Berakhot 58b — the Talmud in English

The Sages taught: One who sees the houses of Israel

after they were destroyed and then returned to being inhabited [such as the settlement that existed during the Second Temple period

says: “Blessed is He Who establishes the boundary of a widow!”

],

says: “Blessed is He Who restores the boundary of the widow!”]] And when he sees them

in their destruction, he says: “Blessed is the Judge of truth!”]]

One who sees

the houses of idolaters in their inhabited state says: “The house of the proud, the Lord will uproot,

and He will restore the boundary of the widow.”]]

And when he sees them

in their destruction, he says: “God of retribution, Lord, God of retribution, appear!”]]

Ulla and Rav Hisda were traveling along the road. When they reached the entrance of the house of Rav Ḥana bar Ḥanilai,

which had been destroyed,

Rav Hisda sighed in anguish

and groaned.

Ulla said to him: Why are you sighing?

But didn’t Rav say: A sigh breaks half of a person’s body, as it is stated: “And you, son of man, sigh with the breaking of your loins, and so on”!

The loins are located in the middle of the body.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan

added even more to this, and

said:

A sigh

even

breaks

the entire body of a person, as it is stated: “And it shall be, when they say to you: For what are you sighing? And you shall say: Because of the report that has come, and every heart shall melt,

every hand shall become weak, every spirit shall grow faint, and all knees shall flow with water, and so on!”

Rav Hisda said to him:

But

how could I not sigh?

After all,

the house

of Rav Ḥana bar Ḥanilai was a house

in which sixty bakers worked

during the day,

and sixty bakers at night, and they baked for anyone who needed

to eat.

And the owner of this house did not remove

his hand from

the purse,

because

he thought: Perhaps a distinguished poor person will come

to request charity,

and by the time his hand reaches

his

purse,

the poor person will have to wait, and

he will be embarrassed.

Furthermore, four entrances were open to

this house,

one on each of the four sides

of the world.

And every

person

who entered

there

hungry

would

leave satiated. And they would place

outside this house

wheat and barley during years of famine

[outside], so that

anyone who was ashamed

to

take

grain

during the day would come and take it at night

in secret. And

now

that

this house has fallen

and become

a mound of ruins

[a heap of destruction],

how

could I

not sigh?!]]

Ulla said to him

Rav Hisda:

This is what Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From the day the Temple was destroyed, a decree was issued that the houses of the righteous would be destroyed, as it is stated: “In the ears of the Lord of Hosts: Surely many houses shall become desolate, even great and good, without inhabitant!”]]

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will restore them

to the houses of the righteous

to their inhabited state, as it is stated: “A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved

and will remain forever.”

Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, will restore Mount Zion to its inhabited state, so too will the Holy One, blessed be He, restore the houses of the righteous to their inhabited state!]]

Ulla saw

that Rav Hisda

was

still

not comforted. He said to him: It is enough for a servant to be like his master!

Since the house of the Lord was destroyed, it is fitting that the houses of the righteous should also be destroyed.

The Sages taught: One who sees the graves of Jews says: “Blessed is He Who formed you in judgment, sustained you in judgment, nourished you in judgment, gathered you in judgment, and will ultimately resurrect you in judgment!”]]

Mar, son of Ravina,

would

conclude it

in the blessing stated above

in the name of Rav Naḥman: “And He knows the number of all of you, and He will ultimately revive you and sustain you. Blessed is He Who resurrects the dead!”]]

One who sees

the graves of idolaters says: “Your mother is ashamed,

your mother who gave birth to you is greatly disgraced; behold, the end of the nations is a wilderness, a dry and desolate land.”]]

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: One who sees his friend after thirty days

during which he had not seen him

says: “Blessed is He Who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time!”]]

And if he did not see him

until after twelve months,

when he sees him

he says: “Blessed is He Who resurrects the dead!”

Rav said: A dead person is not forgotten from the heart until after twelve months, as it is stated: “I am forgotten like a dead man from the heart; I am like a lost vessel!”

Ordinarily, a lost vessel is forgotten from the heart after twelve months, and its owner gives up hope of recovering it. As it is stated in Bava Metzia 28b, one must announce a found object for three pilgrimage festivals. One may continue announcing it for up to a year [for example, if it was found immediately after Sukkot, one must announce it at Passover, Shavuot, and the following Sukkot], but no longer.

Rav Pappa and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, were traveling along the road. They encountered Rav Ḥanina, son of Rav Ika. They said to him: When we saw you

at the time we saw you,

we recited two blessings over you

blessings: the blessing

“Blessed is He Who has shared of His wisdom with those who fear Him,”

and

the blessing

“Who has given us life!”

Since he was one of the sages of Israel, and they had not seen him for thirty days.

He said to them,

Rav Ḥanina:

I too, when I saw you, regarded you

as though you were

six hundred thousand members of the Jewish people, and I recited three

blessings over you:

the two

that you recited over me

and

another blessing:

“Blessed is He Who knows all secrets,”

which one must recite upon seeing a multitude of Jews!

They said to him: Are you so wise?!

You have innovated this halakhic ruling because of your great wisdom. And

they turned their eyes toward him,

and through the evil eye they directed at him, he

died

[he died].

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: One who sees people afflicted with white spots

[who have white patches on their skin]

says: “Blessed is He Who makes creatures different!”]]

They raise an objection from a source: If one sees a Black person, an exceedingly red person,

[a person who is extremely red],

an exceedingly white person

[who is extremely white],

a person with a large abdomen

[whose height appears stunted because of his bulk; and some say he is exceedingly tall],

a dwarf, or a person afflicted with

growths

says: “Blessed is He Who makes creatures different!”]]

