habit of desiring others which are necessary neither for the
preservation of the individual nor for that of the species. This
desire is without limit; whilst things which are necessary are few,
and restricted within certain bounds. Lay this well to heart, reflect
on it again and again; that which is superfluous is without end (and
therefore the desire for it also without limit). Thus you desire to
have your vessels of silver, but golden vessels are still better;
others even have vessels studded with sapphires, emeralds, or rubies.
Those, therefore, who are ignorant of this truth, that the desire for
superfluous things is without limit, are constantly in trouble and pain.
When they thus meet with the consequences of their course they complain
of the judgements of God; they go so far as to say that God’s power
is insufficient, because He has given to this Universe the properties
which they imagine cause these evils.
MOSES MAIMONIDES.
II
PREFER one in hand to two in hope; a little certainty is better than
a great perhaps. Sooner a servant among the noble than leader among
the common; for some of their honour will stick to you, while you must
share the contempt of your contemptible followers.
The proud cedar is felled, the lowly bush is untouched; fire rises and
dies away, water flows down and for ever. If for what beauty or riches
you have, you raise your head above neighbour or brother, you feed
hateful envy, and the beggar whom you despise may yet triumph over you.
Better enough in freedom than plenty at the table of another.
Love thy children with impartial love; the hope oft errs that you place
on the more promising, and all your joy may come from him that you have
kept in the background.
BENEDICT OF OXFORD, 1195.
(_Trans. Joseph Jacobs._)
III
THERE are seven marks of an uncultured, and seven of a wise, man. The
wise man does not speak before him who is greater than he in wisdom,
and does not break in upon the speech of his fellow; he is not hasty
to answer; he questions according to the subject-matter, and answers
to the point; he speaks upon the first thing first, and upon the last,
last; regarding that which he has not understood, he says, ‘I do not
understand it’, and he acknowledges the truth.
ETHICS OF THE FATHERS.
THE DUTY OF HOLINESS
I AM the Lord your God: sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye
holy; for I am holy.
LEVITICUS 11. 44.
* * * * *
IN rabbinical ethics, holiness is the highest ideal. The entire system
of the Jewish law has the hallowing of life as its aim, to be reached
through good works, through observance of the Sabbath and Holy-days,
and through the sanctification of God’s name (Kiddush Hashem). Holiness
became for rabbinical Judaism synonymous with purity of life, purity of
action, and purity of thought; and under its influence personal purity
in Judaism became the highest standard and maxim of ethics found in any
religious system.
K. KOHLER,[79] 1904.
* * * * *
‘CLEANLINESS is next to Godliness.’――Carefulness leads to cleanliness;
cleanliness to purity; purity to humility; humility to saintliness;
saintliness to fear of sin; fear of sin to holiness; and holiness to
immortality.
TALMUD.
THE CITY OF GOD
DO not seek for the City of God on earth, for it is not built of wood
or stone; but seek it in the soul of the man who is at peace with
himself and is a lover of true wisdom.
If a man practises ablutions of the body, but defiles his mind――if he
offers hecatombs, founds a temple, adorns a shrine, and does nothing
for making his soul beautiful――let him not be called religious. He
has wandered far from real religion, mistaking ritual for holiness;
attempting, as it were, to bribe the Incorruptible and to flatter Him
whom none can flatter. God welcomes the genuine service of a soul, the
sacrifice of truth; but from display of wealth He turns away.
Will any man with impure soul and with no intention to repent dare to
approach the Most High God? The grateful soul of the wise man is the
true altar of God.
PHILO JUDAEUS, 1st cent.
* * * * *
THINK not meanly of thyself, and despair not of perfection.
MOSES MAIMONIDES, 1200.
* * * * *
A MAN should so live that at the close of every day he can repeat: ‘I
have not wasted my day’.
ZOHAR.
HUMILITY
THE man who does good works is more likely to be overtaken by pride
in them than by any other moral mischance, and its effect on conduct
is injurious in the extreme. Therefore, among the most necessary of
virtues is that one which banishes pride; and this is, humility.
First among the signs by which the meek are known is that when
misfortunes come to them their endurance triumphs over their fear and
grief, and they willingly submit to the decree of God, and own that His
judgements are righteous.
In matters of justice, however, the meek will be high-spirited and
fearless, punishing the wicked without fear for favour. He will help
the oppressed and rescue him from the power of the oppressor.
BACHYA IBN PAKUDAH, 1040.
* * * * *
AT all times let a man fear God as well in private as in public,
acknowledge the truth, and speak the truth in his heart; and let
him rise early and say: Sovereign of all worlds! Not because of our
righteous acts do we lay our supplications before Thee, but because
of Thine abundant mercies.
