Berakhot 33b (לג:) — the Talmud in English

Ravina said to Rava: What is the halakha?

He said to him: It is like Kiddush: Just as with Kiddush, although one recites Kiddush in the prayer, he recites Kiddush again over a cup, so too with Havdala,

although one recites Havdala in the prayer, he recites Havdala again over a cup.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Eliezer says: In the blessing of thanksgiving.

Rabbi Zeira was riding a donkey, and Rabbi Hiyya bar Avin was walking behind him. He said to him,

Rabbi Hiyya asked Rabbi Zeira,

Certainly [

is it true]

that you say in the name of Rabbi Yohanan, “The halakha follows Rabbi Eliezer

who says that Havdala is recited in the blessing of thanksgiving

when a Festival occurs immediately after Shabbat,”

because we do not recite in it the blessing, “Who graciously grants knowledge”?

He said to him,

Rabbi Zeira,

Yes!

That is indeed what I said in his name.

The Gemara wonders: Since he needed to say that

“the halakha” follows him, this indicates that they disagree

with Rabbi Eliezer in this matter. And who are the dissenting authorities?

The Gemara responds rhetorically:

And

if

we did not

find anyone who

disagrees? Indeed, the

Sages

disagree

with him in the Mishna concerning where Havdala is recited.

The Gemara rejects this:

Say that the Sages disagree

as stated in the Mishna concerning Havdala on an ordinary

Saturday night throughout the rest of the year;

but Rabbi Zeira was discussing

a Festival that occurs immediately after Shabbat,

when “Who graciously grants knowledge” is not recited. In this matter we have not found

anyone who disagrees?

Why, then, did he need to say that “the halakha” follows Rabbi Eliezer?

And

the Gemara still considers that this poses no difficulty for Rabbi Zeira, since

Rabbi Akiva disagrees,

and his view is that Havdala is recited as an independent blessing. Therefore, Rabbi Zeira needed to say that the halakha follows Rabbi Eliezer, and that one should not recite it as an independent blessing even when Saturday night occurs on a Festival.

The Gemara rejects this: There is no need for that reason to say that “the halakha” follows Rabbi Eliezer, since

do we act according to Rabbi Akiva throughout the entire year, that now we should arise and act according to him?

Certainly, Rabbi Zeira did not intend to exclude the view of Rabbi Akiva.

The Gemara explains why there is no possibility of reciting it as an independent blessing when Saturday night occurs on a Festival. On an ordinary Saturday night

throughout the entire year, why do we not act according to Rabbi Akiva—

because

only

eight

eighteen

blessings

were instituted

in the prayer;

a nineteenth was not instituted.

This reason applies

here as well

to the Festival prayer,

in which

seven blessings

were instituted, and an eighth was not instituted.

Accordingly, Rabbi Zeira did not need to say “the halakha” in order to exclude the view of Rabbi Akiva.

Rabbi Zeira said

to Rabbi Hiyya:

It was not “the halakha

follows Rabbi Eliezer

” that was stated; rather, “they incline toward” his view was stated.

The meaning is as in the statement

that was transmitted:

Rabbi Yitzhak bar Avdimi said in the name of our Master: “The halakha,”

meaning that this is the proper ruling to teach publicly.

And some say: “They incline toward,”

meaning that only when an individual asks how to act when Saturday night occurs on a Festival is he instructed to follow Rabbi Eliezer and recite it as an independent blessing.

Rabbi Yohanan said: “They agree,”

meaning that the Sages agree with Rabbi Eliezer that when Saturday night occurs on a Festival, one recites Havdala in the blessing of thanksgiving; consequently, this is what one teaches the public.

And Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said,

one does not instruct the public to act in this manner. Nevertheless, since in this situation

“the words of Rabbi Eliezer appear”

, if one acted in accordance with him and recited it in the blessing of thanksgiving, he is not required to repeat the prayer.

Rabbi Zeira said: Take

the version

of Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba in your hand,

who said “it appears,” because

he

was

analyzed and mastered the tradition directly from its master properly, like Rahava of Pumbedita,

who was precise to state it in the wording he had heard from his teacher.

As we find

that Rahava said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda:

“The Temple Mount had a double colonnade, with one colonnade within another”

[there were benches there for sitting, arranged one within the other]. He did not say that it contained “benches,” the wording of the Mishna, because he had heard it from his teacher in the wording “colonnade.”

