Yerushalmi Berakhot 3:4 ירושלמי ברכות ג׳:ד׳

MISHNAH: He who had qeri¹⁵⁸An emission of semen. thinks but does not recite any benediction before or after¹⁵⁹The recitation of Shema‘.; on his food he recites the benedictions afterwards¹⁶⁰Grace, which is an obligation from the Torah. He does not recite the rabbinic benedictions before the meal. but not before. Rebbi Yehudah says, he recites benedictions before and after.

HALAKHAH: What does he think of? The benedictions¹⁶¹But the Shema‘, which is an obligation from the Torah, he recites normally. But Rashi explains “he thinks the Shema‘ ”, and this also seems to be the opinion of Maimonides in his decision based on the Babli..

The Mishnah deals with a place where there is no water¹⁶²It will be confirmed in the next Halakhah that even Rebbi Yehudah agrees that after an emission one may not recite unless he washed first. So this statement is agreed to by everybody in the Yerushalmi. and follows Rebbi Meïr, as it is stated (Tosephta Berakhot 2:13): “He who had qeri but no water to immerse himself reads the Shema‘ but not so that he himself can hear it, but he does not recite any benediction before or after; these are the words of Rebbi Meïr. But the Sages say, he reads so that he himself can hear it and recites benedictions before and after.¹⁶³The Babli (Berakhot 22a) quotes a parallel but different baraita in which the position of “the Sages” is in the name of R. Yehudah.”

It is stated (Tosephta Berakhot 2:12): “A sick person who had qeri on whom fell nine qab¹⁶⁴One qab equals 4 log, one log is .533 liter or .164 gallons, so that a qab equals approximately .563 gallons, 9 qab about 5.07 U. S. gallons. One seäh is 6 qab or about 3.38 gallons, so 40 seäh equal about 135.2 gallons or 512 liter. In Roman measures, the log corresponds to the sextarius, and the seäh to the urna. That makes 40 seah equal to a Roman culleus. of water (and a pure one on whose head and body fell three log of drawn water)¹⁶⁵The parenthesis is not in the Tosephta or in the quote in the Babli 22b, and does not belong here. The impurity of the man with emission is Biblical (Lev. 15:16) but the prohibition of studying Torah and speaking sacred words is from the institutions of Ezra, i. e., it is pre-rabbinic. On the other hand, the impurity of a person washing himself with drawn water after an immersion in a miqweh belongs to the “18 ordinances” passed by the adherents of the house of Shammai before the Jewish revolt against the Romans and is purely rabbinical. It was passed because most miqwaöt were not built but were water holes in natural caves that were naturally muddy and people had the tendency to wash off the mud after they emerged from the miqweh. The rabbis of the time were afraid that in time washing would supersede immersion as (illegal) means of purification, so they decreed that washing after immersion resurrects some mild form of ritual impurity. is clean for himself but he cannot lead the public in their obligations until he immersed himself in 40 seah. Rebbi Yehudah says, 40 seah in all cases¹⁶⁶This translation is not guaranteed. The Babli (loc. cit.) takes the statement of Rebbi Yehudah to mean that he requires the stated amount of water but not that it should be in a miqweh that satisfies all rules. However, as Levi Ginzberg points out, that requires the expression בכל מקום which is found in manuscripts of the Babli; it represents the majority opinion in the Babli. The idiomatic translation of מכל מקום is “in every case”, including the sick person. R. Yehudah then is more restrictive than the other sages if water is available, and this may be the meaning of the Yerushalmi. If the parenthesis is genuinely part of this baraita, then the latter interpretation is the only possible one since an impurity imposed to enforce immersion in a genuine miqweh can be removed only by such an immersion..”

Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa, Rebbi Yasa in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: Qeri is only from sexual intercourse. Rav Huna said, even if he saw himself enjoying in his dream. They wanted to say, only from a woman. Rebbi Jonah and Rebbi Yose, both of them say, even from something else. There (Mishnah Yoma 8:1) we have stated: Eating, drinking, washing, anointing, wearing shoes, and sexual intercourse are forbidden on Yom Kippur. And it was stated in that respect: Men with qeri immerse themselves secretly in their normal way on Yom Kippur¹⁶⁷In Tosephta Kippurim 4:5 and Babli Yoma 88a the reading is: Men with qeri immerse themselves normally on Yom Kippur; one speaks of a full immersion and “in secret” is not mentioned. The Tosephta seems to be a Babylonian formulation. (The entire paragraph is also found in Yerushalmi Yoma 8:1).. Does this not contradict Rebbi Joshua ben Levi since Rebbi Joshua ben Levi says, qeri is only from sexual intercourse? Explain it if he had intercourse on the previous day and forgot and did not immerse himself. But it is stated: It happened that Rebbi Yose ben Ḥalaphta was seen immersing himself secretly on Yom Kippur. Can you say about that holy body that he forgot¹⁶⁸Hence, the interpretation of Rav Huna is incorrect and that of Rebbis Yose (the Amora) and Jonah is correct.?

Rebbi Jacob bar Abun said: This immersion has only been enacted so that Jews should not be like chickens, that one would have sex: mount, descend, and eat¹⁶⁹This means that sexual relations should be stripped of their animal nature as much as possible; the sanctification of marital duties applies to all Jews. The parallel in the Babli (Berakhot 22a, in the name of R. Yose bar Abun) reads: “so that scholars should not be found near their wives like roosters.” One may conclude that there are two main differences between Galilean and Babylonian practice: In the Yerushalmi, the duty of immersion applies uniformly to everybody and requires a kosher miqweh, in the Babli it is necessary only for study and may be done by washing.
R. Jacob bar Abun was a Galilean Amora of the third generation, colleague of R. Jeremiah.
There is no hint anywhere that one is forbidden to eat after intercourse or before immersion; the expression here is just a graphic expression of the behavior of cocks (commentary of Levi Ginzberg)..

Rebbi Ḥanina passed by the gates of public baths¹⁷⁰Greek δημόσιος, α, ον, adj. “public”, here understood with βαλανεῖα “baths”. The public baths certainly were not open before dawn and Rebbi Ḥanina orders the people there not to waste their time but to study Torah (being from the first Amora generation, he said “to study Mishnah”) since the interpretation given later to qeri only hinders one to pronounce the Divine name (and, hence, to pray) but not to study where the Divine name is seldom mentioned and, if mentioned at all, only by paraphrase. On the other hand, when morning came and the time for morning prayers, he told those that had intercourse to go and immerse themselves before praying. before dawn and said: What are those who have to immerse themselves in the morning doing here? They should go and study Mishnah! In the morning he said: He who has to do it shall go and do it.

What are the rules about thinking¹⁷¹About Torah subjects. While this paragraph seems to be somewhat out of place here, it is introduced because of the later discussion of the status of a man with qeri in the study of Torah subjects. in the toilet? Ḥizqiah said it is permitted; Rebbi Yasa said it is forbidden. Rebbi Zeïra said, all difficult arguments that I had became clear to me there. Rebbi Eleazar bar Simeon¹⁷²The son of Rebbi Simeon bar Yoḥai. His difficult argument is detailed in Babli Zebaḥim 102b. In Babylonia (Babli Berakhot 24b) it was accepted by everybody that thinking about Torah subjects in a toilet is forbidden except if the person cannot help doing it. In Galilee the practical rule was to allow it. said, the entire difficult subject of ṭĕbūl yōm became clear to me there.

