Chapter 6

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.

The seventh of Adar is still, and has long been, kept sacred as the day of the death of Moses our Rabbi--peace be with him!--and that on the authority of T.B. Kiddushin (as quoted above), and Soteh, fol. 10, col. 2; but Josephus (Book iv. chap. 8, sec. 49) most distinctly affirms that Moses died "on the first day of the month," and the Midrash on Esther may be quoted in corroboration of his statement. The probability is that the Talmud is right on this matter, but it is altogether wrong in connecting with this event the stoppage of the manna (see Josh. v. 10, 12).

Seven years did the nations of the world cultivate their vineyards with no other manure than the blood of Israel. Rabbi Chiya, the son of Abin, says that Rabbi Yehoshua, the son of Korcha, said, "An old man, an inhabitant of Jerusalem, related to me that Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, killed in this valley 211 myriads (about 2,110,000), and in Jerusalem he slaughtered upon one stone 94 myriads (940,000), so that the blood flowed until it reached the blood of Zechariah, in order that that might be fulfilled which is said (Hosea iv. 2), 'And blood toucheth blood.'"

_Gittin_, fol. 57, col. 1.

The seventh of Adar, on which Moses died, was the same day of the same month on which he was born.

_Soteh_, fol. 10, col. 2.

A male hyæna after seven years becomes a bat; this after seven years, a vampire; this after other seven years, a nettle; this after seven years more, a thorn; and this again after seven years is turned into a demon. If a man does not devoutly bow during the repetition of the daily prayer which commences, "we reverently acknowledge," his spine after seven years becomes a serpent.

_Bava Kama_, fol. 16, col. 1.

It is related of Benjamin the righteous, who was keeper of the poor-box, that a woman came to him at a period of famine and solicited food. "By the worship of God," he replied, "there is nothing in the box." She then exclaimed, "O Rabbi, if thou dost not feed me I and my seven children must needs starve." Upon which he relieved her from his own private purse. In course of time he fell ill and was nigh unto death. Then the ministering angels interceded with the Holy One--blessed be He!--and said, "Lord of the Universe, Thou hast said he that preserveth one single soul of Israel alive is as if he had preserved the life of the whole world; and shall Benjamin the righteous, who preserved a poor woman and her seven children, die so prematurely?" Instantly the death-warrant which had gone forth was torn up, and twenty-two years were added to his life.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 11, col. 1.

Seven prophets have prophesied to the nations of the world, and these were Balaam and his father, Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite.

Ibid., fol. 15. col. 2.

There are seven who are not consumed by the worm in the grave, and these are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, and Benjamin the son of Jacob.

Ibid., fol. 17, col. 1.

Seven men form an unbroken series from the creation down to our own time. Methuselah saw Adam, Shem saw Methuselah, Jacob saw Shem, Amram saw Jacob, and Ahijah the Shilonite saw Amram, and Ahijah was seen by Elijah, who is alive to this day.

Ibid., fol. 121, col. 2.

Seven years' famine will not affect the artisan.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 29, col. 1.

Seven years of pestilence will not cause a man to die before his time.

Ibid.

"And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were upon the earth" (Gen. vii. 10). Why this delay of seven days? Rav says they were the days of mourning for Methuselah; and this teaches us that mourning for the righteous will defer a coming calamity. Another explanation is, that the Holy One--blessed be He!--altered the course of nature during these seven days, so that the sun arose in the west and set in the east.

Ibid., fol. 108, col. 2.

The first step in transgression is evil thought, the second scoffing, the third pride, the fourth outrage, the fifth idleness, the sixth hatred, and the seventh an evil eye.

_Derech Eretz Zuta_, chap. 6.

Seven things cause affliction:--Slander, shedding of blood, perjury, adultery, pride, robbery, and envy.

_Erchin_, fol. 17, col. 2.

A ram has but one voice while alive but seven after he is dead. How so? His horns make two trumpets, his hip-bones two pipes, his skin can be extended into a drum, his larger intestines can yield strings for the lyre and the smaller chords for the harp.

_Kinnim_, chap. 3, mish. 6.

Rav Chisda said, The soul of a man mourns over him the first seven days after his decease; for it is said (Job xiv. 22), "And his soul shall mourn over him."

_Shabbath_, fol. 152, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that a man should not drink water on Wednesdays and Saturdays after night-fall, for if he does, his blood, because of risk, will be upon his own head. What risk? That from an evil spirit who on these evenings prowls abroad. But if the man be thirsty, what is he to do? Let him repeat over the water the seven voices ascribed to the Lord by David in Psalm xxix. 3-9, "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters," etc.

_P'sachim_, fol. 112, col. 1.

Seven precepts did Rabbi Akiva give to his son Rabbi Yehoshua:--(1.) My son, teach not in the highest place of the city; (2.) Dwell not in a city where the leading men are disciples of the wise; (3.) Enter not suddenly into thine own house, and of course not into thy neighbor's; (4.) Do not go about without shoes; (5.) Rise early and eat in summer time because of the heat, and in winter time because of the cold; (6.) Make thy Sabbath as a week-day rather than depend for support on other people; (7.) Strive to keep on close friendly terms with the man whom fortune favors (lit. on whom the present hour smiles). Rav Pappa adds, "This does not refer to buying or selling, but to partnership."

Ibid.

How is it proved that mourning should be kept up for seven days? It is written (Amos viii. 10), "I will turn your feasts into mourning," and these in many cases lasted seven days.

_Moed Katon_, fol 20, col. 1.

Rav Chisda said there are seven kinds of gold:--Gold, good gold, the gold of Ophir, purified gold, beaten gold, shut-up gold, and gold of Parvain.

_Yoma_ fol. 44, col. 2.

The shut-up gold (1 Kings vi. 12) was of the purest and rarest quality, so that when it appeared in the market for sale, all shops in the locality were "shut up," for there could be no sale of any other gold before that. All gold-dealers "shut up" their shops in order to be present on so rare an occasion; and hence the name of this kind of gold--"shut-up gold."

Each day of the Feast of Tabernacles they walked round the altar once, and said, "O Lord, save us, we beseech Thee! O Lord, prosper us, we beseech Thee!" But on the last day they encompassed it seven times. On their departure they said, "Beauty belongeth to thee, O altar! Beauty belongeth to thee, O altar!"

_Succah_, fol. 45, col. 1.

It deserves to be noted here for the information of some of our readers that the words translated above, Save now, or Save, we beseech thee, are the original of our word Hosanna. The 25th and 26th verses of Psalm cxviii, which begin with this expression, were repeated at the Feast of Tabernacles; and hence the bundles of palm and willow branches (carried on this occasion), the prayers, and the festival itself, were so named, i.e. Hosanna.

The Tempter is known by seven distinctive epithets:--(1) The Holy One--blessed be He!--calls him evil; as it is said, "For the imagination of man's heart is evil." (2.) Moses calls him uncircumcised; as it is said (Deut. x. 16), "Circumcise therefore the uncircumcised foreskin of your heart." (3.) David calls him unclean; as it is said (Ps. li. 10), "Create in me a clean heart, O God!" Consequently there must be an unclean one. (4.) Solomon calls him enemy; as it is said (Prov. xxv. 21, 22), "If thine enemy hunger, give him bread to eat; if he be thirsty, give him water to drink; for thus thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee" (i.e., oppose him with the law. The word rendered bread, is metaphorically taken for the law, Prov. ix. 5, so that give him water to drink means also the law, Isa. lv. 1--Rashi. And the Lord reward thee, read not reward, but cause him to make peace with thee, not to war against thee.) (5.) Isaiah calls him stumbling-block; as it is said (Isa. lvii. 14), "Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people." (6.) Ezekiel calls him stone; as it is said (Ezek. xxxvi. 26), "I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh." (7.) Joel calls him the hidden one; as it is said (Joel ii. 20), "I will remove far from you the hidden one," i.e., the tempter who remains hidden in the heart of man; "and I will drive him into a land barren and desolate," i.e., where the children of men do not usually dwell; "with his face toward the former sea," i.e., with his eyes set upon the first Temple, which he destroyed, slaying the disciples of the wise that were in it; "and his hinder part toward the latter sea," i.e., with his eyes set on the second Temple, which he destroyed, also slaying the disciples of the wise that were in it.

_Succah_, fol. 52, col. 1.

