He was punished by his posterity being compelled to serve the Egyptians

two hundred and ten years, because he had pressed the Rabbis under his

tuition into military service in the expedition he had undertaken to

recover Lot from those who had carried him off captive; for it is

written (Gen. xiv. 14), "He armed his instructed." Samuel says Abraham

was punished because he perversely distrusted the assurance of God; as

it is written (Gen. xv. 8), "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit

it?"

_Nedarim_, fol. 31, col. 2.

Abraham was thrown into a fiery furnace by Nimrod, and God would not

permit Gabriel to rescue him, but did so Himself; because God is One and

Abraham was one, therefore it behooved the One to rescue the one.

_P'sachim_, fol. 118, col. 1.

The fire from which Abraham is here said to be delivered may

simply refer to his deliverance by the hand of God from Ur of

the Chaldees; Ur meaning "fire," and being the name of a place

celebrated for fire worship. The Midrash (p. 20) says, "When the

wicked Nimrod cast Abraham into the furnace, Gabriel said, 'Lord

of the universe! permit me to deliver this holy one from the

fire!' But the Lord made answer, 'I am the One Supreme in my

world, and he is supreme in his; it is fitting therefore that

the Supreme should rescue the supreme.'"

Abraham was a giant of giants; his height was as that of seventy-four

men put together. His food, his drink, and his strength were in the

proportion of seventy-four men's to one man's. He built an iron city for

the abode of his seventeen children by Keturah, the walls of which were

so lofty that the sun never penetrated them: he gave them a bowl full of

precious stones, the brilliancy of which supplied them with light in the

absence of the sun.

_Sophrim_, chap. 21.

Abraham our father had a precious stone suspended from his neck, and

every sick person that gazed upon it was immediately healed of his

disease. But when Abraham died, God hung up the stone on the sphere of

the sun.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Till Abraham's time there was no such thing as a beard; but as many

mistook Abraham for Isaac, and Isaac for Abraham, they looked so exactly

alike, Abraham prayed to God for a beard to enable people to distinguish

him from his son, Isaac, and it was granted him; as it is written (Gen.

xxiv. 1), "And to Abraham a beard came when he was well stricken in

age."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 107, col. 2.

Here the word which the translators of the English version

render "was old," is taken in another of its cognate meanings as

a beard. The Midrash is a trifle more modest in this legendary

assertion. There we read, "Before Abraham there was no special

mark of old age," and that for distinction's sake "the beard was

made to turn gray."

When he died, all the chiefs of the nations of the world stood in a line

and exclaimed, "Alas for the world that has lost its leader! Alas for

the ship that has lost its helmsman!"

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 91, col. 2.

As Rabbi Banna went about to measure and to mark off the outward and

inward dimensions of the different caves, when he came to the cave of

Machpelah he found Eliezar, Abraham's servant, at the entrance, and

asked him, "What is Abraham doing?" The answer he received was, "He is

asleep in the arms of Sarah."

Ibid., fol. 58, col. 1.

Abraham being greater than Moses, for while the latter is only

called by God "My Servant" (Mal. iv. 4), the former is called

"My Friend" (Isa. xli. 8), we devote a little more space for a

few more extracts from other Jewish sources than the Talmud, in

order to make the picture they supply of Abraham's character a

little more complete.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri says:--"The Holy One--blessed be He!--took Shem

and separated him to be a priest to Himself, that he might serve before

Him. He also caused His Shechinah to rest with him, and called his name

Melchizedek, priest of the Most High and king of Salem. His brother

Japheth even studied the law in his school, until Abraham came and also

learned the law in the school of Shem, where God Himself instructed

Abraham, so that all else he had learned from the lips of man was

forgotten. Then came Abraham and prayed to God that His Shechinah might

ever rest in the house of Shem, which also was promised to him; as it is

said (Ps. ex. 4), 'Thou art a priest forever after the order of

Melchizedek.'"

_Avodath Hakkodesh_, part 3, chap. 20.

Wherever Jacob resided he studied the law as his fathers did. How is

this, seeing the law had not yet been given, it is nevertheless written

of Abraham (Gen. xxvi. 5), "And he kept my charge"? Whence then did

Abraham learn the law? Rabbi Shimon says his reins (literally kidneys)

were made like two water-jars, from which the law flowed forth. Where do

we learn that it was so? From what is said in Ps. xvi. 7, "My reins also

instruct me in the night season."

_Bereshith Rabba_, chap. 95.

The masters of the Kabbalah, of blessed memory, say that Abraham's

Rabbi, i.e., teacher, was the angel Zadkiel.

_Rabbi Menachem's comment on the Pent._, Exod. iii. 5.

Adam's book, which contained celestial mysteries and holy wisdom, came

down as an heirloom into the hands of Abraham, and he by means of it was

able to see the glory of his Lord.

_Zohar Parashah Bereshith._

Abraham was the author of a treatise on the subject of different kinds

of witchcraft and its unholy workings and fruits, as also of the Book of

Creation, through holy names (by means of which, namely, anything could

be created).

_Nishmath Chayim_, chap. 29.

The whole world once believed that the souls of men were perishable, and

that man had no pre-eminence above a beast, till Abraham came and

preached the doctrine of immortality and transmigration.

Ibid., fol. 171, col. 1.

A good son delivers his father from the punishment of hell, for thus we

find that Abraham our father delivered Terah, as it is said in Gen. xv.

15, "And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace." This implies that God

had communicated to him the tidings that his father had a portion in the

world to come and was now "in peace" there.

_Pesikta Zotarta_, fol. 3, col. 2.

Before Abraham was circumcised God spake to him in the Chaldee language,

that the angels should not understand it. (This is proved from Gen. xv.

1.)

_Yalkut Chadash_, fol. 117.

Rabbi Levi said Abraham sits at the gate of hell and does not permit any

circumcised Israelite to enter. But if any appear who happen to have

sinned unduly, these he (by an indescribable contrivance) causes to

become uncircumcised and lets pass without scruple into the region of

torment; and this is what is said in Ps. lv. 20, "He hath put forth his

hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his

covenant."

_Yalkut Shimoni_, fol. 33, col. 2, sec. 18.

Abraham was circumcised on the Day of Atonement, and God looks that day

annually on the blood of the covenant of our father Abraham's

circumcision as atoning for all our iniquities, as it is said in Lev.

xvi. 30, "For on that day shall he make an atonement for you, to cleanse

you from all your sins."

_Yalkut Chadash_, fol. 121, col. 1, sec. 3.

"And it came to pass that when Abram was come into Egypt" (Gen. xii.

14). And where was Sarah? He confined her in a chest, into which he

locked her, lest any one should gaze on her beauty. When he came to the

receipt of custom, he was summoned to open the chest, but declined, and

offered payment of the duty. The officers said, "Thou carriest

garments;" and he offered duty for garments. "Nay, it is gold thou

carriest;" and he offered the impost laid on gold. Then they said, "It

is costly silks, belike pearls, thou concealest;" and he offered the

custom on such articles. At length the Egyptian officers insisted, and

he opened the box. And when he did so, all the land of Egypt was

illumined by her beauty.

_Bereshith Rabba_, chap. 40.

The question may naturally be asked why Abraham hid his wife from the

gaze of others first then and not before. The reply is to be deduced

from the following double rendering of Gen. xii. 11:--"Behold now I know

that thou art a fair woman." As if to say, "Usually people lose their

good looks on a long journey, but thou art as beautiful as ever." The

second explanation is this:--Abraham was so piously modest that in all

his life he never once looked a female in the face, his own wife not

excepted. As he approached Egypt and was crossing some water, he saw in

it the reflection of her face, and it was then that he exclaimed,

"Behold now I know that thou art a fair woman." As the Egyptians are

swarthy, Abraham at once perceived the magnitude of the danger, and

hence his precaution to hide her beauty in a chest.

_Zeenah Ureenah_ (1877 in Russia), fol. 28, col. 1.

When Abraham came to the cave of Machpelah to bury Sarah, Adam and Eve

rose from their grave and protested against his committing her to the

dust in that receptacle. "For," said they, "we are ever ashamed in the

presence of the Holy One--blessed be He!--on account of the sin which we

committed, and now comest thou to add to our shame by the contrast

therewith of the good works which ye two have done." On Abraham's

assurance that he would intercede with God on their behalf that they

should not bear the shame any longer, Adam immediately retired to his

sepulchre, but Eve being still unwilling to do so, Abraham took her by

the hand and led her back to the side of Adam; and then he buried Sarah.

_Yalkut Chadash_, fol. 14, col. 3, sec. 68.

Abraham's father, Terah, was both an idolater, a manufacturer of idols,

and a dealer in them. Once when Terah had some engagement elsewhere he

left his son Abraham to attend to his business. When a customer came to

purchase an idol, Abraham asked him, "How old art thou?" "Lo! so many

years," was the ready reply. "What," exclaimed Abraham, "is it possible

that a man of so many years should desire to worship a thing only a day

old?" The customer, being ashamed of himself, went his way; and so did

all other customers, who underwent a similar inquisition. Once an old

woman brought a measure of fine flour and wished to present it as an

offering to the gods. This so enraged Abraham that he took a staff and

broke all the images, excepting the largest, into whose hands he fixed

the staff. When his father came and questioned him about the destruction

of the gods, he replied, "An old woman placed an offering of flour

before them, which immediately set them all by the ears, for every one

was hungrier than another, but the biggest god killed all the rest with

this staff which thou now seest he still holds in his hands."

Superstition, especially when combined with mercenary motives, knows

neither reason nor human affection, therefore the father handed over his

son Abraham to the inquisition of Nimrod, who threw him into the fiery

furnace, as recorded elsewhere in this Miscellany. This is an historical

fact, to the truth of which the whole orthodox Jewish world will bear

testimony, and is solemnly recorded in _Shalsheleth Hakkabalah_ fol. 2,

col 1.

There are three graces:--The grace of a place in the eyes of its

inhabitants; the grace of a woman in the eyes of her husband; the grace

of a purchase in the eyes of the buyer.

_Soteh_, fol. 47, col. 1.

A man should divide his capital into three parts, and invest one-third

in land, employ one-third in merchandise, and reserve one-third in ready

money.

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 42, col. 1.

All who go down to hell shall come up again, except these three:--He who

commits adultery; he who shames another in public; and he who gives

another a bad name.

Ibid., fol. 58, col. 2.

These three complain, but no one sympathizes with them:--He who lends

money without witnesses; he who buys to himself a master; and he who is

lorded over by his wife.

Ibid., fol. 75, col. 2.

There are three things on which the world stands:--The law, the temple

service, and benevolence.

_Avoth_, chap. 1.

If three eat at one table and do not converse together on the law of the

Lord, it is as if they ate from the sacrifices for the dead; but they,

on the contrary, are as if they partook from a table of the Lord's own

furnishing who, while they sit down to meat, season their talk with its

holy precepts.

_Avoth_, chap. 3.

There are three crowns:--The crown of the law, the crown of the

priesthood, and the crown of royalty; but the crown of a good name

surpasses them all.

