Berakhot 9a — the Talmud in English

The Gemara answers:

No,

this is not a difficulty, for

in fact

from dawn

it is daytime,

and the reason that they call it "night"

and one fulfills through it the obligation of reciting the nighttime reading is because

there are people who sleep [

sleeping]

at that time,

and concerning the Shema it is stated, “when you lie down”; therefore, the time of the obligation depends upon the time of lying down. Since until sunrise there are still people who are sleeping, that time is regarded as nighttime with regard to fulfilling through it, after the fact, the obligation of nighttime Shema. And concerning this

Rabbi Aḥa bar Rabbi Ḥanina said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon

in what

he said in the name of Rabbi Akiva,

that one may recite nighttime Shema until sunrise.

Rabbi Zeira said:

Although one may recite Shema close to dawn,

provided that he does not recite

“Hashkivenu,”

because this blessing is recited before lying down, whereas he is already at the end of the time of lying down.

When Rav Yitzḥak bar Yosef came, he said: The matter that

said

Rabbi Aḥa bar Rabbi Ḥanina

that so

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said,

that one may recite nighttime Shema until sunrise, this matter

was not stated explicitly

by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi,

but was stated by implication,

as follows [that it is not ab initio, but only in a pressing circumstance]:

For there were two scholars who became drunk at the wedding feast of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi,

and they fell asleep and did not recite Shema until after dawn.

They came before Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. He said: Rabbi Shimon is worthy that one rely upon him in a pressing circumstance.

We learned in the Mishna:

“It happened that his sons came

from the banquet hall, and they said to him, ‘We have not recited the Shema.’ He said to them, ‘If dawn has not risen, you are obligated to recite it.’”

The Gemara asks:

And

did they

until now not hear that which

said

Rabban Gamliel,

their father, concerning this law?

The Gemara explains:

This is what they said to him:

Do

the Rabbis disagree with you

and hold that the time of reciting Shema is only during the time when people go to lie down, and therefore one does not recite after midnight even after the fact?

And

if so, we did not recite, because

when an individual and the majority disagree, the halakha follows the majority; or perhaps

also

the Rabbis hold in accordance with your view

that its time is at every time when people lie down, and after the fact one recites until dawn,

and the reason that they said

that one recites only

“until midnight,”

is that they said so only for the purpose of urging,

in order to distance a person from transgression,

and if so, this applies specifically to one who did not recite until midnight willfully; but we, since we were coerced, remain obligated to recite.

And he answered and

said to them: The Rabbis hold in accordance with my view, and

since dawn has not yet risen,

you are obligated

you

to recite,

and the reason that they said

the Rabbis that one recites only

“until midnight,”

is that they said so only for the purpose of urging,

in order to distance a person from transgression.

We learned in the Mishna:

“And not only this did they say, but

all that the Sages said [may be done] until midnight, their mitzva is until dawn.”

The Gemara asks:

But did Rabban Gamliel say “until midnight,” as it teaches

concerning this

“And not only this did they say”?

After all, he held that even according to the Sages its time extends until dawn, and seemingly the continuation of the Mishna is not appropriate as an additional explanation of his words.

The Gemara explains:

This is what Rabban Gamliel said to his sons: Even the Rabbis who say “until midnight”

truly hold that, according to Torah law,

its mitzva is until dawn, and the reason that they said

that one recites only

“until midnight,”

is that they said so only for the purpose of urging,

in order to distance a person from transgression;

and concerning this Rabban Gamliel added and said that they established an earlier time of midnight not only with regard to reciting Shema, but also with regard to the other laws whose time according to Torah law is the entire night.

We learned in the Mishna:

“The burning of fats and limbs

their mitzva is until dawn.”

The Gemara infers:

But the eating of the Paschal offering is not taught

among the mitzvot whose mitzva is the entire night—and this implies that even according to Torah law, the time for eating it does not extend throughout the entire night [and it is not included among “those eaten for one day,” because its mitzva is during the day].

And it raises a contradiction

from a beraita:

“The evening Shema, and

the recitation of

Hallel on the night of Passover, and the eating of the Paschal offering—their mitzva is until dawn.”

This proves that according to Torah law the time for eating the Paschal offering extends throughout the entire night.

The Gemara resolves:

Rav Yosef said: It is not difficult,

for

this

Mishna holds like

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya,

that the time for eating the Passover offering is only until midnight, whereas

this

beraita holds like

Rabbi Akiva,

that its time is the entire night.

