No Rest for the Righteous

Rav Chiya bar Ashi said in the name of Rav: There is no rest for Torah Scholars in this world or in The World to Come, as the sons of Korach say: “They will go from strength to strength, and they will be seen by Hashem in Zion.” (Tehillim 84:8)

(Brachot 64a)

Your Sinful Ways

Bar Kappara said: There is one short verse that serves as the foundation of the entire body of the Torah.  "In all your ways shall you know Him, and He will straighten you out." (Proverbs 3:6)

Rava said: “In all your ways shall you know Him.”  Even your sinful ways.

(Brachot 63a)

A Good Hair Day

Rebbe Shimon ben Menasya quoted the verse: “God built the side.”  He explained: this teaches us that God braided Chava’s hair and brought her to Adam, just as overseas they call a coiffeur a “hair builder”.

(Brachot 61a)

Heads I Win, Tails you Lose

Rav and Shmuel disagreed about what part of Adam’s body was used by God as the raw material for Chava.  One said that it was Adam’s second face, and one said it was Adam’s tail.

(Brachot 61a)

Out ta Get Me

Rav Nachman bar Rav Chisda said: When the Torah says "God created Adam," (Breshit 2:7) why is the word "created" (vayitzer) spelled with two yuds?  Because God created people with two inclinations (yeztarim), good and evil.

Rav Nachman bar Yitchak objected: When the Torah discusses the creation of animals, there is only one yud.  But we see that animals do have an evil inclination.  They bite, they break things...  

Instead, we should accept the words of Rebbe Shimon ben Pazi to explain the two yuds.  As Rebbe Shimon ben Pazi said: my Creator (yotzer) is out to get me, and my evil inclination (yetzer) is out to get me.

Or we could accept the words of Rebbe Yirmiya ben Elazar.  As Rebbe Yirmiya ben Elazar said: God created Adam with two faces, as King David says, "You created me back and forth." (Tehillim 139:5)

(Brachot 61a)

The Blessing of Wisdom

Rebbe Yochanan said: Hashem only gives the blessing of wisdom to those who have wisdom, as Daniel said: "He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who know understanding." (Daniel 2:21)

Rav Tachlifa bar Ma'arava heard this, and commented to Rebbe Abahu: You learn it from Daniel?  We learn it from the Torah!  "I have infused every wise heart with wisdom."  (Shmot 31:6)

(Brachot 55a)

Feminism and Orthodoxy

We learned in a Braita: after Birkat Hamazon, you should send the cup of blessing to your wife, and she will be blessed.

Ulla once visited Rav Nachman.  After Birkat Hamazon, Ulla sent the cup of blessing to Rav Nachman.

Rav Nachman said: "Will The Master now pass the cup of blessing to my wife, Yalta?"

Ulla said: "Rebbe Yochanan said: the fruits of a woman's womb are not blessed directly, but only through the fruits of the man's loins, as the Torah says: He will bless the fruit of your belly (Devarim 7:13).  The verse uses the masculine form to teach us that the blessing is directed toward the belly of the man."

The same was taught in a Braita, in the name of Rebbe Natan: How do we know that the fruit's of a woman's womb are not blessed directly, but only through the fruits of the man's loins?  The Torah says: "He will bless the fruit of your belly" (Devarim 7:13).  The verse uses the masculine form to teach us that the blessing is directed toward the belly of the man.

When Yalta heard this exchange, she arose in fury, went to the storage room, and broke 400 barrels of wine.

Rav Nachman said: "Maybe The Master should send her another cup."

Ulla sent her a cup with the following message: "This cup is from the same barrel as the cup of blessing, so  it's like the cup of blessing."

Yalta sent back the following message: "From beggars come words, and from rags come lice."

(Brachot 51b)