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Berachos 26a

ברכות כ״ו ע״א

Berakhot 26a

Learn Berachos 26a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 26a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Holy objects and waste near קריאת שמע and תפלה, טבילה for a בעל קרי with a severe טומאה, and the time limits and make-up rules for תפלה

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ruling about holy objects in a couple's room. רבי יהושע בן לוי requires a ten-טפחים partition for a ספר תורה, and the story with מר זוטרא shows this is only for someone with no other room. The גמרא then explains the משנה's four-אמות distance from waste: four אמות is enough behind you, but waste in front must be out of sight, for both קריאת שמע and תפלה. After several challenges, רב חסדא's permission to pray facing a bathroom is explained as being about a brand-new, unused one, and רבא adds that Persian bathrooms count as sealed. A new משנה asks whether someone with a severe טומאה who also has קרי must immerse, and the גמרא shows that רבי יהודה exempts him in either order. The פרק מי שמתו ends, and the new פרק opens with the time limits for each תפלה. The גמרא explains that שחרית may be said all day, but the reward for praying on time ends at חצות. It concludes that a missed תפלה can be made up at the next one if it was missed by mistake, but not if it was skipped on purpose.

Opening lines

אַקַּמְטְרָא — כִּכְלִי בְּתוֹךְ כְּלִי דָּמֵי.

On a chest, it is like a vessel within a vessel.

אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי:

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:

סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה —

A Torah scroll:

צָרִיךְ לַעֲשׂוֹת לוֹ מְחִיצָּה עֲשָׂרָה.

One must make a partition of ten for it.

The steps (29)

  1. ConclusionPlacing it on a chest counts as a vessel within a vessel
  2. StatementA ספר תורה in the room needs a ten-handbreadth partition
  3. Statementמר זוטרא sees a partition in מר בר רב אשי's room
  4. ChallengeWhy build a partition if you have another room?
  5. ResponseI did not think of that
  6. StatementThe משנה: keep four אמות away from waste
  7. StatementFour אמות only when the waste is behind you
  8. ChallengeBut רב חסדא allows praying facing a bathroom
  9. ResolutionA bathroom with no waste in it
  10. ChallengeAn empty bathroom is still a bathroom
  11. ResolutionA brand-new bathroom that was never used
  12. ChallengeDoes setting aside a room as a bathroom already count?
  13. Resolutionרבינא's doubt was only about praying inside
  14. StatementPersian bathrooms count as covered
  15. StatementSevere impurity combined with the impurity of קרי
  16. QuestionWhat about a בעל קרי who later became a זב?
  17. ProofProof from the woman who had relations and then saw נדה blood
  18. Proofרבי חייא teaches the case explicitly
  19. ConclusionHadran — Closing מי שמתו
  20. StatementThe time limits for each daily prayer
  21. ChallengeA ברייתא says the morning מצוה is right at sunrise
  22. ResolutionThe sunrise rule is for the extra-careful ותיקין
  23. ChallengeCan שחרית really only be said until חצות?
  24. ResolutionPraying all day, but the reward for 'on time' ends at חצות
  25. QuestionCan a missed מנחה be made up at ערבית?
  26. Responseרבי יוחנן rules he prays two at ערבית
  27. ChallengeA ברייתא says a missed תפלה cannot be fixed
  28. ResolutionThe ברייתא means someone who skipped on purpose
  29. Proofרב אשי proves the answer from the exact wording of the ברייתא