Berakhot 5b — the Talmud in English

And he buries his sons, his entire iniquities are forgiven him.

Rabbi Yohanan said to him

to that amora:

Granted

one who engages in

Torah and acts of lovingkindness

is forgiven, for thus we find

as it is written

Proverbs 16:6]:

“Through kindness

and truth iniquity will be atoned for”; “kindness”—this is “acts of lovingkindness,” as it is said

Proverbs 21:21]:

“One who pursues charity and kindness will find life, charity, and honor.”

“Truth”—this is Torah

as

it is said

there 23:23]:

“Buy truth and do not sell it,”

and the intention is Torah . And if so, we have found that Torah and acts of lovingkindness atone for iniquity.

But “he buries his sons”—from where

do we know that this matter atones for iniquities?

An old man taught him

one old man taught him ]

in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai: It follows,

it is learned by a gzera shava,

“iniquity”—“iniquity.” It is written here

in the verse that was mentioned,

“Through kindness and truth iniquity will be atoned for,” and it is written there

Jeremiah 32:18, concerning the death of sons,

“And repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons.”

That is, sons die because of the iniquity of the fathers. And they expound: just as here “iniquity” is stated and there is forgiveness of iniquities, so too regarding the “iniquity” mentioned concerning the death of sons, there is forgiveness of iniquities.

And further regarding this:

Rabbi Yohanan said: Afflictions,

afflictions of leprosy that come upon a person,

and sons

who died during his lifetime,

are not afflictions of love.

The Gemara asks:

And afflictions are not?

Are they not afflictions of love?

But it was taught in a beraita: Anyone who has one of these four appearances of afflictions

the se’et and the baheret, and their derivatives,

they are nothing but an altar of atonement

to atone for his iniquities. And if they atone for iniquities, they are certainly afflictions of love!

The Gemara answers:

They are an altar of atonement,

indeed the afflictions atone for his iniquities, but

they are not afflictions of love.

And if you wish, say:

this is for us

and this is for them

for them, the inhabitants of the Land of Israel. What Rabbi Yohanan said, that they are not afflictions of love, refers to the inhabitants of the Land of Israel, where a leper must be sent outside the three camps; and since his shame is great, his afflictions are not considered afflictions of love. And what we find in the beraita, that they are considered an altar of atonement and afflictions of love, refers to a leper in Babylonia [outside the Land], who does not have to be sent outside the camp.

And if you wish, say: This is in private—

afflictions found in a place that is not visible, such as beneath his clothes, are considered afflictions of love.

This is in public—

afflictions found in an exposed place, since he is thereby shamed, are not considered afflictions of love.

The Gemara asks concerning Rabbi Yohanan’s statement:

And “sons” are not?

Are they not afflictions of love?

What are the circumstances?

How is this speaking?

If you say

if you say

that he had them and they died

in his presence, this is difficult:

But Rabbi Yohanan said: “This is the bone of my tenth son”—

“This is a bone from among the tenth.”

Ten sons of Rabbi Yohanan died in his presence, and he was accustomed to carry with him a bone of his tenth son and to console with it one whose son had died. And if, regarding a great man such as Rabbi Yohanan, his sons died in his presence, certainly the death of sons is afflictions of love.

The Gemara answers:

Rather, this

that they said that “sons” are not afflictions of love applies specifically when

he had no sons

at all.

And

if

this

that we find that their death is considered afflictions of love, it refers to when

he had them and they died

in his presence.

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba fell ill

and became sick.

Rabbi Yohanan entered to him

to visit him,

and Rabbi Yohanan

visited him and

said to him: Are

the

afflictions dear to you,

so that through their merit you will receive reward?

He said to him,

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba:

Neither they nor their reward!

It is preferable that the afflictions not come upon me, and that I not receive their reward.

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan:

Give me your hand

give me your hand.

