New Series Alert!
You can expect this series to explore sugiyot from Masechet Berakhot, unpacking them in, hopefully, new and interesting ways. You might have seen these texts before, or not, but hopefully, we’ll approach them in new ways.
In the background, I’ll also be working on completing my book of Talmud inspired by the Torah portions this winter. My hope is to publish it in early 2024. You can sign up for book updates here, but rest assured that you’ll hear about it on With Torah and Love.
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The first Mishnah in Berakhot begins by asking: When should one recite the evening Shema?
The Mishnah explains that there are three night-watches in the Temple, and accordingly, we get three opinions that our time to recite the Shema corresponds to each of those watches.
The Lion
And then we get this on Berakhot 3a:
Actually, [Rabbi Eliezer] holds that there are three watches at night, and this comes to teach us that there are watches in heaven and watches on earth.
As was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says, three watches are at night, and for each watch the Holy Blessed One sits and roars (yishag) like a lion, as it is said, “The Lord roars (yishag) from on high, God’s voice goes out from God’s holy residence, God roars mightily (shoeg yishag) over God’s dwelling place.” (Jeremiah 25:30)
Rabbi Eliezer reads Jeremiah, sees how God roars three times and draws two inferences: first, that God is like ua lion who roars, and second, the three uses of the word roar correspond to the three watches. He provides us the framework that God is roaring.
What is a roar, exactly? What does it do?
When I imagine a lion roaring, it expresses power and authority. God sits upon God’s throne in the Temple and roars out God’s power to the universe. But is this so?
A few lines down, skipping over a section that we’ll get back to in a second, the Talmud relays this:
Rabbi Yitzhak bar Shmuel said in the name of Rav: Three watches are at night, and for each watch the Holy Blessed One sits and roars (yishag) like a lion, and says, “Woe is me that I destroyed my house and I burned my Temple, and exiled my children to [live] amongst the peoples of the world.”
Rabbi Yitzhak bar Shmuel imagines that God sits upon the Temple, like Rabbi Eliezer, and that God is woeful and regretful about the exile of the Jewish people. A roar is not an outward expression of might but a sorrowful reflection on past deeds.
Our outward expression of emotions is not always the same as our internal feelings. We commonly recognize a roar as a fearsome challenge, yet here, it is a chest-welling demonstration of pain and grief.
How often are our emotions out of alignment? When our insides and our outsides do not mirror each other? It is a part of our nature to protect our difficult feelings by hiding them or expressing their opposite.
Discerning our true emotions and how they manifest is essential to growing as human beings.
The Signs
Between the two portions of the image of the lion roaring, we learn there are signs that mark the transitions into the three watches. The Talmud says:
And [the] signs for the thing [the transitions] are: the first watch [is signified by] a donkey braying, the second [watch by] dogs barking, the third [by when a] baby nurses upon the breasts of their mother, and when people converse with their partners.
Each of these, which contains sounds like the lion’s roar, marks a moment of transition. But the Talmud is confused:
What did Rabbi Eliezer articulate? If he is considering [these] the beginning of the watches, why do I need a sign for the beginning of the first watch [which begins at twilight] need to be signified? It is evening! [The sign is obvious!]
If he is considering [these] the end of the watches, why do I need a sign for the end of the last watch? It is day! [The sign is obvious!]
Since we’re talking about transitions, the signs could be either the mark of the beginning of the watch or the end. If we’re marking the first transition, which is the beginning of the night watches, it would seem obvious when it begins: it is the evening, and it has started! And if it is the end of the last watch, it would seem obvious when it ends, it is the morning, and it is over!
What do these transition moments mean? What is their use?
Rather, he considered [these signs to be] the end of the first watch, the beginning of the last watch, and the middle of the middle watch.
[Alternatively,] if you want, you can say: He considered [these to be signs of] the end of the watches, because if you say the last one is not necessary, [it is still useful.]
Here, the Talmud protects Rabbi Eliezer’s breakdown and offers two possible understandings of the moments of transition. One is that the transitions correspond to the beginning of the beginning watch, the middle of the middle watch, and the end of the end watch.
The other is that each of them marks the end of the watches (a third into the night, two-thirds of the night, and the morning). While the last one isn’t necessary, it is still useful.
How is it useful?
What is the practical takeaway from this [final sign]? [This is useful for] the one who recites the Shema while in the dark of the house and does not know when to say the Shema. When partners speak [in the morning] and the baby nurses from the breasts of their mother, one must rise and recite [the Shema].
The rabbis were rooted in practicality and the lives of actual human beings. In the mornings, when our baby is crying, having just woken up, my wife and I whisper and discuss the plans for the morning. “Will you get up to feed her while I start breakfast?” or “I’ll hop out and get her while you sleep a bit more.”
The rabbis understand that while it is morning and it is obvious that the day has begun, it is still useful to have a marker that the day has begun. This intimate moment begins the day, and that they highlight it is significant.
This intimacy, this quiet moment, also has a spiritual component.
Our days begin with a whispered understanding that while we might have our own tasks, our own goals, and our own aspirations for the day, those take second place after our relationship with the important people in our lives.
We support our partners and loved ones, teach and raise the little ones in our lives, and invest in our relationship with the Divine. These are the things that deserve our first layer of attention.
These two stories, intertwined on the page, are here to teach us about the quiet moments of our days. The inner story happening in our hearts and the first moments of our time awake.
We might be drawn to think that it is only about what we post online, the external manifestation of our feelings, how we spend our work day, or how we show off our lives to our neighbors. No, these things are not as important as the inner work that needs to happen.
Not just for our spiritual tasks, like reciting the Shema, but for our growth as human beings and for the sake of our relationships.
So invest in these quiet and essential moments of your day, relationships, and spiritual life.
You can do this with a quiet meditation in the morning or reciting the Shema, listening to your partner and the tenor of their roar, journaling to reflect on your own emotional alignment, or even just a quiet walk through the neighborhood.
Thank you for this, roaring lions have been on my mind a fair bit lately.