Berakhot 101

Today's shiur is dedicated by Ron Wegsman in memory of his grandfather, David Martin z"l, who passed away "b'sevah tovah" [hale and hearty at an advanced age] on Erev Shabbat, Motzei Shushan Purim 5752, and who in his life exemplified "bakesh shalom verodfehu" [seek out and pursue peace].

8:
The Gemara [Berakhot 32b] questions the appropriateness of the statement of the seifa [last section] of our mishnah – that one should be so concentrated on the recitation of the Amidah that even potentially dangerous situations should be ignored. The import of the mishnah is alleviated by restricting its application: the monarch referred to is a Jewish monarch [who will appreciate the situation] and not a non-Jewish monarch which could, indeed, create a dangerous situation. The final judgment of the Gemara is that in such potentially hazardous situations, wherever one can severely curtail the recitation of the Amidah before dealing with the situation, this is the preferred course. The reasoning is, of course, that of the assumed "audience with a monarch": if you are engaged in addressing God, what could be more important? The answer, ultimately, is: your life is more important than that! Deuteronomy 4:14 ("Take great care of yourselves") is interpreted as requiring us to preserve ourselves in health to the best of our abilities.

9:
In similar fashion, the snake is not seen as a life-threatening situation, whereas a scorpion is seen as such. This probably reflects the fact that in a less urbanized society people were able to identify snakes much better than we can today. Obviously, nowadays, when most people do not have the expertise needed to distinguish between the creatures – discretion is the greater part of valour!

Comments are still coming in concerning Albert Einstein's theology. Marc Auslander writes:

A troubling apparent aspect of an all knowing God is that, for God, there is no progression of time and no surprise. Everything that happens is a consequence of the initial conditions of the universe – and God knows these results a priori. So how can God make a universe of free will and surprise – for us and for God? He can by building a universe based on rolling perfect dice – dice so perfect that even he cannot predict the roll! Whether we believe or not, quantum mechanics frees us from the paradox of free will vs. scientific certainty by concluding that scientific certainty is impossible.

I respond:

Marc is quite correct in stating that rabbinic theology assumes that God is absolutely unchanging. However, Marc's comment reminds me of a maĥloket [dispute] between Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Neĥemyah that is reported in midrash Bereshit Rabba. According to the former, in the creation story, everything is created "at its appropriate time": whenever "God says" – something new is created. Rabbi Neĥemyah on the other hand, is of the opinion that everything was created in potential in the initial verse ("In the beginning God created heaven and earth") and that every time in the story thereafter that "God says", this only indicates the actualization of what was already in potential existence.

In Berakhot 098 I wrote that what one has been doing immediately prior to this devotional exercise will have an immediate impact upon one's thoughts and powers of concentration during its performance. Therefore, "We do not rise to recite the Amidah after a legal judgment [in a Bet Din] or after a discussion on halakhah … Furthermore, "we do not rise to recite the Amidah after something very sad, or something hilarious, or a conversation or frivolity…

Ed Frankel comments:

I see that the point is not to stand for Amidah when emotionally involved with other matters. Somehow, I believe the specific examples, learning from them inductively for the typical worshiper convey this notion. However, the difficulty with inductive reasoning is that it also allows room for loop holes. To be involved in matters that might be emotional to others may not be important. A comedian makes his livelihood over hilarity and a funeral director deals constantly with grief, when would either daven? Would a member of the court abstain from prayer, particularly litigators and judges? It would seem to me that were one jaded to the emotional and psychological aspects of a trade, then would not be constrained by these types of involvements. I would very much be astonished if there are classes of people for whom prayer would only be a rare requirement at best.