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

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Ibid.

Rav Yehudah says, in the name of Rav, "The butcher is bound to have
three knives; one to slaughter with, one for cutting up the carcass, and
one to cut away the suet. Suet being as unlawful for food as pork."

_Chullin_, fol. 8, col. 2.

Three classes of ministering angels raise a song of praise every day.
One class says, Holy! the second responds, Holy! and the third
continues, Holy is the Lord of hosts! But in the presence of the Holy
One--blessed be He!--Israel is more beloved than the ministering angels;
for Israel reiterates the song every hour, while the ministering angels
repeat it only once a day, some say once a week, others once a month,
others once a year, others once in seven years, others once in a
jubilee, and others only once in eternity. Again, Israel mentions The
Name after two words, as it is said (Deut. vi. 4), "Hear Israel,
Yehovah," but the ministering angels do not mention The Name till after
three, as it is written (Isa. vi. 3), "Holy! holy! holy! Yehovah
Zebaoth." Moreover, the ministering angels do not take up the song above
till Israel has started it below; for it is said (Job xxxviii. 7), "When
the morning stars sang together, then all the sons of God shouted for
joy."

_Chullin_, fol. 91, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught, a man should not sell to his neighbor shoes made
from the hide of a beast that has died of disease, as if of a beast that
had been slaughtered in the shambles, for two reasons: first, because he
imposes on him (for the skin of a beast that dies of itself is not so
durable as the hide of a slaughtered animal); second, because there is
danger (for the beast that died of itself might have been stung by a
serpent, and the poison remaining in the leather might prove fatal to
the wearer of shoes made of that leather). A man should not send his
neighbor a barrel of wine with oil floating upon its surface; for it
happened once that a man did so, and the recipient went and invited his
friends to a feast, in the preparation of which oil was to form a chief
ingredient; but when the guests assembled, it was found out that the
cask contained wine, and not oil; and because the host had nothing else
in preparation for a worthy feast, he went and committed suicide.
Neither should guests give anything from what is set before them to the
son or daughter of their host, unless the host himself give them leave
to do so; for it once happened during a time of scarcity that a man
invited three of his friends to dine, and he had nothing but three eggs
to place before them. Meanwhile, as the guests were seated at the board,
the son of the host came into the room, and first one of the guests gave
him his share, and then the other two followed his example. Shortly
afterward the host himself came in, and seeing the child with his mouth
full and both hands, he knocked him down to the ground, so that he died
on the instant. The mother, seeing this, went and threw herself
headlong, from the housetop, and the father followed her example. Thus
Rabbi Eliezar ben Yacob said, "There perished in this affair three souls
of Israel."

Ibid., fol. 94, col. 1.

Once the Roman Government issued a decree that the Israelites should
neither observe the Sabbath nor circumcise their sons. Thereupon Reuben
the son of Istrubli trimmed his hair as a Gentile, and went among the
Roman senators and plied them with wise remonstrance. "If one," said he,
"has an enemy, does he wish him to be poor or rich?" "To be poor," was
the reply. "Then," he argued, "won't he be poorer if you prohibit him
from working on the Sabbath?" "It is well said," observed the senators;
and they at once abolished their decree respecting the Sabbath. Again he
asked, "If one has an enemy, does he wish him to be weak or strong?"
"Why, weak, to be sure," was the inevitable answer. "Then," said he,
"let the Jews circumcise their children, then will they be weakened."
"The argument is good," said they, and the decree against circumcision
was rescinded. Again he asked, "If one has an enemy, does he wish him to
increase or decrease?" "To decrease, of course," said they. In response
to his argument the decree against catamenia was accordingly abolished.
When, however, they found out that he was a Jew, they at once re-enacted
the decrees they had canceled. Upon this the question arose who should
go to Rome and appeal against these enactments. It was resolved that
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, who was reputed experienced in miracles, should
go, accompanied by Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Yossi.... As they
journeyed along, the question was proposed to them, "Whence is it proved
that the blood of a reptile is unclean?" Rabbi Elazar replied with a
curl of the lip, and quoted Lev. ii. 29. "And these shall be unclean
unto you." Rabbi Shimon said unto him, "By the curl of thy lip art thou
recognizable as a disciple of the wise! May the son never return to his
father!" for he was annoyed that he should presume to teach a Halachah
in his presence, and then and there he condemned him to death. (See
_Berachoth_, fol. 31, col. 2.) Thereupon Ben Temalion (an evil sprite or
imp) came, and greeting him, said, "Do ye wish me to accompany you?"
Rabbi Shimon wept and said, "Alas! a maid-servant of my ancestor
(Abraham) was assisted by three angels, and I have not one to attend me!
However, let a miracle be worked for us anyhow." Then the evil spirit
entered into the Emperor's daughter, and when the Rabbi was called in to
cure the princess, he exorcised the spirit by saying, "Depart, Ben
Temalion! Ben Temalion, depart!" and the evil spirit left her. By way of
reward the Rabbis were bidden to ask whatsoever they pleased, and
admitted into the imperial treasury that they might choose what seemed
good to them. Espying there the edict against Israel, they chose it, and
tore it to pieces.

