Commentary for Berakhot 13:9
השתא דעת בהמתו לא הוה ידע דעת עליון הוה ידע
Was Balaam, then, ignorant of the mind of his ass, and yet acquainted with the knowledge of the Most High?
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
According to Hyman, n. p. 722 b, we should read Jose b. Zimra.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
See Introduction, § iv, and also Abelson, Immanence of Ood, p. 70 note.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
Of justice.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
"The Holy of Holies" added by M. According to the Jewish sources, he was one of the last of the High Priests and suffered martyrdom (see fol. 57 b) with Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel the Elder. He is accordingly identified by some with Ishmael b. Phabi who held the Office about 60 c.e. This identification, however, is very uncertain, and there are scholars who doubt whether there was a High Priest of that name. They think that the person referred to here is the Tanna Ishmael, who was the son of a High Priest, and that the theosophical passages where he is mentioned (see fol. 51 a) are later legendary additions to the Talmud. See A. T. i. pp. 259-263.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
A divine appellation usually explained as a combination of keter "throne" and el "God." Schorr (quoted by Goldschmidt) connects it with ὀχθρὁϛ, Heb. עליון "Most High."
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
See p. 8 n. 5.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
Since God asked for the blessing of a mortal. An instance of the doctrine of Imitatio Dei; see Introduction, § IV.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
Cf. "R. Simeon b. Eleazar said : Do not appease thy fellow in the hour of his anger, and comfort him not in the hour when his dead lies before him, and question him not in the hour of his vow, and strive not to see him in the hour of his disgrace." Abot iv. 23, Singer, pp. 197 f.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
So the Hebrew literally.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
Euphemism for Israel.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
The number is corrupt, and there are numerous variants ranging from 88,888 to 8,888. J. T. reads 56,848. The correct number is 82,080; see Brodetsky in J. R. II. p. 173.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
So M. Edd. : But it stands on one foot at all times! During the rest of the day, it has red streaks [in its white comb], but not during the afore-mentioned hours.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
Edd. : Sadducee ; an alteration to satisfy the scruples of the mediaeval Censor who regarded every reference to the Min as an attack on Christianity.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
"On waking up" occurs in M. but is wanting in edd.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
I.e. self-reproach.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
This is the reading of M. and the earliest edd. Subsequently it was altered to "that the Shekinah should rest only upon Israel" for fear of the Censor. Bacher detects in the words a polemic against the aspirations of Christianity; A. T. II. p. 179, n. 8.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
What follows is the purport of Moses' request, "Show me now Thy ways."
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
Lit. hold the deed of their fathers in their hands.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
Against this attempt to solve the problem, cf. "R. Jannai said: It is not in our power to explain either the prosperity of the wicked or the afflictions of the righteous" ; Abot iv. 19, Singer, p. 197.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
R. Jose's statement that God granted the three requests of Moses.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
The third request "to know God's ways," according to R. Meir, remained unanswered, Exod. xxxiii. 19 teaching that prosperity and its opposite are solely dependent apon the will of God.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
At the burning bush where Moses hid his face: Exod. iii. 6.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
These Rabbis explain the act of "hiding the face" as meriting reward not punishment.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
M.: Hannina; but this is doubtful. There is another variant : Huna. See D. S. ad loc.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
What feature in the "back" of God had an interest for Moses? This could only be the peculiar shape of the knot of the head-Tefillin which resembles the Hebrew letter dalet or mem.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
According to Exod. xii. 37 the number of Israelites who left Egypt was 600,000. This number is described as "many," the same term being applied
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