Studying Gemara
Greetings to the Honorable Rabbi,
I was asked by a repentant person what the simplicity of this sentence is:
“And you have neglected the peace of my soul, my wife, what good is it? And you have neglected the peace of my soul, said Rabbi Abba. This is lighting a candle on Shabbat, my wife is good. Said Rabbi Jeremiah. This is the bathhouse (said Rabbi Yochanan). This is washing hands and feet in a basin. Rabbi Yitzchak Nafha said. This is a beautiful table and beautiful utensils on which Rabbi Abba said. This is a table offered and a woman adorned for the scholars of Torah.”
The prophet laments some lack, and the verse cites two things that he lacks: peace and goodness. The Gemara states that peace is a Shabbat candle, and Rashi on Shabbat 25b explains that the verse says that the prophet laments the lack of a candle on Shabbat (he has nothing to light a candle with), which causes lack of peace (walking in the dark and failing). And goodness is another lack: washing, or a bed made ready and a wife.
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