Hebrew Literature

Comprising

Talmudic Treatises, Hebrew

Melodies, And The

Kabbalah Unveiled

Edited And With A Special Introduction By

Epiphanius Wilson, A.M.

Revised Edition

New York

P. F. Collier & Son

Copyright 1901

By The Colonial Press

Contents

[pg iii]

Special Introduction

Hebrew literature contains some of the most profound and most influential productions of the human spirit. It constitutes a potent factor in modern civilization, and possesses merits which place it far above most other literatures of the world. The common salutation of the Hebrew is “Peace,” while that of the Greeks is “Grace,” and that of the Romans, “Safety.” The Greek sought after grace, or intellectual and bodily perfection, and the power of artistic accomplishment. The Roman's ideal was strength and security of life and property. The Hebrew sought after peace, peace in the heart, as founded on a sense of Jehovah's good providence, and a moral conformity in conduct to His revealed will. While the Greek in art, literature, and even in morals, made beauty his standard, the Roman stood for power, domination and law, and the Hebrew for religion. The Hebrew, indeed, introduced into Europe the first clear conception of religion, as implied in monotheism, and a rigidly defined moral law, founded upon the will of Jehovah. The basis of morals among the Latins was political, among the Greeks æsthetic, and among the Hebrews it was the revealed will of Jehovah.

While the most important remains of Hebrew literature are comprised in the Scriptures known to us as the Bible, there exists also a voluminous mass of Hebrew writings which are not included in the sacred canon. These writings are of supreme importance and value, and the selections which we have made from them in the present volume give a good idea of their interest, beauty, and subtlety of thought.

From the very beginning of their history the Hebrews were a deeply poetic race. They were fully alive to the beauties of external nature, and no national poetry contains more vivid descriptions of the sea, sky, and the panorama of forest, stream and mountain, peopled by the varied activities of animated [pg iv] nature. The songs of Zion glow with poetic enthusiasm, but their principal characteristic is their intense earnestness. They are no idle lays of love and wine or warlike triumph. They depict the joy of existence as dependent upon the smile and favor of Jehovah, and all the happiness, plenty, victory and success of life are attributed, without hesitation, to nothing else but “the loving-kindness of the Lord.” Yet this religious fervor becomes the basis of sublimity, pathos, and picturesqueness, such as can seldom be approached even by the finest productions of the Attic muse.

But the Hebrews were also philosophers, and if they never attained to what we may call the netteté et clarté of the Greek metaphysician, they excelled all other thinkers in the boldness and profound spirituality of their philosophical mysticism. In proof of this assertion we may point to that body of writings known as the Kabbalah.

The word “Kabbalah” means “doctrine received by oral tradition,” and is applied to these remains to distinguish them from the canonical Hebrew Scriptures, which were written by “the Finger of Jehovah.” Hebrew speculation attempts in the Kabbalah to give a philosophical or theosophistic basis to Hebrew belief, while at the same time it supplements the doctrines of the Old Testament. For instance, it is a disputed point whether the immortality of the soul is taught in the Hebrew canon, but in the Kabbalah it is taken for granted, and a complete and consistent psychology is propounded, in which is included the Oriental theory of metempsychosis. This account of the human soul, as distinct from the human body, treats of the origin and eternal destiny of man's immortal part. On the other hand God and Nature, and the connection between the Creator and the creation, are most exactly treated of in detail. God is the En-Soph, the boundless One, as in modern philosophy God is the Absolute. He manifests Himself in the ten Sephiroth, or intelligences. It would be easy on this point to show Dante's indebtedness to the Kabbalah in his description of the various heavens of his Paradise. These intelligences control, in groups of three, the three worlds of intellect, of soul, and of matter. The tenth of the Sephiroth is called Kingdom, i.e., the personal Deity, as seen in the workings of Providence, with which conception we may compare Dante's description of Fortune, in the [pg v] seventh book of the “Inferno.” This last of the Sephiroth is manifested visibly in the Shekinah. This is the barest and baldest outline of the main features in this famous system.

