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Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala
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."