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When he came in his studies to the following phrase, Rav Huna wept. The Torah said, "Three times a year, every male will come to be seen in the Temple." "To be seen" can be read as "to see," and one who is blind in one eye does not have to go. Said Rav Huna, "The servant was beloved to his Master, and the Master wanted to see him, and now suddenly he is distanced!"
Rabbi Elazar wept when he came to the phrase, "And Joseph's brothers could not answer him, because they were confused." He said, "If because of the rebuke of a human one is confused, how much more so before God!"
Rav Ami wept when he read about the destruction of the Temple and the following dispersion, "Let him put his mouth to the dust – perhaps there is hope." He said, "All this suffering – and only 'perhaps'!?"
Art: Fishermen's Cemetery by Franz Heinrich Louis Corinth
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