Study Tamid folio 32B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אמר להו: מי אכלי אינשי נהמא דדהבא? אמרו ליה: אלא אי נהמא בעית, לא הוה לך באתרך נהמא למיכל, דשקלת ואתית להכא? כי נפיק ואתי, כתב אבבא דמחוזא: אנא אלכסנדרוס מוקדון, הויתי שטייא עד דאתיתי למדינת אפריקי דנשיא, ויליפית עצה מן נשיא.
Alexander said to the women: Do people eat bread of gold? They said to him: But if all you wanted was actual bread, didn’t you have bread to eat in your own place? It was not for bread that you took up a campaign and toiled and came here. You must have come to increase your wealth. When Alexander left and came back to his land, he wrote upon the gate of the town: I, Alexander of Macedon, was a fool until I came to the country of Africa of women, and I learned sense from women.
כי שקיל ואתי, יתיב אההוא מעיינא, קא אכיל נהמא. הוו בידיה גלדני דמלחא, בהדי דמחוורי להו – נפל בהו ריחא. אמר: שמע מינה האי עינא מגן עדן אתי.
§ With regard to Alexander, the Talmud relates: When he took himself and went on his way, he sat at a certain spring and was eating bread. He had salted fish [guldenei] in his hands, and while he cleansed them of their excessive salt, a particularly pleasant fragrance fell upon them. Alexander said to himself: I may conclude from this event that this spring comes from the Garden of Eden.
איכא דאמרי: שקל מהנהו מיא, טרא באפיה. איכא דאמרי: אידלי כוליה עד דמטא לפתחא דגן עדן, רמא קלא: פתחו לי בבא! אמרו ליה ״זה השער לה׳ וגו׳״. אמר להון: אנא נמי מלכא אנא, מיחשב חשיבנא, הבו לי מידי. יהבו ליה גולגלתא חדא, אתייה תקליה לכוליה דהבא וכספא דידיה בהדיה, לא הוה (מתקליה).
There are those who say: He took from those waters and washed his face. And there are those who say: He ascended along the length of the entire spring until he reached the entrance of the Garden of Eden. He raised a loud voice, calling out: Open the gate for me! The sentry of the Garden of Eden said to him: “This is the gate of YHWH; the righteous should enter into it” (Psalms 118:20). Since you are not righteous, you may not enter. He said to them: I too am worthy, as I am a king; I am very important. If I will not be admitted, at least give me something from inside. They gave him one eyeball. He brought it and he weighed all the gold and silver that he had against the eyeball, and yet the riches did not balance against the eyeball’s greater weight.