BERACHOS 055a – הרואה – פרק תשיעי – ברכות, נה ע”א

Whoever prolongs his prayer and expects its fulfilment will in the end come to heartache,^[1]

מעיין בה - He thinks in his heart that his request will be granted, because he prayed with concentration.

כאב לב - When his request is not granted.

as it is said (Mishlei 13:12): "Hope deferred makes the heart sick"?

תוחלת - A term for prayer, as in "And Moshe besought" (Shemos 32).

And Rabbi Yitzchak said: Three things call a person's sins to mind, and these are they:

מזכירין עונותיו - Because through them his deeds are examined Above, as it is said: This one trusts in his merits — let us see what they are.

a leaning wall,

קיר נטוי - A place of danger.

and scrutinising one's prayer,

and handing over judgment of one's fellow to Heaven"?

מוסר דין - He trusts in his merits, that his fellow will be punished on his account.

This is not difficult.

This is where he dwells on it expectantly; that is where he does not dwell on it expectantly.

ה"ג - The reading is: הא דמעיין הא דלא מעיין.

And what does he do?

He increases his supplication.

"And one who lingers at his table,"^[2] — perhaps a poor man will come and he will give him [food].

As it is written (Yechezkel 41:22): "The altar of wood, three cubits high,"

and it is written (Yechezkel 41:22): "And he said to me, This is the table that is before Hashem."

It began with "altar" and ended with "table"?

Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Elazar both say: As long as the Beis Hamikdash stood, the altar atoned for Israel; now a person's table atones for him.

"And one who lingers in the lavatory."^[3]

Is that a virtue?!

But it was taught: "Ten things bring a person to hemorrhoids:^[4]

one who eats the leaves of reeds,

and the leaves of vines,

and vine tendrils,

לולבי גפנים - "Vedilles" (tendrils) in the vernacular.

and the rough parts of an animal,

מוריגי בהמה - Any meat of an animal that is not smooth but resembles a grooved threshing-sledge, such as the palate, the tongue, the inner stomach and the reticulum.

and the spine of a fish,

and salted fish that is not cooked enough,

and one who drinks the dregs of wine,

and one who wipes himself with lime,

and with potsherd,

and one who wipes himself with a pebble his fellow has wiped with,

and some say: also one who hangs himself in the lavatory excessively."

התולה - One who does not sit but [crouches] on his knees, so that his orifices open excessively.

It is not difficult.

This is where he lingers and hangs [on his knees]; that is where he lingers but does not hang.

הכי גרסינן - The reading is: הא דמאריך ותלי הא דמאריך ולא תלי.

As that matrona said to Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Il'ai: Your face resembles those of pig-breeders and usurers.^[5]

למגדלי חזירים ומלוי ברבית - Their profit is great without toil and they are content with their lot; therefore their faces glow.

He said to her: By my faith, both are forbidden to me!

הימנותא - A term of oath, i.e., in faith, both are forbidden to me.

Rather, there are twenty-four lavatories between my lodging and the study hall, and when I walk there I check myself at every one of them.^[6]

And Rav Yehudah said: "Three things shorten a person's days and years:

one who is given a Sefer Torah to read from and does not read,^[7]

a cup of blessing to bless over, and he does not bless,^[8]

and one who conducts himself with lordliness."^[9]

"A Sefer Torah to read from, and he does not read" — as it is written (Devarim 30:20): "For it is your life and the length of your days."

"A cup of blessing to bless over, and he does not bless" — as it is written (Bereishis 12:3): "And I will bless those who bless you."

ואברכה מברכיך - And one who leads Birkas Hamazon blesses the host.

"And one who conducts himself with lordliness" — for Rabbi Chama bar Chanina said: Why did Yosef die before his brothers?

יוסף מת קודם לאחיו - As it is written: "And Yosef died, and all his brothers" (Shemos 1).

Because he conducted himself with lordliness.

And Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: "Three things require [prayer for] mercy:

צריכים רחמים - One must ask for mercy that they come, because they are in the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, and they may come only with His permission.

a good king,

a good year,

and a good dream."

"A good king" — as it is written (Mishlei 21:1): "The king's heart is like streams of water in the hand of Hashem."

"A good year" — as it is written (Devarim 11:12): "The eyes of Hashem your G‑d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year."

"A good dream" — as it is written (Yeshayahu 38:16): "And You restore me to health [and make me live]."^[10]

Rabbi Yochanan said: "Three things the Holy One, blessed be He, proclaims Himself, and these are they:

famine,

and plenty,

and a good leader."

"Famine" — as it is written (Melachim II 8:1): "For Hashem has called for a famine, etc."

"Plenty" — as it is written (Yechezkel 36:29): "And I will call for the grain and increase it."

"A good leader" — as it is written (Shemos 31:1-2): "[And] Hashem [spoke] to Moshe, saying: See, I have called by name Betzalel, etc."^[11]

ראה קראתי בשם - "See" means: Is it in your heart? Set your eyes upon the matter.

Rabbi Yitzchak said: A leader is not appointed over the community unless the community is consulted,

as it is said (Shemos 35:30): "See, Hashem has called by name Betzalel."

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe: "Moshe, is Betzalel acceptable to you?"

He said to Him: "Master of the world, if he is acceptable before You, all the more so before me!"

He said to him: "Even so, go and tell them."

He went and said to Israel: "Is Betzalel acceptable to you?"

They said to him: "If he is acceptable before the Holy One, blessed be He, and before you, all the more so before us!"

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonasan: Betzalel was named for his wisdom.^[12]

When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe: "Go tell Betzalel: Make Me a Mishkan, an Ark and vessels,"

לך אמור לו לבצלאל עשה משכן ארון וכלים - For that is how they are arranged in Parshas Ki Sisa: "See, I have called by name, etc. ... the Tent of Meeting and the Ark of Testimony," and the whole passage. And Moshe told him: Make an Ark and vessels, such as the Table and the Menorah, and afterwards the Mishkan — for R' Y. holds that he told him in the order in which they are arranged in [the parshah of] "Let them take for Me an offering."

Moshe went, reversed it and said to him: "Make an Ark and vessels and a Mishkan."

He said to him: "Moshe our teacher, the way of the world is that a person builds a house and afterwards brings vessels into it,

and you say: 'Make me an Ark and vessels and a Mishkan'?

The vessels I make — where shall I put them?!

Perhaps this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, told you: 'Make a Mishkan, an Ark and vessels'?"

He said to him: "Perhaps you were in the shadow of G‑d (betzel E-l), and knew?"

Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Betzalel knew how to combine the letters with which heaven and earth were created.

אותיות שנבראו בהן שמים וארץ - Through combining them; they are taught in Sefer Yetzirah.

It is written here (Shemos 35:34): "And He filled him with the spirit of G‑d, with wisdom, with understanding and with knowledge,"

and it is written there (Mishlei 3:9): "Hashem founded the earth with wisdom, established the heavens with understanding,"

and it is written (Mishlei 3:20): "By His knowledge the depths were split."^[13]

Rabbi Yochanan said: The Holy One, blessed be He, gives wisdom only to one who already has wisdom,

as it is said (Daniel 2:21): "He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who know understanding."

Rav Tachlifa of the West heard this and repeated it before Rabbi Abahu.

He said to him: You derive it from there; we derive it from here:

As it is written (Shemos 31:6): "And in the heart of every wise-hearted one I have placed wisdom."

Rav Chisda said: Any dream, but not [one seen while] fasting.

כל חלום ולא טוות - A person may see all sorts of dreams, but let him not see one of those [seen] while fasting, for it is not good. Tevas is a term for fasting, as in "and he spent the night fasting," said of Daryavesh (Daniel 6).

