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

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_Gittin_, fol. 56, col. 1.

They whose banquet is accompanied with four kinds of instruments of
music bring five calamities on the world; as it is said (Isa. v. 11-15),
"Woe unto those that get up early in the morning, that they may run
after strong drink; and continue until late at night, till flushed with
wine. And the harp and psaltery, tambourine and flute, and wine are at
their carousals."

_Soteh_, fol. 48, col. 1.

Let him carry the purse, and halt every time he accomplishes less than
four cubits forward.

_Shabbath_, fol. 153, cols, 1, 2.

Rav Yitzchak here explains how the good Jew, belated on
Sabbath-eve, may carry his purse himself, and so save his
conscience. The traveler is to halt at about every other step,
and so measure off the journey in four-cubit stages.

Though ever since the destruction of the Temple the Sanhedrin has ceased
to exist, the four kinds of capital punishment have not failed to assert
themselves. If a man incurs the penalty of death by stoning, he is in
the course of Providence either punished by a fatal fall from a roof or
slain by some beast of prey; if he has exposed himself to the penalty of
death by burning, it happens that he is either burned to death in the
end or mortally stung by a serpent; if the penalty of the law is that he
should be beheaded for his offense, he meets his death either from the
Government officer or by the hand of an assassin; if the penalty be
strangulation, he is sure to be drowned or suffocated.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 37, col. 2.

When a person is in a state of apprehension and cannot make out the
cause of it (the star that presided at his birth and his genii know all
about it), what should he do? Let him jump from where he is standing
four cubits, or else let him repeat, "Hear, O Israel," etc. (Deut. vi.
4); or if the place be unfit for the repetition of Scripture, let him
mutter to himself, "The goat at the butcher's is fatter than me."

Ibid., fol. 94, col. 1.

It is written in 2 Chron. xxxiii. 7, "A carved image;" and again it is
written in verse 19, "Graven images." Rabbi Yochanan said, "At first he
made the image with one face, but afterwards he made it with four--four,
so that the Shechinah might see it from every point, and thus be
exasperated."

Ibid., fol. 103, col. 2.

Moses uttered four judgments upon Israel, but four prophets revoked
them:--(1.) First Moses said (Deut. xxxiii. 28), "Israel then shall
dwell in safety alone;" then came Amos and set it aside (Amos vii. 5),
"Cease, I beseech thee," etc.; and then it is written (verse 6), "This
shall not be, saith the Lord." (2.) First Moses said (Deut. xxviii. 65),
"Among these nations thou shalt find no ease;" then came Jeremiah and
set this saying aside (Jer. xxxi. 2), "Even Israel, when I went to cause
him to rest." (3.) First Moses said (Exod. xxxiv. 7), "Visiting the
iniquities of the fathers upon the children;" then came Ezekiel and set
this aside (Ezek. xviii. 4), "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (4.)
First Moses said (Lev. xxvi. 38), "And ye shall perish among the
heathen;" then came Isaiah and reversed this (Isa. xxvii. 13), "And it
shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown,
and they shall come which were ready to perish."

_Maccoth_, fol. 24, col. 1.

When Akavyah ben Mahalalel appeared to four halachahs contradicting the
judgment of the wise on a certain important point of law, "Retract,"
they said, "and we will promote thee to be president of the tribunal."
To which he replied, "I would rather be called a fool all the days of my
life than be judged wicked for one hour before Him who is omnipresent."

_Edioth_, chap. 5, mish. 6.

Let thy house be open wide toward the south, the east, the west, and the
north, just as Job, who made four entrances to his house, in order that
the poor might find entrance without trouble from whatever quarter they
might come.

_Avoth d'Rav. Nathan_, chap. 7,

Rabbah once saw a sea-monster on the day it was brought forth, and it
was as large as Mount Tabor. And how large is Mount Tabor? Its neck was
three miles long, and where it laid its head a mile and a half. Its dung
choked up the Jordan, till, as Rashi says, its waters washed it away.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 73, col. 2.

