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The Babylonian Talmud.

sand that accumulated around the cane a great city was afterward built; but in a Boraitha we were taught that the miracle occurred on the day that Jeroboam introduced the two golden calves, one each in Beth-El and Dan, and that great city was Italia of Greece.^[1]

R. Samuel said: Whoever says Josiah sinned is also in error. It is written [II Kings, xxii. 2]: "And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of David his father and turned not aside to the right or to the left." Is this not contradictory to the verse [II Kings, xxiii. 25], "that returned to the Lord with all his heart." How is the "returned" to be understood? He must have sinned in order to return? Nay; from this it must be inferred that after Josiah attained the age of eighteen, he refunded from his private purse all amounts paid by such as he had declared guilty (bound to pay) from the time he was eight years old (when he became king). This is the interpretation of "returned to the Lord."

However, this differs from Rabh's following statement: "None is greater among penitents than Josiah in his time and one in our own time. And who is he? Aba, the father of Jeremiah b. Aba. Others say Aha, the brother of Aba, father of Jeremiah b. Aba, for the aforesaid teacher said Aba and Aha were brothers. Said R. Joseph: There is yet another in our own time, and he is Ukban b. Ne'hemiah, the Exilarch.^[2] "Once while studying," said R. Joseph, "I dozed off and saw in a dream an angel stretching out his hands and accepting his (Ukban's) repentance."

↑ Rashi added to this that the Romans took away this city from the Greeks, and therefore the Roman kingdom is called Italy; we, however, deem it an error, as we have found that such a city is in Greece.
↑ The text states: "And that is Nathan of Zuzitha"; and Rashi tried to explain the word Zuzitha "with sparks," or because the angel took him by the Zizith (locks) of his head. We have omitted this because it is proved by Abraham Krochmal in his "Remarks to the Talmud," article "The Chain of the Exilarch," that Ne'hemiah the Exilarch and Nathan the Exilarch were of two different times, many generations apart. (See there.)

[1] Rashi added to this that the Romans took away this city from the Greeks, and therefore the Roman kingdom is called Italy; we, however, deem it an error, as we have found that such a city is in Greece.

[2] The text states: "And that is Nathan of Zuzitha"; and Rashi tried to explain the word Zuzitha "with sparks," or because the angel took him by the Zizith (locks) of his head. We have omitted this because it is proved by Abraham Krochmal in his "Remarks to the Talmud," article "The Chain of the Exilarch," that Ne'hemiah the Exilarch and Nathan the Exilarch were of two different times, many generations apart. (See there.)

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