Berakhot 9b — the Talmud in English

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that righteous man —

our father Abraham, to whom at the Covenant between the Pieces was said the prophecy of

“They will enslave them and oppress them,”

and that

He fulfilled for them [the Holy One, blessed be He, in Israel], whereas the continuation of the prophecy,

[God in Israel], whereas the continuation of the prophecy,

“and afterward they will go out with great wealth,” He did not

fulfill for them.

However, when Moses conveyed the request of the Holy One, blessed be He, to the Children of Israel,

they said to him: “Would that we could leave by ourselves.”

This is analogous to a man who was imprisoned in a prison, and people would say to him, “Tomorrow they will take you out of prison, and they will even give you a great deal of money,”

surely he would

say to them: “Please, take me out today, and I ask for nothing,”

and do not delay my freedom until they also add a great deal of money to me.

It is further said [there, 12:35], “And the Lord gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians,

and they lent them.” Rabbi Ami said:

The wording of the verse

teaches that they lent them against their will.

Some say

that the meaning is that they lent them

against

the will of the Egyptians.

And some say

that the meaning is that they lent them

against the will of Israel.

And the Gemara explains in what they disagreed:

The one who says, “against the will of the Egyptians,”

derived this from the verse [Psalms 68:13]:

“The women who remain at home divide the spoil,”

which implies that they took them as “spoil,” and this is something taken from a person against his will.

Whereas

the one who says, “against the will of Israel,”

held that they did not wish to take them

because

they did not wish to take with them on the road

a burden

that was heavy.

It is further said [there, 12:36]:

“And they emptied Egypt.” Rabbi Ami said:

The wording of the verse

teaches

that taking them caused damage to Egypt’s standing, and harmed its revenues until

they made it like a trap

spread for catching birds]

that has no grain,

and therefore the birds are not drawn to it.

And Resh Lakish said:

They took all their property from Egypt until

they made it

empty,

like the deep—

the depth of the sea—

which has no fish,

for it is the way of fish to rise upward to the place of food.

It is further said [there, 3:14]:

“I will be what I will be,”

and the Gemara explains:

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “Go, say to the Children of Israel: I am

‘I will be’”—

I was with you in this enslavement, and

‘what I will be’”—

I will be with you in the enslavements of the kingdoms.” Moses said before Him

Moses:

“The trouble is sufficient in its time,”

so why distress them now with difficult news concerning the future? Therefore

the Holy One, blessed be He,

said

to him that His intention was not to inform Israel about the future, but Moses alone; whereas to Israel:

“Go, say to them”

only

“‘I will be’ has sent me to you,”

meaning, in the distress of the enslavement of Egypt in which they are presently found.

And since the Gemara expounded the repetition of the verse, “‘I will be what I will be,” the Gemara expounds the repetition in Elijah’s prayer [I Kings 18:37]:

“Answer me, Lord, answer me.” -

Rabbi Abbahu said: Why did Elijah say “answer me” twice? It teaches that Elijah said before the Holy One, blessed be He: “Master of the Universe, answer me, so that fire may descend from heaven and consume everything upon the altar; and answer me, so that You may divert their minds, so that they will not say, ‘They are acts of sorcery,’” as it is said

[there],

“And You turned

their heart backward.”

Mishna:

From when do they recite the Shema in the morning?

From

the time when there is enough light

to recognize

to distinguish]

between sky-blue and white.

Rabbi Eliezer says:

From when one recognizes

between sky-blue and leek-green,

which somewhat resembles sky-blue, and in order to distinguish between them more light is needed than to distinguish between sky-blue and white.

And

it is proper to recite it at a time when one will

complete it

by sunrise,

the rising of the sun.

Rabbi Yehoshua says:

One must complete it

by

three hours,

for it is the practice of kings to rise

from their beds

at three hours

of the day.

“One who recites from here onward”

even though he does not fulfill the obligation of reciting Shema,

has not lost

all the reward of the mitzva, for he receives reward

as a person who reads Torah.

Gemara:

The Gemara clarifies:

What is “between sky-blue and white”? -

If you say it means between a bundle of raw white wool

a bundle of white wool]

and a bundle of sky-blue wool

a bundle of wool dyed sky-blue].

This cannot be said, for

here—

the distinction between these colors—

is recognizable even at night

it is visible to the eye].

Rather,

the intention is until one can recognize

between the sky-blue in it—

in part of the bundle—

and the white in it,

and this is a later time, because more light is required for this.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Meir says:

The time for reciting Shema begins

from

the time

when one can recognize

between a wolf and a dog.

Rabbi Akiva says:

from the time when one can recognize the difference

between a donkey and a wild donkey.

And others say: from the time when he can see his companion

at a

distance of four cubits and recognize him.

Rav Huna said: The halakhic ruling is in accordance with the opinion of Others.

