Pt1 Sensory Delights and Echoes of the Divine: The Talmud on Pleasures, Omens, Health and Microcosms (Berakhot 57b)

This is the first part of a two-part series. The outline for the series is below.

Outline

1. Lists of Bad Foods, Beneficial Activites, and Worldly Parallels to the World-to-Come (Three Lists of Three Items Each)

2. Sensory and Aesthetic Pleasures that Promote Mental and Personal Well-Being: Sources of Comfort and Ease (Two Three-Item Lists)

3. List of Five One-Sixtieth Comparisons: Mundane Phenomena as Microcosms of Greater Cosmic and Spiritual Realities

4. List of Six Good Signs for the Sick: Sneezing, Sweating, Diarrhea, Nocturnal Emission, Sleep, and Dreams (Genesis 3:19; Job 3:13, 41:10; Isaiah 38:16, 51:14, 53:10)

5. List of Six/Seven Healing Foods

6. List of Ten/Twelve Relapse Triggers

7. Harmfulness of cucumbers

8. Omens and Symbolism: List of Three Interpretations of Death and Household Events

Appendix - Foods That Harm a Nursing Mother's Milk (Ketubot 60b)

The Passage

Berakhot.57b.10-19

Lists of Bad Foods, Beneficial Activites, and Worldly Parallels to the World-to-Come (Three Lists of Three Items Each)

Three foods enter the body but provide no benefit (נהנה): cherries (גודגדניות), bad dates (כפניות), unripe (פגי) dates.

Three activities benefit the body without entering it: washing, anointing, and sex (תשמיש).

Three things resemble¹ the World-to-Come: Shabbat, the sun, and sex.²

שלשה נכנסין לגוף, ואין הגוף נהנה מהן:

1. גודגדניות,

2. וכפניות,

3. ופגי תמרה.

שלשה אין נכנסין לגוף, והגוף נהנה מהן,

אלו הן:

1. רחיצה,

2. וסיכה,

3. ותשמיש.

שלשה מעין העולם הבא,

אלו הן:

1. שבת,

2. שמש,

3. ותשמיש.

[...]

The Gemara says: Three food items enter the body yet the body does not benefit from them:

1. Cherries,

2. bad dates,

3. and unripe dates.

In contrast: Three matters do not enter the body yet the body benefits from them,

and they are:

1. Washing,

2. anointing,

3. and usage [tashmish], commonly used as a euphemism for conjugal relations.

Three matters are microcosms of the World-to-Come,

and they are:

1. Sabbath,

2. the sun

3. and usage.

[...]

Sensory and Aesthetic Pleasures that Promote Mental and Personal Well-Being: Sources of Comfort and Ease (Two Three-Item Lists)

This section highlights three sources of mental ease and three sources of personal comfort:

Ease of mind:³ Derived from sound, sight, and smell.⁴

Personal comfort:⁵ Found in a beautiful home, a beautiful wife, and beautiful belongings.⁶

שלשה משיבין דעתו של אדם,

אלו הן:

1. קול,

2. ומראה,

3. וריח.

שלשה מרחיבין דעתו של אדם,

אלו הן:

1. דירה נאה,

2. ואשה נאה,

3. וכלים נאים.

[...]

Three matters ease one’s mind,

and they are:

1. Voice,

2. sight,

3. and smell, when they are pleasant and aesthetic.

Three matters give a person comfort,

and they are:

1. A beautiful abode,

2. a beautiful wife,

3. and beautiful vessels.

[...]

List of Five One-Sixtieth Comparisons: Mundane Phenomena as Microcosms of Greater Cosmic and Spiritual Realities

Five things are one-sixtieth of their extreme form:

1. Fire to Gehenna’s fire.

2. Honey to manna.

3. Shabbat to the World-to-Come.⁷

4. Sleep to death.

5. Dreams to prophecy.⁸

חמשה אחד מששים,

אלו הן:

1. אש,

2. דבש,

3. ושבת,

4. ושינה,

5. וחלום.

1. אש — אחד מששים לגיהנם.

2. דבש — אחד מששים למן.

3. שבת — אחד מששים לעולם הבא.

4. שינה — אחד מששים למיתה.

5. חלום — אחד מששים לנבואה.

The Gemara says: There are five matters in our world which are one-sixtieth of their most extreme manifestations.

They are:

1. Fire,

2. honey,

3. Shabbat,

4. sleep,

5. and a dream.

The Gemara elaborates:

1. Our fire is one-sixtieth of the fire of Gehenna;

2. honey is one-sixtieth of manna;

3. Shabbat is one-sixtieth of the World-to-Come;

4. sleep is one-sixtieth of death;

5. and a dream is one-sixtieth of prophecy.

1. מעין.

See Jastrow:

כְּעֵין like the appearance of, similar to, a sort of [...]

מֵעֵין a reflection of, of the nature of; an abstract of

Compare Hebrew Wiktionary בעין:

בְּעַיִן (או: בַּעַיִן)

לשון חז"ל:

כמו שהוא במציאות.

