Bava Batra 74 - Stories of Rabbah bar bar Chanah (Civil)

Rabbah bar bar Chana told the following story.

An Arab merchant told me, "Come, I will show you Mount Sinai." I went and saw that scorpions surrounded it, and they resembled white donkeys. I heard a Heavenly voice saying, "Woe to me (God) that I have sworn to exile My people, and now that I have sworn, who can annul the oath for Me?"

When Rabbah returned, the Rabbis told him,  - Every Abba (his proper name) is a donkey, and every bar bar Chanah is a fool. You ought to have declared, "It is annulled for You."

And Rabbah, what did he think? That perhaps the Heavenly voice was talking about the oath about the Flood.

And the Rabbis? If so, then why did the Heavenly voice say "Woe is to Me" about something that is for mankind's good?

Art: Donkey Frieze by Franz Marc




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