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Section 2 of 17 - Table of Contents
Pride is unbecoming in women. There were two proud women, and their
names were contemptible; the name of the one, Deborah, meaning wasp, and
of the other, Huldah, weasel. Respecting the wasp it is written (Judges
iv. 6), "And she sent and called Barak," whereas she ought to have gone
to him. Concerning the weasel it is written (2 Kings xxii. 15), "Tell
the man that sent you," whereas she should have said, "Tell the king."
_Meggillah_, fol. 14, col. 2.
If speech is worth one sela (a small coin so called), silence is worth
two.
Ibid., fol. 18, col. 1.
The Swiss motto, "Speech is worth silver, silence worth gold,"
expresses a sentiment which finds great favor with the authors
and varied expression in the pages of the Talmud.
If silence be good for wise men, how much better must it be for fools!
_P'sachim_, fol. 98, col. 2.
For every evil silence is the best remedy.
_Meggillah_, fol. 18, col. 1.
Silence is as good as confession.
_Yevamoth_, fol. 87, col. 1.
Silence in a Babylonian was a mark of his being of good family.
_Kiddushin_, fol. 71, col. 2.
Simeon, the son of Gamliel, said, "I have been brought up all my life
among the wise, and I have never found anything of more material benefit
than silence."
_Avoth_, chap. 1.
Rabbi Akiva said, "Laughter and levity lead a man to lewdness; but
tradition is a fence to the law, tithes are a fence to riches, vows are
a fence to abstinence, while the fence of wisdom is silence."
Ibid., chap. 3.
When they opened his brain, they found in it a gnat as big as a swallow
and weighing two selas.
_Gittin_, fol. 56, col. 2.
The context of the above states a tradition current among the
Jews in reference to Titus, the destroyer of Jerusalem. It is
said that when, after taking the city, he had shamefully
violated and profaned the Temple, he took the sacred vessels of
the sanctuary, wrapped them in the veil of the holy place, and
sailed with them to Rome. At sea a storm arose and threatened to
sink the ship; upon which he was heard reflecting, "It seems the
God of these Jews has no power anywhere but at sea. Pharaoh He
drowned, and Sisera He drowned, and now He is about to drown me
also. If He be mighty, let Him go ashore and contend with me
there." Then came a voice from heaven and said, "O thou wicked
one, son of a wicked man and grandson of Esau the wicked, go
ashore. I have a creature--an insignificant one in my world--go
and fight with it."
This creature was a gnat, and is called insignificant because it
must receive and discharge what it eats by one aperture.
Immediately, therefore, he landed, when a gnat flew up his
nostrils and made its way to his brain, on which it fed for a
period of seven years. One day he happened to pass a
blacksmith's forge, when the noise of the hammer soothed the
gnawing at his brain. "Aha" said Titus, "I have found a remedy
at last;" and he ordered a blacksmith to hammer before him. To a
Gentile for this he (for a time) paid four zuzim a day, but to a
Jewish blacksmith he paid nothing, remarking to him, "It is
payment enough to thee to see thy enemy suffering so painfully."
For thirty days he felt relieved, but after, no amount of
hammering in the least relieved him. As to what happened after
his death, we have this testimony from Rabbi Phineas, the son of
Aruba: "I myself was among the Roman magnates when an inquest
was held upon the body of Titus, and on opening his brain they
found therein a gnat as big as a swallow, weighing two selas."
Others say it was as large as a pigeon a year old and weighed
two litras. Abaii says, "We found its mouth was of copper and
its claws of iron." Titus gave instructions that after his death
his body should be burned, and the ashes thereof scattered over
the surface of the seven seas, that the God of the Jews might
not find him and bring him to judgment. (_Gittin_, fol. 56, col.
2.)
"The man with two wives, one young and the other old." Rav Ami and Rav
Assi were in social converse with Rabbi Isaac Naphcha, when one of them
said to him, "Tell us, sir, some pretty legend," and the other said,
"Pray explain to us rather some nice point of law." When he began the
legend he displeased the one, and when he proceeded to explain a point
of law, he offended the other. Whereupon he took up this parable in
illustration of the plight in which their obstinacy placed him. "I am
like the man with the two wives, the one young and the other old. The
young one plucked out all his gray hairs (that he might look young), and
the old wife pulled out all his black hairs (that he might look old);
and so between the one and the other he became bald. So is it with me
between you. However, I've something nice for both of you. It is written
(Exod. xxii. 6), 'If a fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the
stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field be consumed
therewith, he that kindled the fire shall surely make restoration.' The
Holy One--blessed be He!--hath said, 'I must both judge myself and take
upon myself to indemnify the evil of the conflagration I have caused,
for I have kindled a fire in Zion,' as it is written (Lament, iv. 11),
'He hath kindled a fire in Zion, and hath devoured the foundations
thereof.' I must therefore rebuild her with fire, as it is written
(Zech. ii. 5), 'I will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will
be the glory in the midst of her.'"
_Bava Kama_, fol. 60, col. 2.
