Talmud Tuesdays - Session 117

(12) Since this is so, all such [descriptions] and the like which are related in the Torah and the words of the Prophets - all these are metaphors and imagery. [For example,] "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh" [Psalms 2:4], "They angered Me with their emptiness" [Deuteronomy 32:21], and "As God rejoiced" [ibid. 28:63]. With regard to all such statements, our Sages said: "The Torah speaks in the language of man."
This is [borne out by the rhetorical question (Jeremiah 7:19 :] "Are they enraging Me?" Behold, [Malachi 3:6] states: "I, God, have not changed." Now were He to at times be enraged and at times be happy, He would change. Rather, all these matters are found only with regard to the dark and low bodies, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is dust. In contrast, He, blessed be He, is elevated and exalted above all this.

(1) Each and every person possesses many character traits. Each trait is very different and distant from the others.
One type of man is wrathful; he is constantly angry. [In contrast,] there is the calm individual who is never moved to anger, or, if at all, he will be slightly angry, [perhaps once] during a period of several years.
There is the prideful man and the one who is exceptionally humble. There is the man ruled by his appetites - he will never be satisfied from pursuing his desires, and [conversely,] the very pure of heart, who does not desire even the little that the body needs.
There is the greedy man, who cannot be satisfied with all the money in the world, as [Ecclesiastes 5:9] states: "A lover of money never has his fill of money." [In contrast,] there is the man who puts a check on himself; he is satisfied with even a little, which is not enough for his needs, and he does not bother to pursue and attain what he lacks.
There is [the miser,] who torments himself with hunger, gathering [his possessions] close to himself. Whenever he spends a penny of his own, he does so with great pain. [Conversely,] there is [the spendthrift,] who consciously wastes his entire fortune.
All other traits follow the same pattern [of contrast]. For example: the overly elated and the depressed; the stingy and the freehanded; the cruel and the softhearted; the coward and the rash. and the like.

(2) Between each trait and the [contrasting] trait at the other extreme, there are intermediate points, each distant from the other.
With regard to all the traits: a man has some from the beginning of his conception, in accordance with his bodily nature. Some are appropriate to a person's nature and will [therefore] be acquired more easily than other traits. Some traits he does not have from birth. He may have learned them from others, or turned to them on his own. This may have come as a result of his own thoughts, or because he heard that this was a proper trait for him, which he ought to attain. [Therefore,] he accustomed himself to it until it became a part of himself.

(3) The two extremes of each trait, which are at a distance from one another, do not reflect a proper path. It is not fitting that a man should behave in accordance with these extremes or teach them to himself.
If he finds that his nature leans towards one of the extremes or adapts itself easily to it, or, if he has learned one of the extremes and acts accordingly, he should bring himself back to what is proper and walk in the path of the good [men]. This is the straight path.

(4) The straight path: This [involves discovering] the midpoint temperament of each and every trait that man possesses [within his personality.] This refers to the trait which is equidistant from either of the extremes, without being close to either of them.
Therefore, the early Sages instructed a man to evaluate his traits, to calculate them and to direct them along the middle path, so that he will be sound {of body}.
For example: he should not be wrathful, easily angered; nor be like the dead, without feeling, rather he should [adopt] an intermediate course; i.e., he should display anger only when the matter is serious enough to warrant it, in order to prevent the matter from recurring. Similarly, he should not desire anything other than that which the body needs and cannot exist without, as [Proverbs 13:25] states: "The righteous man eats to satisfy his soul."
Also, he shall not labor in his business except to gain what he needs for immediate use, as [Psalms 37:16] states: "A little is good for the righteous man."
He should not be overly stingy nor spread his money about, but he should give charity according to his capacity and lend to the needy as is fitting. He should not be overly elated and laugh [excessively], nor be sad and depressed in spirit. Rather, he should be quietly happy at all times, with a friendly countenance. The same applies with regard to his other traits.
This path is the path of the wise. Every man whose traits are intermediate and equally balanced can be called a "wise man."