Ibid., chap. 4.

He who possesses these three virtues is a disciple of Abraham our

father, and he who possesses the three contrary vices is a son of Balaam

the wicked. The disciples of our father Abraham have a kindly eye, a

loyal spirit, and a lowly mind. The disciples of Balaam the wicked have

an evil eye, a proud spirit, and a grasping soul.

Ibid., chap. 5.

Three things are said respecting the children of men:--He who gives alms

brings a blessing on himself; he who lends does better; he who gives

away half of what he hath to spare does best of all.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 41.

There are three classes of disciples, and among them three grades of

worth:--He ranks first who asks and answers when asked; he who asks but

does not answer ranks next; but he who neither asks nor answers ranks

lowest of all.

Ibid.

Over these three does God weep every day:--Over him who is able to study

the law but neglects it; over him who studies it amid difficulties hard

to overcome; and over the ruler who behaves arrogantly toward the

community he should protect.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 5, col. 2.

Rabbi Yochanan says there are three keys in the hands of the Holy

One!--blessed be He!--which He never intrusts to the disposal of a

messenger, and they are these:--(1.) The key of rain, (2.) the key of

life, and (3.) the key of reviving the dead. The key of rain, for it is

written (Deut. xxviii. 12), "The Lord shall open unto thee His good

treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in season;" the key

of life, as it is written (Gen. xxx. 22), "God hearkened unto her, and

opened her womb;" the key of reviving the dead, for it is written (Ezek.

xxxvii. 13), "When I have opened your graves, and brought you up out of

your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live," etc.

_Taanith_, fol. 2, cols, 1, 2.

A disciple of the wise who makes light of the washing of hands is

contemptible; but more contemptible is he who begins to eat before his

guest; more contemptible is that guest who invites another guest; and

still more contemptible is he who begins to eat before a disciple of the

wise; but contemptible before all these three put together is that guest

which troubles another guest.

_Derech Eretz Zuta_, chap. viii.

A roll of the law which has two mistakes to a column should be

corrected; but if there be three, it should be stowed away altogether.

_Menachoth_, fol. 29, col. 2.

The wolf, the lion, the bear, the leopard, the panther, the elephant,

and the sea-cat, each bear three years.

Ibid.

Rav Yehudah says, in the name of Rav, "The butcher is bound to have

three knives; one to slaughter with, one for cutting up the carcass, and

one to cut away the suet. Suet being as unlawful for food as pork."

_Chullin_, fol. 8, col. 2.

Three classes of ministering angels raise a song of praise every day.

One class says, Holy! the second responds, Holy! and the third

continues, Holy is the Lord of hosts! But in the presence of the Holy

One--blessed be He!--Israel is more beloved than the ministering angels;

for Israel reiterates the song every hour, while the ministering angels

repeat it only once a day, some say once a week, others once a month,

others once a year, others once in seven years, others once in a

jubilee, and others only once in eternity. Again, Israel mentions The

Name after two words, as it is said (Deut. vi. 4), "Hear Israel,

Yehovah," but the ministering angels do not mention The Name till after

three, as it is written (Isa. vi. 3), "Holy! holy! holy! Yehovah

Zebaoth." Moreover, the ministering angels do not take up the song above

till Israel has started it below; for it is said (Job xxxviii. 7), "When

the morning stars sang together, then all the sons of God shouted for

joy."

_Chullin_, fol. 91, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught, a man should not sell to his neighbor shoes made

from the hide of a beast that has died of disease, as if of a beast that

had been slaughtered in the shambles, for two reasons: first, because he

imposes on him (for the skin of a beast that dies of itself is not so

durable as the hide of a slaughtered animal); second, because there is

danger (for the beast that died of itself might have been stung by a

serpent, and the poison remaining in the leather might prove fatal to

the wearer of shoes made of that leather). A man should not send his

neighbor a barrel of wine with oil floating upon its surface; for it

happened once that a man did so, and the recipient went and invited his

friends to a feast, in the preparation of which oil was to form a chief

ingredient; but when the guests assembled, it was found out that the

cask contained wine, and not oil; and because the host had nothing else

in preparation for a worthy feast, he went and committed suicide.

Neither should guests give anything from what is set before them to the

son or daughter of their host, unless the host himself give them leave

to do so; for it once happened during a time of scarcity that a man

invited three of his friends to dine, and he had nothing but three eggs

to place before them. Meanwhile, as the guests were seated at the board,

the son of the host came into the room, and first one of the guests gave

him his share, and then the other two followed his example. Shortly

afterward the host himself came in, and seeing the child with his mouth

full and both hands, he knocked him down to the ground, so that he died

on the instant. The mother, seeing this, went and threw herself

headlong, from the housetop, and the father followed her example. Thus

Rabbi Eliezar ben Yacob said, "There perished in this affair three souls

of Israel."

Ibid., fol. 94, col. 1.

Once the Roman Government issued a decree that the Israelites should

neither observe the Sabbath nor circumcise their sons. Thereupon Reuben

the son of Istrubli trimmed his hair as a Gentile, and went among the

Roman senators and plied them with wise remonstrance. "If one," said he,

"has an enemy, does he wish him to be poor or rich?" "To be poor," was

the reply. "Then," he argued, "won't he be poorer if you prohibit him

from working on the Sabbath?" "It is well said," observed the senators;

and they at once abolished their decree respecting the Sabbath. Again he

asked, "If one has an enemy, does he wish him to be weak or strong?"

"Why, weak, to be sure," was the inevitable answer. "Then," said he,

"let the Jews circumcise their children, then will they be weakened."

"The argument is good," said they, and the decree against circumcision

was rescinded. Again he asked, "If one has an enemy, does he wish him to

increase or decrease?" "To decrease, of course," said they. In response

to his argument the decree against catamenia was accordingly abolished.

When, however, they found out that he was a Jew, they at once re-enacted

the decrees they had canceled. Upon this the question arose who should

go to Rome and appeal against these enactments. It was resolved that

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, who was reputed experienced in miracles, should

go, accompanied by Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Yossi.... As they

journeyed along, the question was proposed to them, "Whence is it proved

that the blood of a reptile is unclean?" Rabbi Elazar replied with a

curl of the lip, and quoted Lev. ii. 29. "And these shall be unclean

unto you." Rabbi Shimon said unto him, "By the curl of thy lip art thou

recognizable as a disciple of the wise! May the son never return to his

father!" for he was annoyed that he should presume to teach a Halachah

in his presence, and then and there he condemned him to death. (See

_Berachoth_, fol. 31, col. 2.) Thereupon Ben Temalion (an evil sprite or

imp) came, and greeting him, said, "Do ye wish me to accompany you?"

Rabbi Shimon wept and said, "Alas! a maid-servant of my ancestor

(Abraham) was assisted by three angels, and I have not one to attend me!

However, let a miracle be worked for us anyhow." Then the evil spirit

entered into the Emperor's daughter, and when the Rabbi was called in to

cure the princess, he exorcised the spirit by saying, "Depart, Ben

Temalion! Ben Temalion, depart!" and the evil spirit left her. By way of

reward the Rabbis were bidden to ask whatsoever they pleased, and

admitted into the imperial treasury that they might choose what seemed

good to them. Espying there the edict against Israel, they chose it, and

tore it to pieces.

_Meyilah_, fol. 17, col. 1, 2.

At the time when the high priest enters to worship, three acolytes take

hold of him, one by the right hand and another by the left, while the

third lifts the gems attached to the train of his pontifical vestment.

_Tamid_, chap. 7; _Mishna_, 1.

"I once, when a grave-digger," says Abba Shaul, as the Rabbis relate,

"chased a roe which had entered the shinbone of a dead man; and though I

ran three miles after it, I could not overtake it, nor reach the end of

the bone. When I returned, I was told that it was a bone of Og, king of

Bashan."

_Niddah_, fol. 24, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that during the first three months (of pregnancy)

the child lies in the lower part (of the uterus); during the next three

it occupies the middle part; and during the last three it is in the

upper part; and that when the time of parturition comes, it turns over

first, and this causes the birth-pains. We are also taught that the

pains caused by a female child are greater than those caused by a male.

Rabbi Elazar said, "What Scripture is there for this? 'When I was made

in secret and curiously wrought, in the lowest parts of the earth' (Ps.

cxxxix. 15). It is not said, 'I abode,' but, 'I was curiously wrought.'

Why the difference? Why are the pains caused by a girl greater than

those caused by a boy?"

Ibid., fol. 31, col. 1.

The Rabbis teach there are three that have a share in a man; God, and

his father and mother. The father's part consists of all that is white

in him--the bones, the veins, the nails, the brain, and the white of the

eye. The mother's part consists of all that is red in him--the skin, the

flesh, the hair, and the black part of the eye. God's part consists of

the breath, the soul, the physiognomy, sight and hearing, speech, motive

power, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. And when the time comes

that the man should depart from the world, God takes away His part, and

leaves those which belong to the father and mother. Rav Pappa says,

"This is the meaning of the proverb, 'Shake off the salt and throw the

flesh to the dogs.'"

_Niddah_, fol. 31. col. 1.

Rashi's explanatory note is this: "Shake off the salt from the

flesh and it becomes fit only for dogs. The soul is the salt

which preserves the body; when it departs, the body putrefies."

Four things require fortitude in the observance:--The law, good works,

prayer, and social duties. Respecting the law and good works it is

written (Josh. i. 7), "Be thou strong and firm, that thou mayest observe

to do all the law;" in which the word "strong" refers to the law, and

the word "firm" to good works. Of prayer it is written, "Wait on the

Lord; be strong, and He shall make thine heart firm; wait, I say, upon

the Lord" (Ps. xxvii. 14). In respect to social duties it is written (2

Sam. x. 2), "Be strong, and let us strengthen ourselves for our people,

and for the cities of our God."

_Berachoth_, fol. 32, col. 2.

There are four signs which tell tales:--Dropsy is a sign of sin;

jaundice is a sign of hatred without a cause; poverty is a sign of

pride; and quinsy is a sign of slander.

_Shabbath_, fol. 33, col. 1.

"Unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah," i.e., four (Gen. xxxv. 27). Rabbi

Isaac calls it the city of four couples, i.e., Adam and Eve, Abraham and

Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. These four couples being

buried in Mamre, it was therefore called "the city of four."

_Eiruvin_, fol. 53, col. 1.

The sun makes four quarterly circuits. In April, May, and June, i.e.,

Nisan, Iyar, and Sivan, his circuit is between the mountains, in order

to dissolve the snow; in July, August, and September, i.e., Tamuz, Ab,

and Ellul, his circuit is over the habitable parts of the earth, in

order to ripen the fruits; in October, November, and December, i.e.,

Tishri, Marcheshvan, and Kislev, his circuit is over the seas, to

evaporate the waters; in January, February, and March, i.e., Tebeth,

Shebat, and Adar, his circuit is over the deserts, in order to protect

the seed sown from being scorched.

_Psachim_, fol. 94, col. 2.

