תנא כתב אות אחת והשלימה לספר ארג חוט אחד והשלימה לבגד חייב מאן תנא אמר רבא בר רב הונא ר' אליעזר היא דאמר אחת על האריג חייב רב אשי אמר אפילו תימא רבנן להשלים שאני
He was a fool, answered they, and proof cannot be adduced from fools.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' His action was too unusual to furnish a criterion.
');"><sup>20</sup></span> IF ONE WRITES ONE LETTER NEAR [OTHER] WRITING. Who teaches this? — Said Rabbah son of R. Huna, It does not agree with R. Eliezer. For if [it agreed with] R. Eliezer, — surely he maintained, [for] one [thread] added to woven stuff, he is culpable.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. infra 105a. The same principle applies here too.
');"><sup>21</sup></span> IF ONE WRITES UPON WRITING. Who teaches this? Said R. Hisda, It does not agree with R. Judah. For it was taught: If one had to write the [Divine] Name,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The Tetragrammaton; the reference is to a Scroll of the Law, in which the Tetragrammaton must be written with sacred intention.
');"><sup>22</sup></span>
Shut min haShamayim
They responded: Do you not know, and have you not heard, that there are some people whose birth-sign accords them poor eyes or tongues? Others are given weak legs. Many sicknesses originate from bad eyes, and many die from it, as it says (cf. Talmud Yerushalmi Shabbat 14:3) "Ninety nine die from the evil eye, and one in the way of the earth." So too, sometimes Satan is given permission to wreak destruction, as in the case of Miriam the Hairbraider Others have well-functioning legs, as it says (Genesis 30:30) "God has blessed you at my feet." Do not wonder, for there are those whose birth-sign allows them to interpret dreams and their interpretation is true, for better or for worse, as long as they fit the issue at hand. Bar Haddaya was such a person, and the interpretations that came true were not because of him but because of his sign. It was for this reason that Rava was angry and cursed him (Berachot 56a:16). As to what he found written in the book, that 'all dreams follow the mouth', only applies to those born under such a sign. All this they responded to me after the third time I asked. After some time they said: Do not ponder too much on our words, for we have informed you the truth and mystery is deep.
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