חגיגה 15 — Soncino English Talmud

¹I can have repeated sexual connections without [causing] bleeding; or is perhaps the case of Samuel rare? He replied: the case of Samuel is rare, but we do consider [the possibility] that she may have conceived in a bath. But behold Samuel said: A spermatic emission that does not shoot forth like an arrow cannot fructify! — In the first instance, it had also shot forth like an arrow. Our Rabbis taught: Once R. Joshua b. Hanania was standing on a step on the Temple Mount, and Ben Zoma saw him and did not stand up before him. So [R. Joshua] said to him: Whence and whither, Ben Zoma? He replied: I was gazing between the upper and the lower waters, and there is only a bare three fingers’ [breadth] between them, for it is said: And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters — like a dove which hovers over her young without touching [them]. Thereupon R. Joshua said to his disciples: Ben Zoma is still outside. See now, when was it that ‘the spirit of God hovered over the face of the water? On the first day [of Creation]; but the division took place on the second day, for it is written: And let it divide the waters from the waters!’ And how big [is the interval]? R. Aha b. Jacob said, As a hair's breadth; and the Rabbis said: As [between] the boards of a landing bridge. Mar Zutra, or according to others R. Assi, said: As [between] two cloaks spread one over the other; and others say, as [between] two cups tilted one over the other. Aher mutilated the shoots. Of him Scripture says: Suffer not thy mouth to bring thy flesh into guilt. What does it refer to? — He saw that permission was granted to Metatron to sit and write down the merits of Israel. Said he: It is taught as a tradition that on high there is no sitting and no emulation, and no back, and no weariness. Perhaps, — God forfend! — there are two divinities! [Thereupon] they led Metatron forth, and punished him with sixty fiery lashes, saying to him: Why didst thou not rise before him when thou didst see him? Permission was [then] given to him to strike out the merits of Aher. A Bath Kol went forth and said: Return, ye backsliding children — except Aher. [Thereupon] he said: Since I have been driven forth from yonder world, let me go forth and enjoy this world. So Aher went forth into evil courses. He went forth, found a harlot and demanded her. She said to him: Art thou not Elisha b. Abuyah? [But] when he tore a radish out of its bed on the Sabbath and gave it to her, she said: It is another [Aher]. After his apostasy, Aher asked R. Meir [a question], saying to him: What is the meaning of the verse: God hath made even the one as well as the other? He replied: It means that for everything that God created He created [also] its counterpart. He created mountains, and created hills; He created seas, and created rivers. Said [Aher] to him: R. Akiba, thy master, did not explain it thus, but [as follows]: He created righteous, and created wicked; He created the Garden of Eden, and created Gehinnom. Everyone has two portions, one in the Garden of Eden and one in Gehinnom. The righteous man, being meritorious, takes his own portions and his fellow's portion in the Garden of Eden. The wicked man, being guilty, takes his own portion and his fellow's portion in Gehinnom. R. Mesharsheya said: What is the Biblical proof for this? In the case of the righteous, it is written: Therefore in their land they shall possess double. In the case of the wicked it is written: And destroy them with double destruction. After his apostasy, Aher asked R. Meir: What is the meaning of the verse: Gold and glass cannot equal it; neither shall the exchange thereof be vessels of fine gold? He answered: These are the words of the Torah, which are hard to acquire like vessels of fine gold, but are easily destroyed like vessels of glass. Said [Aher] to him: R. Akiba, thy master, did not explain thus, but [as follows]: Just as vessels of gold and vessels of glass, though they be broken, have a remedy, even so a scholar, though he has sinned, has a remedy. [Thereupon, R. Meir] said to him: Then, thou, too, repent! He replied: I have already heard from behind the Veil: Return ye backsliding children — except Aher. Our Rabbis taught: Once Aher was riding on a horse on the Sabbath, and R. Meir was walking behind him to learn Torah at his mouth. Said [Aher] to him: Meir, turn back, for I have already measured by the paces of my horse that thus far extends the Sabbath limit. He replied: Thou, too, go back! [Aher] answered: Have I not already told thee that I have already heard from behind the Veil: ‘Return ye backsliding children’ — except Aher. [R. Meir] prevailed upon him and took him, to a schoolhouse. [Aher] said to a child: Recite for me thy verse! [The child] answered: There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. He then took him to another schoolhouse. [Aher] said to a child: Recite for me thy verse! He answered: For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me, saith the Lord God . He took him to yet another schoolhouse, and [Aher] said^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ^ᵃʳ^ᵃˢ^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ^ᵃᵛ

^ᵃnote:I.e., without the woman losing her virginity.
