Berakhot 61b — the Talmud in English

The

lungs draw in all kinds of liquids

from the body.

The

liver becomes angry [מביא את האדם לידי כעס]brings a person to anger.

[it brings a person to anger].

And the

gallbladder casts into it

into the liver

a drop

of bile,

and causes it to calm down

thereby relieving its anger.

The

spleen laughs -

it brings a person to laughter.

The

gizzard grinds

food in birds. Its counterpart in an animal is the omasum.”

The

stomach sleeps [מביאה על האדם שינה]brings sleep upon a person.

[it brings sleep upon a person].

And through the

nose

he

awakens

from his sleep.

And if

the sleeper awakens and the one who is awake sleeps,

meaning that they exchange their functions, with the stomach awakening and the nose putting to sleep, then

the person wastes away [מתנוון]and

continues

on his way

toward death.

A tannaitic source taught:

If

both

the stomach and the nose

are asleep, or if both are awake, immediately

the person

dies!

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yosei HaGelili says: The righteous are judged by their good inclination,

and it directs them how to conduct themselves.

As it is stated [Psalms 109]

:

“And my heart is hollow within me,”

for David said: The evil inclination within my heart is as though dead, and only the good inclination rules over me, since I have the ability to subdue the evil inclination.

And the wicked,

the

evil inclination judges them,

and directs their path,

as it is stated [Psalms 36]

:

“The transgression says to the wicked within my heart: There is no fear of God before his eyes!”

The wording of the verse is inverted [Rashi there], and this is its meaning: I say within my heart that the transgression—which is the evil inclination—says to the wicked that he should have no fear of God before his eyes. Thus, it distances him from the Holy One, Blessed be He, so that he will not fear Him.

The intermediate people: both of them

the good inclination and the evil inclination

judge them,

and both rule over him, directing him on his path,

as it is stated: “May

the Holy One, Blessed be He, stand

at the right hand of the poor man, to save him from the judges of his soul,”

which indicates that a person has several judges.

Rava said: We are an example of such people,

we are considered

intermediate people! Abaye said to him: The Master leaves no life for any creature,

for if you are among the intermediate people, there is no completely righteous person in the world.

And Rava said: The world was created only for the completely wicked or for the completely righteous,

for the pleasures of this world are intended to repay the wicked here for all the reward due to them for their few good deeds, so that they will have no share of reward in the World to Come. Whereas the World to Come was created for the completely righteous, to pay them there all their reward, and they have nothing in this world.

Rava said: A person should know within himself whether he is completely righteous or not,

and in this way he answered Abaye’s claim, “The Master leaves no life for any creature,” saying to him humbly: I know about myself that I am an intermediate person.

Rav said: The world was created only for a

wicked person like

Ahab son of Omri,

or

for a

righteous person like

Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa.

For Ahab son of Omri

was created

this world,

for he was extremely wealthy , and he received all his reward in this world, while he had nothing at all in the World to Come.

And for Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa,

who had nothing at all in this world, for him was created

the World to Come!

We learned in the Mishna: A person is obligated to bless God for the bad just as he blesses Him for the good, as it is stated:

“And you shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.”

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: If it is stated, “with all your soul,” why is it stated, “with all your might

”? The meaning of which is, “with all your money.”

And if it is stated, “with all your might,” why is it stated, “with all your soul”?

For the verse could have stated that a person is obligated to love his Creator even if, for the sake of that love, he must sacrifice what is most precious to him—his life or his money—and all the other things would have been included in this!?

Rather,

each person regards a different thing as the most precious, and therefore the verse mentions every possibility:

If there is a person for whom his body is dearer

more

than his money -

for this reason it is stated, “with all your soul

,” to teach that he is obligated to surrender himself to death rather than worship idols.

And if there is a person for whom his money is dearer

more

than his body -

for this reason it is stated, “with all your might,”

meaning that he may not transgress the words of the Torah even if he will thereby lose all his money.

Rabbi Akiva says: “With all your soul”

teaches that

even [בשעה]

when the Holy One, Blessed be He,

takes your life,

you must love Him!

And concerning this we learned in the Mishna that “a person is obligated to bless God for the bad,” for even if something bad happens to him, he should bless the Holy One, Blessed be He, with joy and love of God.

The Sages taught: Once, the wicked government decreed that the Jewish people should not engage in Torah study.