Rebbi Aḥa in the name of Tanḥum ben Rebbi Ḥiyya: In the days of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi they wanted to abolish this immersion because of the Galilean women who became sterile¹⁷³Since in Galilee the immersion was required for everybody, not only for Torah study as in Babylonia, it also applied to women. In winter in upper Galilee, water sometimes freezes and all miqwaöt were cold-water miqwaöt; in a parallel in Babli Berakhot 22a, Rav Huna notes that instead of a miqweh one could use a hot bath in Babylonia. because of the cold. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi told them: Do you want to uproot something that fences Israel off from sin? What means: Fences Israel off from sin? It happened that a watchman of vinyards wanted to have an affair with a married woman. By the time they were preparing a place where they could immerse themselves, passers-by came by and the sin was not committed¹⁷⁴A parallel in Babli Berakhot 22a is explicitly designated as a baraita, dating from Mishnaic times, and applying the need for immersion only to the man. [Levi Ginzberg conjectures that the watchman was a bachelor; hence, he could not use the public miqweh (except on holiday eve) without drawing public attention to his unmarried sexual activities. However, it is stated explicitly at the end of this halakhah that a miqweh was not used for this immersion.]. It happened that someone wanted to have an affair with Rebbi’s slave girl. She said to him: If my mistress does not immerse herself, I do not immerse myself¹⁷⁵Meaning that as an unmarried woman she does not frequent the miqweh and, therefore, cannot have sex with any man. The slave girl was quite famous for speaking better classical Hebrew than the rabbis.. He said to her: Are you not like an animal¹⁷⁶The argument here is not perfectly clear. There is a verse in Ezechiel 23:20, speaking about the heathen, "for the flesh of donkeys is their flesh and the semen of horses is their semen" (where "flesh" as human limb here and elsewhere means the penis, the only boneless limb), but that speaks only about males and, in any case, the slave in a Jewish household is a semi-Jew, becoming a full Jew on manumission without any formality of conversion. Hence, no verse applying to heathen is appropriate here. The real reason seems to be the command given to Adam that "a man shall leave his father and his mother and stick to his wife" (Gen. 2:24); since a slave is not legally able to contract a marriage, he is missing the essential human quality of having to marry. That makes questionable humans out of adults who are bachelors by choice. [The sex life of slaves is not discussed in the Yerushalmi. In the Babli (Niddah 47a) it is stated that slaves may have sex with anybody except a Jew (and a married Gentile woman).]? She said to him: Did you not hear that one who has relations with an animal will be stoned, as it is said (Ex. 22:18): “Anyone lying with an animal shall certainly be executed.”

Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba¹⁷⁷Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba the Babylonian quotes here the Babylonian tradition that this immersion is appropriate only for Torah scholars, in contrast to the Galilean practice shown be the preceding and the following examples that the unlearned were the most ardent practitioners of the ritual. said: They ordered this immersion essentially only for study. For if you tell him that he is permitted, he is going to say: “I shall go, satisfy my needs, and then come and study what is needed,” but since you say that it is forbidden, he will come and study all he needs¹⁷⁸Not having sex in those nights where study starts before dawn, i. e., all week except Friday night.. There¹⁷⁹Any תמן "there" in the Yerushalmi means Babylonia. The ruling is not mentioned in the Babli explicitly but there is a parallel to the statement attributed to Rebbi Eleazar, and a statement by the 10th century Rav Hai Gaon (Ozar Hageonim Berakhot p. 56), that in his time scholars in Babylonia did not pray until they had cleansed themselves by washing. they said it is even forbidden to hear words of Torah.

Rebbi Judah bar Titus¹⁸⁰A Galilean Amora from Caesarea Philippi, of the fourth generation., Rebbi Aḥa in the name Rebbi Eliezer: as at the start (Ex. 19:11) “They shall be prepared on the third day, do not approach a woman¹⁸¹The impurity of qeri for the study of Torah is derived from the theophany at Sinai where the Israelites purified themselves for three days from any impurity caused by marital relations. This gives support to the opinion stated earlier by R. Joshua ben Levi that the impurity of qeri is only caused by sexual intercourse. The Talmud notes (Babli Šabbat 86a, Yerushalmi Šabbat 9:3, fol. 11c) that a separation of three days was needed only for the women since a woman may lose live sperm from her body up to three days after intercourse. For men a simple immersion in water the next day would be enough. This proves that women were included by Divine decree among the original recipients and students of the Torah; the inclusion of women in the Tosephta quoted in the next paragraph is intentional..”

