Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala Part 9

_P'sachim_, fol. 113, col. 1.

There are three whom the Holy One--blessed be He!--Himself proclaims virtuous:--The unmarried man who lives in a city and does not sin; the poor man who restores a lost thing which he has found to its owner; and the rich man who pays the t.i.thes of his increase unostentatiously. Rav Saphra was a bachelor, and he dwelt in a large city. A disciple of the wise once descanted upon the merits of a celibate life in the presence of Rava and this Rav Saphra, and the face of the latter beamed with delight. Remarking which, Rava said to him, "This does not refer to such a bachelor as thou art, but to such as Rabbi Chanena and Rabbi Oshaia."

They were single men, who followed the trade of shoemakers, and dwelt in a street mostly occupied by _meretrices_, for whom they made shoes; but when they fitted these on, they never raised their eyes to look at their faces. For this the women conceived such a respect for them, that when they swore, they swore by the life of the holy Rabbis of the land of Israel.

_Psachim_, fol. 113, cols, 1, 2.

There are three whom the Holy One--blessed be He!--abhorreth: He who says one thing but thinks another; he who might bear witness in favor of his neighbor but refrains from doing so; and he who, having seen his neighbor act disgracefully, goes and appears singly as a witness against him (thus only condemning, but not convicting, him, as the law requires two witnesses). As, for example, when Toviah transgressed and Zigud appeared against him singly before Rav Pappa, and Rav Pappa ordered this witness to receive forty stripes save one in return. "What!" said he, "Toviah has sinned, and should Zigud be flogged?" "Yes," replied the Rabbi, "for by testifying singly against him thou bringest him only into bad repute." (See Deut. xix. 15.)

_P'sachim_ fol. 113, col. 2.

"Toviah has sinned and Zigud is flogged," has long been a proverb among Jews.

There are three whose life is no life:--The sympathetic, the irascible, and the melancholy.

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

There are three which despise their fellows:--Dogs, c.o.c.ks, and sorcerers. Some say strange women also, and some the disciples of the Babylonian Rabbis.

Ibid.

These three love their fellows:--Proselytes, slaves, and ravens.

Ibid.

These three are apt to strut:--Israel among the nations, the dog among animals, the c.o.c.k among birds. Some say also the goat among small cattle, and some the caper shrub among trees.

Ibid., fol. 25, col. 2.

There are three whose life is no life:--He who lives at another's table; he whose wife domineers over him; and he who suffers bodily affliction.

Some say also he who has only a single shirt in his wardrobe.

Ibid., fol. 32, col. 2.

Three things are said respecting the finger-nails:--He who trims his nails and buries the parings is a pious man; he who burns these is a righteous man; but he who throws them away is a wicked man, for mischance might follow, should a female step over them.

_Moed Katan_, fol. 18, col. 1.

The orthodox Jews in Poland are to this day careful to bury away or burn their nail parings.

Three cla.s.ses appear on the day of judgment:--The perfectly righteous, who are at once written and sealed for eternal life; the thoroughly bad, who are at once written and sealed for h.e.l.l; as it is written (Dan. xii.

2), "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt;"

and those in the intermediate state, who go down into h.e.l.l, where they cry and howl for a time, whence they ascend again; as it is written (Zech. xiii. 9), "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on my name, and I will hear them." It is of them Hannah said (1 Sam. ii. 6), "The Lord killeth and maketh alive; He bringeth down to h.e.l.l and bringeth up."

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Our Rabbis have taught that there are three voices which can be heard from one end of the world to the other:--The sound emitted from the sphere of the sun; the hum and din of the city of Rome; and the voice of anguish uttered by the soul as it quits the body; ... but our Rabbis prayed that the soul might be spared this torture, and therefore the voice of its terrors has not since been heard.

_Yoma_, fol. 20, col. 2.

In three particulars is benevolence superior to almsgiving:--Almsgiving is only the bestowment of money, but benevolence can be exercised by personal service as well. Alms can be given only to the poor, but benevolence can be shown no less to the rich. Alms are confined to the living, but benevolence may extend to both the dead and the living.

_Succah_, fol. 49, col. 2.

Three marks characterize the nation of Israel:--They are compa.s.sionate, they are modest, and they are benevolent. Compa.s.sionate, as it is written (Deut. xiii. 18), "And show thee mercy, and have compa.s.sion upon thee, and multiply thee." Modest, as it is written (Exod. xx. 20), "That his fear may be before your faces." Benevolent, as it is written (Gen.

xviii. 19), "For I know him," etc.

_Yevamoth_, fol. 79, col. 1.

Dates are good after meals in the morning and in the evening, but hurtful in the afternoon; on the other hand, at noon they are most excellent, and an antidote to these three maladies:--Evil thought, constipation, and hemorrhoids.

_Kethuboth_, fol. 10, col. 2.

Beware of these three things:--Do not sit too much, for it brings on hemorrhoids; do not stand too much, for it is bad for the heart; do not walk too much, for it is hurtful to the eyes. But sit a third, stand a third, and walk a third.

Ibid., fol. 111, col. 1.

He who holds his household in terror tempts to the commission of three sins:--Fornication, murder, and Sabbath breaking.

_Gittin_, fol. 6, col. 2.

Three things weaken the strength of man:--Fear, travel, and sin. Fear, as it is written (Ps. x.x.xviii. 10), "My heart palpitates, my strength faileth me." Travel, as it is written (Ps. cii. 23), "He hath weakened my strength in the way." ... Sin, as it is written (Ps. x.x.xi. 10), "My strength faileth me, because of my iniquity."

Ibid., fol. 70, col 2.

Abraham was three years old when he first learned to know his Creator; as it is said (Gen. xxvi. 5), "Because Abraham obeyed my voice."

_Nedarim_, fol. 32, col. 1.

The conclusion arrived at here is founded on interpreting the Hebrew letters of the word rendered "because" numerically, in which the value of the letters gives a total of one hundred and seventy-two; so that the sense of the text is, "Abraham obeyed my voice" one hundred and seventy-two years. Now Abraham died when he was a hundred and seventy-five, therefore he must have been only three when he began to serve the Lord.

As Abraham plays so important a part both in the history and the imagination of the Jewish race, we may quote here a score or so of the Talmudic traditions regarding him. The traditions, as is like, contributed quite as much, if not more, to give character to his descendants as his actual personality and that spirit of faith which was the central fact in his history. Races and nations often draw more inspiration from what they fancy about their ancestry and early history than from what they know; their fables therefore are often more illuminative than the facts.

Abraham was Ethan the Ezrahite, who is mentioned in Ps. lx.x.xvii. 1.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 15, col. 1.

Abraham's mother was Amathlai, the daughter of Karnebo.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 91, col. 1.

Abraham was the head of a seminary for youth, and kept both laws, the written and the oral.

_Yoma_, fol. 28, col. 2.

Abraham observed the whole ceremonial law, even before it was given on Sinai.

_Kiddushin_, fol. 82, col. 1.

From the day Abraham was compelled to leave the idolatrous worship and country of his fathers, it is reasonable to suppose that his tent would become a rendezvous for his neighbors who shrunk like himself from the abominations around them. There, from his character, by which he recommended himself as the friend of G.o.d, he might very naturally be looked upon as a religious teacher, and men might gather together to learn from his lips or profit by his example. Hence, making due allowance for Eastern hyperbole, the statement of the Book of Jasher (chap. xxvi. verse 36) is not undeserving of credit, where it is said that "Abraham brought all the children of the land to the service of G.o.d, and he taught them the ways of the Lord." The same remark applies to what is said in Targ. Yerushalmi (Gen.