Pappus ben Yehuda came and found Rabbi Akiva gathering assemblies in public and engaging in Torah study.

He said to him: Akiva,

do you really

not fear the government,

which decreed that Torah study is forbidden?!

Rabbi Akiva

Rabbi Akiva

said to him: I will give you a parable:

What is this comparable to? -

To a fox that was walking along

the bank of a river, and saw fish gathering

and fleeing

from place to place.

He said to them: Why are you fleeing?

They said to him: Because of the nets that people bring upon us,

in order to catch us.

He said to them: Would you like to come up onto dry land, and you and I will live

together,

just as my ancestors lived with your ancestors?

They said to him:

Do you really

think you are

the one

about whom it is said

that you are the

cleverest of animals!?

You are not clever; you are foolish.

For

after all,

if in the place where we live,

which is the water,

we are afraid

lest we be caught and die,

then on

dry land, which is

the place of our death, all the more so

we must fear death. Rabbi Akiva explained the lesson of the parable and said:

So too, we

likewise: if

now,

when we sit and engage in Torah, of which it is written, “For it is your life and the length of your days,”

and in such a situation -

we are in danger of death -

if we go and neglect it, all the more so

we endanger our lives!

They said: Only

a few

days passed before they seized Rabbi Akiva and imprisoned him.

And they also seized

also

Pappus ben Yehuda,

because he had offended the government in various matters,

and imprisoned him with him [עם רבי עקיבא]with Rabbi Akiva.

[with Rabbi Akiva].

Rabbi Akiva

Rabbi Akiva

said to him: Pappus, what brought you here?

For you did not engage in Torah because of fear of the government, so why were you seized?

Pappus

Pappus

said to him: Rabbi Akiva, fortunate are you that you were seized

you

for matters of Torah, while woe to Pappus, who was seized for worthless matters.

When they took Rabbi Akiva out to be executed, it was the time for reciting the Shema.

And they were raking his flesh with iron combs,

and

Rabbi Akiva was reciting the Shema at that moment, and

accepting upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven.

His disciples said to him:

Was

to this extent

a person obligated to accept the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and is it forbidden for him to abandon it even because of such severe sufferings?!

He said to them: All my days

I was troubled by this verse—

“with all your soul,”

for concerning which they expounded that

“even if He takes your soul,”

you are commanded to love Him and to surrender your soul for His love.

And

I said

while awaiting:

When will

the obligation stated in this verse

come to me, so that I may fulfill it?!

And now, since this

fulfillment of this opportunity to die for the sanctification of the Name has come to me,

shall I not fulfill it?!

And the reason Rabbi Akiva awaited all his days that he should die for the sanctification of the Name, and not die an ordinary death, is that the greatest mitzva that a person can fulfill is to die for the sanctification of the Name. Throughout all the days of his life, such a great mitzva does not present itself to a person, except at the time of his death.

Rabbi Akiva

was

prolonging “One,” until his soul departed with “One.”

A Heavenly Voice went forth and said: Fortunate are you, Rabbi Akiva,

that your soul departed with “One.”

The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed is He:

Is

this Torah and this its reward?! Their claim is hinted in the verse [Psalms 17:14]

Their complaint is hinted at in the verse [Psalms 17:14]:

“From men, by Your hand, O Lord, from men

“from the world,” whose meaning is: It was fitting for him to die by Your hand, and not by the hand of flesh and blood; and the ability is in Your hand to kill him in the manner of the whole world [“world”], and not by an unusual death.

He said to them

the Holy One, blessed is He: The reward of the righteous will not be in this world, but in the World to Come, as it is stated at the end of the verse:

“Their portion is in life!”

That is, in the “Land of the Living,” which is the World to Come.

A Heavenly Voice went forth and said: Fortunate are you, Rabbi Akiva, that you are prepared for life in the World to Come!

We learned in the Mishna: A person may not act frivolously

opposite the eastern gate, which is aligned with the Holy of Holies, etc.!

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: They said

that it is forbidden to act frivolously

only from the Tzofim [

a place near Jerusalem]

and inward [

toward the side of the Temple], because from there the Temple Mount is visible; but from Tzofim and outward there is no obligation of reverence, because from there onward it is impossible to see the Temple Mount.

And

even from Tzofim and inward they did not say this, but

in

a place where he

sees

the Temple Mount; but in a low place, from which he cannot see it, it is permitted to turn around.

