Commento su Berakhot 3:7

מי שמתו מוטל לפניו – One of the relatives that is obligated to observe mourning rituals on them when [one’s dead relative] is lying before him for burial.

Introduction At the end of the last chapter we learned that some people might be exempt from reciting the Shema because they couldn’t have proper intention. There the mishnah referred to bridegroom’s celebrating his wedding night. The first two mishnayot of the third chapter deal with exemptions due to participation in a funeral.

פטור מקריאת שמע – because he is too preoccupied with the Mitzvah [of burial].

One whose dead [relative] lies before him is exempt from the recital of the Shema and from the tefillah and from tefillin. A person who has not yet buried his dead is called an “onen.” He is exempt from reciting the Shema, the tefillah (the Amidah) and putting on tefillin. In the Talmud they add that he is exempt from all of the mitzvoth in the Torah. It is as if he, along with his unburied dead relative, are considered to be out of the realm of normal human beings who are obligated to the commandments. Until he buries the dead, he can’t really participate in other normal societal interactions, including mitzvot.

וחילופיהן – since it is the practice that people switch off because everyone wants to have the merit of [participating in ] the Mitzvah of [accompanying the dead].

The bearers of the bier and their replacements, and their replacements’ replacement, both those in front of the bier and those behind the bier those needed to carry the bier, are exempt; but those not needed to carry the bier are obligated. The onen is exempt from the Shema and other mitzvoth because there is just no way he can concentrate on fulfilling them until he has buried his dead. The pallbearers are exempt because they are too busy and concentrating on other matters and would not be able to have the proper intention. The mishnah does not distinguish between those walking in front of the bier (the stretcher with the dead body on it) and those walking behind it. The only distinction it makes is between those who are needed to carry the bier and those not needed. The pallbearers are exempt from Shema only if they are needed. If they are not needed they can recite the Shema while walking with the bier.

את שלפני המטה – those whom are invited to carry [the bier] when the bier arrives near them [on the way to the cemetery].

Both, however, are exempt from [saying] the tefillah. In contrast, even those not needed to carry the bier are exempt from reciting the tefillah (the Amidah). Some explain that this is because the Amidah is not from the Torah while the Shema is. A different explanation, one that I think is more cogent, is that the tefillah requires greater concentration than does the Shema (see above, mishnah 2:4). A third explanation is that one cannot walk while reciting the Amidah but one can stop long enough to recite the first line of the Shema and then recite the rest while walking with the bier.

את שלאחר המטה – that is to say, whether [we are referring to] those who are in front of the bier or those who are behind the bier, if the bier is in need of them to help carry it, they are exempt [from reciting the Morning Shema].

ואת שאין המטה צריך בהם – such as those who walk to accompany the deceased to merely honor him/her, are required [to recite the Shema].

אלו ואלו פטורים מן התפילה – Since it (the recitation of the Amidah)is not mandated by the Torah like the Recitation of the Shema, and there are those who say because it (the recitation of the Amidah) requires greater spiritual intention.

להתחיל ולגמור – the first paragraph of the Recitation of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

Introduction This mishnah continues to deal with who is exempt and who is liable to recite the Shema at a funeral.

לשורה – that they would make row upon row [of comforters] surrounding the mourner to comfort him when returning from the grave.

When they have buried the dead and returned [from the grave], if they have time to begin and finish [the Shema] before they get to the row, they should begin, but if not they should not begin. Once the dead has been buried, people proceed from the grave out towards the edge of the cemetery where they form a line to console the mourners. If while going from the grave to the line they have time to recite the Shema, they should do so, but only if they can finish the Shema before they get to the line. If they cannot, they should not begin. Rather they should wait to begin the Shema until they are done consoling the mourners.

ואם לאו – that the path from the graveside until the place when they make the rows [of condolence for the mourner] and there is no time to begin and complete [the recitation of the Shema] until they would arrive at the rows [of condolence].

Those who stand in the row, those on the inside are exempt, but those on the outside are liable. When standing in the row, only those on the inside, who actually see the mourners, are exempt from the Shema. Those on the outside who can’t see the mourners are obligated to say the Shema because they are not actually participating.

הפנימים – those who can see the mourners.

