Gemara Clarity

Berachos 20b

ברכות כ׳ ע״ב

Berakhot 20b

Learn Berachos 20b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 20b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Women's obligations in time-bound מצוות, קידוש and ברכת המזון, and the rules for a בעל קרי

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a משנה: נשים are exempt from קריאת שמע and תפילין, but obligated in תפילה, מזוזה, and ברכת המזון. For each item the גמרא asks 'isn't that obvious?' and answers with a מהו דתימא, a reason we might have ruled the other way. רב אדא בר אהבה then rules that women are obligated in קידוש by Torah law. אביי calls it only rabbinic, but רבא rejects that and proves it from זכור and שמור. רבינא asks whether women's ברכת המזון is Torah or rabbinic, which decides whether a woman can say it for her husband. A ברייתא is brought as proof, but it is pushed off as dealing with someone who ate only a rabbinic amount. That leads to an אגדה: הקב״ה favors ישראל because they bless even after a כזית or כביצה. Then a new משנה rules on a בעל קרי, and רבינא and רב חסדא disagree whether thinking the words counts like saying them.

Opening lines

וּמִן הַתְּפִילִּין,

And from tefillin,

וְחַיָּיבִין בִּתְפִילָּה וּבִמְזוּזָה

but they are obligated in prayer and in mezuzah

וּבְבִרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן.

and in Grace after Meals.

גְּמָ׳

GEMARA

The steps (32)

  1. StatementEnd of the משנה: exempt from תפילין, obligated in תפילה, מזוזה and ברכת המזון
  2. ChallengeWhy mention שמע? Isn't it obvious?
  3. ResolutionWe might have thought accepting God's kingship obligates women
  4. ChallengeWhy mention תפילין? Isn't that obvious too?
  5. ResolutionWe might have compared תפילין to מזוזה
  6. ResolutionWomen are obligated in prayer because it is a request for mercy
  7. ResolutionWhy the משנה needed to say women must pray
  8. ChallengeIsn't the מזוזה obligation obvious?
  9. Resolutionמזוזה is placed next to Torah study
  10. ChallengeIsn't the Grace after Meals obligation obvious?
  11. ResolutionA verse links meals to evening and morning
  12. StatementWomen are obligated in קידוש by Torah law
  13. ChallengeBut קידוש is a time-bound מצוה
  14. Resolutionאביי: the obligation is only rabbinic
  15. Challengeרבא rejects אביי's rabbinic-only answer
  16. Resolutionרבא's Torah source: Remember and Observe
  17. QuestionIs women's Grace after Meals Torah or rabbinic?
  18. ProofA ברייתא: a wife may bless for her husband
  19. ProofThe proof: only a Torah-level obligation can cover a Torah-level obligation
  20. RejectionBut a minor is also listed, and he is not obligated at all
  21. ResolutionThe ברייתא is about someone who ate only a rabbinic amount
  22. ChallengeThe angels ask why הקב״ה shows favor to ישראל
  23. Resolutionישראל earn favor by blessing even after a small amount
  24. StatementNew משנה: what a בעל קרי may say in שמע and ברכת המזון
  25. Statementרבינא: thinking counts like speaking
  26. ChallengeIf thinking counts, why not say it aloud?
  27. ResolutionJust as we found at Mount סיני
  28. Statementרב חסדא: thinking does not count like speaking
  29. ChallengeIf thinking does not count, why think at all?
  30. ResolutionSo he will not sit idle while everyone else is busy
  31. ChallengeThen let him learn a different section
  32. ResolutionHe should be busy with what the community is busy with