For it was taught: that Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva disagreed concerning this: It is stated regarding the Passover offering [Exodus 12:8], “And they shall eat the flesh on this night,” and concerning this

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: It is stated here, “on this night,” and it is stated below

in the plague of the firstborn [there, 12],

“And I shall pass through the land of Egypt on this night,”

and it is learned by a gzera shava:

Just as below

in the plague of the firstborn “the night” is considered

until midnight, so here

the “night” stated concerning the eating of the Passover offering is

until midnight.

Rabbi Akiva said to him: Has it not already been stated in the same place, “And you shall eat it” “in haste,” and that means until the time of haste, which is dawn, for then they hastened to leave Egypt. It follows that the time for eating the Passover offering is the entire night. If so, what does the verse mean by saying

the “night” mentioned with regard to eating the Paschal offering lasts

until midnight.

in the verse “And you shall eat it

at night,”

whose meaning is that one may not eat it on the following day? But they already knew that its time was only until “the time of haste,” which is at the end of the night. Why, then, was it necessary for the verse to state this? Because

it might have been

that the Passover offering

would be eaten like

the other sacred offerings

during the day

of its slaughter. Therefore,

the verse says, “at night,”

to teach that only

at night

following it

is it eaten, and not

eaten

during the day

of its slaughter [thus far the beraita].

It follows that our Mishna is according to Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, that the time for eating the Passover offering is until midnight, whereas the beraita [above] maintains that its time is until dawn, according to Rabbi Akiva.

The Gemara discusses the words of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva:

Granted, according to Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, who has a gzera shava

“this, this,” to teach that the time for eating the Passover offering is until midnight, it is understandable why

it was necessary to write “this.” But according to Rabbi Akiva,

who did not expound the gzera shava,

what does this “this” accomplish for him?

The Gemara explains: “This”

comes to exclude

that one may not eat it on

another night,

and this was necessary because

it might enter your mind to say: Since the Passover offering

is

a sacred offering of lesser sanctity, and peace offerings

are

sacred offerings of lesser sanctity,

we should learn the Passover offering from peace offerings and say:

Just as peace offerings are eaten for two days and one night, so

the time for eating the

Passover offering

will continue like that of peace offerings. And since its eating time begins at night, it should be

eaten on two nights in place of two days,

and it should be eaten for two nights and one day.

It teaches us “on this night”:

only

on this night

—the night of the fourteenth of Nisan—

is it eaten, and it is not eaten on another night.

it could be eaten for two nights in place of the two days,

and it could be eaten for two nights and one day.

And

the Gemara explains, on the other hand, from where

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya

learned this law, that the Passover offering is not eaten on the second night

From

the verse [Exodus 12:10], “You shall not leave any of it until morning” is derived. And

the Gemara returns to explain why

Rabbi Akiva

required a gzera shava, and did not learn it from this verse:

because

if [he were to derive it] from there,

from “You shall not leave,”

it might enter your mind to say: What is “morning”? The second morning, meaning that it is prohibited to leave it only after the morning of the second day of Passover; but after the first day it is permitted, because its time extends until the end of the second night. Therefore, he required a gzera shava to exclude the second night.

And

the Gemara explains, on the other hand, that

Rabbi Elazar ben

Azarya

was not concerned that “morning” might be interpreted as “the second morning,” because

he could say to you: Every

use of the expression

“morning”

in the Torah

refers to the first morning.

Azarya

was not concerned that “morning” might be understood as “the second morning,” because

he could say: Every

And

the Gemara compares the dispute of

these tannaim

below

— to the dispute of these tannaim, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva [and therefore they disagreed in explaining the following verse]

And

For it was taught:

they disagreed in explaining the verse [Deuteronomy 16:6],

“There you shall slaughter the Passover offering, in the evening, when the sun sets, at the appointed time of your leaving Egypt.”

