Berachos 5b

ברכות ה׳ ע״ב

Berakhot 5b

Learn Berachos 5b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 5b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Suffering and forgiveness: burying children, יסורין של אהבה, stories of sick sages and רב הונא's loss, and אבא בנימין's teachings on prayer and the bed.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a teaching that one who learns תורה, does גמילות חסדים, and buries his children has all his sins forgiven. An elder gives the source for the last item with a גזירה שוה on the word עון. רבי יוחנן then rules that נגעים and suffering through children are not יסורין של אהבה. The גמרא defends both parts of his rule against challenges. Next come three stories of sick sages who want neither their suffering nor its reward and are healed by a friend's hand, because a prisoner cannot free himself. In the story of רב הונא, his wine turns to vinegar, he examines his deeds, fixes how he treats his sharecropper, and his loss is restored. The amud ends with teachings of אבא בנימין: praying close to bedtime, placing one's bed between north and south, and the punishment for leaving a friend alone while he prays. The question of the reward for waiting is answered on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (35)

1. StatementBurying one's children brings forgiveness
2. Questionרבי יוחנן asks for the source about burying children
3. ResponseAn elder gives the source through the word עון
4. StatementLeprosy and suffering through children are not afflictions of love
5. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to show that נגעים are a good kind of suffering
6. Resolutionנגעים bring atonement but are still not suffering of love
7. ResolutionSecond answer: one source is about בבל, the other about ארץ ישראל
8. ResolutionThird answer: hidden נגעים versus visible נגעים
9. ChallengeHow can losing children not be suffering of love?
10. ResolutionNever having children versus children who died
11. Statementרבי יוחנן heals רבי חייא בר אבא
12. Statementרבי חנינא heals רבי יוחנן
13. ChallengeWhy couldn't רבי יוחנן heal himself?
14. ResolutionA prisoner cannot free himself
15. Statementרבי יוחנן visits sick רבי אלעזר and lights up the room
16. QuestionWhy are you crying? Three possible comforts
17. ResponseCrying over beauty that will rot in the ground
18. StatementNeither the suffering nor its reward, and רבי יוחנן stands him up
19. Statementרב הונא's wine turns sour and the Sages tell him to examine his deeds
20. Challengeרב הונא protests: do you suspect me of doing wrong?
21. ResolutionThe Sages answer that God does not punish without justice
22. Questionרב הונא asks them to say what they have heard
23. ResponseThe Sages reveal that he does not give his sharecropper the vine branches
24. Resolutionרב הונא defends himself: the sharecropper steals everything
25. RejectionThe Sages reject this: stealing from a thief still tastes of theft
26. Conclusionרב הונא commits to paying and his loss is restored
27. Statementאבא בנימין's two lifelong concerns
28. QuestionWhat does "before my bed" mean?
29. ChallengePraying literally in front of the bed is a problem
30. ResolutionRead it as "close to my bed"
31. StatementA bed between north and south brings male children
32. StatementHis wife will also not miscarry
33. StatementLeaving your friend alone while he prays
34. StatementHe also makes the שכינה leave ישראל
35. QuestionWhat is the reward for waiting?