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_Sanhedrin_, fol. 38, col. 2, and fol. 39, col. 1.

Quite apropos to this we glean the following from Rashi:--A fox
once induced a wolf to enter a Jewish dwelling to help the
inmates to get ready the Sabbath meal. No sooner did he enter
than the whole household set upon him, and so belabored him with
cudgels that he was obliged to flee for his life. For this trick
the wolf was indignant at the fox, and sought to kill him, but
he pacified him with the remark, "They would not have beaten
thee if thy father had not on a former occasion belied
confidence, and eaten up the choicest pieces that were set aside
for the meal." "What!" rejoined the wolf, "the fathers have
eaten sour grapes, and shall the children's teeth be set on
edge?" "Well," interrupted the fox, "come with me now and I will
show thee a place where thou mayest eat and be satisfied." He
thereupon took him to a well, across the top of which rested a
transverse axle with a rope coiled round it, to each extremity
of which a bucket was attached. The fox, entering the bucket,
which happened to be at the top, soon descended by his own
weight to the bottom of the well, and thereby raised the other
bucket to the top. On the wolf inquiring at the fox why he had
gone down there, he replied, because he knew there was meat and
cheese to eat and be satisfied, in proof of which he pointed to
a cheese, which happened to be the reflection of the moon on the
water. Upon which the wolf inquired, "And how am I to get down
beside you?" The fox replied, "By getting into the bucket at the
top." He did as directed, and as he descended the bucket with
the fox rose to the top. The wolf in this plight again appealed
to the fox. "But how am I to get out?" The reply was, "The
righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in
his stead;" and is it not written, "Just balances just weights?"

When Rabbi Eliezer, on his deathbed, taught Rabbi Akiva three hundred
particulars to be observed in regard to the white spot covered with hair
which was the sign of leprosy, the former lifted up his arms and placed
them on his chest and exclaimed, "Woe is me, because of these my two
arms, these two scrolls of the law, that are about to depart from this
world; for if all the seas were ink, and all the reeds were quills, and
all the men were scribes, they could not record all I have learned and
all I have taught, and how much I have heard at the lips of sages in the
schools. And what is more, I also taught three hundred laws based on the
text, 'A witch shall not live.'"

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 25.

This truly Oriental exaggeration, which Rabbi Eliezer ben
Azariah so complacently applies to himself, was spoken also of
Rabbi Yochanan before him (Bereshith Rabba); an acrostic poem in
the Morning Service for Pentecost adopts the same hyperbole
almost word for word, and turns it to very pious account. It is
interesting to note how contemporary sacred literature abounds
in similar hyperbolic expressions. In John xxi 25 it is said,
"There are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if
they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world
itself could not contain the books that should be written."
Cicero, too, speaks of a glory of such a weight that even heaven
itself is scarcely able to contain it; and Livy, on one
occasion, describes the power of Rome as with difficulty
restrained within the limits of the world.

Here it may not be out of place if we introduce a few of the
many passages in the Talmud that treat of enchantment and
witchcraft, as well as magic, charms, and omens. The list of
quotations might be extended to a hundred, but we must confine
ourselves to a score or so.

The daughters of Israel burn incense for (purposes of) sorcery.

_Berachoth_, fol. 53, col. 1.

Ben Azai (son of impudence), says, "... he who seats himself and then
feels ... (which must not be explained), the effects of witchcraft, even
when practiced in Spain, will come upon him. What is the remedy when one
forgets and first sits down and then feels?.... When he rises let him
say, 'Not these and not of these; not the witchcraft of sorcerers and
not the sorcery of witches.'"

_Berachoth_, fol. 62, col. 1.

The daughters of Israel in later generations lapsed into the practice of
witchcraft.

_Eiruvin_ fol. 64, col. 2.

Ameimar says, "The superior of the witches told me that when a person
meets any of them he should mutter thus, 'May a potsherd of boiling dung
be stuffed into your mouths, you ugly witches! may the hair with which
you perform your sorcery be torn from your heads, so that ye become
bald. May the wind scatter the crumbs wherewith ye do your divinations.
May your spices be scattered and may the wind blow away the saffron you
hold in your hands for the practicing of sorcery.'"

_P'sachim_, fol. 110, cols, 1, 2.

Yohanna, the daughter of Ratibi, was a widow, who bewitched women in
their confinement. See Rashi on _Soteh_, fol. 22, col. 1.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua, says, "Since
the destruction of the Temple a day has not passed without a curse; the
dew does not come down with a blessing, and the fruits have lost their
proper taste." Rabbi Yossi adds, "Also the lusciousness of the fruit is
gone." Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says, "With the decay of purity the taste
and aroma (of the fruit) has disappeared, and with the tithes and
richness of the corn." The sages say, "Lewdness and witchcraft ruin
everything."

