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_Bechoroth_, fol. 8, col. 1.

Rabbi Levi says the realization of a good dream may be hopefully
expected for twenty-two years; for it is written (Gen. xxxvii. 2),
"These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph being seventeen years old
when he had the dreams." And it is written also (Gen. xli. 46), "And
Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh," etc. From
seventeen to thirty are thirteen, to which add the seven years of plenty
and the two years of famine, which make the sum total of twenty-two.

_Berachoth_, fol. 55, col. 2.

In the pages which precede and follow the above quotation there
is much that is interesting on the subject of dreams and their
interpretation, and one is strongly tempted to append
selections, but we refrain in order to make room for a prayer
which occurs in the morning service for the various festivals,
and is given in the preceding context:--"Sovereign of the
Universe! I am thine, and my dreams are thine. I have dreamed a
dream, but know not what it portendeth. May it be acceptable in
Thy presence, O Lord my God, and the God of my fathers, that all
my dreams concerning myself and concerning all Israel may be for
my good. Whether I have dreamt concerning myself, or whether I
have dreamt concerning others, or whether others have dreamt
concerning me, if they be good, strengthen and fortify them,
that they may be accomplished in me, as were the dreams of the
righteous Joseph; and if they require cure, heal them as Thou
didst Hezekiah, king of Judah, from his sickness; as Miriam the
prophetess from her leprosy, and Naaman from his leprosy; as the
bitter waters of Marah by the hands of our legislator Moses, and
those of Jericho by the hands of Elisha. And as Thou wast
pleased to turn the curse of Balaam, the son of Beor, to a
blessing, be pleased to convert all my dreams concerning me and
all Israel to a good end. Oh, guard me; let me be acceptable to
Thee, and grant me life. Amen." (The translation of this prayer
is borrowed from the Jewish liturgy.)

Rabbi Levi said, "Come and see how unlike the character of the Holy
One--blessed be He!--is to that of those who inherit the flesh and blood
of humanity. God blessed Israel with twenty-two benedictions and cursed
them with eight curses (Lev. xxvi. 3-13, xv. 43). But Moses, our Rabbi,
blessed them with eight benedictions and cursed them with twenty-two
imprecations" (see Deut. xxviii. 1-4, xv. 68).

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 59, col. i.

Once as they were journeying to Chesib (in Palestine), some of Rabbi
Akiva's disciples were overtaken by a band of robbers, who demanded to
know where they were going to. "We are going to Acco," was the reply;
but on arriving at Chesib, they went no farther. The robbers then asked
them who they were? "Disciples of Rabbi Akiva," they replied. Upon
hearing this the robbers exclaimed, "Blessed surely is Rabbi Akiva and
his disciples too, for no man can ever do them any harm." Once as Rabbi
Menasi was traveling to Thurtha (in Babylonia), some thieves surprised
him on the road and asked him where he was bound for. "For Pumbeditha,"
was the reply; but upon reaching Thurtha, he stayed and went no farther.
The highwaymen, thus balked, retorted, "Thou art the disciple of Yehuda
the deceiver!" "Oh, you know my master, do you?" said the Rabbi. "Then
in the name of God be every one of you anathematized." For twenty-two
years thereafter they carried on their nefarious trade, but all their
attempts at violence ended only in disappointment. Then all save one of
them came to the Rabbi and craved his pardon, which was immediately
granted. The one who did not come to confess his guilt and obtain
absolution was a weaver, and he was eventually devoured by a lion. Hence
the proverbs, "If a weaver does not humble himself, he shortens his
life;" and, "Come and see the difference there is between the thieves of
Babylon and the banditti of the land of Israel."

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 26, col. 1.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus was twenty-two years of age when, contrary to
the wishes of his father, he went to Rabbon Yochanan ben Zaccai
purposing to devote himself to the study of the law. By the time he
arrived at Rabbon Yochanan's he had been without food four-and-twenty
hours, and yet, though repeatedly asked whether he had had anything to
eat, refused to confess he was hungry. His father having come to know
where he was, went one day to the place on purpose to disinherit him
before the assembled Rabbis. It so happened that Rabbon Yochanan was at
that time lecturing before some of the great men of Jerusalem, and when
he saw the father enter, he pressed Rabbi Eliezer to deliver an
exposition. So racy and cogent were his observations that Rabbon
Yochanan rose and styled him his own Rabbi, and thanked him in the name
of the rest for the instruction he had afforded them. Then the father of
Rabbi Eliezer said, "Rabbis, I came here for the purpose of
disinheriting my son, but now I declare him sole heir of all I have, to
the exclusion of his brothers."