The rise of Kabbalism is not very clearly known as regards authorship and date; it is in turn, by different Jewish writers, ascribed to Adam, Abraham, Moses and Ezra; but doubtless the work is an aggregation of successive writings, and some critics believe that it was not compiled before the Middle Ages, i.e., in the centuries between the conquest of Gaul by the Franks and the period following the death of Dante.

There can be no doubt that the Kabbalah contains the ripest fruit of spiritual and mystical speculation which the Jewish world produced on subjects which had hitherto been obscured by the gross anthropomorphism of such men as Maimonides and his school. We can understand the revolt of the devout Hebrew mind from traditions like those which represented Jehovah as wearing a phylactery, and as descending to earth for the purpose of taking a razor and shaving the head and beard of Sennacherib. The theory of the Sephiroth was at least a noble and truly reverent guess at the mode of God's immanence in nature. This conception won the favor of Christian philosophers in the Middle Ages, and, indeed, was adopted or adapted by the angelic Doctor Aquinas himself, the foremost of ecclesiastical and scholastic metaphysicians. The psychology of the Kabbalah, even its treatment of the soul's preëxistence before union with the body, found many advocates among Gentile and even Christian philosophers.

We are therefore led to the conclusion that the Kabbalah is by far the most exalted, the most profound and the most interesting of all that mass of traditional literature which comprises, among other writings, such remains as the Targums and the Talmud.

A study of Hebrew literature would indeed be incomplete unless it included the Talmud.

“Talmud” in Hebrew means “Doctrine,” and this strange work must be looked upon as a practical handbook, intended for the Jews who, after the downfall of Jerusalem and the Dispersion, found that most of the Law had to be adjusted to new circumstances, in which the institution of sacrifices and propitiatory offerings had been practically abolished. The Talmud [pg vi] contains the decisions of Jewish doctors of many generations on almost every single question which might puzzle the conscience of a punctilious Jew in keeping the Law under the altered conditions of the nation. The basis of the Talmud is the Mishna, i.e., an explanation of the text of the Mosaic laws, and their application to new cases and circumstances. The Mishna has been well described by the illustrious Spanish Jew, Maimonides, who in the twelfth century published it at Cordova, with a preface, in which he says: “From Moses, our teacher, to our holy rabbi, no one has united in a single body of doctrine what was publicly taught as the oral law; but in every generation, the chief of the tribunal, or the prophet of his day, made memoranda of what he had heard from his predecessors and instructors, and communicated it orally to the people. In like manner each individual committed to writing, for his own use and according to the degree of his ability, the oral laws and the information he had received respecting the interpretation of the Bible, with the various decisions that had been pronounced in every age and sanctified by the authority of the great tribunal. Such was the form of proceeding until the coming of our Rabbi the Holy, who first collected all the traditions, the judgments, the sentences, and the expositions of the law, heard by Moses, our master, and taught in each generation.”

The Mishna itself in turn became the subject of a series of comments and elucidations, which formed what was called the Gemara. The text of the original Hebrew scripture was abandoned, and a new crop of casuistical quibbles, opinions and decisions rose like mushrooms upon the text of the Mishna, and from the combination of text and Gemaraic commentary was formed that odd, rambling, and sometimes perplexing work, “wonderful monument of human industry, human wisdom and human folly,” which we know as the Talmud. The book is compounded of all materials, an encyclopædia of history, antiquities and chronology, a story book, a code of laws and conduct, a manual of ethics, a treatise on astronomy, and a medical handbook; sometimes indelicate, sometimes irreverent, but always completely and persistently in earnest. Its trifling frivolity, its curious prying into topics which were better left alone, the occasional beauty of its spiritual and imaginative fancies, make it one of the most remarkable books that human wit and human industry have ever compiled.

The selections which we print in this volume are from the Mishna, and form part of the Sedarim, or orders; in them are given minute directions as to the ceremonial practice of the Jewish religion.