Four persons are intolerable:--A poor man who is proud, a rich man who

is a liar, an old man who is incontinent, and a warden who behaves

haughtily to a community for whom he has done nothing. To these some add

him who has divorced his wife once or twice and married her again.

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.

Four things cancel the decrees of Heaven:--Alms, prayer, change of name,

and reformation of conduct. Alms, as it is written (Prov. x. 2), "But

alms (more correctly, righteousness) delivereth from death." Prayer as

it is written (Ps. cvii. 6). "Then they cried unto the Lord in their

trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses." Change of name,

as it is said (Gen. xvii. 15, 16), "As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt

not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name." And after this

change of name it is written, "And I will bless her, and give thee a son

of her." Reformation of conduct, as it is written (Jonah iii. 10), "And

God saw their works," and "God repented of the evil," etc. Some say also

change of residence has the effect of turning back the decree of Heaven

(Gen. xii. 1), "And the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy

country;" and then it is said, "I will make of thee a great nation."

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Four things cause an eclipse of the sun:--When a chief magistrate dies

and is not mourned over with the due lamentation; when a betrothed

damsel calls for help and no one comes to the rescue; when the people

commit the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah; and when brother murders brother.

_Succah_, fol. 29, col. 1.

Four things cause an eclipse among the luminaries of heaven: The writing

of false documents; the bearing false witness; the breeding of small

cattle, such as sheep and goats, in the land of Israel; and the cutting

down of fruit-trees.

Ibid., fol. 29, col. 1.

There are four things God repents of having created:--The Captivity, the

Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites, and the evil passion in man. The Captivity,

as it is written (Isa. lii. 5), "What have I here, saith the Lord, that

my people are taken away for nought?" etc. The Chaldeans, as it is

written (Isa. xxiii. 13), "Behold the land of the Chaldeans: this people

was not." The Ishmaelites, as it is written (Job xii. 6), "The tents of

robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure, into whose hand

God bringeth abundance." The evil passion, as it is written (Micah iv.

6), "And whom I have caused to be evil."

_Succah_, fol. 52, col. 2.

There have been four beautiful women in the world:--Sarah, Abigail,

Rahab, and Esther.

_Meggillah_, fol. 15, col. 1.

Tosephoth asks, "Why was not Eve numbered among these beauties,

since even Sarah, in comparison with Eve, was an ape compared to

a man?" The reply is, "Only those born of woman are here

enumerated."

In fol. 13, col. i, of the same treatise from which the above is

quoted, we are informed by Ben Azai that Esther was like the

myrtle-tree, neither tall nor short statured, but middle-sized.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha states that Esther's complexion was of

a yellow or gold color.

One cup of wine is good for a woman, two are disgraceful, three

demoralizing, and four brutalizing.

_Kethuboth_, fol. 65, col. 1.

He who traverses so much as four ells in the land of Israel is sure of

everlasting life.

Ibid., fol. III, col. 1.

To walk even four ells without bowing the head is an offense to Heaven;

for it is written (Isa. vi. 3), "The whole earth is full of His glory."

_Kiddushin_, fol. 31, col. 1.

There are four who are accounted as dead:--The pauper, the leper, the

blind man, and he who has no male children.

_Nedarin_, fol. 64, col. 2.

Four things mark the characters of men:--He who says what is mine is

mine, and what is thine is thine, is, according to some, a moderate man,

but, according to others, a child of Sodom; he who says what is mine is

thine, and what is thine is mine, is an ignorant man; he who says what

is mine is thine and what is thy own is also thine, is a pious man; he

who says mine and thine are both my own, is a wicked man.

_Avoth_, chap. 5, sec. 16.

There are four kinds of men, according to their degrees of

passionateness:--He who is easily provoked and as readily pacified, and

who loses more than he gains; he whom it is difficult to rouse and as

difficult to appease, and who gains more than he loses; he who is not

readily provoked, but easily pacified, who is a pious man; he who is

easily provoked and with difficulty appeased, who is a wicked man.

Ibid., chap. 5, sec. 19.

There are four classes of men who give alms, and they are thus

distinguished:--He who is willing to give, but unwilling that others

should do so, he has an evil eye toward others; he who wishes others to

give, but does not do so himself, he has an evil eye toward himself; he

who gives, and induces others to give, he is pious; he who gives not,

nor wishes others to give he is wicked.

_Avoth_, chap 5, sec. 19.

There are four marks by which one disciple differs from another:--One

learns and does not teach, one teaches and does not learn, one learns

and teaches, and one neither learns nor teaches.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 29.

Four things, if kept in view and gravely pondered over, deter from

sin:--That a man consider whence he cometh, whither he goeth, who the

judge will be, and what the future will bring to pass.

_Derech Eretz_, chap. 3.

What is the meaning of that which is written (Ps. lxxxvii 2), "The Lord

loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob?" The

answer is, The Lord loveth the gates that are marked with the Halachah

more than the synagogues and the schools; and this agrees with what

Rabbi Cheeya bar Ami has said, in the name of Ulla, that since the

destruction of the Temple nothing else has remained to God in His world

but four ells of the Halachah.

_Berachoth_, fol. 8, col. 1.

Whoso walks even four ells with a proud unbending gait is as though he

spurned with his haughty head the feet of the Shechinah; for it is

written (Isa. vi. 3), "The whole earth is full of His glory."

Ibid., fol. 43, col. 2.

Four are in duty bound to return thanks to God:--They that have returned

from a voyage at sea (Ps. cvii. 23, 24, 31); those who have traveled in

the desert (verses 4-8); they who have recovered from a serious illness

(verses 17-21); and those that are liberated from prison (verses 10-15).

_Berachoth_, fol. 54, col. 2.

If one does not walk, say four cubits, before falling asleep after a

meal, that which he has eaten, being undigestible, causes foulness of

breath.

_Shabbath_, fol. 41, col. 1.

Four have died in consequence of the seduction of the

serpent:--Benjamin, the son of Jacob; Amram, the father of Moses; Jesse,

the father of David; and Chileab, the son of David.

Ibid., fol. 55, col. 2.

These four are reckoned to have died on account of original sin,

and not solely because of actual transgression, which, says

Rashi, they never committed.

The traveler who is overtaken with the approach of Sabbath-eve before he

has completed his journey should hand over his purse to a Gentile to

carry; and if there be no Gentile at hand, let him stow it away on his

ass. As soon as the nearest halting-place is reached, those burdens

which may be lifted on the Sabbath should then be removed, and then the

cords should be slackened that the rest may slip off of its own accord.

Ibid., fol. 153, col. 1.

Here the Gemara very graciously appends a direction as to the

disposal of the purse, in case the traveler should happen to be

on foot and have no Gentile attendant. He may take care of it

himself, provided he halt at every other step and deposit it on

the ground, for at least a distance of four cubits.

A master is bound to rehearse a lesson to his pupil four times.

_Eiruvin_, fol. 54, col. 2.

Alas for the power which prepares a grave for its possessor, for there

is not a prophet who hath not in his lifetime witnessed the decadence of

four kings; as it is said (Isa. i. 1), "The vision of Isaiah ... in the

days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah" (see also

Hosea i. 1).

_P'sachim_, fol. 87, col. 2.

Once Rav Pappa and Rav Hunnah partook together of a common meal, and as

the latter ate only one morsel the former ate four. After this, when Rav

Hunnah and Ravina ate together, the latter devoured eight portions to

the other's one, upon which Rav Hunnah jocularly remarked, "A hundred

(Rav) Pappas to one Ravina."

_P'sachim_, fol. 89, col. 2.

No food may be eaten on Passover-eve from the time of the offering of

the evening sacrifice (in order, i.e. that abstinence may whet the

appetite for the Matsoth). Even the poorest in Israel may not break his

fast till the hour of reclining; nor is he to partake of less than four

glasses of wine, even though he has been reduced so low as to subsist on

the porridge doled out by public charity.

Ibid., fol. 99, col. 2.

There are four things the doing of which by man brings judgment upon his

own head:--If he turn in between a wall and a date-palm; if he turn in

between two date-palms; if he drink borrowed water; and if he step

across spilt water, such even as his own wife may have thrown away. (All

these doings, says Rashi, are bound to annoy the evil genii.)

Ibid., fol. 111, col. 1.

Four precepts did our holy Rabbi (Yehudah Hakadosh) urge upon his

children:--Not to choose Shechentzia as a dwelling-place, for scoffers

resided there; not to use the bed of a Syrian odalisque; not to shirk

the payment of fiscal dues, lest the collector should confiscate all

their property; not to face an ox when he came up (ruffled) from the

cane-brake, for Satan sported betwixt his horns.

_P'sachim_, fol. 112, col. 2.

Whosoever prieth into the four things in the matter of the chariot in

Ezekiel's vision--what is above, what is beneath, what is before, or

what is behind--it were better for him if he had never been born.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 11, col. 2.

The work or matter of the chariot, the Rabbinic term for the

Vision of Ezekiel, ranks among the Arcana Judaica, which are not

to be told save to the initiated.

Four men entered Paradise--these are their names:--Ben Azai, Ben Zoma,

Acher, and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva thus warned his companions: "When

you come across pavements of pellucid marble, do not cry out 'Water!

water!' for it is said (Ps. ci. 7), 'He that uttereth falsehood shall

not dwell in my sight.'" Ben Azai looked and died; concerning him the

Scripture says (Ps. cxvi. 15), "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the

death of his saints." Ben Zoma looked and went out of his mind; of him

the Scripture says (Prov. xxv. 16), "Hast thou found honey? eat only so

much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit

it." Acher cut the plants. Only Akiva departed in peace.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 14, col. 2.

Rashi explains this by saying these men went up to heaven; but

Maimonides much more rationally teaches that the Paradise or

garden here is merely the retreat of profound philosophic

meditation. These five intuitions were;--(1.) To know that there

is a God; (2.) to ignore every other beside Him; (3.) to feel

His unity; (4.) to love His person; and (5.) to stand in awe of

His Majesty (see Vad Hachaz, chap. 4, sec. 19). Deep thought in

these matters was spoken of by the Rabbis as _promenading in the

garden_.

Four times a year is the world subject to an ordeal of judgment:--At

Passover, which is decisive of the fruits of the field; at Pentecost,

which is decisive of the fruits of the garden; at the feast of

Tabernacles, which is decisive in respect of rain; on New Year's Day,

when all who come into the world pass before the Lord like sheep, as it

is said (Ps. xxxiii. 15), "Who formed their hearts together; who

understandeth all their works."

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 16, col. 1.

There are four varieties of cedar:--Erez, Karthom, Etz-Shemen, and

Berosh.

Ibid., fol. 23, col. 1.

Ben Kamzar would not teach the art of writing, and yet it is related of

him that he could, by taking four pens between his fingers, write off a

word of four letters at one stroke.

_Yoma_, fol. 38, col. 2.

There are four kinds of quails:--Sichli, Kibli, Pisyoni, and the common

quail. The first was of superior quality, and the last inferior.

Ibid., fol. 75, col. 2.