Rabbi Oshaia asked, "What is this that is written, (Zech. xi. 7), 'I
took unto me two staves; the one I called Amiable and the other
Destroyer'?" The staff called Amiable represents the disciples of the
wise in the land of Israel, who were friendly one toward another in
their debates about the law. The staff called Destroyer represents the
disciples of the wise of Babylon, who in the like debates were fierce
tempered and not friendly toward one another. What is the meaning of
Babel or Babylon? Rabbi Yochanan says it means "confused in the Bible,
confused in the Mishna, and confused in the Talmud." "He hath set me in
dark places, as they that be dead of old" (Lam. iii. 6). Rabbi Jeremiah
said by this we are to understand the Babylonian Talmud.
_Sanhedrin_, fol. 24, col. 1.
The Rabbis say these three hate their fellows--dogs, cocks, and
conjurors; to which some add, among others, the disciples of the
wise of Babylon. (_P'sachim_, fol. 113, col. 2.)
On his return from Babylon to the land of Israel, Rabbi Zira
fasted a hundred fasts, during which he prayed that he might be
enabled to forget the Babylonian Talmud. (_Bava Metzia_, fol.
85, col. 1.)
Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Yonathan traveled one day together; they came
to two roads, one of which led by the door of a place devoted to the
worship of idols, and the other by a place of ill fame. Upon which one
said to the other, "Let us go by the former, because our inclination to
the evil that waylays us there is already extinguished." "Nay, rather,"
said the other, "let us go by the latter, and curb our desires; so shall
we receive a reward in recompense." In this resolution they went on, and
as they passed the place the women humbled themselves before them and
withdrew ashamed into their chambers. Then Yochanan asked the other,
"How didst thou know that this would occur to us?" He made answer, "From
what is written (in Prov. ii. 2), 'Discretion (in the law) shall
preserve thee.'"
_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 17, cols. 1, 2.
Given two dry firebrands and one piece of green wood, the dry will set
fire to the green.
_Sanhedrin_, fol 93, col. 1.
With two dogs they caught the lion.
Ibid., fol. 95, col. 1.
Both these proverbs express the same idea, that a minority, be
it ever so strong, must give way to a majority.
"And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed together"
(Numb. xxii. 7). Midian and Moab were never friendly toward each other;
they were like two dogs tending a flock, always at variance. When the
wolf came upon the one, however, the other thought, "If I do not help my
neighbor to-day, the wolf may come upon myself to-morrow;" therefore the
two dogs leagued together and, killed the wolf. Hence, says Rabbi Pappa,
the popular saying, "The mouse and the cat are combined to make a feast
on the fat of the unfortunate."
Ibid., fol. 105, col. 1.
Rabbi Yochanan, in the name of Yossi, the son of Zimra, asks, "What is
this that is written (Ps. cxx. 3), 'What shall be given unto thee, or
what shall be added unto thee, O thou false tongue'?" The Holy
One--blessed be He!--said to the tongue, "All the members of the body
are erect, thou only art recumbent; all other members are without, thou
art within, and not only so, for I have surrounded thee with two walls,
one of bone and the other of flesh. What shall be given to thee, or what
shall be added unto thee, O thou false tongue?" Rabbi Yochanan, in the
name of Yossi, says, "He who slanders is an atheist, for it is written
(Ps. xii. 4), 'Who have said, With our tongues will we prevail; Our lips
are with us; who is lord over us?'"
_Erchin_, fol. 15, col. 2.
Here are a few sayings from the Talmud on the abuse of the
tongue.
He who slanders, he who receives slander, and he who bears false witness
against his neighbor, deserve to be cast to the dogs.
_Psachim_, fol. 118, col. 1.
All animals will one day remonstrate with the serpent and say, "The lion
treads upon his prey and devours it, the wolf tears and eats it, but
thou, what profit hast thou in biting?" The serpent will reply (Eccl.
viii. II), "I am no worse than a slanderer."
_Taanith_, fol. 8, col. 1.
Adonijah was deprived of life for no other reason than that he was given
to quarreling. It is lawful to slander one so evil disposed as he was.
_Perek Hashalom._
God will say to the prince of hell, "I from above and thou from below
shall judge and condemn the slanderer."
_Erchin_, fol. 15, col. 2.
The third tongue (i.e., slander) hurts three parties: the slanderer
himself, the receiver of slander, and the person slandered.
Ibid.
Four classes do not receive the presence of the Shechinah: scorners,
liars, flatterers, and slanderers.
_Sanhedrin_, fol. 103, col. 1.
Where are we told that when two sit together and study the law the
Shechinah is with them? In Mal. iii. 16, where it is written, "They that
feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and
heard it."
_Berachoth_, fol. 6, col. 1.
Why did Elijah employ two invocations, saying twice over, "Hear me! hear
me!" (1 Kings xviii. 37.) Elijah first prayed before God, "O Lord, King
of the universe, hear me!" that He might send fire down from heaven and
consume all that was upon the altar; and again he prayed, "Hear me!"
that they might not imagine that the result was a matter of sorcery; for
it is said, "Thou hast turned their heart back again."
_Berachoth_, fol. 9, col. 2.
The twofold invocation of Elijah, which betokens his intense
earnestness, anagrammatically expressed, is echoed in the words
of the bystanders, "The Lord He is the God, the Lord He is the
God."
"I dreamed," said Bar Kappara one day to Rabbi (the Holy), "that I
beheld two pigeons, and they flew away from me." "Thy dream is this,"
replied Rabbi, "thou hast had two wives, and art separated from them
both without a bill of divorcement."
Ibid., fol. 56, col. 2.
