Another matter, “all matters are wearying” – professional matters are wearying.58When studied in an obsessive fashion. Rabbi Elazar in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina son of Rabbi Abbahu would say: There was a particular incident involving a woman who took her son to a baker in Caesarea. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’ He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for five years and I will teach him five hundred species of wheat.’59How to distinguish between the different species, and how best to use each one.
He stayed with him for five years and he taught him five hundred species of wheat. He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for another five years and I will teach him one thousand species of wheat.’ How many species of wheat are there? The Rabbis say: Wheat of Minit, there are numerous [types of] wheat.60There are numerous types of wheat, even just of the high-quality wheat of Minit, mentioned in Ezekiel 27:17.
Rabbi Aḥa said: There are five hundred species of this type of wheat, the numerical value of Minit.61Mem – 40, nun – 50, yod – 10, tav – 400. Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yonatan, both sat, calculated, and arrived at sixty. In addition, Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: There was an incident involving a woman who took her son to a certain chef. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’
He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for four years and I will teach him one hundred species of eggs.’ He stayed with him for four years and he taught him one hundred species of eggs. He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for another four years and I will teach him [an additional] one hundred species of eggs.’ Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] heard and said: We have never seen such goodness.62The ability to benefit from such a variety of eggs.