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Berachos 15b

ברכות ט״ו ע״ב

Berakhot 15b

Learn Berachos 15b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 15b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Hearing your own words and saying them clearly in קריאת שמע, with related teachings on תחיית המתים and writing מזוזה

Overview

This עמוד first asks whether the משנה that disqualifies a חרש from reading the מגילה follows רבי יוסי or רבי יהודה. After several challenges, the גמרא shows that the whole משנה can follow רבי יהודה if there are two kinds of קטן. Two ברייתות then seem to fit neither רבי יהודה nor רבי יוסי. The גמרא solves this in two ways: one ברייתא is רבי יהודה's own view and the other is his teacher רבי אלעזר בן עזריה's, or the two are רבי יהודה and רבי מאיר. רב חסדא rules that you should hear your own קריאת שמע from the start, but it counts after the fact if you did not. רב יוסף limits the argument to קריאת שמע, and רבי טבי rules leniently in both disputes of the משנה. The עמוד then turns to related teachings: the grave gives back the dead like a womb (a source for תחיית המתים), even the commands are written in a מזוזה, and words that run together in שמע must be separated. Saying שמע carefully cools גיהנם. A new teaching of רבי חמא ברבי חנינא begins and continues on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

דִּילְמָא רַבִּי יְהוּדָה הִיא,

Perhaps it is Rabbi Yehuda,

וּלְכַתְּחִלָּה הוּא דְּלָא,

and it is only in the first place that he may not,

הָא דִיעֲבַד — שַׁפִּיר דָּמֵי.

but after the fact, it is fine.

לָא סָלְקָא דַּעְתָּךְ,

This cannot enter your mind,

The steps (33)

  1. ChallengeMaybe the משנה follows רבי יהודה
  2. ResolutionThe חרש is grouped with the שוטה and קטן
  3. RejectionBeing listed together doesn't prove the same rule
  4. ChallengeThe last clause shows the opening is not רבי יהודה
  5. ResolutionThe whole משנה can be רבי יהודה, with two kinds of minor
  6. ChallengeA ברייתא lets a deaf person separate תרומה from the start
  7. ChallengeThe תרומה ברייתא fits neither רבי יהודה nor רבי יוסי
  8. ChallengeIf רבי יהודה allows it from the start, whose is the ברכת המזון ברייתא?
  9. ChallengeThe silent-blessing ברייתא fits no one
  10. ResolutionOne view is רבי יהודה's own, the other is his teacher's
  11. ProofProof that רבי יהודה's teacher requires hearing
  12. ResolutionA second answer: רבי יהודה versus רבי מאיר
  13. ConclusionThe הלכה follows רבי יהודה on both points
  14. ResolutionWhy both of רב חסדא's rulings are needed
  15. Statementרב יוסף limits the argument to קריאת שמע
  16. ChallengeA ברייתא about ברכת המזון challenges רב יוסף
  17. Resolutionרב יוסף's statement is re-stated the other way
  18. ChallengeA verse that seems to demand hearing everywhere
  19. ResolutionThat verse is about learning Torah
  20. StatementQuoting the משנה's case of unclear letters
  21. ConclusionThe הלכה follows the lenient side in both disputes
  22. StatementThe grave is like a womb: it takes in and gives back
  23. ProofA קל וחומר: the dead will come out with great noise
  24. ConclusionThis answers those who deny תחיית המתים in the תורה
  25. Statement'וכתבתם': everything must be written, even the commands
  26. Statementרבא: this ברייתא follows רבי יהודה
  27. StatementWhy רבי יהודה treats סוטה and מזוזה differently
  28. Challengeרבי יהודה's reason comes from 'curses', not from 'and he shall write'
  29. Resolution'וכתבתם' prevents learning מזוזה from סוטה
  30. StatementYour teaching must be complete: separate words that run together
  31. Statementרבא lists examples of joined words
  32. StatementSaying the שמע carefully cools גיהנם
  33. StatementA second teaching begins: why are passages placed next to each other