A man may obtain forgiveness after the third transgression, but if he

repeat the offense a fourth time, he is not pardoned again; for it is

said (Amos ii. 4), "For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I

will not turn away the punishment thereof;" and again (Job xxxiii. 29),

"Lo! all these things doth God two or three times" (and so inferentially

not four times) "with man to bring back his soul from the pit."

_Yoma_, fol. 86, col. 2.

For four reasons does their property pass out of the hands of the

avaricious:--Because they are backward in paying the wages of their

hired servants; because they altogether neglect their welfare; because

they shift the yoke from themselves and lay the burden upon their

neighbors; and because of pride, which is of itself as bad as all the

rest put together; whereas of the meek it is written (Ps. xxxvii. n),

"The meek shall inherit the earth."

_Succah_, fol. 29, col. 2.

"And the Lord showed me four carpenters" (Zech. i, 20). Who are these

four carpenters? Rav Ghana bar Bizna says that Rabbi Shimon Chassida

said they were Messiah the son of David, Messiah the son of Joseph,

Elijah, and the Priest of Righteousness.

Ibid., fol. 52, col. 2.

No Synagogue is to be sold except on condition that there be power of

re-purchase. These are the words of Rabbi Meir; but the sages say it may

be sold unconditionally, except in these four particular cases: that it

be not turned into a bath-house, a tannery, a wash-house, or a laundry.

_Meggillah_, fol. 27, col. 2.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zachai was once asked by his disciples how he had

attained such length of days. "Never once," he said, "in my life have I

acted irreverently within four cubits of a place where prayer is

offered; never have I called a person by a wicked name; nor have I ever

failed to sanctify the Sabbath over a cup of wine. Once my aged mother

sold her head-dress to buy the consecration wine for me."

Ibid., fol. 27, col. 2.

When a sage is approaching, one should rise up before he gets within

four ells' distance, and remain standing until he has gone as far past.

When a chief magistrate is about to pass, one must rise as soon as he

comes in sight, and not resume the seat until he has passed four ells.

When a prince passes, one must stand up whenever he appears, and not sit

down again until the prince himself is seated; for it is said (Exod.

xxxiii, 8), "All the people rose up, ... and looked after Moses until he

was gone into the tabernacle."

_Kiddushin_, fol. 33, col. 2.

When Nero came to the Holy Land, he tried his fortune by belemnomancy

thus:--He shot an arrow eastward, and it fell upon Jerusalem; he

discharged his shafts towards the four points of the compass, and every

time they fell upon Jerusalem. After this he met a Jewish boy, and said

unto him, "Repeat to me the text thou hast learned to-day." The boy

repeated, "I will lay my vengeance upon Edom (i.e., Rome) by the hand of

my people Israel" (Ezek. xxv. 14). Then said Nero, "The Holy

One--blessed be He!--has determined to destroy His Temple and then

avenge Himself on the agent by whom its ruin is wrought." Thereupon Nero

fled and became a Jewish proselyte, and Rabbi Meir is of his race.

_Gittin_, fol. 56, col. 1.

They whose banquet is accompanied with four kinds of instruments of

music bring five calamities on the world; as it is said (Isa. v. 11-15),

"Woe unto those that get up early in the morning, that they may run

after strong drink; and continue until late at night, till flushed with

wine. And the harp and psaltery, tambourine and flute, and wine are at

their carousals."

_Soteh_, fol. 48, col. 1.

Let him carry the purse, and halt every time he accomplishes less than

four cubits forward.

_Shabbath_, fol. 153, cols, 1, 2.

Rav Yitzchak here explains how the good Jew, belated on

Sabbath-eve, may carry his purse himself, and so save his

conscience. The traveler is to halt at about every other step,

and so measure off the journey in four-cubit stages.

Though ever since the destruction of the Temple the Sanhedrin has ceased

to exist, the four kinds of capital punishment have not failed to assert

themselves. If a man incurs the penalty of death by stoning, he is in

the course of Providence either punished by a fatal fall from a roof or

slain by some beast of prey; if he has exposed himself to the penalty of

death by burning, it happens that he is either burned to death in the

end or mortally stung by a serpent; if the penalty of the law is that he

should be beheaded for his offense, he meets his death either from the

Government officer or by the hand of an assassin; if the penalty be

strangulation, he is sure to be drowned or suffocated.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 37, col. 2.

When a person is in a state of apprehension and cannot make out the

cause of it (the star that presided at his birth and his genii know all

about it), what should he do? Let him jump from where he is standing

four cubits, or else let him repeat, "Hear, O Israel," etc. (Deut. vi.

4); or if the place be unfit for the repetition of Scripture, let him

mutter to himself, "The goat at the butcher's is fatter than me."

Ibid., fol. 94, col. 1.

It is written in 2 Chron. xxxiii. 7, "A carved image;" and again it is

written in verse 19, "Graven images." Rabbi Yochanan said, "At first he

made the image with one face, but afterwards he made it with four--four,

so that the Shechinah might see it from every point, and thus be

exasperated."

Ibid., fol. 103, col. 2.

Moses uttered four judgments upon Israel, but four prophets revoked

them:--(1.) First Moses said (Deut. xxxiii. 28), "Israel then shall

dwell in safety alone;" then came Amos and set it aside (Amos vii. 5),

"Cease, I beseech thee," etc.; and then it is written (verse 6), "This

shall not be, saith the Lord." (2.) First Moses said (Deut. xxviii. 65),

"Among these nations thou shalt find no ease;" then came Jeremiah and

set this saying aside (Jer. xxxi. 2), "Even Israel, when I went to cause

him to rest." (3.) First Moses said (Exod. xxxiv. 7), "Visiting the

iniquities of the fathers upon the children;" then came Ezekiel and set

this aside (Ezek. xviii. 4), "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (4.)

First Moses said (Lev. xxvi. 38), "And ye shall perish among the

heathen;" then came Isaiah and reversed this (Isa. xxvii. 13), "And it

shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown,

and they shall come which were ready to perish."

_Maccoth_, fol. 24, col. 1.

When Akavyah ben Mahalalel appeared to four halachahs contradicting the

judgment of the wise on a certain important point of law, "Retract,"

they said, "and we will promote thee to be president of the tribunal."

To which he replied, "I would rather be called a fool all the days of my

life than be judged wicked for one hour before Him who is omnipresent."

_Edioth_, chap. 5, mish. 6.

Let thy house be open wide toward the south, the east, the west, and the

north, just as Job, who made four entrances to his house, in order that

the poor might find entrance without trouble from whatever quarter they

might come.

_Avoth d'Rav. Nathan_, chap. 7,

Rabbah once saw a sea-monster on the day it was brought forth, and it

was as large as Mount Tabor. And how large is Mount Tabor? Its neck was

three miles long, and where it laid its head a mile and a half. Its dung

choked up the Jordan, till, as Rashi says, its waters washed it away.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 73, col. 2.

Shemuel said, "We know remedies for all maladies except three:--That

induced by unripe dates on an empty stomach; that induced by wearing a

damp linen rope round one's loins; and that induced by falling asleep

after meals without having first walked a distance of at least four

cubits."

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 113, col. 2.

The five times repeated "Bless the Lord, O my soul" (Ps. ciii. civ.),

were said by David with reference both to God and the soul. As God fills

the whole world, so does the soul fill the whole body; as God sees and

is not seen, so the soul sees and is not seen; as God nourishes the

whole world, so does the soul nourish the whole body; as God is pure, so

also is the soul pure; as God dwelleth in secret, so does the soul dwell

in secret. Therefore let him who possesses these five properties praise

Him to whom these five attributes belong.

_Berachoth_, fol. 10, col. 1.

Five things have in them a sixtieth part of five other things:--Fire,

honey, the Sabbath, sleep, and dreams. Fire is a sixtieth of hell, honey

a sixtieth of manna, the Sabbath a sixtieth of the rest in the world to

come, sleep the sixtieth of death, and a dream the sixtieth of prophecy.

_Berachoth_, fol. 57, col. 2.

There are five weak things that are a source of terror to the

strong:--The mosquito is a terror to the lion, the gnat is a terror to

the elephant, the ichneumon-fly is a terror to the scorpion, the

flycatcher is a terror to the eagle, and the stickleback is a terror to

the leviathan.

_Shabbath_, fol. 77, col. 2.

These five should be killed even on the Sabbath:--The fly of Egypt, the

wasp of Nineveh, the scorpion of Hadabia, the serpent of the land of

Israel, and the mad dog anywhere and everywhere.

Ibid., fol. 121, col. 2.

Five things did Canaan teach his children:--To love one another, to

perpetrate robbery, to practice wantonness, to hate their masters, and

not to speak the truth.

_P'sachim_, fol. 113, col. 2.

Five things were in the first Temple which were not in the second:--The

ark and its cover, with the cherubim; the fire; the Shechinah; the Holy

Spirit; and the Urim and Thummim.

_Yoma_, fol. 21, col. 2.

Five things are said respecting the mad dog:--Its mouth gapes wide, it

drops its saliva, its ears hang down, its tail is curled between its

legs, and it slinks along the side of the road. Rav says that a dog's

madness is caused by witches sporting with it. Samuel says it is because

an evil spirit rests upon it.

Ibid., fol. 83, col. 2.

When a man has betrothed one of five women, and does not remember which

of the five it is, while each of them claims the right of betrothment,

then he is duty bound to give to each a bill of divorcement, and to

distribute the dowry due to one among them all. This decision is

according to Rabbi Tarphon, but Rabbi Akiva holds that he must not only

divorce each, but give to each the legal dowry, otherwise he fails in

his duty.

_Yevamoth_, fol. 118, col. 2.

When a person having robbed one of five does not remember which of the

five it was he had robbed, and each claims to have been the victim of

the robbery, then he is to part the stolen property (or the value of it)

among them all, and go his way. So says Rabbi Tarphon, but Rabbi Akiva

argues that the defaulter does not in this way fully exonerate himself;

he must restore to each and all the full value of the plunder.

_Yevamoth_, fol. 118, col. 2.

These things are said concerning garlic:--It nourishes, it glows

inwardly, it brightens the complexion, and increases virility. Some say

that it is a philtre for love, and that it exterminates jealousy.

_Bava Kama_, fol. 82, col. 1.

Five things cause forgetfulness:--Partaking of what has been gnawed by a

mouse or a cat, eating bullock's heart, habitual use of olives, drinking

water that has been washed in, and placing the feet one upon the other

while bathing.

_Horayoth_, fol. 13, col. 2.

Five things restore the memory again:--Bread baked upon coals,

soft-boiled eggs without salt, habitual use of olive oil, mulled wine,

and plenty of salt.

Ibid.

He who does not cheer the bridegroom whose wedding breakfast he has

enjoyed transgresses against the five voices (mentioned in Jer. xxxiii.

II):--"The voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of the

bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say

'Praise ye the Lord of Hosts.'"

_Berachoth_, fol. 6, col. 2.

Mount Sinai had five names:--(1.) Wilderness of Zin, because on it the

Israelites were commanded to observe the law; (2.) Wilderness of Kadesh,

because on it the Israelites were consecrated to receive the law; (3.)

