Book: Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and

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_Moed Katon_, fol. 28, col. 1.

The judges who issued decrees at Jerusalem received for salary
ninety-nine manahs from the contributions of the chamber.

_Kethuboth_, fol. 105, col. 1.

Ninety-nine die from an evil eye for one who dies in the usual manner.

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 107, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught us who they are that are to be accounted rich.
"Every one," says Rabbi Meir, "who enjoys his riches." But Rabbi Tarphon
says, "Every one who has a hundred vineyards and a hundred fields, with
a hundred slaves to labor in them." Rabbi Akiva pronounces him well off
who has a wife that is becoming in all her ways.

_Shabbath_, fol. 25, col. 2.

A light for one is a light for a hundred.

Ibid., fol. 122, col. 1.

When a Gentile lights a candle or a lamp on the Sabbath-eve for his own
use, an Israelite is permitted to avail himself of its light, as a light
for one is a light for a hundred; but it is unlawful for an Israelite to
order a Gentile to kindle a light for his use.

A hundred Rav Papas and not one (like) Ravina!

A hundred zouzim employed in commerce will allow the merchant meat and
wine at his table daily, but a hundred zouzim employed in farming will
allow their owner only salt and vegetables.

_Yevamoth_, fol. 63, col. 1.

A hundred women are equal to only one witness (compare Deut. xvii. 6 and
xix. 15).

Ibid., fol. 88, col. 2.

If song should cease, a hundred geese or a hundred measures of wheat
might be offered for one zouz, and even then the buyer would refuse
paying such a sum for them.

_Soteh_, fol. 48, col. 1.

Rav says, "The ear that often listens to song shall be rooted
out." Music, according to the idea here, raises the price of
provisions. Do away with music and provisions will be so
abundant that a goose would be considered dear at a penny.
Theatres and music-halls are abominations to orthodox Jews, and
the Talmud considers the voice of a woman to be immoral.

When Rabbi Zira returned to the land of Israel he fasted a hundred times
in order that he might forget the Babylonian Talmud.

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 85, col. 1.

This passage, as also that on another page, will appear
surprising to many a reader, as we confess it does to ourselves.
We must, however, give the Talmud great credit for recording
such passages, and also the custodians of the Talmud for not
having expunged them from its pages.

"Ye shall hear the small as well as the great" (Deut. i. 17). Resh
Lakish said, "A lawsuit about a prutah (the smallest coin there is)
should be esteemed of as much account as a suit of a hundred manahs."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 8, col. 1.

Rav Yitzchak asks, "Why was Obadiah accounted worthy to be a prophet?"
Because, he answers, he concealed a hundred prophets in a cave; as it is
said (1 Kings xviii. 4), "When Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord,
Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifty in a cave." Why by
fifties? Rabbi Eliezer explains, "He copied the plan from Jacob, who
said, 'If Esau come to one company and smite it, then the other company
which is left may escape.'" Rabbi Abuhu says, "It was because the caves
would not hold any more."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 39, col. 2.

"And it came to pass after these things that God did test Abraham" (Gen.
xxii. 1). After what things? Rabbi Yochanan, in the name of Rabbi Yossi
ben Zimra, replies, "After the words of Satan, who said, 'Lord of the
Universe! Thou didst bestow a son upon that old man when he was a
hundred years of age, and yet he spared not a single dove from the
festival to sacrifice to Thee.' God replied, 'Did he not make this
festival for the sake of his son? and yet I know he would not refuse to
sacrifice that son at my command.' To prove this, God did put Abraham to
the test, saying unto him, 'Take now thy son;' just as an earthly king
might say to a veteran warrior who had conquered in many a hard-fought
battle, 'Fight, I pray thee, this severest battle of all, lest it should
be said that thy previous encounters were mere haphazard skirmishes.'
Thus did the Holy One--blessed be He!--address Abraham, 'I have tried
thee in various ways, and not in vain either; stand this test also, for
fear it should be insinuated that the former trials were trivial and
therefore easily overcome. Take thy son.' Abraham replied, 'I have two
sons.' 'Take thine only son.' Abraham answered, 'Each is the only son of
his mother.' 'Take him whom thou lovest.' 'I love both of them,' said
Abraham. 'Take Isaac.' Thus Abraham's mind was gradually prepared for
this trial. While on the way to carry out this Divine command Satan met
him, and (parodying Job iv. 2-5) said, 'Why ought grievous trials to be
inflicted upon thee? Behold thou hast instructed many, and thou hast
strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have supported him that was
falling, and now this sore burden is laid upon thee.' Abraham answered
(anticipating Ps. xxvi. 11), 'I will walk in my integrity.' Then said
Satan (see Job iv. 6), 'Is not the fear (of God) thy folly? Remember, I
pray thee, who ever perished being innocent?' Then finding that he could
not persuade him, he said (perverting Job iv. 12), 'Now a word came to
me by stealth. I overheard it behind the veil (in the Holy of Holies
above). A lamb will be the sacrifice, and not Isaac.' Abraham said, 'It
is the just desert of a liar not to be believed even when he speaks the
truth.'"