^ᵇnote:Exceptional cases are not taken into account; the marriage, therefore, would be illegal.
^ᶜnote:Into which a male had discharged semen.
^ᵈnote:He was so lost in thought that he failed to show the respect of disciple to master. Cf. the parallel passage, Gen. Rab. II, 4, which contains interesting variants.
^ᵉnote:l.e., what is the trend of your thoughts? The parallel passage (in Gen. Rab.) has ohkdrv ihtn, ‘whence the feet’?
^ᶠnote:V. Gen. I, 6-7.
^ᵍnote:Ibid. v. 2.
^ʰnote:Cf. the parallel passage in J. Hag. II, 1, where B. Zoma quotes Deut. XXXII, 11; and v. Rashi to this verse.
^ⁱnote:I.e., out of his mind (R. Hai Gaon). The reading in Gen. Rab. is ‘is gone’. (12) Gen. I, 6.
^ʲnote:[For an attempt to explain the passage v. Weinstein Zur Genesis der Agada, p. 199, Ben Zoma in his view was an adherent of the view that water was the primordial matter out of which the world was created, V. also Graetz, Gnosticismus, pp. 57, 97. We have, however, lost the key to enable us to explain with certainty the thought-forms underlying this and similar Talmudic passages.]
^ᵏnote:V. supra p. 91, n. 10.
^ˡnote:Eccl. V, 5. (A.V. 6); v. rest of verse.
^ᵐnote:The name of one of the highest angels. Various derivations of the word have been suggested. Cf. Levy and Jast. s.v. For an illuminating article on the character, activities and identity of Metatron, v. J.E. vol. VIII, p. 519.
^ⁿnote:The sentence may also be rendered thus: ‘He saw M. to whom permission was given to be seated while writing down etc.’ (Jast.).
^ᵒnote:I.e., in heaven.
^ᵖnote:MS.M. (v. Rabb. D.S. a.I.) reads: ‘no standing and no sitting’ i.e., no effort and no rest. This reading, in reverse order, was known to Maim. (Comm. on Mishnah Sanhedrin, ch. 10); but Rashi deletes the words ‘no standing’.
^ᵠnote:I.e., the angels have faces in all directions (Rashi), Jast. explains i.e., everything is in sight. Maim. (loc. cit.) renders: ‘no division’.
^ʳnote:Maim. ‘no junction’.
^ˢnote:I.e., he was beaten with ‘heated disks or rings strung on a lash’ (Jast.). The purpose of the punishment was to show that M. had no more power than others (Tosaf.).
^ᵗnote:V. p. 73, n. 12.
^ᵘnote:Jer. III, 22.
^ᵛnote:According to our passage, Aher was guilty of the heresy of dualism. L. Ginzberg (J.E. vol. V, pp. 138-139) denies all historic worth to the story given here, which, on account of its reference to Metatron — which he declares to be a specifically Babylonian idea — and its lack of connection with the introductory words, he declares to be of late origin. Ginzberg prefers the parallel account in J. Hag. II, l, where it is related that when Elisha saw a scholar he slew him, that he enticed the young from studying the Torah, and that he informed against the Jews when they sought to perform the work they were ordered to do on the Sabbath in a manner not to break the Law, These events undoubtedly refer to the period of the Hadrianic persecutions. In the J.T. two reasons are mentioned for his apostasy: according to some, he saw one man break the precept of Deut. XXII, 7, without coming to harm, and another observe it and get killed; according to others, he saw the tongue of the great scholar R. Judah Nahtum in the mouth of a dog. The J.T. also gives a different version of the verses discussed by Elisha with R. Meir, and of what R. Meir said on his master's death (v. J.E. vol. VIII, p. 434).
