Berakhot 7a — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yose:

From where is it known that the Holy One, blessed is He, prays?

As it is stated [Isaiah 56:7]:

“And I shall bring them to My holy mountain and make them rejoice in My house of prayer.” “

House of

their prayer” it is not stated, but “

house of

My prayer”; from here [it is derived] that the Holy One, blessed is He, prays.

The Gemara asks:

What does He pray,

what is His prayer?

Rav Zutra bar Tuvya said in the name of Rav: “May it be My will before Me that My mercy conquer My anger, and that My mercy roll over

prevail over

My attributes, and that I conduct Myself with My children with the attribute of mercy, and that I enter with them beyond the letter of the law.”

It was taught: Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha

the High Priest:

Once I entered

on Yom Kippur

to burn incense within and within,

in the Holy of Holies,

and I saw Akatriel

Yah, the Lord of Hosts, who was seated upon a high and exalted throne, and He said to me: “Yishmael, My son, bless Me!”

I said to Him: “May it be Your will before You that Your mercies conquer Your anger, and that Your mercies roll over Your attributes,

and that mercy prevail over the attribute of judgment,

and that You conduct Yourself with Your children with the attribute of mercy, and that You enter with them beyond the letter of the law.”

And He nodded to me with His head,

as one who acknowledges my blessing and answers amen. That is, my prayer was accepted.

And it teaches us this,

through this request the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to teach us,

that the blessing of an ordinary person should not be slight

in your eyes.

Therefore He did not say to him, “Bless My people Israel,” but rather, “Bless Me,” to show as though He, as it were, desired his blessing.

And

further

Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yose

From where is it known that one does not appease

[conciliate]

a person at the time of his anger ?

As it is written

[Exodus 33:14]: “And He said,

‘My presence shall go, and I shall give you rest,’”

and this verse is explained as follows:

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “Wait for Me until the faces of wrath pass, and I shall give you rest.”

The Gemara asks:

But is there anger before the Holy One, blessed be He,

and is there anger with the Holy One, blessed be He?

The Gemara answers:

Yes,

indeed we find that He becomes angry,

as it was taught

in a beraita, concerning the verse [Psalms 7:12]:

“And God is angry every day.”

And how long

does it last,

His wrath?

A moment.

And how much

is the measure of time of a

moment?

One

of fifty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight

[fifty-eight thousand]

of an hour, and this is a “moment.” ;

And no creature can determine that time

when the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry,

except for the wicked Balaam, as it is written concerning him

[Numbers 24:16]:

“And he knows the knowledge of the Most High.”

And one should ask:

“Now, he did not know the knowledge of his animal, and he knew the knowledge of the Most High?!”

Rather, this teaches that he knew how to determine the time at which the Holy One, blessed

be He, becomes angry,

and concerning this it was said that he “knew the knowledge of the Most High.”

And this is what

the

prophet

Micah [6:5]

said to Israel: “My people, remember now what Balak the king of Moab advised,

and what Balaam son of Beor answered him, from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

And the meaning of his words is:

What

is the meaning of

“so that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord”?

Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: “Know how many righteous acts

[act of charity]

I performed for you, that I did not become angry during the days of the wicked Balaam; for had I become angry, not a remnant of Israel’s enemies

[that is, of Israel ]

would have survived.”

And this is what Balaam said to Balak

[Numbers 23:8]:

“How can I curse? God has not cursed; and how can I be angry? The Lord has not become angry.” This teaches

the verse

that throughout all those days He did not become angry.

The Gemara asks:

And how long

does it last,

His wrath?

The Gemara answers:

A moment.

And how much

is the measure of time of a

moment?

Rabbi Avin said, and some say

Rabbi Avina said this:

“A moment”—the time it takes to say it.

The measure of time it takes to say the word “moment.”

And from where do we know that the moment is one of wrath,

and from where do we know that the measure of His wrath is a moment?

As it is stated

[Psalms 30:6]:

“For His anger is but a moment; life is in His favor.”

It follows that His anger lasts a “moment.”

And if you wish, say:

we may learn

from here

[Isaiah 26:20]:

“Hide yourself for a little moment, until the wrath passes.”

Hide yourself for a short time, like a moment, until the wrath passes. It follows that the wrath is a moment.

The Gemara asks:

And when does He become angry,

when is the time at which the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes angry?