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 6.

The father of Eliezer acts more magnanimously by his son than
does the father of St. Francis. Like the Rabbi, as Mr. Ruskin
relates in his "Mornings in Florence," St. Francis, one of whose
three great virtues was obedience, "begins his spiritual life by
quarreling with his father. He 'commercially invests' some of
his father's goods in charity. His father objects to that
investment, on which St. Francis runs away, taking what he can
find about the house along with him. His father follows to claim
his property, but finds it is all gone already, and that St.
Francis has made friends with the Bishop of Assisi. His father
flies into an indecent passion, and declares he will disinherit
him; on which St. Francis, then and there, takes all his clothes
off, throws them frantically in his father's face, and says he
has nothing more to do with clothes or father."

Not the same strict scrutiny is required in money matters as in cases of
capital punishment; for it is said (Lev. xxiv. 23), "Ye shall have one
manner of law." What distinction is there made between them? With regard
to money matters three judges are deemed sufficient, while in cases of
capital offense twenty-three are required, etc.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 32, col. 1.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, "In twenty-four cases doth the tribunal
excommunicate for the honor of a Rabbi, and all are explained in our
Mishna." Rabbi Elazer interposed and asked, "Where are they?" The reply
was, "Go and seek, and thou shalt find." He went accordingly and sought,
but found only three--the case of the man who lightly esteems the
washing of hands; of him who whispers evil behind the bier of a disciple
of the wise; and of him who behaves haughtily toward the Most High.

_Berachoth_, fol. 19, col. 1.

There are three degrees of excommunication, i.e., separation,
exclusion, and execration. That mentioned in the above extract
is of the lowest degree, and lasts never less than thirty days.
The second degree of excommunication is a prolongation of the
first by thirty days more. The third or highest degree lasts for
an indefinite time. See Moed Katon, fol. 17, col. 1; Shevuoth,
fol. 36, col. 1; and consult Index II. appended.

A certain matron once said to Rabbi Yehuda ben Elaei, "Thy face is like
that of one who breeds pigs and lends money on usury." He replied,
"These offices are forbidden me by the rules of my religion, but between
my residence and the academy there are twenty-four latrinae; these I
regularly visit as I need."

_Berachoth_, fol. 55, col. 1.

The Rabbi meant to say that paying attention to the regular
action of his excretory organs was the secret of his healthy
looks, and to imply that a disordered stomach is the root of
most diseases,--a physiological opinion well worthy of regard by
us moderns.

Rav Birim says that the venerable Rav Benaah once went to all the
interpreters of dreams in Jerusalem, twenty-four in number. Every one of
them gave a different interpretation, and each was fulfilled; which
substantiates the saying that it is the interpretation and not the dream
that comes true.

Ibid., fol. 55, col. 2.

Twenty-four fasts were observed by the men of the Great Synagogue, in
order that the writers of the books, phylacteries, and Mezuzahs might
not grow rich, lest in becoming rich they might be tempted not to write
any more.

_P'sachim_, fol. 50, col. 2.

When Solomon was desirous of conveying the Ark into the Temple, the
doors shut themselves of their own accord against him. He recited
twenty-four psalms, yet they opened not. In vain he cried, "Lift up your
heads, O ye gates" (Ps. xxiv. 9). But when he prayed, "O Lord God, turn
not Thy face away from Thine anointed; remember the mercies of David,
Thy servant" (2 Chron. vi. 42), then the gates flew open at once. Then
the enemies of David turned black in the face, for all knew by this that
God had pardoned David's transgression with Bathseheba.

_Moed Katon_, fol. 9, col. 1.

In the Midrash Rabbah (Devarim, chap. 15) the same story is
told, with this additional circumstance among others, that a
sacred respect was paid to the gates when the Temple was sacked
at the time of the Captivity. When the glorious vessels and
furniture of the Temple were being carried away into Babylon,
the gates, which were so zealous for the glory of God, were
buried on the spot (see Lam. ii. 9), there to await the
restoration of Israel. This romantic episode is alluded to in
the closing service for the Day of Atonement.

There are twenty-four species of unclean birds, but the clean birds are
innumerable.

_Chullin_, fol. 63, col. 2.

In twenty-four places priests are called Levites, and this is one of
them (Ezek. xliv. 15), "But the priests, the Levites, the sons of
Zadok."

_Tamid_, fol. 27, col. 1.