DAILY PRAYER BOOK.
* * * * *
WISDOM begetteth humility.
ABRAHAM IBN EZRA, 1167.
SAYINGS FROM THE TALMUD
I
BE thou the cursed, not he who curses. Be of them that are persecuted,
not of them that persecute. Look at Scripture: there is not a single
bird more persecuted than the dove; yet God has chosen her to be
offered up on His altar. The bull is hunted by the lion, the sheep by
the wolf, the goat by the tiger. And God said, ‘Bring Me a sacrifice,
not from them that persecute, but from them that are persecuted’.
Scripture ordains that the Hebrew slave who ‘loves’ his bondage shall
have his ear pierced against the door-post (Exodus 21). Why? Because it
is that ear which heard on Sinai, ‘They are My servants, they shall not
be sold as bondsmen’. They are _My_ servants, not servants’ servants.
And this man voluntarily throws away his precious freedom――‘Pierce his
ear!’
II
EVEN when the gates of heaven are shut to prayer, they are open to
tears. Prayer is Israel’s only weapon, a weapon inherited from his
fathers, a weapon tried in a thousand battles.
When the righteous man dies, it is the earth that loses. The lost jewel
will always be a jewel, but the possessor who has lost it――well may he
weep.
To one who denied resurrection, Gabiha ben Pasissa said: ‘If what
never before existed, exists, why may not that which once existed exist
again?’
Life is a passing shadow, says Scripture. Is it the shadow of a tower,
of a tree? A shadow that prevails for a while? No, it is the shadow of
a bird in its flight――away flies the bird, and there is neither bird
nor shadow.
Repent one day before thy death. There was a king who bade all his
servants to a great repast, but did not indicate the hour. Some went
home and put on their best garments and stood at the door of the
palace; others said, ‘There is ample time, the king will let us know
beforehand’. But the king summoned them of a sudden; and those that
came in their best garments were well received, but the foolish ones
who came in their slovenliness, were turned away in disgrace.
Iron breaks the stone, fire melts iron, water extinguishes fire,
the clouds drink up the water, a storm drives away the clouds, man
withstands the storm, fear unmans man, wine dispels fear, sleep drives
away wine, and death sweeps all away――even sleep. But Solomon the Wise
says: ‘Charity delivereth from death’.
III
FOUR shall not enter Paradise: the scoffer, the liar, the hypocrite,
and the slanderer.
The cock and the owl both await the daylight. ‘The light’, says the
cock, ‘brings delight to me; but what are you waiting for?’
Thy friend has a friend, and thy friend’s friend has a friend: be
discreet.
He who is ashamed will not easily commit sin. Commit a sin twice, and
you will think it perfectly allowable. There is a great difference
between him who is ashamed before his own self, and him who is only
ashamed before others.
The sun will go down all by himself, without thy assistance. Not what
thou sayest about thyself, but what others say. He who humiliates
himself will be lifted up; he who raises himself up will be humiliated.
Whosoever runs after greatness, greatness runs away from him; he who
runs from greatness, greatness follows him.
If the young tell thee, Build; and the old tell thee, Destroy――follow
the counsel of the elders; for often the destruction of the elders is
construction, and the construction of the young is destruction.
IV
‘FEAR God, as much as you fear man’, said Johanan ben Zakkai.[80] ‘Not
more?’ asked his pupils in surprise. ‘If you would but fear Him as
much!’ said the dying sage.
The righteous are masters of their passions. Not so the wicked: they
are the slaves of their desires. The righteous need no monuments: their
deeds are their monuments. The righteous promise little and do much;
the wicked promise much and do not perform even a little. Let thy yea
be yea, and thy nay be nay.
In Palestine it was considered a sign of descent from a good family if
any one first broke off in a quarrel. The greatest of heroes is he who
turneth an enemy into a friend.
Giving is not the essential thing, but to give with delicacy of
feeling. Scripture does not say, ‘Happy is he who giveth to the poor’,
but, ‘Happy is he who _wisely considereth_ the poor’. He who makes the
sorrowful rejoice will partake of life everlasting.
As the ocean never freezes, so the gate of repentance is never closed.
The best preacher is the heart, the best teacher time, the best book
the world, the best friend God.
He who curbs his wrath, his sins will be forgiven. Whosoever does
not persecute them that persecute him, whosoever takes an offence in
silence, he who does good because of love, he who is cheerful under his
sufferings, they are the friends of God, and of them the Scripture says,
‘But they that love Him shall be as the sun, when he goeth forth in his
might’.
