Aligned sentence by sentence
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Mishnah [1]
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"A place where miracles were performed for Israel" — such as the Red Sea, the brook Arnon (Num 21:14–15), the stone on which Moses sat during the war with Amalek (Exod 17:12), and the like.
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We have already stated earlier that wherever the *Mishnah* says "Blessed," it intends thereby "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe."
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The explanation of *ne'ekrah* is "was uprooted, torn away."
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Mishnah [2]
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"*Ziqin*" — these are the shooting stars, namely the figures that take shape in the air resembling stars that have tails.
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"And *zeva'ot*" — a rumbling heard in the air resembling a millstone turning with shafts upon a second millstone.
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"And *re'amim*" — the thunderclaps. "And *beraqim*" — the lightning flashes. "And *ruḥot*" — by this he means the gale-force winds, when they blow in an unaccustomed manner.
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His statement regarding mountains, hills, and what follows them is "Blessed is He who makes the work of creation" and nothing else. But over the preceding phenomena — such as the shooting stars, the violent winds, and what was mentioned between them — one blesses either "Blessed is He who makes the work of creation" or "Blessed is He whose power and might fill the world."
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The statement of Rabbi Yehudah, "from time to time" (*li-feraqim*), means: when one sees it after an interval, that being from thirty days to thirty days; but beyond that [no further blessing is required]. And the law is according to Rabbi Yehudah.
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Mishnah [3]
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His statement "over the evil as over the good, and over the good as over the evil" means the following: when some misfortune befalls a person, yet its outcome is good, he blesses "Blessed is the true Judge" — and this is "[blessing over the good] as over the evil."
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Likewise, when some good is drawn to him, yet its outcome is evil, he blesses "Blessed is the good and beneficent One" — and this is "[blessing over the evil] as over the good."
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An example of the first case: a torrent passes over his land — that is an evil — yet it issues in good, for the land is watered by it, and often that torrent brings benefits to his land.
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An example of the second case: he finds money, and at that moment another person sees him — that is a good — yet its outcome is evil, for the one who saw him informs the king of it, who then torments him and demands of him more than he found.
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The reason for this ruling is that present things are those in whose existence there is no doubt, so one blesses over them as they actually are and does not look to their outcomes, since those outcomes are merely possible, and for a possible thing it suffices to be possible.
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The explanation of *le-she'avar* is "the past," for one does not petition God concerning what has already elapsed; rather, one petitions God and asks of Him concerning possible matters in the future.
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Mishnah [4]
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"*Kerakh*" — the city. His statement here, "he prays," does not mean that one should pray facing the *qiblah* with formal preparation, nor a blessing either; rather it is a supplication: upon entering, he prays that God deliver him safely in this city, and upon leaving it, he gives thanks to God who delivered him within it.
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And Ben Azzai adds two more: upon entering, he also gives thanks to God for having delivered him on the road until he arrived safely at the city, and upon leaving it, he prays to God to deliver him likewise on the road that he will travel.
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The angel has already taught you this matter — namely, that one give thanks to God for the favor He bestowed in the past, and ask of Him to bestow favor upon him in the future. And the law is according to Ben Azzai.
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Mishnah [5]
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His statement "just as he blesses over the good" means that one should receive it with joy, subduing his nature and composing his soul when he blesses "Blessed is the true Judge," so that it be as at the moment he blesses "Blessed is the good and beneficent One" — as the Sages say in most of their discourse, "Everything the Heavens do is for the good" (BT Berakhot 60b).
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This is a rational matter in the view of the intelligent, even were the Law not to urge it, for many things are supposed at their outset to be evil and yet their end is much good, while many things are supposed at their outset to be good and yet at their end is great evil.
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Therefore the intelligent person ought not be cast down when a calamity of grave magnitude or a dreadful, perilous misfortune descends upon him, since he does not know its end. Nor, on the other hand, ought he be deceived and rejoice with complete joy when some good is drawn to him by his reckoning, for he does not know its end.
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So too the Sages, peace be upon them, prohibited excess in joy and laughter — unless that joy be over an exalted matter, I mean compliance with the good and the seeking of it. As for the prohibition against grief and dejection, it is famous in the books of prophecy, within a domain that is not to be discussed here.
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This holds even if that matter not be good in this world from its beginning to its end, and the claimant claims that he has prospered and triumphed — yet that supposed felicity was the cause that barred him from true felicity, and became a cause for his expulsion from the life of the World to Come. Of the like of this it is said, "There is a way that seems straight before a man, but its end is the ways of death" (Prov 14:12).
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Therefore a person should aim, in his thought, and petition God to make all that reaches him in this world — of its evils and its goods — a cause for attaining true felicity.
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His statement "with the good inclination and the evil inclination" means that one should bring to mind the love of God and faith in Him even in a state of disobedience, distress, and anger — all of which is the evil inclination — as in their saying "In all your ways know Him" (Prov 3:6), "even in a matter of transgression" (BT Berakhot 63a).
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The explanation of *middah* is "a path," meaning: in whatever state, I make Him sweet to me and give Him thanks.
