Elu v. Elu

Rebbe Zera said in the name of Rebbe Chanina, who said in the name of Rav: Standing next to this pillar, Rebbe Yishmael the son of Rebbe Yossi said the Shabbat prayer on Friday afternoon.

When Ulla came, he said: It was a date palm, not a pillar; it was not Rebbe Yishmael the son of Rebbe Yossi, but Rebbe Elazar the son of Rebbe Yossi; and it was not the Shabbat prayer on Friday afternoon, it was the weekday prayer on Shabbat afternoon.

(Brachot 27b)

Waiting for the Miracle

Rav Pappa said to Abaye: Why did miracles occur for the earlier generation and not for us?

It's not as if they knew more Torah than we do.

In the time of Rav Yehuda, nobody studied anything except for Nezikin, and we study all six tractates of the Mishna.

And when Rav Yehuda taught the following Mishna from Uktzin, "If a woman is preserving a vegetable in a pot" (Taharot 2:1, and some say that Rav Pappa actually invoked the Mishna "Olives that are pressed together with their leaves are tahor", Uktzin 2:1), he would say, "This material is more confusing than all of the disputes of Rav and Shmuel put togther!"  We, on the other hand, study Uktzin in 13 different yeshivas.

But when there was a drought, all Rav Yehuda had to do was remove one shoe, and God brought the rain; but we afflict ourselves and cry out, and nothing happens.

Abbaye replied: They sacrificed themselves to sanctify the Holy Name; we do not sacrifice ourselves to sanctify the Holy Name.

(Brachot 20a)

Death Becomes Her

Zeiri entrusted some money to his landlady.  While he was away in yeshiva she died.

He followed her to the courtyard of death.  "Where's the money?" he asked.

She said to him: "Go take it from under the door in such and such a place.  And tell my mother to send me my comb and my tube of cosmetic paint with so and so, who is going to die tomorrow."

(Brachot 18b)

Insouciant Women

God's promise to the women is greater than His promise to the men, as it is said: "Insouciant women, hear my voice; confident girls, give ear to my speech..."  (Yishayahu 32:9)

Rav said to Rebbe Chiya: What is the merit of the women?  They take their sons to school, they send their husbands to the Bet Midrash, and they wait for their husbands to come home from the Bet Midrash.

(Brachot 17a)

You have to Wake Up Early in the Morning to Put One over on Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai

They said of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai that no one ever greeted him first, even a non-Jew in the market.

(Brachot 17a)

The Scholar and the Layman should be Friends

A pearl in the mouths of the rabbis of Yavneh:

I am a man and my friend is a man.

I work in the city and he works in the field.

I get up early in the morning to do my work and he gets up early in the morning to do his work.

He doesn't try to bite my style and I don't try to bite his style.

You might think that I do much and he does little, but we have a principle: some do much and some do little, as long as each directs his heart to Heaven.

(Brachot 17a)

You don't have to be a Triangle to Teach Geometry

Rabban Gamliel took a bath the night after his wife died.

His students said to him: "Rabbi, you taught us that a mourner is not allowed to bathe."

He replied: "I am not like other people.  I am a Jewish Prince."

And when Rabban Gamliel's slave Tavi died, Rabban Gamliel accepted condolences.

His students said to him: "Rabbi, you taught us that one may not accept condolences for a slave."

He replied: "Tavi was not like other slaves.  He was an honorable man."

(Brachot 16b)

The Blessing of Torah

Rav Huna said: Before learning Tanach, you need to say the blessing over learning Torah.  But if you're just going to learn Midrash, you don't need to say it.

And Rebbe Elazar said: Whether you are going to learn Tanach or Midrash, you do need to say the blessing.  But if you're just going to learn Mishna, you don't need to say it.

And Rebbe Yochanan said: Even to learn Mishna, you need to say the blessing.  But to learn Talmud, you don't need to say it.

And Rava said: Even to learn Talmud you need to say the blessing.

(Brachot 11b)