פירוש על ברכות 53:2
Tosafot on Berakhot
COME AND HEAR: THE ADDITIONAL PRAYER [MAY BE RECITED] ALL DAY. RABBI YEHUDA SAYS: UNTIL SEVEN HOURS AFTER SUNRISE. AND IT WAS TAUGHT: [IF] THEY WERE BEFORE. The Gemara is presenting R’ Yehudoh’s opinion about when one must say the Musaf prayer. As we will soon see it is Tosfos opinion that R’ Yehudoh’s opinion about musaf does not appear in the Mishna. Tosfos must therefore emend the text of the Gemara to reflect his opinion. See the Mishna on 26a, there R’ Yehudoh’s opinion appears in parentheses. The text does not follow Tosfos opinion. In our Gemara when R’ Yehudoh’s opinion is introduced with the words אימא סיפא I will quote the end of the Mishna, the Gemara is quoting the Mishna on 26a. Tosfos replace the words אימא סיפא with the words תא שמע as we can see in the lead words of the Tosfos.
And we do not have the text אימא סיפא ושל וכו' and I will quote the end which refers to the end of the Mishna, because this is not in the Mishna. For the words of R’ Yehudoh who said that musaf may only be said till seven hours are not in the Mishna. And there are books of the Talmud that inserted those words in the Mishna, however all the old books do not have those words.
Assuming that Tosfos is correct that the words about the conclusion of the time for musaf do not appear in the Mishna we must know, why not? And if you ask: why did Rebbe the Prince, author of the Mishna not mention it, R’ Yehudoh’s opinion about the musaf, in the Mishna. And we can answer: because he does not agree with his opinion on this matter that he, R’ Yehudoh, says that musaf may only be said till seven hours.
In this Mishna Rebbe is quoting the opinion of the minority only if there is some practical use for that opinion.1See sefer תעלומה מגיד who explains that the Gemara knew that in this Mishna, the minority opinion is presented only because there is some relevance as far as the halochoh is concerned, because the Mishna did not mention R’ Yehudoh’s opinion about musaf and he did mention his opinion about shacharis and minchoh. This implies that the opinion about musaf was not mentioned because it is irrelevant for practical purposes. His opinion about shacharis is mentioned because that is the halochoh as can be seen from the Mishna in aiduyos. His opinion about minchoh must be mentioned because it has relevance, otherwise it would not have been mentioned as his opinion on musaf is not mentioned. The Gemara does conclude that his opinion on michoh is relevant for one who does as R’ Yehudoh has done well and one who has done like the Rabanan has done well. But in that which he, R’ Yehudoh, says that shacharis can be said till four hours, he, Rebbe the prince, holds as he, R’ Yehudoh, does, since the Mishna teaches in the selected Mishnayos, (aiduyos), as he, R’ Yehudoh, says that the limit for shacharis is till four hours.
Why does Rebbe mention R’ Yehudoh’s opinion about the limit for minchoh prayers? And in that matter of the half minchoh limit, he, Rebbe, also mentions R’ Yehudoh’s opinion because that opinion is also relevant in halachic practice, as the Gemara later says one who does like this master has done well and one who does like this master has done well. For this is the meaning of that Gemara: One who does as R’ Yehudoh, who says that after the half minchoh is night time, and usually says maariv after the half minchoh period has done correctly, and for this reason, since has acted as if it is already night, he cannot say minchoh after the half minchoh, since he has considered this period night time by usually saying maariv at that time. But one should not explain that the entire statement is discussing minchoh prayers and is teaching us that one who does like R’ Yehudoh and said Minchoh before the half minchoh has done correctly, for it is plain that the Rabanan agree that one can say minchoh during the time allowed by R’ Yehudoh. Their argument is only about the limit that R’ Yehudoh places on the last time for minchoh, not about the beginning of the time for minchoh.
And we do not have the text אימא סיפא ושל וכו' and I will quote the end which refers to the end of the Mishna, because this is not in the Mishna. For the words of R’ Yehudoh who said that musaf may only be said till seven hours are not in the Mishna. And there are books of the Talmud that inserted those words in the Mishna, however all the old books do not have those words.
Assuming that Tosfos is correct that the words about the conclusion of the time for musaf do not appear in the Mishna we must know, why not? And if you ask: why did Rebbe the Prince, author of the Mishna not mention it, R’ Yehudoh’s opinion about the musaf, in the Mishna. And we can answer: because he does not agree with his opinion on this matter that he, R’ Yehudoh, says that musaf may only be said till seven hours.
In this Mishna Rebbe is quoting the opinion of the minority only if there is some practical use for that opinion.1See sefer תעלומה מגיד who explains that the Gemara knew that in this Mishna, the minority opinion is presented only because there is some relevance as far as the halochoh is concerned, because the Mishna did not mention R’ Yehudoh’s opinion about musaf and he did mention his opinion about shacharis and minchoh. This implies that the opinion about musaf was not mentioned because it is irrelevant for practical purposes. His opinion about shacharis is mentioned because that is the halochoh as can be seen from the Mishna in aiduyos. His opinion about minchoh must be mentioned because it has relevance, otherwise it would not have been mentioned as his opinion on musaf is not mentioned. The Gemara does conclude that his opinion on michoh is relevant for one who does as R’ Yehudoh has done well and one who has done like the Rabanan has done well. But in that which he, R’ Yehudoh, says that shacharis can be said till four hours, he, Rebbe the prince, holds as he, R’ Yehudoh, does, since the Mishna teaches in the selected Mishnayos, (aiduyos), as he, R’ Yehudoh, says that the limit for shacharis is till four hours.
Why does Rebbe mention R’ Yehudoh’s opinion about the limit for minchoh prayers? And in that matter of the half minchoh limit, he, Rebbe, also mentions R’ Yehudoh’s opinion because that opinion is also relevant in halachic practice, as the Gemara later says one who does like this master has done well and one who does like this master has done well. For this is the meaning of that Gemara: One who does as R’ Yehudoh, who says that after the half minchoh is night time, and usually says maariv after the half minchoh period has done correctly, and for this reason, since has acted as if it is already night, he cannot say minchoh after the half minchoh, since he has considered this period night time by usually saying maariv at that time. But one should not explain that the entire statement is discussing minchoh prayers and is teaching us that one who does like R’ Yehudoh and said Minchoh before the half minchoh has done correctly, for it is plain that the Rabanan agree that one can say minchoh during the time allowed by R’ Yehudoh. Their argument is only about the limit that R’ Yehudoh places on the last time for minchoh, not about the beginning of the time for minchoh.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
It is a principle of the Jewish ritual that what is constant takes precedence of what is not. The afternoon Tefillah is to be said daily, whereas the additional only on special occasions.
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