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Berakhot 4 for kids: David's Midnight Harp

ברכות ד׳

🎵 This daf explores how David's harp woke him at midnight to study Torah, and how his humility made him truly pious. It also explains why the Rabbis set midnight as a 'fence' for reciting the evening Shema, and ranks angels by how many flights they need.

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Stories from Berakhot 4

Words to know

Rashi and Tosafot on Berakhot 4 in simple English

Rashi on Berakhot 4a, in English Tab translation (32)
  1. Benayahu ben Yehoyada corresponds to the Sanhedrin — Because he was the head of the court.
  2. And Evyatar corresponds to the Urim VeTummim — For all the days of David, inquiries were made through Evyatar, until the war of Avshalom, when Evyatar inquired and it did not succeed for him, and Zadok inquired and it succeeded for him, as stated in Seder Olam; and he was then removed from the priesthood.
  3. And so it says: 'And Benayahu ben Yehoyada was over the Kereti and over the Peleti' — He was first, before them, for first they would seek permission [by consulting the Sanhedrin], and afterward inquire of the Urim VeTummim whether they would succeed.
  4. That they were decisive [koretim] in their words — Meaning that they would state matters that were fixed and final, neither to be diminished nor added to.
  5. The general of the king's army, Yoav — Meaning he would lead the men of war.
  6. What is the verse? — That a lyre was hung above his bed and would wake him.
  7. 'Awake, my glory' — Do not honor yourself with sleep as the other kings do.
  8. 'I will wake the dawn' — Other kings are woken by the dawn, but I wake the dawn.
  9. Lest Pharaoh's astrologers err — If I know how to pinpoint the exact time, they do not know how to pinpoint it, and before midnight actually arrives they will think it has arrived; since the plague will not yet have come, they will say Moses is a liar. Therefore it is better to adopt the phrase 'I do not know.'
  10. As the Master said — In Tractate Derekh Eretz.
  11. 'And you become entangled' — You will become caught and stumble in your words.
  12. The thirteenth going into the fourteenth — The night that had passed was the thirteenth, and the next day the fourteenth would arrive.
  13. 'My hands are soiled with blood' — For the women would show him blood of menstruation, to determine whether it was impure or pure, since there are appearances of blood in a woman that are pure.
  14. 'And with a fetus [shefir]' — This is the skin of the fetus in which the bones, sinews, and flesh are wrapped. There is a shefir for which the woman sits the days of impurity and purity — namely one that is clearly formed — as explained in Tractate Niddah (24b); and there is a shefir filled only with water and blood, which is not considered a fetus for her to count impurity and purity because of it.
  15. 'And with a placenta [shilya]' — As we learned (ibid. 26): there is no placenta without a fetus, and it is like a garment in which the fetus lies; it is called 'oshtidor' in Old French. And it was taught (ibid.): a placenta is no less than a handbreadth, beginning like a strand of woof-thread and ending like a lupine bean. They would bring it before him to examine whether it had the required size and was formed in the proper manner of a placenta, so that it could be established that a fetus had been within it and dissolved, and she would count the days of impurity and purity accordingly — or not, if it did not meet these criteria.
  16. 'Did I acquit, did I convict' — This applies to monetary cases and capital cases.
  17. 'Did I declare impure, did I declare pure' — This refers to the laws of ritual impurity and purity.
  18. Mefivoshet — [from the mouth of shame] Through the words of halakha that came from his mouth, there was shame for David, for sometimes David would err and Mefivoshet would say to him, 'You erred.'
  19. Therefore — In the merit that David made himself small [before Mefivoshet], he merited that Kilav would descend from him.
  20. Rather, his name was Daniel — In one place it is written (II Samuel 3:3), 'and his second was Kilav, of Avigail the wife of Naval,' and elsewhere it is written, 'and the second was Daniel, of Avigail' (I Chronicles 3).
  21. That he would embarrass Mefivoshet — For every father embarrasses the teacher, since he (Kilav/Daniel) became a leading authority in halakhic rulings.
