“From when may one recite the kriat shema in the evening? From the time the kohanim enter to eat their terumah until the end of the…
Brachot: A New Cycle Begins
Rashi begins his commentary to Chumash asking why the Torah begins with the story of creation and not with the first mitzva given to the Jewish…
Brachot 61: For a Worthy Cause
The story of the martyrdom of Rabbi Akiva is well known. Defying the orders of the Roman government not to engage in Torah study, Rabbi Akiva…
Brachot 59: What a Blessing
One of the most well known blessings is that of dayan haemet, the blessing said upon the death of an immediate relative accepting G-d as the…
Brachot 55: Turning Dreams into Reality
The Talmud spends quite a number of pages discussing dreams. Taking their cue from the Bible itself, they put great stock in the significance of our…
Brachot 50: Gratitude
“From the blessings of man, we see if he is a scholar or not” (Brachot 50a). How, and more importantly, whom one blesses tells us much…
Brachot 47b: We Are All Am Ha'aratzim
The term am ha'aretz has come to mean an ignorant Jew, and is generally used in a pejorative manner. However, in Talmudic literature, an ignorant…
Brachot 43b: A Shameful Smell
A common feature of Talmudic editing is to group together a series of statements made by the same person. Generally, it is that person making a…
Brachot 43: Love of Zion
We human beings are naturally biased. Products of our environment, we are influenced by our cultural milieu, by our background, our life experiences…
Brachot 40: Getting It Wrong!
A striking feature of Talmud study is how it seamlessly moves from subject to subject; and how, almost out of the blue, one finds oneself discussing…
Brachot 39: Eat First, Ask Later
Jewish law prescribes not only that we make a blessing on food, but that we do so in the correct sequence. Thus, to cite a very basic example, we…
Brachot 38b: Practice, Practice, Practice!
As the Talmud is, at its core, an oral tradition—with the words before us a summary of “classroom”” discussion—it is…
Brachot 35: No, Thank You!
The opening Mishnah of the sixth chapter of Brachot discusses the various blessings one makes on different types of food. The Talmud attempts, but is…
Brachot 34a: Respect for the Congregation
In Talmudic times, the norm was that the chazzan literally prayed on behalf of the congregation. The people would listen and answer "amen," thus…
Brachot 32a: Forcing G-d to Forgive
One of the exciting aspects of Talmud study is the range of ideas presented, and the openness to expressing radical ideas—including those…
Brachot 31: Where to Pray
The Talmud spends a good deal of time discussing the proper frame of mind for prayer. In a rather obvious remark (yet, much easier said than done),…
Brachot 27: Too Close for Comfort?
The Gemara (Brachot 27a), in discussing the propriety of making an “early Shabbat”, records that Rav Yirmiya davened just behind his…
Daf Yomi Thoughts: Going for Gold
"Mei’emati korin et hashema b’arvit, from what time may one begin reciting the evening shema?" So begins the Talmud Bavli, the…