_Meyilah_, fol. 17, col. 1, 2.

At the time when the high priest enters to worship, three acolytes take
hold of him, one by the right hand and another by the left, while the
third lifts the gems attached to the train of his pontifical vestment.

_Tamid_, chap. 7; _Mishna_, 1.

"I once, when a grave-digger," says Abba Shaul, as the Rabbis relate,
"chased a roe which had entered the shinbone of a dead man; and though I
ran three miles after it, I could not overtake it, nor reach the end of
the bone. When I returned, I was told that it was a bone of Og, king of
Bashan."

_Niddah_, fol. 24, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that during the first three months (of pregnancy)
the child lies in the lower part (of the uterus); during the next three
it occupies the middle part; and during the last three it is in the
upper part; and that when the time of parturition comes, it turns over
first, and this causes the birth-pains. We are also taught that the
pains caused by a female child are greater than those caused by a male.
Rabbi Elazar said, "What Scripture is there for this? 'When I was made
in secret and curiously wrought, in the lowest parts of the earth' (Ps.
cxxxix. 15). It is not said, 'I abode,' but, 'I was curiously wrought.'
Why the difference? Why are the pains caused by a girl greater than
those caused by a boy?"

Ibid., fol. 31, col. 1.

The Rabbis teach there are three that have a share in a man; God, and
his father and mother. The father's part consists of all that is white
in him--the bones, the veins, the nails, the brain, and the white of the
eye. The mother's part consists of all that is red in him--the skin, the
flesh, the hair, and the black part of the eye. God's part consists of
the breath, the soul, the physiognomy, sight and hearing, speech, motive
power, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. And when the time comes
that the man should depart from the world, God takes away His part, and
leaves those which belong to the father and mother. Rav Pappa says,
"This is the meaning of the proverb, 'Shake off the salt and throw the
flesh to the dogs.'"

_Niddah_, fol. 31. col. 1.

Rashi's explanatory note is this: "Shake off the salt from the
flesh and it becomes fit only for dogs. The soul is the salt
which preserves the body; when it departs, the body putrefies."

Four things require fortitude in the observance:--The law, good works,
prayer, and social duties. Respecting the law and good works it is
written (Josh. i. 7), "Be thou strong and firm, that thou mayest observe
to do all the law;" in which the word "strong" refers to the law, and
the word "firm" to good works. Of prayer it is written, "Wait on the
Lord; be strong, and He shall make thine heart firm; wait, I say, upon
the Lord" (Ps. xxvii. 14). In respect to social duties it is written (2
Sam. x. 2), "Be strong, and let us strengthen ourselves for our people,
and for the cities of our God."

_Berachoth_, fol. 32, col. 2.

There are four signs which tell tales:--Dropsy is a sign of sin;
jaundice is a sign of hatred without a cause; poverty is a sign of
pride; and quinsy is a sign of slander.

_Shabbath_, fol. 33, col. 1.

"Unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah," i.e., four (Gen. xxxv. 27). Rabbi
Isaac calls it the city of four couples, i.e., Adam and Eve, Abraham and
Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. These four couples being
buried in Mamre, it was therefore called "the city of four."

_Eiruvin_, fol. 53, col. 1.

The sun makes four quarterly circuits. In April, May, and June, i.e.,
Nisan, Iyar, and Sivan, his circuit is between the mountains, in order
to dissolve the snow; in July, August, and September, i.e., Tamuz, Ab,
and Ellul, his circuit is over the habitable parts of the earth, in
order to ripen the fruits; in October, November, and December, i.e.,
Tishri, Marcheshvan, and Kislev, his circuit is over the seas, to
evaporate the waters; in January, February, and March, i.e., Tebeth,
Shebat, and Adar, his circuit is over the deserts, in order to protect
the seed sown from being scorched.

_Psachim_, fol. 94, col. 2.

Four persons are intolerable:--A poor man who is proud, a rich man who
is a liar, an old man who is incontinent, and a warden who behaves
haughtily to a community for whom he has done nothing. To these some add
him who has divorced his wife once or twice and married her again.

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.

