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

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_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 classes 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 hell; 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 hell, 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 hell 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 compassionate,
they are modest, and they are benevolent. Compassionate, as it is
written (Deut. xiii. 18), "And show thee mercy, and have compassion 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. xxxviii. 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. xxxi. 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. lxxxvii. 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 God, 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 God, and he taught them the ways of the Lord." The
same remark applies to what is said in Targ. Yerushalmi (Gen.
xxi.), that Abraham's guests went not away until "he had made
them proselytes, and had taught them the way everlasting." His
son Isaac, says the Targ. of Ben Uzziel, went to school at the
"Beth Medrasha de Shem Rabba."

Though Abraham kept all the commandments, he was not perfect till he was
circumcised.

_Nedarim_, fol. 31, col. 2.

In whatever sense this may have been written, and whatever the
interpretation that may be put upon it, there is one sense in
which it is absolutely and eternally true, and that is, that, in
order to be perfect, a man's life must be as pronounced on the
negative side as the positive, in its denials as in its
affirmations, and that it is futile to attempt to obey God
unless one at the same time renounce all co-partnery with the
devil. Circumcision is the symbol of this renunciation, and it
is only as such it has any radical spiritual significance. Till
he was circumcised, it is said, God did not speak to Abraham in
Hebrew. Not till then is sacredness of speech, any more than
sacredness of life, possible. Doubtless among the Jews
circumcision was the symbol of their separation from the ethnic
religions; and hence the jealousy with which their prophets
looked upon any compromise with idolatry. Hatred of that, utter
and intense, was the one essential negative pole of genuine
Judaism, and circumcision was its sign and seal.

Abraham was the first of the proselytes.

_Succah_, fol. 49, col. 2.

Abraham it was that ordained the form of prayer for morning worship,
which is extant to this very day.

_Berachoth_, fol. 26, col. 2.

As he himself was pious, so were his very camels, for they would not
enter into a place where there were idols; as it is written (Gen. xxiv.
31), "I have prepared," i.e., removed the idols from, "the house and
room for the camels."

_Avoth d' Rabbi Nathan_, chap. 8.

Abraham had a daughter, and her name was Bakol.

Ibid., fol. 16, col. 2.

Abraham was free from evil passion.

_Bava Bathra_ fol. 17, col. 1.

He was also free from the Angel of Death.

Ibid., fol. 17, col. 1.

He delivered to the children he had by Keturah a secret name, with which
they learned to practice witchcraft and do the works of the devil.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 91, col. 1.

Though great, he personally waited on his guests, who had the appearance
of Arabs and not of angels.

_Kiddushin_, fol. 32, col. 2.

Rabbi Yehudah says Abraham planted an ornamental garden with all kinds
of choice fruits in it, and Rabbi Nehemiah says he erected an inn for
travelers in order to make known the name of God to all who sojourned in
it.

_Soteh_, fol. 10, col. 1.

Both the Targum of Ben Uzziel and the Yerushalmi say that
Abraham planted a paradise at Beersheba for the entertainment
and delectation of his guests; and in Jasher (chap, xxvii. verse
37) it is said that "Abraham formed a grove and planted a
vineyard there, and had always ready in his tent meat and drink
for those that passed through the land, so that they might
satisfy themselves in his house."

He ranked as one of the seven shepherds of Israel (Micah v. 5). In this
group David was the central figure, with Adam, Seth, and Methusaleh on
his right hand, and Abraham, Jacob, and Moses on his left.

_Succah_, fol. 52, col. 2.

The coin of Jerusalem had the impress of David and Solomon on the one
side, and the holy city of Jerusalem on the other. But the impress on
the coin of our father Abraham was an old man and an old woman on one
side, and a young man and a damsel on the other.

_Bava Kama_, fol. 37, col. 2.

This, it is to be presumed, must be taken in some symbolical
sense, for coins cannot be traced back to a date so early as
this; and when Abraham purchased the cave to bury Sarah in from
the sons of Heth, we read that he weighed to Ephron the silver.

Abraham pleaded with God on the behalf of Israel and said, "While there
is a Temple they will get their sins atoned for, but when there shall be
no Temple, what will become of them?" God, in answer to his prayer,
assured him that He had prepared a prayer for them, by which, as often
as they read it, He would be propitiated and would pardon all their
sins.