(5) A person who carefully [examines] his [behavior], and therefore deviates slightly from the mean to either side is called pious.
What is implied? One who shuns pride and turns to the other extreme and carries himself lowly is called pious. This is the quality of piety. However, if he separates himself [from pride] only to the extent that he reaches the mean and displays humility, he is called wise. This is the quality of wisdom. The same applies with regard to other character traits.
The pious of the early generations would bend their temperaments from the intermediate path towards [either of] the two extremes. For some traits they would veer towards the final extreme, for others, towards the first extreme. This is referred to as [behavior] beyond the measure of the law.
We are commanded to walk in these intermediate paths - and they are good and straight paths - as [Deuteronomy 28:9] states: "And you shall walk in His ways."

(6) [Our Sages] taught [the following] explanation of this mitzvah: Just as He is called "Gracious," you shall be gracious;
Just as He is called "Merciful," you shall be merciful; Just as He is called "Holy," you shall be holy; In a similar manner, the prophets called God by other titles: "Slow to anger," "Abundant in kindness," "Righteous," "Just," "Perfect," "Almighty," "Powerful," and the like. [They did so] to inform us that these are good and just paths. A person is obligated to accustom himself to these paths and [to try to] resemble Him to the extent of his ability.

(7) How can one train himself to follow these temperaments to the extent that they become a permanent fixture of his [personality]?
He should perform - repeat - and perform a third time - the acts which conform to the standards of the middle road temperaments. He should do this constantly, until these acts are easy for him and do not present any difficulty. Then, these temperaments will become a fixed part of his personality.
Since the Creator is called by these terms and they make up the middle path which we are obligated to follow, this path is called "the path of God." This is [the heritage] which our Patriarch Abraham taught his descendants, as [Genesis 18:19] states: "for I have known Him so that he will command his descendants...to keep the path of God."
One who follows this path brings benefit and blessing to himself, as [the above verse continues]: "so that God will bring about for Abraham all that He promised."

(1) We [are obligated to] recite the Shema twice daily - in the evening and in the morning - as [Deuteronomy 6:7] states: "...when you lie down and when you rise" - i.e., when people are accustomed to sleep - this being the night - and when people are accustomed to rise, this being daytime.

(2) And what is it that one recites? These three sections:
"Hear O Israel..." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9),

"And if you will listen..." (Deuteronomy 11:13-21),and

"And God said..." (Numbers 15:37-41).
We begin with the section of "Hear O Israel" since it contains [the concept of] the unity of God, [the commandment of] loving Him and the study of Torah, it being a fundamental principle upon which everything is based.
After it, [we read] "And if you will listen...," since it contains the imperative to fulfill the rest of the commandments, and finally the portion of tzitzit, since it also contains the imperative of remembering all the commandments.

(3) The commandment of tzitzit is not obligatory at night. Nevertheless, we recite [the section describing] it at night because it contains mention of the exodus from Egypt.
We are commanded to mention the exodus both during the day and at night as [Deuteronomy 16:3] states: "In order that you shall remember the day of your leaving the land of Egypt all the days of your life."
Reading these three sections in this order constitutes the recitation of the Shema.

(4) When reciting the Shema, after completing the first verse, one says quietly "Blessed be the name of the glory of His Kingdom forever." He then continues to read the first section in its normal fashion: "And you shall love God, your Lord..."
Why do we read it in this fashion? It is our tradition that when the patriarch, Jacob, gathered all his sons together in Egypt close to his death, he commanded and urged them regarding the Unity of God and the path of God upon which Abraham and Isaac, his father, had tread.
He asked them: "My sons, perhaps there are dregs among you, one who does not stand with me in the Unity of God?" This is comparable to the manner in which Moses, our teacher, said to us: "Lest there be among you a man or woman [whose heart turns this day from God...]" (Deuteronomy 29:17).
They all answered and said: "Listen, Israel, God is our Lord, God is One," i.e., listen to us, Israel, our father, God is our Lord, God is One.
The wise elder responded: "Blessed be the Name of the Glory of His Kingdom forever." Therefore, the Jews are accustomed to utter the praise that Israel, the wise elder, uttered after this verse.

