Yerushalmi Berakhot 2:5 ירושלמי ברכות ב׳:ה׳

MISHNAH: Professional workers²²⁶Greek δόμος, “building; rows of stones or bricks in a building.” At other places in the Yerushalmi, the spelling דומדס is found; in the Babli it always is דימוס (which, however, might mean another word, δῆμος). read²²⁷The Shema‘; since this recitation needs concentration only for the first verse, we may assume that the professional can concentrate for that short time span without fear of falling down. The rest of Shema‘ can be recited by rote from memory. In contrast, prayer (the Amidah) needs concentration from beginning to end and can be recited only on the ground. on top of a tree or on top of a wall in construction; they are not permitted to do this for prayer.

HALAKHAH: So²²⁸The Venice edition has מני which is an interrogatory particle referring to persons and does not make sense here. The Genizah fragments and the commentator of Sefer Ḥaredim read כיני as given here. is the Mishnah: The hourly workers read on top of a tree²²⁹The Babli does not mention hourly workers at all. It is not clear whether the Yerushalmi is of the opinion that work on a tree is unskilled work and, therefore, a careful construction of the Mishnah requires the mention of hourly workers here or that this rule is contrary to the opinion prevalent in Babylonia. and the professionals on top of a wall in construction.

It was stated²³⁰This is a fragment from a text similar to Tosephta Berakhot 2:8: “Hourly workers read on top of a tree and on top of a wall in construction; they pray on top of an olive tree and a fig tree but for all other trees they have to descend and pray. The owner descends in any case for prayer. “A similar text, only with “professionals” instead of “hourly workers”. is quoted in Babli Berakhot 16a.: “They pray on top of an olive tree or on top of a fig tree.” Hence²³¹This looks like an inference since הא is not a tannaïtic technical term. However, given the parallels in Tosephta and Babli, the word הא “therefore”, may be an interpolation and the rest of the sentence may belong to the Tosephta., on all other trees he descends and prays on the ground. “The owner descends in all cases and prays on the ground.” And why on top of an olive tree or on top of a fig tree? Rebbi Abba and Rebbi Simon say both, because those are very laborious²³²It is not clear whether it is very troublesome to come down from these trees and, therefore, too much time would be spent at the expense of the owner, or that olive and fig trees need great care and there is danger that the trees or their fruits would be damaged if the hourly worker would try to go down and up quickly, again to the detriment of the owner. Both explanations are found in the commentaries. Rashi in the Babli (16a) explains that these trees have so many branches that one can stand there securely and may concentrate on prayer without fear; it may be that he agrees that because of the many branches it is very troublesome to come down from the trees..

It was stated²³³This statement is a Tosephta(Berakhot 2:7) where, however, the exemption for the carrier of a large load is not mentioned.: “The porter may recite the Shema‘ even with his load on his shoulders²³⁴For the same reason as that given for the workman. In the Tosephta, the porter is mentioned before the worker. but he should start neither when he unloads nor when he loads because he cannot then concentrate. In any case he may not pray until he unloads, but if he was carrying a load of 4 qab²³⁵A qab is 4 log, about 2.17 liters. 4 qab are a Roman modius, about a British peck, a fourth of a bushel.
The Babli, Baba meẓi‘a 105b, quotes a baraita which states that the porter may pray with his load on his back if the load is less than 4 qab, but not if the load is 4 qab or more. Therefore, it seems that in the Yerushalmi the meaning is that the porter may pray without unloading if his load does not exceed 4 qab, on condition that it be balanced. The two differences between Yerushalmi and Babylonian practice are that for the Babli, the load has to be strictly less than 4 qab, for the Yerushalmi it may reach 4 qab, and for the Babli the load has to be all on the back and not distributed fore and aft. it is permitted.” Rebbi Joḥanan said: only if he is in equilibrium. What means that he is in equilibrium? Two parts on his back and one part in front.

It was stated²³⁶An extended prohibition to communicate with others by movements of eyes, lips, or hands while reciting the Shema‘ is given in the Babli, Yoma 19b, in the name of the early Babylonian Amora Rav Isaac bar Samuel Bar Martha. However, the Biblical justification of the prohibition is there given in the name of the early Tanna Rebbi Eleazar Ḥisma. Hence, the statement of the Yerushalmi is a genuine tannïtic one.: “Nobody should give messages with his eyes while reciting.”