_Meggillah_, fol. 31, col. 2.

He was punished by his posterity being compelled to serve the Egyptians
two hundred and ten years, because he had pressed the Rabbis under his
tuition into military service in the expedition he had undertaken to
recover Lot from those who had carried him off captive; for it is
written (Gen. xiv. 14), "He armed his instructed." Samuel says Abraham
was punished because he perversely distrusted the assurance of God; as
it is written (Gen. xv. 8), "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit
it?"

_Nedarim_, fol. 31, col. 2.

Abraham was thrown into a fiery furnace by Nimrod, and God would not
permit Gabriel to rescue him, but did so Himself; because God is One and
Abraham was one, therefore it behooved the One to rescue the one.

_P'sachim_, fol. 118, col. 1.

The fire from which Abraham is here said to be delivered may
simply refer to his deliverance by the hand of God from Ur of
the Chaldees; Ur meaning "fire," and being the name of a place
celebrated for fire worship. The Midrash (p. 20) says, "When the
wicked Nimrod cast Abraham into the furnace, Gabriel said, 'Lord
of the universe! permit me to deliver this holy one from the
fire!' But the Lord made answer, 'I am the One Supreme in my
world, and he is supreme in his; it is fitting therefore that
the Supreme should rescue the supreme.'"

Abraham was a giant of giants; his height was as that of seventy-four
men put together. His food, his drink, and his strength were in the
proportion of seventy-four men's to one man's. He built an iron city for
the abode of his seventeen children by Keturah, the walls of which were
so lofty that the sun never penetrated them: he gave them a bowl full of
precious stones, the brilliancy of which supplied them with light in the
absence of the sun.

_Sophrim_, chap. 21.

Abraham our father had a precious stone suspended from his neck, and
every sick person that gazed upon it was immediately healed of his
disease. But when Abraham died, God hung up the stone on the sphere of
the sun.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Till Abraham's time there was no such thing as a beard; but as many
mistook Abraham for Isaac, and Isaac for Abraham, they looked so exactly
alike, Abraham prayed to God for a beard to enable people to distinguish
him from his son, Isaac, and it was granted him; as it is written (Gen.
xxiv. 1), "And to Abraham a beard came when he was well stricken in
age."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 107, col. 2.

Here the word which the translators of the English version
render "was old," is taken in another of its cognate meanings as
a beard. The Midrash is a trifle more modest in this legendary
assertion. There we read, "Before Abraham there was no special
mark of old age," and that for distinction's sake "the beard was
made to turn gray."

When he died, all the chiefs of the nations of the world stood in a line
and exclaimed, "Alas for the world that has lost its leader! Alas for
the ship that has lost its helmsman!"

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 91, col. 2.

As Rabbi Banna went about to measure and to mark off the outward and
inward dimensions of the different caves, when he came to the cave of
Machpelah he found Eliezar, Abraham's servant, at the entrance, and
asked him, "What is Abraham doing?" The answer he received was, "He is
asleep in the arms of Sarah."

Ibid., fol. 58, col. 1.

Abraham being greater than Moses, for while the latter is only
called by God "My Servant" (Mal. iv. 4), the former is called
"My Friend" (Isa. xli. 8), we devote a little more space for a
few more extracts from other Jewish sources than the Talmud, in
order to make the picture they supply of Abraham's character a
little more complete.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri says:--"The Holy One--blessed be He!--took Shem
and separated him to be a priest to Himself, that he might serve before
Him. He also caused His Shechinah to rest with him, and called his name
Melchizedek, priest of the Most High and king of Salem. His brother
Japheth even studied the law in his school, until Abraham came and also
learned the law in the school of Shem, where God Himself instructed
Abraham, so that all else he had learned from the lips of man was
forgotten. Then came Abraham and prayed to God that His Shechinah might
ever rest in the house of Shem, which also was promised to him; as it is
said (Ps. ex. 4), 'Thou art a priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek.'"

_Avodath Hakkodesh_, part 3, chap. 20.

Wherever Jacob resided he studied the law as his fathers did. How is
this, seeing the law had not yet been given, it is nevertheless written
of Abraham (Gen. xxvi. 5), "And he kept my charge"? Whence then did
Abraham learn the law? Rabbi Shimon says his reins (literally kidneys)
were made like two water-jars, from which the law flowed forth. Where do
we learn that it was so? From what is said in Ps. xvi. 7, "My reins also
instruct me in the night season."

