In my last blog entry, I gave a very high-level overview of Hannah in I Samuel. You may want to read that introduction before reading today’s entry because we are going to look in depth at Hannah. The Rabbis learn much about prayer from Hannah’s heartfelt supplications to God. Alternatively, the first chapter of I Samuel is not very long and you can read it here.

Before turning to Hannah, however, we need a few more stories of Rabbis getting carried away with fun. My favorite concerns Mar the son of Ravina. ( I am having a little trouble identifying the right Mar to give biographical information. Anyone who can shed some light, I would appreciate it.) Mar the son of Ravina gave a wedding banquet for his son. He became quite disgusted at the fun his guests were having (glad he was not at my wedding). He then takes a very valuable glass and breaks it in protest in front of his guests. The Talmud reports, “and they were saddened”.

Not to be outdone in the category of biggest killjoy at a wedding reception, Mar the son of Ravina calls on his good friend Rav Hamnuna Zuti (again I cannot find biographical information) to sing. He sings, “Woe to us that we are destined to die! Woe to us that we are destined to die!” I can only imagine how special that was for the lucky couple! The commentators feel this was a little much. One commentator tries to justify the song by saying the purpose of marriage is reproduction, which would not be necessary if we did not die.

After the charming wedding studies, we return to the right attitude when praying. We are told not to pray when we are concerned with something else. If we need to get into the right frame of mind, we should consider a clear-cut law which won’t tax the mind too much. The Talmud then, of course, debates what exactly is a clear-cut law! The Talmud then states, “One should not rise to pray the Shemoneh Esrei – neither amidst a state of sorrow, nor amidst slothfulness, nor amidst laughter, nor amidst ridiculing chatter, nor amidst lightheadeness, nor amidst idle words, but rater amidst the joy associated with a Mitzvah (good deed or commandment). Of course, we are human and experience many emotions and we are not always in control of what we feel, so I hope this is aspirational rather than required.

We next learn that we should not leave a friend without discussing a point of law. This leads to a very strange fragment of a story where we hear about two Rabbis who part company with each other on a journey. There are no more facts. A commentary notes that these Rabbis parted without discussing Torah, but we should never suggest that sages did not always discuss Torah. Therefore the Talmud left this fact out.

We then hear of some prayer practices of Rabbi Akiva. First, Rabbi Akiva, when praying with a congregation, would speed up his prayers. The prayer reader could not begin the repetition of the Shemoneh Esrei until the leading member of the congregation had completed the private recitation. Since Rabbi Akiva would undoubtedly be the leading member, he did not want to be a burden on the remainder of the congregation. We also learned how much Rabbi Akiva moved when he prayed. Observant Jews bow in a rhythmic fashion when they pray. The practice is called “shuckling” and shows that we are praying with our entire body. Rabbi Akiva apparently shuckled to a great extent. We also learn that we should pray in a room with windows and we should not say the Shemoneh Esrei outside of its appointed times.

We then turn back to Hannah to learn about the proper way to pray. The Talmud looks at I Samuel 1:12-17:

As she kept on praying before the Lord, Ely watched her mouth. Now Hannah was praying in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard. So Ely thought she was drunk. Ely said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Sober up!” And Hannah replied, “Oh no, my lord! I am a very unhappy woman. I have drunk no wine or other strong drink, but I have been pouring out my heart to the Lord. “The go in peace,” said Ely, “and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.”

From this, we learn that when we pray:

• we should not be heard ;
• we must direct our heart toward God;
• we must pronounce the words (inaudibly) with our lips; and
• we should not pray when we are drunk.

The Gemara also concludes from this passage that we must reprove a friend we believe is not acting correctly. However, if we are incorrect about the behavior, we need to bless the wrongly accused friend.

The Gemara next engages in a mystical deconstruction of Hannah’s prayer in I Samuel 10-11 (“In her wretchedness she prayed to the Lord, weeping all the while. And she made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if you will look upon the suffering of Your maidservant and will remember me and not forget Your maidservant, and if You will grant Your maidservant a male child, I will dedicate him to the Lord for all the days of his life; and no razor shall ever touch his head.”) I am not going to go into detail into this portion of the Talmud. The interpretation relies on very complicated rules of when a woman is accused of adultery, which we will study in a later tractate. Suffice it to say that we break down every phrase of this prayer and discuss multiple meanings. We do learn that there are three main commandments associated with women: (i) the laws of menstrual purity; (ii) the separation of the Challah (Sabbath bread); and (ii) the lighting of the Sabbath lights. Another interpretation is that Samuel was only of average ability (reference to male offspring indicates that he was nothing special) and yet he still became Samuel the Prophet. The commentators argue that this shows that there is no limit to the potential accomplishment of anyone.

One final thing about today’s Daf. The Talmud imagines Hannah’s anguish in startling empathetic terms. The Talmud says that Hannah said, “Master of the Universe! of all the at your created in a woman, You did not create a single thing for naught. You created eyes to see, and ears to hear; a nose to smell, a mouth to speak, hands with which to do work, feet with which to walk, and breasts with which to nurse. These breasts that you have placed upon my hear, what are they for? Are they not to nurse with? Grant me a child that I may nurse with them?” Many times, women will be largely absent from the Talmud. Concerns relate to men. At other times the Talmud will be downright massaganistic. In this place, however, I found this passage, which I am sure was written by men, to be heart wrenching and respectful in a remarkable way.