  22. 'Had I not believed to see the goodness of the Lord' — They had already driven me away from fear of You, as it is said: 'For they have driven me out this day from attaching myself to the inheritance of the Lord, saying: Go, serve...' (I Samuel 26:19).
  23. There are dots over the word 'lulei' — To expound upon the dotting, which diminishes the meaning of the verse, indicating that it was not certain for him that he would see the goodness of the Lord. 'Lulei' is a term meaning 'if not,' like 'Had not the God of my father been with me' (Genesis 31:42).
  24. Lest sin cause it — This is the answer: one who is presumed pious remains so at all times; but this one (David) was uncertain whether he would see the goodness of the Lord, because he feared lest he sin and the sin prevent him from seeing that goodness.
  25. 'And Jacob was afraid' — Lest after the promise I sinned, as it was taught that sin can cause a promise not to be fulfilled.
  26. First entry — referring to when they came [to the Land of Israel] in the days of Joshua.
  27. Second entry — referring to when they went up from the Babylonian exile in the days of Ezra.
  28. They deserved to have a miracle performed for them — meaning, to come up with an upraised hand (in open, triumphant fashion).
  29. Rather, sin caused it — and they only went up by permission of Cyrus, and throughout the entire era of the Persian kings they remained subjugated to Cyrus, to Ahasuerus, and to the last Darius.
  30. According to whom do the Sages hold — regarding the meaning of 'when you lie down,' as stated in the Torah?
  31. If they hold like Rabbi Eliezer — who maintains that 'when you lie down' refers to the whole time that people are engaged in going to lie down, some earlier and some later.
  32. Let them say [explicitly] like Rabbi Eliezer — who says it is the end of the first watch, meaning that certainly anyone who intends to sleep has already lain down and is asleep by then.
Tosafot on Berakhot 4a, in English Tab translation (1)
  1. Benayahu zeh Sanhedrin — This is stated based on logical reasoning. 'Evyatar' refers to the Urim VeTummim, and so it says: 'And Benayahu ben Yehoyada was over the Kereti and over the Peleti' (II Samuel 20:23), meaning that he preceded them [the Kereti and Peleti]. If so, the Urim VeTummim came after Benayahu in the verse's order. Accordingly, Evyatar, who is mentioned after Benayahu, must correspond to the Urim VeTummim — this is how Rashi explains it. But this explanation is difficult: it is obvious that Evyatar was the priest in David's time, since there was no other priest left after they were all killed in Nov, the city of priests — so why would proof be needed for this? Furthermore, according to Rashi's version of the text, the verse 'Benayahu ben Yehoyada' does not appear anywhere in this form. Therefore Rabbeinu Tam reads the text differently, as found in I Chronicles 27:34: 'And after Ahitophel was Yehoyada ben Benayahu' — this refers to the Sanhedrin, and so it says, 'And Benayahu ben Yehoyada was over the Kereti and over the Peleti.' Rabbeinu Tam explains that Kereti and Peleti refer to the Sanhedrin: they are called Kereti because they render their decisions precisely (koretim), and Peleti because their halakhic rulings are wondrous (mufla'im), like the term 'mufla shebeveit din' (the most distinguished member of the court). And if you ask: how can one derive information about Yehoyada ben Benayahu from the verse about Benayahu ben Yehoyada, since the names appear in reverse order? The answer is that presumably the son filled his father's position, and just as the father was a member of the Sanhedrin, so too was the son.
Rashi on Berakhot 4b, in English Tab translation (21)
  1. And if they hold like Rabban Gamliel — this means that he understands 'when you lie down' to refer to whenever people lie down, and this includes the entire night.
  2. Let them say like Rabban Gamliel — that the time for reciting the evening Shema extends until dawn.
  3. From transgression — lest he rely on the time he still has left, as is taught in the baraita.
  4. A little — meaning a small amount.
  5. Because of being overcome by sleep — since sleep might overpower him and cause him to transgress the words of the Sages, they needed to warn him more strongly.
  6. From the one who says — this is discussed later, in the chapter 'Tefillat HaShachar' (Berakhot 27b).
  7. The Master said: he recites Shema — the evening Shema first, and afterward he prays.
  8. This supports Rabbi Yoḥanan — who said that in the evening too one recites Shema and then prays, in order to juxtapose the blessing of redemption to the prayer, unlike Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, who said one prays and then recites Shema.