It is stated¹⁸²Tosephta Berakhot 2:12. In the parallel in the Babli, Berakhot 22a, only males are in the list. The baraita in the Babli is a Babylonian formulation of material ascribed to the students of Rebbi Aqiba.: “Males and females with discharges¹⁸³From their genitals, the male zab suffering from gonorrhea and similar diseases, the female bleeding other than menstruating, see Lev. Chapter 15., menstruating women, and women having given birth¹⁸⁴Whose basic impurity is one week after having a son, two weeks after having a daughter; Lev. 12:1–8. read in the Torah and study midrash¹⁸⁵This is the derivation of practical rules from the Biblical text, as in the Midrĕshē Hălākhāh to the last four books of the Pentateuch., practical rules, and homiletics; the person with qeri is forbidden all these.” Rebbi Abba bar Aḥa in the name of Rebbi¹⁸⁶The argument here is not perfectly clear. There is a verse in Ezechiel 23:20, speaking about the heathen, “for the flesh of donkeys is their flesh and the semen of horses is their semen” (where “flesh” as human limb here and elsewhere means the penis, the only boneless limb), but that speaks only about males and, in any case, the slave in a Jewish household is a semi-Jew, becoming a full Jew on manumission without any formality of conversion. Hence, no verse applying to heathen is appropriate here. The real reason seems to be the command given to Adam that “a man shall leave his father and his mother and stick to his wife” (Gen. 2:24); since a slave is not legally able to contract a marriage, he is missing the essential human quality of having to marry. That makes questionable humans out of adults who are bachelors by choice. [The sex life of slaves is not discussed in the Yerushalmi. In the Babli (Niddah 47a) it is stated that slaves may have sex with anybody except a Jew (and a married Gentile woman).]: He may study practical rules¹⁸⁷Which need only memorization, not independent thinking, in contrast to the construction of sermons which are supposed to be original with the preacher. In this respect, the rule of Rab would coincide with that given in the name of Rebbi Yose (the Tanna) in the next sentence. but not homiletics. It is stated in the name of Rebbi Yose: He may repeat known rules but he may not expound¹⁸⁸Going into the details and general rules behind the simple casuistic statements of the Mishnah; that requires individual mental effort. the Mishnah. Some want to say, only that he may not mention the Divine Name¹⁸⁹This is a problem only in prayer, not in study where the Name is never pronounced even in quotes from the Bible.. Rebbi Zeïra asked before Rebbi Yasa: Did my teacher not prepare his lecture together with Rebbi Abun in the night? He said, yes. Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba prepared his lecture together with his son Rebbi Neḥemiah in the night. The next morning he said, anybody who has to do should go and do it¹⁹⁰Note that all Amoraïm involved here are originally Babylonians, but this may be a coincidence. The point seems to be that in the night, when immersion is dangerous, the position of a baäl qeri is the same as one who is at a place with no water. While the sources do not discuss the position of Torah study at a place without water, it seems from here and the story about Rebbi Yose in the paragraph following the next that in the night one never goes for the immersion required and that, therefore, all involved here may study Torah during the night and immerse themselves in the morning before prayers..