Wilderness of Kedemoth, because precedence was there given to Israel

over all other nations; (4.) Wilderness of Paran, because there the

Israelites were fruitful and multiplied; (5.) Wilderness of Sinai,

because from it enmity came to be cherished to the Gentiles. It was

denominated Horeb according to Rabbi Abhu, because from it came down

destruction to the Gentiles.

_Shabbath_, fol. 89, cols, 1, 2.

Mar (the master) has said, "From dawn to the appearance of the sun is

five miles." How is this proved? It is written (Gen. xix. 15), "When the

dawn arose the angels hurried Lot;" and it is added (verse 25), "The sun

was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar." And Rabbi Chanena

said, "I myself have seen that place, and the distance is five miles."

_P'sachim_, fol. 93, col. 2.

He that cooks in milk the ischiadic sinew on an annual festival is to be

scourged five times forty stripes save one:--For cooking the sinew, for

eating the sinew, for cooking flesh in milk, for eating flesh cooked in

milk, and for lighting the fire.

_Baitza_, fol. 12, col. 1.

To this very day this sinew is extracted from the hind quarters

of all animals before it is allowable for a Jew to eat them.

This operation, in popular parlance, is termed porging.

The mysteries of the law are not to be communicated except to those who

possess the faculties of these five in combination:--"The captain of

fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning

artificer, and the eloquent orator" (see Isa. iii. 3).

_Chaggigah_, fol. 13, col. 1.

"Captain of fifty." This should be read, not captain of fifty, but

captain of five, that is, such as knew how to manage the five-fifths of

the law (or Pentateuch).

Ibid., fol. 14, col. 1.

Five characteristics were ascribed to the fire upon the altar:--It

crouched there like a lion, it shone as the sun, it was perceptible to

the touch, it consumed liquids as though they were dry materials, it

caused no smoke.

_Yoma_, fol. 21, col. 2.

How is it that the word signifying "And I will be glorified," occurs in

Hag. i. 8 without the letter which is the symbol for five, though it is

sounded as if that letter was there? It indicates the absence of five

things from the second Temple which were to be found in the first, (1.)

The ark, i.e., the mercy-seat of the cherubim; (2.) the fire from heaven

upon the altar; (3.) the visible presence; (4.) the Holy Spirit (of

prophecy, says Rashi); and (5.) the Urim and Thummim.

Ibid.

How then, it may be asked, if these five tokens of the Divine

presence and favor which rendered the first Temple so glorious

were wanting in the second could it be said (Hag. ii. 9), "The

glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former"?

It is a question which it is natural to ask, and it should be

ingenuously answered. Is it that these were tending to usurp the

place of the spiritual, of which they were but the assurance and

the symbol, and darken rather than reveal the eternal reality

they adumbrated?

The Israelites relished any flavor they fancied in the manna except the

flavor of these five things (mentioned in Num. xi. 59):--"Cucumbers,

melons, leeks, onions, and garlic."

_Yoma_, fol. 75, col. 1.

Five things happened to our forefathers on the 17th of Tammuz, and five

on the 9th of Ab. On the 17th of Tammuz (1.) the tables of the covenant

were broken; (2.) the daily sacrifice was done away with; (3.) the city

walls were cleft asunder; (4.) Apostumes burned the roll of the law;

(5.) and set up an idol in the temple. On the 9th of Ab (1.) the decree

was uttered that our ancestors should not enter the land of Canaan; both

the (2.) first and the (3.) second Temple were destroyed; (4.) Byther

was subjugated and (5.) the city was plowed up.

_Taanith_, fol. 26, cols, 1, 2.

The Rabbis have taught where it is we learn that if one has five sons by

five wives he is bound to redeem each and all of them. It is from what

is taught in Exod. xxxiv. 20, where it is said, "All the first born of

thy sons shalt thou redeem."

_Kiddushin_. fol. 29. col. 2.

If Israel had not sinned they would have had no other Scriptures than

the five-fifths of the law (that is, the Pentateuch) and the book of

Joshua, which last is indispensable, because therein is recorded how the

land was distributed among the sons of Israel; but the remainder was

added, "Because in much wisdom is much grief" (Eccles. i. 18).

_Nedarim_, fol. 22, col. 2.

"If a man steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it, five oxen shall

be given in restitution for one ox, and four sheep for one sheep" (Exod.

xxii. 1). From this observe the value put upon work. For the loss of an

ox, because it involves the loss of labor, the owner is recompensed with

five oxen; but for the loss of a sheep, which does no work, he is only

recompensed with four.

_Bava Kama_, fol. 79, col. 2.

"And Esau came from the field, and he was faint" (Gen. xxv. 29). Rabbi

Yochanan said that wicked man committed on that day five

transgressions:--He committed rape, committed murder, denied the being

of God, denied the resurrection from the dead, and despised the

birthright.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 16, col. 2.

There are five celebrated idolatrous temples, and these are the names of

them:--The Temple of Bel in Babylon, the Temple of Nebo in Chursi, the

Temple of Thretha in Maphog, the Temple of Zeripha in Askelon, and the

Temple of Nashra in Arabia. When Rabbi Dimmi came from Palestine to

Babylon he said there were others, viz, the Temple of Yarid in Ainbechi,

and that of Nadbacha in Accho.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 11, col. 2.

"And they also transgressed my covenant, which I have commanded them;

and they also have taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen,

and dissembled also, and have also put it among their own stuff" (Josh.

vii. 11). Rav Illaa says, in the name of Rav Yehudah ben Mispartha, the

fivefold repetition of the particle also shows that Achan had trespassed

against all the five books of Moses. The same Rabbi further adds that

Achan had obliterated the sign of the covenant, for it is said in

relation to him, "And they have also transgressed my covenant;" and with

reference to circumcision, "He hath broken my covenant."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 44, col. 1.

He who eats an ant is flogged five times with forty stripes save one.

_Maccoth_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Rabbi Akiva used to say there are five judgments on record each of

twelve months' duration:--That of the deluge, that of Job, that of the

Egyptians, that of Gog and Magog, and that of the wicked in hell. This

last is said of those whose demerits outweigh their virtues, or those

who have sinned against their bodies.

_Edioth_, chap. 2, mish. 10.

Five possessions hath the Holy One--blessed be He!--purchased for

Himself in this world:--(1.) The law is one possession (Prov. viii. 22);

(2.) Heaven and earth is one possession (Isa. lxvi. 1, Ps. civ. 24);

(3.) Abraham is one possession (Gen. xiv. 9); (4.) Israel is one

possession (Exod. xv. 16); (5.) the Temple is one possession, as it is

said (Exod. xv. 17), "The sanctuary, O Lord, Thy hands have

established." And it is also said (Ps. lxxviii. 54), "And He brought

them to the border of His sanctuary, even to this mountain, which His

right hand had purchased."

_Avoth_, chap. 6.

Rabbi Akiva says he who marries a woman not suited to him violates five

precepts:--(1.) Thou shalt not avenge; (2.) thou shalt not bear a

grudge; (3.) thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; (4.) thou

shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; (5.) and that thy brother may live

with thee. For if he hates her he wishes she were dead, and thus he

diminishes the population.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 26.

Five have no forgiveness of sins:--(1.) He who keeps on sinning and

repenting alternately; (2.) he who sins in a sinless age; (3.) he who

sins on purpose to repent; (4.) he who causes the name of God to be

blasphemed. The fifth is not given in the Talmud.

Ibid., chap. 39.

He who has no fringes to his garment transgresses five positive commands

(see Num. xv. 38. etc.; Deut. xxii. 12).

_Menachoth_, fol. 44, col. 1.

A learner who, after five years, sees no profit in studying, will never

see it. Rabbi Yossi says, after three years, as it is written (Dan. i.

4, 5), "That they should be taught the literature and the language of

the Chaldeans," so educating them in three years.

_Chullin_, fol. 24, col. 1.

Any one who doeth any of these things sinneth against himself, and his

blood is upon his own head:--He that (1.) eats garlic, onions, or eggs

which were peeled the night before; (2.) or drinks water drawn over

night; (3.) or sleeps all night in a burying-place; (4.) or pares his

nails and throws the cuttings into the public street.

_Niddah_, fol. 17, col. 1.

Rabbi Yossi said:--"Never once in all my life have the walls of my house

seen the hem of my shirt; and I have planted five cedars (sons are

figuratively so termed, see Ps. xcii. 12) in Israel--namely, Rabbis

Ishmael, Eliezar, Chalafta, Artilas, and Menachem. Never once in my life

have I spoken of my wife by any other name than house, and of my ox by

any other name than field."

_Shabbath_, fol. 118, col. 2.

Six things are a disgrace to a disciple of the wise:--To walk abroad

perfumed, to walk alone by night, to wear old clouted shoes, to talk

with a woman in the street, to sit at table with illiterate men, and to

be late at the synagogue. Some add to these, walking with a proud step

or a haughty gait.

_Berachoth_, fol. 43, col. 2.

A soft-boiled egg is better than six ounces of fine flour.

Ibid., fol. 44, col. 2.

Six things are a certain cure for sickness:--Cabbage, beetroot, water

distilled from dry moss, honey, the maw and the matrix of an animal, and

the edge of the liver.

Ibid.

These six things are good symptoms in an invalid:--Sneezing,

perspiration, evacuation, seminal emission, sleep, and dreaming.

Ibid., fol. 57, col. 2.

Six things bear interest in this world and the capital remaineth in the

world to come:--Hospitality to strangers, visiting the sick, meditation

in prayer, early attendance at the school of instruction, the training

of sons to the study of the law, and judging charitably of one's

neighbors.

_Shabbath_, fol. 127, col. 1.

There are six sorts of tears, three good and three bad:--Those caused by

smoke, or grief, or constipation are bad; and those caused by fragrant

spices, laughter, and aromatic herbs are good.

Ibid., fol. 151, col. 2; fol. 152, col. 1.

Six things are said respecting the illiterate:--No testimony is to be

borne to them, none is to be accepted from them; no secret is to be

disclosed to them; they are not to be appointed guardians over orphans,

nor keepers of the charity-box, and there should be no fellowship with

them when on a journey. Some say also no public notice is to be given of

their lost property.

_P'sachim_, fol. 49, col. 2.

The expression here rendered "illiterate" means literally

"people of the land," and was, there is reason to believe,

originally applied to the primitive inhabitants of Canaan,

traces of whom may still be found among the fellahin of Syria.

They appear, like the aboriginal races in many countries of

Christendom in relation to Christianity, to have remained

generation after generation obdurately inaccessible to Jewish

ideas, and so to have given name to the ignorant and untaught

generally. This circumstance may account for the harshness of

some of the quotations which are appended in reference to them.

He who aspires to be a fellow of the learned must not sell fruit, either

green or dry, to an illiterate man, nor may he buy fresh fruit of him.

He must not be the guest of an ignorant man, nor receive such an one as

his guest.

_Demai_, chap. 2, mish. 2.