The Rabbis teach concerning the two kidneys in man, that one counsels
him to do good and the other to do evil; and it appears that the former
is situated on the right side and the latter on the left. Hence it is
written (Eccl. x. 2), "A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a
fool's heart is at his left."
Ibid., fol. 61, col. 1.
For two sins the common people perish: they speak of the holy ark as a
box and the synagogue as a resort for the ignorant vulgar.
_Shabbath_, fol. 32, col. 1.
On the self-same day when Jeroboam introduced the two golden calves, the
one into Bethel and the other into Dan, a hut was erected in a part of
Italy which was then subject to the Greeks.
Ibid., fol. 56, col. 2.
In the context where the above tradition occurs, which, as is
obvious, relates to the founding of Rome, we meet with another
on the same subject as follows:--When Solomon married the
daughter of Pharaoh, the Angel Gabriel thrust a reed into the
sea, stirring up therewith the sand and mud from the bottom.
This, gradually collecting, first shaped itself into an island
and then expanded so as to unite itself with the continent. And
thus was the land created for the erection of the hut which
should one day swell into the proportion of a proud imperial
city.
If Israel kept only two Sabbaths, according to the strict requirement of
the law, they would be freed at once from their compelled dispersion;
for it is written (Isa. lvi. 4, 7), "Thus saith the Lord unto the
eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, Even them will I bring to my holy
mountain."
_Shabbath_, fol. 118, col. 2.
Adam had two faces; for it is said (Ps. cxxxix. 5), "Thou hast made me
behind and before."
_Eiruvin_, fol. 18, col. 1.
There is a notion among the Rabbis that Adam was possessed
originally of a bisexual organization, and this conclusion they
draw from Gen. i. 27, where it is said, "God created man in his
own image; male-female created He them." These two natures, it
was thought, lay side by side; according to some, the male on
the right and the female on the left; according to others, back
to back; while there were those who maintained that Adam was
created with a tail, and that it was from this appendage Eve was
fashioned. Other Jewish traditions tell us that Eve was made
from "the thirteenth rib of the right side" (Targ. Jonath.), and
that "she was not drawn out by the head, lest she should be
vain; nor by the eyes, lest she should be wanton; nor from the
mouth, lest she should be given to garrulity; nor by the ears,
lest she should be an eavesdropper; nor by the hands, lest she
should be intermeddling; nor by the feet, lest she be a gadder;
nor by the heart, for fear she should be jealous; but she was
taken out from the side. Yet, in spite of all these precautions,
she had all the faults so carefully provided against."
If in time of national calamity a man withdraw himself from his kindred
and refuse to share in their sorrow, his two guardian angels come and
lay their hands upon his head and say, "This man has isolated himself
from his country in the day of its need, let him not live to see and
enjoy the day when God shall restore its prosperity." When the community
is in trouble, let no man say, "I will go home and eat and drink, and
say, Peace be unto thee, oh my soul!" (Luke xii. 19); for to him
Scripture hath solemnly said (Isa. xxii. 13, 14), "Surely this iniquity
shall not be purged from you till you die."
_Taanith_, fol. 11, col. 1.
An infant that has died under a month old is (to be) carried to the
grave in the arms (not in a coffin), and buried by one woman and two
men, but not by one man and two women.
_Moed Katan_, fol. 24, col. 1.
Both Rashi and the Tosephoth allude to a case which justifies
the rule given here, where a woman actually carried a living
child in a coffin, in order to avoid the suspicion of an
assignation she had made with a man, who set out to join her.
But the Tosephoth, after noticing this version of Rashi, gives
another more to the point. The story in the Tosephoth is to this
effect:--A woman was once weeping and groaning over the grave of
her husband, and not very far away was a man who was guarding
the corpse of a person who had been crucified. In the moment of
mourning an affection sprung up between the two, and in the
engrossment of it the corpse which the man guarded was stolen.
He was in great trepidation for fear of the king's command. The
woman said, "Don't be afraid; exhume my husband, and hang him up
instead." This was accordingly done. (See _Kiddushin_, fol. 80,
col. 2.)
There were two date trees in the Valley of Hinnom from between which
smoke ascended, and this is the gate of hell.
_Succah_, fol. 32, col. 2.
According to Jewish tradition, there are three gates to
Gehinnom, one in the desert, one in the sea, and one in
Jerusalem: In the desert, as it is written (Numb. xvi. 33),
"They went down, and all that belonged to them, alive into
hell." In the sea, as it is written (Jonah ii. 2), "Out of the
belly of hell have I called," etc. In Jerusalem, as it is
written (Isa. xxxi. 9), "Thus saith the Lord, whose fire is in
Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem."
When two women are seen sitting on opposite sides of a cross road facing
each other, it is to be presumed that they are up to witchcraft and
contemplate mischief. What in that case must you do? Go by another road,
if there is one, and if not, with a companion, should such turn up,
passing the crones arm-in-arm with him; but should there be no other
road and no other man, then walk straight on repeating the
counter-charm, as you pass them--
Agrath is to Asia gone,
And Blussia's killed in battle.
_P'sachim_, fol. 111, col. 2.
Agrath and Blussia are two Amazons well known to those familiar
with Rabbinic demonology.
"If Mordecai, before whom thou hast began to fall, be of the seed of the
Jews, expect not to prevail against him, but thou shalt fall" (Esth. vi.