Abaye said:

the halakhic ruling is

for

the beginning of the time for putting on

phylacteries,

the same as

the time established by

Others

for reciting the Shema, namely, when he can see his companion at a distance of four cubits and recognize him. However,

with regard to

the

Shema,

its time is

according to the practice of the vatikin.

For Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The vatikin would finish reciting it with sunrise,

and they necessarily began reciting it a short time before sunrise; this is a later time than “when he can recognize his companion”

. It was taught likewise in a beraita, a tannaitic source not included in the Mishna: The vatikin would finish reciting it with sunrise, so that they could juxtapose the blessing of redemption to the prayer,

and would consequently pray during the day.

Rabbi Zeira said: What is the verse

from which they learned that it is a mitzva to pray at sunrise? It is as it is stated [Psalms 72]:

“May they fear You with the sun, and before the moon, throughout all generations.”

And they explained: When do they fear You? When they accept Your awe upon themselves by reciting the Shema as the sun rises at sunrise.

Rabbi Yosei ben Elyakim testified in the name of the holy community of Jerusalem: Whoever juxtaposes redemption to prayer will suffer no harm throughout the entire day.

Rabbi Zeira said: Is that so? But I juxtaposed them, and yet I suffered harm!

He said to him: In what way did you suffer harm? By bringing a bouquet of myrtle to the king’s palace

and spending a great deal of money on it?

There too, you ought to have paid a fee in order to see the face of the king.

Since it is appropriate to spend money for this purpose, it is not considered harm, because he derives a benefit from it.

The reason it is appropriate to spend money in order to see the face of a king is

that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: A person should always make an effort to run toward the kings of Israel; and not only toward the kings of Israel, but even

toward the kings of the nations, because if he merits

the World-to-Come to see the greatness of Israel,

he will be able to distinguish between

the honor of

the kings of Israel,

which will be far

above

the greatness of

the kings of the nations

that he sees in this world.

Rabbi Ela said to Ulla: When you go there,

when you go up to Eretz Yisrael,

ask about the welfare of my brother Rav Bruna in the presence of the entire group, because he is a great man and rejoices in mitzvot. Once, he juxtaposed redemption to prayer

like the vatikin,

and a smile did not leave

a joyful smile

his mouth the entire day.

The Gemara asks:

How could he juxtapose

redemption to prayer,

when

there is an interruption? For

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At the beginning

of the Eighteen-Benedictions Prayer,

one says, “O Lord, open my lips”; and at the end one says, “May the words of my mouth be acceptable” .

The Gemara answers:

Rabbi Elazar said: Let Rabbi Yoḥanan’s statement refer to

Rabbi Yoḥanan’s words

the evening prayer,

for in that prayer one is not particular to juxtapose redemption to prayer, because the redemption took place during the day and not at night.

The Gemara objects:

But Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Who is

a person destined for the World-to-Come—

it is one who juxtaposes the evening redemption to the evening prayer.

The Gemara answers:

Rather, Rabbi Elazar said: Let it refer to the afternoon prayer.

Rav Ashi said: You may even say that Rabbi Yoḥanan’s statement refers to all of them,

because “O Lord, open my lips” is recited before all prayers.

And since the Sages instituted it as part of the prayer, it is considered an extended prayer.

For if you do not say this,

in the

evening prayer—

how could he juxtapose

redemption to prayer?

But he must recite “Lay us down”—the blessing Hashkivenu!

Rather, since the Sages instituted “Lay us down,” it is considered an extended redemption. Here too, since the Sages instituted

“O Lord, open my lips”

as part of the prayer—

it is considered an extended prayer.

The Gemara analyzes the matter:

In any event, this verse, “May the words of my mouth be acceptable,” implies

that it is

at the end,

because after completing the prayer one asks that the prayer be accepted favorably.

But it also implies

also

at the beginning,

at the beginning of the prayer; namely, that the words

that I am about to say

should be acceptable. If so,

why did the Sages institute that it be said

to recite it

after the eighteen blessings? Let them say

it

at the beginning!

The Gemara answers:

Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi, said: Since David said it only after eighteen sections

in the Book of Psalms,

the Sages therefore instituted that it be said after eighteen blessings.

The Gemara asks: Is it really the case that

these are eighteen

sections? But

nineteen

sections

there are,

since “May the words of my mouth be acceptable” is said at the end of the nineteenth section

!? The Gemara answers: The first section,

“Happy is the man,” and the

“Why do the nations rage,”

are one section.

There is proof of this:

Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi, said:

David composed one hundred and three sections, and he did not say “Hallelujah” until he saw the downfall of the wicked, as it is stated [Psalms 104:35]:

“May sins cease from the earth, and may the wicked be no more.

—

“Bless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah.””

At first glance, this is difficult: Is it really the case that

these are one hundred and three

sections? But

one hundred and four

sections

there are?!

The Gemara answers:

Rather, learn from this

that

“Happy is the man” and “Why do the nations rage” are one section.

For Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: