Pesachim 104a (קד.) — the Talmud in English

He said to him

Rav Yaakov bar Abba:

But, Master, you did not say three, and you did not say seven.

For you said four. And either way, if you came to grasp the lesser number, three would have sufficed for you. And if you wished to include more, you should have said all seven?

Rava said to him

Rava:

Indeed

truly,

“between the seventh day and the six days of creation”

is not included in the count, but it was stated only because

it is analogous to the conclusion.

For the conclusion, meaning the end of the blessing, is “Blessed are You, Who distinguishes between sacred and profane.” And “between the seventh day and the six days of creation” is likewise similar to it, since it too is a distinction between sacred and profane.

And Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: One who makes the distinction must state something analogous to the conclusion immediately before his conclusion! [

and likewise with all lengthy blessings].

And the people of Pumbedita say:

He must state

something analogous to

their opening.

He should repeat something analogous to the beginning of the blessing immediately

before their conclusion!

And we considered this:

What is the difference between them?

For in the blessing of Havdala, the opening and the conclusion are identical [“Who distinguishes between sacred and profane”], and this is also the case with most blessings.

And we answer:

There is a difference between them with regard to a Yom Tov that occurs after Shabbat, in which case we conclude

in the Havdala: “Blessed are You, Who distinguishes”

“between one sacred entity and another sacred entity.”

The one who says, “something analogous to their opening immediately before their conclusion,” -

does not need to say

immediately before the conclusion

“You distinguished between the sanctity of Shabbat and the sanctity of Yom Tov.”

Rather, he says there, as usual, “between the seventh day and the six days of creation,” which is analogous to the opening, “Who distinguishes between sacred and profane.”

And the one who says, “something analogous to the conclusion immediately before the conclusion” —

must say

immediately before the conclusion

“You distinguished between the sanctity of Shabbat and the sanctity of Yom Tov.”

For this is analogous to the conclusion, “between one sacred entity and another sacred entity.”

The essential matter: Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Oshaya: One who reduces may not state fewer than three.

And one who adds may not state more than seven.

They raised an objection

from that which was taught in a beraita:

He states distinctions;

he must make distinctions

at the conclusion of Sabbaths, at the conclusion of Yom Tov, at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, and at the conclusion of Shabbat leading into Yom Tov

meaning, when Yom Tov occurs then,

and at the conclusion of Yom Tov leading into its intermediate days.

But not at the conclusion of Yom Tov leading into Shabbat.

For one does not escort the viceroy when the king enters; rather, everyone follows the king.

One who is accustomed

—one who is expert and knows how to state the matters of Havdala—

states many

distinctions,

whereas one who is not accustomed states one.

And this is difficult for Rabbi Elazar, who said that one may not state fewer than three?

And we answer:

It is a dispute between tannaim!

For Rabbi Yohanan said: “The sons of the holy”

was

accustomed to say

Havdala

once [

and “the sons of the holy” is a tanna, as will be stated below].

And the people adopted the practice

in accordance with other tannaim who lived in his generation and disagreed with him,

to say three.

It follows that the tannaim disagreed about this. And there is a tanna who holds, like Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Oshaya, that it is possible to say only one.

And we explain:

Who are “the sons of the holy”?

Rabbi Menahem bar Simai.

And why did they call him “the sons of the holy”?

Because

he did not look at the image on a coin.

At the image of the man engraved on the coin.

Rav Shmuel bar Idi sent word to

Rabbi Yohanan:

Hananiah, my brother, says

Havdala

once

alone!

And we conclude:

The halakha is not in accordance with him!

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: One who makes the distinction must state distinctions analogous to those mentioned in the Torah,

as will be explained below.

They raised an objection:

It was taught in a beraita:

The order of the distinctions

that is, the seven distinctions—

how does he say them?

a.

Who distinguishes between sacred and profane.

b.

Between light and darkness.

c.

Between Israel and the nations.

And between the seventh day and the six days of creation.

This distinction is not included in the count, as we said above, for he says it because at the end of the blessing he must state something analogous to the conclusion.

And the tanna repeated it in the middle of the order of the seven distinctions because one who says only three distinctions concludes with it, immediately before the conclusion].

d.

Between impure and pure.

e.

Between the sea and the dry land.

f.

Between the upper waters and the lower waters.

g.

Between priests, Levites, and Israelites.

And he concludes with the order of Creation

by saying, “Blessed are You, Who arranges Creation.” For at the conclusion of Shabbat [before the Creation] the Holy One, blessed be He, began to arrange the work of Creation.

And others say:

He concludes

“Who formed Creation.”

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: He concludes

“Who sanctifies

Israel.”

For of the entire world that He created, He sanctified only Israel. And therefore this is appropriate for the conclusion of Shabbat.

The Gemara explains its objection:

And if it is so,

that one must specifically state distinctions analogous to those mentioned in the Torah, this is difficult:

“Between the sea and the dry land” is not written in it as a distinction!

For we do not find in the Torah the wording of a distinction between the sea and the dry land.

All the others are written in the Torah —

“To distinguish between the sacred and the profane.”

“And God separated between the light and the darkness.”

“And I have separated you from the nations.”

“To distinguish between the impure and the pure.”

“And He separated between the waters beneath the firmament and the waters above the firmament.”

“Between priests, Levites, and Israelites” will be explained below.

And we answer:

Delete from here “between the sea and the dry land”.

It should be erased from the beraita.

And we ask:

If so,

that “between the sea and the dry land” must be deleted from the order of the seven distinctions, how are there seven distinctions mentioned in the Torah?

And one cannot say that the seventh distinction is that which we learned in the beraita, that he says

“between the seventh day and the six days of creation.”

For this statement of Havdala

also

is not considered part of the count of the seven distinctions mentioned in the Torah; rather, it is the end of the blessing,

“analogous to the conclusion,”

it is.

According to the one who says that he concludes with the order of Creation, “between the seventh day and the six days of creation” is also part of the order of Creation.

And likewise according to the one who says that he concludes, “Who formed Creation.”

And according to the one who says that he concludes, “Who sanctifies Israel,” it is also analogous to the conclusion, since He sanctified us with His mitzvot and gave us Shabbat. [Tosafot, s.v. “Between.”]

And if so,

one is lacking

one from the count,

and there are not seven

distinctions.

And we answer:

They said: Priests, Levites, and Israelites —

they are two matters.

They are considered two distinctions, as explained below, and together there are seven.

One distinction is

between Levites and Israelites, as it is written: “At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi.”

And the second distinction is

between priests and Levites, as it is written: “The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, to sanctify him as most holy.”

And we consider this:

With what does he conclude?

What is the halakha concerning the conclusion of Havdala?

Rav said: “Who sanctifies Israel.”

And Shmuel said: “Who distinguishes between sacred and profane” [

he held in accordance with the tanna of the Mishna in tractate Hullin [26b], who says that on a Yom Tov occurring at the conclusion of Shabbat one concludes, “Who distinguishes between one sacred entity and another sacred entity.” From this Shmuel inferred that at the conclusion of an ordinary Shabbat one concludes, “Who distinguishes between sacred and profane”].

Abaye pronounced a curse upon

[in the language of a curse]

this,

upon Rav’s opinion.

For the halakha is not in accordance with him, but with Shmuel.

A tanna taught in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hanania: Anyone who concludes, “Who sanctifies Israel,” and “Who distinguishes between sacred and profane,”

his days and years will be lengthened.