Siman - Pesachim Daf 118

• הלל הגדול 

It was taught in a Baraisa, רביעי גומר את הלל ואומר הלל הגדול – Over the fourth cup, one completes the Hallel and recites “The Great Hallel.” These are the words of Rebbe Tarfon. And there are those that say, he recites ה' רעי לא אחסר – He recites (psalm 23), Hashem is my shepherd, I shall not lack. The Gemara asks why it is called Hallel Hagadol. Rebbe Yochanan said, מפני שהקדוש ברוך הוא יושב ברומו של עולם ומחלק מזונות לכל בריה – Because [this psalm relates that] HaKadosh Baruch Hu dwells in the heights of the universe and distributes food to every creature. The passuk states, נותן לחם לכל בשר – He provides nourishment to all flesh.

Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi said: What do the twenty-six reasons to "Give Thanks" in Hodu correspond to? כנגד עשרים וששה דורות שברא הקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו – They correspond to the twenty-six generations [of humanity] that Hakadosh Boruch Hu, created in His world, ולא נתן להם תורה – and He did not give them the Torah, וזן אותם בחסדו – and He [nonetheless] sustained them through his kindness.

• קשין מזונותיו של אדם

Rebbe Yochanan makes two statements, which he proves from pesukim, about the “difficulty” that providing food for people involves:

·קשין מזונותיו של אדם כפליים כיולדה – A man’s food is twice as difficult as [that which is endured by] a woman in childbirth.

·קשין מזונותיו של אדם יותר מן הגאולה – A man’s food is more difficult than the Redemption.

Rav Shizvi, in the name of Rebbe Elazar ben Azaryah, makes a third derashah:

·קשין מזונותיו של אדם כקריעת ים סוף – A man’s food is as difficult as the splitting of the Sea of Reeds. Rashbam explains that when Hashem provides food for someone, He is performing a miracle for that individual that is as great as the miracle of the splitting of the sea, and therefore, one must daven for food.

• The Fish’s Praise

The Daf contains numerous derashos of pesukim in Tehillim. Among these is the following quote from Rebbe Nassan: ואמת ה' לעולם דגים שבים אמרוהו – “And the truth of Hashem is eternal” was said by the fish in the sea. This is based on Rabbah bar Mari, who said that when the Jews emerged from the Sea of Reeds, after it split for them, they “rebelled,” by saying: כשם שאנו עולין מצד אחד כך מצריים עולים מצד אחר – Just as we are emerging from this side, so are the Egyptians emerging from the other side, whereupon, Hashem commanded the sea to spit out the Egyptians’ corpses. The sea complained, רבש''ע כלום יש עבד שנותן לו רבו מתנה וחוזר ונוטל ממנו – Master of the Universe, is there a slave whose master gives him a gift and then takes it back from him. [Rashbam explains that the corpses were a "gift" to the sea because the fish would eat them.] Hashem assured the sea that He would give it back one and a half times their amount, and the Kishon Brook would be His guarantor. The sea then spit out the Egyptian corpses, as the passuk says, וירא ישראל את מצרים מת על שפת הים – And Yisrael saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When the “debt” was repaid, through the Kishon Brook swallowing the 900 chariots under Sisera’s command, the fish proclaimed, “And the truth of Hashem is eternal.”