Berakhot 28b — the Talmud in English

Rav Avya fell ill and did not come to the lecture [ [A0003]for the sermon ]

for the lesson

of Rav Yosef,

who would lecture in Pumbedita on Shabbat, before the Musaf prayer.

The next day, when he came

Rav Avya before Rav Yosef,

Abaye sought to appease Rav Yosef

so that he would not be strict with Rav Avya.

And therefore

he said to

Rav Avya:

Why did the Master not come

yesterday

to the lecture?

Rav Avya

said to him: Because

my heart was weak, and I could not

come!

Abaye

said to him:

Why did you not taste anything

before you came to pray the Musaf prayer, in order to strengthen your heart,

and then come?

Rav Avya said to him:

But

does the Master not hold in accordance with this statement of Rav Huna—

For Rav Huna said: It is forbidden for a person to taste anything before he prays the additional prayer! Since Rav Yosef’s lecture was before the additional prayer, I could not taste anything then, and therefore my heart became weak.

For Rav Huna said: It is forbidden for a person to taste anything before he prays the Musaf prayer!

Since Rav Yosef’s lecture was before Musaf, I could not taste anything then, and therefore my heart became weak.

He said to him: The Master should have prayed the Musaf prayer individually

before the congregation prayed,

and

afterward

taste something and come

to the lecture!

Rav Avya

said to him: But

does the Master not hold in accordance with what Rabbi Yohanan said: It is forbidden for a person to advance his

prayer before the

presence of

the congregational prayer?

And because of this I could not pray and taste something before the lecture.

Abaye

said to him: But

was it not stated concerning it

of Rabbi Yohanan:

Rabbi Abba said:

The prohibition against praying before the congregation prays

was

when one prays in the synagogue with

the congregation; they taught

so. But if he prays in his house, he is permitted to advance his prayer before the congregational prayer. If so, you could have prayed and tasted something before the lecture.

And the conclusion of the Gemara:

And the halakha is not in accordance neither with Rav Huna nor with Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi!

There is no halakha

in accordance with Rav Huna,

in

what we said

in his name, that it is forbidden to taste something before the Musaf prayer.

And there is no halakha

in accordance with Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi,

in the matter

that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Once the time of the Minha prayer has arrived—

it is forbidden for a person to taste anything before he prays the Minha prayer .

Rather, tasting was forbidden only before the Shacharit prayer, as they expounded the verse, “You shall not eat upon the blood.”

Mishna:

Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKanah would pray upon his entering

the beit-midrash, and upon his leaving

from there,

a short prayer.

They said to him: What place

does this prayer have,

and what is its nature?

He said to them: Upon my entering, I pray that no mishap should occur through me. And upon my leaving, I give thanks

to the Creator

for my portion.

Gemara:

The Sages taught: Upon his entering

the beit-midrash—

what

does he say?

May it be Your will before You, Hashem, my God, that no mishap should occur through me, and that I should not stumble in a matter of halakha, and

through this

my colleagues should rejoice in me

because of my failure [and thereby cause two evils: one to me through the stumbling itself, and one to my colleagues, who will be punished because of me].

And that I should not say

about something impure

that it is

“pure,” and not about something pure

that it is

“impure.”

And that my colleagues should not stumble in a matter of halakha, and

through this

I should rejoice in them

because of their failure.”

Upon his leaving

the beit-midrash

what does he say?

I give thanks before You, Hashem, my God, that You have placed my portion among those who sit in the beit-midrash, and have not placed my portion among those who sit at the street corners

[shopkeepers or unlearned people who engage in conversation and are idle from Torah].

I rise early, and they rise early—

I rise early for words of Torah, and they rise early for empty matters.

I toil, and they toil—

I run, and they run—

I toil and receive reward, while they toil and do not receive reward.

I run, and they run—

The Sages taught: When Rabbi Eliezer became ill, his students entered to visit him.

I run toward the life of the World to Come, while they run toward the pit of destruction!

The Sages taught: When Rabbi Eliezer fell ill, his students entered to visit him.

He said to them: Be careful to honor your colleagues! Keep your children from excessive speculation,

They said to him: Our master, teach us paths of life, and we shall merit through them the life of the World to Come!

He said to them: Be vigilant regarding the honor of your colleagues!

He said to them: Be careful regarding the honor of your colleagues!

And keep your sons from higayon,

so that you do not accustom them to Scripture excessively. For they will be drawn to it and become idle from Mishna and Talmud.

