Berakhot 61b (סא:) — the Talmud in English

The

lung draws in all kinds of liquids

from the body.

The

liver becomes angry

[it brings a person to anger].

And

the gallbladder casts into it

—into the liver—

a drop

of bile,

and makes it rest

thereby from its anger.

The

spleen brings laughter

—it brings a person to laughter.

The

gizzard grinds

the food in a bird. Its counterpart in an animal is the omasum.

The

stomach induces sleep

[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 one to sleep, then

he wastes away

[he deteriorates], the person, and continues

going on

toward death.

The tanna

said: If

both

—the stomach and the nose—

are asleep, or if both are awake, immediately

the person

dies!

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yosei HaGelili says: In the case of the righteous, the good inclination judges them,

and instructs them how to conduct themselves.

As it is stated

[Psalms 109]:

“And my heart is hollow within me,”

meaning that David said: The evil inclination in my heart is as though dead; only the good inclination rules over me, since I have the power to subdue the evil inclination.

And in the case of the wicked,

the

evil inclination judges them

, and directs their path,

as it is stated

[Psalms 36]:

“An utterance of transgression 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 explanation: I say within my heart that the transgression [which is the evil inclination] says to the wicked person 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 ones—both

[the good inclination and the evil inclination]

judge them

, and both rule over him to direct his path,

as it is stated: “May

the Holy One, blessed be He,

stand at the right hand of the needy, to save him from the judges of his soul,”

indicating that a person has several judges.

Rava said: We, for example,

are considered

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

for if you are among the intermediate, 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,

because the pleasures of this world were intended to repay the wicked here with 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 about himself whether he is completely righteous or not,

thereby answering Abaye’s claim, “The Master leaves no life for any creature,” and saying to him, out of humility: I know about myself that I am intermediate.

Rav said: The world was created only for

a wicked person like

Ahab son of Omri,

or

or for

a righteous person like

Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa.

For Ahab son of Omri

was created

this world

was created, for he was exceedingly wealthy , and he received all his reward in this world, leaving him nothing at all in the World to Come.

And for Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa,

who had nothing at all in this world , the

World to Come!

was created for him. We learned in the Mishna: A person is obligated to bless over the bad just as he blesses over 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 beraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: If “with all your soul” is stated, why is “with all your might”

stated [whose explanation is “with all your possessions”]?

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

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 the thing most precious to him [his life or his possessions], 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 all the possibilities:

If you have a person whose body is dear to him

more

than his possessions

—

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

teaching that he must surrender himself to death rather than worship idolatry. And if you have a person whose possessions are dear to him

more

than his body —

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

and he may not transgress the words of the Torah even if, as a result, he will lose all his possessions .

Rabbi Akiva says: “With all your soul”

teaches that

even

[at the time when] the Holy One, blessed be He,

takes your soul,

you must love Him!

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

The Sages taught: Once the evil kingdom decreed that Israel should not engage in Torah study. Pappus ben Yehuda came and found Rabbi Akiva, who was gathering assemblies in public and engaging in Torah study.

He said to him: Akiva,

are you not

afraid of the kingdom,

which decreed that Torah study be prohibited?!

Rabbi Akiva

said to him:

I will give you a parable

:

To what is this comparable?—

To a fox that was walking along

the bank of a river, and saw fish that were gathering

and fleeing

from place to place.

He said to them: Why are you fleeing?

They said to him: Because of the nets that human beings cast over us,

in order to catch us.

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

together,

just as my ancestors dwelt with your ancestors?

They said to him:

Are

you

the one

they say about

as the

cleverest of animals!?

You are not clever; you are a fool.

For

if

in the place of our life,

which is the water,

we are afraid

lest we be caught and die,

then in

dry land, which is

the place of our death, all the more so

must we fear death. Rabbi Akiva explained the analogy and said:

So too are we:

if

now,

when we are sitting and engaging in Torah, of which it is written, “for it is your life and the length of your days,”

this

—we are in danger of death—

if we go and neglect it, all the more so

do we endanger our lives!

They said: It was not

many

days before they seized Rabbi Akiva and imprisoned him in the prison.

And they seized

also

Pappus ben Yehuda,

for having offended the kingdom in various matters,

and imprisoned him with him

[with Rabbi Akiva].

Rabbi Akiva

said to him:

Pappus, what brought you here?

You did not engage in Torah study because of fear of the kingdom, so why were you seized?

Pappus

said to him:

Rabbi Akiva, fortunate are you that you were seized

for

words of Torah, and woe to Pappus, who was seized for futile matters.

When they brought 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:

Did

the obligation to accept the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven extend this far—

must a person accept it, and is he forbidden to abandon it even because of such severe suffering as this?!

He said to them: All my days

I was distressed over this verse—

“with all your soul,”

which they expounded to mean

“even if He takes your soul,”

that you are commanded to love Him and to give over your soul for His love.

And

I said

with anticipation:

When will

the obligation stated in this verse

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

And now that it has come to me

the opportunity for fulfillment—to die for the sanctification of God’s Name—surely

I will not fulfill it?!

