Gemara Clarity

Berachos 10b

ברכות י׳ ע״ב

Berakhot 10b

Learn Berachos 10b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 10b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Prayer lessons from חזקיהו and the woman from שונם, the late time for קריאת שמע, and the position for saying שמע

Overview

This amud starts with prayer. רבי חנן teaches that even if a dream says you will die tomorrow, you should keep praying. חזקיהו did exactly this: he turned to the wall and prayed. The גמרא explains the 'wall' and his prayer, lists six things he did (three the חכמים approved and three they did not), and explains his leap-year mistake on the thirtieth of אדר. It then teaches that one who relies on his own merit is answered through others' merit, and the reverse, using משה and חזקיהו as examples. Next come lessons from the story of the woman from שונם and אלישע: the room she built, accepting gifts, and the value of hosting a תלמיד חכם. A series of prayer rules follows: pray from a low place, keep your feet together, and do not eat before praying. The גמרא returns to the משנה, ruling like רבי יהושע and discussing whether a late reader of שמע still says the ברכות. Finally, a new משנה brings the argument between בית שמאי and בית הלל about what position to be in for שמע, and the story of רבי טרפון.

Opening lines

אָמַר רַבִּי חָנָן:

Rabbi Chanan said:

אֲפִילּוּ בַּעַל הַחֲלוֹמוֹת

Even if the master of dreams

אוֹמֵר לוֹ לְאָדָם

tells a person

לְמָחָר הוּא מֵת

that tomorrow he will die

The steps (53)

  1. StatementEven a dream of death should not stop a person from praying
  2. Statementחזקיהו immediately turns to the wall and prays
  3. QuestionWhat does the wall mean?
  4. Responseריש לקיש: He prayed from the walls of his heart
  5. Responseרבי לוי: He mentioned a wall in his argument to God
  6. StatementThe words of Chizkiyahu's prayer
  7. QuestionWhich good deed did חזקיהו mean?
  8. Responseרב: He placed גאולה right next to תפלה
  9. Responseרבי לוי: He hid away the ספר רפואות
  10. StatementA ברייתא: Six things חזקיהו did
  11. StatementThe three actions the חכמים approved
  12. StatementThe three actions the חכמים did not approve
  13. ChallengeHow could חזקיהו add a second ניסן?
  14. Resolutionחזקיהו declared the leap year on the thirtieth of אדר
  15. StatementRelying on your own merit or on others' merit
  16. ProofProof from משה
  17. Proofחזקיהו relied on his own merit and was answered through others' merit
  18. ProofWhy חזקיהו felt bitter even when he was healed
  19. StatementThe פסוק about building a small room for אלישע
  20. Statementרב and שמואל argue about what the room was
  21. ChallengeWhere is the 'wall' according to the roofed-room view?
  22. ResolutionThe open-roof view reads קיר as 'they roofed it'
  23. ChallengeChallenge to the porch view: why call it an upper room?
  24. ResolutionThe porch view reads עליית as 'the finest room'
  25. StatementThe furniture she placed in the room
  26. StatementAccepting gifts: like אלישע or like שמואל
  27. ProofProof that שמואל took nothing from anyone
  28. StatementA woman reads guests better than a man
  29. QuestionHow did she know he was holy?
  30. Responseרב and שמואל: two signs of his holiness
  31. StatementHe is holy, but his servant is not
  32. ProofProof that גיחזי was not holy
  33. StatementHosting a Torah scholar is like bringing the daily offering
  34. StatementPray from a low place, not a high one
  35. ProofA ברייתא supports praying from a low place
  36. StatementLine up your feet when you pray
  37. StatementDo not eat before praying for your life
  38. StatementAnother version: eating before praying is like casting ה׳ behind you
  39. StatementThe halacha follows רבי יהושע: until three hours
  40. StatementQuoting the משנה: one who reads later has not lost
  41. StatementNo blessings after the time
  42. ChallengeA ברייתא says he does say the blessings
  43. Conclusionרב חסדא's view is refuted
  44. StatementSecond version: he has not lost the blessings
  45. ProofThe ברייתא supports the second version
  46. StatementSaying שמע on time is greater than Torah study
  47. ProofProof from the משנה's wording
  48. Statementבית שמאי: Lie down at night, stand in the morning
  49. Statementבית הלל: Say it in any position
  50. ChallengeThen why does the פסוק mention lying down and rising?
  51. ResolutionThe words teach the time, not the position
  52. Statementרבי טרפון reclined on the road and faced danger
  53. ConclusionThe Sages rebuke רבי טרפון for following בית שמאי