ammi

R. Ammi said : Great is knowledge, which is placed at the beginning of the benediction said in the week-day [Tefillah].

R. Ammi also said : Great is knowledge which is placed between two references to the Divine Name ; as it is said, "For a God of knowledge is the Lord" (I Sam. ii. 3). It is forbidden to have mercy upon one who does not possess knowledge ; as it is said, "For it is a people of no understanding, therefore He that made them will not have compassion upon them" (Is. xxvii. 11).

When R. Ammi and R. Assi had occasion to use the bread of 'Erub, they would pronounce over it the benediction "...Who bringest forth bread from the earth," saying, "Since one religious duty is being fulfilled therewith, let us perform still another."

R. Ammi and R. Isaac Nappaha are at variance over this matter. One declares that the difference of opinion arises when the benediction is the same, for R. Judah holds that one of the seven species is to be given preference, whereas the Rabbis hold that the kind which is best liked is to be given preference. Where, however, the benediction is not the same, all agree that he says the benediction over one and then over the other. The second [Rabbi] declares that there is difference of opinion even where the benediction is not the same.

R. Abbahu ate so many of them that a fly would glide down his face. R. Ammi and R. Assi ate so many of them that their hair fell out. R. Simeon b. Lakish ate so many of them that he began to rave. R. Johanan reported this to the household of the Prince, and R. Judah the Prince sent officials after him and brought him to his house.

R. Ammi said : Two and the Sabbath may be reckoned together for Zimmun. Rab Nahman asked him : Is the Sabbath a man! But, said R. Ammi, two disciples of the wise who sharpen [their minds] one against the other with the study of Halakah may be reckoned together [for Zimmun]. Rab Hisda declared : For instance, I and Rab Sheshet. Rab Sheshet declared : For instance, I and Rab Hisda.

R. Ammi said : Two and the Sabbath may be reckoned together for Zimmun. Rab Nahman asked him : Is the Sabbath a man! But, said R. Ammi, two disciples of the wise who sharpen [their minds] one against the other with the study of Halakah may be reckoned together [for Zimmun]. Rab Hisda declared : For instance, I and Rab Sheshet. Rab Sheshet declared : For instance, I and Rab Hisda.

Rab Jemar b. Shelamya said to Mar Zotra (another version : Rab Jemar b. Shezbi to Mar Zotra) : Did R. Simeon b. Lakish say that? For lo, R. Ammi declared in the name of R. Simeon b. Lakish : What is the length of time for food to be digested ? Sufficient time for a person to walk four Mil !

Rab Huna b. Ammi stated that R. Pedat said in the name of R. Johanan : He who sees a dream and his soul is depressed should go and have it interpreted in the presence of three. He should have it interpreted ! But Rab Hisda has said : An uninterpreted dream is like an unread letter ! Nay, but say : He should have it turned into good in the presence of three. He should assemble three men and say to them, "I have seen a good dream" ; and they should say to him, "Good it is and may it be good. May the All-merciful turn it to good ; seven times may it be decreed concerning thee from Heaven that it should be good, and may it be good." Then they should recite three verses in which the word hapak "turn" occurs, three in which padah "redeem" occurs, and three in which shalom "peace" occurs.

But is it of any avail to pray [during the first forty days that it should be a male child]? For lo, R. Isaac b. R. Ammi has said : If it is the man who first emits seed his wife bears a daughter ; but if the woman first emits seed she gives birth to a son ; as it is said, "If a woman emits seed and bare a male child" (Lev. xii. 2)! With what are we here dealing ? For instance, if they both emit seed simultaneously.

according to the statement of R. Ammi who said : "Behind" refers to the work of creation, "before" to retribution.

There was a privy in Tiberias which if two people entered, even by day, they came to harm. R. Ammi and R. Assi entered it separately and no harm befell them. The Rabbis said to them, "Were you not afraid?" They answered, "We were taught a charm: a charm for the privy is modesty and silence ; a charm against sufferings is silence and prayer,"

R. Tabi said in the name of Josiah : Whoever relaxes from words of Torah will have no strength to stand in the day of trouble; as it is said, "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small indeed" (Prov. xxiv. 10). R. Ammi b. Mattenah said in the name of Samuel : Even [if he relax from] a single commandment ; as it is said, "If thou faint" — i.e. in any single instance.

But is it not possible to measure them exactly’? R. Ammi answered: This is a case where he makes it larger.

Or the long boards of a bed. Can we say that this supports [a statement of] R. Ammi b. Tavyomi, for R. Ammi b. Tavyomi said: If he covered the Sukkah with worn out vessels it is invalid?

Or the long boards of a bed. Can we say that this supports [a statement of] R. Ammi b. Tavyomi, for R. Ammi b. Tavyomi said: If he covered the Sukkah with worn out vessels it is invalid?

[Reverting to] the main text: ‘R. Ammi b. Tavyomi said: If he covered with discarded vessels it is invalid’. What are discarded vessels? Abaye said, Small strips of cloth less than three [handbreadths] square which are unfit to be used either by rich or by poor.

It has been taught in agreement with R. Ammi b. Tavyomi: Matting of rushes or straw, its remnants, even if diminished from the minimum measure, may not be used for skhakh.

R. Ammi said: A board which is slightly more than four [handbreadths] wide is permitted for a sukkah wall when he places it less than three [handbreadths] from the adjacent wall, since a space less than three [handbreadths] is treated as lavud

R. Eliezer further said…. But didn't R. Eliezer say that a man is obliged to eat fourteen meals in the sukkah, one on each day and one on each night? Bira said in the name of R. Ammi: R. Eliezer changed his mind.

As for R. Ishmael, what does he hold? If he requires that the hadasim be whole, why should he not demand that they all be whole, and if he does not require that they be whole why should even one [have to be whole]? Bira'ah said in the name of R. Ammi: R. Ishmael changed his mind.

If it was of clean terumah, he should not take it. R. Ammi and R. Assi disagree: One explains: Because he renders it susceptible [to ritual uncleanness], while the other explains because he diminishes it

I can understand that R. Huna read as kohen, because even R. Assi and R. Ammi who were important kohanim of Eretz Israel were subject to the authority of R. Huna. But as for Rav, there was Shmuel, who was a kohen and who took precedence over him?

On the fifth they return to the regular order. What regular order? R. Ammi said: They return to the order of weekly portions. Jeremiah said: They return to the order of haftarot.

Jeremiah said: The opinion of R. Ammi is the more reasonable, as it was taught: the regular reading is interrupted for any special occasion: for Rosh Hodesh, for Hanukkah, for Purim, for fasts, for ma’amadot and for Yom Kippur.

On ma’amadot the story of the creation. From where do we know this? Ammi said: Were it not for the ma’amadot, the heaven and earth would not be firmly established, as it says, “But if not for My covenant [which continues] day and night, I would not have set the laws of heaven and earth” (Jeremiah 33:25). And it is written, “And he said, O Lord God, How shall I know that I shall inherit it?” (Genesis 15:8). Abraham said before the Holy One, blessed be He: