Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Halakhah for Berakhot 119:16

ת"ר מעשה בהלל הזקן שהיה בא בדרך ושמע קול צוחה בעיר אמר מובטח אני שאין זה בתוך ביתי ועליו הכתוב אומר (תהלים קיב, ז) משמועה רעה לא יירא נכון לבו בטוח בה' אמר רבא כל היכי דדרשת להאי קרא מרישיה לסיפיה מדריש מסיפיה לרישיה מדריש מרישיה לסיפיה מדריש משמועה רעה לא יירא מה טעם נכון לבו בטוח בה' מסיפיה לרישיה מדריש נכון לבו בטוח בה' משמועה רעה לא יירא

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."

Arukh HaShulchan

Therefore, one who enters a city and hears the sound of shouting due to some sort of calamity that occurred in it and says, "may it be [God's] will that [that shouting] is not from within my house", has uttered a vain prayer, for this prayer is regarding the past and whatever has happened has already happened. But he can say, "I trust that it is not from my house" if he is wholly righteous. This is akin to the story of Hillel the Elder, regarding whom it is said: He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord (Berachot 60a). The matter can be explicated in two ways: (1) in its simple rendering- that he is not afraid that it was coming from his house or (2) because he had accustomed his household to accept everything with joy, both the good and its opposite. Therefore, even if, God forbid, some calamity had taken place, they would not scream, but would rather accept it with love and silence. ...
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