There are twenty-four extremities of members in the human body which do
not suffer defilement in the case of diseased flesh (see Lev. xiii. 10,
24). The tip-ends of the fingers and toes, the edges of the ears, the
tip of the nose, etc.

_Negaim_, chap. 6, mish. 7.

Twenty-five children is the highest number there should be in a class
for elementary instruction. There should be an assistant appointed, if
there be forty in number; and if fifty, there should be two competent
teachers. Rava says, "If there be two teachers in a place, one teaching
the children more than the other, the one that teaches less is not to be
dismissed, because if so, the other is liable to lapse into negligence
also." Rav Deimi of Nehardaa, on the other hand, thinks the dismissal of
the former will make the latter all the more eager to teach more, both
out of fear lest he also be dismissed, and out of gratitude that he has
been preferred to the other. Mar says, "The emulation of the scribes (or
teachers) increaseth wisdom." Rava also says, "When there are two
teachers, one teaching much but superficially, and one teaching
thoroughly but not so much, the former is to be preferred, for the
children will, in the long run, improve most by learning much." Rav
Deimi of Nehardaa, however, thinks the latter is to be preferred, for a
mistake or an error once learned is difficult to unlearn; as it is
written in 1 Kings xi. 16, "For six months did Joab remain there with
all Israel, until he cut off every male in Edom." When David asked Joab
why he killed only the males and not the females, he replied, "Because
it is written in Deut. xxv. 19, 'Thou shalt blot out the male portion of
Amalek.'" "But," said David, "we read 'the remembrance of Amalek.'" To
this Joab replied, "My teacher taught me to read zachar and not
zeichar," i.e., male, and not remembrance. The teacher of Joab was sent
for; and being found guilty of having taught his pupil in a superficial
manner, he was condemned to be beheaded. The poor teacher pleaded in
vain for his life, for the king's judgment was based on Scripture (Jer.
xlviii. 10), "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully,
and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood."

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 21, col. 1.

The Romans faithfully observed their compact with Israel for twenty-six
years. After that time they began to oppress them.

_Avoda Zarah_, fol. 8, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that a small salt fish will cause death if
partaken of after seven, seventeen, or twenty-seven days; some say after
twenty-three days. This is said with reference to half-cooked fish, but
when properly cooked there is no harm in it. Neither does any harm
result from eating half-cooked fish, if strong drink be taken after it.

_Berachoth_, fol. 44, col. 2.

On the twenty-eighth day of Adar there came good news to the Jews. The
Roman Government had passed a decree ordaining that they should neither
study the law, nor circumcise their children, nor observe the
Sabbath-days. Yehudah ben Shamua and his associates went to consult a
certain matron, whom all the magnates of Rome were in the habit of
visiting. She advised them to come at night and raise a loud outcry
against the decree they complained of. They did so, and cried, "O
heavens! are we not your brethren? are we not the children of one
mother?" (Alluding to Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.) "Wherein
are we worse than all other nations and tongues, that you should oppress
us with such harsh decrees?" Thereupon the decrees were revoked; to
commemorate which the Jews established a festival.

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 19, col. 1.

The renewal of the moon comes round in not less than twenty-nine days
and a half and forty minutes.

Ibid., fol. 25, col. 1.

Rav Mari reports that Rabbi Yochanan had said, "He who indulges in the
practice of eating lentils once in thirty days keeps away quinsy, but
they are not good to be eaten regularly because by them the breath is
corrupted." He used also to say that mustard eaten once in thirty days
drives away sickness, but if taken every day the action of the heart is
apt to be affected.

_Berachoth_, fol. 40, col. 1.

He who eats unripe dates and does not wash his hands will for thirty
day be in constant fear, without knowing why, of something untoward
happening.

_P'sachim_, fol. 111, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that the lighter kind of excommunication is not
to last less than thirty days, and censure not less than seven. The
latter is inferred from what is said in Num. xii. 14, "If her father had
but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days?"

_Moed Katon_, fol. 16, col. 1.

If we meet a friend during any of the thirty days of his mourning for a
deceased relative, we must condole with him but not salute him; but
after that time he may be saluted but not condoled with. If a man
(because he has no family) re-marries within thirty days of the death of
his wife, he should not be condoled with at home (lest it might hurt the
feelings of his new partner); but if met with out of doors, he should be
addressed in an undertone of voice, accompanied with a slight
inclination of the head.

Ibid., fol. 21, col. 2.

During the thirty days of mourning for deceased friends or relatives,
the bereaved should not trim their hair; but if they have lost their
parents, they are not to attend to such matters until their friends
force them to do so.