The reason Rabbi Akiva anticipated throughout his life that he would die for the sanctification of God’s Name, rather than die an ordinary death, is that the greatest mitzva a person can fulfill is to die for the sanctification of God’s Name. Throughout the entire course of his life, a person is not presented with such a great mitzva; it is presented to him only at the time of his death.

Rabbi Akiva

was

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

A Divine 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 be He:

But

is this Torah, and this its reward?!

Their claim is alluded to in the verse [Psalms 17:14]:

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

of the world.” Its meaning is: He should have died by Your hand, and not by the hand of flesh and blood; You had the ability to kill him in the ordinary manner [“world” meaning the world], and not by an unnatural death.

He said to them

the Holy One, blessed be He: The reward of the righteous will not be in this world, but in the World-to-Come, as it says 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 Divine Voice went forth and said: Fortunate are you, Rabbi Akiva, for you are destined for life in the World-to-Come!

We learned in the Mishna: A person may not conduct himself frivolously

opposite the Eastern Gate, which is aligned with the Holy of Holies, etc.!

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: They said

that it is forbidden to behave frivolously

only from the vantage point

([a place near Jerusalem])

and inward

([toward the Temple]), because from there the Temple Mount can be seen. But from the vantage point and outward there is no obligation of reverence, since beyond that point it is impossible to see the Temple Mount.

And

even from the vantage point and inward they said this only

in

a place where one

sees

the Temple Mount. But in a low place, from which one cannot see it, it is permitted to turn away.

It was also stated: Rabbi Abba, son of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, said: Rabbi Yoḥanan said as follows: They said this only from the vantage point and inward, and when it is visible, and

they also said this only

when there is no

there

fence

separating it from the Temple Mount.

And

they said this only

when

the Temple is standing and

the Divine Presence rests

in it.

The Sages taught: One who relieves himself

for his bodily needs

in Judea may not relieve himself

with his back toward

the east and

his face toward

the west, or vice versa, because Jerusalem lies between the east and west of the land of Judea [which stretches across the entire breadth of the Land of Israel]. If he sits from east to west, his exposed flesh will therefore be in front of 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 relieve himself with his face toward

the north and

his back toward

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

In the Galilee, which is north of Jerusalem,

one may not relieve himself

from north to south;

rather,

he should relieve himself between

east and west.

But Rabbi Yosei permits

all these arrangements, because

Rabbi Yosei used to say: They prohibited

relieving oneself toward Jerusalem

only in

a place from which one

sees

the site of the Temple,

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

the Temple is standing and

the Divine Presence rests

in it.

But the Sages prohibit it

even when the Temple is not visible, even when there is a fence, and even nowadays; this will be explained shortly.

The Gemara asks:

“The Sages” means the first tanna

since the first tanna likewise prohibits relieving oneself in Judea between east and west and in the Galilee between north and south. In what, then, do they disagree? The Gemara explains:

The difference between them is the sides

of Judea and the Galilee, which are not directly opposite Jerusalem. According to the first tanna, it is forbidden even on the sides to relieve oneself toward Jerusalem, since he said “one who relieves himself in Judea,” which includes the entire land of Judea. The Sages, however, held that it is forbidden specifically directly opposite Jerusalem, but on the sides it is permitted, since the words of the Sages concern Rabbi Yosei’s statement that even directly opposite Jerusalem they prohibited it only when the Temple is visible.

Another beraita was taught:

A beraita:

One who relieves himself in Judea may not relieve himself facing east or west; rather, he should face north or south. And in the Galilee, north and south are forbidden, while east and west are permitted.

But Rabbi Yosei permits

relieving oneself in these places in any direction, because

Rabbi Yosei used to say: They prohibited it

only in

a place from which one

sees

Jerusalem.

Rabbi Yehuda says: While the Temple is standing, it is forbidden

to relieve oneself toward Jerusalem, but

when the Temple is not standing, it is permitted.

Rabbi Akiva prohibits it everywhere

to relieve oneself toward Jerusalem.

The Gemara asks:

“Rabbi Akiva” means the first tanna

since the first tanna likewise prohibited it even in a distant place. In what does Rabbi Akiva disagree with him?

The Gemara answers:

The difference between them is outside the Land of Israel,

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

Rabba

was in Babylonia, and his attendants

would place

for him

bricks [

they would place bricks for him], for the privy, one to the north and one to the south, with one end facing

east and

the other end facing

west.

When he sat, he would consequently face north or south. They prepared it this way because he did not wish to relieve himself facing west, since Babylonia lies east of the Land of Israel.

Abaye went,

and

arranged them

the bricks, with one end facing

north and

the other facing

south,

and in doing so, when he came to sit on them, he found that he was sitting from east to west. And he turned them over to see whether Rabbah would be particular about this.

As for Rabbah,

and

he arranged them

[turned them] and returned them to an east-west orientation, and

said: “Who is this causing me distress?”

For

I hold in accordance with Rabbi Akiva. For he says: It is forbidden to turn toward Jerusalem anywhere,

even in Babylonia, which is outside Eretz Yisrael.