[Avodah] rega = sha`a / 58888

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Aug 09, 2012 at 11:44:36PM +0300, Simon Montagu wrote:
: In Berachot 7a the gemara says that a rega is 1/58888 of an hour.
: 
: Are there any perushim that say where this number comes from? I assume
: the Amoraim didn't pluck it out of thin air.
: 
: I gather from some internet research that there are variant readings:
...

>From Kollel Iyun haDaf <http://dafyomi.co.il/berachos/backgrnd/br-in-007.htm>:
    "v'Chamah Rega? Echad me'*58,888* b'Sha'ah"

    There is a broad range of variant readings for the number mentioned in
    this Agadah (see also Avodah Zarah, end of 3a). However, according to
    the marginal notes of Rebbi Yeshayah Berlin, this number should read
    8,888, which is the number of verses in the Torah according to the
    Gemara in Kidushin 30a. It should be noted, though, that according to
    the Girsa in our editions of Kidushin, there are 5,888 verses in the
    Torah (which is close to the number of verses (5845) that we actually
    find in today's Sifrei Torah, as Rebbi Yeshayah Berlin points out
    there). Accordingly, the Girsa in our Gemara should also be 5,888. The
    Girsa in Agadas ha'Talmud (first print of the Ein Yakov), as cited by
    the Dikdukei Sofrim #60, is 5,880 (which perhaps should read 5,888),
    and the Girsa of Rabeinu Chananel to Avodah Zarah 4a is 56,888.

One answer in Tosafos relates the unit of time to the time it would
take Bil'am to say two syllables "Kaleim!" (And then, according to Tos'
AZ 4b "rega", Hashem literally reversed that into "Melekh!" -- note the
spelling of each word -- which is what Bil'am says at the rega of anger
in Bamidbar 23:21.

Maybe a person can get that out in 1/5888 or 1/5880 hours, around .6
sec. But not once you get to R' Chananel's in AZ or the Vilna girsa here.

: Then http://books.google.co.il/books?id=Agw6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=58888+hour+moment&source=bl&ots=exVfiAaJr3&sig=OcfMDQb5mncNERyhHRjNSONrqiw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WR0kUJvmD6ri4QTZnYD4AQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=58888%20hour%20moment&f=false
: or http://bit.ly/Nqqfae has a footnote saying  "The correct number is
: 82,080; see Brodetsky in JR II p. 173". The reference seems to be to
: Selig Brodetsky: Astronomy in the Babylonian Talmud in the Jewish
: Review Vol. II No 8. July, 1911, but I wasn't able to find the article
: online.

This would make a rega 1/76 of a cheileq. Which is what Rambam says in
Hil' Qiddush haChodesh 10:1.

Why?

Because there are 235 months in a 19 yr me'uberes cycle. And that means
the average year length across that cycle is
    1 avg year = 235 molad / 19 years = 365 day, 5 hr, 55 min, 7-12/19 chalaqim
or
                                      = 365 day, 5 hr, 55 min, 48 rega

By making the rega four times as precise as needed to capture that 1/19
cheleq, Chazal had a unit of measure that allows a whole number for the
length of a tequfah
     1 tequfah = 91 days, 7 hr, 28 min, 15 cheleq, 31 rega

It is possible that this is a separate calendrical usage of the word
"rega". Because Rambam's 1/76 cheleq is .044 sec, and again we get a
sliver of time too thin for Bil'am to say two syllables.


I would also point out that all this speculation means little to most
of us. This aggadita is definitely metaphor -- we're talking about how
long HQBH gets angry. Neither anger nor time really apply. So, first
explain the basic idea, what Chazal are trying to convey by saying He
gets angry daily but for a very short time, and then we can discuss the
meaning of the size of the unit being used for "very short". But I'm
not past step 1 yet.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             We are what we repeatedly do.
micha at aishdas.org        Thus excellence is not an event,
http://www.aishdas.org   but a habit.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                   - Aristotle