THE DEDICATED LIFE
MOSES has shown that we should all confess our gratitude for the powers
we possess. The wise man should dedicate his sagacity, the eloquent man
should devote his excellence of speech, to the praise of God in prose
and verse; and, in general, the natural philosopher should offer his
physics, the moralist his ethics, the artist and the man of science
the arts and sciences they know. So, too, the sailor and the pilot will
dedicate their favourable voyage, the husbandman his fruitful harvest,
the herdsman the increase of his cattle, the doctor the recovery of
his patients, the general his victory in fight, and the statesman or
the monarch his legal chieftaincy or kingly rule. Let no one, however
humble and insignificant he be, despairing of a better fortune, scruple
to become a suppliant of God. Even if he can expect nothing more,
let him give thanks to the best of his power for what he has already
received. Infinite are the gifts he has: birth, life, nature, soul,
sensation, imagination, desire, reason. Reason is a small word, but
a most perfect thing, a fragment of the world-soul, or, as for the
disciples of the Mosaic philosophy it is more pious to say, a true
impression of the Divine Image.
PHILO JUDAEUS, 1st cent.
GOD AND MAN
RABBI AKIBA[81] said: Beloved is man, for he was created in the image
of God; but it was by a special love that it was made known to him that
he was created in the image of God.
Everything is foreseen, yet freedom of choice is given; and the world
is judged by grace, yet all is according to the amount of the work.
* * * * *
BEN AZZAI[82] said: Despise not any man, and carp not at anything; for
there is not a man that has not his hour, and there is not a thing that
has not its place.
* * * * *
HILLEL[83] said: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being
for myself only, what am I? and, if not now, when?
Separate not thyself from the community. Trust not in thyself until the
day of thy death. Judge not thy neighbour until thou art come into his
place.
ETHICS OF THE FATHERS.
GOLDEN RULES
THOU shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
LEVITICUS 19. 18.
* * * * *
RABBI AKIBA said: _Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself_. This is a
fundamental principle of religion.
* * * * *
HILLEL used to say: _Whatever is hateful unto thee, do it not unto thy
fellow_. This is the whole Law; the rest is but commentary.
TALMUD.
* * * * *
‘_THOU shalt not hate the brother in thy heart_’ (Leviticus 19. 17).
Our Rabbis taught that this precept might be explained to mean only
that you must not injure him, nor insult him, nor vex him, and so the
words ‘_in thine heart_’ are added to forbid us even to feel hatred
in our heart without giving it outward expression. Causeless hatred
ranks with the three capital sins: Idolatry, Immorality, and Murder.
The Second Temple, although in its time study of the Law and good works
flourished and God’s Commandments were obeyed, was destroyed because of
causeless hatred, one of the deadly sins.
ACHAÏ (GAON), 8th cent.
(_Trans. E. N. Adler._)
DEEDS THE BEST COMMENDATION
WHEN Akabya,[84] son of Mahalalel, was on his death-bed, his son
asked, ‘Father, commend me to thy friends’. ‘No, my son,’ said he, ‘I
shall not commend thee.’ ‘Hast thou found aught unworthy in me?’ ‘No,
my son,’ replied he, ‘thy deeds will bring thee near unto men, and thy
deeds will drive thee from them.’
TALMUD.
* * * * *
RABBI HANINA, son of Dosa, said: He in whom the spirit of his fellow
men taketh delight, in him the Spirit of the All-present taketh delight;
and he in whom the spirit of his fellow men taketh not delight, in him
the Spirit of the All-present taketh not delight.
* * * * *
RABBI JUDAH THE PRINCE[85] said, Which is the right course that a
man should choose for himself? That which he feels to be in itself
honourable to the doer, and which also brings him the respect of his
fellow men. Reflect upon three things, and thou wilt not come within
the power of sin: Know what is above thee――a seeing Eye, a hearing Ear,
and all thy deeds are written in a Book.
ETHICS OF THE FATHERS.
A MEDIAEVAL JEWISH MORALIST
I
NO crown carries such royalty with it as doth humility; no monument
gives such glory as an unsullied name; no worldly gain can equal that
which comes from observing God’s laws. The highest sacrifice is a
broken and contrite heart; the highest wisdom is that which is found in
the Law; the noblest of all ornaments is modesty; the most beautiful of
all things man can do is to forgive wrong.
