Shabbat Lunch Study Texts for AT Retreat

And that which Rabbi Yosei ben Durmaskit said with regard to the knowledge that no spoils were taken, perhaps this can be explained and refuted by the fact that they dispatched messengers who informed them of the situation. However, with regard to Shmuel’s proof from the fact that they confirmed above what they took upon themselves below, there is certainly no refutation. Ravina said: This explains the folk saying that people say: One sharp pepper is better than a basketful of pumpkins, as the quality of the pepper’s taste is more significant than the quantity of the pumpkins.

Abaye said: "When I left the house of the master, Rabba, to go to Marei bar Mar, I was already satiated. However, when I arrived there at Marei bar Mar’s house, they served me sixty plates of sixty kinds of cooked dishes, and I ate sixty portions from each of them. The last dish was called pot roast, and I was still so hungry that I wanted to chew the plate afterward!" And in continuation Abaye said: "This explains the folk saying that people say: The poor man is hungry and does not know it", as Abaye was unaware how hungry he had been in his master’s house. Alternatively, there is another appropriate, popular expression: "Room in the stomach for sweets can always be found."

Levi and Rabbi Shimon, son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, were sitting before Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and they were learning Torah. When they finished the book that they were learning and were ready to begin a new subject, Levi said: Let them bring us the book of Proverbs; and Rabbi Shimon said: Let them bring us the book of Psalms. He compelled Levi to acquiesce, and they brought a book of Psalms. When they arrived here, at the verse: “But his delight is in the Torah of the Lord,” Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi explained the verse by saying: "A person can learn a piece of Torah only that his/her heart desires." Levi said: "My teacher, you have given me permission to leave (as I wish to study Proverbs, not Psalms)."

Rabbi Simon said: There is not a single blade of grass that does not have a constellation in the firmament or an angel that strikes it and says to it: ‘Grow.’

We learned in a baraita that Rabbi Yishmael ben Elazar says: On account of two sins, the simple people of the world die young: Because they call the Holy Ark a cupboard, and because they call the synagogue Beth Am.