Shemuel said, "We know remedies for all maladies except three:--That
induced by unripe dates on an empty stomach; that induced by wearing a
damp linen rope round one's loins; and that induced by falling asleep
after meals without having first walked a distance of at least four
cubits."

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 113, col. 2.

The five times repeated "Bless the Lord, O my soul" (Ps. ciii. civ.),
were said by David with reference both to God and the soul. As God fills
the whole world, so does the soul fill the whole body; as God sees and
is not seen, so the soul sees and is not seen; as God nourishes the
whole world, so does the soul nourish the whole body; as God is pure, so
also is the soul pure; as God dwelleth in secret, so does the soul dwell
in secret. Therefore let him who possesses these five properties praise
Him to whom these five attributes belong.

_Berachoth_, fol. 10, col. 1.

Five things have in them a sixtieth part of five other things:--Fire,
honey, the Sabbath, sleep, and dreams. Fire is a sixtieth of hell, honey
a sixtieth of manna, the Sabbath a sixtieth of the rest in the world to
come, sleep the sixtieth of death, and a dream the sixtieth of prophecy.

_Berachoth_, fol. 57, col. 2.

There are five weak things that are a source of terror to the
strong:--The mosquito is a terror to the lion, the gnat is a terror to
the elephant, the ichneumon-fly is a terror to the scorpion, the
flycatcher is a terror to the eagle, and the stickleback is a terror to
the leviathan.

_Shabbath_, fol. 77, col. 2.

These five should be killed even on the Sabbath:--The fly of Egypt, the
wasp of Nineveh, the scorpion of Hadabia, the serpent of the land of
Israel, and the mad dog anywhere and everywhere.

Ibid., fol. 121, col. 2.

Five things did Canaan teach his children:--To love one another, to
perpetrate robbery, to practice wantonness, to hate their masters, and
not to speak the truth.


_P'sachim_, fol. 113, col. 2.

Five things were in the first Temple which were not in the second:--The
ark and its cover, with the cherubim; the fire; the Shechinah; the Holy
Spirit; and the Urim and Thummim.

_Yoma_, fol. 21, col. 2.

Five things are said respecting the mad dog:--Its mouth gapes wide, it
drops its saliva, its ears hang down, its tail is curled between its
legs, and it slinks along the side of the road. Rav says that a dog's
madness is caused by witches sporting with it. Samuel says it is because
an evil spirit rests upon it.

Ibid., fol. 83, col. 2.

When a man has betrothed one of five women, and does not remember which
of the five it is, while each of them claims the right of betrothment,
then he is duty bound to give to each a bill of divorcement, and to
distribute the dowry due to one among them all. This decision is
according to Rabbi Tarphon, but Rabbi Akiva holds that he must not only
divorce each, but give to each the legal dowry, otherwise he fails in
his duty.

_Yevamoth_, fol. 118, col. 2.

When a person having robbed one of five does not remember which of the
five it was he had robbed, and each claims to have been the victim of
the robbery, then he is to part the stolen property (or the value of it)
among them all, and go his way. So says Rabbi Tarphon, but Rabbi Akiva
argues that the defaulter does not in this way fully exonerate himself;
he must restore to each and all the full value of the plunder.

_Yevamoth_, fol. 118, col. 2.

These things are said concerning garlic:--It nourishes, it glows
inwardly, it brightens the complexion, and increases virility. Some say
that it is a philtre for love, and that it exterminates jealousy.

_Bava Kama_, fol. 82, col. 1.

Five things cause forgetfulness:--Partaking of what has been gnawed by a
mouse or a cat, eating bullock's heart, habitual use of olives, drinking
water that has been washed in, and placing the feet one upon the other
while bathing.

_Horayoth_, fol. 13, col. 2.

Five things restore the memory again:--Bread baked upon coals,
soft-boiled eggs without salt, habitual use of olive oil, mulled wine,
and plenty of salt.

Ibid.

