Megillah, Daf Yod Het, Part 1
Introduction
This week’s daf continues where we left off last week, discussing the order of the blessings in the Amidah.
ומה ראו לומר ברכת כהנים אחר הודאה – דכתיב +ויקרא ט’+ וישא אהרן את ידיו אל העם ויברכם וירד מעשת החטאת והעלה והשלמים. – אימא קודם עבודה! – לא סלקא דעתך, דכתיב וירד מעשת החטאת וגו’. מי כתיב לעשות מעשת כתיב. –
What was their reason for saying the priestly blessing after thanksgiving? Because it is written, "And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them and he came down from offering the sin-offering and the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings" (Leviticus 9:22).
But say that he did this before worship?
Do not think such a thing. For it is written, "And he came down from offering the sin-offering." Is it written to offer ? It is written, "from offering."
After the blessing over thanksgiving, which itself follows the blessing over sacrificial worship, we recite the blessing of the priests. In some synagogues the priests themselves say these blessings and in others the prayer leader says them. In any case, why at this point in the Amidah?
The verse demonstrates (as the Talmud will now explain) that after having offered the sacrifices, Aaron blessed the people.
The Talmud asks how we know he blessed them after offering the sacrifices. Perhaps he did so first? The answer is found in the verb "from offering." He didn’t come down to offer the sacrifices. He came down after having already done so.
ולימרה אחר העבודה! – לא סלקא דעתך, דכתיב זבח תודה.
Why not then say it [the blessing of the priests] after the [blessing of] the Temple service?
Do not think such a thing, since it is written, "Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving" (Psalms 50:23).
If Aaron blessed the people right after offering the sacrifices, then why don’t we put the priestly blessing right after the blessing over worship?
The problem with this is the verse we used to show that the thanksgiving blessing follows the worship blessing, "Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving" first sacrifice, then thanksgiving.
מאי חזית דסמכת אהאי, סמוך אהאי! – מסתברא, עבודה והודאה חדא מילתא היא.
What did you see to rely on this verse? Why not rely on the other?
It is reasonable that worship and thanksgiving are one.
So now there are two conflicting verses, one which implies that the priestly blessing should follow the blessing over worship, and one that implies that it should follow the thanksgiving blessing. Why do we follow the latter? The answer is that the blessing over worship and thanksgiving are the same thing, for thanksgiving is a form of worship.
ומה ראו לומר שים שלום אחר ברכת כהנים – דכתיב +במדבר ו’+ ושמו את שמי על בני ישראל ואני אברכם. ברכה דהקדוש ברוך הוא – שלום, שנאמר +תהלים כ"ט+ ה’ יברך את עמו בשלום.
What was their reason for saying "give peace" after the priestly blessing? Because it is written, "So they [the priests] shall put my name on the children of Israel, and [then] I shall bless them" (Numbers 6:27) and the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, is peace, as it says, "The Lord shall bless His people with peace" (Psalms 29:11).
Why does Sim Shalom follow the priestly blessing? This is because God says at the end of the priestly blessing that He will now bless Israel. And when God blesses Israel, it is with peace.
We should also note that the priestly blessing itself concludes with a blessing for peace. It obviously makes sense that it should come directly before Sim Shalom.
וכי מאחר דמאה ועשרים זקנים, ומהם כמה נביאים, תקנו תפלה על הסדר, שמעון הפקולי מאי הסדיר? – שכחום וחזר וסדרום.
Since hundred and twenty elders, among whom were many prophets, established the prayers in the proper order, what did Shimon the Pakulite arrange?
They forgot them, and he went back and arranged them.
On 17b there were two opinions as to when the Amidah was established. A baraita ascribed it to Shimon the Pakulite, who lived after the destruction of the Temple, whereas R. Yohanan ascribed it to a body of elders that included prophets, meaning it was during the Second Temple period.
Our Talmud harmonizes these two sources. The elders and prophets originally established the Amidah. Jews forgot the order of the blessings and Shimon the Pakulite put them back into order. We should note that this is a common resolution for such difficulties. I doubt that we can read it as an accurate reflection of historical developments.
מכאן ואילך אסור לספר בשבחו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, דאמר רבי אלעזר: מאי דכתיב +תהלים ק"ו+ מי ימלל גבורות ה’ ישמיע כל תהלתו, למי נאה למלל גבורות ה’ – למי שיכול להשמיע כל תהלתו.
Beyond this it is forbidden to declare the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He. For R. Elazar said: What is it that is written, "Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord, or make all his praise heard" (Psalms 106:2)?
For whom is it fitting to express the mighty acts of the Lord? For one who can make all his praise heard.
Once the Amidah was established, a Jew is not supposed to freely recite the praises of God. He/she is supposed to stick to the formula, not to go "beyond" it. To do so would be arrogant, for only one who could truly list the unending praise of God is fit to even give it a shot.
This question and midrash cut to the heart of the nature of Jewish prayer it is fixed liturgy, and not a freely formed, spontaneous recitation of God’s praises. Here we learn one reason fixed prayer contains what would otherwise be of necessity infinite, and therefore in reality impossible. Praising God properly would require infinite time and skill. No human could ever aspire to doing so. Therefore, all human beings are limited to the established formula of the Amidah.
אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן: המספר בשבחו של הקדוש ברוך הוא יותר מדאי – נעקר מן העולם, שנאמר: +איוב ל"ז+ היספר לו כי אדבר אם אמר איש כי יבלע.
Rabbah b. Bar Hannah said in the name of R. Yohanan: One who tells of the praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, in excess is uprooted from the world, as it says, "Will it be told Him if I speak? If a man says it, he will be swallowed" (Job 37:20).
Rabbah b. Bar Hannah reads the verse as if it teaches that if a person tries to say all of the praises of God, the land will swallow him up.
דרש רבי יהודה איש כפר גבוריא, ואמרי לה איש כפר גבור חיל: מאי דכתיב +תהלים ס"ה+ לך דמיה תהלה – סמא דכולה משתוקא. כי אתא רב דימי אמר: אמרי במערבא: מלה – בסלע, משתוקא – בתרין.
R. Judah a man of Kefar Gibboraya, and some say, of Kefar Gibbor Hayil, expounded: What is it that is written, "For You silence is praise" (Psalms 65:2)? The cure for everything is silence.
When R. Dimi came, he said: In the West they say: "A word is worth a sela, silence two selas."
These last two statements praise silence, especially in the face of praising God. I especially like the second one.