_Soteh_, fol. 48, col. 1.

A certain magician used to strip the dead of their shrouds. Once when he
came to the tomb of Rav Tovi bar Mathna he was seized and held fast by
the beard, but Abaii having interceded on behalf of his friend, the grip
was let go and he was set at liberty. Next year he came again on the
same errand, and again he was seized by the beard. This time Abaii's
intercession was of no avail, and he was not liberated until they
brought a pair of scissors and cut off his beard.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 58, col. 1

None were allowed to sit in the Sanhedrin unless they had a knowledge of
magic.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 17, col. 1.

Rabbi Shimon said, "An enchanter is one who passeth the exudation of
seven different sorts of male creatures over the eye." The sages say he
is one who practices and palms off optical illusions. Rabbi Akiva says,
"He is one who calculates times and hours, and says To-day is good to
start on a journey, To-morrow will be a lucky day for selling, The year
before the Sabbatical year is generally good for growing wheat, The
pulling up of pease will preserve them from being spoiled." According to
the Rabbis, "An enchanter is he who augurs ill when his bread drops from
his mouth, or if he drops the stick that supports him from his hand, or
if his son calls after him, or a crow caws in his hearing, or a deer
crosses his path, or he sees a serpent at his right hand or a fox on his
left, or if he says to the tax-gatherer, 'Do not begin with me the first
in the morning'; or, 'It is the first of the month'; or, 'It is the exit
of the Sabbath,' i.e., the commencement of a new week."

Ibid., fol. 65, col. 2.

"By the term witch," the Rabbis say, "we are to understand either male
or female." "If so," it is asked, "why the term 'witch,' in Exod. xxii.
18, in the Hebrew verse 17, is in the feminine gender?" "Because," it is
answered, "most women are witches."

Ibid., fol. 67, col. 1.

If the proud (in Israel) were to cease, the magicians would also cease;
as it is written (Isa. i. 25), "I will purge away thy dross and take
away all thy tin."

Ibid., fol. 98, col. 1.

Among those who have no portion in the world to come is he who reads the
books of the strangers, foreign books, books of outsiders. See also
Sanhedrin, fol. 90, col. 1. Now Rav Yoseph says, "It is unlawful to read
the Book of the Son of Sirach, ... because it is written therein
(Ecclesiasticus xlii. 9, etc., as quoted, or rather misquoted, in the
Talmud), 'A daughter is a false treasure to her father: because of
anxiety for her he cannot sleep at night; when she is young, for fear
she should be seduced; in her virginity lest she play the harlot; in her
marriageable age, lest she should not get married; and when married,
lest she should be childless; and when grown old, lest she practice
witchcraft.'"

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 100, col. 2.

He who multiplieth wives multiplieth witchcraft.

_Avoth_, chap. 2.

Most donkey-drivers are wicked, but most sailors are pious. The best
physicians are destined for hell, the most upright butcher is a partner
of Amalek. Bastards are mostly cunning, and servants mostly handsome.
Those who are well-descended are bashful, and children mostly resemble
their mother's brother. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai bids us "kill the best
of Gentiles" (modern editions qualify this by adding, in time of war),
"and smash the head of the best of serpents." "The best among women," he
says, "is a witch." Blessed is he who does the will of God!

_Sophrim_, chap. 15, hal. 10.

On the Sabbath one may carry a grasshopper's egg as a charm against
earache, the tooth of a living fox to promote sleep, the tooth of a dead
fox to prevent sleep, and the nail of one crucified (as a remedy) for
inflammation or swelling. For cutaneous disorders he is to repeat Baz
Baziah, Mass Massiah, Cass Cassiah, Sharlaii, and Amarlaii (names of
angels), etc.... As the mules do not increase and multiply, so may the
skin disease not increase and spread upon the body of N., the son of the
woman N., etc.

_Shabbath_, fol. 67, col. 1.

"For night-blindness, let a man take a hair-rope and bind one end of it
to his own leg and the other to a dog's, then let children clatter a
potsherd after him, and call out, 'Old man! dog! fool! cock!' Let him
now collect seven pieces of meat from seven (different) houses; let him
set them on the cross-bar of the threshold, then let him eat them on the
town middens; and after that let him undo the hair-rope, then let him
say thus: 'Blindness of So-and-so, son of Mrs. So-and-so, leave
So-and-so, son of Mrs. So-and-so, and be brushed into the pupil of the
eye of the dog.'" (Quoted from "The Fragment," by Rev. W.H. Lowe of
Cambridge.)

_Gittin_, fol. 69, col. 1.

According to the Rabbis, a man should not drink water by night, for thus
he exposes himself to the power of Shavriri, the demon of blindness.
What then should he do if he is thirsty? If there be another man with
him, let him rouse him up and say, "I am thirsty;" but if he be alone,
let him tap upon the lid of the jug (to make the demon fancy there's
some one with him), and addressing himself by his own name and the name
of his mother, let him say, "Thy mother has bid thee beware of Shavriri,
vriri, riri, iri, ri," in a white cup. Rashi says by this incantation
the demon gradually contracts and vanishes as the sounds of the word
Shavriri decrease.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 12, col. 2.

A python is a familiar spirit who speaks from his armpits; a wizard is
one who speaks with the mouth. As the Rabbis have taught, a familiar
spirit is one who speaks from his joints and his wrists; a wizard is one
who, putting a certain bone into his mouth, causes it to speak.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 65, cols, 1, 2.

He who says to a raven "Croak," and to a hen raven, "Droop thy tail and
turn it this way as a lucky sign," is an imitator of the ways of the
Amorites (Lev. xviii. 3).

_Shabbath_, fol. 67, col. 2.

Women going out on the Sabbath-day are allowed, as the Rabbis teach, to
carry with them a certain stone believed to counteract abortion.

Abaii interrupts his exposition of this Halachah in order to enumerate
certain antidotes to chronic fever which, he says, he had learned from
his mother. Take a new zouz and then procure its weight in sea-salt;
hang this round the neck, suspended by a papyrus fibre, so that it may
rest just in the hollow in front. If this does not answer, go where two
or more roads meet and watch for the first big ant that is going home
loaded; lay hold of it and place it in a brass tube; stop up the end of
the tube with lead, putting as many seals upon it as possible; then
shake it, saying the while, "My load be upon thee, and thine upon me."
To this Rav Acha, the son of Rav Hunna, objected to Rav Ashi, and asked,
"Might not the ant have been already laden with another man's fever?"
"True," observed the other; "nevertheless let him say, 'My load be upon
thee as well as thine own.'" If this be not effective, then take a new
earthenware pot, and going to the nearest stream, say, "Stream, stream,
lend me a pot full of water for one who is on a visit to me." Wave it
seven times round thy head and then throw the water back again, saying,
"Stream, stream, take back thy borrowed water for my guest came and went
the same day."

Rav Hunna then adds a prescription for a tertian fever, and Rabbi
Yochanan gives the following as effective against a burning fever:--Take
an iron knife, and having fastened a papyrus fibre to the nearest
bramble, cut off a piece and say, "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a flame of fire," etc., as in Exod. iii. 2. On the morrow cut off
another piece and say, "The Lord saw that he (the fever) turned aside;"
then upon the third day say, "Draw not hither," and stooping down, pray,
"Bush, bush! the Holy One--blessed be He!--caused His Shechinah to lodge
upon thee, not because thou art the loftiest, for thou art the lowest of
all trees; and as when thou didst see the fire of Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah, thou didst flee therefrom, so see the fire (fever) of this
sufferer and flee from it."

_Shabbath_, fol. 66, col. 2, etc.

Rabba once created a man (out of dust) and sent him to Rabbi Zira, who
having addressed the figure and received no answer, said, "Thou art
(made) by witchcraft; return to thy native dust." Rav Chaneanah and Rav
Oshayah sat together every Sabbath-eve studying the book Yetzirah (i.e.,
the book of Creation), until they were able to create for themselves a
calf (as large as a) three-year old, and they did eat thereof.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 65, col, 2.

Yannai once turned in to a certain inn, and asked for water to drink,
when they gave him (Shethitha, i.e., water mixed with flour). He noticed
that the lips of the woman who brought it moved (and so suspecting that
something was wrong), he poured out a little of it and it became
scorpions. He then said, "I have drunk of thine, now thou shalt drink of
mine." The woman drank and was transformed into an ass, which he mounted
and rode to the market-place. One of her companions having come up,
broke the spell, and the ass he had ridden was on the spot transformed
back again into a woman. In reference to the above, Rashi naively
remarks that "we are not to suppose that Yannai was a Rabbi, for he was
not held in esteem, because he practiced witchcraft." But Rashi is
mistaken; see Sophrim, chap. 16, hal. 6.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 67, col. 2.

Ten measures of witchcraft came into the world; Egypt received nine
measures, and the rest of the world one.

_Kiddushin_, fol. 49, col. 2.

