Talmud Brachot Top Ten Teachings, Daf 55:

 

1. Celebrating together. One who has a long meal will have a long life. Why? Because when he has a long meal, those less fortunate can join him and have a good meal. The Talmud says in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, based on a proof text in Ezekiel, that as long as there was a Temple the altar served to effect atonement for Israel, and now that we don’t have a Temple we effect atonement through our tables. How is a table comparable to the altar in the Temple? In the time of the Temple, many offerings were brought on the holidays. Today we do not have a Temple, and so the only celebrations we can have are at our tables. The least we can do is include other people in these celebrations. The Rambam says in Mishneh Torah that the mitzvah of rejoicing on holidays isn’t just about having good food for ourselves; we are supposed to invite the widow and the orphan, the destitute and the Levite, to partake in the festive meal and be part of our celebration. Perhaps the Rambam is basing his statement in part on this gemara, saying that in order for atonement to be achieved there must be a variety of people at the table. There is nothing holy about a miserly meal that completely ignores the needs of others. Throughout this tractate we have been learning about different blessings that we make, such as blessings before and after food and the zimun. With these laws, our tables become opportunities to bless G-d and to interact with other people in a meaningful way. If the value of a long meal is in feeding the hungry, then why wouldn’t the Talmud just say that whoever feeds the hungry will have a long life? Inviting someone to a meal is better than mere charity. Accepting charity can be degrading, and the need to do so can wear away at a person’s spirit. But joining a meal, celebrating together with your host, feels different. It doesn’t feel like accepting a handout; it feels like being part of a community. It is how friendship and love grow. And this is reminiscent of the purpose of the altar, which transformed the mundane into the sacred and created something that was more than the sum of its parts.
2. Three behaviors to avoid. Rabbi Yehuda says there are three things that are not conducive to a long life. Refusing an offer to read the Torah (or today, to have an aliyah); refusing an offer to take the cup to lead the zimun; and demanding a position of authority and superiority that you haven’t earned. Why is refusing to read the Torah or get an aliyah not conducive to long life? There is something special about being given the opportunity to embrace the Torah in public. “For it is your life and the length of your days.” If offered the opportunity to grab onto something that is life, you should not refuse. What about the zimun? The leader of the zimun gets to bless the host of the meal, and whoever gives a blessing receives a blessing. In addition, taking a cup of wine, which is a physical pleasure, and elevating it by using it to make a blessing, is the kind of transformation that is one of our goals in life. As for demanding too much respect, it is never good to take advantage of community and believe yourself so much better than others.
3. The wisdom of Betzalel. A community leader should not be appointed without the approval of the community. When G-d instructed Moses to build the Mishkan, He appointed Betzalel as the chief architect and builder, who would implement the instructions that were given to Moses. But first G-d asked Moses if he thought Betzalel was a good choice. Moses responded that if G-d thought Betzalel was a good choice, then he did as well. Moses then went to the people and asked for their permission to appoint Betzalel to this lofty position. The name Betzalel means shade of the Divine. He was given that name because of his unique wisdom. According to Rashi, he was able to combine Divine names based on the Sefer Yetzirah to capture the mystical element of the dimensions of the Mishkan. He was able to channel Divine energy into architecture. When telling Moses about the Mishkan, G-d described first the tent itself and then all the things that would go inside it. But when speaking to Betzalel, Moses switched the order, describing the vessels first and then the tent. Betzalel questioned these instructions. One always builds the home first and the furniture second, he told Moses. Why would you instruct me to start with the furniture? Perhaps G-d really instructed you to do it the other way. Moses answered that perhaps Betzalel was already in the shade of the Divine and knew what G-d had instructed. Why did Moses change the order? It might have been a test, to see if Betzalel really was the right person for the job. Would he just follow instructions blindly, or would he truly understand the project and make sure to do it right? Or maybe Moses considered the vessels more important and the tent merely a place for them to live. But Betzalel pointed out that the tent itself was a vessel for the other vessels, and therefore it had to come first.
4. G-d only gives wisdom to the wise. When G-d is instructing Moses to build the Mishkan, He says, “I’ve given to the hearts of the wise wisdom.” This means that G-d rests His Shechinah and gives additional wisdom to those who are already wise. But how can a person become wise in the first place? There must be two levels of wisdom, the first of which can be achieved without Divine help. How? The Mei Hashiloach says that we have a concept, “the beginning of wisdom is to have fear of G-d.” Spiritually speaking, if you don’t have fear of G-d you will not be able to get very far. Think of it like a savings account. Opening an account will not make you any money. But if you do not have that account, then no matter how much money you make you will never be able to save any. Fear of G-d is your spiritual bank account. It is the first step. It does not grant wisdom, but it gives you the ability to build spiritual wealth. In this way, you can achieve the first level of wisdom on your own. Once someone has done that work and built up that spiritual bank account, G-d may rest His Shechinah on that person and grant the next level of wisdom. True, lasting wisdom must come from a combination of a person’s own spiritual work and inspiration from the Divine.
