Siman - Berachos Daf 31

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Breaking the glass at a chuppah

The Gemara recounts several incidents where the Rabbis tempered joyous events with seriousness when they felt their peers were overly cheerful. This is the reason (Tosafos) for breaking the glass at a wedding:

-Mar the son of Ravina broke a precious glass worth four hundred zuz in the presence of the Rabbanan

-Rav Ashi broke a white glass in their presence

Proper state of mind for tefillah

The Rabbis taught in a Baraisa that one should not daven Shemoneh Esrei amidst a state of sorrow (עצבות), slothfulness(עצלות) , laughter(שחוק) , silly chatter(שיחה) , light headedness (קלות ראש) or idle words(דבירם בטלים) . Rather one should daven amidst the joy associated with a mitzvah, (שמחה של מצוה).

Halachos and concepts learned from Chanah's tefillos

A large part of this Daf details the many halachos and concepts related to tefillah learned from Chanah’s tefillos and her conversation with Eli. A few examples include:

-One must direct their heart to G-d.

-One must pronounce the words with his lips.

-It is forbidden to raise one’s voice to the degree that others can hear.

-It is forbidden to sit within four amos of one who is davening.

Siman – Judge (based on law).The JUDGE was so impressed with the joyous davening that took place right after the breaking of the glass at a chuppah, that he signed up for the course on tefillah given by a woman named Chanah.

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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.