When Christianity developed in opposition to its Jewish origins, the sages of Yavne (after the destruction of the second Temple) instituted the birkat haminim "blessing against heretics", which became the 19th blessing of the "amida" which will keep its previous name of "chmoné essré" (18 blessings).
- Made in Israel
- Dimensions: 10 x 7cm
- Rigid plastic card
The text below describes how this blessing was established.
Our sages taught: Simon Hapécoli organized the 18 blessings in front of Raban Gamliel in the city of Yavné.
Raban Gamliel asked them: "Is there a man who could compose a blessing (in fact a curse) against the heretics? Samuel (says) "the little one" composed it. The year after he had it forgotten.
He tried to remember it for two or three hours (unsuccessfully), but he was not relieved of his role. Why was he not removed from his role as a reader? Yet Rav Yehuda said in Rav's name: "If someone is wrong in all the blessings he is not dismissed except for the birkat haminim, for it is feared that he is a heretic." For Samuel "the little one" it's different, because he had composed it.