Learn Talmud - Berachot 10a-10b by Rabbi Mordechai Silverstein

1. [Story Interpreting the verse (Psalm 104:30)}

There were once some highwaymen in the neighborhood of R. Meir who caused him a great deal of trouble. R. Meir accordingly prayed that they should die. His wife Beruria said to him: How do you make out [that such a prayer should be permitted]? Because it is written Let hatta’im cease? Is it written hot’im? It is written hatta’im! Further,look at the end of the verse: and let the wicked men be no more. Since the sins will cease, there will be no more wicked men! Rather pray for them that theyshould repent, and there will be no more wicked people. He did pray for them,and they repented.

2. [Another story about the heroine of the previous story, Bruria, that interprets a verse from Isaiah]

A certain Min said to Beruria: it is written: "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear". (Isaiah 54:1) Because she did not bear is she to sing? She replied to him: You fool! Look at the end of the verse, where it is written, For the children of the desolate shall be more than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. But what then is the meaning of ‘abarren that did not bear’? Sing, O community of Israel, who resembles a barren woman, for not having born children like you for Gehenna.

3. [Another story about a heretic and interpretation of verses from Psalms]

A certain Min said to R. Abbahu: It is written: "A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son". (Psalm 3:1) And it is also written, "A mihtam of David when he fled from Saul in the cave". (Psalm57:1) Which event happened first? Did not the event of Saul happen first? Then let him write it first? He replied to him: For you who do not derive interpretations from juxtaposition, there is a difficulty, but for us who do derive interpretations from juxtaposition there is no difficulty. For R. Johanan said: How do we know from the Torah that juxtaposition counts? Because it says, "They are joined for ever and ever, they are done in truth and uprightness". (Psalm 111:8) Why is the chapter of Absalom juxtaposed to the chapter of Gog and Magog? So that if one should say to you, is it possible that a slave should rebel against his master, you can reply to him: Is it possible that a son should rebel against his father? Yet this happened; and so this too [will happen].

4. [Collection of Drashot (interpretations on verses]

R. Johanan said in the name of R. Simeon b. Yohai: What is the meaning of the verse, "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the law of kindness is on her tongue?" (Proverbs 21:6) To whom was Solomon alluding in this verse? He was alluding only to his father David who dwelt in five worlds and composed a psalm [for each of them]. He abode in his mother’s womb, and broke into song, as it says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all my inwards bless His holy name". (Psalm 103:1) He came out into the open air and looked upon the stars and constellations and broke into song, as it says, "Bless the Lord, ye angels of His, ye mighty in strength that fulfill His word, hearkening unto the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all ye His hosts etc". (Psalm 103:20-21) He sucked from his mother’s bosom and looked on her breasts and broke into song, as it says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits". (Psalm 103:2) What means ‘all His benefits’? R. Abbahu said: That He placed her breasts at the source of understanding. For what reason is this? Rab Judah said: So that he should not look upon the place of shame; R. Mattena said: So that he should not suck from a place that is foul. He saw the downfall of the wicked and broke into song, as it says, "Let sinners cease out of the earth and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul, Hallelujah". (Psalm 104:35) He looked upon the day of death and broke into song, as it says, "Bless the Lord,O my soul. O Lord my God, Thou art very great, Thou art clothed with glory and majesty". (Psalm 104:1) How does this verse refer to the day of death? Rabbah son of R. Shila said: We learn it from the end of the passage, where it is written: "You hide Your face, they vanish, You withdraw their breath, they perish etc". (Psalm 104:29)

5. [More Stories and Drashot on verses from Scripture]

R. Shimi b. ‘Ukba (others say, Mar ‘Ukba) was often in the company of R. Simeon b. Pazzi, who used to arrange aggadahs [and recite them] before R. Johanan. He said to him: What is the meaning of the verse, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name?" (Psalm 103:1) He replied: Come and observe how the qualities of human beings falls short of the qualities of the Holy One, blessed be He. It is in the capacity of a human being to draw a figure on a wall, but he cannot invest it with breath and spirit, bowels and intestines. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so; He shapes one form in the midst of another, and invests it with breath and spirit,bowels and intestines. And that is what Hannah said: "There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside You, neither is there any tzur [rock] like our God". (1 Samuel 2:2) What means,neither is there any tzur like our God’? There is no artist [zayyar] like our God. What means, ‘For there is none beside You’? R.Judah b. Menasiah said: Read not, There is none bilteka, but, There is none lebalotheka [to consume You]. For the nature of flesh and blood is not like that of the Holy One, blessed be He. It is the nature of flesh and blood to be outlived by its works, but the Holy One, blessed be He, outlives His works. He said to him: What I meant to tell you is this: To whom did David refer in these five verses beginning with ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul’? He was alluding only to the Holy One, blessed be He, and to the soul. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, fills the whole world, so the soul fills the body. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, sees, but is not seen, so the soul sees but is not itself seen. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, feeds the whole world, so the soul feeds the whole body. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is pure, so the soul is pure. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, abides in the innermost precincts, so the soul abides in the innermost precincts. Let that which has these five qualities come and praise Him who has these five qualities.

