Berakhot 54a (נד.) — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

One who sees

a place where miracles were performed for Israel says: “Blessed

You, Lord our God, King of the universe,

Who performed miracles for our ancestors

in this place.”

One who sees

a place from which idolatry has been eradicated

says: “Blessed is He Who eradicated idolatry from our land.”

For meteors

[comets],

for earthquakes

[earthquakes],

for thunder and for winds

[storms],

and for lightning,

one says: “Blessed is He Whose power

and might fill the world,”

because in these phenomena a change in nature is discernible across broad expanses.

For mountains and hills

that are distinctive in their height and appearance, and in which the might of the Creator is manifest;

for seas and rivers

that are famous, such as the four rivers mentioned in the Torah ;

and for deserts,

one says: “Blessed is He Who performs

[the] act

of Creation.”

Rabbi Yehuda says: One who sees the Great Sea

says: “Blessed is He Who made the sea

the Great

because, on account of its size and importance, the Sages instituted a separate blessing for it.

The obligation to recite the blessings for seeing an act of Creation applies only

when one sees it intermittently,

meaning when at least thirty days have passed between one sighting and the next.

For rain and for good tidings, one says: “Blessed is He Who is good and bestows good.”

For bad tidings

one says: “Blessed is the true Judge.”

If one built a new house or acquired new vessels,

one says: “Blessed is He Who has given us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this time.”

One recites

“Blessed is the true Judge”

over

tidings

of evil

that are

akin to

tidings

of good,

meaning tidings that are presently bad, although they will ultimately also contain good.

And over

tidings

of good

that are

akin to

tidings

of evil,

one recites “Who is good and bestows good,” meaning tidings that are presently good, although they will ultimately also contain evil. These blessings are determined according to the reality presently before us; one does not take into account future events that may not occur. [The Gemara will explain the circumstances in which one recites these blessings].

But one who cries out

[prays concerning]

the past, this is a vain prayer.

How so? For example, if

his wife was pregnant and he says: “May it be Your will that my wife give birth to a male,” this is a vain prayer,

because the sex of the fetus has already been determined. Similarly, if

he was traveling

home

and heard a cry of distress in the city, and he says: “May it be Your will that it not be within

my house,” this is a vain prayer.

One who

travels along a road and

enters a city

in which cruel governors are found who seek pretexts against people

prays two

prayers:

one upon entering

the city, that he should enter in peace,

and one upon leaving

the city, in which he gives thanks that he left in peace.

Ben Azzai says:

He prays

four

prayers:

two upon entering and two upon leaving.

In every place, in the first prayer he

gives thanks for what has passed:

upon entering, for having traveled the road in peace; and upon leaving, for not having been harmed in the city.

And

in his second prayer he

cries out concerning the future:

upon entering, that no harm should befall him in the city; and upon leaving, that no harm should befall him on the road.

A person is obligated to bless

with the blessing “Blessed is the true Judge”

over evil

with joy,

just as he blesses

with the blessing “Who is good and bestows good”

over good, as it is stated

[Deuteronomy 11]

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and so on.”

For this is how they expounded this verse:

“With all your heart”—with your two inclinations, with the good inclination and with the evil inclination

. “And with all your soul”—

you must serve Him with love

even

if

He takes your soul

. “And with all your might”—

You are obligated to love God and serve Him

with all your wealth

, meaning that you must not violate a negative commandment even if, in order to avoid doing so, you will lose all your money.

Alternatively: “With all your might”—

with every measure that He measures out to you,

whether a measure of goodness or a measure of calamity—

give thanks to Him.

It follows that one is obligated to bless over evil just as over good.

A person should not act frivolously

opposite the gate

of the east

of the wall of the Temple Mount, even when he is standing outside the Temple Mount, because all the gates on the eastern side of the Temple Mount are aligned directly opposite one another, and it follows

that he is directly opposite the Holy of Holies.

And

since we were commanded concerning “reverence for the Sanctuary,”

one may not enter the Temple Mount with his staff

or with his shoe or his money belt

a belt in which he places his money

or with dust on his feet,

because that is a mundane manner; rather, he may enter it only for the purpose of prayer or service,

and he may not make it a shortcut

a shortcut

and

he may not spit in it,

spitting,

which is a disrespectful act,

by means of a kal va-chomer

from the fact that one may not enter it wearing shoes, which is merely a mundane manner.

Initially,

all those who concluded blessings in the Temple

during the First Temple

would say

at the conclusion of the blessings in prayer: “Blessed are You, Lord, God of Israel

until

“from

the world,”

when the Sadducees became corrupt

and denied the resurrection of the dead,

and said, “There is only one world,” Ezra and his court instituted

that they

should say, “from the world to the world,”

in order to uproot the view of the Sadducees from their hearts and to indicate that there is another world.

