רבי אלכסנדרי

Rabbi Alexandri was an amora of Eretz Yisrael in the second and third generations of Amoraim, a talmid of Rabbi Yochanan and of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. He was a great darshan, and all of his statements in the Talmud are matters of aggadah.

The most famous of them: he would go about proclaiming, “Who desires life? Who desires life?” — and when people gathered around him he would show them the pasuk in Tehillim, “Who is the man who desires life… guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit; turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.”

Among his other teachings: on “a broken and contrite heart You will not despise” — when a person of flesh and blood uses a broken vessel he is ashamed of it, but with HaKadosh Baruch Hu all the vessels of His service are broken vessels, as it says, “Hashem is close to the broken-hearted.” The pasuk “break the arm of the wicked” he applied to those who corner the market and drive up the price of food. Whoever occupies himself with Torah — which is called “strength” — for its own sake, makes peace in the household above and the household below. And why does the Torah call the same visitors “men” by Avraham and “malachim” by Lot? For Avraham, to whom malachim were familiar guests, they appeared as men; for Lot, they were malachim.

The Gemara relates that at the petirah of Rabbi Chanina ben Pappa a pillar of fire stood between the bier and the people, and none could draw near to give the final honors until Rabbi Alexandri approached and addressed the niftar — and at his third request, “do it for your own honor,” the pillar departed.