Aenigma Duarum Stellarum

Beltrano writes from Tbilisi, requesting that I post the following:

"Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Aba were sitting one night. When it became dark, they entered a garden that was by the Sea of Tiberias. In the meantime, they saw two stars that were moving, one from one side and the other from the other side. Then they met and disappeared" (Terumah 831).

"Greetings, my friends, from Tbilisi!  And please don't say "ta-BLEES-y," as that is incorrect (no matter how many times the dumb Americans repeat it).

"Today I pose to you a riddle, in the form of this strange passage from the Zohar, and I am very interested in whether you can interpret it. I am especially interested in Marcion's understanding of the passage. How does it appear to you, whose eyes are worn out by so many dark, brittle experiments, who once confessed to a deep-seated fear and repugnance to the analysis of numerical series?

"And now I will reveal some information that I learned here in Tbilisi, something which may assist you in your analysis:

1 = 2 = C!

Beltrano looks forward to hearing from you!" 

ipse dixit, transmisit OLD HAT