And

further,

they instituted,

in order to strengthen faith in the hearts of the people,

that a person should greet his fellow in the Name

of the Lord and they based it on what

is stated

Ruth 2:4:

“And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, ‘The Lord be with you’; and they said to him, ‘May the Lord bless you,’ and

it further

says

that the verse [Judges 6:12] states that the angel said to Gideon:

“The Lord is with you, mighty warrior,” and

the source that it is proper to rely on what we observed with Boaz and Gideon is that the verse

says

Proverbs 23:22:

“Do not despise it because your mother is old,”

but act as the elders of the nation customarily act.

And

you cannot claim that one who blesses using the Name shows disregard for the honor of the Omnipresent, for the verse

says

Psalms 119:126:

“It is a time to act for the Lord; they have violated Your Torah,”

and

Rabbi Natan says

that this verse should properly be expounded as follows: At times,

“they have violated Your Torah”

as in greeting someone using the Name, where their enactment appears to be something prohibited,

“because it is a time to act for the Lord”

for the need to greet one’s fellow is the will of the Lord, as it is stated: “Seek peace and pursue it.”

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: One who sees a place where miracles were performed for Israel says: “Blessed is He Who performed miracles for our forefathers in this place.” The Gemara discusses this:

From where are these matters derived

that one recites a blessing for a miracle?

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: For the verse says

Exodus 18:10:

“And Jethro said: Blessed is the Lord, Who rescued

Israel from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh, Who rescued the people from beneath the hand of Egypt.”

.’”

The Gemara infers from the wording of the Mishna, “where miracles were performed for Israel,” that specifically

for a miracle performed for the many one recites a blessing,

but

for a miracle performed for an individual one does not recite a blessing.

And it raises an objection:

But there was a certain man who was walking in Ever Yamina

the name of a country

when a lion fell upon him; a miracle was performed for him and he was saved from it.

He came before Rava, who said to him: Whenever you arrive there, recite: “Blessed is He Who performed a miracle for me

in this place.”

And if one does not recite a blessing for an individual’s miracle, why did he tell him to recite a blessing for his miracle?

And

similarly we find that

Mar, son of Ravina, was walking in a valley

a valley

of Aravot

the name of a place

and was thirsty

thirst

for water. A miracle was performed for him: a spring of water was created for him and he drank. And further,

another incident occurred to him:

Once he was walking in the marketplace

a market

of Meḥoza, and a wild camel fell upon him.

a mad camel

A wall was demolished for him

the wall of a house adjacent to him fell

and he entered inside it,

entered into it and was saved. And from then on,

when he reached Aravot, he recited: “Blessed is He Who performed a miracle for me in Aravot

at the spring of water

and with the camel,”

and likewise,

when he reached the marketplace of Meḥoza, he recited: “Blessed is He Who performed a miracle for me with the camel and in Aravot.”

And if one does not recite a blessing for an individual’s miracle, why did he recite blessings for his miracles? The Gemara answers:

They said: For a miracle performed for the many, everyone is obligated to recite a blessing,

but

for a miracle performed for an individual

only

he

the beneficiary of the miracle

is obligated to recite a blessing.

The Sages taught: One who sees

the

passages of the sea

the place through which Israel passed during the splitting of the Sea of Reeds

and

the place of the

passages of the Jordan,

or

the passages of the Arnon streams,

or

the hailstones

that the Lord cast upon the Amorites when they fought with Joshua

at the descent of Beth-horon; and the stone that Og, king of Bashan, sought to throw at Israel; and the stone upon which Moses sat

and asked mercy for Israel

when Joshua waged war against Amalek; and the pillar of salt of

Lot’s

wife; and the wall of Jericho that was swallowed up in its place—for all of them one must offer thanksgiving and praise before the Omnipresent.

The Gemara discusses this:

Granted, concerning “the passages of the sea,”

we find that a miracle occurred there,

as it is written

Exodus 14:22:

“And the children of Israel came into the midst of the sea upon the dry land,”

and also concerning

“the passages of the Jordan”

we find that a miracle occurred,

as it is written

Joshua 3:

“And the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, firmly established, and all Israel crossed on dry ground, until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan; but ‘the passages of the Arnon streams’—from where do we know

that a miracle occurred there? -

As it is written

Numbers 21:14:

“Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord: Vahev in Suphah

and the streams of Arnon.” Concerning this,

the tanna taught: “Vahev in Suphah”

there were two

lepers,

and their names were “Et” and “Hav,”

who were walking

“in Suphah,” meaning

at the end of the camp of Israel,

because lepers are sent outside the camp.