ABSTRACT
Rabbi Hiya, who was one of those whom the Master called ‘The Seven Eyes,” prostrated himself to the earth and wept, saying: “Oh, Earth, Earth, how insolent art thou! And how self-opinionated, to reduce to dust all that has brought delight to the eye! To consume and to destroy the Righteous, the pillars of the world! How presumptuous of thee, to reduce to dust the Holy Lamp, Simeon ben Jochai, who has from of yore given light to the whole world; thanks to whose merit the world exists!”