(5) Blessings are recited before and after Kri'at Shema. In the day, one recites two blessings before it and one after it. At night, one recites two blessings before and two blessings after it.

(6) The first blessing preceding [the Shema] in the day [begins: "Blessed are You, God...], the One who forms the light and creates darkness,..." The second blessing [begins with]: "With everlasting love, You have loved us..."
[The Shema] is followed by [the section beginning] "True and certain..."
The first blessing preceding [the Shema] at night [begins: "Blessed are You, God...], the One who brings the evening,..." and the second [begins] "With everlasting love, You have loved Your people Israel." The first blessing after [the Shema] is [the section begining] "True and faithful..." and the second [begins] "Lay us down..."

(7) The first blessing preceding [the Shema], both in the day and at night, begins "Blessed [are You, God, our Lord...]" and concludes "Blessed [are You, God]..." The rest of the blessings all conclude with "Blessed [are]...," but do not begin "Blessed [are]..."
These blessings and all the rest of the blessings familiar to the Jewish people were instituted by Ezra, the scribe, and his court. One may not detract from them or add to them.
In every instance that they decreed to conclude with "Blessed...," one may not omit this conclusion. Where they decreed not to conclude [with "Blessed..."], one may not conclude with it. Where they decreed not to begin with "Blessed," one may not begin with it. Where they decreed to begin [with "Blessed..."], one may not omit it.
The general principle is that anyone who deviates from the set form of blessings established by the Sages is mistaken and must recite the blessing again in its proper form.
Anyone who does not say [the paragraph of] "True and certain..." in the morning prayer or [the paragraph of] "True and faithful..." in the evening prayer does not fulfill his obligation.

(8) One who recites the second blessing before the first, whether in the day or at night, or whether the transposed blessings are recited before or after Kri'at Shema, fulfills his obligation, since there is no absolute order to the blessings.
A person who begins with "...the One who forms the light..." and concludes with "...the One who brings the evenings" in the morning prayer does not fulfill his obligation.
Were he to begin with "...the One who brings the evenings" and conclude with "...the One who forms the light", he would fulfill his obligation. Were he to begin with "...the One who brings the evenings" ...and conclude with "...the One who forms the light" in the evening, he would not fulfill his obligtation.
If he begins with "...the One who forms light" and concludes with "...the One who brings the evenings" - he fulfills his obligation since all blessings are defined by their conclusions.

(9) When is the [proper] time for the recitation of Shema at night? The commandment [starts] from the time of the appearance of the stars [and continues] until midnight.
A person who transgresses and delays fulfills his obligation if he recites [the Shema] before dawn. [The Sages established the limit] of midnight only in order to distance us from negligent wrongdoing.

(10) One who reads the Shema [of the night] after dawn, [but] before sunrise, does not fulfill his obligation unless he was unavoidably detained - e.g., drunk or sick, or in a similar situation. A person who was so detained and reads [the Shema] at this time does not recite [the blessing of] "Lay us down."

(11) When is the proper time [for the recitation of the Shema] during the day? The commandment is that one should start to read before sunrise in order to conclude and recite the last blessing with the sunrise. This measure [of time] is one-tenth of an hour before the sun rises.
A person who delays and reads the Shema after the sun rises fulfills his obligation, for the proper time is until the end of the third hour of the day for one who transgresses and delays.

(12) One who is overhasty and recites the Shema of the morning prayers after dawn, even though he finishes before sunrise, fulfills his obligation. In extraordinary circumstances - e.g., one who rises early in order to travel - one may recite it at the outset from dawn.

(13) One who recited [the Shema] after [the end of] the third hour, even if he was unavoidably detained, does not fulfill his obligation to recite the Shema at its proper time. He can be compared to one who studies Torah.
He should recite the blessings preceding it and after it all day, even if he delays and recited it after [the end of] the third hour.