13). Wherefore these two fallings? They told Haman, saying, "This nation
is likened to the dust, and is also likened to the stars; when they are
down, they are down even to the dust, but when they begin to rise, they
rise to the stars."
_Meggillah_, fol. 16, col. 1.
If any two disciples of the wise, dwelling in the same city, have a
difference respecting the Halachah, let them remember what Scripture
denounces against them, "And also I gave them statutes that are not
good, and judgments by which they shall not live" (Ezek. xx. 25).
Ibid., fol. 32, col. 1.
If a man espouse one of two sisters, and does not know which he has
espoused, he must give both a bill of divorce. If two men espouse two
sisters, and neither of them know which he has espoused, then each man
must give two bills of divorce, one to each woman.
_Yevamoth_, fol. 23, col. 2.
There is a time coming (i.e., in the days of the Messiah), when a grain
of wheat will be as large as the two kidneys of the great ox.
_Kethuboth_, fol. 111, col. 1.
According to a recent discovery, which has been confirmed by
subsequent observation and experiment, wheat is a development by
cultivation of the tiny grain of the _AEgilops ovata_, a sort of
grass; but we are indebted to Rabbinic lore for the curious
information that before the Fall of man wheat grew upon a tree
whose trunk looked like gold, its branches like silver, and its
leaves like so many emeralds. The wheat ears themselves were as
red as rubies, and each bore five sparkling grains as white as
snow, as sweet as honey, and as fragrant as musk. At first the
grains were as big as an ostrich's egg, but in the time of Enoch
they diminished to the size of a goose's egg, and in Elijah's to
that of a hen, while at the commencement of the common era, they
shrank so small as not to be larger than grapes, according to a
law the inverse of the order of nature. Rabbi Yehudah
(_Sanhedrin_, fol. 70, col. 1) says that wheat was the forbidden
fruit. Hence probably the degeneracy.
Of two that quarrel, the one that first gives in shows the nobler
nature.
Ibid., fol. 71, col. 2.
He who sets aside a portion of his wealth for the relief of the poor
will be delivered from the judgment of hell. Of this the parable of the
two sheep that attempted to ford a river is an illustration; one was
shorn of its wool and the other not; the former, therefore, managed to
get over, but the latter, being heavy-laden, sank.
_Gittin_, fol. 7, col. 1.
Zoreah and Eshtaol (Josh. xv. 33) were two large mountains, but Samson
tore them up and grated the one against the other.
_Soteh_, fol. 9, col. 2.
The above tradition is founded on Judges xiii. 25, in which it
is said of Samson, "And the spirit of God began to move him at
times in the camp of Dan, between Zoreah and Eshtaol," in which
the word "move," signifies also to "strike a stroke," "step a
step," and "once." Founding on which last two meanings, Rabbi
Yehudah says, "Samson strode in one stride from Zoreah to
Eshtaol," a giant stride of two miles or more. Taking the word
in the sense of "strike," or "producing a ringing sound,"
another Rabbi tells us that the hairs of Samson's head stood
upright, tinkling one against another like bells, the jingle of
which might be heard from Zoreah to Eshtaol. The version in the
text takes the same word in the sense of to "strike together."
On the day when Isaac was weaned, Abraham made a great feast, to which
he invited all the people of the land. Not all of those who came to
enjoy the feast believed in the alleged occasion of its celebration, for
some said contemptuously, "This old couple have adopted a foundling, and
provided a feast to persuade us to believe that the child is their own
offspring." What did Abraham do? He invited all the great men of the
day, and Sarah invited their wives, who brought their infants, but not
their nurses, along with them. On this occasion Sarah's breasts became
like two fountains, for she supplied, of her own body, nourishment to
all the children. Still some were unconvinced, and said, "Shall a child
be born to one that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah, who is
ninety years old, bear?" (Gen. xvii. 17.) Whereupon, to silence this
objection, Isaac's face was changed, so that it became the very picture
of Abraham's; then one and all exclaimed, "Abraham begat Isaac."
_Bara Metzia_, fol. 87, col. 1.
Rava relates the following in the name of Rabbi Yochanan:--"Two Jewish
slaves were one day walking along, when their master, who was following,
overheard the one saying to the other, 'There is a camel ahead of us, as
I judge--for I have not seen--that is blind of one eye and laden with
two skin-bottles, one of which contains wine and the other oil, while
two drivers attend it, one of them an Israelite, and the other a
Gentile.' 'You perverse men,' said their master, 'how can you fabricate
such a story as that?' The slave answered, and gave this as his reason,
'The grass is cropped only on one side of the track, the wine, that must
have dripped, has soaked into the earth on the right, and the oil has
trickled down, and may be seen on the left; while one of the drivers
turned aside from the track to ease himself, but the other has not even
left the road for the purpose.' Upon this the master stepped on before
them in order to verify the correctness of their inferences, and found
the conclusion true in every particular. He then turned back, and ...
after complimenting the two slaves for their shrewdness, he at once gave
them their liberty."
_Sanhedrin_, fol. 104, col. 2.
When the disciples of Shamai and Hillel increased in Israel, contention
increased along with them, so much so, that the one law became as two
laws (and these contradictory).
_Soteh_, fol. 47, col. 2.
If two parties deposit money with a third, one a single manah and the
other two hundred, and both afterward appear and claim the larger sum,
the depositary should give each depositor one manah only, and leave the
rest undivided till the coming of Elijah.
_Bava Metzia_, fol. 37, col. 2.
"Till Elijah comes" is a phrase which is in use among the Jews
to express postponement forever, like _ad Kalendas Graecas_. It
is applied to questions that would take Elijah to settle, which,
it is believed, he will not appear to do till doomsday.
"And I will make thy windows of agates" (Isa. liv. 12). Two of the
angels in heaven, Gabriel and Michael, once disputed about this: one
maintained that the stone should be an onyx, and the other asserted it
should be a jasper; but the Holy One--blessed be He!--said unto them,
"Let it be as both say, which, in Hebrew, abbreviated, is an agate."
_Bava Bathra_, fol. 75, col. 1.
"The horseleech has two daughters, crying, Give! give!" (Prov. xxx. 15.)
Mar Ukva says, "This has reference to the voice of two daughters crying
out from torture in hell, because their voice is heard in this world
crying, 'Give! give!'--namely--heresy and officialism."
_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 17, col. 1.
Rashi says heresy here refers to the "heresy of James," or, in
other words, Christianity.
Two cemeteries were provided by the judicial authorities, one for
beheaded and strangled criminals, and the other for those that were
stoned or burned. When the flesh of these was consumed, they collected
the bones and buried them in their own place, after which the relations
came and saluted the judge and the witnesses, and said, "We owe you no
grudge, for you passed a just judgment."
_Sanhedrin_, fol. 46, col. 1.
Alas! for the loss which the world has sustained in the degradation of
the helpful serpent. If the serpent had not been degraded, every
Israelite would have been attended by two of kindly disposition, one of
which might have been sent to the north, and the other to the south, to
bring for its owner precious corals and costly stones and pearls.
_Sanhedrin_, fol. 59, col. 2.
Here are two or three other sayings from the Talmud relative to the
serpent.
Benjamin the son of Jacob, Amram the father of Moses, and Jesse the
father of David all died, not because of their own sin (for they had
none, says Rashi), but because of the (original) sin committed under the
serpent's temptation.
_Shabbath_, fol. 55, col. 2.
No man was ever injured by a serpent or scorpion in Jerusalem.
_Yoma_, fol. 21, col. 1.
"And dust is the serpent's food" (Isa. lxv. 25). Rav Ammi says, "To the
serpent no delicacy in the world has any other flavor than that of
dust;" and Rav Assi says, "No delicacy in the world satisfies him like
dust."
Ibid., fol. 75, col. 1.
Two negatives or two affirmatives are as good as an oath.
_Shevuoth_, fol. 36, col. 1.
Like two pearls were the two drops of holy oil that were suspended from
the two corners of the beard of Aaron.
_Horayoth_, fol. 12, col. 1.
For two to sit together and have no discourse about the law, is to sit
in the seat of the scornful; as it is said (Ps. i. I), "And sitteth not
in the seat of the scornful."
_Avoth_, chap. iii.
When two are seated together at table, the younger shall not partake
before the elder, otherwise the younger shall be justly accounted a
glutton.
_Derech Eretz_, chap. vii.
Philemo once asked Rabbi (the Holy), "If a man has two heads, on which
is he to put the phylactery?" To which Rabbi replied, "Either get up and
be off, or take an anathema; for thou art making fun of me."
_Menachoth_, fol. 37, col. 1.
It is thus Rav Yoseph taught what is meant when it is written in Isaiah
xii. I, "I will praise Thee, O Lord, because Thou wast angry with me:
Thine anger will depart and Thou wilt comfort me." "The text applies,"
he says, "to two men who were going abroad on a mercantile enterprise,
one of whom, having had a thorn run into his foot, had to forego his
intended journey, and began in consequence to utter reproaches and
blaspheme. Having afterward learned that the ship in which his companion
had sailed had sunk to the bottom of the sea, he confessed his
shortsightedness and praised God for His mercy."
_Niddah_, fol. 31, col. 1.
The night is divided into three watches, and at each watch the Holy
One--blessed be He!--sits and roars like a lion; as it is written (Jer.
xxv. 30), "The Lord will roar from on high, ... roaring, He will roar
over his habitation." The marks by which this division of the night is
recognized are these:--In the first watch the ass brays; in the second
the dog barks; and in the third the babe is at the breast and the wife
converses with her husband.
_Berachoth_, fol. 3, col. 1.
The Rabbis have taught that there are three reasons why a person should
not enter a ruin:--1. Because he may be suspected of evil intent; 2.
Because the walls might tumble upon him; 3. And because of evil spirits
that frequent such places.
Ibid., fol. 3, col. 1.
He who three times a day repeats David's psalm of praise (Ps. cxlv.) may
be sure of an inheritance in the world to come.
Ibid., fol. 4, col. 2.
Three precious gifts were given to Israel, but none of them without a
special affliction: these three gifts were the law, the land of Israel,
and the world to come.
Ibid., fol. 5, col. 1.
These are also from the Talmud anent Israel and the Israelites.
All Israelites are princes.
_Shabbath_, fol. 57, col. 1.
All Israelites are holy.
Ibid., fol. 86, col. 1.
Happy are ye, O Israel! for every one of you, from the least to the
greatest, is a great philosopher. (_Eiruvin_, fol. 53, col. 1.) The
Machzor for Pentecost says, Israelites are as "full of meritorious works
as a pomegranate is full of pips."