וחיצונים – those who cannot see the faces of the mourners.

נשים ועבדים פטורים מקריאת שמע – Even though it is a “positive, time-bound commandment”, and women are exempt from all “positive time-bound commandments,” you may possibly think we say (i.e., you may be misled to interpret) that [women] should be required, since there is [mention concerning the recitation of the Shema of] the “sovereignty of heaven,” it comes to teach us [that women are nevertheless exempt]; for [the wearing of] Tefillin is a “positive time-bound” commandment, but the nighttime and the Sabbath (and Festivals) are not times [for the wearing of Tefillin] and that since there is a juxtaposition between the [commandments of] Tefillin to that of the Mezuzah (which women are obligated to observe -see especially Deuteronomy 6:8-9) that women should be obligated [in the Mitzvah of Tefillin], it comes to teach us that this is not the case.

Introduction This mishnah deals with other categories of people who are exempt from the Shema and some other mitzvoth.

קטנים – [A minor] who has arrived at the age of where he can be educated, they [the Rabbis] did not place upon his father the obligation to teach him to recite the Shema since he is not always with him at the times when the Shema is recited (morning and evening) and neither with Tefillin since [even] a normal minor does not know how to guard his Tefillin [properly] so that he would not [desecrate the Tefillin] by breaking wind in them.

Women, slaves and minors are exempt from reciting the Shema and putting on tefillin, but are obligated for tefillah, mezuzah, and Birkat Hamazon (the blessing after meals). The usual explanation for this mishnah is that women, children and slaves are exempt from time-bound positive commandments and obligated for non-time bound positive commandments, as well as all negative ones. The Shema is clearly time-bound and positive, as is tefillin (it is not worn at night, and according to most, not on Shabbat or Yom Tov). The mezuzah is clearly a positive non-time bound commandment. Birkat Hamazon is recited whenever someone eats, so it too is not time bound. The only problem with the list in the mishnah is that tefillah seems to be time-bound, as we shall learn in the next chapter. There are several answers to this. First of all, although each tefillah is time-bound, there is no time during the day when one could not recite the Amidah. When the time for reciting the morning Amidah is over, one can recite the Minhah (afternoon) Amidah, when Minhah time is over, one can recite the Maariv (evening) Amidah. Therefore, although each tefillah has its own set time, overall the mitzvah is not considered to be time-bound. A different explanation is that although the mitzvah is time-bound, women, children and slaves are obligated because every person is required to make requests and ask mercy directly from God. Tefillah is about asking for one’s needs and praising God for the needs that have already been fulfilled and women, children and slaves have needs as do free adult men. While I certainly don’t have the definitive answer to why women, children and slaves are exempt from these positive time-bound commandments, it seems that a strong possibility is that they don’t have full control over their own lives. They are, for the most part, subject to the free adult men with whom they live (father, husband, master). Since they don’t have control over their own lives, they are not subject to halakhot restricted in time. One problem with this theory is that a divorcee and a widow are still exempt, even though they are not attached to any man. My answer would be that the halakhah is addressed to the most common situation, and women are usually in some way attached to a man.

וחייבין בתפילה – Since Tefillah/prayer [The Amidah] is [a request] for mercy, and it is Rabbinic (as opposed to Biblical in nature), and the Rabbis established that even women [are obligated in Tefillah] and to educate their young in praying.

ובמזוזה – For you might have said that since there is a juxtaposition between it [Mezuzah] and [the commandment to] study Torah (see especially Deuteronomy 11:19-20), that just as women are exempt from [the commandment of] studying Torah, as it is written (Deuteronomy 11:19), “and teach them to your children” – and not your daughters, so also here that they [women] would be exempted from [the commandment of [putting up a] Mezuzah, even though it [the commandment concerning the Mezuzah] is a “positive commandment which is NOT time-bound,” nevertheless, it comes to teach us [that women are required to observe the commandment of Mezuzah].

ובברכת המזון – We must ask if women are obligated [in the recitation of] the Blessing After the Meal/Birkat HaMazon from [the perspective of] the Torah-law, since it is written (Deuteronomy 8:10) “When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you],” this is a “positive commandment that is not time-bound” or possibly, [women] are not Torah-bound obligated to recite the Prayer after the Meal/Birkat HaMazon because it is written (Deuteronomy 8:10), “for the good land which He has given you,” but the land was not given to females, and it has not been [adequately] deduced.