The Rabbis say that on the Sabbath serpents and scorpions may be tamed
by charming; that a metal ring, such as may be carried on the Sabbath,
may be applied as a remedy to a sore eye; but that demons may not be
consulted on that day about lost property. Rabbi Yossi has said, "This
ought not to be done even on week-days." Rav Hunna says, "The Halachah
does not enjoin as Rabbi Yossi says, and even he prohibits it only
because of the risk there is in consulting demons. For instance, Rav
Yitzchak bar Yoseph was once desperately delivered from the attacks of a
vicious demon by a cedar-tree opening of its own accord and enclosing
him in its trunk."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 101, col. 1.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zachai acquired a knowledge of the language of angels
and demons for purposes of incantation.

_Bava Bathira_, fol. 134, col. 1.

"Neither shall ye use enchantments" ... (Lev. xix. 26). Such, for
instance, as those practiced with cats, fowls, and fishes.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 66, col. 1.

Rav Ketina happened once, in his travels, to hear the noise of an
earthquake just as he came opposite to the abode of one who was wont to
conjure with human bones. Happening to mutter aloud to himself as he
passed, "Does the conjurer really know what that noise is?" a voice
answered, "Ketina, Ketina, why shouldn't I know? When the Holy
One--blessed be He!--thinks of His children who dwell in sorrowful
circumstances among the nations of the earth, He lets fall two tears
into the great sea, and His voice is heard from one end of the world to
the other, and that is the rumbling noise we hear." Upon which Rav
Ketina protested, "The conjurer is a liar, his words are not true; they
might have been true, had there been two rumbling noises." The fact was,
two such noises were heard, but Rav Ketina would not acknowledge it,
lest, by so doing, he should increase the popularity of the conjurer.
Rav Ketina is of the opinion that the rumbling noise is caused by God
clapping His hands together, as it is said (Ezek. xxi, 22; A.V., ver.
17), "I will also smite My hands together, and I will cause My fury to
rest."

_Berachoth_, fol. 59, col. 1.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah proclaimed this anathema with the blast of
three hundred trumpets:--"Whoever shall take drink from the hand of a
bride, no matter whether she be the daughter of a disciple of the wise
or the daughter of an Amhaaretz, it is all one as if he drunk it from
the hand of a harlot." Again, it is said, "He who receives a cup from
the hands of a bride and drinks it therefrom, has no portion whatever in
the world to come."

_Tract Calah._

There was a place for collecting the ashes in the middle of the altar,
and there were at times in it nearly as much as three hundred cors
(equal to about 2830 bushels) of ashes. On Rava remarking that this must
be an exaggeration, Rav Ammi said the law, the prophets, and the sages
are wont to use hyperbolical language. Thus the law speaks of "Cities
great and walled up to heaven" (Deut. i. 28); the prophets speak of "the
earth rent with the sound of them" (1 Kings i. 40); the sages speak as
above and also as follows. There was a golden vine at the entrance of
the Temple, trailing on crystals, on which devotees who could used to
suspend offerings of fruit and grape clusters. "It happened once," said
Rabbi Elazer ben Rabbi Zadoc, "that three hundred priests were counted
off to clear the vine of the offerings."

_Chullin_, fol. 90, col. 2.

Three hundred priests were told off to draw the veil (of the Temple)
aside; for it is taught that Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel declared in the
name of Rabbi Shimon the Sagan (or high priest's substitute), that the
thickness of the veil was a handbreadth. It was woven of seventy-two
cords, and each cord consisted of twenty-four strands. It was forty
cubits long and twenty wide. Eighty-two myriads of damsels worked at it,
and two such veils were made every year. When it became soiled, it took
three hundred priests to immerse and cleanse it.

_Chullin._

When Moses was about to enter Paradise he turned to Joshua and said, "If
any doubtful matters remain, ask me now and I will explain them." To
this Joshua replied, "Have I ever left thy side for an hour and gone
away to any other? Hast thou not thyself written concerning me (Exod.
xxxiii. 11), 'His servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed
not out of the Tabernacle?'" As a punishment for this pert reply, which
must have distressed and confounded his master, Joshua's power of brain
was immediately weakened, so that he forgot three hundred Halachahs, and
seven hundred doubts sprang up to perplex him. All Israel then rose up
to murder him, but the Holy One--blessed be He!--said unto him, "To
teach thee the Halachahs and their explanation is impossible, but go and
trouble them with work; as it is said (Josh. i. 1), 'Now after the death
of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake
unto Joshua,'" etc.

_Temurah_, fol. 16, col. 1.

