recited

the evening prayer

of Shabbat on Friday

while it was still day.

And Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba would pray

the weekday afternoon prayer ,

behind Rav.

behind Rav.

And Rav concluded

his prayer of Shabbat,

and did not pass in front of Rabbi Yirmeya while he was praying.

That is, he did not pass in front of Rabbi Yirmeya to interrupt between him and the wall in order to sit in his place . Rather, he remained where he was and waited until Rabbi Yirmeya finished his prayer.

From this the Gemara learned

:

infer three things:

Infer: a person may pray

the evening prayer

of Shabbat on Friday

from pelag ha-minha . And infer: a student may pray behind his teacher.

And infer: it is forbidden

to pass

before

those praying the Eighteen Benedictions, within their four cubits.

And this deed supports this matter

for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.

For Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is forbidden to pass before those who are praying!

The Gemara asks

:

Is that so? But Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi

were

passing

before those who were praying. The Gemara answers

:

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi—

outside the four cubits

of those who were praying

is where they were passing. The Gemara asks

:

And Rabbi Yirmeya—

And Rabbi Yirmeya—

how did he do this,

to pray behind Rav, who was his teacher?