בעל קרי – Ezra (444 BCE) decreed that a person who suffered a nocturnal emission/pollution should not read from the Torah, whether he saw the emission as an unavoidable accident or whether it occurred willingly until he immerses himself [in a Mikveh/ritual bath], and not because of [ritual] defilement or ritual purity since the words of the Torah cannot receive defilement but in order that Sages should not be found with their wives like chickens.

Introduction According to Leviticus 15:16 a man who has had a seminal emission is impure for one day. This does not, however, impede his ability to recite blessings and study Torah. According to the rabbis, Ezra added to the Torah’s ruling that men who had a seminal emission could not recite the words of the Torah or pray until they had immersed. The intention of this decree seems to have been to keep talmud scholars from having too frequent sex with their wives. The Talmud states that this decree was already no longer observed by Talmudic times. Our mishnah talks about how one who has had a seminal emission should act when it comes to reciting the Shema and other prayers and blessings.

מהרהר – He recites the Shema to himself when the time arrives for the recitation of the Shema.

One who has had a seminal emission utters the words [of the Shema] in his heart and he doesn’t say a blessing, neither before nor after. One who has had a seminal emission and has not yet had the opportunity to go to the mikveh should recite the Shema in his heart and not say it out loud. Since he can recite it “in his heart,” as we learned in 2:3, there is a way to recite it without transgressing Ezra’s decree. However, the blessings before and after are only considered to be “derabanan”, of rabbinic authority. Hence, the rabbis did not require him to recite them at all, neither the blessings before the Shema nor those after.

ואינו מברך לפניה ולאחריה – And even meditating to himself since these blessings are not a Torah-requirement (the blessings before and after the Shema), the Rabbis did not require it of him.

Over food he says a blessing afterwards, but not the blessing before. Rabbi Judah says: he blesses both before them and after them. The blessings after the food are considered to be “deoraita” or Toraitic origin, due to Deuteronomy 8:10, “And you shall eat, and you shall be satisfied and you shall bless the Lord your God.” Since they are “deoraita” the authority of Ezra’s decree, considered to be “derabanan” does not uproot them. They must be recited by the one who has had a seminal emission. In contrast, the blessing before is only derabanan and hence is not recited. Rabbi Judah disagrees with both of the above rules that the one who has had a seminal emission does not recite the blessings before or after the Shema or food. He holds that he is still obligated to recite these blessings. Commentators disagree over whether or not Rabbi Judah thinks that he recites the Shema out loud.

ועל המזון מברך לאחריה – Since it is an obligation of the Torah (the recitation of the Blessing following the Meal).

But he does not recite the blessing before, since it is not a Torah-requirement, and the Halakha has already been decided that [the requirement of] immersion has been voided, and those who have had a nocturnal emission recite the Shema in the normal manner and engage in Torah [study] and pray, reciting all the blessings and he should not contest the legality of the matter.

לא יפסיק – [He should not interrupt] his prayer completely, but rather shorten each blessing recited.

Introduction The first half of the mishnah continues to deal with various halakhot concerning a man who has had a seminal emission. The second half teaches that one must distance oneself from foul-smelling things before one recites the Shema.

עד דלא תנץ החמה – Since the ultra-pious ones are exacting upon themselves to complete (the Amidah) with sunrise, as it states (Psalms 72:5), “Let them fear You as long as the sun shines [while the moon lasts, generations on end].”

If a man was standing saying the tefillah and he remembers that he is one who has had a seminal emission, he should not stop but he should abbreviate [the blessings]. A person is in the middle of reciting the Amidah when he realizes that at some previous time he had a seminal emission and that he had not yet immersed. According to Ezra’s decree he should not have recited the Amidah until he immersed. Nevertheless, he shouldn’t stop his Amidah, because he has already started. Rather he should recite a shorter version of each blessing, and just recite the introduction and the closing words.

יתכסה במים – and especially in turbid waters, where he cannot view his virile membrum but not in clear waters.

