Defeat Our Enemies!

And for the slanderers let there be no hope,

And may all evil perish in an instant.

And may all Your enemies speedily be cut off.

And the willful sinners: speedily uproot, smash, cast down and subdue speedily in our days.

Blessed are You, HaShem, who smashes enemies and subdues willful sinners.

v'lamalshinim al t'hee tikva

lkhol ha-rish'a kreged toveid

vkhol oyveicha mheira yekareitu

vhazeidim mhayra t'akeir u'tshbeir u'tmageir v'takhniah bimheirah vyameinu.

Baruch atah adonai shoveir oyvim u'makhniah zeidim

There were these hooligans in Rabbi Meir’s neighborhood who caused him a great deal of anguish. Rabbi Meir prayed for God to have mercy on them, that they should die. Rabbi Meir’s wife, Berurya, said to him: What is your thinking? Do you base yourself on the verse, as it is written: “Let sins cease from the land” (Psalms 104:35)? But is it written, let sinners cease?” Let sins cease, is written.

Moreover, go to the end of the verse, where it says: “And the wicked will be no more.” If, as you suggest, transgressions shall cease refers to the demise of the evildoers, how is it possible that the wicked will be no more, i.e., that they will no longer be evil? Rather, pray for God to have mercy on them, that they should repent, as if they repent, then the wicked will be no more, as they will have repented. Rabbi Meir saw that Berurya was correct and he prayed for God to have mercy on them, and they repented.

(Explanation of the blessing on the heretics does not appear in print because of censorship.)

MISHNA: Rabban Gamliel says: Each and every day a person recites the prayer of eighteen blessings. Rabbi Yehoshua says: an abridged eighteen blessings...The Sages taught: Shimon HaPakuli arranged the eighteen blessings, before Rabban Gamliel, the Nasi of the Sanhedrin, in order in Yavne.

Rabban Gamliel said to the Sages: Is there a person who knows how to fix the “blessing” for the minim? Shmuel HaKatan, stood and instituted it.

The next year, he forgot it and scrutinized it, two or three moments/hours, and they did not remove him

(19) Shmuel Hakatan said: “If your enemy falls, do not exult; if they trip, let your heart not rejoice, lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and avert [G-d's] wrath from them” (Proverbs 24:17).

We find tannaim disagreeing: For all (the blessings of the amidah) we don’t recall him (from leading) except for one who doesn’t say: “who revives the dead” and “who humbles willful sinners” and

“who rebuilds Jerusalem.”

I say he is a min (Jewish-Christian).

Shmuel Hakkatan passed before the ark (ie = led the amidah) and he erased “who humbles willful sinners” at the end he started to look at them. They said to him: The sages didn’t take this into measure.

The Sages taught: There was an incident involving a student, who came before Rabbi Yehoshua. The student said to him: Is the evening prayer optional or obligatory? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Optional.

The same student came before Rabban Gamliel and said to him: Is the evening prayer optional or obligatory? Rabban Gamliel said to him: Obligatory. The student said to Rabban Gamliel: But didn’t Rabbi Yehoshua tell me that the evening prayer is optional?

Rabban Gamliel said to the student: Wait until the “masters of the shields,” a reference to the Torah scholars who battle in the war of Torah, enter the study hall, at which point we will discuss this issue. When the masters of the shields entered, the questioner stood before everyone present and asked: Is the evening prayer optional or obligatory? Rabban Gamliel said to him: Obligatory.

Rabban Gamliel said to the Sages: Is there a person who disputes this matter? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: No. Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Yehoshua: But was it not in your name that they told me "optional"? Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Yehoshua: Yehoshua, stand on your feet and they will testify against you....

...The Sages taught in a baraita: The year may be intercalated only by those who were invited for that purpose. There was an incident involving Rabban Gamliel, who said to the Sages: Bring me seven of the Sages early to the loft.

He went to the loft early the next morning and found eight Sages there. He said: Who is it who ascended to the loft without permission? He must descend. Shmuel HaKatan stood up and said: I am he who ascended without permission; and I did not ascend to intercalate the year, but rather I needed to observe in order to learn the practical law.

Rabban Gamliel said to him: Sit, my son, sit. It would be fitting for all of the years to be intercalated by you, as you are truly worthy.

But the Sages said: The year may be intercalated only by those who were invited for that purpose. The Gemara notes: And it was not actually Shmuel HaKatan who had come uninvited, but another person. And due to the embarrassment of the other, Shmuel HaKatan did this, so that no one would know who had come uninvited.