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    Chapter 1 · Me'eimatai

    Stages in Resisting the Inclination

    Lesson 4 of 64 26 min

    This aggadic teaching is a conditional sequence: each successful stage suffices; otherwise another resource follows. It does not instruct one to skip Torah or Shema, but presents a progression anchored in successive phrases of a psalm.

    Lesson goals
    • 01Order the resources in the teaching.
    • 02Mark the condition for moving between stages.
    01

    Source and decoding

    Berakhot 5a
    אמר רבי לוי בר חמא, אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש: לעולם ירגיז אדם יצר טוב על יצר הרע, שנאמר: ״רגזו ואל תחטאו״ אם נצחו — מוטב, ואם לאו — יעסוק בתורה, שנאמר: ״אמרו בלבבכם״. אם נצחו — מוטב, ואם לאו — יקרא קריאת שמע, שנאמר: ״על משכבכם״. אם נצחו — מוטב, ואם לאו — יזכור לו יום המיתה, שנאמר: ״ודמו סלה״.

    Rabbi Levi bar Ḥama reports in the name of Reish Lakish: Stir the good inclination against the evil one; if unsuccessful, study Torah, then recite Shema, and if still unsuccessful recall the day of death.

    This aggadic teaching is a conditional sequence: each successful stage suffices; otherwise another resource follows. It does not instruct one to skip Torah or Shema, but presents a progression anchored in successive phrases of a psalm.

    02

    Building the reasoning

    1. 1Order the resources in the teaching.
    2. 2Mark the condition for moving between stages.
    Practice

    Return to the source and order the resources in the teaching. Then explain how the central distinction follows from the excerpt. Mark what is explicit and what is explained by the surrounding discussion.

    Lesson wrap-up

    This aggadic teaching is a conditional sequence: each successful stage suffices; otherwise another resource follows. It does not instruct one to skip Torah or Shema, but presents a progression anchored in successive phrases of a psalm.

    Check your understanding

    Test yourself before marking the lesson complete.

    Question 1 of 1

    What follows Torah study if it has not succeeded?

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