Berachos 23b

ברכות כ״ג ע״ב

Berakhot 23b

Learn Berachos 23b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 23b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Respect for תפילין: holding them in the bathroom, at meals, wrapping them with money, and placing them under one's head

Overview

The amud opens with רב נחמן keeping hold of his תפילין because holding them protects a person. A ברייתא then forbids praying, urinating, or sleeping while holding תפילין, and שמואל adds that holding everyday objects also distracts from prayer. רב ששת says this ברייתא follows בית שמאי. The גמרא tries to defend him by reading the line 'what I permitted here, I forbade there' as being about how much of the body one uncovers. That defense fails, and רב ששת is refuted. The גמרא then explains that splashing drops make the makeshift bathroom stricter, and that the ברייתא's 'קל וחומר שאין עליו תשובה' is a warning not to use that argument. Next come rules for a סעודת קבע: relieve yourself first, and take off your תפילין until ברכת המזון (רבי חייא says to put them on the table). The גמרא settles two ברייתות about wrapping תפילין with money by asking whether the cloth was set aside for them, and רב חסדא and אביי disagree about what that requires. Finally, שמואל allows תפילין under one's head even with his wife present. A ברייתא refutes him, yet רבא rules like שמואל, and his reason comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (30)

1. Statementרב נחמן would not hand over his תפילין
2. StatementNo praying, urinating, or sleeping while holding תפילין
3. Statementשמואל adds everyday objects
4. Statementרב ששת: this ברייתא follows בית שמאי
5. ChallengeChallenge: 'What I permitted here, I forbade there'
6. ResolutionThat line was really about how much to uncover
7. ResolutionFirst suggestion: one is about urination, one about defecation
8. RejectionRejecting the urination reading
9. ResolutionNew answer: one is about a man, one about a woman
10. ChallengeThen why call it a קל וחומר with no answer?
11. ConclusionThe ברייתא is about תפילין, so רבא is refuted
12. ChallengeThe ברייתא's logic seems backwards
13. ResolutionThe difference is the splashing drops
14. ChallengeThen the קל וחומר does have a refutation
15. ResolutionThe ruling comes from a reason, not from a קל וחומר
16. StatementRelieving oneself before a long meal
17. StatementRemoving תפילין before a set meal
18. Statementרבי חייא disagrees: place them on the table
19. QuestionUntil when?
20. ResponseUntil the time of the blessing
21. ChallengeTwo teachings clash about wrapping תפילין with money
22. ResolutionThe answer: it depends whether the cloth was set aside for תפילין
23. Proofרב חסדא: setting aside and actual use are both needed
24. StatementHow אביי would explain the rule
25. QuestionMay one sleep with תפילין under his head?
26. Responseשמואל: it is allowed, even with his wife
27. ChallengeA ברייתא forbids תפילין under the head when the wife is present
28. Conclusionשמואל is refuted
29. Statementרבא rules like שמואל despite the refutation
30. QuestionWhy rule like a refuted opinion?