In the future God will assign to each righteous man three hundred and
ten worlds as an inheritance; for it is said (Prov. viii. 21), "That I
may cause those that love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their
treasures." By Gematria equals three hundred and ten.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 100, col. 1, and _Okitzin_, chap. 3, mish. 12.

An old woman once complained before Rav Nachman that the Head of the
Captivity and certain Rabbis with him were enjoying themselves in her
booth, which they had surreptitiously taken possession of and would not
surrender, but Rav Nachman gave no heed to her remonstrance. Then she
raised her voice and cried aloud, "A woman whose father had three
hundred and eighteen slaves is now pleading before you, and you paying
no heed to her!" Upon which Rav Nachman turned to his associates and
said, "She is a bawling woman, but she has no right to claim the booth,
only the value of its timber."

_Succah_, fol. 31, col. 1.

Elijah the Tishbite once said to Rav Yehudah, the brother of Rav Salla
the Holy, "You ask why the Messiah does not come, even though it is just
now the Day of Atonement." "And what," asked the Rabbi, "does the Holy
One--blessed be He!--say to that?" "He says, 'Sin lieth at the door'"
(Gen. iv. 7). "And what has Satan to say?" "He has no permission to
accuse any one on the Day of Atonement." "How do we know this?" Ramma
bar Chamma replied, "Satan by Gematria equals three hundred and
sixty-four, therefore on that number of days only has he permission to
accuse; but on the Day of Atonement (i.e., the 365th day) he cannot
accuse."

_Yoma_, fol. 20, col. 1.

Rav Yitzchak said, "What is the meaning of that which is written (Ps.
cxl. 8), 'Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; further not his
wicked device, lest they exalt themselves. Selah?'" It is the prayer of
Jacob to the Lord of the universe that He would not grant to Esau, "the
wicked, the desires of his heart." "Further not his wicked device," this
refers to Germamia of Edom (i.e., Rome), for if they (the Romans) were
suffered to go forward they would destroy the whole world! Rav Chama bar
Chanena said, "There are three hundred crowned heads in Germamia of
Edom, and there are three hundred and sixty-five dukes in Babylon. These
encounter each other daily, and one of them commits murder, and they
strive to set up a king."

_Meggillah_, fol. 6, col. 2.

In the great city (of Rome) there were three hundred and sixty-five
streets, and in each street there were three hundred and sixty-five
palaces, and in every one of these there were three hundred and
sixty-five steps, each of which palaces contained sufficient store to
maintain the whole world.

_P'sachim_, fol. 118, col. 2.

There are three hundred and sixty-five negative precepts.

There were three hundred and ninety-four courts of law in Jerusalem, and
as many synagogues; also the same number of high schools, colleges, and
academies, and as many offices for public notaries.

_Kethuboth_, fol. 105, col. 1.

Rav Hunna had four hundred casks of wine which had turned into vinegar.
On hearing of his misfortune, Rav Yehudah, the brother of Rav Salla the
Holy, or, as some say, Rav Adda bar Ahavah, came and visited him,
accompanied by the Rabbis. "Let the master," said they, "examine himself
carefully." "What!" said he, "do you suppose me to have been guilty of
wrong-doing?" "Shall we then," said they, "suspect the Holy One--blessed
be He!--of executing judgment without justice?" "Well," said Rav Hunna,
"if you have heard anything against me, don't conceal it." "It has been
reported to us," said they, "that the master has withheld the gardener's
share of the prunings." "What else, pray, did he leave me?" retorted Rav
Hunna; "he has stolen all the produce of my vineyard." They replied,
"There is a saying that whoever steals from a thief smells of theft."
"Then," said he, "I hereby promise to give him his share." Thereupon,
according to some, the vinegar turned to wine again; and, according to
others, the price of vinegar rose to the price of wine.

_Berachoth_, fol. 5, col. 2.

Rav Adda bar Ahavah once saw a Gentile woman in the market-place wearing
a red head-dress, and supposing that she was a daughter of Israel, he
impatiently tore it off her head. For this outrage he was fined a fine
of four hundred zouzim. He asked the woman what her name was, and she
replied, "My name is Mathan." "Methun, Methun," he wittily rejoined, "is
worth four hundred zouzim."

Ibid., fol. 20, col. 1.

Methun means patience and Mathan two hundred. The point lies
either in the application of the term Methun, which means
patience, as if to say, had he been so patient as to have first
ascertained what the woman was, he would have saved his four
hundred zouzim; or in the identity of the sound Mathan, i.e.,
two hundred, which doubled, equals four hundred. This has long
since passed into a proverb, and expresses the value of
patience.

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