The first beracha after the Shema both in the morning and the evening concludes with the phrase, “גאל ישראל – who redeemed Israel.” The theme of redemption is essential to these berachot. During shacharit, this beracha leads us right into the Amida. According to all, one may interrupt between the conclusion of the beracha and the beginning of the Amida¹.  

The gemara – both Bavli and Yerushalmi – lavishes praise on those who are able to go immediately from the beracha of redemption to the Amida. We will begin this topic with a presentation of three gemarot about the praiseworthy nature of this practice. In the next two essays, we will try to understand why this is such an important achievement. The fourth installment will outline the differences between shacharit and arvit. We will conclude with a deeper analysis of that debate and an eye toward how that reflects on some of the broader themes.

Yerushalmi Berachot 6a (1:1), 2d

R. Ze’ira presents us with three instances in which there is a requirement of immediacy between two steps of a process that are related. While we know that the two are part of one unit, it is not obvious that there is a need for them to be one right after the other.

תלמוד ירושלמי ברכות ו. (וילנא) פרק א הל’ א, (וינציא) דף ב עמ’ ד (בבלי ברכות מ”ב., מדרש תהלים ד:ט)

דמר ר’ זעירא בשם ר’ אבא בר ירמיה שלש תכיפות הן: תכף לסמיכה שחיטה, תכף לנטילת ידים ברכה, תכף לגאולה תפילה. 

Yerushalmi Berachot 1:1 (Vilna) 2d (Venice)

R. Ze’ira in the name R. Aba b. Yirmiya said, “There are three ‘immediacies’: 1) Immediately after leaning is the ritual slaughter; 2) Immediately after washing the hands is the blessing; 3) Immediately after Geula is Tefila.

The Yerushalmi continues to offer Biblical verses for each connection. It concludes the list of three with:

תכף לגאולה תפילה (תהלים י”ט:ט”ו) יהיו לרצון אמרי פי. מה כתיב בתריה (תהלים כ:ב) יענך ה’ ביום צרה. 

Immediately after Geula is Tefila: May the words of my mouth (Psalm 19:15, last verse of the chapter). And what is written just after that: May the Lord answer you in a time of trouble (Psalm 20:2).

The Yerushalmi now goes on to describe the benefits that accrue to one who is able to be סומך גאולה לתפילה (to immediately move from the beracha of geula to Tefila)  as well as the problematic nature of failing at this task.

א”ר יוסי בי ר’ בון…וכל מי שהוא תוכף גאולה לתפילה אין השטן מקטרג באותו היום. א”ר זעירא אנא תכפית גאולה לתפילה ואיתצדית באנגריא מובליא הדס לפלטין. אמרו ליה ר’ רבו היא אית בני אינשי הבין פריטין מחכים פלטין. א”ר אמי כל מי שאינו תוכף לגאולה תפילה למה הוא דומה לאוהבו של מלך שבא והרתיק על פתחו של מלך יצא לידע מה הוא מבקש ומצאו שהפליג עוד הוא הפליג. 

R. Yosi b. R. Bone said, “…and all who [are able to fulfill the] immediacy of geula and tefila the Satan will not prosecute them on that day. R. Ze’ira said, “I [connected] geula immediately to tefila and nevertheless I was caught with a tax that required me to bring a myrtle to the palace of the king. They said to him [R. Ze’ira], “Is that such a big deal? There are people who give money to enter the palace [and see the king]!” R. Ami said, “To what can we compare a person who does not immediately connect geula to tefila? To a beloved of the king who came and knocked on the door of the king. When the king came out to see what he was seeking, he found that [his beloved] left. And so the king leaves as well.

The image of knocking on the king’s door and then being absent when the king arrives recalls the Song of Songs. The beloved knocks on the door (Song of Songs 5:2), but by the time the door is opened, the encounter has been missed (Song of Songs 5:6). The implication of the metaphor is that reciting the Shema is like knocking on the door, and the Amida represents a direct relationship with God. If one does not lead to the other, think of the opportunity for relationship that has been squandered.

The imagery here is powerful as it draws us into a relationship, and we should note the departure from the metaphor as it appears in Shir ha-Shirim. In the Bible, we read of the heartsick דוד, the beloved, who knocks on the door and whose lover comes to welcome him but misses him by just a moment (Song of Songs 5:2-5). The emotion, the love and the passion are palpable. 

However, the Yerushalmi shifts the imagery to that of someone seeking to enter the palace of the King and running away at the last moment. The person knocking on the door is called the “beloved” of the king, but one gets a sense that fear, rather than love, drives this “beloved.” 

In addition, R. Ze’ira is upset for having been dragged to the court of the king for tax purposes. The gemara responds that he should relish the opportunity to visit the palace. Again, the imagery of king and the tax-payer differs significantly from the imagery of lover and beloved. To be clear, both of these metaphors are an important part of a robust religious vocabulary that helps cultivate a meaningful relationship with God. While one is romantic and the other businesslike, I believe that we are living in a generation that wants the lover-beloved imagery but still needs the king-servant reminder. 

The 21st century has been witness to the dissolution of honor granted to authority figures. When great rabbis, or politicians, or sports heroes behave in a despicable manner it becomes difficult to look up to nearly anyone. When religious leaders, of any religion, abuse their power not only are their victims of the local level, but God’s name is desecrated throughout the world. This leads to deep mistrust of Rabbis. That lack of respect is sadly, well deserved.

One of the by-products of these terrible public violations is that people struggle with the idea of being commanded by someone outside of themselves. Before we even get to the Kantian limitations of heteronomous claims of law on each of us, we must first re-build the idea that Rabbis are generally good people. Halakha rests on the foundation of a divine Commander and human beings who are commanded.

