פירוש על ברכות 32:1

M.: Hast thou not taught as...?

I.e. a reputation for excessive piety by reading the Shema' on such an occasion, which might not be justified by other acts of his.

The laws of mourning (here abelut, the mourning before the burial, which is stricter than abelut, mourning after burial) are derived from Deut. xxvi. 14. Being a Pentateuchal ordinance, how could he set them aside for the personal reason he gives ?

This verse relates to a time of mourning, and it mentions only "a bitter day" ; from this he deduced that the "bitterness" does not apply in the night.

It is still customary for the friends who attend the funeral to form themselves into two rows through which the mourners pass, receiving words of condolence.

Said after the meal on returning from the cemetery.

The formula is: May the Omnipresent comfort you in the midst of the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

So Jastrow; Krauss, p. 74, "the inner-room."

I.e. I gave you a plain hint that I did not wish to receive your condolence.

What higher praise could be spoken of any man?

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

Not given to the sons of Jacob who founded the tribes called by their same.

Lit. "with lips of joyful songs" ("songs," being an unspecified plural, equals two), i.e. a song in this world and a song in the world to come. Bacher considers that the derivation is based upon the spelling of the word for "joyful songs." רננות instead of רנות. A. P. A. II. p. 15 n. 3.

I.e. after "Blessed... Who blessest Thy people Israel with peace"; Singer, p. 54.

Bacher would give the word the meaning "our dwelling-place"; A. P. A. I. p. 244 n. 7.

The Rabbinic name for Paradise.

M. adds : and have compassion upon us.

In J. T. it is Hiyya b. Abba.

This prayer is now included in the Service for the Sabbath before the New Moon; cf. Singer, p. 154.

See Singer, p. 7.

Rabbi Judah the Prince was an intimate friend of the Roman Procurator in Judea. Although the latter placed a number of his men at Rabbi's disposal to protect him, yet he prayed to God for help against his adversaries, not relying upon human aid.