^ʷnote:Lit., ‘that man’, a frequent euphemism for I or thou (to avoid ominous speech or curse).
^ˣnote:I.e. ‘ he would have no share in the world to come (cf. Sanh. 90a (Sonc. ed., p. 601).
^ʸnote:Lit,, ‘evil growth’, hence, ‘evil rearing, manners, ways’. The stories that follow show the expression to mean here moral depravity and apostasy.
^ᶻnote:Strictly, the soft tuber of the radish; cf. ‘Er. 28b.
^ᵃᵃnote:‘Aher’ is thus explained to mean ‘another person’. Ginzberg (op. cit.) takes the view that it is a euphemism for a vile thing (cf. rjt rcs). V. p. 91, n. 3.
^ᵃᵇnote:Lit., ‘corresponding to’, or ‘over against’.
^ᵃᶜnote:Eccl. VII, 14.
^ᵃᵈnote:I.e., Paradise, for the righteous in the life hereafter.
^ᵃᵉnote:V. p. 82, n. 1; cf. J.E. vol. V, pp. 582f. Whereas R. Meir explains the verse as referring to physical counterparts of nature R. Akiba understands it to speak of moral contrasts with their consequent reward and punishment. Cf. n. 6.
^ᵃᶠnote:Lit., ‘having been declared innocent, i.e., In the Heavenly Court,
^ᵃᵍnote:Lit., ‘having been declared guilty’.
^ᵃʰnote:I. e., Paradise.
^ᵃⁱnote:lsa. LXI, 7.
^ᵃʲnote:Jer. XVII, 18.
^ᵃᵏnote:Job. XXVIII, 17.
^ᵃˡnote:I.e., forgotten.
^ᵃᵐnote:I.e., can be repaired.
^ᵃⁿnote:I.e., can repent.
^ᵃᵒnote:Heb. sudrp, from Latin paraganda = a garment ornamented with a border (so called because of its phrygian origin). For other derivations v. Levy s.v. Here pargod denotes the ‘curtain of heaven’ and corresponds to Wilon (v. p. 69, n. 5). V. also p. 101.
^ᵃᵖnote:V. Bez. V, 2.
^ᵃᵠnote:V. Glos.
^ᵃʳnote:I.e., two thousand cubits (in all directions) from the place where a person makes his abode for the Sabbath, beyond which it is forbidden to go on the day of rest; cf. Shab. XXIV, 5; ‘Er. IV, 3; V, 7.
^ᵃˢnote:I.e., the verse which thou hast studied today. The answer thus obtained was considered to have the authority of an oracle.
^ᵃᵗnote:Isa, XLVIII, 22.
^ᵃᵘnote:The expression used here and in the rest of this passage is t,ahbf hc, lit., ‘House of Assembly, Synagogue’. But above, ‘schoolhouse’ translated tarsn hc, lit., ‘House of study’. For the use of the Synagogue as a school and for the exact signification of the Aramaic terms v. S. Krauss, TA. III, p. 204f.
^ᵃᵛnote:Jer. II, 22.