It was likewise stated: Rabbi Abba, son of Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba, said: Thus said Rabbi Yohanan: They said it only from Tzofim and inward, and when he sees it, and

they also did not say this, but

when there is no

there

fence

that intervenes between him and the Temple Mount.

And

they said this only

when

the Temple exists, and

the Divine Presence rests

in it.

The Sages taught: One who relieves himself

for his bodily needs

in Judea may not turn around

with his back toward

the east and

his face toward

the west, or the reverse, because Jerusalem lies between the east and west of the land of Judea [which extends across the entire width of the Land of Israel]; if he sits from east to west, his exposed flesh will be in front of him or behind him opposite Jerusalem.

or the reverse, because Jerusalem lies between the east and west of the land of Judea [which extends across the full width of the Land of Israel]. If he sits from east to west, his exposed flesh will be in front of or behind him, opposite Jerusalem.

Rather,

he should turn with his face toward

the north and

his back toward

the south, or the reverse, provided that he does not turn precisely opposite Jerusalem, if he is in the south of the land of Judea, in a place aligned opposite Jerusalem.

or the reverse, provided that he does not relieve himself directly opposite Jerusalem—if he is south of Judea, in a place aligned with Jerusalem.

And in the Galilee, which is to the north of Jerusalem,

he may not relieve himself

from north to south,

but

he should relieve himself between

east and west.

And Rabbi Yose permits

in all these cases, because

Rabbi Yose would say: They prohibited

relieving oneself toward the direction of Jerusalem

only in

a place where he

sees

the place of the Temple,

and in a place where there is no fence, and when

the Temple exists and

the Divine Presence rests

in it.

And the Sages prohibit

even in a manner in which he does not see it, even when there is a fence there, and also nowadays; this will be explained shortly.

The Gemara asks: But

the Sages are the first tanna,

for the first tanna also prohibits relieving oneself in Judea between east and west, and in the Galilee between north and south; in what do they disagree? The Gemara explains:

There is a difference between them regarding the sides

of Judea and the Galilee, which are not precisely opposite Jerusalem. According to the first tanna, it is forbidden even on the sides to relieve oneself toward the direction of Jerusalem, for he said “one who relieves himself in Judea,” which includes the entire land of Judea. But the Sages held that it is forbidden only precisely opposite Jerusalem, whereas on the sides it is permitted, since the words of the Sages refer to what Rabbi Yose said: that even precisely opposite Jerusalem they prohibited it only when he sees it.

It was taught in another

beraita:

One who relieves himself in Judea may not relieve himself east and west, but only north and south. And in the Galilee, north and south are forbidden; east and west are permitted.

And Rabbi Yose permits

relieving oneself in these places in every direction, because

Rabbi Yose would say: They prohibited it

only in

a place where he

sees

Jerusalem.

Rabbi Yehuda says: When the Temple exists, it is forbidden

to relieve oneself toward the direction of Jerusalem, but

when the Temple does not exist, it is permitted.

Rabbi Akiva prohibits it everywhere

to relieve oneself toward the direction of Jerusalem.

The Gemara asks: But

Rabbi Akiva is the first tanna,

for the first tanna also prohibited it even in a distant place; in what did Rabbi Akiva disagree with him?

The Gemara answers:

There is a difference between them regarding outside the Land of Israel,

for the first tanna prohibited it only in the Land of Israel, whereas Rabbi Akiva came and innovated that it is forbidden even outside the Land of Israel.

Rabba

was in Babylonia, and his attendants

would place

for him

bricks [

they placed bricks for him] for the purpose of the lavatory, one in the north and one in the south, with one end of them in

the east, and

their other end in

the west

so that when he sat, his face was toward the north or south. They prepared it for him in this manner because he did not wish to relieve himself toward the west, which is opposite Jerusalem, for Babylonia is east of the Land of Israel.

Abaye went away,

and

arranged them

the bricks, with one end facing

north and

the other facing

south,

and consequently, when he came to sit upon them, it turned out that he was sitting from east to west. And he turned them around in order to test whether Rabbah would be particular about this.

Regarding Rabbah,

and

he straightened them [

turned them] and returned them from east to west, and

said: “Who is this who is causing me distress?”

For behold,

I hold like Rabbi Akiva. For he says: everywhere it is forbidden

to turn toward Jerusalem, even in Babylonia, which is outside the Land of Israel.