And

lest you say: Since you must keep them from higayon, will they sit idle? It is not so; rather,

seat them among the knees of Torah scholars!

In order to accustom them to good traits, even though they are not yet fit for Talmud.

And when you pray, know before Whom you stand,

so that you will pray with awe and concentration,

and through this you will merit the life of the World to Come.

And when Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai fell ill, his students entered to visit him.

When he saw them—

he began to cry.

His students said to him: Lamp of Israel,

right-hand pillar, mighty hammer,

why are you crying?

He said to them: If they were bringing me before a mortal king

to stand trial,

who today

is

here

and

tomorrow

is

in the grave.

For if

he

is angry with me—

his anger is not eternal.

And if he imprisons me

in a prison—

his imprisonment is not eternal.

And if he kills me—

his killing is not eternal

in the World to Come.

And I can appease him with words and bribe him with money—

even so, I would cry

from fear of his judgment.

And now, when they are bringing me

to stand trial

before the holy King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, who lives and endures forever and for all eternity.

For if He is angry with me—

His anger is eternal.

And if He imprisons me—

His imprisonment is eternal.

And if He kills me—

His killing is eternal.

And

after my death, I

can no longer appease Him with words

through prayer,

nor bribe Him with money

through charity.

Moreover,

even if my death is not eternal, and I merit life in the World to Come,

two paths still lie before me: one to the Garden of Eden, and one to Gehinnom,

where I may be judged for twelve months.

And I do not know along which path they are bringing me—

And

for

shall I not cry?!

They said to him: Our teacher, bless us!

He said to them: May it be Your will that the fear of Heaven be

upon you like the fear of flesh and blood!

His students said to him:

Is it

only to this extent

that the fear of Heaven should be upon us, and not more than the fear of flesh and blood?

He said to them: Would that

the fear of Heaven were upon you in this way, like the fear of flesh and blood! Through this, you would refrain from many transgressions.

Know

that this is so, for

when a person commits a transgression,

he

says:

“Provided

no person sees me!”

But he does not refrain from the transgression because of the Holy One, blessed be He, even though everything is revealed before Him.

At the time of his death, he said to them

—Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai:

Remove the utensils because of ritual impurity,

so that they would not become impure through being under the same roof as a corpse.

And the Maharsha wrote that he said this so that they would not question him after he had told them that he did not know where they were bringing him. See the Ritva , who explains that Hezekiah came out to meet him because he is among the third group in the World to Come, and Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai was going to join it, as explained in Hagiga [14b]. The Vilna Gaon explained that Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai disseminated Torah just as Hezekiah, king of Judah, had done in his time. The Tzelach explained that from the day Hillel assumed the office of Nasi, the office had not ceased to belong to the descendants of the House of David. When Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel was killed, his son, Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh, was still young, and Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai then assumed the office of Nasi. Therefore, Hezekiah, who was from the kings of the House of David, came to meet him, to indicate that the House of David had no complaint against him. But after his death, they would not appoint his son in his place; rather, they would return the office of Nasi to the descendants of Hillel, who was from the House of David. Therefore he said, “Prepare a chair for Hezekiah, king of Judah,” meaning a chair of the office of Nasi. And The Gate of Reincarnations [59b] states that Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai contained the soul of King Hezekiah, and therefore he said to prepare a chair for him. In The Treasury of the Geonim, Rav Saadia Gaon is cited as saying that Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai descended from Hezekiah. This is in accordance with the view of Tosafot in Menahot [21b], that he was not a koen. Mishna:

who is now coming to greet me.

Rabban Gamliel says: Every day a person prays eighteen

blessings

, in each prayer.

Rabbi Yehoshua says:

He prays

a prayer resembling the eighteen

blessings every day, and the Gemara will explain his words.

Rabbi Akiva says: If his prayer is fluent in his mouth—he

prays eighteen

blessings, in accordance with the view of Rabban Gamliel.

But if not,

that is, if his prayer is not fluent in his mouth, he prays

a prayer resembling the eighteen

blessings, in accordance with the view of Rabbi Yehoshua.

Rabbi Eliezer says:

If he

makes his prayer a fixed obligation

so that it is upon him like a burden—

his prayer

is not appropriate, because one must pray as a request and with

supplication.

Rabbi Yehoshua says: One who travels in a place of danger

Rabbi Yehoshua says: One who travels in a dangerous place

and the time for prayer arrives, but he cannot settle his mind, does not

pray a complete prayer, nor even “a prayer resembling the eighteen,” but only

a short prayer.

