Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman,
Samuel ben Nahman (Hebrew: שמואל בן נחמן) or Samuel [bar] Nahmani (Hebrew: שמואל [בר] נחמני) was a rabbi of the Talmud, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel from the beginning of the 3rd century until the beginning of the 4th century.
He was a pupil of R. Jonathan ben Eleazar (Pes. 24a) and one of the most famous haggadists of his time (Yer. Ber. 12d; Midr. Teh. to Ps. ix. 2). He was a native of the Land of Israel and may have known the patriarch Judah I (Gen R. ix.). It appears that he went to Babylon in his youth but soon returned to Israel.
Especially noteworthy is Samuel b. Naḥman’s description of the grief of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and of Rachel, over the destruction of the Temple(Lam. R., Pref. 24, end). It is written in beautiful Hebrew prose, and is accompanied by dramatic dirges in Aramaic. Then follow the dirges of all the Patriarchs, which they intone when Moses for the second time has communicated to them the sad tidings. Finally, Moses himself chants a lament, addressed partly to the sun and partly to the enemy.
Words of Wisdom
We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are.