The treatise on “Blessings” speaks of daily prayers and thanksgiving. It is most minute in prescribing the position of the body, and how the voice is to be used in prayer. It specifies the prayers to be said on seeing signs and wonders, on building a house, on entering or leaving a city; and how to speak the name of God in social salutations. That on the “Sabbatical Year” is a discourse on agriculture from a religious point of view. The Sabbatical year among the Hebrews was every seventh year, in which the land was to be left fallow and uncultivated, and all debts were to be remitted or outlawed. Provision is made in this section for doing certain necessary work, such as picking and using fruits which may have grown without cultivation during the Sabbatical year, with some notes on manuring the fields, pruning trees and pulling down walls. Very interesting is the section which deals with “The Sabbath Day.” The most minute and exhaustive account is given of what may and what may not be done on the seventh day.

The treatise on “The Day of Atonement” deals with the preparation and deportment of the high-priest on that day. That on “The Passover” treats of the Lamb to be sacrificed, of the search for leaven, so that none be found in the house, and of all the details of the festival. “Measurements” is an interesting and valuable account of the dimensions of the Temple at Jerusalem. “The Tabernacle” deals with the ritual worship of the Jews under the new conditions of their exile from Palestine.

All of these treatises show the vitality of Jewish religion in Europe, under the most adverse circumstances, and illustrate the place which the Talmud must have occupied in Jewish history, as supplying a religious literature and a code of ritual and worship which kept Judaism united, even when it had become banished and dissociated from Palestine, Jerusalem, and the Temple.

Selections From The Talmud

Translated by Joseph Barclay, LL.D.

Translator's Introduction

The Talmud (teaching) comprises the Mishna and the Gemara. The Mishna (“learning” or “second law”) was, according to Jewish tradition, delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai. “Rabbi Levi, the son of Chama, says, Rabbi Simon, the son of Lakish, says, what is that which is written, ‘I will give thee tables of stone, and a law and commandments which I have written, that thou mayest teach them’?[1] The Tables are the ten commandments; the Law is the written law; and the commandment is the Mishna; ‘which I have written’ means the prophets and sacred writings; ‘that thou mayest teach them’ means the Gemara. It teaches us that they were all given to Moses from Mount Sinai.” From Moses the Mishna was transmitted by oral tradition through forty “Receivers,” until the time of Rabbi Judah the Holy. These Receivers were qualified by ordination to hand it on from generation to generation. Abarbanel and Maimonides disagree as to the names of these Receivers. While the Temple still stood as a centre of unity to the nation, it was considered unlawful to reduce these traditions to writing. But when the Temple was burned, and the Jews were dispersed among other peoples, it was considered politic to form them into a written code, which should serve as a bond of union, and keep alive the spirit of patriotism. The Jewish leaders saw the effect of Constitutions and Pandects in consolidating nations—the advantage of written laws over arbitrary decisions. Numberless precedents of case law, answering to our common law, were already recorded: and the teachings of the Hebrew jurisconsults, or “Responsa prudentium” which were held to be binding on the people, had been preserved from former ages.

All these traditions Rabbi Judah the Holy undertook to [pg 004] reduce into one digest. And this laborious work he completed about a.d. 190, or more than a century after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Rabbi Judah was born on the day that Rabbi Akibah died. Solomon is said to have foretold the event: “One sun ariseth, and one sun goeth down.” Akibah was the setting and Judah the rising sun. The Mishna of Rabbi Judah, afterward revised by Abba Areka in Sura, is the text of the Babylon Talmud. The commentaries written on this text by various Rabbis in the neighborhood of Babylon, until the close of the fifth century, are called the Gemara (completion), and are published in twelve folio volumes, called the Babylon Talmud—the Talmud most esteemed by the Jews. The Jerusalem Talmud contains commentaries written partly by Rabbis in Jamnia and partly in Tiberias, where they were completed by Rabbi Jochanan in the beginning of the fourth century. As now published it has only four out of the six orders or books of the Mishna, with the treatise Niddah from the sixth. In the time of Maimonides it contained five orders. On twenty-six treatises it has no Gemara, though in the treatise on shekels the Gemara of Jerusalem is used for the Babylon Talmud. The six books of the Mishna are subdivided into sixty-three treatises, in the following manner:

Book I

This book, called Order of Seeds, contains the following treatises:

1. “Blessings,” together with prayers and thanksgivings, with the times and places in which they are to be used.