_Bereshith Rabba_, chap. 95.

The masters of the Kabbalah, of blessed memory, say that Abraham's
Rabbi, i.e., teacher, was the angel Zadkiel.

_Rabbi Menachem's comment on the Pent._, Exod. iii. 5.

Adam's book, which contained celestial mysteries and holy wisdom, came
down as an heirloom into the hands of Abraham, and he by means of it was
able to see the glory of his Lord.

_Zohar Parashah Bereshith._

Abraham was the author of a treatise on the subject of different kinds
of witchcraft and its unholy workings and fruits, as also of the Book of
Creation, through holy names (by means of which, namely, anything could
be created).

_Nishmath Chayim_, chap. 29.

The whole world once believed that the souls of men were perishable, and
that man had no pre-eminence above a beast, till Abraham came and
preached the doctrine of immortality and transmigration.

Ibid., fol. 171, col. 1.

A good son delivers his father from the punishment of hell, for thus we
find that Abraham our father delivered Terah, as it is said in Gen. xv.
15, "And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace." This implies that God
had communicated to him the tidings that his father had a portion in the
world to come and was now "in peace" there.

_Pesikta Zotarta_, fol. 3, col. 2.

Before Abraham was circumcised God spake to him in the Chaldee language,
that the angels should not understand it. (This is proved from Gen. xv.
1.)

_Yalkut Chadash_, fol. 117.

Rabbi Levi said Abraham sits at the gate of hell and does not permit any
circumcised Israelite to enter. But if any appear who happen to have
sinned unduly, these he (by an indescribable contrivance) causes to
become uncircumcised and lets pass without scruple into the region of
torment; and this is what is said in Ps. lv. 20, "He hath put forth his
hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his
covenant."

_Yalkut Shimoni_, fol. 33, col. 2, sec. 18.

Abraham was circumcised on the Day of Atonement, and God looks that day
annually on the blood of the covenant of our father Abraham's
circumcision as atoning for all our iniquities, as it is said in Lev.
xvi. 30, "For on that day shall he make an atonement for you, to cleanse
you from all your sins."

_Yalkut Chadash_, fol. 121, col. 1, sec. 3.

"And it came to pass that when Abram was come into Egypt" (Gen. xii.
14). And where was Sarah? He confined her in a chest, into which he
locked her, lest any one should gaze on her beauty. When he came to the
receipt of custom, he was summoned to open the chest, but declined, and
offered payment of the duty. The officers said, "Thou carriest
garments;" and he offered duty for garments. "Nay, it is gold thou
carriest;" and he offered the impost laid on gold. Then they said, "It
is costly silks, belike pearls, thou concealest;" and he offered the
custom on such articles. At length the Egyptian officers insisted, and
he opened the box. And when he did so, all the land of Egypt was
illumined by her beauty.

_Bereshith Rabba_, chap. 40.

The question may naturally be asked why Abraham hid his wife from the
gaze of others first then and not before. The reply is to be deduced
from the following double rendering of Gen. xii. 11:--"Behold now I know
that thou art a fair woman." As if to say, "Usually people lose their
good looks on a long journey, but thou art as beautiful as ever." The
second explanation is this:--Abraham was so piously modest that in all
his life he never once looked a female in the face, his own wife not
excepted. As he approached Egypt and was crossing some water, he saw in
it the reflection of her face, and it was then that he exclaimed,
"Behold now I know that thou art a fair woman." As the Egyptians are
swarthy, Abraham at once perceived the magnitude of the danger, and
hence his precaution to hide her beauty in a chest.

_Zeenah Ureenah_ (1877 in Russia), fol. 28, col. 1.

When Abraham came to the cave of Machpelah to bury Sarah, Adam and Eve
rose from their grave and protested against his committing her to the
dust in that receptacle. "For," said they, "we are ever ashamed in the
presence of the Holy One--blessed be He!--on account of the sin which we
committed, and now comest thou to add to our shame by the contrast
therewith of the good works which ye two have done." On Abraham's
assurance that he would intercede with God on their behalf that they
should not bear the shame any longer, Adam immediately retired to his
sepulchre, but Eve being still unwilling to do so, Abraham took her by
the hand and led her back to the side of Adam; and then he buried Sarah.