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 89, col. 2.

It is better to have ten inches to stand upon than a hundred yards to
fall.

_Avoth d' Rab. Nathan_, chap. 1.

When Israel went up to Jerusalem to worship their Father who is in
heaven, they sat so close together that no one could insert a finger
between them, yet when they had to kneel and to prostrate themselves
there was room enough for them all to do so. The greatest wonder of all
was that even when a hundred prostrated themselves at the same time
there was no need for the governor of the synagogue to request one to
make room for another.

Ibid., chap. 35.

A man is bound to repeat a hundred blessings every day.

_Menachoth_, fol. 43, col. 2.

This duty, as Rashi tells us, is based upon Deut. x. 12,
altering the word what into a hundred, by the addition of a
letter.

This is what the so-called Pagan Goethe, intent on self-culture
as the first if not the final duty of man, makes Serlo in his
"Meister" lay down as a rule which one should observe daily.
"One," he says, "ought every day to hear a little song, read a
good poem, see a fine picture, and, if possible, speak a few
reasonable words." The contrast between this advice and that of
the Talmud here and elsewhere is suggestive of reflections.

He who possesses one manah may buy, in addition to his bread, a litra of
vegetables; the owner of ten manahs may add to his bread a litra of
fish; he that has fifty manahs may add a litra of meat; while the
possessor of a hundred may have pottage every day.

_Chullin_, fol. 84, col. 1.

Ben Hey-Hey said to Hillel, "What does this mean that is written in Mal.
iii. 18, 'Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and
the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not'?
Does the righteous here mean him that serveth God, and the wicked him
that serveth Him not? Why this repetition?" To this Hillel replied, "The
expressions, 'he that serveth God, and he that serveth Him not,' are
both to be understood as denoting 'perfectly righteous,' but he who
repeats his lesson a hundred times is not to be compared with one who
repeats it a hundred and one times." Then said Ben Hey-Hey, "What!
because he has repeated what he has learned only one time less than the
other, is he to be considered as 'one who serveth Him not'?" "Yes!" was
the reply; "go and learn a lesson from the published tariff of the
donkey-drivers--ten miles for one zouz, eleven for two."

_Chaggigah_, fol. 9, col. 2.

Hillel was great and good and clever, but his exposition of
Scripture, as we see from the above, is not always to be
depended upon. If, indeed, he was the teacher of Jesus, as some
suppose him to have been, then Jesus must, even from a
Rabbinical stand-point, be regarded as greater than Hillel the
Great, for He never handled the Scriptures with such
irreverence.

One hundred and three chapters (or psalms) were uttered by David, and he
did not pronounce the word Hallelujah until he came to contemplate the
downfall of the wicked; as it is written (Ps. civ. 35), "Let the sinners
be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, Hallelujah!" Instead of one hundred and three we ought
to say a hundred and four, but we infer from this that "Blessed is the
man," etc., and "Why do the heathen rage?" etc., are but one psalm.

_Berachoth_, fol. 9, col. 2.

One of the most charming women that we find figuring in the
Talmud was the wife of Rabbi Meir, Beruriah by name; and as we
meet with her in the immediate context of the above quotation,
it may be well to introduce her here to the attention of the
reader. The context speaks of a set of ignorant fellows
(probably Greeks) who sorely vexed the soul of Rabbi Meir, her
husband, and he ardently prayed God to take them away. Then
Beruriah reasoned with her husband thus:--"Is it, pray, because
it is written (Ps. civ. 35), 'Let the sinners be consumed'? It
is not written 'sinners,' but 'sins.' Besides, a little farther
on in the text it is said, 'And the wicked will be no more;'
that is to say, 'Let sins cease, and the wicked will cease too.'
Pray, therefore, on their behalf that they may be led to
repentance, and these wicked will be no more." This he therefore
did, and they repented and ceased to vex him. Of this excellent
and humane woman it may well be said, "She openeth her mouth
with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness" (Prov.
xxxi. 26). Her end was tragic. She was entrapped by a disciple
of her husband, and out of shame she committed suicide. See
particulars by Rashi in Avodah Zarah, fol. 18, col. 2.