²to a child: Recite for me thy verse! He answered: And thou, that art spoiled, what doest thou, that thou clothest thyself with scarlet, that thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, that thou enlargest thine eyes with paint? In vain dost thou make thyself fair etc. He took him to yet another schoolhouse until he took him to thirteen schools: all of them quoted in similar vein. When he said to the last one, Recite for my thy verse, he answered: But unto the wicked God saith: ‘What hast thou to do to declare My statutes etc.? That child was a stutterer, so it sounded as though he answered: ‘But to Elisha God saith’. Some say that [Aher] had a knife with him, and he cut him up and sent him to the thirteen schools: and some say that he said: Had I a knife in my hand I would have cut him up. When Aher died, they said: Let him not be judged, nor let him enter the world to come. Let him not be judged, because he engaged in the study of the Torah; nor let him enter the world to come, because he sinned. R. Meir said: It were better that he should be judged and that he should enter the world to come. When I die I shall cause smoke to rise from his grave. When R. Meir died, smoke rose up from Aher's grave. R. Johanan said: [What] a mighty deed to burn his master! There was one amongst us, and we cannot save him; if I were to take him by the hand, who would snatch him from me! [But] said he: When I die, I shall extinguish the smoke from his grave. When R. Johanan died, the smoke ceased from Aher's grave. The public mourner began [his oration] concerning him thus: Even the janitor could not stand before thee, O master! Aher's daughter [once] came before Rabbi and said to him: O master, support me! He asked her: ‘Whose daughter art thou?’ She replied: I am Aher's daughter. Said he: Are any of his children left in the world? Behold it is written: He shall have neither son nor son's son among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. She answered: Remember his Torah and not his deeds. Forthwith, a fire came down and enveloped Rabbi's bench. [Thereupon] Rabbi wept and said: If it be so on account of those who dishonour her, how much more so on account of those who honour her! But how did R. Meir learn Torah at the mouth of Aher? Behold Rabbah b. Bar Hana said that R. Johanan said: What is the meaning of the verse, For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts? [This means that] if the teacher is like an angel of the Lord of hosts, they should seek the Law at his mouth, but if not, they should not seek the Law at his mouth! — Resh Lakish answered: R. Meir found a verse and expounded it [as follows]: Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart unto my knowledge. It does not say, ‘unto their knowledge’, but ‘unto my knowledge’. R. Hanina said, [he decided it] from here: Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house etc. The verses contradict one another! There is no contradiction: in the one case Scripture refers to an adult, in the other to a child. When R. Dimi came [to Babylon] he said: In the West, they say: R. Meir ate the date and threw the kernel away. Raba expounded: What is the meaning of the verse: I went down to the garden of nuts, to look at the green plants of the valley etc.? Why are the scholars likened to the nut? To tell you that just as [in the case of] the nut, though it be spoiled with mud and filth, yet are its contents not contemned, so [in the case of] a scholar, although he may have sinned, yet is his Torah not contemned. Rabbah b. Shila [once] met Elijah. He said to him: What is the Holy One, blessed be He, doing? He answered: He utters traditions in the name of all the Rabbis, but in the name of R. Meir he does not utter. Rabbah asked him, Why? — Because he learnt traditions at the mouth of Aher. Said [Rabbah] to him: But why? R. Meir found a pomegranate; he ate [the fruit] within it, and the peel he threw away! He answered: Now He says: Meir my son says: When a man suffers, to what expression does the Shechinah give utterance? ‘My head is heavy, my arm is heavy’. If the Holy One, blessed be He, is thus grieved over the blood of the wicked, how much more so over the blood of the righteous that is shed. Samuel found Rab Judah leaning on the door-bolt weeping. So he said to him: O, keen scholar, wherefore dost thou weep? He replied: Is it a small thing that is written concerning the Rabbis? Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed? Where is he that counted the towers? ‘Where is he that counted?’ — for they counted all the letters in the Torah. ‘Where is he that weighed?’ — for they weighed the light and the heavy in the Torah. ‘Where is he that counted the towers?’ — for they taught three hundred halachoth concerning a ‘tower which flies in the air’. And R. Ammi said: Three hundred questions did Doeg and Ahitophel raise concerning a ‘tower which flies in the air’. Yet we have learnt: Three kings and four commoners have no share in the world to come. What then shall become of us? Said [Samuel] to him. O, keen scholar, there was impurity in their hearts. — But what of Aher? — Greek song did not cease from his mouth. It is told of Aher that when he used to rise [to go] from the schoolhouse, many heretical books used to fall from his lap. Nimos the weaver asked R. Meir: Does all wool that goes down into the [dyeing] kettle come up [properly dyed]? He replied: All that was clean on its mother comes up [properly dyed], all that was not clean on its mother does not come up [properly dyed]. R. Akiba went up unhurt and went down unhurt; and of him Scripture says: Draw me, we will run after thee. And R. Akiba too the ministering angels sought to thrust away; [but] the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Let this elder be, for he is worthy to avail himself of My glory.^ᵃʷ^ᵃˣ^ᵃʸ^ᵃᶻ^ᵇᵃ^ᵇᵇ^ᵇᶜ^ᵇᵈ^ᵇᵉ^ᵇᶠ^ᵇᵍ^ᵇʰ^ᵇⁱ^ᵇʲ^ᵇᵏ^ᵇˡ^ᵇᵐ^ᵇⁿ^ᵇᵒ^ᵇᵖ^ᵇᵠ^ᵇʳ^ᵇˢ^ᵇᵗ^ᵇᵘ^ᵇᵛ^ᵇʷ^ᵇˣ^ᵇʸ^ᵇᶻ^ᶜᵃ^ᶜᵇ^ᶜᶜ^ᶜᵈ^ᶜᵉ^ᶜᶠ^ᶜᵍ^ᶜʰ^ᶜⁱ^ᶜʲ^ᶜᵏ^ᶜˡ^ᶜᵐ^ᶜⁿ^ᶜᵒ^ᶜᵖ^ᶜᵠ^ᶜʳ^ᶜˢ^ᶜᵗ^ᶜᵘ

^ᵃʷnote:Ibid. IV, 30.