2. “A Corner of a Field” (Lev. xxiii. 22; Deut. xxiv. 19) treats of the corners of the field to be left for the poor to glean them—the forgotten sheaves, olives, and grapes—and of giving alms, etc.

3. “Doubtful” treats of the doubt about the tithes being paid, as the Jews were not allowed to use anything without its being first tithed.

4. “Diversities” (Lev. xix. 19; Deut. xxii. 9-11) treats of the unlawful mixing or joining together things of a different nature or kind—of sowing seeds of a different species in one [pg 005] bed—grafting a scion on a stock of a different kind, suffering cattle of different kinds to come together.

5. “The Sabbatical Year” (Exod. xxiii. 11; Lev. xxv. 4) treats of the laws which regulated the land as it lay fallow and rested.

6. “Heave Offerings” (Num. xviii. 8) treats of separating the heave offering—who may eat it, and who may not eat of it—of its pollutions, etc.

7. “The First Tithes” (Lev. xxvii. 30; Num. xviii. 28) treats of the law of tithes for the priests.

8. “The Second Tithes” (Deut. xiv. 22; xxvi. 14) treats of those which were to be carried to Jerusalem and there eaten, or to be redeemed and the money spent in Jerusalem in peace offerings.

9. “Cake of Dough” (Num. xv. 20) treats of setting apart a cake of dough for the priests; also, from what kind of dough the cake must be separated.

10. “Uncircumcised Fruit” (Lev. xix. 23) treats of the unlawfulness of eating the fruit of any tree till the fifth year. The first three years it is uncircumcised; the fourth year it is holy to the Lord; the fifth year it may be eaten.

11. “First Fruits” (Exod. xxiii. 19; Deut. xxvi. 1) treats of what fruits were to be offered in the Temple, and in what manner; also of the baskets in which they were to be carried.

Book II

The Order Of The Festivals:

1. “Sabbath” treats of the laws relating to the seventh day.

2. “Mixtures,” or combinations, treats of the extension of boundaries, whereby all the inhabitants of the court, or entry, where the mixture is made, are counted as one family inhabiting one domicile; and are therefore allowed to carry victuals from one house to another. It also treats of the mixtures for a Sabbath day's journey, whereby the distance may be extended for an additional 2,000 cubits.

3. “Passovers” treats of all rites and ceremonies relating to the Paschal Lamb.

4. “Shekels” (Exod. xxx. 13) treats of the half shekel, which every Jew, rich or poor, was obliged to pay every year to the daily sacrifice.

5. “Day of Atonement” treats of the solemnities peculiar to it.

6. “Tabernacles” teaches how they are to be built, and how to be used.

7. “The Egg Laid on a Festival” treats of the works which may or may not be done on any of the festivals, which are called days of holy convocation, on which no servile work may be done.

8. “New Year” treats of the laws and solemnities of the feast of the New Year, as also of the feasts of the New Moons.

9. “Fasts” treats of the various fasts throughout the year.

10. “The Roll” treats of the feast of Purim, and gives instructions how and in what manner the Book of Esther and other Lessons are to be read. The Gemara directs Jews to get so drunk on this feast, that they cannot discern the difference between “Blessed be Mordecai and cursed be Haman,” and “Cursed be Mordecai and blessed be Haman.”

11. “Minor Feasts” treats of the works that may and that may not be lawfully done on the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th days, when the first and seventh are holy; these intermediate days being lesser festivals.

12. “Sacrifices on Festivals” treats of the three great festivals, when all the males were obliged to appear before the Lord, and of the sacrifices which they were to bring. It also lays down rules for the dissolution of vows, which it says “are like mountains hanging on a hair, for the text is slender and the constitutions many.”

