abbai

They said to him : We were made to read in our dream the words "Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine, for they shall go into captivity" (ibid. 5:41). To Raba he replied in an unfavourable sense. To Abbai he said : Thy sons and daughters will be many, and thy daughters will marry [husbands in distant parts of] the world, so that they will seem to thee as though they had gone into captivity,

[They said to him : In our dream] we were made to read the words "Thy sons and thy daughters shall he given unto another people " (ibid. v. 32), To Abbai he said : Thy sons and daughters will be many ; thou wilt say [they should marry] thy relatives, but [thy wife] will say they [should marry] her relatives, and she will compel thee to give them to her relatives, and it will seem [as though they had been given] to another people. To Raba he said : Thy wife will die, and thy sons and daughters will come under the control of another wife. For Raba said in the name of R. Jeremiah b. Abba in the name of Rab : What means that which is written, "Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people"? This refers to a stepmother.

[They said to Bar Hedja] : We were made to read in our dream the words "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy" (Eccles, ix. 7). To Abbai he said : Thy business will prosper and thou wilt eat and drink and read Scriptural verses from the joy of thy heart. To Raba he said : Thy business will fail, thou wilt slaughter [cattle] but not eat, and thou wilt drink and read Scriptural verses to banish thy dread.

We were made to read the words "Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in for the locust will consume it" (Deut. xxviii. 38). To Abbai he gave an interpretation from the first half of the verse ; to Raba from the latter half.

We were made to read the words "Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil, for thine olives shall drop off" (Deut. xxviii, 40). To Abbai he gave an interpretation from the first half of the verse ; to Raba from the latter half.

We were made to read the words "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called upon thee, and they shall be afraid of thee" (ibid. v. 10). To Abbai he said : Thy fame will go forth as the Principal of the College and the fear of thee will be widespread in the world. To Raba he said : The king's treasury will be broken into and thou wilt be arrested as one of the thieves, and everybody will draw an inference from thee. The next day the king's treasury was broken into, and they came and arrested Raba.

They said [to Bar Hedja] : We saw [in a dream] lettuce upon the mouth of a jar. To Abbai he said : Thy business will be doubled like the lettuce. To Raba he said : Thy business will be bitter like the lettuce.

They said to him : We saw [in a dream] meat upon the mouth of a jar. To Abbai he said : Thy wine will be sweet and everybody will come to buy meat and wine of thee. To Raba he said : Thy wine will be sour and everybody will come to buy meat to eat therewith.

They said to him : We saw [in a dream] a jug hanging upon a date-palm. To Abbai he said : Thy wares will be exalted like the palm. To Raba he said : Thy wares will be sweet as dates.

They said to him : We saw [in a dream] a pomegranate sprouting on the mouth of a jar. To Abbai he said : Thy wares will be high-priced like the pomegranate. To Raba he said : Thy wares will be stale [and taste] like the pomegranate.

They said to him : We saw [in a dream] a jug fall into a well. To Abbai he said : Thy wares will be sought as one says, "A piece of bread fell into a well and cannot be found." To Raba he said : Thy wares will go bad and thou wilt cast them into a well.

They said to him : We saw [in a dream] a young ass standing by the side of our pillow and braying. To Abbai he said : Thou wilt become the President of the College and an Amora will stand by thee. To Raba he said : The words "the firstling of an ass" (Exod. xiii. 13) have been erased from thy Tefillin. Raba said to him : I have myself seen that the words are there. He replied : The letter waw in the word hamor "ass" has certainly been erased from thy Tefillin.

Finally Raba came and gave [Bar Hedja] a fee, and said to him : I dreamt of a wall falling. He replied : Thou wilt acquire a boundless estate. He said to him : dreamt that Abbai's house collapsed and its dust covered me. He replied : Abbai will die and his [Office as Principal of the] College will revert to thee. He said to him : I dreamt that my house collapsed and everybody came to take each a brick. He replied : Thy teachings will be scattered throughout the world. He said to him : I dreamt that my head was split open and my brains fell out. He replied : The stuffing will fall out of thy bolster. He said to him : I dreamt that I was made to read the Hallel of Egypt. He replied : Many miracles will happen to thee. [Once Bar Hedja] went with Raba on a boat; he said [to himself]

Who dreams of ascending to the roof will ascend to greatness ; of descending, he will descend from greatness. Abbai and Raba both say : Since he has ascended, he has ascended. Who dreams of rending his garments, the Divine decree will be rent for him. Who dreams of standing naked, if in Babylon he will stand without sin ; but if in the Land of Israel, [he will stand] naked without commandments. Who dreams that he has been arrested by the police, the Divine protection will be vouchsafed him. [If he dreamt] that they placed him in neck-chains, the Divine protection will be doubly vouchsafed him ; but this applies only to a neck-chain, not to a common cord.