The Hasmoneans ruled over Israel during the time of the second Temple a
hundred and three years; and for a hundred and three the government was
in the hands of the family of Herod.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 9, col. 1.

Rabbi Yochanan the son of Zacchai lived a hundred and twenty years;
forty he devoted to commerce, forty to study, and forty to teaching.

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 30, col. 2.

One hundred and twenty elders, and among them several prophets, bore a
part in composing the Eighteen Blessings (the Shemonah Esreh).

_Meggillah_, fol. 17, col. 2.

A similar tradition was current among the early Christians, with
reference to the composition of the Creed. Its different
sentences were ascribed to different apostles. However fitly
this tradition may represent the community of faith with which
the prophets on the one hand and the apostles on the other were
inspired, it is not recommended by the critic as a proceeding
calculated to ensure unity in a work of art.

Rabbi Shemuel says advantage may be taken of the mistakes of a Gentile.
He once bought a gold plate as a copper one of a Gentile for four
zouzim, and then cheated him out of one zouz into the bargain. Rav
Cahana purchased a hundred and twenty vessels of wine from a Gentile for
a hundred zouzim, and swindled him in the payment out of one of the
hundred, and that while the Gentile assured him that he confidently
trusted to his honesty. Rava once went shares with a Gentile and bought
a tree, which was cut up into logs. This done, he bade his servant go to
pick him out the largest logs, but to be sure to take no more than the
proper number, because the Gentile knew how many there were. As Rav Ashi
was walking abroad one day he saw some grapes growing in a roadside
vineyard, and sent his servant to see whom they belonged to. "If they
belong to a Gentile," he said, "bring some here to me; but if they
belong to an Israelite, do not meddle with them." The owner, who
happened to be in the vineyard, overheard the Rabbi's order and called
out, "What! is it lawful to rob a Gentile?" "Oh, no," said the Rabbi
evasively; "a Gentile might sell, but an Israelite would not."

_Bava Kama_, fol. 113, col. 2.

This is given simply as a sample of the teaching of the Talmud
on the subject both by precept and example. There is no
intention to cast a slight on general Jewish integrity, or
suggest distrust in regard to their ethical creed.

Rabbon Gamliel, Rabbi Eliezer ben Azaryah, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi
Akiva once went on a journey to Rome, and at Puteoli they already heard
the noisy din of the city, though at a distance of a hundred and twenty
miles. At the sound all shed tears except Akiva, who began to laugh.
"Why laughest thou?" they asked. "Why do you cry?" he retorted. They
answered, "These Romans, who worship idols of wood and stone and offer
incense to stars and planets, abide in peace and quietness, while our
Temple, which was the footstool of our God, is consumed by fire; how can
we help weeping?" "That is just the very reason," said he, "why I
rejoice; for if such be the lot of those who transgress His laws, what
shall the lot of those be who observe and do them?"

_Maccoth_, fol. 24, col. 2.

When Adam observed that his sin was the cause of the decree which made
death universal he fasted one hundred and thirty years, abstained all
that space from intercourse with his wife, and wore girdles of
fig-leaves round his loins. All these years he lived under divine
displeasure, and begat devils, demons, and spectres; as it is said (Gen.
v. 3), "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat in his own
likeness, after his image," which implies that, until the close of those
years, his offspring were not after his own image.

_Eiruvin_, fol. 18, col. 2.

There is a tradition that there was once a disciple in Yabneh who gave a
hundred and fifty reasons to prove a reptile to be clean (which the
Scripture regards as unclean.--Compare Lev. xi. 29).

Ibid., fol 13, col 2.

The ablutionary tank made by Solomon was as large as a hundred and fifty
lavatories.

Ibid., fol. 14, col. 1.

A hundred and eighty years before the destruction of the Temple, the
empire of idolatry (Rome) began the conquest of Israel.

_Shabbath_, fol. 15, col. 1.

The empire of Rome was, some think, so designated, because it
strove with all its might to drag down the worship of God to the
worship of man, and resolve the cause of God into the cause of
the Empire.

During the time of the second Temple Persia domineered over Israel for
thirty-four years and the Greeks held sway a hundred and eighty.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 9, col. 1.