Book III

On Women:

1. “Brother's Widow” (Deut. xxv. 5-11) treats of the law obliging a brother to marry the relict of his deceased brother; also, when the obligation is to take place, and the ceremonies to be used at its performance.

2. “Marriage Settlements” treats of dowries and women [pg 007] who happen to obtain estates, either real or personal. From this tract the baptism of infant proselytes can be proved.

3. “Vows” (Num. xxx. 4-16) shows when vows are binding and when null and void. When a married woman makes a vow the husband can confirm or annul it. This tract points out what vows fall under his cognizance and what do not.

4. “The Nazarite” (Num. vi. 21) treats of the laws relating to the different sorts of Nazarites.

5. “Trial of Jealousy” (Num. v. 11-31) treats of the mode of trial and punishment of criminals. Men may go home to their wives from voluntary wars, but not from wars of command. This tract shows the miserable state of the Jews at the destruction of the second Temple, and at the future advent of the Messiah.

6. “Divorces” treats of the laws relating to divorces, also the formalities to be observed both before and after they are given. A man may divorce his wife if she spoil his broth, or if he find another more handsome.

7. “Betrothing” treats of the laws of espousals and some other previous rites of marriage. It commands sons to be taught suitable trades. It states that all ass-drivers are wicked, camel-drivers are honest, sailors are pious, physicians are destined for hell, and butchers are company for Amalek.

Book IV

On Damages:

1. “First Gate,” so called because in the East law is often administered in the gateway of a city. It treats of all such damages as may be received from man or beast. It assesses damages done by a beast according to the benefit which the beast receives. If it eat a peck of dates its owner would be fined for a peck of barley, as dates are not more nourishing for a beast than barley.

2. “The Middle Gate” treats of laws of usury and trusts, of letting out on hire, of landlord and tenant, etc.

3. “Last Gate” treats of the laws of commerce and co-partnership, of buying and selling, of the laws of inheritance and the right of succession.

4. “Sanhedrin” treats of the great national senate.

5. “Stripes” treats of false witnesses, of the law of the forty stripes save one, of those who were bound to fly to the cities of refuge.

6. “Oaths” explains the laws for administering oaths; when an oath is to be admitted between contending parties who are qualified to take them. In Hilchoth Eduth. ix. 1 it is taught that ten sorts of persons are disqualified—women, slaves, children, idiots, deaf persons, the blind, the wicked, the despised, relations, and those interested in their evidence.

7. “Evidences” are a collection of many important decisions gathered from the testimonies of distinguished Rabbis. It is observable that the decisions of the School of Shammai are more rigorous than those of the School of Hillel, from whence it is inferred that the former adhered more closely to Scripture, the latter to tradition. The former were the Scribes, and are now represented by the Karaites, who reject the Talmud.

8. “Idolatry,” or the worship of stars and meteors, treats of the way to avoid this grievous sin.

9. “The Fathers” contains a history of those who handed down the Oral Law, also many maxims and proverbs.

10. “Punishment” treats of the punishment of those disobedient to the Sanhedrin (Deut. xvii. 8-11).

Book V

On Holy Things:

1. “Sacrifices” treats of the nature and quality of the offerings; the time, the place, and the persons, by whom they ought to be killed, prepared, and offered.

2. “Meat Offerings” treats of the flour, oil, and wine, and the wave loaves.

3. “Unconsecrated Things” treats of what is clean and unclean, of not eating the sinew that shrank, and not killing the dam and her young in one day (Deut. xxii. 6).

4. “First Born” treats of their redemption by money, and their being offered in sacrifice; also of the tithes of all manner of cattle.

5. “Estimations” (Lev. xxvii. 2) treats of the way in which things devoted to the Lord are to be valued in order to be redeemed for ordinary use; also, how a priest is to value a field which a person has sanctified.

6. “Cutting Off” treats of offenders being cut off from the Lord.

7. “Exchanges” (Lev. xxvii. 10, 33) treats of the way exchanges are to be effected between sacred things.