Cherish a good heart when thou findest it in any one; hate, for thou
mayest hate it, the haughtiness of the overbearing man, and keep the
boaster at a distance. There is no skill or cleverness to be compared
to that which avoids temptation; there is no force, no strength that
can equal piety. All honour to him who thinks continually and with an
anxious heart of his Maker; who prays, reads, and learns, and all these
with a passionate yearning for his Maker’s grace.
II
LET thy dealings be of such sort that a blush need never visit thy
cheek; be sternly dumb to the voice of passion; commit no sin, saying
to thyself that thou wilt repent and make atonement at a later time.
Let no oath ever pass thy lips; play not the haughty aristocrat in
thine heart; follow not the desire of the eyes; banish carefully all
guile from thy soul, all unseemly self-assertion from thy bearing and
thy temper.
Speak never mere empty words; enter into strife with no man; place no
reliance on men of mocking lips; wrangle not with evil men; cherish no
too fixed good opinion of thyself, but lend thine ear to remonstrance
and reproof.
Be not weakly pleased at demonstrations of honour; strive not anxiously
for distinction; never let a thought of envy of those who do grave
wrong cross thy mind; be never enviously jealous of others, or too
eager for money.
Honour thy parents; make peace whenever thou canst among people, lead
them gently into the good path; place thy trust in, give thy company
to, those who fear God.
III
IF the means of thy support in life be measured out scantily to thee,
remember that thou hast to be thankful and grateful even for the mere
privilege to breathe, and that thou must take up that suffering as a
test of thy piety and a preparation for better things. But if worldly
wealth be lent to thee, exalt not thyself above thy brother; for both
of ye came naked into the world, and both of ye will surely have to
sleep at last together in the dust.
Bear well thy heart against the assaults of envy, which kills even
sooner than death itself; and know no envy at all, save such envy of
the merits of virtuous men as shall lead thee to emulate the beauty of
their lives. Surrender not thyself a slave to hate, that ruin of all
the heart’s good resolves, that destroyer of the very savour of food,
of our sleep, of all reverence in our souls.
Keep peace both within the city and without, for it goes well with all
those who are counsellors of peace; be wholly sincere; mislead no one
by prevarications, by words smoother than intention, as little as by
direct falsehood. For God the Eternal is a God of Truth; it is He from
whom truth flowed first, He who begat truth and sent it into creation.
ELEAZAR (ROKËACH) OF WORMS, _c._ 1200.
THE MYSTERY OF PAIN
THE mystery of pain is an old problem. The Rabbis were deeply impressed
with its gravity and complexity. The sorrows of the universe and the
agony of Israel; the suffering of the nation and the pain of the
individual, formed the inspiration of some of their noblest thoughts.
They fully realized that suffering can chasten and heal and purify,
even ‘as salt cleanses meat’. And so they call God’s chastisements
the blessed scourges of love, and tell us that even as the olive only
gives forth its sweet and perfumed oil on being crushed, so also Israel
only reaches perfection through crushing sorrows. They tell us that
in the thick darkness of the world-problem is God――the ‘Light Behind’;
that all things work together for good――even Death; they represent God
as saying to mankind, ‘with thy very wounds I will heal thee’; they
say that those whom God afflicts bear His name; that only through a
‘sorrow’s crown of sorrows’ cometh true life. Heaven is not to be won
by rest and ease and quiet. Only those who have suffered and endured
greatly have achieved greatly. The world’s greatest workers, thinkers,
and teachers have only reached the pinnacle of fame by surmounting
obstacles which to ordinary men, content with the lower slopes, would
have seemed insuperable. Man has ever risen nearer to God by the
altar-stairs of pain and sorrow――those altar-stairs which lead through
darkness, for ever upwards, towards the very Throne of God.
S. ALFRED ADLER, 1906.
MEETING ADVERSITY
ACCORDING to ancient Jewish custom, the ceremony of cutting our
garments when our nearest and dearest on earth is lying dead before
us, is to be performed _standing up_. This teaches: meet all sorrow
standing upright. The future may be dark, veiled from the eye of
mortals――but not the manner in which we are to meet the future. To
rail at life, to rebel against a destiny that has cast our lines in
unpleasant places, is of little avail. We cannot lay down terms to
life. Life must be accepted on its own terms. But hard as life’s terms
are, life (it has been finely said) never dictates unrighteousness,
unholiness, dishonour.