He who does not cheer the bridegroom whose wedding breakfast he has
enjoyed transgresses against the five voices (mentioned in Jer. xxxiii.
II):--"The voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say
'Praise ye the Lord of Hosts.'"

_Berachoth_, fol. 6, col. 2.

Mount Sinai had five names:--(1.) Wilderness of Zin, because on it the
Israelites were commanded to observe the law; (2.) Wilderness of Kadesh,
because on it the Israelites were consecrated to receive the law; (3.)
Wilderness of Kedemoth, because precedence was there given to Israel
over all other nations; (4.) Wilderness of Paran, because there the
Israelites were fruitful and multiplied; (5.) Wilderness of Sinai,
because from it enmity came to be cherished to the Gentiles. It was
denominated Horeb according to Rabbi Abhu, because from it came down
destruction to the Gentiles.

_Shabbath_, fol. 89, cols, 1, 2.

Mar (the master) has said, "From dawn to the appearance of the sun is
five miles." How is this proved? It is written (Gen. xix. 15), "When the
dawn arose the angels hurried Lot;" and it is added (verse 25), "The sun
was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar." And Rabbi Chanena
said, "I myself have seen that place, and the distance is five miles."

_P'sachim_, fol. 93, col. 2.

He that cooks in milk the ischiadic sinew on an annual festival is to be
scourged five times forty stripes save one:--For cooking the sinew, for
eating the sinew, for cooking flesh in milk, for eating flesh cooked in
milk, and for lighting the fire.

_Baitza_, fol. 12, col. 1.

To this very day this sinew is extracted from the hind quarters
of all animals before it is allowable for a Jew to eat them.
This operation, in popular parlance, is termed porging.

The mysteries of the law are not to be communicated except to those who
possess the faculties of these five in combination:--"The captain of
fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning
artificer, and the eloquent orator" (see Isa. iii. 3).

_Chaggigah_, fol. 13, col. 1.

"Captain of fifty." This should be read, not captain of fifty, but
captain of five, that is, such as knew how to manage the five-fifths of
the law (or Pentateuch).

Ibid., fol. 14, col. 1.

Five characteristics were ascribed to the fire upon the altar:--It
crouched there like a lion, it shone as the sun, it was perceptible to
the touch, it consumed liquids as though they were dry materials, it
caused no smoke.

_Yoma_, fol. 21, col. 2.

How is it that the word signifying "And I will be glorified," occurs in
Hag. i. 8 without the letter which is the symbol for five, though it is
sounded as if that letter was there? It indicates the absence of five
things from the second Temple which were to be found in the first, (1.)
The ark, i.e., the mercy-seat of the cherubim; (2.) the fire from heaven
upon the altar; (3.) the visible presence; (4.) the Holy Spirit (of
prophecy, says Rashi); and (5.) the Urim and Thummim.

Ibid.

How then, it may be asked, if these five tokens of the Divine
presence and favor which rendered the first Temple so glorious
were wanting in the second could it be said (Hag. ii. 9), "The
glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former"?
It is a question which it is natural to ask, and it should be
ingenuously answered. Is it that these were tending to usurp the
place of the spiritual, of which they were but the assurance and
the symbol, and darken rather than reveal the eternal reality
they adumbrated?

The Israelites relished any flavor they fancied in the manna except the
flavor of these five things (mentioned in Num. xi. 59):--"Cucumbers,
melons, leeks, onions, and garlic."

_Yoma_, fol. 75, col. 1.

Five things happened to our forefathers on the 17th of Tammuz, and five
on the 9th of Ab. On the 17th of Tammuz (1.) the tables of the covenant
were broken; (2.) the daily sacrifice was done away with; (3.) the city
walls were cleft asunder; (4.) Apostumes burned the roll of the law;
(5.) and set up an idol in the temple. On the 9th of Ab (1.) the decree
was uttered that our ancestors should not enter the land of Canaan; both
the (2.) first and the (3.) second Temple were destroyed; (4.) Byther
was subjugated and (5.) the city was plowed up.

_Taanith_, fol. 26, cols, 1, 2.