Rav Yosef said: I know neither this [“

it appears”]

nor that [“

they agree”]

do I know; rather, I know this from Rav and Shmuel, for they instituted for us a pearl in Babylonia

to recite on a Festival that occurs on Saturday night, in the fourth blessing, this addition:

“And may You make known to us, Lord our God, the ordinances of Your righteousness, and teach us to perform the statutes of Your will, and grant us as an inheritance seasons of joy and voluntary festivals,

voluntary,

and may You cause us to inherit the sanctity of Shabbat, the honor of the Festival, and the celebration of the pilgrimage Festival. You have distinguished between the sanctity of Shabbat and the sanctity of the Festival, and You have sanctified the seventh day from the six days of labor; You have distinguished and sanctified Your people Israel with Your sanctity, and You have given us

Lord our God, appointed times for joy,

and so forth.”

Mishna:

One who says, “For the nest of a bird Your mercy extends,” or, “For the good, may Your Name be remembered,”

or

“We give thanks, we give thanks,” is silenced .

Gemara:

The Gemara discusses this:

Granted, “We give thanks, we give thanks” is silenced, because it appears as though there are two Authorities.

And “For the good, may Your Name be remembered” also implies that one gives thanks for the good but not for the bad. And we learned: A person is obligated to bless

for the bad just as he blesses for the good.

But “For the nest of a bird Your mercy extends”—what is the reason

he is silenced?

Two amoraim in the West, Rabbi Yosei bar Avin and Rabbi Yosei bar Zevida, disagree about it. One said: Because he arouses jealousy among the works of Creation,

as though He has compassion only for certain species.

And the other said: Because he makes the attributes

[the commandments]

of the Holy One, blessed be He,

appear to have been established because of

mercy, whereas they are merely decrees,

which He established for Israel to make known that they are His servants and observe His commandments solely because He commanded them, and not because of their reasons.

That

prayer leader

who descended

to lead the prayer before the ark

before Rabba, and said: “You took pity on the nest of a bird; take pity and have mercy on us!”

Rabba said: How well this young scholar knows how to entreat his Master.

Abaye said to him: But did we not learn, “He is silenced”?

And

the Gemara explains:

Rabba too

had not forgotten this law; rather, he

wanted only to sharpen Abaye .

There was one who descended before Rabbi Hanina. He said: “The great, mighty, awesome, exalted, powerful, revered, strong, courageous, certain, and honored One.”

Rabbi Hanina waited for him

until

he finished. When he finished,

he said to him:

Is it possible that

you have finished all the praises of your Master? Why do I need all this?

For

we

even

these three that we recite, were it not that Moses our teacher stated them in the Torah

[Deuteronomy 10:17],

and the Men of the Great Assembly came and instituted them in the prayer, we would not have been able to say them;

and you have said all this? And then what?

This is analogous to a mortal king who possessed a thousand thousand gold dinars, and they praised him with silver ones;

is that not an insult to him?

And

further

Rabbi Hanina said: “Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for fear of Heaven,”

as it is stated

[Deuteronomy 10:12]:

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask

of you, but to fear Him.”

The Gemara wonders:

Is fear of Heaven truly a small matter!?

But did Rabbi Hanina not say in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai: The Holy One, blessed be He, has nothing in His treasury but a storehouse of fear of Heaven,

as it is stated [

Isaiah 33:6]

“The fear of the Lord is His treasure”?

The Gemara answers:

Yes; with regard to Moses, it was a minor matter.

As Rabbi Hanina said: This is analogous to a person who is asked for a large vessel and has one; it appears to him like a small vessel.

But if he is asked for a

small one and does not have one, it appears to him like a large vessel.

We learned in the Mishna: One who says

“We give thanks, we give thanks”—they silence him.

Rabbi Zeira said: Anyone who says “Shema, Shema” is considered like one who says “We give thanks, we give thanks.”

The Gemara raises an objection: One who recites the Shema and repeats it is reprehensible.

This implies that only

“reprehensible” is what he is,

but

we do not silence him?

The Gemara answers:

This is not difficult: this

case, in which he is considered merely “reprehensible,” is when

he says each phrase and repeats it,

meaning that he repeats each word separately,

whereas

if

this

case, in which “they silence him,” is when

he says each verse and repeats it,

and then he appears to be accepting two authorities upon himself; therefore, they silence him .

Rav Pappa said to Abaye:

Why does he appear to be turning toward two authorities?

Perhaps initially he did not direct his mind, but afterward,

when he repeated it,

he directed his mind?

He said to him: