Siman - Berachos Daf 20

0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 90%

00:00

Why miracles occurred for earlier generations

Earlier generations merited seeing miracles that later generations—despite their superiority in breadth and mastery of Torah—did not, because the earlier generations were moser nefesh (sacrificed themselves) for kiddush Hashem (to sanctify G-d’s name).

-Example: Rav Adda bar Ahavah tore an inappropriate garment off a woman walking in the street because he thought she was Jewish.

A woman's obligation to recite birkas hamazon

Is the obligation for women to recite birkas hamazon Biblical or Rabbinic? The practical difference would be whether they can recite birkas hamazon on behalf of men, who are Biblically obligated.

Takanas Ezra and Har Sinai

Ezra’s takanah (decree) requires a baal keri (one who experiences a seminal discharge) to immerse in a mikveh in order to speak words of Torah and to daven. The takanah was modeled on the events at Har Sinai, where immersion was required for the recitation of words of Torah.

- Thinking Torah thoughts without immersion is permitted.

Siman – Coffee. A woman drinking COFFEE in a café and was about to bentch, when a Rabbi ran in and knocked the immodest headpiece off her head which then landed in a mikveh that was in front of a model of Har Sinai.

Daf Images are property of Vagshal and may not be reproduced.

Click to open the daf in a new window

Rabbi Avraham Goldhar

Rabbi Avraham Goldhar has been designing and teaching Jewish literacy courses for over thirty years. His knowledge frameworks for Biblical mastery, Jewish History, Talmudic Law & Jewish Holidays enable students of all backgrounds to better integrate Jewish concepts and learn systematically. After serving as the Educational Director of Aish HaTorah New York, Avraham launched GoldharSchool.com, Home of Big Picture Jewish Education, featuring Jewish literacy content for schools and individuals. He is the developer of the Goldhar Method, a revolutionary learning system that integrates memory into the learning process and has trained over 80,000 students, teachers and professionals. He lectures internationally on the topic of academic mastery and the solutions required to raise the bar in education. Avraham learned in Aish HaTorah, Mir, and Chaim Berlin and received his ordination under the tutelage of Rabbi Yitzchok Berkovits in Jerusalem.