It happened that someone was reading the Torah in Nsebin¹⁹¹Nisibis, a town in northern Mesopotamia, today on the border between Syria and Turkey, known as seat of the family Ben Bathyra from at least the start of the Common Era. The authority quoted here is R. Yehuda ben Bathyra II, a student of R. Aqiba. The reader was reading the Torah in the synagogue. In the parallel in the Babli (Berakhot 22a), the reason is given that God’s word is compared to fire and fire cannot become impure.; when he came to the Divine Name he started to stutter. Rebbi Yehudah ben Bathyra told him: Open your mouth and let your words shine because words of the .Torah cannot receive impurity. Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa said: There they act following Rebbi Illaï regarding the first shearing¹⁹²It has to be given to the Cohen, Deut. 18:4. While it is not spelled out in the Pentateuch that this is an obligation only on sheep owners in Israel, “there” in Babylonia one did not give first shearings to the Cohen. The entire statement is quoted in the Babli (Berakhot 22a) in the formulation “people follow these three”, in the name of Rav Naḥman bar Isaac, a Babylonian contemporary of R. Jacob bar Aḥa., following Rebbi Josiah¹⁹³Tanna of the fourth generation, student of R. Ismael, from the town of Huẓal in Babylonia, a contemporary of R. Yehuda ben Bathyra II. All his traditions are from the school of R. Ismael. regarding kilaim¹⁹⁴The prohibition of planting or sowing several species together. The special rules for kilaim in a vineyard are based on Deut. 22:9: “Do not sow your vineyard kilaim”. Usually, a vineyard is not sown but planted; R. Josiah therefore restricts the prohibition to the case where even the vines are grown from seeds sown, not planted one by one in separate places. in the vineyard, and following Rebbi Yehudah ben Bathyra regarding people with qeri. Following Rebbi Illaï regarding the first shearing. as we have stated: “Rebbi Illaï said: The first shearing applies only in the Land.” Following Rebbi Josiah regarding kilaim as it is stated: “One is never guilty unless one sowed wheat, barley, and grape kernels falling from the same hand.” Following Rebbi Yehudah ben Bathyra regarding people with qeri as it is stated: “Rebbi Yehudah ben Bathyra says, words of the Torah cannot receive impurity.”

Rebbi Yose bar Ḥalaphta came on a footpath¹⁹⁵Latin semita (the Rome ms. has איסרטא, strata “a paved [street].”) This story belongs to the discussion of the paragraph before the last and shows that in the minds of the people the original intention of the ordinance requiring washing was inverted, that instead of “fencing off Israel from sin” it became a ritual in the minds of the uneducated with which one could wash off even adultery with a menstruating women, combining a capital crime with one punishable by extirpation. Hence, the story supports Rebbi Yehudah ben Bathyra who negates the importance of the ritual even for public reading of the Torah, not only for Torah study. in the night and a donkey driver was walking after him along a ditch. He said to him: This man must wash. He said to him: Do not imperil yourself. He said to him: This man must wash because of a menstruating, married woman. Even so he said to him: Do not imperil yourself. Since he did not listen to him he said: May this man descend and not ascend. And that happened to him.

Rebbi Yose ben Yose¹⁹⁶One of the last Galilean Amoraïm. It is not known whether he is identical with the poet of the same name, the first of the synagogal poets known by name; neither is it clear whether his name indicates that he was a posthumous child (cf. E. and H. Guggenheimer, Etymologisches Lexikon der jüdischen Familiennamen, Saur, München 1996, p. xviii). came on a ship. He saw one who was tying a rope around himself in order to descend¹⁹⁷From the ship to the ocean in order to wash. This story makes clear that the washing after sexual intercourse was general practice in Israel down to the time of edition of the Jerusalem Talmud. Its time is six generations after the preceding story. It negates the negative moral implications of the preceding story but retains its emphasis on avoiding life-threatening situations. and wash. He said to him: Do not endanger your life. He said to him: This one needs to eat. He said to him: eat! This man needs to drink. He said to him: drink! When they came to the harbor¹⁹⁸Greek λιμήν., he said to him: There¹⁹⁹On the high seas. The problem was not that one may not eat before washing but that one is not allowed to pronounce the Divine Name and, therefore, is unable to utter the benedictions before eating. I permitted it only because of danger to your life but here this man may not taste anything before he washes.

Rebbi Yannai²⁰⁰Rebbi Yannai, from the first generation of Amoraïm, makes it clear that essentially nobody uses the miqweh for the immersion of qeri; either one uses a regular bath or a running stream or the sea (whose total volume is certainly greater than 40 sĕa.) The parallel in the Babli (Berakhot 22a) has only the first part of the statement and no hint of using running water. Running water is required for the cleansing of the male with gonorrhea (Lev. 15:13). said: I heard that some take it lightly and some are stringent and every one who is stringent lives a long, good life. Some take it lightly by washing in drawn water; some are stringent to immerse themselves in running water.