Once a Jewish mother with her seven sons suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Emperor. The sons, when ordered by the latter to do homage to the idols of the Empire, declined, and justified their disobedience by quoting each a simple text from the sacred Scriptures. When the seventh was brought forth, it is related that Caesar, for appearance' sake, offered to spare him if only he would stoop and pick up a ring from the ground which had been dropped on purpose. "Alas for thee, O Caesar!" answered the boy; "if thou art so zealous for thine honor, how much more zealous ought we to be for the honor of the Holy One--blessed be He!" On his being led away to the place of execution, the mother craved and obtained leave to give him a farewell kiss. "Go, my child," said she, "and say to Abraham, Thou didst build an altar for the sacrifice of one son, but I have erected altars for seven sons." She then turned away and threw herself down headlong from the roof and expired, when the echo of a voice was heard exclaiming (Ps. cxiii. 9), "The joyful mother of children" (or, the mother of the children rejoiceth).

_Gittin_, fol. 57, col. 2.

The story of this martyrdom is narrated at much greater length in the Books of Maccabees (Book iii. chap. 7, Book iv. chaps. 8-18). In a Latin version the names are given, that of the mother Solomona, and her sons respectively Maccabeus, Aber, Machir, Judas, Achaz, Areth, while the hero of our Talmudic reference, the seventh and last, is styled Jacob. Josephus, Ant., Book xii. chap. 6, sec. 4, may also be referred to for further and varying details.

The land of Israel was not destroyed till the seven courts of judgment had fallen into idolatry, and these are they:--Jeroboam, the son of Nebat; Baasha, the son of Ahijah; Ahab, the son of Omri; Jehu, the son of Nimshi; Pekah, the son of Remaliah; Menahem, the son of Gadi; and Hoshea, the son of Elah; as it is written (Jer. xv. 9), "She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it is yet day; she hath been ashamed and confounded."

_Gittin_, fol. 88, col. 1.

"He stood and measured the earth; he beheld and freed the Gentiles (A.V., he drove asunder the nations, Hab. iii. 6); he beheld that the seven precepts which the children of Noah accepted were not observed; he stood up and set their property free for the service of Israel."

_Bava Kama_, fol. 38, col. 1.

This is one of the weightier expositions met with from time to time in the Talmud, in which one recognizes a more than ordinarily deep and earnest feeling on the part of the commentator. The interpreter expresses himself as a man instinct with the exclusive Hebrew spirit, and as such claims his title to the whole inheritance. It is a claim abstractly defensible, and the just assertion of it is the basis of all rights over others. The only question here is whether the Jew alone is invested with the privilege. There can be little doubt that the principle on which he claims enfeoffment in the estate is a sound one, that the earth belongs in no case to the sons of Belial, only to the sons of God.

Seven things distinguish an ill-bred man and seven a wise man:--The wise man (1.) does not talk before his superior in wisdom and years; (2.) he does not interrupt another when speaking; (3.) he is not hasty to make reply; (4.) his questions are to the point, and his answers are according to the Halachah; (5.) his subjects of discourse are orderly arranged, the first subject first and the last last; (6.) if he has not heard of a thing, he says, I have not heard it; and (7.) he confesseth the truth. The characteristics of the ill-bred man are just the contrary of these.

_Avoth_, chap. 5, mish. 10.

If a man does not work during the six days of the week, he may be obliged to work all the seven.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 11.

Seven have no portion in the world to come:--A notary; a schoolmaster, the best of physicians, a judge who dispenses justice in his own native town, a wizard, a congregational reader (or law-officer), and a butcher.

_Avoth d Rab. Nathan_, chap. 37.

Seven attributes avail before the Throne of Glory, and these are:--Wisdom, righteousness, judgment, grace, mercy, truth, and peace.

Ibid., chap. 36.

There are seven points in which a righteous man excels another:--(1.) The wife of the one is more comely than the other's; (2.) so are the children of the one as compared with those of the other; (3.) if the two partake of one dish, each enjoys the taste according to his doings; (4.) if the two dye in one vat, by one the article is dyed properly, by the other not; (5, etc.) the one excels the other in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and stature, as it is said (Prov. xii. 26), "The righteous is more excellent than his neighbor."