And for storms. What is a storm? Abbai said : A hurricane ; and further said Abbai : There is a tradition that a hurricane never happens during the night. But we have seen it occurring ! It must have commenced in the daytime. Abbai likewise said: There is a tradition that a hurricane does not last two hours; to fulfil that which was said, "Trouble shall not rise up the second time" (Nahum i. 9). But we have seen it lasting [longer than that]! It stopped in between.

And for storms. What is a storm? Abbai said : A hurricane ; and further said Abbai : There is a tradition that a hurricane never happens during the night. But we have seen it occurring ! It must have commenced in the daytime. Abbai likewise said: There is a tradition that a hurricane does not last two hours; to fulfil that which was said, "Trouble shall not rise up the second time" (Nahum i. 9). But we have seen it lasting [longer than that]! It stopped in between.

And for storms. What is a storm? Abbai said : A hurricane ; and further said Abbai : There is a tradition that a hurricane never happens during the night. But we have seen it occurring ! It must have commenced in the daytime. Abbai likewise said: There is a tradition that a hurricane does not last two hours; to fulfil that which was said, "Trouble shall not rise up the second time" (Nahum i. 9). But we have seen it lasting [longer than that]! It stopped in between.

Rab Samuel b. Isaac said : There is no significance in morning-clouds ; for it is written, "Your goodness is as a morning cloud" (Hosea vi. 4). Rab Pappa said to Abbai : But there is a proverbial expression, "If on opening the door [in the morning] there is rain, set down thy sack, O ass-driver, and lie on it"! There is no contradiction ; for this refers to [a sky] covered with heavy clouds, whereas the former refers to [a sky] covered with light clouds.

For mountains and hills... he says, "Blessed...Who hast made the Creation." Is it then to be supposed that all the other things hitherto mentioned do not belong to the work of Creation? For lo, it is written, "He maketh lightnings for the rain" (Ps. cxxxv. 7)! Abbai said : Connect them all and learn them together. Raba said : In the former instances he pronounces two benedictions : "Blessed...Whose strength fills the world and Who hast made the Creation" ; but here "...Who hast made the Creation" is applicable, but "Whose strength fills the world" is not applicable.

R. Joshua b. Levi said : Who sees the firmament in its purity says, "Blessed... Who hast made the Creation." When is this? Abbai said : When it has rained the whole night and in the morning a north wind comes and clears the sky.

Our Rabbis have taught : He who sees the sun [starting] on its new circuit or the moon in its strength, or the stars in their courses, or the planets in their order says, "Blessed...Who hast made the Creation." And when is it [that the sun starts on its new circuit]? Abbai said : Every twenty-eight years when the cycle begins again, and the Spring equinox falls in Saturn on the night of the third day of the week, which is the beginning of the fourth day.

Abbai said : Let not a man speak thus, so as not to open his mouth to Satan. For said R. Simeon b. Lakish, and it has been similarly taught in the name of R. Jose : A man should never open his mouth to Satan.

Abbai declared : Let not a man speak thus ; for there is a teaching of the school of R. Ishmael : [It is written,] "Only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed" (Exod. xxi. 19) ; from this [it follows] that a physician is given permission [by God] to cure.

Who enters a privy says, "Be honoured, ye honoured and holy Beings who minister to the Most High ! Give glory to the God of Israel ; leave me while I enter and do my will, then shall I come unto you." Abbai said : Let not a man speak thus, lest they leave him and depart; but let him say, "Guard me, guard me, help me, help me, support me, support me, wait for me, wait for me until I enter and come out, for such is the way of human beings." When he comes out, he says, "Blessed... Who hast formed man in wisdom and created in him many orifices and vessels. It is revealed and known before the throne of Thy glory, that if one of these be opened, or one of those closed, it would be impossible [to exist and] to stand before Thee."

Raba said, "The average people are, for instance, ourselves." Abbai said to him, "The master does not leave life for any creature!"

Rabbah had bricks set up for him facing East and West. Abbai went and put them facing North and South ; but Rabbah proceeded to put them right, exclaiming, "Who is it that is troubling me ? I agree with R. 'Akiba's view when he declared that it is prohibited in all circumstances."

Abbai reared a lamb to accompany him into the privy. But he should have roared a goat! A satyr may be changed into a goat.

Abbai said to the Rabbis : When you pass through the alleys of a town to go into the country, look neither to the one side nor the other, lest women be sitting there, and it is not proper to gaze at them.

Bar Kappara expounded : "If goods are cheap, hasten and buy them." "In a place where there is no man, be a man." Abbai said ; Infer from this that where there is a man, do not be a man.