Berakhot 2b — the Talmud in English

Perhaps

the intention of the verse is

the arrival of its light,

that is, the rising of the sun’s light on the following morning,

and what is “and he shall be pure”? And the person shall be pure,

meaning that the person shall purify himself by bringing his offerings, and only afterward shall he eat teruma?

The Gemara answers:

Rabba bar Rav Shila said:

If “and he shall be pure” means instructing the person to bring his offerings,

then let the verse say, “and he shall purify himself,”

which is an expression of command to do so.

What is “and he shall be pure”?

Why was “and he shall be pure” stated, whose meaning is that through this he becomes pure by himself? Necessarily, the intention of the verse is that

“the day became pure,”

that “the day became pure,” because the light completely departed, to the point that the stars emerged, which is something that happens by itself.

As people say, “the sun has set

the sun has set

and the day has become pure.”

and the day has become pure. And this too is the intention of the verse, “and he shall be pure”: the day “became pure.”

In the West,

in the Land of Israel [which is in the west of Babylonia],

this,

his proof,

of Rabba bar Shila was not heard by them. And

therefore

they raised the question to him: This,

this which the verse said,

“and the sun has set,”

is it

the setting of his sun

the setting of the sun,

and what is “and he shall be pure”? —

the day became pure.

Or perhaps, “

and the sun has set,”

is the arrival of its light

the rising of the sun,

and what is “and he shall be pure”? —

the person became pure.

That he shall bring the offerings for his atonement, and only afterward shall he also become pure with regard to eating teruma.

And afterward,

after they were uncertain, they returned

and resolved it

this uncertainty

from a beraita.

From that which it teaches in the beraita,

from what we learned in the beraita brought shortly: “And the Sages say, from the time when the priests are entitled to eat their teruma.”

A sign for the matter: the emergence of the stars.

It follows that from the time of the emergence of the stars the priests are permitted to eat teruma, and bringing the offering for atonement does not prevent them from eating teruma.

Learn from it

from the beraita that “and the sun has set,”

is the setting of his sun, and what is “and he shall be pure”? —

the day became pure.

And once the day became pure and passed, the priests are permitted to eat teruma.

The Master said,

the tanna said in our Mishna: “From when do they recite” ...

from the time when the priests enter to eat

their teruma.

And the Gemara raises an apparent contradiction from another beraita:

And we raise a contradiction

from that which was taught:

From when do they recite the Shema in the evenings? F

rom the time

when the poor man

who has no lamp to illuminate his meal

enters to eat his bread with salt,

and the time for reciting the Shema continues

until the time when he stands

the poor man

to leave his meal.

And the Gemara explains its question: This which we learned in the

latter clause

of the beraita, that its time continues only until the time when the poor man leaves his meal,

certainly disagrees with our Mishna,

for this time precedes all the times that we learned in the Mishna, since Rabbi Eliezer’s time is earlier than all of them, and it continues until the end of the first watch.

But it is possible to discuss whether also what we learned in the

first clause

of the beraita, that its beginning is from the time when the poor man enters to eat his bread,

shall we say

that this beraita

disagrees with our Mishna,

which established that its beginning is from the time when the priests enter to eat their teruma, that is, from the emergence of the stars? Or not?

The Gemara answers:

No.

The beraita does not disagree with our Mishna concerning the beginning of the time, for the time when

a poor man

enters to eat his bread

and

the time when a

priest

enters to eat teruma

are one measure,

both being the same time, namely, at the emergence of the stars.

But we still find a contradiction from another beraita.

And we raise a contradiction

from that which was taught:

From when do they begin to recite the evening recitation of the Shema? —

from the time when people enter to eat their bread on Sabbath eves,

for on Sabbath night they begin eating earlier than on the other days of the week, because the meal is prepared while it is still day,

the words of Rabbi Meir.

And the Sages say: from the time when the priests are entitled to eat their teruma.

A sign for the matter,

when is this time? —

the emergence of the stars.