The Rabbis have taught where it is we learn that if one has five sons by
five wives he is bound to redeem each and all of them. It is from what
is taught in Exod. xxxiv. 20, where it is said, "All the first born of
thy sons shalt thou redeem."

_Kiddushin_. fol. 29. col. 2.

If Israel had not sinned they would have had no other Scriptures than
the five-fifths of the law (that is, the Pentateuch) and the book of
Joshua, which last is indispensable, because therein is recorded how the
land was distributed among the sons of Israel; but the remainder was
added, "Because in much wisdom is much grief" (Eccles. i. 18).

_Nedarim_, fol. 22, col. 2.

"If a man steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it, five oxen shall
be given in restitution for one ox, and four sheep for one sheep" (Exod.
xxii. 1). From this observe the value put upon work. For the loss of an
ox, because it involves the loss of labor, the owner is recompensed with
five oxen; but for the loss of a sheep, which does no work, he is only
recompensed with four.

_Bava Kama_, fol. 79, col. 2.

"And Esau came from the field, and he was faint" (Gen. xxv. 29). Rabbi
Yochanan said that wicked man committed on that day five
transgressions:--He committed rape, committed murder, denied the being
of God, denied the resurrection from the dead, and despised the
birthright.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 16, col. 2.

There are five celebrated idolatrous temples, and these are the names of
them:--The Temple of Bel in Babylon, the Temple of Nebo in Chursi, the
Temple of Thretha in Maphog, the Temple of Zeripha in Askelon, and the
Temple of Nashra in Arabia. When Rabbi Dimmi came from Palestine to
Babylon he said there were others, viz, the Temple of Yarid in Ainbechi,
and that of Nadbacha in Accho.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 11, col. 2.

"And they also transgressed my covenant, which I have commanded them;
and they also have taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen,
and dissembled also, and have also put it among their own stuff" (Josh.
vii. 11). Rav Illaa says, in the name of Rav Yehudah ben Mispartha, the
fivefold repetition of the particle also shows that Achan had trespassed
against all the five books of Moses. The same Rabbi further adds that
Achan had obliterated the sign of the covenant, for it is said in
relation to him, "And they have also transgressed my covenant;" and with
reference to circumcision, "He hath broken my covenant."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 44, col. 1.

He who eats an ant is flogged five times with forty stripes save one.

_Maccoth_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Rabbi Akiva used to say there are five judgments on record each of
twelve months' duration:--That of the deluge, that of Job, that of the
Egyptians, that of Gog and Magog, and that of the wicked in hell. This
last is said of those whose demerits outweigh their virtues, or those
who have sinned against their bodies.

_Edioth_, chap. 2, mish. 10.

Five possessions hath the Holy One--blessed be He!--purchased for
Himself in this world:--(1.) The law is one possession (Prov. viii. 22);
(2.) Heaven and earth is one possession (Isa. lxvi. 1, Ps. civ. 24);
(3.) Abraham is one possession (Gen. xiv. 9); (4.) Israel is one
possession (Exod. xv. 16); (5.) the Temple is one possession, as it is
said (Exod. xv. 17), "The sanctuary, O Lord, Thy hands have
established." And it is also said (Ps. lxxviii. 54), "And He brought
them to the border of His sanctuary, even to this mountain, which His
right hand had purchased."

_Avoth_, chap. 6.

Rabbi Akiva says he who marries a woman not suited to him violates five
precepts:--(1.) Thou shalt not avenge; (2.) thou shalt not bear a
grudge; (3.) thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; (4.) thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; (5.) and that thy brother may live
with thee. For if he hates her he wishes she were dead, and thus he
diminishes the population.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 26.

Five have no forgiveness of sins:--(1.) He who keeps on sinning and
repenting alternately; (2.) he who sins in a sinless age; (3.) he who
sins on purpose to repent; (4.) he who causes the name of God to be
blasphemed. The fifth is not given in the Talmud.

Ibid., chap. 39.