^ᵃˣnote:Ps. L, 16.
^ᵃʸnote:The child pronounced garku (‘and unto the wicked’) like gahktku(‘and unto Elisha’). Note that t and r are both gutturals.
^ᵃᶻnote:Lit,, ‘his soul rested’.
^ᵇᵃnote:I.e,, in heaven,
^ᵇᵇnote:By my prayer.
^ᵇᶜnote:I.e., as a sign that he was judged and punished for his sins.
^ᵇᵈnote:I.e., one scholar among us went astray, yet all of us together have not the power to save him!
^ᵇᵉnote:Var. lec. omit ‘said he’,
^ᵇᶠnote:I.e., as a sign that he was forgiven.
^ᵇᵍnote:V. S. Krauss, T.A. II, p. 68.
^ᵇʰnote:I.e., R. Johanan.
^ᵇⁱnote:I.e., of hell.
^ᵇʲnote:Job. XVIII, 19. The verse forms part of a description of the fate of the wicked; cf. v. 5. In the eyes of Bildad (v. I), Job was an infidel.
^ᵇᵏnote:I.e., his vast knowledge of the Torah. Though theory should not be divorced from practice, the study of the Torah is in itself a merit: cf. Ab. IV, 5.
^ᵇˡnote:Cf. p. 89.
^ᵇᵐnote:I.e., the Torah.
^ᵇⁿnote:Mal. II, 7.
^ᵇᵒnote:Prov. XXII, 17.
^ᵇᵖnote:Since the heart may not be applied to their knowledge, it shows that the acts of the wise men referred to must be wicked. Nevertheless, their words may be listened to. Thus R. Meir could learn from Aher, provided he did not imitate the latter's deeds.
^ᵇᵠnote:Ps. XLV, 11. I.e., hearken to the words of the wise, but forget their actions, if they are wicked.
^ᵇʳnote:I.e., the two verses contradict Mal. II,7 quoted above.
^ᵇˢnote:An adult, unlike a child, can use discrimination, and avoid the teacher's wrongdoing; hence the last two verses permit him to learn even from a heretic.
^ᵇᵗnote:I.e., Palestine, which is west of Babylonia.
^ᵇᵘnote:So Rashi and Levy; Jast. trans., ‘peel’. V. D.5. a.I. n. 30.
^ᵇᵛnote:Cant. VI, 11.
^ᵇʷnote:For Elijah in Rabbinic literature v. J.E. vol. V, pp. 122ff(especially p. 124).
^ᵇˣnote:Lit., ‘from the mouth’.
^ᵇʸnote:I.e., since you have pleaded for him,
^ᵇᶻnote:The passage refers to capital punishment, v. Sanh. 46a.
^ᶜᵃnote:Lit., ‘I am lighter than my head etc.’, a euphemistic expression for feeling heavy, giddy. weak; v. Sanh., Sonc. ed., pp. 304, 306. The anthropomorphism is intended to show how near God is to man and how real is His sorrow for him in the time of his trouble, even though he be a delinquent and fully deserve his punishment.
^ᶜᵇnote:Shinena, lit., ‘sharp one’; aliter ‘man with long (sharp) tooth’.
^ᶜᶜnote:I.e., about those who went astray into evil courses.
^ᶜᵈnote:Isa. XXXIII, 18.