Foolish saints, crafty villains, sanctimonious women, and
self-afflicting Pharisees are the destroyers of the world. What is it to
be a foolish saint? To see a woman drowning in the river and refrain
from trying to save her because of the look of the thing. Who is to be
regarded as a crafty villain? Rabbi Yochanan says, "He who prejudices
the magistrates by prepossessing them in favor of his cause before his
opponent has had time to make his appearance." Rabbi Abhu says, "He who
gives a denarius to a poor man to make up for him the sum total of two
hundred zouzim; for it is enacted that he who possesses two hundred
zouzim is not entitled to receive any gleanings, neither what is
forgotten in the field, nor what is left in the corner of it (see Lev.
xxiii. 22), nor poor relief either. But if he is only one short of the
two hundred zouzim, and a thousand people give anything to him, he is
still entitled to the poor man's perquisites."

_Soteh_, fol. 21, col. 2.

The cup of David in the world to come will contain two hundred and
twenty-one logs; as it is said (Ps. xxiii. 5), "My cup runneth over,"
the numerical value of the Hebrew word, "runneth over," being two
hundred and twenty-one.

_Yoma_, fol. 76, col. 2.

In the world to come the Holy One will make a grand banquet for
the righteous from the flesh of the leviathan. _Bava Bathra_,
fol. 75, col. 1. (See the Morning Service for the middle days of
the Feast of Tabernacles.) God will make a banquet for the
righteous on the day when He shows His mercy to the posterity of
Isaac. After the meal the cup of blessing will be handed to
Abraham, in order that he may pronounce the blessing, but he
will plead excuse because he begat Ishmael. Then Isaac will be
told to take the cup and speak the benediction of grace, but he
also will plead his unworthiness because he begat Esau. Next
Jacob also will refuse because he married two sisters. Then
Moses, on the ground that he was unworthy to enter the land of
promise, or even to be buried in it; and finally Joshua will
plead unworthiness because he had no son. David will then be
called upon to take the cup and bless, and he will respond,
"Yea, I will bless, for I am worthy to bless, as it is said (Ps.
cxvi. 13), 'I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the
name of the Lord.'" P'sachim, fol. 119, col. 2. This cup, as we
are told above, will contain two hundred and twenty-one logs
(which the Rabbis tell us, is the twenty-fourth part of a seah,
therefore this cup will hold rather more than one-third of a
hogshead of wine).

Beruriah once found a certain disciple who studied in silence. As soon
as she saw him she spurned him and said, "Is it not thus written (2 Sam.
xxiii. 5), 'Ordered in all and sure'? If ordered with all the two
hundred and forty-eight members of thy body, it will be sure; if not, it
will not be sure." It is recorded that Rabbi Eliezer had a disciple who
also studied in silence, but that after three years he forgot all that
he had learned.

_Eiruvin_, fol. 53, col. 2, and fol. 54, col. 1.

In continuation of the above we read that Shemuel said to Rav
Yehudah, "Shrewd fellow, open thy mouth when thou readest, etc.,
so that thy reading may remain and thy life may be lengthened;
as it is written in Prov. iv. 22, 'For they are life unto those
that find them;' read not, 'that find them,' but read, 'that
bring them forth by the mouth,' i.e., that read them aloud." It
was and is still a common custom in the East to study aloud.

As an anathema enters all the two hundred and forty-eight members of the
body, so does it issue from them all. Of the entering-in of the anathema
it is written (Josh. vi. 17), "And the city shall be accursed;" by
Gematria amounting to two hundred and forty-eight. Of the coming-out of
the anathema it is written (Hab. iii. 2), "In wrath remember mercy;" a
transposition of the letters of the word for accursed, also amounting by
Gematria to two hundred and forty-eight. Rabbi Joseph says, "Hang an
anathema on the tail of a dog and he will still go on doing mischief."

_Moed Katon_, fol. 17, col. 1.

The human body has two hundred and forty-eight members:--Thirty in the
foot--that is, six in each toe--ten in the ankle, two in the thigh, five
in the knee, one in the hip, three in the hip-ball, eleven ribs, thirty
in the hand--that is, six in each finger--two in the fore-arm, two in
the elbow, one in the upper arm, four in the shoulder. Thus we have one
hundred and one on each side; to this add eighteen vertebrae in the
spine, nine in the head, eight in the neck, six in the chest, and five
in the loins.

_Oholoth_, chap. I, mish. 8.