Bavli Berachot 9b

The Bavli introduces the idea of connecting the beracha of geula and the Amida by describing the practice of the וָתִיקִין (vatikin²). The earliest time of day that one is permitted to recite the morning Amida is the first sparkling of the sun (הָנֵץ הַחַמָּה). R. Yochanan now describes this practice of the vatikin:

ברכות דף ט:

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן וָתִיקִין הָיוּ גּוֹמְרִין אוֹתָהּ עִם הָנֵץ הַחַמָּה.

Berachot 9b

R. Yochanan said, “The vatikin would complete [their recitation of the Shema] with the first sparkling of the sun.”

By aligning the time with the practice in this way, one is assured to also accomplish סמיכת גאולה לתפילה, the immediacy of geula and Tefila. It may be the case that one only gets these rewards if they are able to precisely attune their Shema to conclude at exactly the right time such that the Amida is said at the first opportune moment³. That precise timing certainly makes such coordination a little bit more difficult and perhaps therefore worthy of more praise. 

The Gemara continues:

הֵעִיד רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בֶּן אֶלְיָקִים מִשּׁוּם קְהָלָא קַדִּישָׁא דְבִירוּשָׁלַיִם כָּל הַסּוֹמֵךְ גְּאוּלָּה לִתְפִלָּה אֵינוֹ נִזּוֹק כָּל הַיּוֹם כּוּלּוֹ.

R. Yossi b. Elyakim gave testimony from the holy community of Jerusalem [that] all who are able to immediately go from geula to Tefila will not incur harm the entire day.

The Bavli now shares the same story about R. Ze’ira needing to pay his taxes:

אָמַר רַבִּי זֵירָא אִינִי?! וְהָא אֲנָא סְמַכִי וְאִיתְּזַקִי! אֲמַר לֵיהּ בְּמַאי אִיתְּזַקְתְּ דְּאַמְטֵיִית אָסָא לְבֵי מַלְכָּא. הָתָם נָמֵי מִבְּעֵי לָךְ לְמֵיהַב אַגְרָא לְמִחְזֵי אַפֵּי מַלְכָּא…

R. Zeira said, “is that so, but I juxtaposed and I was harmed?” They said to him, “How were you harmed? That you had to bring a myrtle branch to the palace of the king [for taxes]? There too, you must pay a price to say the face of the king.”

In addition to the idea that juxtaposing the beracha of geula to Tefila protects you from the Satan, as mentioned in the Yerushalmi, we now learn that this was also the practice of the ancient community of Yerushalayim itself. R. Yochanan, also from the Land of Israel, links this practice to the vatikin. Let’s take this discussion one step further and see just how far the gemara goes in praising this practice.

Bavli Berachot 4b

We will conclude with one final text that serves as the centerpiece of most of the subsequent halakhic analysis on this topic. Here we find the presentation of a fundamental debate about shacharit as opposed to arvit. Everyone agrees that there is an obligation for the Shema to be recited immediately prior to the Amida in the morning. While we are accustomed to the same basic structure in the evening, there was a totally different vision for what ma’ariv might have looked like. Let’s take a look at this short debate, to which we will return for the next several weeks.

ברכות דף ד:

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אֵיזֶהוּ בֶּן הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא? זֶה הַסּוֹמֵךְ גְּאוּלָּה לִתְפִלָּה שֶׁל עַרְבִית. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי אוֹמֵר תְּפִלּוֹת בָּאֶמְצַע תִּקְּנוּם.

Bavli Berachot 4b

R. Yochanan said, “Who is assured a place in the World to Come? It is one who goes immediately from the beracha of geula to Tefila in Arvit. R. Yehoshua b. Levi said, “Tefilot were instituted in the middle.”

The approach of R. Yochanan is familiar to us. Just as the other Amoraim mentioned that juxtaposing geula and Tefila merits great reward, R. Yochanan explains that a similar kind of reward applies in the evening as in the morning. R. Yehoshua b. Levi, however, describes an entirely different model for the evening prayers. He agrees that, in the morning, Shema should immediately precede the Amida. However, in the evening, the Amida comes before Shema.

Here is a simple chart to help see just how far apart these two positions are:

	שחרית	ערבית
רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן	שמע ← עמידה	שמע ←  עמידה
רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי	שמע ← עמידה	עמידה ← שמע

 

	Shacharit	Arvit
R. Yochanan	Shema → Amida	Shema → Amida
R. Yehoshua b. Levi	Shema → Amida	Amida → Shema

We will return to the halakhic and structural implications of this debate in the next two essays. For now, I want to conclude by noting that, for R. Yochanan, if you accomplish this amazing religious goal of juxtaposing the beracha of geula and Amida in Ma’ariv, you are considered so great that not only will the Satan stay away, not only will no damages come to you for an entire day, but you have now merited a seat in the World to Come.

Next week we will analyze several approaches that exist in the rishonim as to why so many benefits accrue to people for this behavior. In the subsequent installments, we will unpack the implications of the debate between R. Yochanan and R. Yehoshua b. Levi.

1. As we will see going forward, there is not agreement about how interruption works for arvit.
2. humble, lovers of Mitzvot, see Rashi
3. See תוספות in Berachot 9b ד”ה כל הסומך who is puzzled by these rewards as it seem that everyone can pretty easily juxtapose the two. He concludes, “כל הסומך גאולה לתפלה כותיקין שקורין ק”ש קודם הנץ ותפלה לאחר הנץ” – that the reward only comes to those who are able to precisely finish Shema before the first sparkling of the sun and begin the Amida right after that moment