Four things cancel the decrees of Heaven:--Alms, prayer, change of name,
and reformation of conduct. Alms, as it is written (Prov. x. 2), "But
alms (more correctly, righteousness) delivereth from death." Prayer as
it is written (Ps. cvii. 6). "Then they cried unto the Lord in their
trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses." Change of name,
as it is said (Gen. xvii. 15, 16), "As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt
not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name." And after this
change of name it is written, "And I will bless her, and give thee a son
of her." Reformation of conduct, as it is written (Jonah iii. 10), "And
God saw their works," and "God repented of the evil," etc. Some say also
change of residence has the effect of turning back the decree of Heaven
(Gen. xii. 1), "And the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy
country;" and then it is said, "I will make of thee a great nation."

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Four things cause an eclipse of the sun:--When a chief magistrate dies
and is not mourned over with the due lamentation; when a betrothed
damsel calls for help and no one comes to the rescue; when the people
commit the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah; and when brother murders brother.

_Succah_, fol. 29, col. 1.

Four things cause an eclipse among the luminaries of heaven: The writing
of false documents; the bearing false witness; the breeding of small
cattle, such as sheep and goats, in the land of Israel; and the cutting
down of fruit-trees.

Ibid., fol. 29, col. 1.

There are four things God repents of having created:--The Captivity, the
Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites, and the evil passion in man. The Captivity,
as it is written (Isa. lii. 5), "What have I here, saith the Lord, that
my people are taken away for nought?" etc. The Chaldeans, as it is
written (Isa. xxiii. 13), "Behold the land of the Chaldeans: this people
was not." The Ishmaelites, as it is written (Job xii. 6), "The tents of
robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure, into whose hand
God bringeth abundance." The evil passion, as it is written (Micah iv.
6), "And whom I have caused to be evil."

_Succah_, fol. 52, col. 2.

There have been four beautiful women in the world:--Sarah, Abigail,
Rahab, and Esther.

_Meggillah_, fol. 15, col. 1.

Tosephoth asks, "Why was not Eve numbered among these beauties,
since even Sarah, in comparison with Eve, was an ape compared to
a man?" The reply is, "Only those born of woman are here
enumerated."

In fol. 13, col. i, of the same treatise from which the above is
quoted, we are informed by Ben Azai that Esther was like the
myrtle-tree, neither tall nor short statured, but middle-sized.
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha states that Esther's complexion was of
a yellow or gold color.

One cup of wine is good for a woman, two are disgraceful, three
demoralizing, and four brutalizing.

_Kethuboth_, fol. 65, col. 1.

He who traverses so much as four ells in the land of Israel is sure of
everlasting life.

Ibid., fol. III, col. 1.

To walk even four ells without bowing the head is an offense to Heaven;
for it is written (Isa. vi. 3), "The whole earth is full of His glory."

_Kiddushin_, fol. 31, col. 1.

There are four who are accounted as dead:--The pauper, the leper, the
blind man, and he who has no male children.

_Nedarin_, fol. 64, col. 2.

Four things mark the characters of men:--He who says what is mine is
mine, and what is thine is thine, is, according to some, a moderate man,
but, according to others, a child of Sodom; he who says what is mine is
thine, and what is thine is mine, is an ignorant man; he who says what
is mine is thine and what is thy own is also thine, is a pious man; he
who says mine and thine are both my own, is a wicked man.

_Avoth_, chap. 5, sec. 16.

There are four kinds of men, according to their degrees of
passionateness:--He who is easily provoked and as readily pacified, and
who loses more than he gains; he whom it is difficult to rouse and as
difficult to appease, and who gains more than he loses; he who is not
readily provoked, but easily pacified, who is a pious man; he who is
easily provoked and with difficulty appeased, who is a wicked man.

Ibid., chap. 5, sec. 19.

There are four classes of men who give alms, and they are thus
distinguished:--He who is willing to give, but unwilling that others
should do so, he has an evil eye toward others; he who wishes others to
give, but does not do so himself, he has an evil eye toward himself; he
who gives, and induces others to give, he is pious; he who gives not,
nor wishes others to give he is wicked.

_Avoth_, chap 5, sec. 19.

There are four marks by which one disciple differs from another:--One
learns and does not teach, one teaches and does not learn, one learns
and teaches, and one neither learns nor teaches.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 29.

Four things, if kept in view and gravely pondered over, deter from
sin:--That a man consider whence he cometh, whither he goeth, who the
judge will be, and what the future will bring to pass.

_Derech Eretz_, chap. 3.

