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Berachos 58b

ברכות נ״ח ע״ב

Berakhot 58b

Learn Berachos 58b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 58b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Blessings on seeing houses, graves, friends, unusual people and animals, and comets, with teachings about the stars

Overview

This amud lists many things we say when we see something. A ברייתא teaches what to say on seeing houses of ישראל or of the nations, whether settled or ruined. In a story, רב חסדא sighs at the ruined house of the generous רב חנא בר חנילאי, and עולא comforts him with teachings of רבי יוחנן. Next come the blessings for seeing graves and for seeing a friend after thirty days or twelve months, followed by a story about three Sages who bless one another. The גמרא then teaches which blessing to say on seeing unusual people. It settles a contradiction about בהקנים: one born that way gets משנה הבריות, and one who became that way later gets דיין האמת. A ברייתא adds blessings for strange animals and for beautiful sights. Finally, the גמרא explains the משנה's זיקין as comets and discusses Orion, Pleiades and other stars, ending with a proof about עש that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן:

The Rabbis taught:

הָרוֹאֶה בָּתֵּי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיִשּׁוּבָן,

One who sees houses of Israel in their settled state,

אוֹמֵר: ״בָּרוּךְ … מַצִּיב גְּבוּל אַלְמָנָה״.

says: 'Blessed… Who sets the border of the widow.'

בְּחוּרְבָּנָן, אוֹמֵר: ״בָּרוּךְ דַּיַּין הָאֱמֶת״.

In their ruin, he says: 'Blessed is the true Judge.'

The steps (40)

  1. StatementWhat to say on seeing settled or ruined houses
  2. Statementרב חסדא sighs at a ruined house
  3. Challengeעולא asks why he sighs, since sighing harms the body
  4. Resolutionרב חסדא describes the house's great kindness
  5. ResponseThe houses of the righteous were decreed to be destroyed
  6. Responseה׳ will restore the houses of the righteous
  7. ConclusionEnough for a servant to be like his master
  8. StatementA blessing upon seeing Jewish graves
  9. StatementAn added ending to the blessing
  10. StatementWhat is said upon seeing non-Jewish graves
  11. StatementBlessings when seeing a friend again
  12. ProofWhy twelve months matters
  13. StatementThree Sages meet on the road
  14. StatementThey say two blessings upon seeing him
  15. StatementHe says he recited a third blessing
  16. ConclusionThe meeting ends suddenly
  17. StatementA blessing upon seeing spotted skin
  18. ChallengeA source gives spotted skin a different blessing
  19. ResolutionBorn spotted versus became spotted later
  20. ProofThe wording of the ברייתא supports the answer
  21. StatementBlessings on strange animals and on beautiful creatures and trees
  22. QuestionWhat are זיקין?
  23. Responseשמואל defines זיקין as a comet
  24. Statementשמואל knows the sky except for comets
  25. StatementA tradition that a comet never crosses Orion
  26. ChallengeBut we see comets crossing Orion
  27. ResolutionOnly the comet's glow crosses
  28. Resolutionרב הונא: a sky-curtain tears open
  29. Resolutionרב אשי: a startled star on the other side
  30. ChallengeTwo פסוקים list Orion and Pleiades in opposite orders
  31. ResolutionOrion's heat and Pleiades' cold balance each other
  32. StatementThe scorpion constellation's tail rests in the river of fire
  33. ProofA verse in איוב shows God controls these star forces
  34. QuestionWhat does the name כימה mean?
  35. Responseשמואל says כימה is about a hundred stars
  36. QuestionWhat is the star called עש?
  37. Responseרב יהודה identifies עש as יותא
  38. QuestionWhat is יותא?
  39. ResponseTwo views: the tail of Aries or the head of Taurus
  40. ProofA verse supports the view that יותא is the tail of Aries