Avot345

7:
In his commentary on our present mishnah Rabbi Ovadyah of Bertinoro offers a curious explanation of 'leopard':

This strange piece of natural history is obviously mistaken; but its error is double. Not only has it got the facts wrong, but it has also misunderstood its source! In the middle ages it was commonly held that the leopard is the product of a union between a lioness and a panther. This explains how the animal got its name: leo (lion) and pard (panther). Rabbi Ovadya clearly mistook the boar for the panther, but the rest of his explanation is correct from the medieval point of view.

8:
Avot de-Rabbi Natan [41:11] offers yet another teaching in the name of Yehudah ben-Tema which is worth noting:

9:
The prayer that is attached to our present mishnah was clearly intended to conclude the tractate. It is perhaps strange that a sage, such as Yehudah ben-Tema, who is mentioned several times in other parts of our classic literature is not mentioned at all in the Mishnah except at the very end of Avot. When we studied Avot 2:2 (Avot 093) we raised the issue of who the ultimate editor of Tractate Avot may have been. It seems to me that it is possible that Rabbi Yehudah the President of the Sanhedrin did not approve any of the teachings of Yehudah ben-Tema and for that reason none of his halakhic dicta are quoted in the Mishnah. It is also quite possible that he was excluded even from Tractate Avot, and it was only after the death of Rabbi that some later editor – possible his son or Rabbi's colleague Rabbi Ĥiyya – decided to include a teaching of Yehudah ben-Tema at the very end. Later editors added a couple more teachings to bring the tractate to a close, as we shall see.

In Avot 344 I brought the query of Jerry Langer concerning the claim of Israel Man concerning "an Indian style Service" in Conservative synagogues.

Israel Man replies:

Yes, I was present at this Service. It was in a Conservative congregation that belongs to USCJ and the Rabbi is a member of the RA. I do not know how widespread it is but I assume that this performing group would not be in existence if there were no clients.

Because of the incidence of Israel's Independence Day the next shiur in this series will be, God willing, on May 13th. I take this opportunity of wishing the whole house of Israel, both at home and in the diaspora, a very happy Yom ha-Atzma'ut.