BSD

Brochos 8b (2)

Nisan 27, 5786. 04/15/2026

Short notes.

1- The various instructions/advice רבא gave his children.

״וְאַל תֵּשְׁבוּ עַל מִטַּת אֲרַמִּית״.

אִיכָּא דְּאָמְרִי, לֹא תִּגְּנוּ בְּלֹא קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע,

וְאִיכָּא דְּאָמְרִי, דְּלָא תִּנְסְבוּ גִּיּוֹרְתָּא,

וְאִיכָּא דְּאָמְרִי, אֲרַמִּית מַמָּשׁ,

A – Do not sit on the bed of an Aramean woman means one should not go to sleep without reciting Shema, as by doing so, it is tantamount to sleeping in the bed of a non-Jew, as his conduct is unbecoming a Jew.

 We mentioned the saying by the Mashpia Reb Shlomo chaim Keselman about the importance of saying קריאת שמע שעל המטה.

“For if not, how can someone get up in the morning יתגבר כארי….when he went to sleep ווי א הונט” ?!

B -Others say: Do not sit on the bed of an Aramean woman means that one should not marry a woman who converted.

Now this version raised questions on the debate if רבא was a כהן. For if he was a כהן, then it’s not ‘advice’ but prohibited!

See here שו”ת שואל ומשיב תליתאה סי’ רכה

C- And some say: Do not sit on the bed of an Aramean woman. literally means that one should not sit on the bed of an Aramean, i.e., a non-Jewish woman.

This is based on a story with רב פפא:

וּמִשּׁוּם מַעֲשֶׂה דְּרַב פַּפָּא, דְּרַב פַּפָּא אֲזַל לְגַבֵּי אֲרַמִּית, הוֹצִיאָה לוֹ מִטָּה, אָמְרָה לוֹ: ״שֵׁב!״ אָמַר לָהּ: ״אֵינִי יוֹשֵׁב עַד שֶׁתַּגְבִּיהִי אֶת הַמִּטָּה״. הִגְבִּיהָה אֶת הַמִּטָּה וּמָצְאוּ שָׁם תִּינוֹק מֵת. מִכָּאן אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים: אָסוּר לֵישֵׁב עַל מִטַּת אֲרַמִּית.

Rav Pappa went to visit an Aramean woman. She took out a bed and she said to him: Sit. He said to her: I will not sit until you lift the sheets covering the bed. She did so and they found a dead baby there. Had Rav Pappa sat upon the bed, he would have been blamed for killing the baby. From that incident, the Sages said: One is prohibited from sitting on the bed of an Aramean woman.

רבינו ניסים writes a different version of this story.

Note the last few lines where he refers to his רבי, the גאון רבינו חושיאל, who seems to have not been alive at that time.

זכרנו לברכה ולתחיה!!

2 – Interesting גמרא where רבי עקיבא and רבן גמליאל advise בני ישראל to learn from other, non-Jewish cultures!

From Iranian/Persian goyim –  פרס ומדי-  no less…..

רבי עקיבא says three things of the מדיים I like, and we should learn from their practices.

1- When they cut meat, they cut it only on the table and not on their hands.

2– When they kiss, either as a show of affection or honor, they kiss only the back of the hand and do not give the person being kissed an unpleasant feeling.

3 – When they hold counsel (discuss secrets), they only hold counsel in the field so others will not hear their secrets.

רבן גמליאל says says three things of the פרסיים I like, and we should learn from their practices.

They practise צניעות

1- They are modest in their eating.

2– They are modest in the lavatory.

3– They are modest in ‘another matter’, i.e., marital relations.

3  – The first issue discussed is how this in not a contradiction to the prohibition of לא תחנם; meaning that one should not praise עובדי עבודה זרה.

As the גמרא says אסור לומר מה נאה כותי זה.

4 – The בן יהוידע suggests that these two תנאים were actually disparaging the Persians by saying that they only have 3 good customs that one should emulate…. Other than that there is nothing good about them….

5 – In relation to the above, we discussed the topic that ‘being a mentch’ in general and acting logical, is a חיוב מן התורה.

The famous פני יהושע further in our מסכתא, that something that is very logical has the power as if it is stated in תורה!

[In addition to the תרי”ג מצוות]

See this idea here in ליקוטי שיחות חלק לה 64.

This is perhaps the meaning of of  ‘אילו קרבנו לפני הר סיני ולא נתן לנו את התורה דיינו’

As all the מפרשים ask – what benefit is there by camping  לפני הר סיני and not receiving the תורה?

Maybe just by being present לפני הר סיני, even before receiving the תורה, we were Divinely obligated to live under a logical system.

 

A Gezunten Zummer to all.