5. False details in true dreams. Rabbi Yochanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai that every dream has some wheat and some straw. Just as grain is mixed with chaff, in every true dream there is something that will not come true. As Rav Brachya puts it, there is no dream that doesn’t have a part that won’t be fulfilled. We learn this from Joseph, who dreamed about eleven stars, the sun, and the moon all bowing before him. The stars represented his brothers, while the sun and moon represented his father and mother. But his mother had already died. Rashi says that when Jacob questioned Joseph about his dream he said it was impossible for the dream to come true because Joseph’s mother would never be able to bow to him, but deep down Jacob realized that the dream could be fulfilled, because it could have been referring to Bilhah rather than Rachel. Doesn’t this Rashi contradict the gemara? The Arvei Nachal says that there are two angels who bring good dreams. A dream from Michael will come true quickly but will have inaccurate details. A dream from Gavriel will take longer to come true, but when it does it will come true more completely. Since Joseph had two dreams, one may have come from Michael and one might have come from Gavriel. Rav Brachya is referring to the dream that came from Michael, which would come true more quickly but contain inaccurate elements. Rashi is referring to the dream from Gavriel. While very similar conceptually, this one would take longer to be realized but would ultimately come true more accurately. Since the moon could represent Bilhah, rather than Rachel, this dream could indeed have been fulfilled completely.
6. Interpreting and transforming bad dreams. Rabbi Yochanan recommends that one who had a distressing dream go before three people who should interpret it. If he does not interpret the dream it will not hurt him, so it may be safer to let it be. But if he interprets it, it might come true. Therefore, rather than having the dream interpreted, he should go before three people and tell them to make his dream better. He should choose friendly people who will tell him things he wants to hear and pray that anything bad from the dream should be transformed into good. He should tell them, “I had a good dream,” and they should reply, “Yes, it was good, may it be good, and may G-d make it be good.” They should say this seven times, followed by three sets of three things: one of turning the dream around, one of redemption, and one of peace. The gemara brings three verses for each of these themes. Many siddurim have a nusach based on this gemara. Toldos Yaakov Yosef, one of the main students of the Baal Shem Tov, says that the reason Joseph’s brothers hated him so much was that he interpreted his own dreams as giving him power over them. At first he might have only been dreaming of greatness because he was thinking about greatness during the day. But instead of humbly asking for guidance regarding his dreams, he presented them to his brothers in a way that made them resentful of his pretension. When Joseph’s father asked him, “Will I and your mother come and bow to you?” he was warning Joseph that elements of his dreams were not true, and that meant the dreams might not mean what he thought. Interpretation was required, and he should be careful before bragging to his brothers.
7. Birchas kohanim. If someone has a bad dream and doesn’t know what it means, he should stand before the kohanim when they spread their hands for the blessing, and he should recite a prayer asking G-d for a good interpretation of the dream. Most siddurim have this nusach based on this gemara. Magen Avraham quotes a sage who says this prayer only works if the dream was the night before, but disagrees with this sage and says it can be said at any point after the dream. In Israel most congregations say birchas kohanim every day, but in chutz la’aretz most say it only on Yom Tov. And even in Israel, they generally do not add this paragraph about dreams every day. Exactly where in birchas kohanim do we add the dream prayer? When the kohanim pause to sing, we say this paragraph, concluding it as the community is responding amen to the kohanim. There are various customs regarding how many times during birchas kohanim to say this prayer.
8. Rava’s way of handling sickness. Whenever Rava got sick, he would tell no one on the first day, and then on the second day he would tell his attendant to announce that he was sick. He wanted those who loved him to pray on his behalf and those who hated him to be happy. There is a verse that says, “When your enemy falls do not rejoice, because perhaps G-d will see it and it will be bad in His eyes, and He will turn away His anger.” Rava was hoping that the people who hated him would rejoice in his suffering so that G-d would be displeased by their rejoicing and would therefore heal him. But why did he wait until the second day? There is something very solitary and isolating about being sick. At the beginning stage of a terrible illness, it can be difficult to have other people around. But then the sick person gets through that initial stage and starts to need other people again. For one day, Rava would deal with his sickness alone, and then after that he was able to let other people help him, either intentionally or by accidentally awakening G-d’s mercy through their own hate.
9. The source of dreams. There are two types of dreams. Some come through angels – these may be fulfilled. Others come through demons – these are hogwash, and will not come true. Both the angelic realm and the realm of darkness have tremendous power, but the power of the dark side is inaccurate. Some people want to tap into the dark side to get access to the real truth of dreams. But the Zohar warns that even if you do get some truth this way, you will also get some lies.
10. Non-prophetic dreams. Most dreams do not hold great truths, but are simply about the things that preoccupy a person during the day. That is why Joseph’s brothers were so angry at him. Their father had had a dream about angels climbing up and down a ladder; that was an important and inspiring dream. Joseph, meanwhile, was having dreams about his own greatness. The brothers did not know these dreams were true, and therefore assumed Joseph had them only because he was preoccupied with ambitions of ruling over them.