YIẒḤAḲ BAR REDIFA:

By: Joseph Jacobs, Schulim Ochser

Palestinian amora of the fourth century; the transmitter of the haggadah of R. Ammi (Lev. R. xii., beginning; Ex. R. xlii., end; Yer. Sheḳ. 48a; Ex. R. iii. to Ex. iii. 14). He once requested the amora Jeremiah to decide a question, but received only an evasive reply (Yer. Sheb. 39a). He was the author of several explanations of the stories concerning Samson (Soṭah 9b).Especial mention should be made of his interpretation of the word in Isa. iii. 16, which he derives from the Greek ἔχις ("serpent"), saying: "The women used to place myrrh and balsam in their shoes, and when meeting young men in the streets they stamped their feet so that a strong odor arose which awakened evil impulses in the youths, as though they were under the influence of a serpent's poison" (Shab. 62b).

Yiẓḥaḳ transmitted dissertations on the salvation of the tribe of Benjamin, with reference to Judges xxi. 7 (B. B. 116a); on the list of idolatrous priests referred to in Hosea xiii. 2 (Sanh. 62a); on the pronunciation of the words "Praised be the name of His glorious kingdom" () after the "Shema'" (Pes. 56a); on the act of rising when the name of God is uttered, as deduced from Judges iii. 20 (Sanh. 60a); and on the assumption of the sex of an expected child, with reference to Lev. xii. 2 (Ber. 60a; Niddah 25b, 31a).

J. S. O.