When it comes to beer, I am fairly plain Jane. I like a lager, with no lime added – even in Mexican beers. I really do not like IPAs or sours or gosses or any of the other weird options that are proliferating like cicadas in the DC metro area. My brother is the complete opposite – the more foul tasting, strange and non-beer the beer, the more he enjoys it. He drinks beer with fruit, beer with coffee, beer with spices. I am sure if they made a beer with cicadas, he would love it. He can talk in great detail and with unsurpassed knowledge about beer, the way a master sommelier can describe wine. For me, something very cold and very easy drinking is appreciated after a hard day on the golf course. In today’s Daf, we learn of Ispargus – a drink made by combining beer (or wine) with cabbage. I am sure my brother would love it. As far as I know, he may even be planning his own line of fruit infused Isparguses (Ispargui?). In all candor, Professor Neusener translates the Hebrew word as “Asparagus-brew”, implying that Ispargus is related to it’s cognate, “asparagus”. A footnote in the Schotttenstein Edition indicates that “Ispargus” is a cabbage and alcohol based drink.

In addition to our jaunt into weird beers, a lot happens in today’s Daf. We finish Chapter Seven dealing with the laws of Biracos HaMazon and begin Chapter Eight related to the disputes between Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai with respect to meals. We get helpful tips for living from a prominent angel and helpful tips for living from the Angel of Death. We also learn that there are limits to which we can push the patriarchy before women remind us that they are an equal partner in life.

We begin today’s Daf with a discussion of what to do if we start eating before we have blessed the food we eat. If we have not finished the meal we can say the blessing because we still have food to come. However, if we have finished eating, then we have missed our chance to fulfil the commandment of reciting a blessing before we eat.

At this point, our Daf, with no transitional reasoning, takes a long digression into the health effects of “Ispargus”. We learn that the various benefits of Ispargus depend on whether it is made with wine or beer, and, if made with wine, whether the wine is new, old or aged. Ispargus made with wine is good for the heart, eyes and spleen, but bad for the head, intestines and hemorrhoids – thus creating a bit of a prisoner’s dilemma. The Rabbis say six things about Ispargus

1. we can only drink it if it is made with undiluted wine or beer and the cup is full;
2. we must receive the cup in our right hand and drink it with our left hand;
3. we do not speak after we drink it (I assume because we are vomiting) and we do not interrupt someone who is drinking it;
4. we can only give the cup back to the person who gave it to us after we finish the drink;
5. we spit after drinking it (even if we are in front of a king); and
6. we can only eat food of its own kind with it (i.e., grapes with wine Ispargus and dates with date beer Ispargus).

With absolutely no transition, we then hear of the life advice that an angel named Suriel Sar HaPanim told Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha. The name of the angel roughly translates to “Prince of G-d who is a prince of the face or presence.” We are not told why Rabbi Yishmael ben Eisha was talking to an angel, only what the angel said. The angel said: (i) do not take your clothes from your servant in the morning and get dressed; (ii) do not let someone with dirty hands wash your hands; and (iii) only return a cup of Ispargus to the person who gave it to you. If we do these things, either demons or angels of affliction ( I am not sure I understand the distinction) will lie in wait for us. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi received life advice from the Angel of Death. The Angel of Death had the same two pieces of advice as the first two pieces of advice from Suriel Sar HaPanim. The Angel of Death then goes on to say that we should not stand in front of women returning from a funeral. The Angel of Death does not make clear what consequences will befall people who do not follow this advice, but the advice is coming from the Angel of Death.

Again with no transition, we go into a discussion of ten rules about the cup of wine that is supposed to be drunk when we recite Bircas HaMazon. At the end, we are told that some people say that as an eleventh rule we should send the cup of wine as a gift to the members of our household for them to share. The last rule leads to a very interesting story. We are told that Ula dined at the house of Rav Nachman. At the conclusion of the dinner, Ula lead the Bircas HaMazon and then passed the cup of wine for Rav Nachman to share. Rav Nachman asked Ula to send the cup to Rav Nachman’s wife, Yalta. Ula then tries to convince Rav Nachman that Yalta should not share in the wine, because all blessings for a woman, including childbearing, only come from men. Yalta did not take kindly to Ula’s explanation of why she would be denied a sip from the cup of blessing. She stormed off and destroyed 400 barrels of wine. Ula tried to make amends by sending Yalta another cup and she replied, “Gossip comes from peddlers and lice comes from old rags.” Yalta did not have a high opinion of Ula.

We finish Chapter Seven with rules for eating on the run. We have all been so busy at work that we eat between meetings or while standing at a desk. The Talmud recognizes that we will have days like that. The Talmud, however, wants us to focus on the Bircas HaMazon and thanking G-d for the blessings we have received. We need an act of concentration before we recite the blessings. Therefore, if we were walking, we should stop. If we were standing, we should sit down.

Today’s Daf ends by beginning Chapter Eight. Unlike the previous chapters, all of the Mishnahs for Chapter Eight come at the very beginning. They are not spread throughout the chapter. Chapter Eight concerns the differences of opinions of the schools of Hillel and Shammai with respect to meals. In a long Mishanah, we learn these are the following areas of difference:

1. the order of the two blessings that we say over wine on the sabbath and festivals;
2. when do we wash our hands before the meal;
3. where do we place our napkin after we dry our hands;
4. after the meal, do we wash our hands before or after cleaning up;
5. the sequence of blessings if we can only afford one cup of wine for both the Bircas HaMazon and Havdalah;
6. the text of the blessing we say over the Havdalah candle; and
7. whether we have to return to the exact place of eating to recite Bircas HaMazon.

The Mishnah also discusses the types of flame and spices that are prohibited for Havdalah. Finally, the Mishnah closes by considering whether we can say “amen” to the blessing of non-Jews.