J. H. HERTZ, 1900.
THE CONTEMPLATION OF DEATH
THE contemplation of death should plant within the soul elevation and
peace. Above all, it should make us see things in their true light. For
all things which seem foolish in the light of death are really foolish
in themselves. To be annoyed because So-and-so has slighted us or been
somewhat more successful in social distinctions, pulled himself somehow
one rung higher up the ladder than ourselves――how ridiculous all this
seems when we couple it with the thought of death! To pass each day
simply and solely in the eager pursuit of money or of fame, this also
seems like living with shadows when one might take one’s part with
realities. Surely when death is at hand we should desire to say, ‘I
have contributed my grain to the great store of the eternal. I have
borne my part in the struggle for goodness.’ And let no man or woman
suppose that the smallest social act of goodness is wasted for society
at large. All our help, petty though it be, is needed; and though we
know not the manner, the fruit of every faithful service is surely
gathered in. Let the true and noble words of a great teacher ring in
conclusion upon our ears: ‘The growing good of the world is partly
dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you
and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived
faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs’.
C. G. MONTEFIORE, 1893.
* * * * *
REMEMBER thy last end, and cease from enmity.
ECCLESIASTICUS 28. 6.
LIGHT IN DARKNESS
WHEN Adam saw for the first time the sun go down, and an ever-deepening
gloom enfold creation, his mind was filled with terror. God then took
pity on him, and endowed him with the divine intuition to take two
stones――the name of one was Darkness and the name of the other Shadow
of Death――and rub them against each other, and so discover fire.
Thereupon Adam exclaimed with grateful joy: ‘Blessed be the Creator of
Light’.
TALMUD.
WHENCE AND WHITHER
I
AKABYA, son of Mahalalel, said, ‘Reflect upon three things, and thou
wilt not come within the power of sin: know whence thou camest, and
whither thou art going, and before whom thou wilt in future have to
render account and reckoning’.
ETHICS OF THE FATHERS.
II
AN old Saxon chieftain was once revelling with his boon companions in
the brilliantly lighted banqueting hall, when he noticed a bird flying
from end to end, and he exclaimed: ‘Even thus is our fate. Out of the
darkness we come; we speed for a while through a gay and merry world,
and then again into darkness we lapse.’ Ah, not so, dear Congregants!
‘The dust returneth to the earth, as it was, but the spirit returneth
unto God who gave it.’ Our true essence is deathless――spirit of God’s
undying Spirit, soul of His immortal Soul. If we have risen to a true
conception of life and our duty, if we have proved ourselves faithful
to our mission, then our end will not be a leap in the dark, but――
‘Life’s race well run,
Life’s work well done,
Life’s crown well won’:
then come rest and peace――rest with God, peace everlasting.
HERMANN ADLER, 1898.
TIME AND ETERNITY
GOD, the Source of life, has placed in our nature the blessed hope of
immortality, by which we may console ourselves for the vanity of life,
and overcome the dread of death. If thou art in truth of the higher
sphere, why should the thought of leaving this lower region trouble
thee? Especially since the very pleasures which thou seekest on earth
are, in reality, but briars and thorns. Therefore seek them not. But
what shouldst thou do? This: Use thy time as thou wouldst a doubtful
companion: extract the good and avoid the evil. Avail thyself of the
few opportunities of improvement in his company, and use thy discretion
so that thou mayest suffer no injury from thy association with him. And
remember that the companionship of time is but of short duration. It
flies more quickly than the shades of evening. We are like a child that
grasps in his hand a sunbeam. He opens his hand soon again, but, to his
amazement, finds it empty and the brightness gone.
YEDAYA PENINI, 14th cent.
* * * * *
WHATSOEVER thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might.
ECCLESIASTES 9. 10.
* * * * *
ACCUSTOM thyself to complete any good work thou hast undertaken.
DERECH ERETZ ZUTTA, 8th cent.
TALMUDIC PARABLES AND LEGENDS
I
THE HEART ENNOBLES ANY CALLING
RABBI BAROKA, a saintly mystic, one day as he was walking through the
crowded market-place of his town, met Elijah, the wandering spirit of
prophecy in Jewish lore. ‘Who of all this multitude has the best claim
to Heaven?’ asks the Rabbi of his spirit companion. The prophet points
to a disreputable, weird-looking creature, a turnkey. ‘That man yonder,
because he is considerate to his prisoners, and refrains from all
unnecessary cruelty. In that miniature hell over which he presides he
has suppressed many a horror.’ ‘And who else is here sure of eternal
life?’ continues the Rabbi. Elijah then points to two motley-dressed
fellows, clowns, who were supplying amusement to the bystanders. The
Rabbi’s astonishment knew no bounds. ‘Scorn them not,’ explains the
prophet; ‘it is always their habit, even when not performing for hire,
to cheer the depressed and the sorrowful. Whenever they see a sufferer
they join him, and by merry talk cause him to forget his grief.’