Story of the man who tried Hillel ’s patience by asking him

Exempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924) Exempla of the Rabbis, No. 84 View source
Curated by Maggid·Edited by Arthur Sabintsev·

Story of the man who tried Hillel ’s patience by asking him irrelevant questions, in the hope of angering him and thereby vanning a wager of 400 zuzim. The first question was: “Why are not the heads of the Babylonians round?" and the answer was: “Because they have no clever midwives." The second question, put after an hours delay, was: “Why are the eyes of the inhabitants of Tadmor small ?" The answer was: “Because they live in caves." At the end of another hour the third question was put. “Why are the feet of the inhabitants of Afriki flat?" and the repty was: “Because they live in swamps." Hillel did not lose patience after all.

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KingsConversion

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