Abaye said: During those first three hours,

during the first three hours of the day,

when the comb of the rooster is white and it stands on one leg,

when the rooster’s comb turns white and the rooster stands on one leg.

The Gemara asks:

Does it not stand this way during every hour and every hour!

Is this state not also found during every hour of the day, when sometimes the color of the comb turns white and the rooster stands this way on one leg?

The Gemara answers:

During every hour there are red streaks in it,

during all the hours of the day, if the comb happens to turn white, red lines remain in it, whereas

at that hour there are no red streaks in it.

At that hour it turns entirely white, and there are no red lines in it.

An incident connected with this matter:

A certain Sadducee who was in the neighborhood of

[he lived next door to]

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi,

and

he would constantly torment him greatly with verses,

and he would greatly torment Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi with questions from verses that supposedly demonstrated the Sadducees’ view.

One day he took

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi took

a rooster, placed it between the legs of the bed, and observed it.

He placed it between the legs of the bed and looked at it, because

he thought

that he would be able to determine from the signs in the rooster when the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes angry, and

when that time arrived,

when the time at which the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes angry would arrive,

he would curse him

[curse him]. But ultimately,

when that time arrived, he fell asleep,

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi fell asleep.

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi:

Infer from this, it is not

proper conduct to do this,

for this is not proper conduct, to do so [that is, this is not appropriate conduct]], for

“and His mercies are upon all His works” is written

[Psalms 145:9], and “all” includes even the wicked,

and

so

it is written

[Proverbs 17:26]:

“It is also not good to punish the righteous,”

for it is neither good nor proper that a righteous person should punish, and that a person should be punished on his account.

A tanna,

we learned in a beraita

in the name of Rabbi Meir:

In the morning,

at the time when the sun

[that is, the sun]

rises, and all the kings of the East and the West place their crowns upon their heads and bow down to the sun, immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes angry.

And

further

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of

[in the name of]

Rabbi Yose: One act of self-chastisement in a person's heart is better

when a person rebukes and subdues himself, he thereby causes himself to repent

than several lashes

that he would receive from others.

As it is stated

[Hosea 2:9]

“And she will pursue her lovers

but will not overtake them, and she will seek them but will not find them,

and she will say: I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.”

And Reish Lakish said:

One act of self-chastisement in a person's heart

is better than one hundred lashes, as it is stated

[Proverbs 17:10]

“A rebuke penetrates more deeply into one who understands than a hundred blows into a fool.”

The subjugation that comes through self-rebuke is discernible in one who understands more than one hundred blows with which they strike the fool.

And

further

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Yose: Moses requested three things from before the Holy One, blessed be He, and He granted them to him,

and concerning them it is stated [Exodus 33:17]: “I will also do this thing that you have spoken.”

a.

He requested that the Divine Presence should rest upon Israel, and He granted it to him.

And from where do we know that Moses requested this?

As it is stated

[there, verse 16]: “And by what will it be known, then, that I have found favor in Your eyes, I and Your people,

is it not by Your going with us,”

that is, that the Divine Presence should rest upon Israel.

b.

He requested that the Divine Presence should not rest upon idolaters,

and He granted it to him,

and from where do we know that he requested this?

As it is stated

[there, in the continuation of the verse]:

“And we shall be distinguished, I and Your people

from every people upon the face of the earth,” that is, through the resting of the Divine Presence we shall be distinct from the other nations of the world.

c.

He requested that He make known to him the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He,

the manner of the administration of His judgments [as will be explained below],

and He granted it to him.

And from where do we know that he requested this?

As it is stated

[there, verse 13]: “And now, if I have indeed found favor in Your eyes,

make Your way known to me, please,

that I may know You.”

The Gemara explains what Moses our teacher requested to know concerning the ways of the

He said before Him

Moses our teacher:

Master of the universe! Why

in this world

is there a righteous person for whom it is good, and a righteous person for whom it is bad; a wicked person for whom it is good, and a wicked person for whom it is bad?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him

the Holy One, blessed be He:

Moses! A righteous person for whom it is good,

because he is

a righteous person, the son of a righteous person. A righteous person for whom it is bad,

because he is

a righteous person, the son of a wicked person.

The Gemara asks:

Is that so,

is it indeed so that a son of a righteous person is punished because of his father?