6. [A Story about Hezekiah the King regarding the juxtaposition of Geulal to Tefillah]

R. Hamnuna said: What is the meaning of the verse, "Who is as the wise man?And who knows the interpretation [pesher] of a thing?" (Ecclesiastes 8:1) Who is like the Holy One, blessed be He, who knew how to effect a reconciliation [pesharah] between two righteous men, Hezekiah and Isaiah? Hezekiah said: Let Isaiah come to me, for so we find that Elijah went to Ahab, as it says, "And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab." (1 Kings 18:2) Isaiah said: Let Hezekiah come to me, for so we find that Jehoram son of Ahab went to Elisha. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He brought sufferings upon Hezekiah and then said to Isaiah, Go visit the sick. For so it says, "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, came to him and said unto him, Thus said the Lord, Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die and not live etc." (2 Kings 20:1; Isaiah 38:1) What is the meaning of ‘thou shalt die and not live’? Thou shalt die in this world and not live in the world to come. He said to him: Why so bad? He replied: Because you did not try to have children. He said: The reason was because I saw by the Holy Spirit that the children issuing from me would not be virtuous. He said to him: What have you to do with the secrets of the All-Merciful? You should have done what you were commanded, and let the Holy One, blessed be He,do that which pleases Him. He said to him: Then give me now your daughter; perhaps through your merit and mine combined virtuous children will issue from me. He replied:The doom has already been decreed. Said the other: Son of Amoz, finish your prophecy and go. This tradition I have from the house of my ancestor: Even if a sharp sword rests upon a man’s neck he should not desist from prayer.

7. [Meimrot on the same subject]

This saying is also recorded in the names of R. Johanan and R. Eleazar: Even if a sharp sword rests on a man’s neck, he should not desist from prayer, as it says, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him". (Job 13:15)

8. [More Meimrot on Similar Issues]

Similarly, R. Hanan said: Even if the master of dreams says to a man that on the morrow he will die, he should not desist from prayer, for so it says, "For in the multitude of dreams are vanities and also many words, but fear thou God". (Ecclesiastes 5:6)

9. [Return to the Story of Hezekiah]

Thereupon straightway, "Hezekiah turned his face to the kir [wall] and prayed unto the Lord". (Isaiah 38:2) What is the meaning of ‘kir’?

R. Simeon b. Lakish said: [He prayed] from the innermost chambers [kiroth]of his heart, as it says, "My bowels, my bowels, I writhe in pain! Kiroth [The chambers] of my heart etc". (Jeremiah 4:19) R.Levi said: [He prayed] with reference to [another] ‘kir’. He said before Him: Sovereign of the Universe! The Shunammite woman made only one little chamber [on the roof] and You restored her son to life. How much more so then me whose ancestor overlaid the Temple with silver and gold! "Remember now,O Lord, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight". (Isaiah 38:3) What means, ‘I have done that which is good in Thy sight’? Rab Judah says in the name of Rab: He joined the ge’ullah with the tefillah. R.Levi said: He hid away the Book of Cures.

10. [Baraita]

Our Rabbis taught: King Hezekiah did six things; of three of them they [the Rabbis] approved and of three they did not approve. Of three they approved: he hid away the Book of Cures; and they approved of it; he broke into pieces the brazen serpent, and they approved of it; and he dragged the bones of his father [to the grave] on a bed of ropes, and they approved of it. Of three they did not approve: He stopped up the waters of Gihon, and they did not approve of it; he cut off [the gold]from the doors of the Temple and sent it to the King of Assyria, and they did not approve of it; and he intercalated the month of Nisan during Nisan, and they did not approve of it.

11. [Kushiyah on the last case in the baraita]

But did not Hezekiah accept the teaching: This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: "[this means] that this is Nisan and no other month shall be Nisan?"

12. [Teirutz]

He went wrong over the teaching enunciated by Samuel. For Samuel said: The year must not be declared a prolonged year on the thirtieth of Adar, since this day may possibly belong to Nisan; and he thought: We do notpay heed to this possibility.

13. [Meimra]

R. Johanan said in the name of R. Jose b. Zimra: If a man makes his petition depend on his own merit, heaven makes it depend on the merit of others; and if he makes it depend on the merit of others, heaven makes it depend on his own merit. Moses made his petition depend on the merit of others, as it says, "Remember Abraham,Isaac and Israel Thy servants!" (Exodus 323:13) and Scripture made it depend on his own merit, as it says, "Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach to turn back His wrath, lest He should destroy them". (Psalm 106:23) Hezekiah made his petition depend on his own merit, as it is written: "Remember now, O Lord, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before You", and God made it depend on the merit of others, as it says, "For I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake and for My servant David’s sake". (2 Kings 19:34) And this agrees with R. Joshua b. Levi. For R. Joshua b. Levi said: What is the meaning of the verse, "Behold for my peace I had great bitterness?" (Isaiah 38:27) Even when the Holy One, blessed be He, sent him [the message of] peace it was bitter for him.