My favorite Jewish song, which I learned in kindergarten is Hinei Ma Tovu. The song is actually the first verse of Psalm 133 in Hebrew. “How good and how pleasant it is that people dwell together.” At first, I was attracted to the catchy tune. Now that I am older, I understand the words. We enjoy life more when we do it with our community. We enjoy sharing a good meal with friends. Sports are so much more fun with friends. I think live sports survive in a digital age because of the sense of community of gathering in a “sacred space” and joining in a common purpose.

In today’s Daf, the Rabbis talk about God’s presence descending on assemblies of people. The Rabbis also discuss the importance of setting aside a special place to gather and pray – the place the Jews call the synagogue. They turn to the bible to prove their point, but the bible hallows a different space – the Temple in Jerusalem, so the Rabbis have to show that we are still capable of building sacred space after the destruction of the Temple and the exile. The Talmud notes that we need a synagogue as a special place of prayer. Genesis 19:27 notes that Abraham had a special place of prayer, so we need a special place of prayer. Communal prayer in a synagogue, is so important that today’s Daf relates the story of a man who prayed facing the opposite direction of everyone “behind the synagogue”. This man who chose to pray outside the community is killed by the Prophet Elijah disguised as an Arabian merchant.

Before turning to community and sacred space, however, we have to turn back to demons. The Daf opens with a discussion of how we are surrounded by thousands of demons. Demons are the reason a scholar’s clothes become worn, even though that scholar engages in no physical labor. Proof of demons can be had by pulverizing ashes into a fine powder and scattering them around your bed. You will see the demon’s footprints in the morning. If you need more direct proof, you can burn the placenta of a firstborn black cat that is the daughter of a firstborn black cat and fill your eyes with the ashes. Folks, if you try this at home, let me know how it goes.

With demonology covered, the Rabbis turn to the sanctity of the synagogue. The Rabbis start with the proposition that a person’s prayer is heard by God only if it is recited in a synagogue. Based on a reading of 1 Kings 8:28, the Rabbis conclude that prayer must be in a place of song, which is the synagogue. Psalm 82:1 refers to God standing in the divine assembly, which the Rabbis analogize to a synagogue. Synagogue is for communal prayer, as opposed to private prayer in the home. The Rabbis then go on to discuss how we know that God is present when there is a minyan (a gathering of at least ten adult males for prayer), three rabbis gathered to hear a case or two students gathered to study Torah. The point is God is present in communal activities.

The Talmud finds support for the proposition that the Divine Presence comes even if one studies alone (Exodus 20:21). So why do we need to say that the Divine Presence comes to two who study Torah together? It should follow logically from the fact that God is present when we study Torah alone. However, the proof verse for two people (Malachi 3:16) also notes that when there are two “a book of remembrance” was created. We also need to mention three Rabbis sitting in judgement of a case because the Divine Presence. comes even for a civil, as opposed to religious, case. In the case of a minyan, the Divine Presence arrives even before all ten gather. However, the Talmud notes (later in the Daf) that God becomes angry when a minyan does not show for synagogue (Isaiah 50:2).

Later in the Daf, we learn that God inquires when a regular attendee does not come to synagogue. I interpret this to mean that religious practice was not uniform across the community and, like today, there are regulars, sporadic attendees and non-attendees.

The Talmud proves that God puts on tefillin. Tefillin are two black leather boxes with leather straps attached. The boxes have verses of Torah inside them. The tefillin are worn on the left arm and around the head.

Observant Jews wear tefillin during weekday morning services. According to the Talmud, when Jews wear tefillin, other nations are in awe of Jews. Perhaps it is so, if only because the Talmud is writing about a rite 1,500 years ago that is still practiced today and was ancient when the Talmud was compiled. The Torah verses placed in tefillin remind us to observe God’s laws. God does not need the same reminder. The Talmud wonders what is in God’s tefillin. God’s tefillin contain praises of the Jewish people (I Chronicles 17:21), because it is through the Jewish people that God’s name is praised in the world. But our head tefillin have four compartments, each with a verse. Does God have only one verse in his tefillin? The Rabbis discern five more verses included in God’s tefillin, but related verses share a compartment as God’s tefillin only has four compartments too.

The Rabbis next address the reward for fulfilling various commandments. Importantly, Rabbi Zeira notes that attending to study is what is important. Even if the matter is beyond our comprehension, the merit is in the attempt. Indeed, another Rabbi says, “The reward that comes from attending a Torah lecture is for being squeezed by the crowd”, returning to our theme of communal life.

The Daf concludes with a discussion of how each of the three daily synagogue services are important. Finally, there is a discussion of the great merit that come to those who engage in the a wedding celebration and bring joy to the groom and a discussion of how we should “pursue peace” by greeting our friends -two activities that again reinforce the importance of community.