8. “Trespass” (Num. v. 6, 8) treats of things partaking of the nature of sacrilege. It asserts that if a man take away a consecrated stone or beam he commits no trespass. If he give it to his companion he commits a trespass, but his companion commits none. If he build it into his house he commits no trespass till he lives in the house long enough to gain the value of a half-farthing. If he take away a consecrated half-farthing he commits no trespass. If he give it to his companion he commits a trespass, but his companion commits none. If he give it to a bath-keeper he commits a trespass though he does not bathe, because the bath-keeper says to him, “See, the bath is open, go in and bathe.”

9. “The Daily Sacrifice” treats of the morning and evening offerings.

10. “The Measurements” treats of the measurements of the Temple.

11. “Birds' Nests” treats of the mistakes about doves and beasts brought into the Temple for sacrifice.

Book VI

On Purifications:

1. “Vessels” treats of those which convey uncleanness (Lev. xi. 33).

2. “Tents” (Num. xix. 14) treats of tents and houses retaining uncleanness, how persons who enter them become unclean, and how they are to be cleansed.

3. “Plagues of Leprosy” treats of leprosy of men, garments, or dwellings, how their pollution is conveyed, and how they are to be purified.

4. “The Red Heifer” directs how she is to be burned, and how her ashes are to be used in purifying.

5. “Purifications” teaches how purifications are to be effected.

6. “Pools of Water” (Num. xxxi. 23) treats of their construction, and the quantity of water necessary for cleansing.

7. “Separation” of women.

8. “Liquors” that dispose seeds and fruits to receive pollution (Lev. xi. 38).

9. “Issues” that cause pollution.

10. “Baptism” on the day of uncleanness (Lev. xxii. 6).

11. “Hands” treats of the washing of hands before eating bread, though dry fruits are allowed to be eaten without such washing.

12. “Stalks of Fruit which convey Uncleanness” treats of fruits growing out of the earth, which have a stalk and no husk. They can be polluted and can pollute, but may not be compounded with anything that was unclean before. If they have neither stalks nor husks they neither can be polluted nor can they pollute. It also treats of the hair and wool that grows on some fruits, and the beards of barley, etc.

From the six books or “Orders” the Jews call the Babylon Talmud by the pet name of “Shas” (six). The language in which it is written is Hebrew intermingled with Aramaic, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, and Latin words. The Gemara was first begun by Rabban Judah's two sons, Rabbi Gamaliel and Rabbi Simeon. It was vigorously carried on by Rabbi Ashé in Sura, a town on the Euphrates, from 365 a.d. to 425. He divided the Mishna into its sixty-three treatises, and every half-year summoned his disciples and assigned to them two fresh portions of the Law and two of the Mishna. At each meeting their remarks on these portions were discussed, and if approved were incorporated into the Gemara. Rabbis Zabid, Gebhia Rychuma, and Semo of Pumbedaitha;[2] and Rabbis Marimer, Adda bar Abbin, Nachman bar Huno, and Touspho, presidents of the schools of Sura, labored for its advancement; and it was finally completed by Rabbi Abino (Rabbina), and sealed by Rabbi José [pg 011] about 498 a.d. He was the last of the “Dictators.” Those who lived after him were called “Opinionists,” as they did not dictate any doctrines; but only deduced opinions from what had already been settled in the canon of the Talmud. The Opinionists were succeeded by the Sublime Doctors, who were in turn replaced by the ordinary Rabbis. In addition to the Talmud there has been handed down a vast amount of Jewish learning, such as the Bereitha, the Tosephtoth or appendices, the Mechilta or traditions unknown to Rabbi Judah the Holy, and the commentaries Sifra and Sifre. Of these the Jews regard the Bereitha as second to the Mishna. “The mark of Bereitha is ‘the sages learned,’ or ‘it is once learned,’ or ‘it is learned in another one.’ And everything which is not disputed of all these things is an established decision. And whatever is disputed goes according to the concluded decision. What is disputed in the Bereitha, which is not questioned in the Mishna, the decision is according to the Mishna. What is disputed in the Mishna, and not questioned in the Bereitha, is not to be decided according to the Bereitha. And thus it is said, ‘If Rabbi Judah the Holy did not teach it, whence could Rabbi Chayya know it?’ The exception is, that when the decision of Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Jacob, is given, it is regarded as equal to the Mishna. In 102 questions the decision is always with him.”

