Commentary for Taanit 31:17

ופרקו נאה ושפל ברך ומרוצה לעם ויש לו נעימה וקולו ערב ובקי לקרות בתורה ובנביאים ובכתובים ולשנות במדרש בהלכות ובאגדות ובקי בכל הברכות כולן ויהבו ביה רבנן עינייהו בר' יצחק בר אמי

R'Adda B'Ahaba said: One who has sinned and confesses his sin but does not repent may be compared to a man holding a dead reptile in his hand, for although he may immerse himself in all the waters of the world his immersion is of no avail unto him; but if he throws it away from his hand then as soon as he immerses himself in forty se'ahs of water,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The minimum requirement for ritual immersion.');">¹⁷</span> immediately his immersion becomes effective, as it is said, But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Prov. XXVIII, 13.');">¹⁸</span> And it is further said, Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lam. III, 41.');">¹⁹</span> WHEN THEY STAND UP TO PRAY THEY PLACE BEFORE THE ARK [AS READER] AN OLD MAN etc. Our Rabbis have taught: When they stand up to pray, although there may be present an elder and a scholar, they place before the Ark [as Reader] only a man conversant with the prayers. ?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [The bracketed words appear in brackets also in the original. The statement of' R. Judah that follows is hardly relevant as a definition of 'one conversant with prayers'. The words are omitted in MS.M.] kpuyn kpyn');">²⁰</span> - R'Judah says: One having a large family<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' , lit., burdened'; var. lec. 'engages himself in work', 'labours away'.]');">²¹</span> and has no means of support, and who draws his subsistence from [the produce of] the field,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [And thus depends for his livelihood on rain. This will make him pray with more devotion for the acceptance of his prayers].');">²²</span> and whose house is empty, whose youth was unblemished, who is meek and is acceptable to the people; who is skilled in chanting, who has a pleasant voice, and possesses a thorough knowledge of the Torah, the Prophets and the Hagiographa, of the Midrash, Halachoth and Aggadoth and of all the Benedictions. Thereupon the Rabbis gazed on R'Isaac B'Ammi.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As one whom the description befits.');">²³</span>

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