Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Talmud for Pesachim 206:8

א"ל אנא כהא סבירא לי דאמר ר"א אמר רבי אושעיא הפוחת לא יפחות מג' והמוסיף לא יוסיף על ז' אמר ליה

'My servant has acted of his own accord,' replied he.' Had he not heard it thus from you,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'The Master'.');"><sup>14</sup></span> he retorted, 'he would not have done it.' Said he to him: 'Do you then not hold, [To employ] a torch for habdalah is the best way of performing the precept? ' Then he commenced [habdalah] and recited: 'He who makes a distinction between holy and non-holy, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six working days.' Said he to him: 'Why do you need all this? Surely Rab Judah said in Rab's name: "He who makes a distinction between holy and non-holy," was the formula of habdalah as recited by R'Judah ha-Nasi? ' 'I hold with the following,' answered he.' For R'Eleazar said in R'Oshaia's name: He who would recite but few [distinctions] must recite not less than three; while he who would add, must not add beyond seven.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., not less than three points of distinction and not more than seven must be recited in the habdalah.');"><sup>15</sup></span> Said he to him:

Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot

They objected: There is Havdalah.274The Havdalah benediction at the end of the Sabbath is preceded by benedictions over wine, spices, and light. These are all short sentences and it is universally agreed that they should start with “praise”. The only problem is the Havdalah benediction itself, which follows the other ones. The answer is that the benedictions over spices and fire are recited in order only for convenience, not out of necessity, and that Rebbi did recite them separately. Hence, Havdalah is a potentially freestanding benediction, but it follows always the benediction for wine. The objection based on this is not raised, but it will be raised for Qiddush and the answer given there also applies here. It is explained in Babli Pesaḥim54a that Rebbi was collecting the other benedictions on the cup for his family, not for himself. There is a difference since Rebbi Abba bar Zavda said that Rebbi was dispersing them and collecting them on the cup. The great Rebbi Ḥiyya was collecting them275Being a Babylonian, he never gave up Babylonian practices even though he spent his life in Galilee..
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