Our Rabbis teach, Let a man sell all that he has and marry the daughter

of a learned man. If he cannot find the daughter of a learned man, let

him marry the daughter of one of the great men of his day. If he does

not find such a one, let him marry the daughter of one of the heads of

the congregation, or, failing this, the daughter of a charity collector,

or even the daughter of a schoolmaster; but let him not marry the

daughter of an illiterate man, for the unlearned are an abomination, as

also their wives and their daughters.

_P'sachim_, fol. 49, col. 2.

It is said that Rabbi (the Holy) teaches that it is illegal for an

unlearned man to eat animal food, for it is said (Lev. xi. 46), "This is

the law of the beast and the fowl;" therefore he who studies the law may

eat animal food, but he who does not study the law may not. Rabbi

Eliezar said, "It is lawful to split open the nostrils of an unlearned

man, even on the Day of Atonement which happens to fall on a Sabbath."

To which his disciples responded, "Rabbi, say rather to slaughter him."

He replied, "Nay, that would require the repetition of the usual

benediction; but in tearing open his nostrils no benedictory formula is

needed." Rabbi Eliezar has also said, "It is unlawful to travel with

such a one, for it is said (Deut. xxx. 30), 'For it is thy life and the

length of thy days.' The unlearned does not ensure his own life (since

he has no desire to study the law, which would prolong life), how much

less then will he regard the life of his neighbor?" Rabbi Samuel, son of

Nachman, says on behalf of Rabbi Yochanan, that it is lawful to split

open an unlearned man like a fish. "Aye," adds Rabbi Samuel, "and that

from his back."

_P'sachim_, fol. 49, col. 2.

Rav Yehudah says it is good to eat the pulp of a pumpkin with beetroot

as a remedy, also the essence of hemp seed in Babylonian broth; but it

is not lawful to mention this in the presence of an illiterate man,

because he might derive a benefit from the knowledge not meant for him.

_Nedarim_, fol. 49, col. 1.

No contribution or heave-offering should be given to an ignorant priest.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 90, col. 2.

No boor can be pious, nor an ignorant man a saint.

_Avoth_, chap. 2, mish. 6.

Sleep in the morning, wine at mid-day, the idle talk of inexperienced

youth, and attending the conventicles of the ignorant drive a man out of

the world.

Ibid., chap. 3, mish. 16.

Rabbi Jonathan says, "Where do we learn that no present is to be made to

an ignorant priest?" In 2 Chron. xxxi. 4, for there it is said Hezekiah

"commanded that all the people that dwelt in Jerusalem should give a

portion to the priests and to the Levites, that they might be strong in

the law of the Lord." He who firmly lays hold of the law has a claim to

a portion, otherwise he has none.

_Chullin_, fol. 130, col. 2.

The aged, if ignorant, grow weaker in intellect the older they become in

years, for it is written (Job xii. 20), "He removeth away the speech of

the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged." But it is

not so with them that are old in the study of the law, for the older

they grow the more thoughtful they become, and the wiser, as it is said

(Job xii. 12), "With the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days

understanding."

_Kinnin_, chap. 3.

The salutation of the ignorant should be responded to quietly, and with

a reluctant nod of the head.

_Taanith_, fol. 14, col. 2.

No calamities ever befall the world except such as are brought on by the

ignorant.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 8, col. 1.

Rav Hunna's widow once appeared before Rav Nachman as plaintiff in a

lawsuit. "What shall I do?" he said. "If I rise before her (to honor her

as the widow of a Rabbi), the defendant, who is an _amhaaretz_, will

feel uneasy; and if I don't rise I shall break the rule which ordains

that the wife of an associate is to be treated as an associate." So he

said to his servant, "Loose a young goose over my head, then I'll get

up."

Rav bar Sheravyah had a lawsuit with an _amhaaretz_ before Rav Pappa,

who bade him be seated, and also asked the other to sit down. When the

officer of the court raised the _amhaaretz_ with a kick, the magistrate

did not request him to be seated again.

_Shevuoth_, fol. 30, col. 2.

Six things are said respecting demons. In three particulars they are

like angels, and in three they resemble men. They have wings like

angels; like angels they fly from one end of the world to the other, and

they know the future, as angels do, with this difference, that they

learn by listening behind the veil what angels have revealed to them

within. In three respects they resemble men. They eat and drink like

men, they beget and increase like men, and like men they die.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 16, col. 1.

The Talmud is particularly rich in demonology, and many are the

forms which the evil principle assumes in its pages. We have no

wish to drag these shapes to the light, and interrogate them as

to the part they play in this intricate life. Enough now if we

mention the circumstance of their existence, and introduce to

the reader the story of Ashmedai, the king of the demons. The

story is worth relating, both for its own sake and its

historical significance.

In Ecclesiastes ii. 8, we read, "I gat me men singers and women

singers, the delights of the sons of men, as musical

instruments, and that of all sorts." These last seven words

represent only two in the original Hebrew, _Shiddah-veshiddoth_.

These two words in the original Hebrew translated by the last

seven in this verse, have been a source of great perplexity to

the critics, and their exact meaning is matter of debate to this

hour. They in the West say they mean severally carriages for

lords and carriages for ladies, while we, says the Babylonish

Talmud, interpret them to signify male demons and female demons.

Whereupon, if this last is the correct rendering, the question

arises, for what purpose Solomon required them? The answer is to

be found in 1 Kings vi. 7, where it is written, "And the house,

when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it

was brought thither," etc. For before the operation commenced

Solomon asked the Rabbis, "How shall I accomplish this without

using tools of iron?" and they remembering of an insect which

had existed since the creation of the world, whose powers were

such as the hardest substances could not resist, replied, "There

is the Shameer, with which Moses cut the precious stones of the

Ephod." Solomon asked, "And where, pray, is the Shameer to be

found?" To which they made answer, "Let a male demon and a

female come, and do thou coerce them both; mayhap they know and

will reveal it to thee." He then conjured into his presence a

male and a female demon, and proceeded to torture them, but in

vain, for said they, "We know not its whereabouts and cannot

tell; perhaps Ashmedai, the king of the demons, knows." On being

further interrogated as to where he in turn might be found, they

made this answer: "In yonder mount is his residence; there he

has dug a pit, and, after filling it with water, covered it over

with a stone, and sealed with his own seal. Daily he ascends to

heaven and studies in the school of wisdom there, then he comes

down and studies in the school of wisdom here; upon which he

goes and examines the seal, then opens the pit, and after

quenching his thirst, covers it up again, re-seals it, and takes

his departure."

Solomon thereupon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, provided

with a magic chain and ring, upon both of which the name of God

was engraved. He also provided him with a fleece of wool and

sundry skins with wine. Then Benaiah went and sank a pit below

that of Ashmedai, into which he drained off the water and

plugged the duct between with the fleece. Then he set to and dug

another hole higher up with a channel leading into the emptied

pit of Ashmedia, by means of which the pit was filled with the

wine he had brought. After leveling the ground so as not to

rouse suspicion, he withdrew to a tree close by, so as to watch

the result and wait his opportunity. After a while Ashmedai

came, and examined the seal, when, seeing it all right, he

raised the stone, and to his surprise found wine in the pit. For

a time he stood muttering and saying, it is written, "Wine is a

mocker: strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived

thereby is not wise." And again, "Whoredom and wine and new wine

take away the heart." Therefore at first he was unwilling to

drink, but being thirsty, he could not long resist the

temptation. He proceeded to drink therefore, when, becoming

intoxicated, he lay down to sleep. Then Benaiah, came forth from

his ambush, and stealthily approaching, fastened the chain round

the sleeper's neck. Ashmedai, when he awoke, began to fret and

fume, and would have torn off the chain that bound him, had not

Benaiah warned him, saying, "The name of thy Lord is upon thee."

Having thus secured him, Benaiah proceeded to lead him away to

his sovereign master. As they journeyed along they came to a

palm-tree, against which Ashmedai rubbed himself, until he

uprooted it and threw it down. When they drew near to a hut, the

poor widow who inhabited it came out and entreated him not to

rub himself against it, upon which, as he suddenly bent himself

back, he snapt a bone of his body, and said, "This is that which

is written (Prov. xxv. 15), 'And a gentle answer breaketh the

bone.'" Descrying a blind man straying out of his way, he hailed

him and directed him aright. He even did the same service to a

man overcome with wine, who was in a similar predicament. At

sight of a wedding party that passed rejoicing along, he wept;

but he burst into uncontrollable laughter when he heard a man

order at a shoemaker's stall a pair of shoes that would last

seven years; and when he saw a magician at his work he broke

forth into shrieks of scorn.

On arriving at the royal city, three days were allowed to pass

before he was introduced to Solomon. On the first day he said.

"Why does the king not invite me into his presence?" "He has

drunk too much," was the answer, "and the wine has overpowered

him." Upon which he lifted a brick and placed it upon the top of

another. When this was communicated to Solomon, he replied "He

meant by this, go and make him drunk again." On the day

following he asked again, "Why does the king not invite me into

his presence?" They replied, "He has eaten too much." On this he

removed the brick again from the top of the other. When this was

reported to the king, he interpreted it to mean, "Stint him in

his food."

After the third day, he was introduced to the king; when

measuring off four cubits upon the floor with the stick he held

in his hand, he said to Solomon, "When thou diest, thou wilt not

possess in this world (he referred to the grave) more than four

cubits of earth. Meanwhile thou has conquered the world, yet

thou wert not satisfied until thou hadst overcome me also." To

this the king quietly replied, "I want nothing of thee, but I

wish to build the Temple and have need of the _Shameer_." To

which Ashmedai at once answered, "The Shameer is not committed

in charge to me, but to the Prince of the Sea, and he intrusts

it to no one except to the great wild cock, and that upon an

oath that he return it to him again." Whereupon Solomon asked,

"And what does the wild cock do with the Shameer?" To which the

demon replied, "He takes it to a barren rocky mountain, and by

means of it he cleaves the mountain asunder, into the cleft of

which, formed into a valley, he drops the seeds of various

plants and trees, and thus the place becomes clothed with

verdure and fit for habitation." This is the _Shameer_ (Lev. xi.

19), Nagger Tura, which the Targum renders Mountain Splitter.

They therefore searched for the nest of the wild cock, which

they found contained a young brood. This they covered with a

glass, that the bird might see its young, but not be able to get

at them. When accordingly the bird came and found his nest

impenetrably glazed over, he went and fetched the Shameer. Just

as he was about to apply it to the glass in order to cut it,

Solomon's messenger gave a startling shout, and this so agitated

the bird that he dropped the Shameer, and Solomon's messenger

caught it up and made off with it. The cock thereupon went and

strangled himself, because he was unable to keep the oath by

which he had bound himself to return the Shameer.

Benaiah asked Ashmedai why, when he saw the blind man straying,

he so promptly interfered to guide him? "Because," he replied,

"it was proclaimed in heaven that that man was perfectly

righteous, and that whosoever did him a good turn would earn a

title to a place in the world of the future." "And when thou

sawest the man overcome with wine wandering out of his way, why

didst thou put him right again?" Ashmedai said, "Because it was

made known in heaven that that man was thoroughly bad, and I

have done him a good service that he might not lose all, but

receive some good in the world that now is." "Well, and why

didst thou weep when thou sawest the merry wedding-party pass?"

