Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala Part 52

Ibid.

The following are the usual blessings, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our G.o.d! King of the universe! who has sanctified us with His commandments, and has commanded us to wash the hands!"

"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our G.o.d! King of the universe! who bringeth forth bread from the earth!"

By means of combining the letters of the ineffable names, as recorded in "Book of Creation," Rava once created a man and sent him to Rav Zera.

The man being unable to reply when spoken to, the Rabbi said to him, "Thou art a creation of the company (initiated in the mysteries of necromancy); return to thy dust."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 65, col. 2.

In the Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin, chap. 7, we read that, by the means above mentioned, a Rabbi created pumpkins, melons, and real deer and roes.

There is a living creature in heaven which by day has "Truth" upon its forehead, by which the angels know it is day; but in the evening it has "Faith" on its forehead, whereby the angels know that night is near.

Each time the living creature says, "Bless ye the blessed Lord," all the hosts above respond, "Blessed be the blessed Lord forever."

_Kitzur Sh'lh_, fol. 42. col. 2.

Truth and faith are the essentials of religion, which are thirteen in number:--

1. G.o.d exists, and there is no period to His existence. The philosophers call it absolute existence, but the majority of Kabbalists term it "endless," which, by Gematria, is "light"; and again, by Gematria, is "Lord of the Universe." He is the cause of causes and the causing of causings, and from or by His existence all beings, spiritual and material, derive their existence.

2. He is one, and there is no unity like His, etc.

3. He has no bodily likeness, and is not corporeal.

4. He is first of everything, absolute beginning; as it is said, "I am the First and I am the Last" (Isa. xliv 6), and there is no beginning to His beginning.

5. None but Himself is to be wors.h.i.+ped and prayed to.

6. The gift of prophecy He has given to men esteemed and glorified by Him.

7. None arose like unto Moses, etc.

8. A law of truth He gave; this is the law from heaven, "In the beginning" unto "in the sight of all Israel." Also its comment received orally is likewise "a law (given) unto Moses from Sinai."

9. G.o.d will not change or alter His law forever. He will never change the law of Moses our Rabbi--peace be unto him! The law will suffer no addition or diminution (but it will abide even), as the prophet Malachi sealed it with the seal of the prophets in ending his words (Mal. iv.

4), "Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in h.o.r.eb for all Israel." Formerly the law was in a garment of light, but in consequence of sin, the law became materialized in a garment of skin, in the same proportion as man became materialized in a body of flesh. In the future, after the redemption, however, the law will have the garment of light restored, and the Messiah will preach the law in terrible mysteries, such as no ear has ever heard, and it will appear to us as a new law. But the law will not be altered, or made new, as the nations of the world say. Jer. x.x.xi. 30-33.

10. He observeth and knoweth all our secrets, etc.

11. There are rewards and punishments in the future, etc.

12. He will send at the end of days our Messiah from the seed of David to redeem His people Israel from among the nations, and restore to them the kingdom.

13. There will be a revival of the dead, etc.

_Kitzur Sh'th_, fol. 7, col. 2.

Let a man believe that whatever occurs to him is from the Blessed One!

For instance, when a wicked man meets him and abuses him, and puts him to shame, let him receive it with love, and say, "The Lord told him to curse, and he is the messenger of G.o.d on account of my sin."

Ibid., fol. 8, col. 1.

In every deed or transaction a man performs by his own free will, be it a matter of precept or of option, let the name of G.o.d be ready in his mouth. If, for instance, he erects a building, or buys a vessel, or makes a new garment, let him say with his mouth and utter with his lips, "This thing I do, for (the honor of) the union of the Shechinah with the Holy One--blessed be He!"

Ibid.

Bismillahi Arrahmani Arraheemi, "In the name of G.o.d, most merciful and compa.s.sionate," is the motto of every work undertaken by a Mohammedan.

A man should always desire that his neighbor may profit by him, and let him not strive to profit by his neighbor. Let his words be pleasant with the children of men if they shame him, and let him not shame them in return. If they deceive him, let him not deceive them in return, and let him take the yoke of the public upon his shoulders, and not impose it heavily on them in return.

Ibid.

If--which G.o.d forbid!--thy neighbor has done thee an evil, pardon him at once; for thou shouldst love him as thyself. If one hand is accidentally hurt by the other, should the wounded hand revenge its injury on the other? And, as urged before, thou shouldst rather say in thine heart, "It is from the Lord that it came to thee; it came as a messenger from the Holy One--blessed be He!--as a punishment for some sin."

_Kitzur Sh'lh_, fol. 9. col. 2.

A sage who was very sorrowful was once comforted thus: "If thy sorrow relates to this world, may G.o.d decrease it; but if it relates to the world to come, may G.o.d increase it and add sorrow to sorrow." (See 2 Cor. vii. 10.)

Ibid., fol. 10, col. 1.

A man should not wade through water or traverse any dangerous place in company with an apostate, or even a wicked Jew, lest he be overtaken (in the same ruin) with him. (Comp. Eph. v. 7, 8; Rev. xviii. 4.)

Ibid., fol. 10, col. 2.

The influence of the son is relatively greater and more blessed than that of the father, for the merits of the father do not profit the son except in matters relating to this world (as by bequeathing him worldly inheritance); whereas the merits of the son do more than benefit the father in this world; they benefit him also in the world to come (by saying "Kadish"), which is enough to deliver his soul from purgatory.

Ibid., fol. 11, col. 2.

A common proverb says, "One father willingly maintains ten sons, but ten sons are not willing to support one father."

Ibid., fol. 12, col. 2.

The proper use of money is that thou learn the art of dealing honestly, so that thy No be no and thy Yes, yes; and as far as possible be benevolent with the money. "And the liberal by liberal things shall stand" (Isa. x.x.xii. 8).

Ibid.

The sage says, "The eye of a needle is not narrow enough for two friends, but the world in not wide enough for two enemies."

Ibid., fol. 14, col. 1.

"Create in me a clean heart, O G.o.d, and renew a right spirit within me"

(Ps. li. 10). Know thou that the heart is the source of life, and is placed in the centre of the body as the Holy of holies, as stated in the Book Zohar, is the central part of the world. Therefore one must have his heart cleansed from evil and all evil thoughts, otherwise he introduces an idol into the innermost part of the Temple, which ought to be a dwelling-place for the Shechinah. (See 1 Cor. iii, 16, 17, and vi.

19.)

_Kitzur Sh'lh_, fol. 14, col. 2.

He who gazes even on the little finger of a woman is as if he looked on her to l.u.s.t after her. He should not give ear to a woman's voice, for the voice of a woman is lewdness. This sin is much discussed in the Zohar; it causes the husband to come to poverty, and deprives him and her sons of all respect.