He gave him

Rabbi Hiyya

his hand, and he raised him,

Rabbi Yohanan raised him, and he recovered.

And a similar incident occurred with Rabbi Yohanan himself:

Rabbi Yohanan fell ill

and became sick.

Rabbi Hanina entered to him

to visit him.

Rabbi Hanina

visited him.

He said to him: Are the afflictions dear to you?

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan:

Neither they nor their reward! He said to him

Rabbi Hanina:

Give me your hand! He gave him

Rabbi Yohanan

his hand, and he raised him,

and he recovered.

The Gemara asks:

And why

did Rabbi Yohanan need Rabbi Hanina to raise him?

Let Rabbi Yohanan raise himself,

as he had done to Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba?

The Gemara answers:

They said: A prisoner cannot free himself from the prison.

For he requires the assistance of one who is outside. So too, a righteous person who has afflictions cannot save himself, but requires the assistance of others.

Another incident concerning this:

Rabbi Elazar

son of Pedat

fell ill; Rabbi Yohanan entered to him. He saw that he was lying in a dark house,

Rabbi Yohanan saw that he was lying in a dark house.

He uncovered his arm,

Rabbi Yohanan uncovered his arm,

and light fell

and the house became light.

He saw him,

Rabbi Yohanan saw

that Rabbi Elazar was crying,

that Rabbi Elazar was crying.

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan to Rabbi Elazar:

Why are you crying?

Why are you crying?

If because of Torah, which you did not increase,

if because you did not learn as much Torah as you wished, for we both learned in the Mishna [Menahot 110a]:

One who offers much

in offerings

and one who offers little,

both are important before the Holy One, blessed be He,

provided that he directs his heart toward Heaven.

So too concerning Torah study: even if you did not learn as you wished, you labored in Torah and your intention was toward Heaven, and you have no reason to grieve .

And if

your crying is

because of sustenance,

because you are not wealthy, behold,

not every person merits two tables,

both Torah and wealth together. And since you merited Torah, what is there for you to grieve over?

And if because of sons,

because you had sons and they died, behold before you

this is the bone of the tenth!

This is the bone of my tenth son.

He said to him,

Rabbi Elazar:

“For this beauty that will decay in the dust I am crying!”

I am not crying over my own lot; rather, I am crying over this beauty [of Rabbi Yohanan], which is destined to decay in the dust.

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan:

“Over this, you are certainly crying!”

Over this there is certainly reason to cry.

And both of them cried.

Meanwhile,

in the meantime

he said to him

Rabbi Yohanan:

Are your afflictions dear to you?

He said to him,

Rabbi Elazar:

Neither they nor their reward! He said to him

Rabbi Yohanan:

Give me your hand! He gave him

Rabbi Elazar

his hand, and he raised him,

he raised him and he recovered.

Another incident concerning afflictions:

Rav Huna’s

wine turned sour;

four hundred barrels of wine

barrels of wine

entered to him

entered to him

Rav Yehuda, the brother of Rav Sala the pious, and the Sages. And some say

that

Rav Adda bar Ahava and the Sages entered to him, and they said to him

to Rav Huna:

Let the master examine his matters!

Let him search through his deeds, what he must correct!

He said to them,

Rav Huna to the Sages:

“And am I suspected in your eyes

that I sinned?”

They said to him,

the Sages:

“Is the Holy One, blessed be He, suspected of carrying out judgment without justice!?

of carrying out judgment without righteousness and justice?”

Rav Huna said to them:

Rav Huna:

“If there is someone among you who has heard something concerning me, let him say it!”

If there is among you someone who heard something concerning me that I must rectify, let him tell me!

They said to him: “This is what we have heard: that our master does not give his shavisha to his aris.”

That you did not give an aris who worked for you a share in the vine branches [the branches of the grapevine], as you had stipulated with him.

Rav Huna said to them:

Rav Huna:

“Does he leave me anything of it?”

Does he leave me anything of the branches?

“He steals all of it from him!”