See also _Chaggigah_, fol. 27, col, 1.
As it is impossible for the world to be without air, so also is it
impossible for the world to be without Israel.
_Taanith_, fol. 3, col. 2.
If the ox of an Israelite bruise the ox of a Gentile, the Israelite is
exempt from paying damages; but should the ox of a Gentile bruise the ox
of an Israelite, the Gentile is bound to recompense him in full.
_Bava Kama_, fol. 38, col. 1.
When an Israelite and a Gentile have a lawsuit before thee, if thou
canst, acquit the former according to the laws of Israel, and tell the
latter such is our law; if thou canst get him off in accordance with
Gentile law, do so, and say to the plaintiff such is your law; but if he
cannot be acquitted according to either law, then bring forward adroit
pretexts and secure his acquittal. These are the words of the Rabbi
Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva says, "No false pretext should be brought forward,
because, if found out, the name of God would be blasphemed; but if there
be no fear of that, then it may be adduced."
Ibid., fol. 113, col. 1.
If one find lost property in a locality where the majority are
Israelites, he is bound to proclaim it; but he is not bound to do so if
the majority be Gentiles.
_Bava Metzia_, fol. 24, col. 1.
(Prov. xiv. 34), "Almsgiving exalteth a nation, but benevolence is a sin
to nations." "Almsgiving exalteth a nation," that is to say, the nation
of Israel; as it is written (2 Sam. vii. 23), "And what one nation in
the earth is like thy people, even like Israel?" but "benevolence" is a
sin to nations, that is to say, for the Gentiles to exercise charity and
benevolence is sin.
_Bava Bathra_, fol. 10, col. 2.
If a Gentile smite an Israelite, he is guilty of death; as it is written
(Exod. ii. 12), "And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw
there was no man, he slew the Egyptian."
_Sanhedrin_, fol. 58, col. 2.
All Israelites have a portion in the world to come; as it is written
(Isa. lx. 21), "And thy people are all righteous: they shall inherit the
land."
Ibid., fol. 90, col. 1.
"And they shall fall one on account of another" (Lev. xxvi. 37),--one on
account of the sins of another. This teaches us that all Israel are
surety for one another.
_Shevuoth_, fol. 39, col. 1.
If one find a foundling in a locality where the majority are Gentiles,
then the child is (to be reckoned) a Gentile; if the majority be
Israelites, it is to be considered as an Israelite; and so also it is to
be, providing the numbers are equal.
_Machsheerin_, chap. 2, Mish. 7.
"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the
earth abideth forever" (Eccl. i. 4). One empire cometh and another
passeth away, but Israel abideth forever.
_Perek Hashalom._
The world was created only for Israel: none are called the children of
God but Israel; none are beloved before God but Israel.
_Gerim_, chap. 1.
The Jew that has no wife abideth without joy, without a blessing, and
without any good. Without joy, as it is written (Deut. xiv. 26), "And
thou shalt reject, thou and thy household;" without blessing, as it is
written (Ezek. xliv. 30), "That He may cause a blessing to rest on thy
household;" without any good, for it is written (Gen. ii. 8), "It is not
good that man should be alone."
_Yevamoth_, fol. 62, col. 2.
The Jew that has no wife is not a man; for it is written (Gen. v. 2),
"Male and female created He them and called their name man." To which
Rabbi Eleazar adds, "So every one who has no landed property is no man;
for it is written (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the
Lord's, but the earth (the land, that is), hath He given to the children
of man.'"
_Yevamoth_, fol. 63, col. 1.
Three things did Moses ask of God:--1. He asked that the Shechinah might
rest upon Israel; 2. That the Shechinah might rest upon none but Israel;
and 3. That God's ways might be made known unto him; and all these
requests were granted.
_Berachoth_, fol. 7, col. 1.
What was the Shechinah? Was it the presence of a Divine person
or only of a Divine power? The following quotations will show
what is the teaching of the Talmud on the matter, and will be
read with interest by the theologian, whether Jew or Christian.
Where do we learn that when ten persons pray together the
Shechinah is with them? In Ps. lxxxii. 1, where it is written,
"God standeth in the congregation of the mighty." And where do
we learn that when two sit together and study the law the
Shechinah is with them? In Mal. iii. 16, where it is written,
"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and
the Lord hearkened and heard it." (_Berachoth_, fol. 6, col. 1.)
Where do we learn that the Shechinah does strengthen the sick?
In Ps. xli. 3, where it is written, "The Lord will strengthen
him upon the bed of languishing." (_Shabbath_, fol. 12, col. 2.)
He who goes from the Synagogue to the lecture-room, and from the
lecture-room back to the Synagogue, will become worthy to
receive the presence of the Shechinah; as it is written (Ps.
lxxxiv. 1), "They go from strength to strength; every one of
them in Zion appeareth before God." (_Moed Katan_, fol. 29, col.
1.)
Rabbi Yossi says, "The Shechinah never came down here below, nor
did Moses and Elijah ever ascend on high, because it is written
(Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's,
but the earth hath he given to the children of men.'" (_Succah_,
fol. 5, col. 1.)