It was stated: “The hourly workers who worked for an employer have to recite the first benediction of Grace and subsume that of Jerusalem in the benediction for the Land and close with the benediction for the Land²³⁷The obligation of reciting Grace is biblical but the number of benedictions is a rabbinical ordinance (Beth Yosef on Ṭur Oraḥ Ḥayyim 191). In order to reduce the expense for the employer (and, hence, increase employment for the poor), the hourly workers whose lunchbreak is paid for by their employer recite an abbreviated version of Grace that still contains all required elements. Since the Yerushalmi does not mention the benedictions before the meal it seems that the hourly workers are required to recite these [this is also the reading of the Tosephta (5:24) and most of the manuscripts of the Babli, against the Venice text of the Babli (16a)].. But if they were working for him for their meals ²³⁸For the food only, without cash payment to them. or if the employer was eating with them, then they recite all four benedictions.” Rebbi Mana said: This means that one may not work while reciting Grace. Otherwise, why do we have to say this²³⁹The abbreviated version of Grace; it is necessary only if it profits the employer.? Let him work and recite the benedictions!

Rebbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac²⁴⁰An Israeli Amora of Babylonian origin who in his youth was a student of Rav Huna, the student of Rav. in the name of Rav Ḥuna: One should not stand and pray while he keeps a coin in his hand²⁴¹That one should not come to examine it while praying; having the coin where it cannot be seen is no impediment to prayer.; (having the coin) in front of him is forbidden, at his back it is allowed. Rebbi Yasa used to bind them together and grab them in his hand²⁴²Since bound together they cannot be examined.. And for money matters, (Deut. 14:25) “you shall bind the money together in your hand”, only in your hand²⁴³The verse deals with money that has to be spent in Jerusalem, for which the owner is a kind of trustee. The inference, which is not a strict derivation, is that anybody who is trustee for other people’s money can discharge his obligation of prudent care only by having the money tied together and in his personal control all the time.. Rebbi Yose bar Abun thus taught his son-in-law Rebbi Hillel²⁴⁴Probably referring to both prayer and trusteeship..

Rebbi Ḥizqiah and Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa were sitting at one place and Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa had coins on him. There came the time for prayer, he unbound them and gave them to Rebbi Ḥizqiah. He bound them together little by little. They became untied and lost. He asked: What have you left?²⁴⁵This story is a counterexample to the prescription given before. Since coins are shown to come untied sometimes, binding them together is no remedy for the worry. Hence, the practical conclusion would be that coins have to be put in a safe place before the start of prayer.

Rebbi Ḥanina²⁴⁶He refers back to the Tosephta that allowed praying if the carrier’s load did not exceed 4 qab. The statement is introduced here since it is explained on the authority of R. Jacob ben Aḥa who was the main person in the preceding section.
The water referred to here is water used for the sprinkling with the ashes of the red heifer to cleanse from impurity caused by contact or closeness to the body of a dead Jew, as explained in Num. 19 and the Mishnah tractate Parah. The ashes of the red heifer have to be given into מים חיים אל כלי, virgin fresh water in a vessel. This means that after being drawn from flowing water, the water has to be watched so that no kind of work is done with it. A lapse of attention to the water makes it unfit for use in cleansing from impurity. Nevertheless, Rebbi Ḥanina states that one may recite Shema‘ and even pray while carrying such water. This statement is obviously difficult to accept. Rav Ḥuna (the second) dismisses Rebbi Ḥanina’s statement as in obvious contradiction to generally accepted principles. said: Also one who has his water on his shoulder may recite Shema‘ and pray. Rav Ḥuna said: So the reciting of Shema‘ and praying do not require concentration? Rebbi Mana said: I pointed out the difficulty before Rebbi Phineas that even if you say that the recitation of Shema‘ does not need concentration, does prayer not need concentration²⁴⁷Even if one accepts Rebbi Ḥanina’s statement for Shema‘, its reference to prayer must be a mistake even though it refers to a prior statement about prayer only. The sentence is a rhetorical question. In a text from the Cairo Genizah, it is formulated as a declarative sentence: “recitation of Shema‘ does not need concentration; prayer needs concentration”. The meaning is the same in both versions.? Rebbi Yose²⁴⁸The Amora, one of the editors of the Yerushalmi. said: I confirmed it following what Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa said in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: You got it, the completion of the works of water²⁴⁹After the ashes have already been given into the water, when it is clear that the term “living water” no longer applies and there is no indication in the Torah that it has to be guarded as strictly as before. This also explains R. Ḥanina’s expression “his water”, not מי חטאת “the water of sprinkling” that is the technical term used for fresh water guarded for the ashes. It follows that as long as the ashes have not been given into the water, one may neither recite Shema‘ nor pray while guarding it. that are not clear from the words of the Torah.