בבא מציעא סד

At a wedding attended by רבי יוסי-בר and other גדולי תורה, a בדחן entertained the guests. Wanting to demonstrate his knowledge of תורה, the בדחן strung together many sources and sayings of חז״ל in honor of the newly married couple and the מחותנים. When he was done, רבי יוסי-בר remarked: “I’m not impressed. The jester reminds me of the villager who had a bookshelf full of ספרים. A guest once came to his home and saw the villager remove a whole row of ספרים from the shelves and place them one atop the other. The guest thought to himself that the villager surely is a great תלמיד חכם who needs to look at so many ספרים to resolve some question. Then he saw, however, the villager placing his feet on top of the ספרים and reaching with his hand to the top of the bookshelf to remove a pouch with money.”

06/10/2021