Berachot 3: The Night Watches

Today's daf begins with discussions about rabbis who contradict themselves.  Rabbi Meir seems to say that one can say the Shema until the priests immerse themselves, which is already night, when one sees three stars in the sky; he also says that one can say the Shema from the time that priest return from immersion to eat dinner on Shabbat.  Rabbi Eliezer adds one extra element to his two different statements: until the end of the first watch.

The rabbis discuss the three or four watches, which would take place either every four or three hours over the course of the night.  Because they did not have clocks, the rabbis consider how they might know that it has reached midnight, for example.  We are introduced to the concept of an upper world, where G-d is guarding us at all times, day and night.  We are told that G-d roared like a lion at the final watch.  

When are the watches?

• At the first watch, the donkeys bray
• At the second watch, the dogs bark
• At the third watch, the baby nurses from its mother's breast and a wife converses with her husband

We are taught that we are required to mark the end of the watches in two different ways; neither is superfluous.

Rabbi Yosei tells a story about himself and Elijah.  He was travelling and stopped into a ruin to pray.  Elijah asked him why he had done this.  R. Yosei replied that he did not want to be interrupted by travellers. Elijah told him that he should have said the abbreviated prayer by the roadside.  Thus R. Yosei learned that:

• it is not permit to pray in a ruin
• it is acceptable to pray at the side of the road
• it is permitted to say the abbreviated prayer so that we can remain focused

The remainder of today's daf considers what might lead us to believe that there are three or four watches.  A fear of demons are mentioned several times.  The rabbis also tell us several stories about the night.  We learn that King David never slept past midnight.  One story tells that a lyre was placed over his bed, and when the winds came in at midnight, he would awaken and arise.

Our daf pulls us into the world of our ancestors.  How they reasoned, how they lived with their fears, how they told time, how they understood G-d's presence, how they spent their nights.  Of course, we are speaking of the narratives of particular ancestors - the men who organized, transcribed, remembered and told those stories..