If he went down to immerse, if he is able to come up and cover himself and recite the Shema before the rising of the sun, he should go up and cover himself and recite, but if not he should cover himself with the water and recite. A person who has had an emission goes down to a mikveh to immerse in the morning. When he comes up he is pure and can recite the Shema. The question is should he wait until he is dressed to do so, or is the covering provided by the water sufficient. The mishnah rules that if he can cover himself up properly before the rising of the sun, then he should do so before he recites the Shema. The best, or perhaps even mandated, time to recite the Shema is at the rising of the sun (see 1:2 above, which also implied that the Shema should be recited before the rising of the sun). If he will not have enough time, then he can cover himself with the water and recite the Shema while still in the mikveh.

במים רעים – badly smelling waters

He should not cover himself either with foul water or with steeping water until he pours fresh water into it. One shouldn’t recite the Shema near any foul smelling thing, and one certainly shouldn’t stand in foul-smelling water and recite the Shema. If one is standing in foul-smelling water or in steeping water (water used to soften flax) he must add in fresh water until the smell has dissipated.

במי משרה – where they steep flax in them

How far should he remove himself from it and from excrement? Four cubits. It is forbidden to recite the Shema while standing within close distance of feces or other noxious objects. Note that this must have been quite difficult in a time when they didn’t have indoor plumbing or any easy means to clear waste. One must distance oneself four cubits (about 2 meters) from the feces or foul water before one recites the Shema.

עד שיטיל לתוכן מים – Our Mishnah is elliptical [and is missing something] and this is what should be taught: that he should not recite [the Shema] near urine until he places water in it and the measure of the water that he should place in it [to negate] the urine from one urination would be [the equivalent of] one-fourth of a LOG (1 LOG = 6 eggs in volume).

וכמה ירחיק מהם – [He should distance himself] from the urine so that he did not place in them water and from his defecation.

ארבע אמות – And especially o his sides or in back of him but in front of him, he should distance [himself as far as he can see.

זב שראה קרי – Even though that he [who is afflicted with gonorrhea] has made himself impure for seven days because of his gonorrhea, and his immersion [in the Mikveh/ritual bath] does not purify him, nevertheless, he requires immersion according to the words of the Torah, according to the enactment of Ezra , since one who has a nocturnal emission and a menstruant woman , if she came to pray and discharged her seed, she considered to be like one who had a nocturnal emission, as a woman who releases her seed is defiled through her emission for three days after sexual intercourse. And from then onwards, her seed has decayed in her body and its not appropriate of having a fetus created from it. And this is the explanation concerning a menstruant woman who emits her seed during the time of intercourse which she engaged in the previous night before she saw it and when she engages in sex and finds that she is a menstruant woman; after she had engaged in intercourse, she requires ritual immersion.

Introduction This mishnah deals with people who are already impure who then have contact with semen, either a man through his own semen or a woman through intercourse with a man.

ורבי יהודה פוטר – Even a woman who engaged in sexual intercourse and saw that she had become a menstruant woman, Rabbi Yehuda exempts, even though ab initio, she should immerse herself, and one can say that her obligation of immersion was prevented. And we have already written above that she did not have to engage in ritual immersion because it was a decree that most of the community could not could not follow.

A zav who has had a seminal emission and a niddah from whom semen escapes and a woman who becomes niddah during intercourse require a mikveh. Rabbi Judah exempts them. A zav is a man who has had an abnormal genital discharge. He is impure for seven days (Leviticus 15:13). Similary, a niddah, a menstruating woman, is impure for seven days. The mishnah says that if either of these people have contact with semen, the man through an ejaculation or the woman by discharging semen some time after intercourse, or through intercourse itself, they must go to the mikveh due to the contact with semen even though they will still be impure after the mikveh. Ezra had decreed that anyone who had a seminal emission had to immerse in order to be allowed to study Torah and to pray. This immersion is mandatory even if the person will continue to be impure afterwards. Furthermore, Ezra prohibited only people who were impure because of semen to study Torah and to pray. The zav and the niddah are not prohibited even though they too are impure. Rabbi Judah says that since the immersion will not make them pure, there is no reason for them to immerse.