Ibid., chap. 37.

Seven patriarchs were covenant-makers:--Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Phinehas, and David.

_Derech Eretz Zuta_, chap. 1.

Seven liquids are comprehended under the generic term drink (Lev. xi. 34):--Dew, water, wine, oil, blood, milk, and honey.

_Machshirin_, chap. 6, mish 6.

For tertian fever take seven small grapes from seven different vines; seven threads from seven different pieces of cloth; seven nails from seven different bridges; seven handfuls of ashes from seven different fireplaces; seven bits of pitch from seven ships, one piece from each; seven scrapings of dust from as many separate doorways; seven cummin seeds; seven hairs from the lower jaw of a dog and tie them upon the throat with a papyrus fibre.

_Shabbath_, fol. 66, col. 2.

The Rabbis teach that the precept relating to the lighting of a candle at the Feast of Dedication applies to a whole household, but that those who are particular light a candle for each individual member, and those that are extremely particular light up eight candles on the first day, seven on the second, decreasing the number by one each day. This is according to the school of Shammai; but the school of Hillel say that he should light up one on the first day, two on the second, increasing the number by one each of the eight days of the fast.... What is the origin of the feast of Dedication? On the twenty-fifth day of Kislev (about December), the eight days of the Dedication commence, during which term no funeral oration is to be made, nor public fast to be decreed. When the Gentiles (Greeks) entered the second Temple, it was thought they had defiled all the holy oil they found in it; but when the Hasmoneans prevailed and conquered them, they sought and found still one jar of oil stamped with the seal of the High Priest, and therefore undefiled. Though the oil it contained would only have sufficed for one day, a miracle was performed, so that the oil lasted to the end of the week (during which time more oil was provided and consecrated for the future service of the Temple). On the anniversary of this occasion the Feast of Dedication was instituted.

_Shabbath_, fol. 21, col. 2.

The Feast of Dedication is annually celebrated by all Jews everywhere, to commemorate the purifying of the Temple and the restoration of its worship after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes, of which an account may be found in 1 Maccabees iv. 52-59. It is very probable that some of our Christmas festivities are only adaptations of the observances of this Jewish feast in symbolism of Christian ideas. During the eight days of the festival they light up wax candles or oil lamps, according to the rubric of the school of Hillel. Previous to the lighting, the following benedictions are pronounced:--

"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God! King of the universe, who hath sanctified us with Thy commandment, and commanded us to light the light of Dedication."

"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God! King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our fathers in those days and in this season."

"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Our God! King of the universe, who hath preserved us alive, sustained us, and brought us to enjoy this season."

After the lighting, the following form is repeated:--"These lights we light to praise Thee for the miracles, wonders, salvation, and victories which Thou didst perform for our fathers in those days and in this season by the hands of Thy holy priests. Wherefore by command these lights are holy all the eight days of the Dedication, neither are we permitted to make any other use of them, but to view them, that we may return thanks to Thy name for Thy miracles, wonderful works, and salvation."

Another commemorative formula is repeated six or seven times a day during this festival; viz, during morning and evening prayers and after each meal.

Rabbi Yoshua ben Levi has said a man should never utter an indecent word, for the Scripture (Gen. vii. 6) uses eight letters more rather than make use of a word which, without them, would be indecent.

_P'sachim_, fol. 3, col. i.

In the passage referred to, the words "that are not clean" are used instead of "unclean"; but see verse 2; there another word for not is used, which brings down the excess to five letters.

When the doors of the Temple were opened the creaking of the hinges was heard at the distance of eight Sabbath days' journeys.

_Yoma_, fol. 39, col. 2.

It may be proper to remark that the journey is about nine furlongs, or a mile and one-eighth, so that the distance alluded to is nearly ten miles.

The eight princes alluded to in Micah (v. 5) are Jesse, Saul, Samuel, Amos, Zephaniah, Zedekiah, the Messiah, and Elijah.

_Succah_, fol. 52, col. 2.

It is related of Rabbi Shimon, the son of Gamaliel, that at the rejoicing during the festival of the drawing of water on the Feast of Tabernacles, he threw eight flaming torches, one after the other in quick succession, into the air, and caught them again as they descended without suffering one to touch another. He also (in fulfillment of Ps.