Related%20passage for Shabbat 290:15

מפני מה ת"ח שבבבל מצויינין לפי שאינן בני מקומן דאמרי אינשי במתא שמאי בלא מתא תותבאי (ישעיהו כז, ו) הבאים ישרש יעקב יציץ ופרח ישראל תני רב יוסף אלו תלמידי חכמים שבבבל שעושין ציצין ופרחים לתורה

R. Jacob said in R. Johanan's name: They all returned save the colias of the Spaniards. For Rab said: The water courses of Babylonia carry back the water to the fountain of Etam;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The highest eminence in Palestine (Zeb. 54b). According to Josephus (Ant. VIII, 7, 3) it was sixty stadia south of Jerusalem, and it supplied the city with water. The mikweh used by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, which was situated above the Water Gate, was also drawn thence (Yoma 31a). — Thus as the water flowed from Babylonia it carried along the fish which had migrated from Palestine. ');">²⁶</span> but these [colias], since their spine is not firm, could not go up.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The whole discussion was probably a mere jeu d'espirit as a relaxation after serious study. ');">²⁷</span>

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