"Because," said he, "the bridegroom was fated to die within

thirty days and the bride must needs wait thirteen years for her

husband's brother, who is now but an infant" (see Deut. xxv.

5-10). "Why didst thou laugh so when the man ordered a pair of

shoes that would last him seven years?" Ashmedai replied,

"Because the man himself was not sure of living seven days."

"And why," asked Benaiah, "didst thou jeer when thou sawest the

conjuror at his tricks?" "Because," said Ashmedai, "the man was

at that very time sitting on a princely treasure, and he did

not, with all his pretension, know that it was under him."

Having once acquired a power over Ashmedai, Solomon detained him

till the building of the Temple was completed. One day after

this, when they were alone, it is related that Solomon,

addressing him, asked him, "What, pray, is your superiority over

us, if it be true, as it is written (Num. xxiii. 22), 'He has

the strength of a unicorn,' and the word 'strength,' as

tradition alleges, means 'ministering angels,' and the word

'unicorn' means 'devils'?" Ashmedai replied, "Just take this

chain from my neck, and give me thy signet-ring, and I'll soon

show thee my superiority." No sooner did Solomon comply with

this request, than Ashmedai, snatching him up, swallowed him;

then stretching forth his wings--one touching the heaven and the

other the earth--he vomited him out again to a distance of four

hundred miles. It is with reference to this time that Solomon

says (Eccl. i. 3; ii. 10), "What profit hath a man of all his

labor which he taketh under the sun? This is my portion of all

my labor." What does the word this mean? Upon this point Rav and

Samuel are at variance, for the one says it means his staff, the

other holds that it means his garment or water-jug; and that

with one or other Solomon went about from door to door begging;

and wherever he came he said (Eccl. i. 12), "I, the preacher,

was king over Israel in Jerusalem." When in his wanderings he

came to the house of the Sanhedrin, the Rabbis reasoned and

said, if he were mad he would not keep repeating the same things

over and over again; therefore what does he mean? They therefore

inquired of Benaiah, "Does the king ask thee into his presence?"

He replied, "No!" They then sent to see whether the king visited

the hareem. And the answer to this was, "Yes, he comes." Then

the Rabbis sent word back that they should look at his feet, for

the devil's feet are like those of a cock. The reply was, "He

comes to us in stockings." Upon this information the Rabbis

escorted Solomon back to the palace, and restored to him the

chain and the ring, on both of which the name of God was

engraven. Arrayed with these, Solomon advanced straightway into

the presence-chamber. Ashmedai sat at that moment on the throne,

but as soon as he saw Solomon enter, he took fright and raising

his wings, flew away, shrieking back into invisibility. In spite

of this, Solomon continued in great fear of him; and this

explains that which is written (Song of Songs, iii. 7, 8),

"Behold the bed which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are

about it, of the valiant of Israel; they all hold swords, being

expert in war; every man has his sword upon his thigh, because

of fear in the night." (See Gittin, fol. 68, cols, 1, 2.)

Ashmedai is the Asmodeus of the Book of Tobit, iii. 8, vi. 14,

etc, The Shameer is mentioned in Jer. xvii. i; Ezek. iii. 9;

Zech. vii. 12. The Seventy in the former passage and the Vulgate

passim take it for the diamond.

Six things are said respecting the children of men, in three of which

they are like angels, and in three they are like animals. They have

intelligence like angels, they walk erect like angels, and they converse

in the holy tongue like angels. They eat and drink like animals, they

generate and multiply like animals, and they relieve nature like

animals.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 16, col. 1.

Six months did the Shechinah hesitate to depart from the midst of Israel

in the wilderness, in hopes that they would repent. At last, when they

persisted in impenitence, the Shechinah said, "May their bones be

blown;" as it is written (Job xi. 20), "The eyes of the wicked shall

fail, they shall not escape, and their hopes shall be as the blowing out

of the spirit."

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 31, col. 1.

Six names were given to Solomon:--Solomon, Jedidiah, Koheleth, Son of

Jakeh, Agur, and Lemuel.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 39.

Six years old was Dinah when she gave birth to Asenath, whom she bore

unto Shechem.

_Sophrim_, chap. 21.

"And the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household" (2 Sam. vi. 11).

In what did the blessing consist? Rav Yehudah bar Zavidah says it

consisted in this, that Hamoth, his wife, and her eight daughters-in-law

gave birth each to six children at a time. (This is proved from 1 Chron.

xxvi. 5, 8.)

_Berachoth_, fol. 63, col. 2.

Six things were done by Hezekiah the king, but the sages praised him for

three only:--(1.) He dragged the bones of his father Ahaz on a hurdle of

ropes, for this they commended him; (2.) he broke to pieces the brazen

serpent, for this they commended him; (3.) he hid the Book of Remedies,

and for this too they praised him. For three they blamed him:--(1.) He

stripped the doors of the Temple and sent the gold thereof to the King

of Assyria; (2.) he stopped up the upper aqueduct of Gihon; (3.) he

intercalated the month Nisan.

_P'sachim_, fol. 56, col. 1.

The hiding of the Book of Remedies, harsh and inhuman as it might seem,

was dictated by high moral considerations. It seemed right that the

transgressor should feel the weight of his sin in the suffering that

followed, and that the edge of judgment should not be dulled by a too

easy access to anodyne applications. The reason for stopping the

aqueduct of Gihon is given in 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4. The inhabitants of

Jerusalem did the very same thing when the Crusaders besieged the city,

A.D. 1099. Rashi tries to explain why this stratagem was not commended;

the reason he gives is that Hezekiah ought to have trusted God, who had

said (2 Kings xix. 34), "I will defend the city."

Six things are said of the horse:--It is wanton, it delights in the

strife of war, it is high-spirited, it despises sleep, it eats much and

it voids little. There are some that say it would fain kill its own

master.

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that there are six sorts of fire:--(1.) Fire that

eats but drinks not, i.e., common fire; (2.) fire that drinks but does

not eat, i.e., a fever; (3.) fire that eats and drinks, i.e., Elijah, as

it is written (1 Kings xviii. 38), "And licked up the water that was in

the trench;" (4.) fire that burns up moist things as soon as dry, i.e.,

the fire on the altar; (5.) fire that counteracts other fire, i.e., like

that of Gabriel; (6.) fire that consumes fire, for the Master has said

(Sanhed., fol. 38, col. 2), "God stretched out His finger among the

angels and consumed them," i.e., by His own essential fire.

_Yoma_, fol. 21, col. 2.

For six months David was afflicted with leprosy; for it is said (Ps. li.

7), "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be

whiter than snow." At that time the Shechinah departed from him; for it

is said (Ps. li. 12), "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;" and

the Sanhedrin kept aloof from him, for it is said (Ps. cxix. 79), "Let

those that fear thee turn unto me." That this ailment lasted six months

is proved from 1 Kings ii. 11, where it is said, "And the days that

David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years he reigned in

Hebron, and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem;" whereas in 2

Sam. v. 5, it is said, "In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and

six months." The reason why these six months are omitted in Kings is

because during that period he was afflicted with leprosy.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 107, col. 1.

The tables of stone were six ells long, six broad, and three thick.

_Nedarim_, fol. 38, col. 8.

It may help the reader to some idea of the strength of Moses if

we work out arithmetically the size and probable weight of these

stone slabs according to the Talmud. Taking the cubit or ell at

its lowest estimate, that is eighteen inches, each slab, being

nine feet long, nine feet wide, and four and a half feet thick,

would weigh upward of twenty-eight tons, reckoning thirteen

cubic feet to the ton,--the right estimate for such stone as is

quarried from the Sinaitic cliff. The figures are 9 X 9 X 9/2 =

729/2 = 364.5 X 173.5 = 63240.75 = 28 tons, 4 cwt., 2 qrs., 16

lbs. avoirdupois.

The Rabbis have taught that these six things possess medicinal

virtue:--Cabbage, lungwort, beetroot, water, and certain parts of the

offal of animals, and some also say little fishes.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 29, col. 1.

Over six the Angel of Death had no dominion, and these were:--Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Respecting the first three

it is written, "in all" (Gen. xxiv. 1), "of all" (Gen. xxvii. 33) "all"

(A.V. "enough," Gen. xxxiii. 11). Respecting the last three it is

written, "by the mouth of Jehovah" (see Num. xxxiii. 38, and Deut.

xxxiv. 5).

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 17, col. i.

According to Jewish tradition, there are 903 kinds of death, as

is elicited by a Kabbalistic rule called gematria, from the word

outlets (Ps. lxviii. 20); the numeric value of the letters of

which word is 903. Of these 903 kinds of death, the divine kiss

is the easiest. God puts His favorite children to sleep, the

sleep of death, by kissing their souls away. It was thus

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob fell asleep, as may be inferred from

the word all; that is to say, they had all the honor God could

confer upon them. Moses and Aaron fell asleep by the divine

kiss, for it is plainly stated to have been "by the mouth of

Jehovah." So also Miriam passed away, only the Scripture does

not say lest the scoffer should find fault. We are also informed

that quinsy is the hardest death of all. (See _Berachoth_, fol.

8, col. 1.)

"These six of barley gave he me." What does this mean? It cannot surely

be understood of six barleycorns, for it could not be the custom of Boaz

to give a present of six grains of barley. It must, therefore, have been

six measures. But was it usual for a woman to carry such a load as six

measures would come to? What he intended by the number six was to give

her a hint that in process of time six sons would proceed from her, each

of which would be blessed with six blessings; and these were David, the

Messiah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. David, as it is written

(1 Sam. xvi. 8), (1.) "Cunning in playing," (2.) "and a mighty and

valiant man," (3.) "a man of war," (4.) "prudent in matters," (5.) "a

comely person," (6.) and "the Lord is with him." The Messiah, for it is

written (Isa. xi. 2), "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,"

viz, (1.) "The spirit of wisdom and (2.) understanding, (3.) the spirit

of counsel and (4.) might, (5.) the spirit of knowledge, and (6.) the

fear of the Lord." Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, for regarding

them it is written (Dan. i. 4), (1.) "Young men in whom was no blemish,"

(2.) "handsome in looks," (3.) "intelligent in wisdom," (4.) "acquainted

with knowledge," (5.) "and understanding science, and such as (6.) had

ability to stand in the palace of the king," etc. But what is the

meaning of unblemished? Rav Chama ben Chanania says it means that not

even the scar of a lancet was upon them.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 93, cols, 1, 2.

The words "not even the scar of a lancet was upon them," bespeak

the prevalence of blood-letting in the East, and the absence of

the scar of the lancet on the persons of Daniel and his

companions is a testimony to their health of body and moral

temperance and purity.

