Kids Daf Quest

Daf Yomi for kids · Talmud Bavli · Masechet Berakhot

Berakhot 18 for kids: Kind to Those Who Passed Away

ברכות י״ח

🕯️ This daf talks about mourners and which mitzvot they do before a burial. It also tells stories about the respect we show to people who have passed away, and how Shmuel found money that belonged to orphans.

Daf Yomi day:

📖 Open Berakhot 18a in Daf QuestOpen Berakhot 18b in Daf Quest

In the app: the Gemara with Rashi and Tosafot, the printed page, games made from this daf, play coins and treasure chests.

Stories from Berakhot 18

Words to know

Rashi and Tosafot on Berakhot 18 in simple English

Rashi on Berakhot 18a, in English Tab translation (21)
  1. And they do not recite a blessing for him — Others do not need to recite the blessing over bread on his behalf.
  2. And they do not invite him to join in Grace — He cannot be included with two others to form a group of three for the invitation (zimun).
  3. Conjugal relations is the difference between them — According to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel he is obligated, but this refers to the Shabbat night obligation (onah).
  4. In any case it is taught that he is exempt from Shema and from all blessings — Even when he is eating in someone else's house.
  5. He explained — Rav Pappa's explanation means that this teaching of exemption applies to one who has no other house, which is why it says he turns his face away and eats [in the same room].
  6. Rav Ashi said — Actually the whole baraita, and our mishnah as well, exempt him even in another house, since whatever he is obligated to bury is considered as lying before him.
  7. 'And Abraham arose...' and it is written, 'that I may bury my dead from before me' — yet at that very moment the deceased was not literally lying before him.
  8. One who watches him — another person who is not his relative, but merely watches over him.
  9. He occupies four cubits for the purpose of Shema — It is forbidden to recite [Shema] within his four cubits, because of [the prohibition against] mocking the poor.
  10. He is exempt from Shema — because he is occupied with a mitzvah [and one engaged in a mitzvah is exempt from another].
  11. They are concerned about mice — The first tanna is concerned about mice even on a boat.
  12. A saddlebag — A large leather sack.
  13. And if he was afraid — and needed to ride the horse and hurry.
  14. Rather, it refers to the latter clause — 'if he was afraid,' he may ride.
  15. 'He who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord' — Read it as: one who lends to [i.e., escorts] the Omnipresent is one who is gracious to the poor; and there is no one poorer than the dead, so one who accompanies him is as though he lends to the Omnipresent.
  16. He raised it — He lifted it up.
  17. You did not repeat it — You did not go over it a second time in order to reflect on it.
  18. These are the righteous — What does it mean that they 'know' they will die? They take the day of death to heart and withdraw their hands from sin; but the wicked know nothing, for they act as if they do not know, and so they sin.
  19. He struck — He broke the strength ('teeth') of the generations of both Temples, for there was none like him among them.
  20. Ariel — This is the Temple, as it says, 'Woe, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped' (Isaiah 29:1).
  21. Moab — [So called] because David built it, since he was descended from Ruth the Moabite.
Tosafot on Berakhot 18a, in English Tab translation (5)
  1. And a Torah scroll in his arm and reads from it — The same law applies that it is also forbidden to recite from memory [in a cemetery].
  2. And rides on them — But if he slings them behind him on the donkey [rather than sitting on them directly], it is permissible. The same applies to a Torah scroll. And even if you wished to forbid this with a Torah scroll, with the Prophets and Writings it would be permissible, since the baraita specifically mentions a Torah scroll. Nor is it reasonable to say this leniency applies only because of the permission granted on account of gentiles and highwaymen, for that case is obviously permitted — why would it otherwise be forbidden? Moreover, it is stated explicitly in the Jerusalem Talmud that a saddlebag full of books, or one containing bones of the deceased, may be slung behind oneself and ridden upon.
  3. Rather, on the latter clause, because of highwaymen it is permitted to ride upon them — The same law applies that it is permitted to carry them behind oneself even without highwaymen present.
  4. Tomorrow they will come to join us, and now they mock us — This is difficult: Don't we say in the chapter 'HaTekhelet' (Menachot 41a) that at that time we certainly do place [tzitzit strings] on them, meaning tzitzit are placed on their garments, because of the prohibition of mocking the poor? One can answer that the meaning here is that the dead are shamed by the fact that the living are obligated in mitzvot while the dead are not, and 'greater is one who is commanded [and fulfills] than one who fulfills without being commanded,' etc. That statement in Menachot about tekhelet refers to placing strings on garments for the dead, and now we remove them — so what is the difference? Rabbenu Tam says: specifically those [in that earlier generation], who were all accustomed in their lifetime to wear a four-cornered garment and tzitzit, and all those involved in burying them also wore tzitzit, so it would be mocking the poor if the dead lacked tzitzit — or because it is written 'le-dorotam' (in their generations), read as 'le-dor tam' (for a perfect generation). But we, who even in our own lifetimes do not have the constant custom of wearing tzitzit, if we placed tzitzit on them it would be like mocking the poor. And if you say we should place them only on those who had tzitzit in their lifetime, then it would be mocking the poor with regard to others [who did not]. Rabbenu Tam further said that he heard from the people of Lotir that they remove the tzitzit, because tzitzit total 613 when counting the