And this is how he prays:

“Save, O Lord, Your people,

the remnant of Israel. In every crisis, may their needs be before You. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who hears prayer!”

The wording of the prayer is explained below, on 29b.

If he was riding on a donkey

and the time for his prayer arrived, he should not pray while riding; rather,

he should descend

from the donkey

and pray.

But if

he has no one to hold his donkey, and therefore

he cannot descend

from it—

he should turn

—that is, he should turn

his face toward Jerusalem and pray while riding.

But if he cannot turn his face

toward Jerusalem,

he should direct his heart toward the Holy of Holies

and pray

.

And likewise, if

he was traveling in a boat, or

he was

in an asda

—a raft— and cannot stand and turn his face toward Jerusalem—

he should direct his heart

and his thoughts, and imagine that his face is

opposite the Holy of Holies,

and pray.

Gemara:

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: A person prays eighteen.

The Gemara discusses:

These eighteen blessings in the prayer—

corresponding to whom

were they instituted?

Rav Hillel, son of Rav Shmuel bar Naḥmani, said:

They were instituted

corresponding to the eighteen mentions

of the Divine Name

that David said

in the psalm [Psalms 29:1]:

“Ascribe to the Lord, sons of the mighty.”

And

this psalm contains an allusion to the first three blessings of the Eighteen Benedictions, which are: Patriarchs, Divine Might, and the Holiness of the Lord.

Rav Yosef said: They correspond to the eighteen mentions

of the Divine Name

in the recitation of the Shema

, and they were instituted accordingly.

Rabbi Tanḥum said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: They correspond to the eighteen vertebrae of the spinal column!

And Rabbi Tanḥum said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: One who prays must bow until all the vertebrae in his spinal column crack!

That is, the knobs [the joints] of his vertebrae should become visible.

Ulla said: One must bow

until an issar can be seen

that is

opposite his heart

alone. When a person bends, two folds form. He must bend in such a way that the width of the flesh between them appears equal in size to an issar.

alone. When a person bends, two folds are formed. He must bend in such a way that the width of the flesh between them appears to be the size of an issar.

Rabbi Hanina said: Once he has nodded his head

, that is sufficient, and

he no longer needs

to bow further.

Rava said: This applies when he causes himself distress

because of the bowing, and

it appears

that he wants to bow but cannot. In that case, he is considered

as though he bowed,

and he no longer needs to bow.

The Gemara raises a difficulty: Are

these

prayer blessings

eighteen in number? But they are

[i.e., eighteen]? But they are

nineteen

19]

in number!

Why, then, did we learn “eighteen blessings”?

Rabbi Levi said:

At first, the Men of the Great Assembly instituted eighteen blessings, but

the blessing concerning the heretics—

“And for the slanderers, let there be no hope”—

was instituted in Yavneh

much later.

The Gemara asks: Eighteen blessings were instituted corresponding to eighteen mentions of the Divine Name;

corresponding to what was it instituted

—the additional blessing?

Rabbi Levi said: According to Rabbi Hillel, son of Rav Shmuel bar Naḥmani,

who said that the eighteen blessings correspond to the eighteen mentions of the Tetragrammaton in “Ascribe to the Lord, sons of the mighty”—they instituted the blessing concerning the heretics

corresponding to

[verse 3 there]

“The God of glory thunders,”

which is also considered a mention of the Divine Name.

And

according to Rav Yosef,

who said that the eighteen blessings correspond to the eighteen mentions of the Divine Name in the recitation of the Shema, they instituted the blessing concerning the heretics

corresponding to “One” in the recitation of the Shema,

which is also similar to a mention of the Divine Name. Thus there are nineteen mentions of the Divine Name.

And

according to Rabbi Tanḥum, who said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said,

who said that they were instituted corresponding to the eighteen vertebrae of the spinal column, they instituted the blessing concerning the heretics

corresponding to the small vertebra in the spinal column,

which is the nineteenth vertebra.

The Sages taught: Shimon HaPakuולי

—a seller of bundles of cotton—

arranged the eighteen blessings before Rabban Gamliel in their proper order

их

in Yavneh.

Rabban Gamliel said to the Sages: Is there

among you

someone who knows how to formulate the blessing against the Sadducees?

Shmuel HaKatan stood and formulated it .

The following year,

when Shmuel HaKatan served as prayer leader,

he forgot it,