Bava Metzia - Daf 107
- ברוך אתה בבואך ברוך אתה בצאתך
A talmid of Rav was asked how Rav interpreted the following pesukim: ברוך אתה בעיר – you shall be blessed in the city, וברוך אתה בשדה – and you shall be blessed in the field. ברוך אתה בבואך – You shall be blessed when you come in, וברוך אתה בצאתך – and you shall be blessed when you go out. He explained that they mean, respectively: (1) Your home should be near a shul. (2) Your property should be near your home, to ease the transport of crops. (3) Your wife should not be a possible niddah when you return from a trip. (4) Your offspring should be like you. Rebbe Yochanan explained them differently: (1) You should have a bathroom near your table. [He does not consider it beneficial to be near one’s shul, because he holds there is שכר פסיעות – reward for steps taken to walk there. (2) Your crops should be diversified between grain, olive trees, and vines. (3-4) שתהא יציאתך מן העולם כביאתך לעולם – that your departure from the world should be like your entry to the world: מה ביאתך לעולם בלא חטא – Just as your entry to the world was without sin, אף יציאתך מן העולם בלא חטא – so your departure from the world should be without sin.
- עין רעה, and machlokes about the cause of all illness
The Gemara above quoted Rav Yehudah advising against buying a field close to town, which people will pass by, because Rav said it is forbidden for a person to stand at one’s field while it has a standing crop, so he should not cast an evil eye on it. The Gemara objects from the aforementioned statement of Rav that it is a blessing for one’s fields to be near his house and explains that that is where his field is surrounded by walls and cannot be seen. Amoraim discuss the passuk: והסיר ה' ממך כל חלי – Hashem will remove all illness from you. Rav says it refers to "עין" – the evil eye, which is the source of all illness. This accords with his own opinion, because Rav once went to a cemetery, and determined the cause of the deaths of those buried there, and declared: תשעין ותשעה בעין רעה ואחד בדרך ארץ – ninety-nine of a hundred died from an evil eye, and only one from natural causes. Shmuel said the passuk refers to רוח – wind, because he said: הכל ברוח – all deaths result from wind, which causes illness and death. Even those executed by the sword could be healed, if not for the wind which blows on the wound.
Three more interpretations are given for the above passuk.
- Thirteen benefits of פת שחרית
A Baraisa teaches that eighty-three illnesses are associated with the gall bladder, וכולן פת שחרית במלח וקיתון של מים מבטלתן – and all of them are neutralized by morning bread with salt and a pitcher of water. A Baraisa lists thirteen benefits of “morning bread”: (1) It saves one from the heat (2) and cold, (3) from harmful winds (4) and demons; (5) it makes wise the foolish (through having a clear mind); (6) it makes one successful in litigation; (7) it helps him to learn (8) and teach Torah; (9) his words are heard (having the clarity to explain them properly); (10) his learning remains with him; (11) he does not sweat excessively; (12) it facilitates his having relations with his wife, so he will not desire other women during the day; (13) and it kills intestinal worms. Some say it also helps to avoid jealousy and encourages friendliness, because his improved mood will make him slower to anger. The Gemara quotes the popular saying: שיתין רהיטי רהוט – sixty runners ran, ולא מטו לגברא דמצפרא כרך – but could not catch the man who ate bread in the morning, and the Rabbinic expression: השכם ואכול – “Arise early and eat, in the summer because of the heat, and in the winter because of the cold.” Sources are offered for these expressions.
