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  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] A question on Rashi
  • Date: Thu, 04 Nov 2010 08:11:26 +0200

I also recall having heard various versions of this story. It's not in the
Rashi that is printed in the Miqraot Gedolot (Hebrew Bible with medieval
commentators), although it could be in some obscure manuscripts of Rashi.
The only one of the commentators in my Miqraot Gedolot who writes something
similar is Hezkuni (14th century). His version is that the Beth is closed to
the east, south and west and open to the north (interesting: north on the
left, like in the Bible), which is where "bad and damaging winds" come from.
The footnote in my Miqraot Gedolot Torat Hayyim cites Bab.T. Bava Bathra 25b
and Pirqei deRabbi Eliezer. The discussion in Bava Bathra is actually about
what direction from a town in is appropriate to locate such smelly things
like a tannery and a cemetery so that the smells will be blown away from
town, and one of the opinions there is that bad winds come from the north.
There is no mention of the letter Beth or of creation. I have not had the
opportunity to check Pirqei deRabbi Eliezer.

My feeling is that the version that Robert quoted is some modern rabbi or
educator's adaptation of this "drash", of which there seem to be several in
circulation.


Yigal Levin


-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Hedrick Gary
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 6:43 AM
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] A question on Rashi

Robert, Wikipedia mentions this in its article on the Hebrew character bet
(beth); but alas, like so many other articles on Wikipedia, there's no
citation as to the source.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bet_%28letter%29

Gary Hedrick
San Antonio, Texas USA

On Aug 28, 2010, at 5:56 AM, robertsumner0110 AT wmconnect.com wrote:

>
> Hello all,
>
>
>
> I have a vague memory that Rashi commented something to the effect that
the initial beit in Genesis was open on one side and closed on three
signifying that matters since creation were open to human questioning, but
that which went on before the creative moment, as well as the things above
the heaven and below the earth are off limits. I have tried to locate the
source of the insight but have had no luck. Any help would be
appreciated...............Robert Shannon Sumner
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>

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