Berachos 62b

ברכות ס״ב ע״ב

Berakhot 62b

Learn Berachos 62b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 62b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Health and modesty, דוד's census and plague, and respect for הר הבית and the בית הכנסת (ברכות סב:)

Overview

This amud first collects practical advice about the body and about modesty. It opens with health tips from בן עזאי, שמואל and בר קפרא, then אביי's warning to keep your eyes down on the paths of מחוזא. Next come stories about the בית הכסא. רבי אבא rebukes רב ספרא for speaking from inside it, and the גמרא defends רב ספרא because holding oneself back is dangerous. A Roman who pushed רבי אלעזר out of a בית הכסא dies in his place. The גמרא then shows how שאול's צניעות in the cave saved his life from דוד. That leads into stories about דוד: he cut שאול's robe, he called ה׳ a 'מסית', and he counted ישראל without a כופר, which brought a plague that ended with the death of אבישי בן צרויה. Several אמוראים discuss what ה׳ 'saw' to stop the plague, and the גמרא concludes it was the בית המקדש. Finally the גמרא returns to the משנה's laws of respect for הר הבית: making it a shortcut (קפנדריא), when a shortcut through a בית הכנסת is allowed, and spitting. רבא rules that spitting is allowed in a בית הכנסת, and his challenger presses him to be strict in both places; רבא's reply comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (50)

1. Statementבן עזאי: where to lie and where to sit
2. Statementשמואל: sleep and relieving oneself at dawn strengthen the body
3. Statementבר קפרא's sayings: don't delay what your body needs
4. Statementבר קפרא: seize the opportunity when it comes
5. Statementאביי: keep your eyes down on the paths of מחוזא
6. StatementThe story: רב ספרא answers from inside the בית הכסא
7. Challengeרבי אבא's rebuke: you learned the ways of שעיר
8. ProofProof from the משנה about the honorable בית הכסא in the בית המקדש
9. ConclusionConclusion: speaking from the bathroom is not proper conduct
10. ResolutionWhy רב ספרא spoke anyway
11. ProofProof that holding back causes illness
12. StatementA Roman pushes רבי אלעזר out and is killed
13. Proofרבי אלעזר applies a פסוק to the Roman
14. Statementדוד's words to שאול in the cave
15. ChallengeThe verse should have said 'I said' and 'I spared'
16. ResolutionThe Torah said to kill שאול, but his modesty saved him
17. QuestionWhat was שאול's modesty?
18. ResponseThe verse about שאול entering the cave
19. StatementA fence within a fence, a cave within a cave
20. Statementשאול covered himself like a סוכה
21. StatementWhoever treats clothing with contempt will not benefit from it
22. ProofProof: old דוד could not get warm from clothes
23. Statementה׳ objects to being called a מסית
24. ProofThe simple matter: counting ישראל requires a כופר
25. Proofה׳ incited דוד to count ישראל
26. Statementדוד counted without a כופר, and a plague came
27. QuestionWhat does 'the appointed time' mean?
28. ResponseFrom slaughtering the תמיד until sprinkling its blood
29. ResponseUntil exactly midday
30. Statementה׳ tells the angel to take one great person, and אבישי dies
31. QuestionWhat did ה׳ see that made Him stop the plague?
32. Responseרב: ה׳ saw יעקב אבינו
33. Responseשמואל: ה׳ saw the ashes of יצחק
34. Responseרבי יצחק נפחא: ה׳ saw the atonement money
35. Responseרבי יוחנן: ה׳ saw the בית המקדש
36. ResponseTwo more אמוראים argue about what ה׳ saw
37. ConclusionThe גמרא sides with 'He saw the בית המקדש'
38. QuestionWhat does 'קפנדריא' mean?
39. Responseרבא: It means what it sounds like, a shortcut
40. Responseקפנדריא as a word-play: 'Instead of going around, I'll go through'
41. StatementA shortcut is allowed if you did not enter to take one
42. StatementIf there was a path there first, passing through is allowed
43. StatementOne who came to pray may exit through the other side
44. StatementSpitting on הר הבית is like spitting in ה׳'s eye, even today
45. Statementרבא: Spitting in a בית הכנסת is permitted, like wearing shoes
46. ChallengeWhy not compare spitting to taking a shortcut instead?
47. Resolutionרבא: The תנא himself learned spitting from shoes
48. ProofThe ברייתא: Rules for entering הר הבית and the shoe קל וחומר
49. Statementרבי יוסי בר יהודה: A different קל וחומר from sackcloth
50. ChallengeThe challenger explains: be strict in both places