He is not a reed cutter

He does not cut the ends of the reeds. By extension: He is not just an ordinary person.

("Are we really killing reeds in the swamp?! Translation: Are we actually killing reeds in the pond?!" - Sanhedrin 36a, and also: "And I - does my master think that I am killing reeds? Who is he?" - Bialik / "Notes after the Hand, The Man of the Story, Hunger," and also: "As is known, even the owner of the chandler does not kill reeds in the pond... I saw his name written in a foreign language" - Agnon / "On the Locks of the Gate, in our youth and in our elders," 267, and also: "The proud sons of Aram Tzova... Upon the chazzan's embellishment in the correct mode, they raise their hands and exclaim as if indeed in the path of the makam, to show that they are also knowledgeable in cantorial music and do not kill reeds in the pond" - Chaim Sabato / "Like the Dawn," 110)

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