The period during which both the Jerusalem and Babylon Talmuds were compiled was a season of comparative peace for the Jews. From the death of Rabbi Judah the Holy until Constantine ascended the throne the schools in Tiberias were unmolested. Judah was succeeded in the Patriarchate by Gamaliel; and he in turn gave way to Judah the second. Being inferior in learning to some of his own Rabbis, the splendor of his Patriarchate was eclipsed by the superior talents of Simon Ben Laches and Rabbi Jochanan. From that time the Patriarchate gradually sank in estimation, till the struggles for unlimited power, and the rapacity of the Rabbis, brought the office into contempt, and caused the Emperor Honorius in one of his laws to brand them as “Devastators.” Still, with a loyal affection to the race of Israel, the Jews, wherever scattered in the West, looked to Tiberias as their Zion, and willingly taxed themselves for the support of its [pg 012] Rabbinical schools. The Jews in the East regarded the Prince of the Captivity or Patriarch of Babylon as their centre and chief. He rose to power between the abandonment of the Mesopotamian provinces by Hadrian and the rise of the Persian kingdom. He presided over his subjects with viceregal power and a splendid court. Rabbis were his satraps, and the wise and learned his officers and councillors. Wealth flowed in upon his people, who were engaged in every kind of commerce. One of his merchants in Babylon was said to have had 1,000 vessels on sea and 1,000 cities on shore. There was for a time a spirit of rivalry between the spiritual courts of Tiberias and Babylon.

On one occasion there was an open schism about the calculation of the Paschal feast. The struggle for supremacy took place when Simon, son of Gamaliel, who claimed descent from Aaron, was Patriarch of Tiberias, and Ahia, who claimed descent from King David, was Prince of the Captivity. His two most learned men were Hananiah, the rector of Nahar-pakod, and Judah, son of Bethuriah. To humble these men was the aim of Simon. Accordingly he sent two legates with three letters to Babylon. The first letter was given to Hananiah. It was addressed, “To your holiness.” Flattered by the title, he politely asked the reason of their visit. “To learn your system of instruction.” Still more gratified, he paid them every attention. Availing themselves of their advantage, the legates used every effort to undermine his teaching and lessen his authority. Hananiah, enraged by their conduct, summoned an assembly, and denounced their treachery. The people cried out, “That which thou hast built, thou canst not so soon pull down; the hedge which thou hast planted, thou canst not pluck up without injury to thyself.” Hananiah demanded their objections to his teaching. They answered, “Thou hast dared to fix intercalations and new moons, by which nonconformity has arisen between Babylon and Palestine.” “So did Rabbi Akiba,” said Hananiah, “when in Babylon.” “Akiba,” they replied, “left not his like in Palestine.” “Neither,” cried Hananiah, “have I left my equal in Palestine.” The legates then produced their second letter, in which it was written, “That which thou hast left a kid is grown up a strong horned goat.” Hananiah was [pg 013] struck dumb. Rabbi Isaac, one of the legates, ran, and mounted the reading desk. “These,” said he, calling them out aloud, “are the holy days of God, and these the holy days of Hananiah.”

The people began to murmur. Rabbi Nathan, the second legate, arose, and read the verse of Isaiah, “Out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Then in a mocking voice, “Out of Babylon shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Nahor-pakod.” The congregation was in an uproar. “Alter not the word of God” was the universal shout. The legates then produced the third letter, threatening excommunication to all who would not obey their decrees. They further said, “The learned have sent us, and commanded us to say, if he will submit, well; if not, utter at once the Cherem.[3] Also set the choice before our brethren in foreign parts. If they will stand by us, well; if not, let them ascend their high places. Let Ahia build them an altar, and Hananiah (a Levite) sing at the sacrifice, and let them at once set themselves apart, and say, ‘We have no portion in the God of Israel.’ ” From every side the cry arose, “Heaven preserve us from heresy; we have still a portion in the Israel of God.” The authority of Tiberias was then recognized as supreme. But when Babylon was afterward politically severed from the Roman power in the West, and fell to the Persians, the Prince of the Captivity represented the Jews of the East as their independent head.

