For the source text click/tap here: Bava Batra 145
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Citing a verse from proverbs “All the days of the poor are terrible; and for the good-hearted it is always a feast” (Proverbs 15:15)?
Reb Zeira interprets aas follows:
“All the days of the poor are terrible”; this is referring to the master of Talmud, who is wearied by the difficulty of his Talmud study. “And for the good-hearted it is always a feast”; this is referring to the master of Mishna, who recites the mishnayot by rote and is not wearied thereby.
Rava says: The opposite is true. What is the meaning of that which is written (Ecclesiastes 10:9):
“He who quarries stones shall be hurt by them; and he that chops wood shall be warmed thereby” (Ecclesiastes 10:9). “He who quarries stones shall be hurt by them”;these are the masters of Mishna.
They exert themselves to memorize the mishnayot, but since one cannot reach practical conclusions from the mishna, they are comparable to one who carries a heavy load without benefiting from it.
We explore the biblical reference and its implications.