Ibid., fol. 22, col. 2.

"And Haman told them of the glory of his riches and the multitude of his
children" (Esth. v. 11). And how many children were there? Rav said
thirty; ten had died, ten were hanged, and ten went about begging from
door to door. The Rabbis say, "Those that went about begging from door
to door were seventy; for it is written (1 Sam. ii. 5), 'They that were
full have hired themselves for bread.'"

_Meggillah_, fol. 15, col. 2.

When Rabbi Chanena bar Pappa was about to die, the Angel of Death was
told to go and render him some friendly service. He accordingly went and
made himself known to him. The Rabbi requested him to leave him for
thirty days, until he had repeated what he had been learning; for it is
said, "Blessed is he who comes here with his studies in his hand." He
accordingly left, and at the expiration of thirty days returned to him.
The Rabbi then asked to be shown his place in Paradise, and the Angel of
Death consented to show him while life was still in him. Then said the
Rabbi, "Lend me thy sword, lest thou surprise me on the road and cheat
me of my expectation." To this the Angel of Death said, "Dost thou mean
to serve me as thy friend Rabbi Yoshua did?" and he declined to intrust
the sword to the Rabbi.

_Kethuboth_, fol. 77, col. 2.

If a man says to a woman, "Thou art betrothed to me after thirty days,"
and in the interim another comes and betroths her, she is the second
suitor's.

_Kiddushin_, fol. 58, col 2.

If one finds a scroll, he may peruse it once in thirty days, but he must
not teach out of it, nor may another join him in reading it; if he does
not know how to read, he must unroll it. If a garment be found, it
should be shaken and spread out once in thirty days, for its own sake
(to preserve it), but not for display. Silver and copper articles should
be used to take care of them, but not for the sake of ornament. Gold and
glass vessels he should not meddle with--till the coming of Elijah.

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 29, col. 2.

Rabbi Zira so inured his body (to endurance) that the fire of Gehenna
had no power over it. Every thirty days he experimented on himself,
ascending a fiery furnace, and finally sitting down in the midst of it
without being affected by the fire. One day, however, as the Rabbis
fixed their eyes upon him, his hips became singed, and from that day
onward he was noted in Jewry as the little man with the singed hips.

Ibid., fol. 85, col. 1.

An Arab once said to Rabbah bar Channah, "Come and I will show thee the
place where Korah and his accomplices were swallowed up." "There," says
the Rabbi, "I observed smoke coming out from two cracks in the ground.
Into one of these he inserted some wool tied on to the end of his spear,
and when he drew it out again it was scorched. Then he bade me listen. I
did so, and as I listened heard them groan out, 'Moses and his law are
true, but we are liars.' The Arab then told me that they come round to
this place once in every thirty days, being stirred about in the
hell-surge like meat in the boiling caldron."

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 74, col. 1.

Rabbi Yochanan, in expounding Isa. liv. 12, said, "The Holy One--blessed
be He!--will bring precious stones and pearls, each measuring thirty
cubits by thirty, and polishing them down to twenty cubits by ten, will
place them in the gates of Jerusalem." A certain disciple contemptuously
observed, "No one has ever yet seen a precious stone as large as a small
bird's egg, and is it likely that such immense ones as these have any
existence?" He happened one day after this to go forth on a voyage, and
there in the sea he saw the angels quarrying precious stones and pearls
like those his Rabbi had told him of, and upon inquiry he learned that
they were intended for the gates of Jerusalem. On his return he went
straight to Rabbi Yochanan and told him what he had seen and heard.

"Raca!" said the latter, "hadst thou not seen them thou wouldst have
kept on deriding the words of the wise!" Then fixing his gaze intently
upon him, he with the glance of his eye reduced to a heap of bones the
carcass of his body.

Ibid., fol. 75, col. 1.

He who lends unconditionally a sum of money to his neighbor is not
entitled to demand it back within thirty days thereafter.

_Maccoth_, fol. 3, col. 2.

If a man has lost a relative, he is forbidden to engage in business
until thirty days after the death. In the case of the decease of a
father or a mother, he is not to resume work until his friends rebuke
him and urge him to return.

_Semachoth_, chap. 9.

It is unlawful for one to enter a banqueting-house for thirty days after
the death of a relative; but he must refrain from so doing for twelve
months after the demise of either father or mother, unless on the behest
of some higher requirement of piety.

Ibid.

But I know not whether there are thirty righteous men here and fifteen
in the land of Israel, or _vice versa_.

_Chullin_, fol. 92, col. 1.

