Les Psaumes 112:7 Références du Talmud : Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot & Berakhot

If he returns from a trip, what does he say²¹⁵When he hears wailing in town and cannot pray that it should not be in his house.: I am sure that these are not in my house. Hillel the elder said (Ps. 112:7): “He will not be afraid of bad news.”

HALAKHAH: “He who enters a fortified place says two prayers, one when he enters and one when he leaves.” What does he say when he enters? May it be Your pleasure, o Eternal, my God and God of my fathers, that You will bring me into this fortress for peace. When he leaves, he says: May it be Your pleasure, o Eternal, my God and God of my fathers, etc. “Ben Azai said four, two when he enters and two when he leaves.” When he is about to enter, he says: May it be Your pleasure, o Eternal, my God and God of my fathers, that You will bring me into this fortress for peace. After he entered, he says: I thank You, o Eternal, my God and God of my fathers, that I entered in peace; so may it be Your pleasure that You will lead me out of it for peace. When he wants to leave, he says: May it be Your pleasure, o Eternal, my God and God of my fathers, that You will lead me out from this fortress in peace. When he left, he says: I thank You, o Eternal, my God and God of my fathers, that You made me leave in peace; so may it be Your pleasure that You will lead me to my house for peace (or, to place X for peace.)²¹⁷There are parallels to these prayers in the Tosephta (6:16) and the Babli (60a). The Tosephta has only three prayers: Before entry, after entry and after exit. It is to be noted that in the version of the Yerushalmi, the prayer after entry really is also a prayer for safe exit and the third prayer repeats the second part of the prayer after safe entry. The printed version of the Babli has four prayers; the prayer after safe entry only gives thanks for that and is not a prospective prayer for safe exit. This would best be described by the words of Ben Azai. The Spanish print in Śeridei Bavli (Dimitrovsky) fol. 49 has only two prayers, corresponding to the opinion of the first Tanna in the Mishnah, which is disregarded in the other versions: “What does he say when he enters? May it be Your pleasure, o Eternal, my God, that you will let me leave this fortress for peace. When he left, he says: I thank You that You guided me out of this fortress for peace, and just as You led me out in peace, so let me travel in peace, lead me in peace, and save me from the hand of any enemy or ambush on the road. Praise to You, Eternal, Who listens to prayer.” The doxology that makes this a benediction is found only in the Spanish incunabula print and in Kolbo §87; it is expressly denied, in the tradition of the Babli, by Ravad (R. Abraham ben David of Posquières) in his critique of R. Zeraḥiah Halevi in Alfassi. That means²¹⁸This is an editorial note; in the Babli (60a) a slightly different version is attributed to Rav Mattanah. The prayer has to be said only if there is an actual danger in entering the fortress. The difference between Gentile and Jewish populations is not in the Babli; there the problem is the question whether “one judges and kills” in the fortress. In the first version, one does not have to recite the benediction if there are courts that enforce the laws by executing criminals; in the second version one has to recite the prayer anyhow since the police, when confronted with an unsolved crime, might be tempted to frame a stranger who, not knowing any good local lawyer, is in grave danger of being convicted. By contrast, so the interpretation of R. Abraham al-Ashbili, the Yerushalmi recommends the prayer even at a Jewish place if lawless and criminal elements there can kill with impunity., if it is inhabited by Gentiles, but if it is inhabited by Jews, he does not have to recite the benedictions. But if it was a place where they kill, even in a Jewish dwelling he must recite the benediction.

Our Rabbis have taught : It happened that Hillel the Elder was returning from a journey and heard a cry of lamentation in the city and said, "I am confident that it is not in my house" ; and to him the Scriptural verse applies, "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings ; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord" (Ps cxii. 7). Raba said : Whenever thou expoundest this verse, it is to be explained from the first clause to the second and from the second to the first. It is to be explained from the first clause to the second, thus : "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings." Why? "His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord." It is to be explained from the second clause to the first, thus : "His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord"; [therefore] "he shall not be afraid of evil tidings."