Study Berakhot folio 59B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
A baraita states: One who sees the sun in the beginning of its cycle, the moon in its might, the planets in their orbit, or the signs of the zodiac aligned in their order recites: Blessed…Author of creation. The Talmud asks: And when is it that the sun is at the beginning of its cycle? Abaye said:
We learned in the Mishnah that R' Yehuda said: One who sees the great sea intermittently recites: Blessed…Who has made the great sea. The Talmud asks: How much is intermittently? Rami bar Abba said that Rav Yitzḥak said: 30 days.
And Rami bar Abba said that Rav Yitzḥak said: One who sees the Euphrates River near the bridge of Babylonia recites: Blessed…Author of creation. The Talmud adds: And now that the Persians have rerouted the course of the river, one only recites the blessing from Beit Shavor upriver. Downriver, it n
The Talmud proceeds to explain the names of these rivers. What is the source of the name Ḥidekel [Tigris]? Rav Ashi said: Its name is an acronym derived from the fact that its waters are sharp [ḥadin] and light [kalin] and therefore good for drinking. What is the source of the name Perat [Euphrates
As for the Tigris River, Rava said: The inhabitants of the city Meḥoza are sharp because they drink the water of the Tigris; they are red because they engage in conjugal sex in the daytime; and their eyes move constantly because they live in dark houses.