Berachos 4b § 1
Eat a Little, Drink a Little
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Passage Content
The Shema must be said before midnight
To distance a person from sin.
Because the Sages made a fence for their words,
so that a person should not return
from the field in the evening and think:
First I will go home and
(1) eat a little,
(2) drink a little
(3) and sleep a little
and afterwards say the shema and pray
Because a deep sleep will then take hold of him,
and he will sleep the whole night and not say the Shema.
To distance a person from sin.
Because the Sages made a fence for their words,
so that a person should not return
from the field in the evening and think:
First I will go home and
(1) eat a little,
(2) drink a little
(3) and sleep a little
and afterwards say the shema and pray
Because a deep sleep will then take hold of him,
and he will sleep the whole night and not say the Shema.