Esther "stood in the inner court of the King's house" (Esth. v,
1). Rabbi Levi says, "When she reached the house of the images
the Shechinah departed from her. Then she exclaimed, 'My God! my
God! why hast thou forsaken me?'" (_Meggillah_, fol. 15, col. 2.)
"But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every
one of you this day" (Deut. iv. 4). Is it possible to cleave to
the Shechinah? Is it not written (_ibid._, verse 24), "For the
Lord thy God is a consuming fire"? The reply is:--He that
bestows his daughter in marriage on a disciple of the wise (that
is, a Rabbi), or does business on behalf of the disciples of the
wise, or maintains them from his property, Scripture accounts it
as if he did cleave to the Shechinah. (_Kethuboth_, fol. iii,
col. 25.)
He who is angry has no regard even for the Shechinah; as it is
written (Ps. x. 4), "The wicked, when his anger rises, does not
inquire after God; God is not in all his thoughts." (_Nedarim_,
fol. 22, col. 2.)
He who visits the sick should not sit upon the bed, nor even
upon a stool or a chair beside it, but he should wrap his mantle
round him and sit upon the floor, because of the Shechinah which
rests at the head of the bed of the invalid; as it is written
(Ps. xli. 3), "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of
languishing." (Ibid., fol. 40, col. 1.)
When Israel went up out of the Red Sea, both the babe on its
mother's lap and the suckling at the breast saw the Shechinah,
and said, "This is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation;"
as it is written (Ps. viii. 2), "Out of the mouths of babes and
sucklings thou hast ordained strength." (_Soteh_, fol. 30, col.
2.)
Where do we read that the Shechinah is present everywhere? In
Zech. ii. 3, where it is written, "And behold the angel that
talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet
him." It is not said went out after him, but "went out to meet
him." From this we know that the Shechinah is present
everywhere. (_Bava Bathra_ fol. 25, col. 1.)
Rabbi Akiva says, "For three things I admire the Medes:--1. When they
carve meat, they do it on the table; 2. When they kiss, they only do so
upon the hand; 3. And when they consult, they do so only in the field."
_Berachoth_, fol. 8, col. 2.
The stone which Og, king of Bashan, meant to throw upon Israel is the
subject of a tradition delivered on Sinai. "The camp of Israel I see,"
he said, "extends three miles; I shall therefore go and root up a
mountain three miles in extent and throw it upon them." So off he went,
and finding such a mountain, raised it on his head, but the Holy
One--blessed be He!--sent an army of ants against him, which so bored
the mountain over his head that it slipped down upon his shoulders, from
which he could not lift it, because his teeth, protruding, had riveted
it upon him. This explains that which is written (Ps. iii. 7), "Thou
hast broken the teeth of the ungodly;" where read not "Thou hast
broken," but "Thou hast ramified," that is, "Thou hast caused to branch
out." Moses being ten ells in height, seized an axe ten ells long, and
springing up ten ells, struck a blow on Og's ankle and killed him.
Ibid., fol. 54, col. 2.
This same story is given with more than Talmudic exaggeration in
the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, while the author of the Book
of Jasher (chap. lxv., verses 23, 24) makes the camp and the
mountain forty miles in extent. The giant here figures in
antediluvian tradition. He is said to have been saved at the
Flood by laying hold of the ark, and being fed day by day
through a hole in the side of the ark by Noah himself. A
tradition which says the soles of his feet were forty miles long
at once explains all the extraordinary feats ascribed to him.
Rav Yehudah used to say, "Three things shorten a man's days and
years:--1. Neglecting to read the law when it is given to him for that
purpose; seeing it is written (Deut. xxx. 20), 'For He (who gave it) is
thy life and the length of thy days.' 2. Omitting to repeat the
customary benediction over a cup of blessing; for it is written (Gen.
xii. 3), 'And I will bless them that bless thee.' 3. And the assumption
of a Rabbinical air; for Rabbi Chama bar Chanena says, 'Joseph died
before any of his brethren, because he domineered over them.'"
_Berachoth_, fol. 55, col. 1.
The first of these refers to the reading of the law in public
worship, the second to a practice after meals when more than two
adult Jews were present, and the third to the dictatorial air
often assumed by the Rabbis.
Three things proceed by pre-eminence from God Himself:--Famine, plenty,
and a wise ruler. Famine (2 Kings viii. 2): "The Lord hath called for a
famine;" plenty (Ezek. xxxvi. 29): "I will call for corn and increase
it;" a wise ruler; for it is written (Exod. xxxi. 2), "I have called by
name Bezaleel." Rabbi Yitzchak says, "A ruler is not to be appointed
unless the community be first consulted. God first consulted Moses, then
Moses consulted the nation concerning the appointment of Bezaleel."
Ibid., fol. 55, col. 1.
Three dreams come to pass:--That which is dreamed in the morning; that
which is also dreamed by one's neighbor; and a dream which is
interpreted within a dream; to which some add, one that is dreamed by
the same person twice; as it is written (Gen. xli. 32), "And for that
the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice."
Ibid., fol. 55, col. 2.
Three things tranquilize the mind of man:--Melody, scenery, and sweet
odor. Three things develop the mind of man:--A fine house, a handsome
wife, and elegant furniture.
Ibid., fol. 57, col. 2.
The Rabbis have taught that there are three sorts of dropsy:--Thick,
resulting from sin; bloated, in consequence of insufficient food; and
thin, due to sorcery.