And if he sees

a person whose hands have been amputated

[whose hands were cut off],

a blind person, a person with matted hair

[whose hair is stuck together like felt, according to Rashi; and the Arukh explained that his head is broad rather than oval],

a cripple

[whose legs were cut off],

a person afflicted with boils, or one afflicted with white spots, he says: “Blessed is the Judge of truth!”

As one says this upon hearing bad news. This poses a difficulty for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, who said that upon seeing people with white spots one recites “Blessed is He Who makes creatures different!”

And we answer:

This is not difficult. This

case, in which one says “Blessed is He Who makes creatures different,” concerns one who was afflicted with white spots

from his mother’s womb.

And

this

case, in which one says “Blessed is the Judge of truth,” concerns one who became afflicted with white spots

after he was born.

And we demonstrate:

It is also precise

that the beraita is discussing this case.

For

this case appears together with “one whose hands were amputated”;

it teaches

it there. And specifically when the person became afflicted with white spots after birth is it

comparable to “one whose hands were amputated.”

For even one whose hands were amputated had them cut off after he was born.

And we conclude:

Learn from this!

The Sages taught: One who sees an elephant,

or

a monkey,

or

an owl

[an owl],

says: “Blessed is He Who makes creatures different!”

Because all of these differ greatly from other animals.

If one sees beautiful creatures or beautiful trees, he says: “Blessed is He Who has such things in His world!”

We learned in the Mishna:

For shooting stars

and so on, one says: “Blessed is He whose strength and might fill the world”!

And we inquire:

What are “shooting stars”?

Shmuel said: A comet!

It is a star that descends through the heavens from place to place like an arrow, and is long like a staff. [The Arukh explained that it appears like a staff descending and striking the heavens.]

And Shmuel said: The paths of heaven are as familiar to me as the paths of Nehardea

[which was Shmuel’s city],

except for the comet, for I do not know what it is!]]

And it is an established tradition that

a comet

does not pass

through

Kesil

[a constellation called “Kesil”].

And if

it should happen that

it passes

the comet through

Kesil, the world would be destroyed.

And we challenge this:

But we see that it passes

through Kesil!

And we answer:

Its radiance

of the comet

is what passes

through Kesil, not the comet itself.

And it appears as though

the comet were

the one that passed

there itself.

Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said:

What are shooting stars?

It is the “curtain” that is torn

[that rolls open],

revealing the light of the heavens

through this tear! There are seven heavens, and the curtain is the lowest of them all. When it opens, the light of the heavens above it becomes visible.

Rav Ashi said:

The objection raised above—“But we see that the comet passes through Kesil”—is not correct. What we see is only that

a star is uprooted

from this side of Kesil, and its fellow

[another star]

from the other side

of Kesil sees it,

and is startled

[frightened and shaken] by it.

And

therefore

it appears

to us

as though

the path

passed

through Kesil.

Shmuel raised a contradiction: It is written: “He makes Ash, Kesil, and Kimah!”

All of these are names of constellations. Thus the constellation Kesil is mentioned before the constellation Kimah.

But it is written: “He makes Kimah and Kesil,”

with Kimah mentioned before Kesil.

How is this possible?

These verses appear to contradict one another.

And he resolves: The two are equal, and therefore once one is mentioned first and once the other. However, during the summer Kesil governs, and during the rainy season Kimah governs.

Were it not for the warmth of Kesil, the world would not endure

«

the cold of Kimah.

And were it not for the cold of Kimah, the world would not endure

«

the warmth of Kesil.]]

And it is an established tradition: Were it not for the point of the

constellation

Scorpio

[that is, “Kimah,” which is part of the constellation “Aries,” according to Rashi; the Maharsha already wondered about this, since Aries is one constellation and Scorpio is another]

that rests in the River of Fire,

and thereby weakens the power of Scorpio,

anyone whom

the

scorpion

[here, in our world]

stung would not live!

The scorpion below is influenced by the constellation Scorpio above. Since the River of Fire weakens the power of the constellation Scorpio, the power of the scorpion in our world is likewise weakened. Therefore it is possible to survive its sting.

And this is what the Merciful One said to Job: “Can you bind the chains

[the knots]

of Kimah, or can you loosen the cords of Kesil

?”

That is, can you, like Me, bind the tail of Kimah with the River of Fire?

And we inquire:

What is “Kimah”?

Shmuel said:

It is an abbreviated expression for

“about a hundred stars”!

There are about a hundred stars in the constellation Kimah.

Some

say that

these hundred stars

are gathered

[grouped] together!

And

others

say that they are scattered

[spread apart]—these are the stars of Kimah!

It is written: “He makes Ash, Kesil, and Kimah.”

And we inquire:

What is “Ash”?

Rav Yehuda said: “Yota”!

And we inquire:

What is “Yota”?

Some

say:

It is the

tail

of the constellation

“Aries”!

And

others

say:

It is the

head of Taurus

[the head of the constellation “Taurus”], which rises in the zodiac after the constellation “Aries.”

And we conclude:

And it is more reasonable according to the one who says

that “Ash” is the

tail of Aries.

For

it is

written: “And Ash comforts her children.”

This expression is related to the word “guide,” meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, guides Ash after her children that were lost from her, as will be explained below.

Apparently, “

Ash”

is missing

two of its stars, which were taken from it and given to Kimah.