Thirty days in a year are equivalent to a whole year.

_Niddah_, fol. 44, col. 2.

"Moses, thou didst say unto me, 'What is Thy name?' And now thou dost
say, 'Neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all.' Now shalt thou see
what I will do to Pharaoh (Exod. v. 23, vi. 1), but not what I am about
to do to the thirty-one kings."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. III, col. 1.

When Rav Deimi arrived at Babylon, he reported that the Romans had
fought thirty-two battles with the Greeks without once conquering them,
until they allied themselves with Israel, on the stipulation that where
Rome appointed the commanding officers the Jews should appoint the
governors, and _vice versa_.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 8, col. 2.

Manasseh did penance thirty-three years.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 103, col. 1.

Balaam was thirty-three years of age when Phineas, the robber, slew him.

Ibid., fol. 106, col. 2.

For thirty-four years the kingdom of Persia lasted contemporaneously
with the Temple.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 9, col. 1.

Abaii has said, "There are never fewer than thirty-six righteous men in
every generation who receive the presence of the Shechinah; for it is
said (Isa. xxx. 18), 'Blessed are all those who wait upon Him.'" The
numerical value (by Gematria) of Him, is thirty-six.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 97, col. 2.

The sons of Esau, of Ishmael, and of Keturah went on purpose to dispute
the burial (of Jacob); but when they saw that Joseph had placed his
crown upon the coffin, they did the same with theirs. There were
thirty-six crowns in all, tradition says. "And they mourned with a great
and very sore lamentation." Even the very horses and asses joined in it,
we are told. On arriving at the Cave of Machpelah, Esau once more
protested, and said, "Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and
Rebekah, are all buried here. Jacob disposed of his share when he buried
Leah in it, and the remaining one belongs to me." "But thou didst sell
thy share with thy birthright," remonstrated the sons of Jacob. "Nay,"
rejoined Esau, "that did not include my share in the burial-place."
"Indeed it did," they argued, "for our father, just before he died, said
(Gen. l. 5), 'In my grave which I have bought for myself.'" "Where are
the title-deeds?" demanded Esau. "In Egypt," was the answer. And
immediately the swift-footed Naphthali started for the records. ("So
light of foot was he," says the Book of Jasher, "that he could go upon
the ears of corn without crushing them.") Hushim, the son of Dan, being
deaf, asked what was the cause of the commotion. On being told what it
was, he snatched up a club and smote Esau so hard that his eyes dropped
out and fell upon the feet of Jacob; at which Jacob opened his eyes and
grimly smiled. This is that which is written (Ps. lviii. 10), "The
righteous shall rejoice when he sees vengeance; he shall wash his feet
in the blood of the wicked." Then Rebekah's prophecy came to pass (Gen.
xxvii. 45), "Why shall I be deprived also of you both in one day?" For
although they did not both die on the same day, they were both buried on
the same day.

_Soteh_, fol. 13, col. 1.

This story slightly varied, is repeated in the Book of Jasher
and in the Targum of Ben Uzziel.

The principal works of the hand are forty save one:--To sow, to plow, to
reap, to bind in sheaves, to thrash, to winnow, to sift corn, to grind,
to bolt meal, to knead, to bake, to shear, to wash wool, to comb wool,
to dye it, to spin, to warp, to shoot two threads, to weave two threads,
to cut and tie two threads, to tie, to untie, to sew two stitches, to
tear two threads with intent to sew, to hunt game, to slay, to skin, to
salt a hide, to singe, to tan, to cut up a skin, to write two letters,
to scratch out two letters with intent to write, to build, to pull down,
to put out a fire, to light a fire, to smite with a hammer, to convey
from one Reshuth [a private property in opposition to a public] to
another.

_Shabbath_, fol. 73, col. 1.

King Yanai had a single tree on the royal mound, whence once a month
they collected forty seahs (about fifteen bushels) of young pigeons of
three different breeds.

_Berachoth_, fol. 44, col. 1.

Forty years before the destruction of the Temple the Sanhedrin were
exiled, and they sat in the Halls of Commerce.

_Shabbath_, fol. 15, col. 1.

Until one is forty eating is more advantageous than drinking. After that
age the rule is reversed.

Ibid., fol. 152, col. 1.

The Rabbis have taught that during the forty years in which Simeon the
Just officiated in the Temple the lot always fell on the right (see Lev.
xvi. 8-10). After that time it sometimes fell on the right and sometimes
on the left. The crimson band also, which in his time had always turned
white, after that period sometimes turned white, and at others it did
not change color at all.

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