  9. One who juxtaposes — and this applies all the more to the morning, since the primary redemption from Egypt occurred in the morning, as it is written, 'On the morrow of the Passover offering the children of Israel went out' (Numbers 33:3). David alluded to the juxtaposition of redemption to prayer in Psalms, as it is written, 'The Lord is my Rock and my Redeemer' (Psalms 19:15), followed immediately by 'May the Lord answer you on the day of trouble' (Psalms 20:1). And it is said in the Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot chapter 1: one who does not juxtapose redemption to prayer may be compared to a king's friend who came and knocked on the king's gate; the king came out and found he had already left, so he too left. Rather, a person should draw close to the Holy One, Blessed be He, and find favor with Him through praises and glorification of the Exodus from Egypt, and He draws close to him; and while still close to Him, he should present his requests.
  10. They instituted them in the middle — between the two recitations of Shema they instituted all the day's prayers, since he holds that the evening prayer precedes the Shema.
  11. There was no redemption in the evening — therefore the evening redemption is not significant enough to warrant juxtaposing prayer to it.
  12. Just as upon rising, Shema is recited and then prayer — for in the morning all agree that one must juxtapose redemption to prayer.
  13. Three times — corresponding to the three daily prayers.
  14. Because it contains two [qualities] — it is composed as an alphabetical acrostic, and it contains praise for God's providing sustenance to every living being.
  15. Even so — even though David omitted the verse for the letter 'nun' because of the 'falling' [nefilah] it alludes to, not wishing to hint at it, he nevertheless went back and alluded to the nearness of the fall immediately afterward.
  16. 'And he flew to me' — in a single flight, without pausing in between.
  17. 'Flying swiftly' — in two flights, [i.e., with a pause in between].
  18. 'In one' — in a single flight.
  19. 'Say in your hearts' — recite what is written 'upon your heart' (Deuteronomy 6), [referring to the Shema].
  20. 'Upon your beds' — as it is stated, 'when you lie down' (ibid.).
  21. 'And be still' — meaning, sleep afterward.
Tosafot on Berakhot 4b, in English Tab translation (2)
  1. He recites Shema and prays — From here it is implied that from the time the period for reciting the evening Shema arrives, one should not eat a meal until he has recited Shema and prayed the evening prayer.
  2. As Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Who is one who is assured of a place in the World-to-Come, etc. — Regarding our custom of saying 'Yir'u Eineinu' and other verses after 'Hashkivenu': it appears that since the Sages instituted these, they are considered like an extension of the blessing of redemption, instituted so that meanwhile one's fellow can also finish praying, so that no one leaves the synagogue until each has completed his prayer. Also, those verses contain eighteen mentions of God's name corresponding to the eighteen blessings of the Amidah, and since they instituted saying those verses, they also instituted saying the concluding blessing of 'Yir'u Eineinu.' The halakha follows Rabbi Yoḥanan, since the baraita supports him, and so Halakhot Gedolot ruled. If so, one must be careful not to speak between the blessing of redemption in the evening and the Amidah. However, in Seder Rav Amram it is explained that our custom of saying Kaddish between the blessing of redemption and the evening prayer teaches that we do not require juxtaposing the evening redemption to the prayer, because the evening prayer is optional. But this is not correct, for if so, Rabbi Yoḥanan would hold that the evening prayer is obligatory, since this is a dispute between Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan, and the halakha follows Rabbi Yoḥanan. It is proper to be stringent and careful not to speak in between. And if one asks: is this not halakha contradicting halakha, since we rule that the evening prayer is optional, yet here we rule like Rabbi Yoḥanan? One must answer that even if Rabbi Yoḥanan holds like Rav that it is optional, nevertheless he requires juxtaposing [redemption to prayer]. If so, we too should juxtapose them.

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 4.