But it is written

[Exodus 20:5]:

“Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,”

that children are punished because of their fathers,

and

on the other hand

it is written

[Deuteronomy 24:16]:

“And children shall not be put to death for the fathers,”

meaning that children are not punished because of their fathers.

And we set the verses against one another,

we raised [in Sanhedrin 27b] the contradiction between the verses,

and we answered: It is not difficult. This

that they are punished also for the iniquity of their fathers is

when they hold the deeds of their fathers in their hands.

But

this

that they are not punished for the iniquity of their fathers is

when they do not hold the deeds of their fathers in their hands.

If so, a righteous person who is the son of a wicked person should not be punished on account of his father's deeds; and how can it be said that “a righteous person for whom it is bad” is because he is a righteous person, the son of a wicked person?

Rather,

the Gemara interprets:

This is what he said to him,

thus the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses:

A righteous person for whom it is good

because he is

a completely righteous person; a righteous person for whom it is bad

because he is

a righteous person who is not complete .

A wicked person for whom it is good

because he is

a wicked person who is not complete,

a wicked person for whom it is bad

because he is

a completely wicked person.

And it differs from Rabbi Meir,

Rabbi Yose disagrees with Rabbi Meir in this.

For Rabbi Meir said: Two

of his requests

He granted him, and

one request,

which

he requested to know the ways of God,

He did not grant him,

as it is stated

[there, verse 19]: “And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy.” And he interprets:

“And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,”

the one whom I wish to favor

even though he is not worthy; and I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, even though he is not worthy.

Thus, he did not receive an answer to this question of his. The Gemara explains additional verses in that passage:

“And He said: You cannot see My face”

[Exodus 33:20].

A tanna

in a beraita

in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Korha: Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: When I wished

at the bush to show you My glory,

you did not wish,

as it is stated, “And Moses hid his face.”

Now that you wish

to see,

I do not wish

to show you.

And it differs,

Rabbi Joshua ben Korha disagrees in this with

Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani, who said in the name of Rabbi Jonathan.

For Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Jonathan: In the merit of three

good things that Moses did,

he merited

measure for measure

three

distinctions.

And he explains: In the passage of the bush it is stated [Exodus 3:6], “And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God”;

In the merit of “And Moses hid his face,” he merited

Moses

a countenance,

as it is stated [Exodus 34:30]: “And behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to approach him.”

In the merit of “for he was afraid”

to look,

he merited “and they were afraid to approach him.”

In the merit of “to look”

[that he did not look],

he merited “and he beholds the likeness of the Lord”

[Numbers 12:8]. For he merited seeing His back, as it were [as explained shortly].

Another verse from that passage [there, verse 23]:

“And I will remove My hand, and you will see My back.”

Rabbi Hana bar Bizna said in the name of Rabbi Simeon the Pious: This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses the knot of the tefillin,

for it was stated above that the Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin, and the knot of the tefillin is situated behind.

And

further

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Yose: Every utterance that issued from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, for good, even

if it was stated

conditionally, He did not retract it,

even if the condition was not fulfilled.

From where do we know this? —

From

what we find concerning

Moses our teacher, as it is stated

to Moses after the deed of the calf [Deuteronomy 9:14]:

“Let Me alone and I will destroy them, and so forth, and I will make you into a mighty nation

and more numerous than it,” meaning that God promised Moses that He would increase his offspring into a mighty nation if He destroyed Israel. And

even though Moses pleaded for mercy concerning the matter and annulled

the decree to destroy Israel,

even so, He established it in his offspring,

the matter was fulfilled in his offspring, who became a mighty nation, as is proven by

as it is stated

[I Chronicles 23:15, 17]:

“The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. And the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah the chief,

and Eliezer had no other sons.

And the sons of Rehabiah multiplied exceedingly, and so forth.”

And Rav Yosef taught

a beraita that learns from this verse through a

gzera shava that Moses' descendants numbered

more than six hundred thousand.

It is derived

through “multiplied, multiplied.” It is written here

[concerning the sons of Moses]

“multiplied exceedingly,” and it is written there

[Exodus 1:7, concerning the children of Israel in Egypt]:

“And the children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed and multiplied.”

Just as “and multiplied” refers to six hundred thousand, so too Moses' sons “multiplied” to six hundred thousand.