Berachos 18b

ברכות י״ח ע״ב

Berakhot 18b

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

Open Berachos 18b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

צדיקים are alive in death and רשעים are dead in life, and whether the dead know what happens among the living.

Overview

The גמרא finishes explaining the פסוק about בניהו בן יהוידע. 'Son of a living man' means a צדיק who is called alive even after death, and his other praises describe his greatness in תורה. Then it turns to the opposite idea: רשעים are called dead even while they are alive. Next comes a story about the sons of רבי חייא, which raises the question of whether the dead know what happens to the living. The גמרא first says that the dead feel their own pain but do not know about the pain of others. It then brings three stories that seem to show the dead do know: the חסיד who slept in the cemetery, זעירי and his innkeeper, and שמואל and his father. Each proof is pushed aside, because the dead could have heard the news from someone else. Finally, the גמרא shows that רבי יונתן changed his mind. He learns from the word לֵאמֹר that משה was sent to tell the dead forefathers that God's promise was kept.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. ChallengeWhy call him 'son of a living man'?
2. ResolutionCalled alive even in death
3. StatementHe gathered many workers for תורה
4. StatementNo one equal to him in either Temple period
5. StatementFirst reading of killing the lion: immersing in icy water
6. StatementSecond reading: learning the whole ספרא on a winter day
7. Statementרשעים are called dead even while alive
8. ProofAnother proof: 'the dead shall be put to death'
9. StatementThe sons of רבי חייא forget their learning
10. QuestionDoes our father know of our pain?
11. ResponseHow would he know? The dead do not know
12. ChallengeThe other brother objects: the dead do feel things
13. ResolutionThe dead know their own pain but not the pain of others
14. ChallengeA challenge from a ברייתא: the חסיד who slept in the cemetery
15. ProofFirst year: the spirits warn of hail and the חסיד saves his crop
16. ProofSecond year: the spirits warn of blight and the חסיד saves his crop again
17. ProofThe wife finds out and taunts the girl's mother
18. ProofThe spirits know they were overheard
19. RejectionMaybe someone who died later told them
20. ProofThe dead innkeeper tells זעירי where his money is
21. RejectionMaybe the angel דומה announced it
22. Proofשמואל searches the cemetery for his father
23. Proofלוי sits outside the heavenly yeshiva
24. ProofThe father cries and laughs
25. ProofFinding the orphans' money, and the conclusion
26. RejectionMaybe שמואל is different
27. Conclusionרבי יונתן changes his mind and brings a פסוק
28. QuestionWhat does the word "saying" mean?
29. Responseמשה is sent to tell the forefathers