^ᶜᵉnote:I.e., expounded the Torah according to the hermeneutical rule of ke (light, unimportant) rnuju (heavy, important) i.e., by arguing from minor to major and vice versa.
^ᶜᶠnote:I.e., fixed traditional laws, V. Glos.
^ᶜᵍnote:An obscure expression for which Rashi both here and Sanh. 106b (Sonc. ed., p. 727) offers several interpretations, The most likely explanations relate the ‘flying tower’ to the laws of defilement. It could then mean: (a) A portable turret-shaped conveyance, in which an Israelite entered heathen land, which is regarded as levitically unclean; v. Tosef. Oh. and Rashi to Sanh. l.c. ‘Flying’ will thus mean ‘moving’ i.e., being carried. (b) An open chest or cupboard containing a levitically unclean object, which stands in an open space; v, Oh. IV, If. In this case, it is best to read ‘open’, or, as in the Mishnah ‘standing’. The following are less plausible explanations: — (a) The upper stroke of the letter lamed, i.e., they taught three hundred traditions concerning so insignificant a matter. (b) The tower of Babel. (c) A tower suspended in mid-air by magic. Cf. Sanh. 68a (Sonc. ed., p. 462), concerning the planting of cucumbers by magic.
^ᶜʰnote:An indication of their profound learning. V. the variant reading in Sanh, l.c.
^ᶜⁱnote:Cf. I Sam. XXI, 8 where ‘the chiefest of the herdmen’ is explained by Rashi as ‘the head of the Beth din’.
^ᶜʲnote:Cf. II Sam. XVI, 23.
^ᶜᵏnote:The three kings are, Jeroboam, Ahab and Manasseh; the four commoners, Balaam, Doeg, Ahitophel and Gehazi, Thus their profound learning did not save Doeg and Ahitophel. V. Sanh. 90a, (Sonc. ed,, pp. 602f).
^ᶜˡnote:Lit., ‘clay’, i.e., heathen sensuality (Jast.). Aliter: ‘gnawing worm’; ‘jealousy’, i.e., evil thoughts (Levy). Whatever the exact rendering, the meaning is: They were wickedly inclined from the beginning, hence their knowledge of the Torah could not protect them.
^ᶜᵐnote:I.e., why did not his study of the Torah save him?
^ᶜⁿnote:Rashi reads: ‘from his house’. Why Greek song should have been the cause of Aher's corruption is not clear. Rashi says that he transgressed the prohibition against music after the destruction of the Temple (v. Git. 7a; cf. Isa. XXIV, 9). Maharsha rightly objects that this does not explain the word Greek: the Gemara could have simply stated that song did not cease from his mouth. He suggests, therefore, that the Greek songs were tainted by heresy. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that Aher's devotion to Greek literature eventually led him to accept ideas which were contrary to Jewish teaching.
^ᶜᵒnote:I.e., before his apostasy.
^ᶜᵖnote:Lit., ‘books of Minim’ (v. Glos. s.v. Min).
^ᶜᵠnote:hsrd, Lat. gerdino. Cf. R. Isaac the Smith, R. Johanan the Sandalmaker etc. Being a weaver, the allegory employed by Nimos is appropriate. But Jast. holds that hrsd equals (by transposition) hrsd and means ‘of Gadara’. He also regards xunhb as a shortened form of xunhbct (cf. Gen. Rab. s. 65), who, he thinks, is to be identified with the cynic philosopher Oenomaus.
^ᶜʳnote:Rashi explains: does the study of the Torah serve to protect all students from sin? Jast.: i.e., does every student of mystic philosophy escape death or scepticism? (So too Aruch). Note Oenomaus was a cynic.
^ᶜˢnote:I.e., when the sheep was sheared, i.e., all who begin the study of the Torah when they are free from sin; or (following Jast. and Aruch), all who engage in mystic speculation in perfect purity, like R. Akiba. Cf. Ab. III, 9 (Sonc. ed., p. 32).
^ᶜᵗnote:Cf. ‘entered . . . departed’ supra pp. 90-91.
^ᶜᵘnote:Cant. I, 4. I.e., R. Akiba was able to follow God right into Paradise, or (according to the other opinions) into the deepest mysteries of theosophy.