_Shabbath_, fol. 33, col. 1.
These three grow stronger as they grow older:--The fish, the serpent,
and the pig.
Ibid., fol. 77, col. 2.
It were better to cut the hands off than to touch the eye, or the nose,
or the mouth, or the ear, etc., with them without having first washed
them. Unwashed hands may cause blindness, deafness, foulness of breath,
or a polypus. It is taught that Rabbi Nathan has said, "The evil spirit
Bath Chorin, which rests upon the hands at night, is very strict; he
will not depart till water is poured upon the hands three times over."
Ibid. fol. 109, col. 1.
The great importance of this ceremonial washing of the hands
will appear from the following anecdote, which we quote
_verbatim_ from another part of the Talmud:--"It happened once,
as the Rabbis teach, that Rabbi Akiva was immured in a prison,
and Yehoshua Hagarsi was his attendant. One day the gaoler said
to the latter as he entered, 'What a lot of water thou hast
brought to-day! Dost thou need it to sap the walls of the
prison?' So saying, he seized the vessel and poured out half of
the water. When Yehoshua brought in what was left of the water
to Rabbi Akiva, the latter, who was weary of waiting, for he was
faint and thirsty, reproachfully said to him, 'Yehoshua, dost
thou forget that I am old, and my very life depends upon thee?'
When the servant related what had happened, the Rabbi asked for
the water to wash his hands, 'Why, master,' said Yehoshua,
'there's not enough for thee to drink, much less to cleanse thy
hands with.' To which the Rabbi replied, 'What am I to do? They
who neglect to wash their hands are judged worthy of death; 'tis
better that I should die by my own act from thirst than act
against the rules of my associates.' And accordingly it is
related that he abstained from tasting anything till they
brought him water to wash his hands." (_Eiruvin_, fol. 21, col.
2. See also _Maimonides, Hilc. Berach._, vi. 19.)
From the context of the passage just quoted we cull the
following, which proves that the Talmud itself bases the precept
concerning the washing of hands on oral tradition and not on the
written law:--"Rav Yehudah ascribes this saying to Shemuel, that
when Solomon gave to the traditional rules that regulated the
washing of hands and other ceremonial rites the form and
sanction of law, a Bath Kol came forth and said (Prov. xxiii.
15), 'My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even
mine;' and again it said (Prov. xxvii, 11), 'My son, be wise,
and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth
me.'" (See Prov. xxx. 5, 6.)
There is a great deal in the Talmud about washing the hands, in
addition to what is said in the treatise Yadaim, which is
entirely devoted to the subject. But this topic is subordinate
to another, namely, the alleged inferiority of the precepts of
the Bible to the prescriptions of the Rabbis, of which the
punctilious rules regulative of hand washing form only a small
fraction. This is illustrated by an anecdote from the Talmudic
leaflet entitled Callah, respecting Rabbi Akiva, whose fame
extends from one end of the world to the other. (See _Yevamoth_,
fol. 16, col. 2).
Once upon a time, as the Elders were sitting together, two lads
passed by them, one with his head covered and the other
bareheaded. Of the latter boy as he passed Rabbi Elazar said,
"He is a Mamzer," and Rabbi Yehoshua, "He is a Ben Haniddah,"
but Rabbi Akiva contended, "He is both a Mamzer and a Ben
Haniddah." Upon which the Elders said to Rabbi Akiva, "How
darest thou be so bold as dispute the assertion of thy masters?"
"Because I can substantiate what I say," was his answer. He then
went to the mother of the lad, and found her selling pease in
the market place. "Daughter," said he to her, "if thou wilt
answer all that I ask of thee, I will ensure thee a portion in
the life to come." She replied, "Let me have thy oath and I will
do so." Then taking the oath with his lips but nullifying it in
his heart, he asked her, "What sort of a son is thy lad?" She
replied, "When I entered my bridal chamber I was a Niddah, and
consequently my husband kept away from me." Thus it was found
out that the boy was a Mamzer and a Ben Haniddah; upon which the
sages exclaimed, "Great is Rabbi Akiva, for he has overcome his
masters;" and as they congratulated him they said, "Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel, who hath revealed His secret unto Akiva
the son of Joseph." Thus did the Rabbi forswear himself, and
thus did his companions compliment him on the success of his
perjury; yet the Bible says, "Thou shalt not take the name of
the Lord thy God in vain" (Exod. xx. 7), and "Keep thou far from
a falsehood" (Exod. xxiii. 7).
Here is a companion picture from Yoma, fol. 84, col. 1.--"Rabbi
Yochanan was suffering from scurvy, and he applied to a Gentile
woman, who prepared a remedy for the fifth and then the sixth
day of the week. 'But what shall I do to-morrow?' said he; 'I
must not walk so far on the Sabbath.' 'Thou wilt not require any
more,' she answered. 'But suppose I do,' he replied. 'Take an
oath,' she answered, 'that thou wilt not reveal it, and I will
tell thee how to compound the remedy.' This he did in the
following words: 'By the God of Israel, I swear I will not
divulge it.' Nevertheless, when he learned the secret, he went
and revealed it. 'But was not that profaning the name of God?'
asks one. 'No,' pleads another Rabbi, 'for, as he told her
afterward, that what he meant was that he would not tell it to
the God of Israel.' The remedy was yeast, water, oil, and salt."
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