He who has no fringes to his garment transgresses five positive commands
(see Num. xv. 38. etc.; Deut. xxii. 12).

_Menachoth_, fol. 44, col. 1.

A learner who, after five years, sees no profit in studying, will never
see it. Rabbi Yossi says, after three years, as it is written (Dan. i.
4, 5), "That they should be taught the literature and the language of
the Chaldeans," so educating them in three years.

_Chullin_, fol. 24, col. 1.

Any one who doeth any of these things sinneth against himself, and his
blood is upon his own head:--He that (1.) eats garlic, onions, or eggs
which were peeled the night before; (2.) or drinks water drawn over
night; (3.) or sleeps all night in a burying-place; (4.) or pares his
nails and throws the cuttings into the public street.

_Niddah_, fol. 17, col. 1.

Rabbi Yossi said:--"Never once in all my life have the walls of my house
seen the hem of my shirt; and I have planted five cedars (sons are
figuratively so termed, see Ps. xcii. 12) in Israel--namely, Rabbis
Ishmael, Eliezar, Chalafta, Artilas, and Menachem. Never once in my life
have I spoken of my wife by any other name than house, and of my ox by
any other name than field."

_Shabbath_, fol. 118, col. 2.

Six things are a disgrace to a disciple of the wise:--To walk abroad
perfumed, to walk alone by night, to wear old clouted shoes, to talk
with a woman in the street, to sit at table with illiterate men, and to
be late at the synagogue. Some add to these, walking with a proud step
or a haughty gait.

_Berachoth_, fol. 43, col. 2.

A soft-boiled egg is better than six ounces of fine flour.

Ibid., fol. 44, col. 2.

Six things are a certain cure for sickness:--Cabbage, beetroot, water
distilled from dry moss, honey, the maw and the matrix of an animal, and
the edge of the liver.

Ibid.

These six things are good symptoms in an invalid:--Sneezing,
perspiration, evacuation, seminal emission, sleep, and dreaming.

Ibid., fol. 57, col. 2.

Six things bear interest in this world and the capital remaineth in the
world to come:--Hospitality to strangers, visiting the sick, meditation
in prayer, early attendance at the school of instruction, the training
of sons to the study of the law, and judging charitably of one's
neighbors.

_Shabbath_, fol. 127, col. 1.

There are six sorts of tears, three good and three bad:--Those caused by
smoke, or grief, or constipation are bad; and those caused by fragrant
spices, laughter, and aromatic herbs are good.

Ibid., fol. 151, col. 2; fol. 152, col. 1.

Six things are said respecting the illiterate:--No testimony is to be
borne to them, none is to be accepted from them; no secret is to be
disclosed to them; they are not to be appointed guardians over orphans,
nor keepers of the charity-box, and there should be no fellowship with
them when on a journey. Some say also no public notice is to be given of
their lost property.

_P'sachim_, fol. 49, col. 2.

The expression here rendered "illiterate" means literally
"people of the land," and was, there is reason to believe,
originally applied to the primitive inhabitants of Canaan,
traces of whom may still be found among the fellahin of Syria.
They appear, like the aboriginal races in many countries of
Christendom in relation to Christianity, to have remained
generation after generation obdurately inaccessible to Jewish
ideas, and so to have given name to the ignorant and untaught
generally. This circumstance may account for the harshness of
some of the quotations which are appended in reference to them.

He who aspires to be a fellow of the learned must not sell fruit, either
green or dry, to an illiterate man, nor may he buy fresh fruit of him.
He must not be the guest of an ignorant man, nor receive such an one as
his guest.

_Demai_, chap. 2, mish. 2.

Our Rabbis teach, Let a man sell all that he has and marry the daughter
of a learned man. If he cannot find the daughter of a learned man, let
him marry the daughter of one of the great men of his day. If he does
not find such a one, let him marry the daughter of one of the heads of
the congregation, or, failing this, the daughter of a charity collector,
or even the daughter of a schoolmaster; but let him not marry the
daughter of an illiterate man, for the unlearned are an abomination, as
also their wives and their daughters.

