the talmudic tradition although the subject never completed his ordination. Conversion to Christianity was the result of the subject's alleged insanity according to Samson H. Levey. Halachic teachings Ben Zoma's erudition in the halakhah became proverbial, for it was said, "Whoever sees Ben Zoma in his dream is assured of scholarship". Only a few of Ben Zoma's exegetic teachings have been preserved. The most widely known of these is his interpretation of the phrase, "that you may remember the day when you came forth out of Egypt" to prove that the recitation of the biblical passage referring to the Exodus is obligatory for the evening prayer as well as for the morning prayer. This interpretation, quoted with praise by Eleazar ben Azariah, has found a place in the Haggadah for the Passover night. In a halakhic interpretation, Ben Zoma explains the word "naḳi" (clean) in Exodus 21:28 by referring to the usage of the word in everyday life. Aggadah Ben Zoma, seeing the crowds on the Temple Mount, said, "Blessed be He who created all these to attend to my needs. How much had Adam to weary himself withal, until he could find a morsel of bread to eat! He ploughed [the ground], and then sowed it, and then harvested [the grain], and then bound it into sheaves, and then threshed it, and then winnowed it, and then cleansed it, and then ground it, and then sifted it, and then kneaded it, and then baked it, and only then did he eat it; but I get up in the morning and find all this ready before me. How much had Adam to weary himself withal, until he could find clothing to wear! He sheared [the sheep], bleached [the wool], combed and carded it, spun it, wove it, and only then did he find that which to clothe himself; but I rise up in the morning and find all this ready before me. All skilled trades come early at my door, and I have but to rise and I find all these things before me!" In the closing words of Ecclesiastes, "for this is the whole man," he found the thought expressed, that the pious man is the crown and end of mankind; the whole race ("the whole world") was created only to be of service to him who fears God and respects His commandments. Quotes Ben Zoma would say: Who