”הגונב מעשר בהמה של חבירו, אם היה קיים - מחזירו לו בעינו. אכלו - מה שאכל אכל.“ (ירושלמי, מסכת מעשרות – פרק א, הלכה א)

”לקח הימנו במשקל - נותנן לכהן ומנכה לו מן הדמים. אמאי? ליהוי כמזיק מתנות כהונה או שאכלן! שאני התם דאיתנהו בעיניהו“ (בבלי, מסכת חולין – דף קלא, עמוד א)

[…]

גיזרון

• ע"פ הוראה משנית של עַיִן (2) - מראה, מה שרואים.

• ההגייה המשובשת "בְּעֵין" נפוצה מאד, וככל הנראה נוצרה בהקבלה לביטוי "כעין".

2. Literary analysis:

Parallel Structure The text is built on a triple parallel structure, with each section following the pattern "Three [category], and these are they..."

Antithetical Pairing

The first two triads are constructed as opposites:

• Things that enter the body without pleasure

• Things that don't enter the body but give pleasure.

Thematic Progression

There's a subtle progression through the triads:

• First triad: purely physical items (types of fruits)

• Second triad: bodily activities/experiences

• Third triad: transcendent experiences (including a mix of physical and spiritual)

Symbolic Resonance

The final triad about "a taste of the World to Come" elevates mundane elements (sun, Sabbath, sex) to the spiritual realm, suggesting that everyday experiences can contain divine elements.

Word Play

The Hebrew text plays with the concepts of entering (נכנסין) and pleasure/benefit (נהנה), creating linguistic connections that reinforce the philosophical points being made.

Numerical Symbolism

The use of three items in each category isn't arbitrary - the number three in Jewish tradition often represents completeness or balance.

The final triad—שבת, שמש, ותשמיש—features alliteration through the repeated ש sound in each of the three bisyllabic words.

3. משיבין דעתו של אדם - literally: “returns/settles one’s mind”, an idiom, compare יישוב הדעת.

4. Presumably, specifically ones that are aesthetically pleasing.

5. מרחיבין דעתו של אדם - literally: “broadens one’s mind”.

6. כלים.

Analysis:

Both sets of lists emphasize the role of sensory and aesthetic experiences in promoting well-being.

Analysis:

"Three things restore a person's consciousness/mind: Sound, Sight, And smell.

Three things expand a person's consciousness/mind: A beautiful dwelling, A beautiful wife, And beautiful vessels/objects."

From a literary perspective, this passage demonstrates several interesting features:

1. Structural Parallelism: The text is built on a clear parallel structure, with two triads that both deal with the mind/consciousness (da'at). This creates a pleasing symmetry while allowing for comparison and contrast between the two sets.

2. Progressive Concreteness: The first triad deals with basic sensory experiences (sound, sight, smell), while the second moves to more complex, constructed elements of human life (home, spouse, possessions). This creates an interesting progression from the elemental to the cultivated.

3. Word Choice: The verbs "meshivin" (restore/return) versus "marchivin" (expand/broaden) create an important distinction. The first set brings one back to baseline, while the second set actively expands consciousness. This suggests a sophisticated understanding of different ways the mind can be influenced.

4. Aesthetic Unity: In the second triad, the word "na'eh" (beautiful) appears three times, creating a poetic rhythm and emphasizing the aesthetic dimension of mental well-being.

5. Cultural Context: The passage reveals cultural values about what constitutes well-being - the importance of aesthetic pleasure, domestic life, and material culture in psychological health.

7. As stated also in the earlier section that Shabbat “bears a resemblance to" (מעין) the World-to-Come.

8. Analysis:

"Five things are one-sixtieth, these are they:

1. Fire

2. Honey

3. Sabbath

4. Sleep

5. Dream

• Fire is one-sixtieth of Gehenna (Hell)

• Honey is one-sixtieth of manna

• Sabbath is one-sixtieth of the World to Come

• Sleep is one-sixtieth of death

• Dream is one-sixtieth of prophecy"

From a literary perspective:

1. Numerical Structure: This fraction (1/60) is a significant trope in the Talmud (based on the Babylonian sexigesimal / base-60 system, often representing a minimal but meaningful quantity.

2. Microcosm/Macrocosm Relationship: Each earthly phenomenon is presented as a miniature version of a larger, more cosmic or spiritual reality.

3. Paired Structure: The passage is structured in two parts - first listing the five elements, then explaining each one's cosmic correspondence.

4. Thematic Range: The items move between physical phenomena (fire, honey), temporal experiences (Sabbath, sleep), and psychological states (dreams).

5. Symbolic Progression: There's a subtle movement from the most physical (fire) to the most spiritual (dreams/prophecy), creating a kind of ladder of ascending spirituality.

6. Parallel Relationships: Each pairing reveals something about how the rabbis understood these phenomena:

   • Fire/Gehenna: The destructive power of fire as a hint of divine judgment

   • Honey/Manna: The sweetness of physical sustenance reflecting divine sustenance

   • Sabbath/World to Come: Time as a taste of eternity

   • Sleep/Death: The daily experience of unconsciousness as a preview of mortality

   • Dreams/Prophecy: Human imagination as a diluted form of divine communication