Tuesday, November 13, 2007

In Which The Builders Are Erased

Something cute I saw. R' Student at Hirhurim recently had a post about al tikra banayich ela bonayich. He writes:
The final passage in Berakhos (64a) is famous, largely because it is recited towards the end of Shabbos morning prayers:
אמר רבי אלעזר אמר רבי חנינא תלמידי חכמים מרבים שלום בעולם שנאמר וכל בניך למודי ה' ורב שלום בניך אל תקרי בניך אלא בוניך
R. Elazar said in the name of R. Chanina: Torah scholars increase peace in the world, as it says, "And all your children will be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children." Read not banayikh (your children) but bonayikh (your builders).
...

I never understood why the last part of the passage is necessary.

...

What does the final line about builders add? And which banayikh (children) is supposed to mean builders, the first or the second? If it were up to me, that last line would be erased. Actually, if you look at the other four times in the Talmud where this passage appears (Yevamos 122b, Nazir 66b, Kerisos 28b, Tamid 32b), they do not have that last line.
I think the line belongs in there, and that it functions a la Dr. Bernstein's peshat -- that it means "understanders" rather than "builders." (Though see here, for a context-based claim for why it is taken as builders.) Yet this was all introduced with the fact that this passage is made famous by its presence in davening, at the end of Shabbat mussaf.

As I was researching something else (the kol hashoneh halachot bechol yom bit), I saw an interesting nusach which indeed deletes this al tikrei banayich ela bonayich bit. Instead we have something different. This is in סדור רבי הירץ ז"ל, טיהינגן - ש"כ פי' על תפלות השנה ע"ד קבלה, available for download at HebrewBooks.org. There, they have:

And the rest as usual.

Also, they don't have the kol hashoneh halachot bechol yom bit there either.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Did you find anything interesting about kol ha-shoneh halakot?

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