Berachos 17b

ברכות י״ז ע״ב

Berakhot 17b

Learn Berachos 17b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 17b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The end of the אגדה on the חכמים's prayer and the "אבירי לב"; the חתן and יוהרא contradiction; and the opening of פרק מי שמתו on the mourner before burial.

Overview

The גמרא finishes a prayer of the חכמים from תהלים, reading each phrase as a request that no traitor like אחיתופל, דואג or גחזי, and no one who sins in public, come out of their circle. Next it brings a מחלוקת about the "אבירי לב" of ישעיהו. One view says the צדיקים earn their food by right. The other says the world is fed in their merit while they barely eat, as the בת קול about רבי חנינא בן דוסא shows. רב יהודה reads the phrase as describing stubborn people who never convert, and רב יוסף and רב אשי back him up. The גמרא then returns to the משנה about a חתן saying שמע and asks why רבן שמעון בן גמליאל and the רבנן seem to switch their views on showing off in the case of working on תשעה באב. רבי יוחנן answers by swapping the names, and רב שישא shows that each side is consistent as it stands. The chapter היה קורא ends, and פרק מי שמתו begins with the rule that a mourner whose dead is not yet buried is exempt from מצוות, along with rules for pallbearers, comforters, and women, slaves and minors. The גמרא infers that the exemption applies only when the body is before him, and challenges this with a ברייתא about a mourner eating in another room. The discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (23)

1. StatementNo traitor should come out of our group
2. StatementNo child or student who sins in public
3. StatementWho are the stubborn-hearted? First opinion
4. StatementSecond opinion: the world eats in their merit
5. ProofThe heavenly voice about רבי חנינא בן דוסא
6. Statementרב יהודה reads the פסוק differently
7. Proofרב יוסף's proof: none of them ever converted
8. Statementרב אשי: the people of מתא מחסיא are the stubborn-hearted
9. StatementBack to the משנה: a groom who wants to recite שמע
10. ChallengeAre the opinions on showing off reversed?
11. ProofThe source: working on תשעה באב
12. ChallengeA double contradiction
13. Resolutionרבי יוחנן switches the names
14. ResolutionNo switch needed: the רבנן are consistent
15. Resolutionרבן שמעון בן גמליאל is consistent too
16. ConclusionHadran — Closing פרק היה קורא
17. StatementA mourner before burial is exempt from מצוות
18. StatementPallbearers: who is exempt and who is not
19. StatementReturning from the burial: start שמע only if you can finish
20. StatementThe comforters' row: inner row exempt, outer row obligated
21. StatementWomen, slaves, and minors: which מצוות apply to them
22. StatementExempt only when the body is actually lying before him
23. ChallengeA ברייתא suggests the mourner is exempt even when he is in another room