What is the meaning of that which is written (Ps. lxxxvii 2), "The Lord
loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob?" The
answer is, The Lord loveth the gates that are marked with the Halachah
more than the synagogues and the schools; and this agrees with what
Rabbi Cheeya bar Ami has said, in the name of Ulla, that since the
destruction of the Temple nothing else has remained to God in His world
but four ells of the Halachah.

_Berachoth_, fol. 8, col. 1.

Whoso walks even four ells with a proud unbending gait is as though he
spurned with his haughty head the feet of the Shechinah; for it is
written (Isa. vi. 3), "The whole earth is full of His glory."

Ibid., fol. 43, col. 2.

Four are in duty bound to return thanks to God:--They that have returned
from a voyage at sea (Ps. cvii. 23, 24, 31); those who have traveled in
the desert (verses 4-8); they who have recovered from a serious illness
(verses 17-21); and those that are liberated from prison (verses 10-15).

_Berachoth_, fol. 54, col. 2.

If one does not walk, say four cubits, before falling asleep after a
meal, that which he has eaten, being undigestible, causes foulness of
breath.

_Shabbath_, fol. 41, col. 1.

Four have died in consequence of the seduction of the
serpent:--Benjamin, the son of Jacob; Amram, the father of Moses; Jesse,
the father of David; and Chileab, the son of David.

Ibid., fol. 55, col. 2.

These four are reckoned to have died on account of original sin,
and not solely because of actual transgression, which, says
Rashi, they never committed.

The traveler who is overtaken with the approach of Sabbath-eve before he
has completed his journey should hand over his purse to a Gentile to
carry; and if there be no Gentile at hand, let him stow it away on his
ass. As soon as the nearest halting-place is reached, those burdens
which may be lifted on the Sabbath should then be removed, and then the
cords should be slackened that the rest may slip off of its own accord.

Ibid., fol. 153, col. 1.

Here the Gemara very graciously appends a direction as to the
disposal of the purse, in case the traveler should happen to be
on foot and have no Gentile attendant. He may take care of it
himself, provided he halt at every other step and deposit it on
the ground, for at least a distance of four cubits.

A master is bound to rehearse a lesson to his pupil four times.

_Eiruvin_, fol. 54, col. 2.

Alas for the power which prepares a grave for its possessor, for there
is not a prophet who hath not in his lifetime witnessed the decadence of
four kings; as it is said (Isa. i. 1), "The vision of Isaiah ... in the
days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah" (see also
Hosea i. 1).

_P'sachim_, fol. 87, col. 2.

Once Rav Pappa and Rav Hunnah partook together of a common meal, and as
the latter ate only one morsel the former ate four. After this, when Rav
Hunnah and Ravina ate together, the latter devoured eight portions to
the other's one, upon which Rav Hunnah jocularly remarked, "A hundred
(Rav) Pappas to one Ravina."

_P'sachim_, fol. 89, col. 2.

No food may be eaten on Passover-eve from the time of the offering of
the evening sacrifice (in order, i.e. that abstinence may whet the
appetite for the Matsoth). Even the poorest in Israel may not break his
fast till the hour of reclining; nor is he to partake of less than four
glasses of wine, even though he has been reduced so low as to subsist on
the porridge doled out by public charity.

Ibid., fol. 99, col. 2.

There are four things the doing of which by man brings judgment upon his
own head:--If he turn in between a wall and a date-palm; if he turn in
between two date-palms; if he drink borrowed water; and if he step
across spilt water, such even as his own wife may have thrown away. (All
these doings, says Rashi, are bound to annoy the evil genii.)

Ibid., fol. 111, col. 1.

Four precepts did our holy Rabbi (Yehudah Hakadosh) urge upon his
children:--Not to choose Shechentzia as a dwelling-place, for scoffers
resided there; not to use the bed of a Syrian odalisque; not to shirk
the payment of fiscal dues, lest the collector should confiscate all
their property; not to face an ox when he came up (ruffled) from the
cane-brake, for Satan sported betwixt his horns.

_P'sachim_, fol. 112, col. 2.

Whosoever prieth into the four things in the matter of the chariot in
Ezekiel's vision--what is above, what is beneath, what is before, or
what is behind--it were better for him if he had never been born.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 11, col. 2.

The work or matter of the chariot, the Rabbinic term for the
Vision of Ezekiel, ranks among the Arcana Judaica, which are not
to be told save to the initiated.

Four men entered Paradise--these are their names:--Ben Azai, Ben Zoma,
Acher, and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva thus warned his companions: "When
you come across pavements of pellucid marble, do not cry out 'Water!
water!' for it is said (Ps. ci. 7), 'He that uttereth falsehood shall
not dwell in my sight.'" Ben Azai looked and died; concerning him the
Scripture says (Ps. cxvi. 15), "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints." Ben Zoma looked and went out of his mind; of him
the Scripture says (Prov. xxv. 16), "Hast thou found honey? eat only so
much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit
it." Acher cut the plants. Only Akiva departed in peace.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 14, col. 2.

