תּלמוד אויף ישעיהו 38:2

¹⁷²Is. 38:2.Hezekiah turned his face to the wall. Which wall did he lift his eyes to? Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, he lifted his eyes to Raḥab’s wall, for her house was on the wall of the fortification; she lived on the wall. He said before Him: Master of all worlds, Raḥab saved two souls for You, and see how many souls You saved for her. That is what is written¹⁷⁴Jos.6:25.: The youths, the spies, came and led out Raḥab, and her father’s house, and her mother, and her brothers, and all of hers, and all her families they brought out and left them outside of Israel’s camp. Rebbi Simeon ben Ioḥai stated, even if her family was 200 persons strong and they furthermore were related to other families, all of whom were saved by her merit. My forefathers who brought to You all these proselytes so much more that You should spare my life.

Rebbi Yasa, Rebbi Ḥelbo. Rebbi Berekhiah, Rebbi Ḥelbo comes to it in the name of Rebbi Eudaimon from Ḥaifa: A person has to turn his face to the wall in order to pray. What is the reason? (Is. 38:2) “Hezekiah turned his face to the wall.” Which wall did he lift his eyes to? Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, he lifted his eyes to Raḥab’s wall, (Jos. 2:15) “For her house was on the wall of the fortification.” He said before Him: Master of the world, Raḥab the inn-keeper saved two souls for You, and see how many souls You saved for her. [That is what is written (Jos.6:23): “The youths came, etc.” Rebbi Simeon bar Yoḥai said, even if her family was 200 persons strong and they furthermore were related to another 200 families, all of these were saved by her merit²¹⁶The argument, as usual, refers to the part of the verse not quoted in the text: “The youths, the spies, came and removed Raḥab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all her belongings; and they removed all her families and deposited them outside of the camp of Israel.” One would have expected “all her family” but it says “all her families”..] My forefathers who brought to You all these proselytes, so much more²¹⁷This expression is elliptic, see the last two paragraphs.. Rebbi Ḥananiah bar Pappus²¹⁸In the Babli, he is called Rebbi Ḥanina bar Pappus. He belongs to the circle of the students of R. Yoḥanan, but it is not known whether he was himself one of the latter’s students. His authority was accepted by Abbaie and Rava, the undisputed leaders of the fourth generation of Amoraïm in Babylonia. said, he lifted his eyes to the wall of the Temple. (Ez. 43:8) “When they put their lintel next to My lintel, their doorposts next to My doorpost, with the wall between Me and them²¹⁹This verse ends with a curse upon the people addressed, the bad kings of Judea. But since the royal palace and the Temple were designed by David and built by Solomon, one must assume that the layout and use were done by praiseworthy kings..” They were important people, they could not go and pray in the Temple every time, so they prayed in their house and the Holy One, praise to Him, considers it as if they had prayed in the Temple. My fathers who built for You all this glory, so much more. Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman²²⁰In the Babli (10b), this sermon is by Rebbi Levi and the following one by R. Simeon ben Laqish. said, he lifted his eyes to the wall of the woman from Sunem, as it was said (2Kings 4:10): “Let us make a small upper storey on the wall”. He said before Him: Master of the world, the woman from Sunem made one wall for Elisha and You revived her son. My forefathers who built for You all this glory, so much more that You should give me my life. The rabbis say, he lifted his eyes to the walls of his heart. (Jer. 4:19) “My innards, my innards I make tremble, the walls of my heart are in uproar.” He said before Him: Master of the world, I checked all my 248 limbs²²¹This number is given in Mishnah Ahilut 1:8 where they are all enumerated in anatomic detail. that You gave me and I did not find one of them I offended You with; so much more that You should give me my life.

There is a teaching : Abba Benjamin said : Throughout my life I was most anxious about two things, viz., that my Tefillah should be recited before my bed, and that my bed should be placed between North and South. "That my Tefillah should be recited before my bed." What means "before my bed" ? Is it to be supposed that it was actually in front of the bed? But Rab Judah has said in the name of Rab (another version : R. Joshua b. Levi): Whence do we learn that when one prays, there should be nothing intervening between him and the wall? As it is said, "Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed" (Is. xxxviii. 2)! Do not read "before my bed" but "near my bed."