And although there is no proof for the matter

that the day ends and night begins at the emergence of the stars, nevertheless we find

a remembrance for the matter, as it is stated

[Nehemiah 4:15]:

“And we were doing the work, while half of them held the spears, from the rising of dawn until the emergence of the stars.”

And it says,

and it is further stated there [verse 16]:

“And the night was for us a guard, and the day was for work.”

It follows that the day is from the rising of dawn until the emergence of the stars. If so, from the emergence of the stars until the rising of dawn is the night.

And parenthetically, before the Gemara explains what it comes to ask from this beraita, it first discusses the explanation of the words of the beraita:

What is “and it says”?

For what purpose does the beraita also bring the second verse, when in the first verse it has already been stated that the time of day is from the rising of dawn until the emergence of the stars?

The Gemara explains: The second verse is needed, since

if you would say,

if only the first verse had been stated,

from when the sun sets,

from sunset, even before the emergence of the stars,

it is night,

and likewise in the morning, day begins only with sunrise and not from the rising of dawn.

But they,

the workers,

were making it dark and rising early,

they began their work early, before the beginning of the day, which is at sunrise, and continued their work into the night. Therefore the beraita adds:

come and hear,

come and learn a proof from the second verse:

“And the night was for us a guard, and the day was for work,”

it follows that “the day,” which is the time of their work, ended when “the night,” which is the time of guarding, began. It follows that “the day” continues until the emergence of the stars, when the guarding began.

And now the Gemara continues and concludes its question from the beraita:

It enters your mind that

the time when

a poor man

enters to eat his bread every day,

and

the time when most

people

who are not poor eat their meal on Sabbath nights,

are one measure.

And if you say that also

the time when

a poor man

enters to eat his bread and the time when a

priest

enters to eat his teruma

are one measure,

that is, at the emergence of the stars, then it follows that the measure of time stated by

the Sages

in the beraita, “from the time when the priests enter to eat teruma,”

is

the measure of time stated by

Rabbi Meir, “from the time when people enter to eat their bread on Sabbath eve.” For “poor man” and “priest” are one measure, and “poor man” and “people” are one measure; if so, over what did Rabbi Meir and the Sages disagree in the beraita?

“From the time that people enter to eat their bread on Friday evening.” For the times of the “poor person” and the “kohen” are the same, and the times of the “poor person” and “people” are the same. If so, over what did Rabbi Meir and the Sages disagree in the beraita?

Rather, learn from it

that the eating time of

“a poor man” is one measure by itself, and “a priest” is one measure by itself.

It follows that the first clause of the first beraita disagrees with our Mishna. And concerning this the Sages and Rabbi Meir disagree in the second beraita: the Sages maintain that it is from the time when the priests enter, namely, the emergence of the stars; while Rabbi Meir maintains that it is from the time when people enter, which is the same measure of time as when a poor man enters to eat his bread on weekdays, and it is an earlier time than the priests’ time.

The Gemara rejects the proof:

No! —

In truth, the time of

“a poor man”

who enters to eat his bread and the time of

“a priest”

who enters to eat teruma

are one measure,

namely, the emergence of the stars, and the first beraita does not disagree in this with our Mishna.

But

the measure of

“a poor man”

who enters to eat his bread

and

the measure of

“people”

who enter to eat on Sabbath eves

are not one measure,

and concerning this the Sages and Rabbi Meir disagree in the second beraita: according to the Sages, the time is from when the priests enter, which is equal to the time when a poor man enters to eat his bread; while according to Rabbi Meir, the time is when people enter to eat on Sabbath eves, and it is an earlier time than that of the “priest” and the “poor man.”

The Gemara continues to ask about this:

and

because

“a poor person” and “a kohen”—are they one measure?

And it raises a contradiction

from another beraita:

“From when do they begin to recite the Shema in the evenings?” —

From the time

that the day was sanctified on the eve of Shabbat.

That is, from the time of “between the suns,” which is a time concerning which it is uncertain whether it is still day or whether night has already begun, and because of the uncertainty one is prohibited from labor,

the words of Rabbi Eliezer.

