Gemara Clarity

Taanis 8a

תענית ח׳ ע״א

Taanit 8a

Learn Taanis 8a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Taanis 8a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Hard learning and its remedies, prayer and rain, faith, and strict judgment of the righteous: a chain of אגדות on פסוקים

Overview

This amud is a chain of אגדה teachings built on פסוקים. It opens with two readings of 'אם קהה הברזל' (קהלת 10:10), about learning that feels hard as iron. ריש לקיש blames a student's disorganized משנה and says the fix is more study, backed up by the review habits of ריש לקיש and רב אדא בר אהבה. רבא blames a teacher who does not show a friendly face, and says the fix is friends who speak up for the student. רבי אמי then reads the next פסוק about the snake and the charmer as being about rain: the heavens hold back rain when no one prays quietly and properly. The remedy is to go to someone who knows how to pray, and if that fails, to the חסיד of the generation. The גמרא also warns that pride after an answered prayer, and rivalry between scholars, bring anger into the world. Further teachings follow: the snake and לשון הרע, sincere prayer for a יחיד versus a ציבור, rain in the merit of בעלי אמנה, and exact judgment for those who are exacting with themselves. The amud ends with ריש לקיש comparing closed heavens to a woman in labor who cannot give birth, a teaching that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שֶׁתַּלְמוּדוֹ קָשֶׁה עָלָיו כַּבַּרְזֶל —

whose learning is as hard for him as iron —

בִּשְׁבִיל מִשְׁנָתוֹ

it is because of his משנה

שֶׁאֵינָהּ סְדוּרָה עָלָיו,

which is not organized for him,

שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְהוּא לֹא פָנִים קִלְקַל״.

as it is said: 'and he did not sharpen the face.'

The steps (25)

  1. Statementריש לקיש: hard learning comes from unorganized basics
  2. QuestionWhat is the fix?
  3. ResponseStudy more, and better yet, organize from the start
  4. ProofGreat scholars who reviewed many times before class
  5. Statementרבא: the teacher's unfriendly face is the cause
  6. ResponseThe fix: bring friends to speak up for you
  7. StatementNo rain because no one prays quietly
  8. ResponseThe fix: go to someone who knows how to pray
  9. StatementThe one who can pray but does not
  10. ResponseIf prayer fails, go to the חסיד of the generation
  11. ProofProof that פגיעה means prayer
  12. StatementBecoming proud after a successful prayer brings anger
  13. StatementTwo scholars who are not kind to each other stir up anger
  14. StatementThe animals ask the snake why it bites
  15. StatementPrayer is heard only when a person puts his whole self into it
  16. Challengeשמואל's teaching shows that even insincere prayer was forgiven
  17. ResolutionIndividual prayer versus community prayer
  18. StatementRain falls only because of faithful people
  19. StatementHow great faith is: the lesson of the weasel and the pit
  20. StatementBeing exacting with yourself brings exact judgment from above
  21. StatementA second source: God's anger matches a person's fear of Him
  22. Statementריש לקיש brings a third verse for exact judgment
  23. StatementJoy in suffering brings salvation to the world
  24. StatementClosed heavens are like a woman in labor who cannot give birth
  25. Proofבר קפרא's teaching backs up the comparison