See also Eiruvin, fol. 53, col. 2, and the Musaph for the second
day of Pentecost. In the Musaph for the New Year there is a
prayer that runs thus, "Oh, deign to hear the voice of those who
glorify Thee with all their members, according to the number of
the two hundred and forty-eight affirmative precepts. In this
month they blow thirty sounds, according to the thirty members
of the soles of their feet; the additional offerings of the day
are ten, according to the ten in their ankles; they approach the
altar twice, according to their two legs; five are called to the
law, according to the five joints in their knees; they observe
the appointed time to sound the cornet on the first day of the
month, according to the one in their thigh; they sound the horn
thrice, according to the three in their hips; lo! with the
additional offering of the new moon they are eleven, according
to their eleven ribs; they pour out the supplication with nine
blessings, according to the muscles in their arms, and which
contain thirty verses, according to the thirty in the palms of
their hands; they daily repeat the prayer of eighteen blessings,
according to the eighteen vertebrae in the spine; at the
offering of the continual sacrifice they sound nine times,
according to the nine muscles in their head," etc., etc.

It is related of Rabbi Ishmael's disciples that they dissected a low
woman who had been condemned by the Government to be burned, and upon
examination they found that her body contained two hundred and fifty-two
members.

_Bechoroth_, fol. 45, col. 1.

The regular period of gestation is either two hundred and seventy-one,
two hundred and seventy-two, or two hundred and seventy-three days.

_Niddah_, fol. 38, col. 1.

Revere the memory of Chananiah ben Chiskiyah, for had it not been for
him the Book of Ezekiel would have been suppressed, because of the
contradictions it offers to the words of the law. By the help of three
hundred bottles of oil, which were brought up into an upper chamber, he
prolonged his lucubrations, till he succeeded in reconciling all the
discrepancies.

_Shabbath_, fol. 13, col. 2.

It is related of Johanan, the son of Narbai, that he used to eat three
hundred calves, and to drink three hundred bottles of wine, and to
consume forty measures of young pigeons by way of dessert. (Rashi says
this was because he had to train many priests in his house.)

_P'sachim_, fol. 57, col. 1.

The keys of the treasury of Korah were so many that it required three
hundred white mules to carry them. These, with the locks, were said to
be made of white leather.

Ibid., fol. 119, col. 1.

The Midrash repeats the same story, and adds, "His wealth was
his ruin." "He is as rich as Korah" is now a Jewish proverb.

Rav Chiya, the son of Adda, was tutor to the children of Resh Lakish,
and once absented himself from his duties for three days. On his return
he was questioned as to the reason of his conduct, and he gave the
following reply: "My father bequeathed to me a vine, trained on high
trellis-work as a bower, from which I gathered the first day three
hundred bunches, each of which yielded a gerav of wine (a gerav is a
measure containing as much as 288 egg-shells would contain). On the
second day I again gathered three hundred bunches of smaller size, two
only producing one gerav (one bunch yielding the quantity of wine 144
egg-shells would contain). The third day I also gathered three hundred
bunches, but only three bunches to the gerav, and have yet left more
than half of the grapes free for any one to gather them." Thereupon Resh
Lakish observed to him, "If thou hadst not been so negligent (losing
time in the instruction of my children), it would have yielded still
more."

_Kethuboth_, fol. 111, col. 2.

There were three hundred species of male demons in Sichin, but what the
female demon herself was like is known to no one.

_Gittin_, fol. 68, col. 1.

"Now, when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon
him, they came each from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildah the
Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment
together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him" (Job ii. 11).
What is meant when it is said, "They had made an appointment together"?
Rab. Yehudah says in the name of Rav, "This is to teach that they all
came in by one gate." But there is a tradition that each lived three
hundred miles away from the other. How then came they to know of Job's
sad condition? Some say they had wreaths, others say trees (each
representing an absent friend), and when any friend was in distress the
one representing him straightway began to wither. Rava said, "Hence the
proverb, 'Either a friend as the friends of Job, or death.'"

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Rashi tenders this explanation, that Job and his friends had
each wreaths with their names engraved on them, and if
affliction befell any one his name upon the wreath would change
color.

Rabbi Yochanan says that Rabbi Meir knew three hundred fables about
foxes, but we have only three of them, viz, "The fathers have eaten sour
grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge" (Ezek. xviii. 2);
"Just balances and just weights" (Lev. xix. 36); "The righteous is
delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead" (Prov. xi.
8).

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