And Rav Chisda said: A dream that is not interpreted is like a letter that is not read.

דלא מפשר - That was not interpreted.

כאגרתא דלא מקריא - It is neither good nor bad, for all dreams follow their interpretation.

And Rav Chisda said: Neither is a good dream fulfilled entirely, nor is a bad dream fulfilled entirely.

And Rav Chisda said: A bad dream is better than a good dream.

עדיף מחלמא טבא - For it brings a person to repentance.

And Rav Chisda said: A bad dream — its sadness is enough for it;

עציבותיה מסתייה - His sadness is enough: the sorrow a person feels over it cancels the dream.

a good dream — its joy is enough for it.

Rav Yosef said: A good dream — even for me, its joy dispels it.

אפילו לדידי - For I am blind (a euphemism, literally "of abundant light").

בדיחותיה מפכחא ליה - Cancels it.

And Rav Chisda said: A bad dream is harder than lashes,

מנגדא - Than lashes: it is harder on a person's body than lashes, because he worries over it.

as it is said (Koheles 3:4): "And G‑d has made it so that they fear before Him,"

and Rabbah bar bar Chanah said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: This is a bad dream.

זה חלום רע - Out of fear of it he will repent and humble himself.

(Yirmiyahu 23:28): "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak My word truthfully. What has the straw to do with the grain? says Hashem."

But what do grain and straw have to do with a dream?

Rather, Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: Just as there cannot be grain without straw, so there cannot be a dream without idle matters.^[14]

Rabbi Berechyah said: A dream, even if part of it is fulfilled, is not fulfilled entirely.

From where do we know this?

From Yosef, as it is written (Bereishis 37:9): "And behold, the sun and the moon, etc."^[15]

Tosfos

לך אמור לבצלאל עשה משכן ארון וכלים - And if you ask: Where do we find that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded that the Mishkan be made first? Surely in Parshas Terumah the Ark is written first! One may answer: In Parshas Ki Sisa it is written: "the Tent of Meeting and the Ark of Testimony."

Notes

1. 1. This continues the previous amud (54b), where Rav Yehudah listed three things that lengthen a person's days and years: prolonging one's prayer, lingering at one's table, and lingering in the lavatory. Here the Gemara challenges the first of them.
2. 2. The second item in Rav Yehudah's list: lingering over one's meal at the table. The Gemara now explains how this lengthens life.
3. 3. The third item: taking one's time in the lavatory rather than hurrying out. The Gemara asks how that could be a virtue.
4. 4. Tachtoniyos — hemorrhoids, a painful ailment of the anus. The beraisa lists foods and habits that bring it on.
5. 5. Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Il'ai was a Tanna, a disciple of Rabbi Akiva. A matrona was a Roman noblewoman. She implied that his ruddy face came from easy, forbidden profit — breeding pigs or lending at interest, both forbidden to a Jew.
6. 6. That is, the glow of his face came from good health, because he never held himself back from relieving himself — an example of lingering without straining.
7. 7. That is, he is called up to the Torah reading and declines.
8. 8. The kos shel berachah is the cup of wine over which Birkas Hamazon is recited when three or more have eaten together; offering it to someone honours him with leading the blessing.
9. 9. That is, acting with an air of authority and dominance over the community.
10. 10. The Gemara reads ותחלימני ("restore me to health") as related to חלום, "dream".
11. 11. A parnas is a leader appointed over the community — like Betzalel, appointed to lead the work of the Mishkan.
12. 12. The name Betzalel is read as betzel E-l, "in the shadow of G‑d," as Moshe says at the end of the passage.
13. 13. The same three terms — wisdom, understanding and knowledge — by which heaven and earth were made are said of Betzalel; hence he knew the combinations of letters used in creation.
14. 14. This teaching is cited by Rashi on Bereishis 37:10.
15. 15. In Yosef's second dream the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed to him. The moon stood for his mother Rachel, who had already died, so that part of the dream could not come true.