Rabbi Joshua says: From the time that the kohanim are purified to eat their teruma.

That is, the emergence of the stars.

Rabbi Meir says:

from the time

that the kohanim

who are impure

immerse

in order

to eat

at night

their teruma.

That is, a short time before bein hashmashot, while it is still day, and they immerse early so that there will be “the sun’s setting” after the immersion.

Rabbi Judah said

to Rabbi Meir: How is it possible that about this time it was said, “when you lie down”?

But surely the kohanim immerse while it is still day!

That is, before “between the suns,”

and it is still day and it is not the time of lying down. Rabbi Hanina says: From the time that a poor person enters to eat his bread with salt.

Rav Aḥai—and some say Rabbi Aḥa—says: From the time that most people enter

to recline for their meal.

Up to here is the wording of the beraita. The Gemara concludes its difficulty: And if you say that the time of

“a poor person” and

the time of

“a kohen are one measure,

then it follows that the time stated by

Rabbi Hanina, “from the time that a poor person enters,”

is

like the time stated by

Rabbi Joshua, “from the time that the kohanim are purified,” whereas in the beraita it is explained that they disagree concerning the beginning of the time for reciting the Shema.

Rather, is it not so? Learn from it: the measure of “a poor person” is one thing, and the measure of “a kohen” is another thing.

The conclusion of the Gemara:

Learn from it.

Indeed, they are two different times.

The Gemara discusses:

Which of them is later,

the time when a poor person enters to eat, or the time when kohanim enter to eat teruma—which of them is the later time?

The Gemara proves:

It is reasonable that the time when

a poor person

enters to eat his bread is later than the time when kohanim enter to eat their teruma, which is at the emergence of the stars.

For if you say that the time of

“a poor person” is earlier,

and it is before the emergence of the stars, then

Rabbi Hanina

who said that the time is “from the time that a poor person enters to eat his bread”

is

like the time of

Rabbi Eliezer,

who said, “from the time that the day was sanctified on the eve of Shabbat,” for this time too is before the emergence of the stars.

before the emergence of the stars, then

Rabbi Hanina,

who said that the time is “from when a poor person enters to eat his bread,”

would be

the same as the time of

Rabbi Eliezer,

Rather, is it not so? Learn from it that the time of the entry of

“a poor person” to eat is later, after the emergence of the stars. The conclusion of the Gemara: Learn from it. Indeed, the time of “a poor person” is after the emergence of the stars. The Master said,

in the [third] beraita above:

Rabbi Judah said

to Rabbi Meir:

But surely the kohanim immerse while it is still day?!

The Gemara asks:

Rabbi Judah has argued well to Rabbi Meir,

and what will Rabbi Meir answer him?

Indeed, the time of the “poor person” is after the emergence of the stars.

The Master said,

in the third beraita cited above:

The Gemara answers:

And Rabbi Meir said this to him: Do you think that I am speaking about your bein hashmashot,

which is from the beginning of sunset, and according to your view the kohanim immerse before sunset!?

I am speaking about “the bein hashmashot of Rabbi Yosei.”

For Rabbi Yosei said:

the duration of

between the suns is short, like the blink of an eye, the measure that a relaxed blink of the eye lasts; this [the night]

enters and this

[the day]

goes out.

And this moment of transition is called “between the suns,” and before it is certainly day.

And

since it is so short,

it is impossible to determine it

and establish exactly when it is, and since this time is close to the emergence of the stars,

the kohanim can immerse after sunset until close to the emergence of the stars,

and since it is close to darkness, it is considered the time of lying down.

[the night]

enters, and this

[the day]

departs.

This moment of transition is called “twilight”; before it, it is certainly day.

And

because it is so short,

it is impossible to determine it precisely,

and since this time is close to the emergence of the stars, the priests can immerse after sunset until close to the emergence of the stars. Since it is close to nightfall, it is considered a time when people lie down.