Avot308

38:
The alternative list of things that were created "on Erev Shabbat at twilight" which appears in the Gemara [Pesaĥim 54a] and to which we turned our attention in the previous shiur also has some additions, just as our present mishnah has "some say". However, from the discussion in the Gemara we can identify who the "some" are in our present mishnah.

39:
After presenting the list that appeared in the previous shiur the Gemara adds that the father of Rabbi Neĥemyah claimed that two other items were created on "Erev Shabbat at twilight". These two items were heat and the mule. Not to be outdone, Rabbi Yoshiyah quotes his father as saying that the ram and the Shamir were created at that time. And then Rabbi Yehudah [ben-Ilai] says that "a wrench was made with a wrench."

40:
We are thus now able to identify the sages quoted anonymously in our mishnah concerning Abraham's ram, the Shamir, and the wrench.

41:
In ancient times the implement which we call a wrench or pliers was made by melting metal and pouring it into a mold. The sizzling hot pliers was then removed from the fire with a different set of pliers and cooled in water. Rabbi Yehudah muses that the very first pliers must have been created miraculously "on Erev Shabbat at twilight", because otherwise how could that first instrument have been made? (His claim is rejected because clearly a pliers can be removed from a mold using a different implement.)

In Avot 304 we discussed the Shamir. I described shamir as a substance. Jim Feldman writes:

The name of the mineral in English is "adamantine". It is indeed quite hard, being a brown form of corundum (Al2O3 – aluminium oxide).

When I was a child, our rabbi, Solomon Freehof, told us a legend about the "shamir" that cut the stone for the temple of Solomon. It was not a hard stone but a worm that would follow a scribed line on the stone. Once it passed the end of the line, the limestone block would shear off as straight and well finished as anyone could desire. A worm like that would indeed be quite a useful beast. I am going back 65 years to the telling of that tale. It made quite an impression and remained one of my favorite legends.

I respond:

Yes, this is another explanation of the Shamir. Rashi gives this explanation on more than one occasion.

In Avot 306 we discussed the 'imps' or mezikim. Elro'i Sadeh writes:

It is quite well known to me that in talmudic times until not long ago the belief in shedim and mezikim was very strong and accepted – according to the Zohar and in the qabbalistic worldview they are still a reality today! However, I have a serious question. If these creatures are malevolent and are so-called trouble-makers and "if we were permitted to see them with our eyes no person would be able to withstand them", for what good reason would God create them? Is it not written in the Tora after the Eternal created man, "And God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…" (Genesis 1,31)? Was it to "enjoy" us so we wouldn't get bored or to give us a hard time? I would be very pleased to get a hint or at least an understandable answer for a modern, though traditional, Jew, as I don't have anything in common with imps or pimps.

I respond:

I really can't be of great help here. Clearly the bible makes no mention whatsoever of such creatures, so they are a figment of the post-biblical imagination. Since a belief in imps, elves, fairies, goblins – and generally "things that go bump in the night" – is very widespread in the ancient world (and even more so in medieval times) it seems to me that tha answer to the question posed by Elro'i might be found in anthropological studies. Perhaps someone can enlighten us. Certainly, the direct answer to the question Elro'i poses must be answered by a kabbalist – which I definitely am not!