“His eyes shall be red from wine, and his teeth white from milk” (Genesis 49:12) “His eyes shall be red” – Rabbi Azarya, Rabbi Yonatan ben Ḥagai, and Rabbi Yitzḥak ben Rabbi Maryon, and some say in the name of Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina: Most of the Sanhedrin were from Judah. What is his source? “His eyes shall be red [and his teeth white from milk]” – as they sit and arrange matters of Torah with their teeth until they express them clearly like milk.68They would constantly review their studies aloud until they understood them with absolute clarity.
Another matter: “His eyes shall be red [ḥakhlili] from wine” – these are the residents of the south, whose eyes are bright [keḥulot] and who possess great strength for Torah study. “And his teeth white [ulven shinayim] from milk” – wine is better for a person of years [leven shanim]69Above the age of forty. than milk is for a baby. One stood with another in the South. He said to him: ‘If you drank red wine, it is [good] wine. But if you drank white wine, you have drunk lower-quality wine.’