Rav Ḥisda's Daughter - Selected Sources

[The Mishnah says:] "One who says: If my wife gives birth to a male [he should inherit 100 dinars, and if a female, she should inherit 200 dinars]...." Is this to say that for him a daughter is preferable to a son? But Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: Anyone who does not leave behind a son to inherit from him, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is filled with wrath upon him, as it is stated: “[If a man dies, and has no son] then you shall cause his inheritance to pass [veha’avartem] to his daughter” (Num.27:8). Ha’avara is nothing other than wrath, as it is stated: “That day is a day of wrath [evra]” (Zeph. 1:15).

With regard to the matter of inheritance, for him a son is preferable; with regard to the matter of comfort, for him his daughter is preferable. And Shmuel said: Here we are dealing with giving birth for the first time, and in accordance with Rav Ḥisda, as Rav Ḥisda says: A firstborn daughter is a good sign for sons. There are those who say: because she raises her brothers, and there are those who say: because the evil eye does not have dominion over [the father]. Rav Ḥisda said: And for myself, I prefer daughters to sons.

Rav Ḥisda’s daughter said to Rav Ḥisda: Doesn’t the Master wish to sleep a little? He said to her: Days that are long but short [i.e., the World-to-Come] will soon arrive, and we will sleep a lot.

How [was prophecy given] to children? Like this: the daughter of Rav Ḥisda was sitting on her father’s lap, [and] Rava and Rami bar Ḥama were sitting before him. [Rav Ḥisda] said to her: Which of them would you want [to marry]? She said: Both of them. Rava said: And I, last!

When Ravin came [to Bavel from Eretz Yisrael, he reported that] Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Any woman who waits after her husband [dies or divorces her] for ten years and is then married can no longer bear children. Rav Naḥman said: They taught this only where she did not intend to get married [again], but if she intended to get married, she can become pregnant. Rava said to the daughter of Rav Ḥisda: The Sages are gossiping about you. She said to him: My mind was on you.

But don’t we see that [a woman] has [pain at her first experience of intercourse]? Abaye said: My mother told me, like hot water on a bald head. Rava said: Rav Ḥisda’s daughter told me, like the stab of a bloodletting knife. Rav Pappa said: Abba Sura’s daughter told me, like hard bread on the gums.

Before Rava became the head of the yeshiva, the daughter of Rav Ḥisda would rattle a nut in a copper vessel for him [to fend off bathroom-demons]. After he became [yeshiva] ruler, she constructed a window for him and placed her hand upon his head.

Rava arose, went home, [and] requested intercourse from the daughter of Rav Ḥisda. The daughter of Rav Ḥisda said to him: Who was just now in the courtroom? He said to her: Ḥoma, Abaye’s wife. She went after [Ḥoma and] struck her with the lock of a chest until she drove her out of all of Meḥoza, saying to her: You have killed three [husbands], and you come to kill another?

Bar Haddaya was an interpreter of dreams. For one who gave him a fee, he would interpret favorably, and for one who did not give him a fee, he would interpret unfavorably. Abaye and Rava saw [the same] dream: Abaye gave him money, while Rava did not give him [money].... They said to him: “Your sons and your daughters shall be given unto another people” (Deut. 28:32), was read to us. To Abaye he said: Your sons and daughters will be numerous. You say [they should marry] your relatives and [your wife] says [they should marry] her relatives and she will impose upon you and they will be given to her relatives, which is like another nation. To Rava he said: Your wife will die and your sons and daughters will come into the hands of another woman....

As [Bar Haddaya] was climbing, a book fell from him. Rava found it and saw written in it: All dreams follow the mouth. He said: Scoundrel! It was on you, and you caused me so much suffering. I forgive you for everything except for the daughter of Rav Ḥisda. May it be [God's] will that this man be delivered into the hands of a kingdom that has no compassion on him.

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: For a woman in childbirth, thirty days. [About] what halakha? The Nehardeans say: With regard to the halakha of immersion [and heating water on Shabbat]. Rava said: We say [that halakha] only when her husband is not with her. However, if her husband is with her, her husband warms her, as in this [incident] about the daughter of Rav Ḥisda. She immersed within thirty days [of giving birth], not in the presence of her husband, and caught cold, and they brought her bier after Rava to Pumbedita.

[It's] like when Rava permitted a tereifa and bought meat from it. The daughter of Rav Ḥisda said to him: Father permitted a firstborn, but did not buy meat from it. [Rava] said to her: That matter [applies to] a firstborn, which is sold on appraisal. Here, the weight proves [that the price is fair]. What is there [to suspect] because a superior piece of meat? Every day they sell me a superior piece of meat.

What [is the meaning of] “Whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecc. 12:14)? From the school of Rabbi Yannai they say: This is one who gives charity to a poor person in public.... Rava said: This is one who sends his wife meat that is not butchered on Shabbat eve. But Rava [would] send [unbutchered meat to his wife on Shabbat eve]! The daughter of Rav Ḥisda is different, as he was certain about her that she was an expert.

A certain woman was obligated in an oath [in order to avoid payment] in Rava’s court. The daughter of Rav Ḥisda said to [Rava]: I know that she is suspect about an oath. Rava reversed the oath onto the other [party]. On another occasion, Rav Pappa and Rav Adda bar Mattana were sitting before [Rava]. A certain document was brought before him. Rav Pappa said to [Rava]: I know about this document, that it [has been] paid. [Rava] said to him: Is there another person [to testify] with the Master ? He said to him: No. [Rava] said to him: Although there is the Master, one witness is nothing. Rav Adda bar Mattana said to [Rava]: And should Rav Pappa not be like Rav Ḥisda’s daughter? [Rava replied:] Rav Ḥisda’s daughter, I know with certainty about her; the Master, I do not know with certainty about him.

And know that in tractate Bava Batra daf 12, the matter of the daughter of Rav Ḥisda, who married first Rami bar Ḥama, and afterwards Rava - that matter, that the daughter of Ḥisda herself is Malkhut, the daughter of Avraham Avinu the man of Ḥesed, of whom it is written "abounding in ḥesed" (Ex. 34:6). And this is [the meaning of] "how [mah] abundant is Your ḥesed" (Ps. 31:20).... And behold [Malkhut] has two heavenly unions, the upper one the secret of Da'at, which is the union of the name of Tetragrammaton and EHY"H, which together are 47 in gematria [which is the same as "Rami"], and the second the lower one, which is the secret of the union of the Tetragrammaton and Adonai. And surely Rava, who is the letters of be'er, is the lower union of Yesod.... Therefore it says, "Rava said, 'And I, last.'"