_P'sachim_, fol. 49, col. 2.

It is said that Rabbi (the Holy) teaches that it is illegal for an
unlearned man to eat animal food, for it is said (Lev. xi. 46), "This is
the law of the beast and the fowl;" therefore he who studies the law may
eat animal food, but he who does not study the law may not. Rabbi
Eliezar said, "It is lawful to split open the nostrils of an unlearned
man, even on the Day of Atonement which happens to fall on a Sabbath."
To which his disciples responded, "Rabbi, say rather to slaughter him."
He replied, "Nay, that would require the repetition of the usual
benediction; but in tearing open his nostrils no benedictory formula is
needed." Rabbi Eliezar has also said, "It is unlawful to travel with
such a one, for it is said (Deut. xxx. 30), 'For it is thy life and the
length of thy days.' The unlearned does not ensure his own life (since
he has no desire to study the law, which would prolong life), how much
less then will he regard the life of his neighbor?" Rabbi Samuel, son of
Nachman, says on behalf of Rabbi Yochanan, that it is lawful to split
open an unlearned man like a fish. "Aye," adds Rabbi Samuel, "and that
from his back."

_P'sachim_, fol. 49, col. 2.

Rav Yehudah says it is good to eat the pulp of a pumpkin with beetroot
as a remedy, also the essence of hemp seed in Babylonian broth; but it
is not lawful to mention this in the presence of an illiterate man,
because he might derive a benefit from the knowledge not meant for him.

_Nedarim_, fol. 49, col. 1.

No contribution or heave-offering should be given to an ignorant priest.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 90, col. 2.

No boor can be pious, nor an ignorant man a saint.

_Avoth_, chap. 2, mish. 6.

Sleep in the morning, wine at mid-day, the idle talk of inexperienced
youth, and attending the conventicles of the ignorant drive a man out of
the world.

Ibid., chap. 3, mish. 16.

Rabbi Jonathan says, "Where do we learn that no present is to be made to
an ignorant priest?" In 2 Chron. xxxi. 4, for there it is said Hezekiah
"commanded that all the people that dwelt in Jerusalem should give a
portion to the priests and to the Levites, that they might be strong in
the law of the Lord." He who firmly lays hold of the law has a claim to
a portion, otherwise he has none.

_Chullin_, fol. 130, col. 2.

The aged, if ignorant, grow weaker in intellect the older they become in
years, for it is written (Job xii. 20), "He removeth away the speech of
the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged." But it is
not so with them that are old in the study of the law, for the older
they grow the more thoughtful they become, and the wiser, as it is said
(Job xii. 12), "With the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days
understanding."

_Kinnin_, chap. 3.

The salutation of the ignorant should be responded to quietly, and with
a reluctant nod of the head.

_Taanith_, fol. 14, col. 2.

No calamities ever befall the world except such as are brought on by the
ignorant.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 8, col. 1.

Rav Hunna's widow once appeared before Rav Nachman as plaintiff in a
lawsuit. "What shall I do?" he said. "If I rise before her (to honor her
as the widow of a Rabbi), the defendant, who is an _amhaaretz_, will
feel uneasy; and if I don't rise I shall break the rule which ordains
that the wife of an associate is to be treated as an associate." So he
said to his servant, "Loose a young goose over my head, then I'll get
up."

Rav bar Sheravyah had a lawsuit with an _amhaaretz_ before Rav Pappa,
who bade him be seated, and also asked the other to sit down. When the
officer of the court raised the _amhaaretz_ with a kick, the magistrate
did not request him to be seated again.

_Shevuoth_, fol. 30, col. 2.

Six things are said respecting demons. In three particulars they are
like angels, and in three they resemble men. They have wings like
angels; like angels they fly from one end of the world to the other, and
they know the future, as angels do, with this difference, that they
learn by listening behind the veil what angels have revealed to them
within. In three respects they resemble men. They eat and drink like
men, they beget and increase like men, and like men they die.

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