That is, he has already stolen from my share more than is due to him, and therefore I did not give him his share from what remained in my possession.

The Sages said to him,

the Sages:

“This is what people say,”

this is the customary saying among people:

“After a thief, steal, and he tastes the taste.”

One who steals from a thief also tastes the taste of theft.

Rav Huna said to them:

Rav Huna:

“I accept upon myself that I will give it to him,”

I accept upon myself to give the aris what I had stipulated for him from what remained.

Some say: The vinegar went back and became wine.

Some say that the vinegar changed back into wine.

And some

say: “The vinegar increased in value and was sold for the price of wine.”

Some say that the vinegar became more expensive and was sold at the price of wine, and thus he was saved from the loss.

It was taught

in a beraita:

Abba Benjamin says:

“Over two things I was troubled,

I was exceedingly careful

all my days: over my prayer, that it should be before my bed, and over my bed, that it should be placed between north and south,”

so that the head of the bed would be toward the north and its foot toward the south, and not place it between east and west.

The Gemara discusses the explanation of his words:

“Over my prayer, that it should be before my bed.”

What

what is the meaning of

“before my bed”?

If you say

literally before my bed,

that he stands before his bed and prays, but

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, and some say

that it was said by

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: “From where is it derived that one who prays should have nothing intervening between him and the wall?”

As it is stated [

Isaiah 38:2]:

“And Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed.”

It follows that it is a mitzva to pray before a wall without an intervening object, and if so, surely the intention cannot be that he was careful to pray before his bed, which intervened between him and the wall.

And the Gemara explains:

Do not say

that the intention of

“before my bed”

is that he prayed while standing beside his bed,

but rather say

that he meant to say, “I prayed

adjacent to my bed.”

Immediately when he arose from his bed, he was careful not to engage in anything until after he recited the Shema and prayed.

“My bed shall be placed between north and south”—

For Rav Hama bar Rabbi Hanina said, Rabbi Yitzhak said: “Whoever places his bed between north and south will have male children, as it is stated [

Psalms 17:14]:

‘And with Your hidden things You will fill their bellies; they will be satisfied with children,’”

and it is expounded: “Your hidden things” in the sense of north; one who places his bed on the northern side will be satisfied with children.

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said:

He merits

even

that

his wife does not miscarry,

for

it is written here

in the verse that was mentioned:

“And with Your hidden things You will fill their bellies,”

and it is written there [Genesis 25:24]:

“And her days were fulfilled for giving birth, and behold, twins were in her womb.”

Just as the expression “and her days were fulfilled” indicates that her days for giving birth were completed, so “You will fill” means that the days of her pregnancy will be completed and she will give birth on time.

It was taught: Abba Benjamin says

further concerning the laws of prayer:

“Two who entered

at night

to pray

the evening prayer in the synagogue [which in their time was outside the city] ,

and one of them preceded the other in praying and did not wait for his companion

to finish his prayer, and left the synagogue and left his companion alone,

they tear up for him,

for the one who left,

his prayer before him

and it is not accepted before the Holy One, blessed be He.

As it is stated [

Job 18:4]:

‘He tears his soul in his anger; shall the earth be forsaken for your sake?’” “

The ‘soul’ is this prayer, and this is the explanation of the verse: You, who caused your prayer to be torn up before you—‘shall the earth be forsaken for your sake?’ Did you think that because you left your companion alone, the Divine Presence would also leave him?”

“And furthermore, he causes the Divine Presence to depart from Israel, as it is stated [

there]:

‘And the Rock moves from His place,’ and ‘Rock’ refers only to the Holy One, blessed be He,”

as

it is stated [

Deuteronomy 32:18]:

“You ignored the Rock who begot you.”

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He. Here too, “Rock,” which is the Holy One, blessed be He, moves from His place within Israel.

And if

the fellow who finished first

waited for him

for his fellow until he finished,

what is his reward?