דוד סימנא הוה ליה דאמר רב אחא בר ביזנא אמר רבי שמעון חסידא כנור היה תלוי למעלה ממטתו של דוד וכיון שהגיע חצות לילה בא רוח צפונית ונושבת בו ומנגן מאליו מיד היה עומד ועוסק בתורה עד שעלה עמוד השחר כיון שעלה עמוד השחר נכנסו חכמי ישראל אצלו אמרו לו אדונינו המלך עמך ישראל צריכין פרנסה אמר להם לכו והתפרנסו זה מזה אמרו לו אין הקומץ משביע את הארי ואין הבור מתמלא מחוליתו אמר להם לכו ופשטו ידיכם בגדוד
He had a sign. For R. Hannah b. Bizna said in the name of R. Simeon Hasida : There was a harp hanging above David's bed, and when the time of midnight arrived a North wind came and blew upon it, so that it produced melody. He used immediately to rise and occupy himself with Torah until the break of dawn. At the rise of dawn, the wise men of Israel entered his presence and said to him, "Our lord, the king, thy people Israel are in need of sustenance." He answered them, "Go, let each sustain himself from the other." They said to him, "A handful cannot satisfy a lion, nor can a pit be filled with its own clods." He said to them, "Go, stretch forth your hands with the army."
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
So M. correctly. Edd. : R. Aha b. Bizna. In J. T. the reference to the harp is in the name of R. Levi ; cf. A. P. A. III. p. 697.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
A reminiscence of the Aeolian harp.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
Let the rich help the poor.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
The poor cannot remain satisfied with charitable doles, any more than a handful will satisfy a hungry lion. Moreover a nation needs external sources of supply. It cannot live on itself, just as the soil taken out of a pit will not completely fill the cavity. Others render the proverb: "A grasshopper cannot satisfy a lion ; nor can a cistern be filled by rain-water [but must also depend upon drawn water]"; cf. T. A. I. p. 419 n. 17.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
