Chapter 2

Thine anger will depart and Thou wilt comfort me." "The text applies," he says, "to two men who were going abroad on a mercantile enterprise, one of whom, having had a thorn run into his foot, had to forego his intended journey, and began in consequence to utter reproaches and blaspheme. Having afterward learned that the ship in which his companion had sailed had sunk to the bottom of the sea, he confessed his shortsightedness and praised God for His mercy."

_Niddah_, fol. 31, col. 1.

The night is divided into three watches, and at each watch the Holy One--blessed be He!--sits and roars like a lion; as it is written (Jer. xxv. 30), "The Lord will roar from on high, ... roaring, He will roar over his habitation." The marks by which this division of the night is recognized are these:--In the first watch the ass brays; in the second the dog barks; and in the third the babe is at the breast and the wife converses with her husband.

_Berachoth_, fol. 3, col. 1.

The Rabbis have taught that there are three reasons why a person should not enter a ruin:--1. Because he may be suspected of evil intent; 2. Because the walls might tumble upon him; 3. And because of evil spirits that frequent such places.

Ibid., fol. 3, col. 1.

He who three times a day repeats David's psalm of praise (Ps. cxlv.) may be sure of an inheritance in the world to come.

Ibid., fol. 4, col. 2.

Three precious gifts were given to Israel, but none of them without a special affliction: these three gifts were the law, the land of Israel, and the world to come.

Ibid., fol. 5, col. 1.

These are also from the Talmud anent Israel and the Israelites.

All Israelites are princes.

_Shabbath_, fol. 57, col. 1.

All Israelites are holy.

Ibid., fol. 86, col. 1.

Happy are ye, O Israel! for every one of you, from the least to the greatest, is a great philosopher. (_Eiruvin_, fol. 53, col. 1.) The Machzor for Pentecost says, Israelites are as "full of meritorious works as a pomegranate is full of pips."

See also _Chaggigah_, fol. 27, col, 1.

As it is impossible for the world to be without air, so also is it impossible for the world to be without Israel.

_Taanith_, fol. 3, col. 2.

If the ox of an Israelite bruise the ox of a Gentile, the Israelite is exempt from paying damages; but should the ox of a Gentile bruise the ox of an Israelite, the Gentile is bound to recompense him in full.

_Bava Kama_, fol. 38, col. 1.

When an Israelite and a Gentile have a lawsuit before thee, if thou canst, acquit the former according to the laws of Israel, and tell the latter such is our law; if thou canst get him off in accordance with Gentile law, do so, and say to the plaintiff such is your law; but if he cannot be acquitted according to either law, then bring forward adroit pretexts and secure his acquittal. These are the words of the Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva says, "No false pretext should be brought forward, because, if found out, the name of God would be blasphemed; but if there be no fear of that, then it may be adduced."

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 1.

If one find lost property in a locality where the majority are Israelites, he is bound to proclaim it; but he is not bound to do so if the majority be Gentiles.

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 24, col. 1.

(Prov. xiv. 34), "Almsgiving exalteth a nation, but benevolence is a sin to nations." "Almsgiving exalteth a nation," that is to say, the nation of Israel; as it is written (2 Sam. vii. 23), "And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel?" but "benevolence" is a sin to nations, that is to say, for the Gentiles to exercise charity and benevolence is sin.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 10, col. 2.

If a Gentile smite an Israelite, he is guilty of death; as it is written (Exod. ii. 12), "And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw there was no man, he slew the Egyptian."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 58, col. 2.

All Israelites have a portion in the world to come; as it is written (Isa. lx. 21), "And thy people are all righteous: they shall inherit the land."

Ibid., fol. 90, col. 1.

"And they shall fall one on account of another" (Lev. xxvi. 37),--one on account of the sins of another. This teaches us that all Israel are surety for one another.

_Shevuoth_, fol. 39, col. 1.

If one find a foundling in a locality where the majority are Gentiles, then the child is (to be reckoned) a Gentile; if the majority be Israelites, it is to be considered as an Israelite; and so also it is to be, providing the numbers are equal.

_Machsheerin_, chap. 2, Mish. 7.

"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever" (Eccl. i. 4). One empire cometh and another passeth away, but Israel abideth forever.

_Perek Hashalom._

The world was created only for Israel: none are called the children of God but Israel; none are beloved before God but Israel.

_Gerim_, chap. 1.

The Jew that has no wife abideth without joy, without a blessing, and without any good. Without joy, as it is written (Deut. xiv. 26), "And thou shalt reject, thou and thy household;" without blessing, as it is written (Ezek. xliv. 30), "That He may cause a blessing to rest on thy household;" without any good, for it is written (Gen. ii. 8), "It is not good that man should be alone."

_Yevamoth_, fol. 62, col. 2.

The Jew that has no wife is not a man; for it is written (Gen. v. 2), "Male and female created He them and called their name man." To which Rabbi Eleazar adds, "So every one who has no landed property is no man; for it is written (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth (the land, that is), hath He given to the children of man.'"

_Yevamoth_, fol. 63, col. 1.

Three things did Moses ask of God:--1. He asked that the Shechinah might rest upon Israel; 2. That the Shechinah might rest upon none but Israel; and 3. That God's ways might be made known unto him; and all these requests were granted.

_Berachoth_, fol. 7, col. 1.

What was the Shechinah? Was it the presence of a Divine person or only of a Divine power? The following quotations will show what is the teaching of the Talmud on the matter, and will be read with interest by the theologian, whether Jew or Christian.

Where do we learn that when ten persons pray together the Shechinah is with them? In Ps. lxxxii. 1, where it is written, "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty." And where do we learn that when two sit together and study the law the Shechinah is with them? In Mal. iii. 16, where it is written, "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it." (_Berachoth_, fol. 6, col. 1.)

Where do we learn that the Shechinah does strengthen the sick? In Ps. xli. 3, where it is written, "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing." (_Shabbath_, fol. 12, col. 2.)

He who goes from the Synagogue to the lecture-room, and from the lecture-room back to the Synagogue, will become worthy to receive the presence of the Shechinah; as it is written (Ps.