_Yalkut Chadash_, fol. 14, col. 3, sec. 68.

Abraham's father, Terah, was both an idolater, a manufacturer of idols,
and a dealer in them. Once when Terah had some engagement elsewhere he
left his son Abraham to attend to his business. When a customer came to
purchase an idol, Abraham asked him, "How old art thou?" "Lo! so many
years," was the ready reply. "What," exclaimed Abraham, "is it possible
that a man of so many years should desire to worship a thing only a day
old?" The customer, being ashamed of himself, went his way; and so did
all other customers, who underwent a similar inquisition. Once an old
woman brought a measure of fine flour and wished to present it as an
offering to the gods. This so enraged Abraham that he took a staff and
broke all the images, excepting the largest, into whose hands he fixed
the staff. When his father came and questioned him about the destruction
of the gods, he replied, "An old woman placed an offering of flour
before them, which immediately set them all by the ears, for every one
was hungrier than another, but the biggest god killed all the rest with
this staff which thou now seest he still holds in his hands."
Superstition, especially when combined with mercenary motives, knows
neither reason nor human affection, therefore the father handed over his
son Abraham to the inquisition of Nimrod, who threw him into the fiery
furnace, as recorded elsewhere in this Miscellany. This is an historical
fact, to the truth of which the whole orthodox Jewish world will bear
testimony, and is solemnly recorded in _Shalsheleth Hakkabalah_ fol. 2,
col 1.

There are three graces:--The grace of a place in the eyes of its
inhabitants; the grace of a woman in the eyes of her husband; the grace
of a purchase in the eyes of the buyer.

_Soteh_, fol. 47, col. 1.

A man should divide his capital into three parts, and invest one-third
in land, employ one-third in merchandise, and reserve one-third in ready
money.

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 42, col. 1.

All who go down to hell shall come up again, except these three:--He who
commits adultery; he who shames another in public; and he who gives
another a bad name.

Ibid., fol. 58, col. 2.

These three complain, but no one sympathizes with them:--He who lends
money without witnesses; he who buys to himself a master; and he who is
lorded over by his wife.

Ibid., fol. 75, col. 2.

There are three things on which the world stands:--The law, the temple
service, and benevolence.

_Avoth_, chap. 1.

If three eat at one table and do not converse together on the law of the
Lord, it is as if they ate from the sacrifices for the dead; but they,
on the contrary, are as if they partook from a table of the Lord's own
furnishing who, while they sit down to meat, season their talk with its
holy precepts.

_Avoth_, chap. 3.

There are three crowns:--The crown of the law, the crown of the
priesthood, and the crown of royalty; but the crown of a good name
surpasses them all.

Ibid., chap. 4.

He who possesses these three virtues is a disciple of Abraham our
father, and he who possesses the three contrary vices is a son of Balaam
the wicked. The disciples of our father Abraham have a kindly eye, a
loyal spirit, and a lowly mind. The disciples of Balaam the wicked have
an evil eye, a proud spirit, and a grasping soul.

Ibid., chap. 5.

Three things are said respecting the children of men:--He who gives alms
brings a blessing on himself; he who lends does better; he who gives
away half of what he hath to spare does best of all.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 41.

There are three classes of disciples, and among them three grades of
worth:--He ranks first who asks and answers when asked; he who asks but
does not answer ranks next; but he who neither asks nor answers ranks
lowest of all.

Ibid.

Over these three does God weep every day:--Over him who is able to study
the law but neglects it; over him who studies it amid difficulties hard
to overcome; and over the ruler who behaves arrogantly toward the
community he should protect.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 5, col. 2.

Rabbi Yochanan says there are three keys in the hands of the Holy
One!--blessed be He!--which He never intrusts to the disposal of a
messenger, and they are these:--(1.) The key of rain, (2.) the key of
life, and (3.) the key of reviving the dead. The key of rain, for it is
written (Deut. xxviii. 12), "The Lord shall open unto thee His good
treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in season;" the key
of life, as it is written (Gen. xxx. 22), "God hearkened unto her, and
opened her womb;" the key of reviving the dead, for it is written (Ezek.
xxxvii. 13), "When I have opened your graves, and brought you up out of
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.

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