Rashi explains this by saying these men went up to heaven; but
Maimonides much more rationally teaches that the Paradise or
garden here is merely the retreat of profound philosophic
meditation. These five intuitions were;--(1.) To know that there
is a God; (2.) to ignore every other beside Him; (3.) to feel
His unity; (4.) to love His person; and (5.) to stand in awe of
His Majesty (see Vad Hachaz, chap. 4, sec. 19). Deep thought in
these matters was spoken of by the Rabbis as _promenading in the
garden_.

Four times a year is the world subject to an ordeal of judgment:--At
Passover, which is decisive of the fruits of the field; at Pentecost,
which is decisive of the fruits of the garden; at the feast of
Tabernacles, which is decisive in respect of rain; on New Year's Day,
when all who come into the world pass before the Lord like sheep, as it
is said (Ps. xxxiii. 15), "Who formed their hearts together; who
understandeth all their works."

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 16, col. 1.

There are four varieties of cedar:--Erez, Karthom, Etz-Shemen, and
Berosh.

Ibid., fol. 23, col. 1.

Ben Kamzar would not teach the art of writing, and yet it is related of
him that he could, by taking four pens between his fingers, write off a
word of four letters at one stroke.

_Yoma_, fol. 38, col. 2.

There are four kinds of quails:--Sichli, Kibli, Pisyoni, and the common
quail. The first was of superior quality, and the last inferior.

Ibid., fol. 75, col. 2.

A man may obtain forgiveness after the third transgression, but if he
repeat the offense a fourth time, he is not pardoned again; for it is
said (Amos ii. 4), "For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I
will not turn away the punishment thereof;" and again (Job xxxiii. 29),
"Lo! all these things doth God two or three times" (and so inferentially
not four times) "with man to bring back his soul from the pit."

_Yoma_, fol. 86, col. 2.

For four reasons does their property pass out of the hands of the
avaricious:--Because they are backward in paying the wages of their
hired servants; because they altogether neglect their welfare; because
they shift the yoke from themselves and lay the burden upon their
neighbors; and because of pride, which is of itself as bad as all the
rest put together; whereas of the meek it is written (Ps. xxxvii. n),
"The meek shall inherit the earth."

_Succah_, fol. 29, col. 2.

"And the Lord showed me four carpenters" (Zech. i, 20). Who are these
four carpenters? Rav Ghana bar Bizna says that Rabbi Shimon Chassida
said they were Messiah the son of David, Messiah the son of Joseph,
Elijah, and the Priest of Righteousness.

Ibid., fol. 52, col. 2.

No Synagogue is to be sold except on condition that there be power of
re-purchase. These are the words of Rabbi Meir; but the sages say it may
be sold unconditionally, except in these four particular cases: that it
be not turned into a bath-house, a tannery, a wash-house, or a laundry.

_Meggillah_, fol. 27, col. 2.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zachai was once asked by his disciples how he had
attained such length of days. "Never once," he said, "in my life have I
acted irreverently within four cubits of a place where prayer is
offered; never have I called a person by a wicked name; nor have I ever
failed to sanctify the Sabbath over a cup of wine. Once my aged mother
sold her head-dress to buy the consecration wine for me."

Ibid., fol. 27, col. 2.

When a sage is approaching, one should rise up before he gets within
four ells' distance, and remain standing until he has gone as far past.
When a chief magistrate is about to pass, one must rise as soon as he
comes in sight, and not resume the seat until he has passed four ells.
When a prince passes, one must stand up whenever he appears, and not sit
down again until the prince himself is seated; for it is said (Exod.
xxxiii, 8), "All the people rose up, ... and looked after Moses until he
was gone into the tabernacle."

_Kiddushin_, fol. 33, col. 2.

When Nero came to the Holy Land, he tried his fortune by belemnomancy
thus:--He shot an arrow eastward, and it fell upon Jerusalem; he
discharged his shafts towards the four points of the compass, and every
time they fell upon Jerusalem. After this he met a Jewish boy, and said
unto him, "Repeat to me the text thou hast learned to-day." The boy
repeated, "I will lay my vengeance upon Edom (i.e., Rome) by the hand of
my people Israel" (Ezek. xxv. 14). Then said Nero, "The Holy
One--blessed be He!--has determined to destroy His Temple and then
avenge Himself on the agent by whom its ruin is wrought." Thereupon Nero
fled and became a Jewish proselyte, and Rabbi Meir is of his race.

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