Berakhot 48
“A great person can be recognized even from a young age.”
The gifted child appears in today’s reading in reference to Abaye and Rava when they were children: “A cucumber can be recognized from its blossoming stage. Similarly, a great person can be recognized even from a young age.” Their measure of greatness was demonstrated when one pointed to the sky and the other pointed to the roof of his home when asked whom they recite their blessings to. They proved at a young age (we are never told how young) that they understood there was an omnipresent power that they could not see or feel. This is not an easy concept for young children. We previously were introduced to young achievement through Rabbi Elaza, who at eighteen was learned enough to lead the yeshiva and presumably a child prodigy himself.
The Koren Talmud explains that adding the blessing “who is good and does good” refers to the the slain Jews of the city of Beitar. According to the Koren, this is to balance any joyfulness we feel with the reminder of what we have lost through our history. This darkness defines what Judaism means for me, because with all the joy and thankfulness that we are supposed to offer to God in return for all the blessings we have been given, we carry with us a difficult history of pain, sorrow and loss, starting with the loss of our temples and ending with persecution and anti-Semitism. Did anyone see the last episode of the final season of Transparent? It was in my opinion in bad taste but got at the theme of the pain we carry with us.
Rabbi Meir comments that a blessing should be recited over both the good and the bad, because it all comes from God. How many of us have felt beholden enough to God to thank him for all the pain and sorry we have experienced? This gets at the existential question of how if there is a God can there be so much suffering in the world? How can all the suffering be in God’s plan?
More sexist language is present in the characterization of women as “chatterers” who gazed upon Saul because he was so handsome and tall; in fact, he was taller than most people from the shoulders up. Putting aside the sexist language (which I could go on about for quite a while), this made me laugh because I have a very tall brother. He is the tallest person in my family and was groveled over by my grandparents and relatives for being so tall. My grandmother would say upon greeting my brother: “kein ayin hara, you get taller every day.” It was like he was fulfilling a mitzvah for achieving such height and from my child’s perspective, didn’t have to do much in life except to show up and be a tall man (which isn’t the case because in fact he is very accomplished). It is a gift to be so tall and command a room and from my not so tall perspective, I imagine life must be easier when you can gaze above a crowd, not have heads in your way in a movie theater, or reach tall shelves without jumping up and down trying to topple your desired object. Tall men are believed to have greater leadership potential and perhaps as a result of their doting grandmothers, have higher self-esteem than the average person.
I found an article from the BBC on the advantages of being tall:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150928-tall-vs-small-which-is-it-better-to-be