Berachot 3a

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[2] Gemara: Until the end of the first watch, these are the words of Rabbi Eliezer.

We conclude that he holds that there are three watches in the night, and this that he did not say 1/3 of the night was in order to teach another thing along the way, that there are watches in the sky just as there are watches on Earth.

For we learned in a brayta: Rabbi Eliezer says that there are three watches in the night, and upon each and every watch, Hashem sits and roars like a lion, for it is stated {Yirmeyahu 25:30}:

ל  וְאַתָּה תִּנָּבֵא אֲלֵיהֶם, אֵת כָּל-הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה; וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם, ה' מִמָּרוֹם יִשְׁאָג וּמִמְּעוֹן קָדְשׁוֹ יִתֵּן קוֹלוֹ--שָׁאֹג יִשְׁאַג עַל-נָוֵהוּ, הֵידָד כְּדֹרְכִים יַעֲנֶה אֶל כָּל-יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ.

30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them: The LORD doth roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He doth mightily roar because of His fold; He giveth a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

And it was stated [by Amoraim] as well, Rav Shmuel bar Marta said in the name of Rav: There are three watches in the night, and upon each and ever watch, Hashem says, 'Woe to my children, for because of their sins I have destroyed my house, and burned my palace, and exiled them amongst the

nations of the world.' And it is fitting for each God-fearing individual to be upset and distressed at that hour, and to pour out pleadings regarding the churban of the Bet Hamikdash, just as is stated {Eicha 2:19}:

יט  קוּמִי רֹנִּי בליל (בַלַּיְלָה), לְרֹאשׁ אַשְׁמֻרוֹת--שִׁפְכִי כַמַּיִם לִבֵּךְ, נֹכַח פְּנֵי אֲדֹנָי; שְׂאִי אֵלָיו כַּפַּיִךְ, עַל-נֶפֶשׁ עוֹלָלַיִךְ--הָעֲטוּפִים בְּרָעָב, בְּרֹאשׁ כָּל-חוּצוֹת.  {ס}

19 Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord; lift up thy hands toward Him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.' {S}

[3] They taught [in a brayta]: Rabbi Yossi said: One time, I was traveling and I entered into one of the ruins of Yerushalayim in order to pray [Shemoneh Esrei]. Eliyahu of blessed memory appeared and waited for me at the door till I finished my prayer. After I finished my prayer, he said to me: Peace be with you, my master! and I replied: Peace be with you, my master and teacher! And he said to me: My son, why did you go into this ruin? I replied: To pray. He said to me: You ought to have prayed on the road. I replied: I feared lest passers-by might interrupt me. He said to me: You ought to have said an abbreviated prayer. At that time I learned from him three things: I learned that one may say the tefillah on the road; and I learned that [in such an instance?] he recites an abbreviated prayer, and I learned that one does not enter a ruin.

{There is a different order of the previous three items in our gemara.}

And the short prayer is Havineinu.

But this that we say later on ([in the Mishna on] daf 28b): A person should pray an abbreviated tefillah and say "SAVE, O LORD, THY PEOPLE THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL; IN EVERY TIME OF CRISIS MAY THEIR REQUIREMENTS NOT BE LOST SIGHT OF BY THEE. BLESSED ART THOU, O LORD, WHO HEARKENEST TO PRAYER" -- this is specifically [see daf 29a] in a place of wild animals and robbers, but on the road, when not in a dangerous place, no.

The Sages taught: Because of three things one does not enter a ruin: because of suspicion, because of collapse, and because of mazikin [harmful spirits].

[4] And the Chachamim say until Chatzot [of night, one may say Shema].

They learnt [in a brayta]: The Chachamim made a fence for their words, so that a person should not come from the field in the evening and say 'I will go to my house, eat a bit, sleep a bit, and afterwards will read Shema and pray', and [meanwhile], if sleep seizes him, he will end up sleeping all night. Rather, a man will come from the field at evening and enter the shul. If he is accustomed to reading [Mikra], he will read, if to learn, he will learn, and afterwards, he will read Shema and pray [Shemoneh Esrei]. And whoever violates the words of the Chachamim is liable to death.

[5] Master had said [earlier, just above, in the brayta], 'he will read Shema and [then] pray [Shemoneh Esrei].' This supports Rabbi Yochanan, who said: Who is one who will be a resident in the world to come? He who juxtaposes Geulah [, the bracha of Gaal Yisrael after Shema] of Maariv to Tefillah [, Shemoneh Esrei] of Maariv. And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says that the tefillot [=Shemoneh Esreis] were instituted in the middle, meaning that in Shacharit, he reads Shema and prays [Shemoneh Esrei], and at Mincha he prays the tefillah [Shemoneh Esrei] of Mincha, and at night he prays the tefillah [Shemoneh Esrei] of Maariv, and afterwards, he reads Shema. Thus, kriat Shema of Shacharit is at the beginning of the day, kritat Shema of Maariv is at the beginning of the night, and the tefillot [meaning Shemoneh Esreis] are entirely in the middle.

And we don't hold like Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, for he establish like Rabbi Yochanan, and so paskens the Behag [Baal Halachot Gedolot]. And even though we need to say Hashkiveinu between Geulah and Tefillah, it is not an interruption, since the Rabbanan instituted Hashkiveinu within Geulah, it is like a lengthy Geulah. And in the tefillah of Shacharit as well, one needs to juxtapose Geulah to Tefillah. And even though in the beginning [of Shemoneh Esrei] he says Hashem Sefatai Tiftach, since the Rabbanan instituted to say it in tefillah [Shemoneh Esrei], it is like a lengthy tefillah.

And it is astonishing regarding our minhag, for we interrupt in Maariv with the pesukim of Vayiru Eineinu and with Kaddish, and one cannot say that we hold like Rav, who said later on in perek Tefillat HaShachar (daf 27b) that the tefillah of Maariv is optional, and that therefore we are not worried about juxtaposing, for if so, Rabbi Yochanan, who requires one to juxtapose must hold that it is an obligation. And in a case of a dispute between Rav and Rabbi Yochanan, the halacha is like Rabbi Yochanan. And perhaps even Rabbi Yochanan holds like Rav, and even so requires one to juxtapose. And this minhag, the common folk practice it because in their days, their shuls were in the fields, and they were afraid to wait around there until after the Shemoneh Esrei of Maariv, and they instituted to say these pesukim which have in them 18 azkarot, parallel to the 18 blessings of Shemoneh Esrei, and they instituted after that the blessing of Yiru Eineinu and Kaddit. And now as well, that they pray Maariv in the shul, the original minhag was not abolished. Even so, one should not interrupt with other matters, but rather just as they practiced.

[6] Ravvi Eleazar said: Anyone who says Tehillah LeDavid {Tehillim 145, which provides the bulk of Ashrei} is assured that he will be a resident of the world to come.

That which we begin with Ashrei Yoshvei [meaning Tehillim 84:5] is because from it [that pasuk] we derive later on (daf 32b) that a person needs to wait around an hour before he prays [sheyitpalel]. {J: And the next pasuk, Ashrei HaAm, is the pasuk at the end of Tehillim 144.} And we also end with Ananachnu Nevarech Kah [the last pasuk of Tehillim 115] in order to end with [the word] Hallelukah.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Even though a person read Shema in shul, it is a mitzvah to read it upon his bed. And this is specifically the first parasha, and it states in perek HaRoeh (daf 60b).