ברכות · Berachos

About Masechta Berachos · מסכת ברכות

Berachos is the first masechta of the Shas and the only one in Seder Zeraim with a Gemara of the Bavli. It opens with the question every Jew meets twice a day: from when may Krias Shema be read in the evening? From there it follows the day of a Jew in prayer and blessing.

The first three perakim learn Krias Shema - its times, the attention it needs, and who is free from it, such as an onen before the burial and a chasan on his wedding night. The fourth and fifth perakim learn Tefillah: the times of Shacharis, Mincha and Maariv, Mussaf and Neilah, how a person stands before Hashem, and the early chassidim who waited an hour before they prayed so that their hearts would be directed to their Father in heaven.

The sixth and seventh perakim turn to brachos on food - which bracha goes on bread, wine, fruit of the tree and fruit of the ground, which bracha covers another - and the zimun for Birkas HaMazon. The eighth perek brings the disputes of Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel about the meal, and the ninth, HaRoeh, teaches the brachos on what a person sees and hears: lightning and thunder, the sea, a place where miracles were done for Israel, good news and bad. Berachos is rich in aggadah too - dreams and their meaning, the Amoraim's sayings on prayer - and closes with the words that talmidei chachamim increase peace in the world.

From the pages of Berachos

Rabbi Akiva's 'all that the Merciful One does, He does for the good' - said on the night his donkey, his rooster and his candle were lost, and the town that had shut him out was taken captive; 'everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven'; that since the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, Hashem has in His world only the four amos of halacha; that a person should always run to hear words of Torah; and Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai on his last day, who blessed his students that the fear of Heaven be upon them like the fear of people - 'would that it were so', he said, 'for when a person sins, he says: may no one see me'.

This page holds 323 shiurim on Masechta Berachos from 7 maggidei shiur; the most come from Rabbi Shmuel Silber (184), Rabbi Eli Stefansky (115) and Shul․com (20). 102 of them learn the whole daf and 221 are short reviews. 62 dafim have their own shiurim here, each in its own row above, and “Learn in the Daf Room” opens that daf with its text and its shiurim side by side.

Masechta Berachos in the Daf Yomi

The 14th Daf Yomi cycle learned Masechta Berachos one daf a day for 63 days, from daf 2 to daf 64, from January 5, 2020 to March 7, 2020; the 15th cycle opens with it again on June 8, 2027. Masechta Berachos is in Seder Zeraim, the first of the six orders of the Mishnah, and in the order of the Daf Yomi it comes first: every cycle opens with it, and Masechta Shabbos follows. On each of those days the Daf Room opens the day's daf with its text and every shiur on it, and the rows above keep the shiurim of every daf of the masechta for anyone who learns at his own pace.

The perakim of Berachos

Masechta Berachos has nine perakim, from daf 2a to daf 64a. Each perek below opens its first daf in the Daf Room, where the Gemara’s text and every shiur on that daf sit together.

1. Perek 1 מאימתי 2a – 13a
2. Perek 2 היה קורא 13a – 17b
3. Perek 3 מי שמתו 17b – 26a
4. Perek 4 תפלת השחר 26a – 30b
5. Perek 5 אין עומדין 30b – 34b
6. Perek 6 כיצד מברכין 35a – 45a
7. Perek 7 שלשה שאכלו 45a – 51b
8. Perek 8 אלו דברים 51b – 53b
9. Perek 9 הרואה 54a – 64a