In Taanith (fol. 21, col. 2) mention is made of a certain

phlebotomist--a noteworthy exception to the well-known rule (see

Kiddushin, fol. 82, col. 2) that phlebotomists are to be

regarded as morally depraved, and in the same class with

goldsmiths, perfumers, hairdressers, etc.,--Abba Umna by name,

who had a special mantle with slits in the sleeves for females,

so that he could surgically operate upon them without seeing

their naked arms, while he himself was covered over head and

shoulders in a peculiar cloak, so that his own face could not by

any chance be seen by them.

From Shabbath, fol. 156, col. 1, we learn that a person born

under the influence of Maadim, i.e., Mars, will in one way or

another be a shedder of blood, such as a phlebotomist, a butcher,

a highwayman, etc., etc.

Six blasts of the horn were blown on Sabbath-eve. The first was to set

free the laborers in the fields from their work; those that worked near

the city waited for those that worked at a distance and all entered the

place together. The second blast was to warn the citizens to suspend

their employments and shut up their shops. At the third blast the women

were to have ready the various dishes they had prepared for the Sabbath

and to light the lamps in honor of the day. Then three more blasts were

blown in succession, and the Sabbath commenced.

_Shabbath_, fol. 35, col. 2.

He who passes seven nights in succession without dreaming deserves to be

called wicked.

_Berachoth_, fol. 14, col. 1.

Gehinnom has seven names:--Sheol (Jonah ii. 2), Avadon (Ps. lxxxviii.

11), Shachath (Ps. xvi. 2), Horrible pit (Ps. xl. 2), Miry clay (Ps. xl.

2), the Shadow of death (Ps. cvii. 14), the Subterranean land.

_Eiruvin_, fol. 19, col. 1.

A dog in a strange place does not bark for seven years.

Ibid., fol. 61, col. 1.

Seven things were formed before the creation of the world:--The Law,

Repentance, Paradise, Gehenna, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the

name of the Messiah.

_P'sachim_, fol. 54, col. 1.

The Midrash Yalkut (p. 7) enumerates the same list almost word

for word, and the Targum of Ben Uzziel develops the tradition

still further, while the Targum Yerushalmi fixes the date of the

origin of the seven prehistoric wonders at "two thousand years

before the creation of the world."

Seven things are hid from the knowledge of a man:--The day of death, the

day of resurrection, the depth of judgment (i.e., the future reward or

punishment), what is in the heart of his fellow-man, what his reward

will be, when the kingdom of David will be restored, and when the

kingdom of Persia will fall.

_P'sachim_, fol. 54, col. 2.

Seven are excommunicated before heaven:--A Jew who has no wife, and even

one who is married but has no male children; and he that has sons but

does not train them up to study the law; he who does not wear

phylacteries on his forehead and upon his arm and fringes upon his

garment, and has no mezuzah on his doorpost; and he who goes barefooted.

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.

There are seven skies:--Villon, Raakia, Shechakim, Zevul, Maaon,

Maachon, and Aravoth.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 12, col. 2.

Seven days before the Day of Atonement they removed the high priest from

his own residence to the chamber of the President, and appointed another

priest as his deputy in case he should meet with such an accident as

would incapacitate him from going through the service of the day. Rabbi

Yehudah says they also had to betroth him to another woman lest his own

wife should die meanwhile, for it is said, "And he shall make an

atonement for himself and for his house,"--his house, that is, his wife.

In reference to this precautionary rule it was observed, there might

then be no end to the matter (Rashi), should this woman die also.

_Yoma_, fol. 2, col. 1.

They associated with the high priest the senior elders of the Sanhedrin,

who read over to him the _agenda_ of the day, and then said to him, "My

lord high priest, read thou for thyself; perhaps thou hast forgotten it,

or maybe thou hast not learned it at all." On the day before the Day of

Atonement he was taken to the East Gate when they caused oxen, rams, and

lambs to pass before him, that he might become well-versed and expert in

his official duties. During the whole of the seven (preparatory) days

neither victuals nor drink were withheld from him, but toward dusk on

the eve of the Day of Atonement they did not allow him to eat much, for

much food induces sleep. Then the elders of the Sanhedrin surrendered

him to the elders of the priesthood, and these conducted him to the hall

of the house of Abtinas, and there they swore him in; and after bidding

him good-bye, they went away. In administering the oath they said, "My

lord high priest, we are ambassadors of the Sanhedrin; thou art our

ambassador and the ambassador of the Sanhedrin as well. We adjure thee,

by Him who causes His name to dwell in this house, that thou alter not

anything that we have told thee!" Then they parted, both they and he

weeping. He wept because they suspected he was a Sadducee, and they wept

because the penalty for wrongly suspecting persons is scourging. If he

was a learned man he preached (during the night); if not, learned men

preached before him. If he was a ready reader, he read; if not, others

read to him. What were the books read over to him? Job, Ezra, and the

Chronicles. Zechariah the son of Kevootal says, "I have often read

before him the Book of Daniel." If he became drowsy, the juniors of the

priestly order fillipped their middle fingers before him, and said, "My

lord high priest, stand up and cool thy feet upon the pavement." Thus

they kept him engaged till the time of slaughtering (the sacrifices).

_Yoma_, fol. 18, cols, 1, 2; fol. 19, col. 2.

Sacerdos nascitur, non fit,--a priest is born, not made, we may

truly say, just altering one word of a well-known proverb. His

father was a priest, and so were his forefathers as far back as

the time of Aaron; his sons and his sons' sons after him will

belong to the priestly order, and so the name was far too often

only the badge for exclusive and hereditary privilege. This

rule, that applies to the priests, holds good also with regard

to the Levites. (_Berachoth_, fol. 29, col. 1.)

There was a town in the land of Israel called Gophnith, where there were

eighty couples of brother priests who married eighty couples of sister

priestesses in one night.

_Berachoth_ fol. 44, col. 1.

Flay a carcass and take thy fee, but say not it is humiliating because I

am a priest, I am a great man.

_P'sachim_, fol. 113, col. 1.

Philo Judæus, De Sac. Honor, (p. 833), says, "The hides of the

burnt-offerings proved a rich perquisite of the priesthood."

The number of high priests who officiated in succession during the 410

years of the continuance of the first Temple was only eighteen, but the

number who held office during the 420 years of the second Temple

amounted to more than three hundred, most of them having died within a

year after their entrance upon the office. The reason assigned by the

Talmud for the long lives of the former and the short lives of the

latter is the text given in Prov. x. 27, "The fear of the Lord

prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened."

_Yoma_, fol. 9, col. 1.

Before a priest could be admitted into active service in the Temple he

had to undergo bodily inspection at the hands of the syndicate of the

Sanhedrin. If they found the least defect in his body, even a mole with

hair upon it, he was ordered to dress in black and be dismissed; but if

he was perfectly free from blemish, he was arrayed in white, and at once

introduced to his brother priests and official duties.

Ibid., fol. 19, col. 1.

The daughters of a male proselyte who has married the daughter of a

female proselyte are eligible to marry priests.

_Yevamoth_, fol. 57, col. 1.

If thou seest an impudent priest, think not evil of him; for it is said

(Hosea iv. 4), "Thy people are as they that strive with the priest" (see

chap. ii. p. 25, Note c.).

_Kiddushin_, fol. 70, col. 2.

So long as there is a diadem on the head of the priest, there is a crown

on the head of every man. Remove the diadem from the head of the high

priest and you take away the crown from the head of all the people.

(This is a Talmudic comment on Ezek. xxi. 31; A. Ver., 26.)

_Gittin_, fol. 7, col. 1.

A king shaved his head every day, a high priest did the same once a

week, and an ordinary priest once a month.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 22, col. 2.

When a priest performs the service of the Temple in a state of

defilement, his brother priests are not required to lead him before the

tribunal, but the juniors of the priestly order are to drag him out into

the hall and brain him with clubs.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 81, col. 2.

When kings were anointed, the holy oil was laid on the forehead in the

form of a coronet, and when, says Rabbi Mansi bar Gadda, priests were

anointed, the operation was performed in the shape of the Greek letter

k.

_Horayoth_, fol. 12, col. 1.

A learned man who is of illegitimate birth is preferable to an ignorant

priest.

Ibid., fol. 13, col. 1.

A priest who makes no confession during service has no part in the

priesthood. (He forfeits his emoluments.)

_Menachoth_, fol. 18, col. 2.

The bald-headed, the dwarfed, and the blear-eyed are ineligible for the

priesthood.

_Bechoroth_, fol. 43, col. 2.

Rav Chisda says, "The portions that fall to the priests are not to be

eaten except roasted and that with mustard," because Scripture says

(Num. xviii. 8), "by reason of the anointing," i.e., by way of

distinction, for only kings (who, of course, are anointed) eat roast

meat with mustard.

_Chullin_, fol. 132, col. 2.

If a case of mistaken identity should occur between the child of a

priestess and the child of her female slave, so that the one cannot be

distinguished from the other, they both are to eat of the heave-offering

and to receive one share from the threshing-floor. When grown up, each

is to set the other free.

_Gittin_, fol. 42, col. 2.

From the old clothes of the priests the wicks were made for the lamps in

the Temple.

_Shabbath_, fol. 21, col. 1.

Scripture authority is given in proof that the very garments possessed

the faculty of making atonement for sin every whit as effectually as

animal sacrifices. We are taught that the priest's shirt atones for

murder, his drawers atone for whoredom, his mitre for pride, his girdle

for evil thoughts, his breastplate for injustice, his ephod for

idolatry; his overcoat atones for slander, and the golden plate on his

forehead atones for impudence.

_Zevachim_, fol. 88, col. 2.

All this and a great deal more on the subject may be found in

the Selichoth for Yom Kippur.

For seven years was the land of Israel strewn with brimstone and salt.

_Yoma_, fol. 54, col. 1.

"Then shall we raise against him seven shepherds" (Micah. v. 5). Who are

these seven shepherds? David in the middle: Adam, Seth, and Methuselah

on his right hand; Abraham, Jacob, and Moses on his left.

_Succah_, fol. 52, col. 2.

Who were the seven prophetesses? The answer is, Sarah, Miriam, Deborah,

Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Esther.

_Meggillah_, fol. 14, col. 2.

It is lawful to look into the face of a bride for seven days after her

marriage, in order to enhance the affection with which she is regarded

by her husband, and there is no Halachah (or law) like this.

_Kethuboth_, fol. 17, col. 1.

The Rabbis are especially careful to caution their daughters to

guard against such habits as might lower them in the regard of

their husbands, lest they should lose aught of that purifying

and elevating power which they exercised as maidens. It is thus,

for instance, Rav Chisda counsels his daughters: "Be ye modest

before your husbands and do not even eat before them. Eat not

vegetables or dates in the evening, and touch not strong drink."

(_Shabbath_, fol. 140, col. 2.)

Once upon a time a demon in the shape of a seven-headed dragon came

forth against Rav Acha and threatened to harm him, but the Rabbi threw

himself on his knees, and every time he fell down to pray he knocked off

one of these heads, and thus eventually killed the dragon.

_Kiddushin_, fol. 29, col. 2.

On the seventh of the month Adar, Moses died, and on that day the manna

ceased to come down from heaven.

Ibid., fol. 38, col. 1.