There are three times concerning the Passover offering: a. “In the evening,” after midday. b. “When the sun sets,” when it becomes dark at sunset. c. “At the appointed time of your leaving Egypt,” namely, in the morning. The tannaim disagreed concerning at which time each law concerning the Passover offering applies:

Rabbi Eliezer says: “In the evening” you slaughter, and “when the sun sets” you eat

until midnight,

and “at the appointed time of your leaving the land of Egypt” you burn

the notar , and it is reasonable that his view is like that of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya . Rabbi Joshua says: “In the evening” you slaughter. “When the sun sets” you eat. And until when do you continue eating? Until the appointed time of your leaving the land of Egypt, namely, until dawn; it follows that his view is like Rabbi Akiva. The Gemara explains the reason for the dispute between Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva: Rabbi Abba said: Everyone agrees, even Rabbi Akiva, that when Israel was redeemed from Egypt, they were redeemed only in the evening, when the Egyptians had already given them permission to leave, as it is stated [Deuteronomy 16:1]: “The Lord your God brought you out from Egypt at night,” and certainly from midnight there was already the “haste of the Egyptians.” And on the other hand, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya also agrees that in practice when they left, they left only during the day, as it is stated [Numbers 33:3], “On the morrow of the offering of the Passover offering the children of Israel went out with a high hand.” Concerning what did they disagree? Concerning the time of “haste” stated in the verse “And you shall eat it in haste.” Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya held: What is “haste”

They disputed the interpretation of the verse [Deuteronomy 16:6]:

“There you shall slaughter the Paschal offering, in the evening, when the sun sets,

the appointed time of your departure from Egypt.”

There are three times mentioned with regard to the Paschal offering: a. “In the evening,” after midday. b. “When the sun sets,” once it becomes dark at sunset. c. “The appointed time of your departure from Egypt,” meaning in the morning. The tannaim disputed at which time each law concerning the Paschal offering applies:

Rabbi Eliezer says: “In the evening” you slaughter it, and “when the sun sets” you eat it

until midnight,

“and at the appointed time of your departure from the land of Egypt” you burn

what remains. It appears that his view accords with that of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya.

stated concerning the eating of the Passover offering?

The haste of the Egyptians,

namely, the time of midnight, when they hurried to send Israel out, and therefore the Passover offering is eaten only until the time of midnight.

And

whereas

Rabbi Akiva held: What is “haste”? The haste of Israel,

which occurred only in the morning, and therefore he held that the Passover offering is eaten until dawn.

It was taught likewise

that there were two components to the redemption, and they occurred at two times. For they expounded in a beraita the contradiction between the verses, as it is stated:

“The Lord your God brought you out from Egypt at night,”

but this is apparently difficult:

Did they leave at night? Did they not leave only during the day, as it is stated, “On the morrow of the Passover offering the children of Israel went out with a high hand”? Rather, it teaches that their redemption began in the evening. The Gemara expounds verses from the section concerning the Exodus from Egypt: It is stated [Exodus 11:2], “Please speak in the ears of the people that each man should ask from his fellow and each woman from her fellow, silver vessels and gold vessels.” They said in the house of Rabbi Yannai: “Na” is only an expression of request, and the intention of the verse is that this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “Please, go and say to Israel, Please

go and ask

from the Egyptians silver vessels and gold vessels,

[Numbers 33:3]:

“On the next day

after offering

the Paschal offering, the Children of Israel went out with a high hand.”

What did they dispute? They disputed the time of “haste”

mentioned in the verse “You shall eat it in haste.”

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya held: What is the meaning of “haste”

mentioned with regard to eating the Paschal offering? It is

the haste of the Egyptians,

that is, midnight, when they hurried to send Israel out. Therefore, the Paschal offering was eaten only until midnight.

And

whereas

Rabbi Akiva held: What is the meaning of “haste”? It is the haste of Israel,

which occurred only in the morning. Therefore, he held that the Paschal offering was eaten until dawn.

It was taught likewise

that there were two stages in the redemption, occurring at two different times. The beraita resolved the apparent contradiction between the verses: It is stated,

“The Lord your God brought you out from Egypt at night,”

but this is apparently difficult:

Did they leave at night? They left only during the day, as it is stated, “On the next day after the Paschal offering, the Children of Israel went out with a high hand.” Rather, this teaches that their redemption began in the evening.

The Gemara expounds verses from the account of the Exodus:

It is stated [Exodus 11:2]:

“Please speak in the ears of the people

that each man should ask from his fellow and each woman from her fellow woman silver vessels and gold vessels.”

The scholars of the house of Rabbi Yannai said: “Please” is only an expression of entreaty.

The intention of the verse is that this is what

the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “Please, go and tell Israel, ‘Please

go and ask” the Egyptians for silver vessels and gold vessels.