Berakhot 106

Today's shiur is dedicated by Rona and Rabbi Simchah Roth on the day of the Pidyon ha-Ben (Redemption of the Firstborn) of their first grandchild, Dvir Ya'akov Barbiru.

12:
In its discussion on the Havdalah [Declaration of Distinction] that we insert into the Amidah on Saturday nights and after festivals the Gemara [Berakhot 33a] explains that the fourth berakhah is most appropriate for this insertion. This berakhah is the one in which we praise God for having endowed the human species with its defining peculiarity: "knowledge, comprehension, intelligence" – homo sapiens. Most, maybe all, animals can distinguish between day and night, summer and winter and so forth, because they have been endowed with this natural instinct. Only mankind is capable of distinguishing between the sacred and the profane, because mankind has been endowed with "knowledge, comprehension, intelligence".

13:
In the mishnah there is a maĥloket [difference of opinion] between three sages: Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Eli'ezer and Tanna Kamma. (Tanna Kamma ["the first sage"] is the technical term used to tag the unidentified rabbi who is in dispute with the others – and whose view almost invariably proves to be the accepted one.) The dispute is, of course, concerning where exactly in the Amidah the Havdalah insertion is to be made. Tanna Kamma says it is to be inserted as part of the fourth berakhah; Rabbi Akiva says that it is an additional fourth berakhah (possibly in place of all the other intermediate ones, possibly in addition to them); Rabbi Eli'ezer says that it is to be inserted as part of the penultimate berakhah [Modim anaĥnu lakh]. To us this difference of opinion reflects, of course, the fluid state of the liturgy at the end of the first century CE. There was agreement that Havdalah must be made just as Kiddush must be made, but there was diversity of opinion as to how and where this should be done. Should it be done, like Kiddush, at home over wine? Should it be made as a liturgical insertion into the Amidah, like the fourth berakhah recited on Shabbat and Yom Tov (in place of all the intermediate petitions) called Kedushat ha-Yom [the sanctity of the day]? If it was to be a liturgical insertion (as is assumed by all the disputants in our mishnah) – where is this insertion to be made?

14:
The Amoraïm [later Talmudic sages, as opposed to the earlier sages of the Mishnah] of the third century CE found this whole discussion perplexing. If, as they believed, the complete liturgy had been defined at the start of the Second Commonwealth by the earliest of the sages (Anshei Kenesset ha-Gedolah) how could there be a place for such a difference of opinion? – "let's just look and see where they established it [Havdalah]!" The answer given in the Gemara [Berakhot 33a] by Rabbi Yoĥanan (probably the greatest of all the Amoraïm of Eretz-Israel} seems to us to be rather far-fetched: according to his view the discrepancies reflect changing economic circumstances! The first dispensation was to recite Havdalah as part of the Amidah, because the returning exiles were in extremely straitened circumstances. Later, when the Judean economy improved, a later dispensation was given according to which Havdalah was to be made over a cup of wine (or its equivalent). The renewal of poverty restored the original dispensation.

15:
The present state of play is as follows: Havdalah should be recited both as part of the Amidah and also, later, as a special ceremony (with wine, spices and candle). If only one of these options is possible the liturgical option is much to be preferred, it being deemed a "very poor show" if one only recites Havdalah as a ceremony.

Ed Frankel sends the following comment concerning rain:

I agree that rain in an inappropriate time could be catastrophic in Israel, at least we presume it would be. On the other hand, as you note it would be miraculous. We can appreciate miracles whenever they happen, however to actively request a miracle would be a sign of expectation, and we know that ein somchin al hanes, we never depend on miracles. However, then, one might ask why in Taanit we pray and fast for rain during a drought, which is also the biblical view. One can understand, however, in this case it is not to ask God for a miracle as much as it is to ask God to reassert the normal "natural" rhythm.