1. What, in your own words, is Moshe Rabbeinu saying?
2. Is there anything strange or surprising? Does this evoke any questions?
3. How many different things does Moshe say H' is asking of us?
אמר רבי חנינא הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים שנאמר (דברים י, יב) ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלהיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה מכלל דיראה
מילתא זוטרתי היא
אין לגבי משה רבינו מילתא זוטרתי היא משל לאדם שמבקשין הימנו כלי גדול ויש לו דומה עליו ככלי קטן קטן ואין לו דומה עליו ככלי גדול
Rabbi Ḥanina said: Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven, as it is stated: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear” (Deuteronomy 10:12).
Is this inferring that fear of Heaven is a minor matter???
The Gemara responds: Indeed, for Moses our teacher, fear of Heaven is a minor matter. It is comparable to one who is asked for a large vessel and he has one; it seems to him like a small vessel because he owns it. However, one who is asked for just a small vessel and he does not have one, it seems to him like a large vessel. Therefore, Moses could say: What does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear, because in his eyes it was a minor matter.
4. What is driving Rabbi Hanina's interpretation of Moshe's words?
5. What, in turn, is bothering the Talmud about Rabbi Hanina's words?
6. Do either of their points (Rabbi Hanina's and the Talmud's) ring true for you? Why, or why not?
7. How is Rabbi Hanina understanding the concept of יראה? Are there other ways this could be understood?
It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir would say: A person is obligated to recite one hundred blessings every day, as it is stated in the verse: “And now, Israel, what [ma] does the Lord your God require of you” (Deuteronomy 10:12).
8. How might Rabbi Meir be deriving this obligation from the verse?
שואל מעמך. פי' ר"ת
דהוי מלא ויש מאה אותיות בפסוק
וי"מ דמה עולה בא"ת ב"ש מאה
ובקונטרס פירש אל תקרי מה אלא מאה כלומר שחייב ק' ברכות וי"מ כדי להשלים מאה באותיותיה וכי קרית מאה הרי כולן:
Rabbeinu Tam explains:
1. That it is written in full, and there are one-hundred letters in the verse.
2. And some explain that one-hundred comes from את-בש (see below).
3. In the pamphlets (Rashi), he says: Don't read מה, but read מאה - which is to say that one is obligated in one-hundred berachos.
את-בש is a form of Biblical hermeneutics connected to gematria. Each letter is assigned the number of its mirror-letter. So, the letter א, the first letter in the aleph-beis, is assigned the number 400, which is connected to the last letter, ת. The second letter, ב is given the number 300, which is connected to ש, the second-to-last letter, and so on.
9. Which of the three explanations do you find the most convincing? That is, which, if any, do you think Rabbi Meir really had in mind?
10. On what level of PaRDeS is Rabbi Meir operating when he comments on Moshe's words?
Reflection
10. Take a moment to reflect upon the words, as well as the practice of saying berachos. What meanings can a bracha convey - be it in the words, or in the mere action of its recitation? What do we accomplish by saying so many? (100 every day comes out to about one bracha every ten minutes while the average person is awake!)
a. What do we stand to gain during each moment individually?
b. What can we gain by developing the habit of saying berachos regularly?
11. Are there any berachos that you know of which you find particularly meaningful?