Commentary for Sotah 96:7

שפעם אחת היו מסובין בעליית בית גוריא ביריחו נתנה עליהן בת קול מן השמים ואמרה יש בכם אדם אחד שראוי שתשרה שכינה עליו אלא שאין דורו ראוי לכך נתנו עיניהם בהלל הזקן וכשמת הספידוהו הי חסיד הי עניו תלמידו של עזרא

On one occasion [some Rabbis] were sitting in the upper chamber of Gurya's house in Jericho; a <i>Bath Kol</i> was granted to them from heaven which announced, 'There is in your midst one man who is deserving that the <i>Shechinah</i> should alight upon him, but his generation is unworthy of it'. They all looked at Hillel the elder; and when he died, they lamented over him, 'Alas, the pious man! Alas, the humble man! Disciple of Ezra!' On another occasion they were sitting in an upper chamber in Jabneh; a <i>Bath Kol</i> was granted to them from heaven which announced, 'There is in your midst one man who is deserving that the <i>Shechinah</i> should alight upon him, but his generation is unworthy of it'. They all looked at Samuel the Little;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A famous pupil of Hillel who died about a decade after the destruction of the second Temple. ');">¹²</span> and when he died, they lamented over him, 'Alas, the humble man! Alas, the pious man! Disciple of Hillel!' At the time of his death he also said,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Under the influence of the Holy Spirit. ');">¹³</span>

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