Commentary for Berakhot 36:2
והוא ירד והכה את הארי בתוך הבור ביום השלג איכא דאמרי דתבר גזיזי דברדא ונחת וטבל איכא דאמרי דתנא סיפרא דבי רב ביומא דסיתוא.
He cut a hole in the ice into which he descended to bathe; others say : He learnt the Sifra debe Rab in a winter's day.
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
To harden his body in order the better to master the intricacies of the Torah (= slay a lion).
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
On the Sifra see p. 71 n. 6. It is regarded as the most difficult of the Halakic commentaries on the Pentateuch and is therefore called "a lion." He mastered this work on a winter's day, i.e. in a short space of time.
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