eight strings and five knots, so wearing tzitzit makes it appear as though one fulfilled the entire Torah, which would seem deceptive. But this does not seem correct, for even the living nowadays wear tzitzit despite not having fulfilled the whole Torah. However, one can say that we rely on Tractate Semachot (chapter 12), which states that Abba Shaul instructed his sons to place tekhelet threads [on the shrouds], and even though the Gemara disagrees with him, there are matters in which we set aside our Gemara and follow external works, such as the Vision of Isaiah in the Pesikta, and like 'Vayechal,' which appears in the Gemara (Megillah 31a) stating that on fast days we read the blessings and curses, and which is explained in Tractate Soferim (chapter 17). And Ritzba was accustomed not to remove the tzitzit from the corner of the garment, but rather to tie and tuck them within the corner, so as to avoid the dispute over whether the dead are obligated in tzitzit: if they are, they have tzitzit; and if not, the tzitzit are simply concealed.
  5. Two Ariel of Moab — Named for David and Solomon, who built the Temple and descended from Ruth the Moabite.
Rashi on Berakhot 18b, in English Tab translation (30)
  1. Gezizei deverada — blocks of ice and frost, called 'glanza' in Old French; this refers to the 'snowy day' mentioned in the verse.
  2. Venachat vetaval lekeiro — he descended and immersed himself [to purify from impurity], in order to be able to engage in Torah study.
  3. Detana Sifra devei Rav — this refers to Torat Kohanim (the halakhic midrash on Leviticus).
  4. Chalal rasha — this phrase ["slain, wicked"] refers to Zedekiah, who was still alive in the days of Ezekiel, yet the prophet calls him 'slain.'
  5. Lekarita — to oversee the work on their [family's] estates.
  6. Aykar talmudayhu — their learning became lost to them from forgetting; 'aykar' means it became burdensome to them because of forgetfulness.
  7. Tza'ara didhu — actual physical pain of the body, such as the bite of a worm.
  8. Shetei ruchot — of two young women who had died.
  9. Venishma — and we will find out what punishment has been decreed today for the world, for the world is judged on Rosh Hashanah.
  10. Hapargod — the curtain that separates the place of the Divine Presence [from the world].
  11. Bireviah rishona — the first rainy season. There are three rain periods: the early one, the second, and the third. The first falls on the seventeenth of Marcheshvan, the second on the twenty-third of that month, and the third on the New Moon of Kislev.
  12. Barad malkeh oto — hail will strike it, for hail is destined to fall near the time of the first rainy season; crops sown already by then have hardened, and the hail breaks them, whereas crops sown in the second rainy season are still soft and are not broken by the hail, as stated in the verse: 'and the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear... but the wheat and the spelt were not struck' (Exodus 9:32).
  13. Shidafon — blight strikes the soft crop but does not blight the hardened crop.
  14. Alma yade'i — so, apparently, they know things that are said among the living.
  15. Lechatzar mavet — to the cemetery.
  16. Betzinura dedasha — in the hole in the doorframe around which the door pivots.
  17. Masrikai — my comb.
  18. Govta — a reed; and because her daughter had died, she said this out of bitterness and anguish.
  19. Behadi pelanita de'atya lemachar — together with so-and-so who is coming tomorrow, to be buried.
  20. Alma yade'i — so, apparently, they know what happens, since this one knew that the other was dying and about to pass away.
  21. Dilma duma — perhaps this refers to the angel appointed over the dead, who goes ahead and announces, 'Now so-and-so is coming,' but [the dead] do not otherwise know matters concerning the living.
  22. Ba'ina Abba — 'I want father' — that was indeed his name.
  23. Amar lei — the dead were revealed to him as though they were outside their graves, sitting in a circle.
  24. Chazyei — Shmuel saw his companion Levi sitting outside the session of the other deceased.
  25. Kol kehanach shenei — the number of years that you did not enter the session of Rabbi Afes, [as recounted] in tractate Ketubot, in the chapter 'HaNosei et HaIsha' (Ketubot 103b).
  26. Ḥazyei — Shmuel saw his father crying and laughing.
  27. Dele'agel atit — You will quickly be buried.
  28. Be'amta dereicha — the entire structure of the mill's base is called 'the arm of the millstone.'
  29. Alma yad'ei — Apparently they know who is considered among the living.
  30. Zot ha'aretz — This is written regarding the death of Moses.
Tosafot on Berakhot 18b, in English Tab translation (4)
  1. Son of a living man — is that to say — In precise texts the word is written 'chai' (living) but read as 'chayil' (valiant). From the written form, the Gemara derives its teaching, since it is written not 'chayil' but 'chai.'
  2. In the pit — This refers to the fact that the book of Leviticus is in the middle of the five books of the Torah.
  3. The Sifra of the school of Rav — The Gemara derives this designation from the word 'Ari' (lion), indicating that this work is the most difficult of the halakhic works.
  4. Apparently they know — This is proven from the fact that the spirit said 'you are coming to be like a calf (led to slaughter),' and one cannot answer as above that she simply spoke first and told them beforehand. For that explanation would mean she knew only at that very moment, but she could not have known so far in advance, since she herself does not know the future.

Sources

Kid summary and story cards written by Tab from the William Davidson Edition English (Sefaria, CC BY-NC 4.0).

Tab translation (machine-assisted) of Rashi and Tosafot, from the Vilna Edition Hebrew (public domain) on Sefaria. May contain mistakes.

In the app, the Gemara text comes from Sefaria (William Davidson Edition, CC BY-NC 4.0; Hebrew/Aramaic Vilna Edition). Rashi and Tosafot Hebrew: Vilna Edition (public domain) via Sefaria.

Also spelled: Berachot, Brachos, Berachos, Brachot 18.