Avdimi (Dimi) Bar Ḥama

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AVDIMI (Dimi) BAR ḤAMA

AVDIMI (Dimi) BAR ḤAMA (probably of the third–fourth century), amora. Avdimi is mentioned only in the Babylonian Talmud and is best known for his aggadic interpretation of Exodus 19:17: "The Holy One, blessed be He, overturned the mountain (Sinai) over them (Israel) like an inverted bowl and said to them: 'If you accept the Torah, it is well; but if not, here shall be your burial place'" (Shab. 88a). Aḥa b. Jacob observed (ibid.) that since this implied duress, it could provide an excuse for the nonobservance of the Torah. On the verse "But his delight is in the law of the Lord" (Ps. 1:2) he commented that God fulfills the desires of whosoever engages in the study of the Torah (Av. Zar. 19a). A halakhic statement of his is quoted in Horayot 10a.

bibliography:

Hyman, Toledot, S.V.; Bacher, Pal Amor; Z.W. Rabinowitz, Sha'arei Torat Bavel (1961), 327.

[Zvi Kaplan]