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Mishnah [6]
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"*Qalut rosh*" (levity) — the opposite of the *koved rosh* (gravity) mentioned earlier; its meaning is that one should not plunge into laughter, frivolity, and merrymaking.
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"And the eastern gate" (*sha'ar ha-mizraḥ*) — by this he means the eastern gate among the gates of the Temple Court (*ʿazarah*), which is the one known as the Gate of Nicanor. And the Holy of Holies is at the west of the Court, facing that gate.
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The explanation of *mekhuvvan* is "aligned, directly opposite." And *maqlo* is "his staff." And *afundato* is a garment a person wears against his body so that he may sweat in it and his fine garments not be soiled with sweat; and it is not proper for anyone to go out wearing it alone until he puts another garment over it.
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The explanation of *qappandarya* is that one make [the Temple Mount] a passage to shorten the distance — namely, that he enter by one gate and exit by another opposite it in order to reach some place; for it is not permitted to enter that honored mount in the first instance except for one of the purposes of worship.
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His statement "and spitting follows by an *a fortiori* inference (*qal va-ḥomer*)" — its explanation is that spitting is forbidden on that mount by an *a fortiori* and all the more fitting inference: for if the sandal, which is made for protection — since it protects the foot — yet one is forbidden to enter that mount with it, then all the more fitting and proper is it that spitting be forbidden there, it being something repugnant.
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Mishnah [7]
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"*Minim*" — these are those who deny the Law (*shariʿah*), who do not affirm the life of the World to Come; and we shall explain the World to Come in its place in Tractate Sanhedrin.
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The explanation of *qilqelu* is "they corrupted" — meaning they corrupted the beliefs. Since he mentioned, among the ordinances (*taqqanot*), that they instituted that one greet his fellow with the name of God — for "Peace" (*Shalom*) they reckoned to be among the names of God — he proceeds to adduce a proof that this is permissible from Boaz, who said "The Lord be with you," and they answered him "The Lord bless you" (Ruth 2:4).
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His subsequent statement "And it says, 'Do not despise your mother when she is old'" (Prov 23:22) is not a proof for the foregoing — namely his statement "that a person may inquire after the welfare of his fellow with the name [of God]" — rather it is an adducing of proof that one must not make light of the ordinances of the Sages even if they are ancient and the time of that ordinance is long past; and to this Solomon urged by this parable.
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He then adduced proof, after that, that whoever transgresses those ordinances — the time for his requital has arrived and for punishment to descend upon him, since he has "violated the Torah"; and this is the meaning of his statement "They have made void Your Torah; it is a time to act for the Lord" (Ps 119:126).
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Now, whoever leaves the verse in its proper order and interprets it, saying "'It is a time to act for the Lord' — 'they have made void Your Torah,'" says: when the time of requital and retribution has arrived, people are made the cause of how "they make void the Torah," inasmuch as that descends upon them by desert.
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This subject is long and far-reaching — "deep, deep, who can find it out?" (Eccl 7:24) — for in it we are led to the question of [divine] decree and foreordination. So do not seek of me, in the matter I am now treating, anything but the setting forth of the words of the theologians only, by way of explaining the plain sense of the wording — for the scriptural texts have contradicted one another greatly on this, and likewise the statements of the Sages.
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But the principle is that God rewards the well-doers and punishes the evildoers, and that is justice on His part, for He has testified concerning Himself to justice in all, "for all His ways are justice" (Deut 32:4), and so forth. The aspect of justice in this is not within a human being's capacity to grasp, just as it is not within the power of human intellects to encompass knowledge of Him, exalted be He.
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He, exalted, has already informed us that it is not within the capacity of our thoughts to apprehend His wisdom and His justice in all that He has done and will do — that being His statement, exalted, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa 55:9).
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So rely upon this principle, and do not occupy your soul with plunging into this subject, for everyone who has plunged into it, whether of the people of our Law or of others, gained nothing of substance; rather he is as they say, peace be upon them, "He sank in the mighty waters and brought up a potsherd in his hand" (BT Bava Qamma 91a).
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And if you see in the discourse of one who speaks on this subject some imagining and rhetorical flourish that resembles an argument — it is not so; rather, when you renew your scrutiny, that gloss vanishes and refutation overtakes it, and his recourse is back to what I have mentioned to you. And let us cut short the prolonging of discourse and the composing of volumes.
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As for the discourse of the philosophers skilled in philosophy on this — it is discourse exceedingly wondrous, strange, and subtle, requiring many premises and training in the sciences, and a sharp man who ponders those statements and brings out their words together with His statement, mighty and exalted, "See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil" (Deut 30:15), and so forth, letter by letter; and there issues from their words something close to what I have mentioned to you in this principle, or something more refined and subtle than it.
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And we shall speak of something of this subject in Tractate Avot, and we shall show you something of the correspondence between the words of the skilled philosophers and the Sages in all subjects.
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This would not have been the place to take up this discourse, were it not that I always begin my purpose whenever a whiff of discourse on a doctrine occurs in which we may clarify something — since benefiting [the reader] in a foundation among the foundations is preferable to all else by which I may benefit him.