Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala Part 12

x.x.xvii. 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 was.h.i.+ng 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 carca.s.s, and one to cut away the suet. Suet being as unlawful for food as pork."

_Chullin_, fol. 8, col. 2.

Three cla.s.ses of ministering angels raise a song of praise every day.

One cla.s.s 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 x.x.xviii. 7), "When the morning stars sang together, then all the sons of G.o.d 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 a.s.sembled, 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 circ.u.mcise 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 circ.u.mcise their children, then will they be weakened."

"The argument is good," said they, and the decree against circ.u.mcision 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 s.h.i.+mon 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 s.h.i.+mon 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 s.h.i.+mon wept and said, "Alas! a maid-servant of my ancestor (Abraham) was a.s.sisted 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 wors.h.i.+p, 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 s.h.i.+nbone 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.

cx.x.xix. 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; G.o.d, 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. G.o.d'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, G.o.d 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.

Ras.h.i.+'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 fort.i.tude 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 G.o.d."

_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. x.x.xv. 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 G.o.d saw their works," and "G.o.d 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 doc.u.ments; 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 G.o.d repents of having created:--The Captivity, the Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites, and the evil pa.s.sion 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 G.o.d are secure, into whose hand G.o.d bringeth abundance." The evil pa.s.sion, 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.