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Berachos 18a

ברכות י״ח ע״א

Berakhot 18a

Learn Berachos 18a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 18a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The exemptions of an אונן and of one guarding the dead, and showing respect for the dead

Overview

The amud opens in the middle of a ברייתא about an אונן, a person whose dead relative is not yet buried. On weekdays he is exempt from blessings, זימון, קריאת שמע, תפילה, תפילין and all מצוות. On שבת he acts normally. רבי יוחנן explains that the תנא קמא and רבן שמעון בן גמליאל differ about תשמיש המטה. The גמרא then sets the ברייתא against the משנה's words 'lying before him'. רב פפא limits the ברייתא to that case, and רב אשי says that as long as burial is his duty, the dead counts as before him. Next the גמרא learns that a relative is exempt even when he is not guarding the body, and a guard is exempt even when the dead is not his relative. Someone walking in a בית הקברות is limited only within four אמות of a grave. The ברייתא about guards adds rules for two guards and for a boat, and רבינא explains that the dispute is about worrying over mice. The amud closes with respect for the dead: not riding on bones or a ספר תורה except in danger, the duty and reward of escorting a מת, and the story of רבי חייא and רבי יונתן in the cemetery. That story's proof from בניהו בן יהוידע continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְאֵין מְבָרְכִין עָלָיו,

And others do not recite a blessing on his behalf,

וְאֵין מְזַמְּנִין עָלָיו,

and others do not include him in a zimun,

וּפָטוּר מִקְּרִיאַת שְׁמַע

and he is exempt from reciting Shema

וּמִן הַתְּפִלָּה וּמִן הַתְּפִילִּין

and from prayer and from tefillin

The steps (30)

  1. StatementWeekday exemptions of the mourner before burial
  2. StatementOn שבת the mourner acts normally
  3. Statementרבן שמעון בן גמליאל: obligated in these, obligated in all
  4. QuestionWhat is the difference between the two opinions?
  5. ResponseThe difference is marital relations
  6. ChallengeThe ברייתא exempts him even in another room
  7. Resolutionרב פפא: the ברייתא means when he turns his face and eats
  8. Resolutionרב אשי: responsibility to bury counts as 'before him'
  9. StatementOnly his own dead, not one he is guarding
  10. ChallengeA ברייתא says even a non-relative who guards the body is exempt
  11. ResolutionBoth a guard and a relative are exempt
  12. StatementInference: someone just walking in a cemetery is not exempt
  13. ChallengeA ברייתא forbids תפילין and reading תורה in a cemetery
  14. ResolutionWithin four אמות versus beyond four אמות
  15. StatementReturning to the ברייתא about guarding the dead
  16. StatementTwo guards take turns
  17. Statementבן עזאי: on a boat both may pray in another corner
  18. QuestionWhat is the difference between the two views?
  19. ResponseThe difference is whether we worry about mice
  20. StatementDo not ride on a bag of bones, unless you are in danger
  21. QuestionWhich part does the ספר תורה line refer to?
  22. ResponseIt refers to the danger exception
  23. StatementNot escorting a מת is mocking the poor
  24. QuestionWhat is the reward for escorting?
  25. ResponseEscorting the dead is a loan to ה׳ and honors Him
  26. Statementרבי חייא tells רבי יונתן to lift his ציצית in the cemetery
  27. Challengeרבי יונתן asks: do the dead really know anything?
  28. Resolutionרבי חייא says the פסוק was not studied deeply enough
  29. ResolutionThe 'living' in the פסוק are the צדיקים, even after death
  30. ProofProof from the פסוק about בניהו בן יהוידע