Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Commentary for Kiddushin 62:6

רב יוסף כי הוה שמע קל כרעא דאמיה אמר איקום מקמי שכינה דאתיא אמר רבי יוחנן אשרי מי שלא חמאן רבי יוחנן כי עברתו אמו מת אביו ילדתו מתה אמו וכן אביי איני והאמר אביי אמרה לי אם ההיא מרבינתיה הואי

Said they to him, 'You have not yet reached half the honour [due]: has she then thrown a purse before you into the sea without your shaming her? ' When R'Joseph heard his mother's footsteps he would say: 'I will arise before the approaching Shechinah.' R'Johanan said: Happy is he who has not seen them.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' His parents, because it is so difficult to honour them adequately. - Of course, he is not to be understood literally. Also, it was a form of self comfort for not having known his parents.');"><sup>10</sup></span>

Rashi on Kiddushin

Fortunate is one who never saw them: As it is impossible to fulfill [the stipulations of] their honor as fully required. So he is punished over them.
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Rashi on Kiddushin

His foster mother: Nanny.
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Daf Shevui to Kiddushin

R. Joseph literally thinks his mother is like God. One of my sons was like this when he was little—wanted nothing to do with me. It’s gotten better since then, but he’s still not crying out “I will arise before the Shekhinah” when I come into the room. I’m lucky if he looks up from his screen.
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Daf Shevui to Kiddushin

This is really one of the saddest portions of the Talmud I know. Honoring one’s mother and father is so difficult that it is better not to have known them.
I should say that while honoring one’s mother and father is difficult (and has been difficult for me, more than I usually admit), I certainly am happy to have shared so many years with mine, and I hope that my children someday feel the same way about me.
Abaye here claims that he never knew his mother. But elsewhere he frequently quotes his mother. The claim is that she is not his mother, but his foster-mother, the one woman who raised him.
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