AND HE SAW AN EGYPTIAN SMITING A HEBREW ‘.. AND HE LOOKED HERE AND THERE (koh wa-koh). He looked for the fifty letters by which the Israelites proclaim the Divine Unity twice daily, but found no semblance of them expressed in the countenance of that man. Said R. Abba: ‘He looked “here” to see whether there were any good works wrought by the man, and “there” to see whether a good son would issue from him. “And he saw that there was no man”; he saw through the holy spirit that no such good son would ever descend from him,
for he was aware, as R. Abba has said, that there are many wicked parents who beget more good sons than righteous parents, and that a good son born of wicked parents is of special excellence, being pure out of impure, light out of darkness, wisdom out of folly.
(שמות ב׳:י״ב) וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה. חָמָא בְּאִלֵּין נ' אַתְוָון, דִּמְיַחֲדִין לֵיהּ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכָל יוֹמָא, שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל פַּעֲמַיִם, דְּאִית בְּהוֹן כ"ה כ"ה תְּרֵי זִמְנֵי, וְלָא חָמָא בֵּיהּ. וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה וְגוֹ'. כֹּה וָכֹה, אָמַר רִבִּי אַבָּא, כֹּה חָמָא, אִי הֲווֹ בֵּיהּ עוֹבָדִין דְּכַשְׁרָן. וָכֹה אִי זַמִין לְנָפְקָא מִנֵּיהּ בְּרָא מְעַלְיָא, מִיָּד וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ. חָמָא בְּרוּחַ קוּדְשָׁא, דְּלָא זַמִין לְנָפְקָא מִנֵּיהּ בְּרָא מְעַלְיָא.
AND HE SAW AN EGYPTIAN SMITING A HEBREW ‘.. AND HE LOOKED HERE AND THERE (koh wa-koh). He looked for the fifty letters by which the Israelites proclaim the Divine Unity twice daily, but found no semblance of them expressed in the countenance of that man. Said R. Abba: ‘He looked “here” to see whether there were any good works wrought by the man, and “there” to see whether a good son would issue from him. “And he saw that there was no man”; he saw through the holy spirit that no such good son would ever descend from him,
דְּאָמַר רִבִּי אַבָּא, כַּמָּה חַיָּיבִין אִינּוּן בְּעָלְמָא, דְּמָפְקֵי בְּנִי מְעַלְיָא, יַתִּיר מֵאִינוּן זַכָּאִין. וְהַהוּא בְּרָא מְעַלְיָא דְּנָפַק מִן חַיָּיבָא, אִיהוּ מְעַלְיָא יַתִּיר, לְמֶהֱוֵי טָהוֹר מִטָּמֵא. נְהוֹרָא מִגּוֹ חֲשׁוֹכָא. חָכְמְתָא מִגּוֹ טִפְּשׁוּתָא. וְדָא אִיהוּ מְעַלְיָא מִכֹּלָּא.
for he was aware, as R. Abba has said, that there are many wicked parents who beget more good sons than righteous parents, and that a good son born of wicked parents is of special excellence, being pure out of impure, light out of darkness, wisdom out of folly.