The canon of the Talmud was closed in a season of opulence and repose. This scene, however, speedily changed. Gloomy and dark days were followed by a storm of persecution from the Persian kings, Yesdigird and Firuz “the tyrant.” When their schools were closed, the Jews clung more closely to the Talmud than before. Although never formally adopted by any general council, all orthodox Jews embraced it as supplying a want which they felt. And they have adhered to it [pg 014] through long and dreary centuries, despite the rack and fire of the Inquisitor, and the contempt and scorn of a hostile world. The Talmud has been periodically banned, and often publicly burned, from the age of the Emperor Justinian till the time of Pope Clement VIII. In the year 1569 the famous Jewish library in Cremona was plundered, and 12,000 copies of the Talmud and other Jewish writings were committed to the flames. The first to demand for it toleration and free inquiry was Reuchlin. He declared that he must oppose the destruction of “a book written by Christ's nearest relations.” Before him, Haschim II, Caliph of Cordova in the close of the tenth century, had ordered it to be translated into Arabic. This was done by Rabbi Joseph, the son of Rabbi Moses, surnamed “clad in a sack,” because he was thus meanly clad when his great talents were discovered.

The study of the Talmud has the most fascinating influence over the Jewish mind, and if the latter is to be comprehended, the teaching which moulds it must be clearly understood. “Everyone,” say the Jews, “is bound to divide the time of his study into three parts—one-third is to be devoted to the written law, one-third to the Mishna, and one-third to Gemara.” To understand it in accordance with the thirteen rules of interpretation, it takes a study of seven hours a day for seven years. They also say that it is lawful to rend a man ignorant of the Talmud “like a fish.” Israelites are forbidden to marry the daughter of such a one, as “she is no better than a beast.”

To obviate arguments furnished by its own statements against itself, its adherents make a distinction between its decisions, its directions, and its legendary or romance part,—a distinction fatal to its claim of equality with Holy Scripture. For this legendary part some of the ancient Rabbis had but little respect. Rabbi Joshua, son of Levi, says, “He who writes it down will have no part in the world to come; he who explains it will be scorched.” Maimonides also says, “If one of the many foolish rabbis reads these histories and proverbs, he will find an explanation unnecessary, for to a fool everything is right, and he finds no difficulty anywhere. And if a really wise man reads them, there will be but two ways in which he will consider them. If he takes them in their literal [pg 015] sense and thinks them bad, he will say, This is foolishness, and in so doing he says nothing at all against the foundation of the faith.” The School of Shammai, who lived before Christ, and the School of Hillel, who lived till eight[4] years after His birth, are brought forward as contradictory in their decisions. Like Christian leaders in later times, they strove to exceed each other in learning and pride. Hillel, called also the second Ezra, was born in Babylon. His thirst for learning drove him to Jerusalem. He was so poor he could not fee the porter of the college. So he used to listen at the window. One bitter winter's night he became insensible from cold, and the snow falling fast covered him up. The darkened window called the attention of those inside to his form without. He was then brought in, and soon restored to life. It is said that afterward “he had eighty scholars: thirty of them were fit that the divine glory should rest upon them, as it did upon Moses—thirty others were worthy that the sun should stand still for them, as it did for Joshua—and twenty were of a form between.”

By a sort of legal fiction both schools are supposed to be of equal authority. A Bath Kol[5] or holy echo, supplying the place of departed Urim and Thummim, and of oracles long since silent, is related to have established it. “There came forth a divine voice at Jabneh and said, The words of the one and of the other are the words of the living God, but the certain determination of the thing is according to the School of Hillel, and whosoever transgresseth against the words of the School of Hillel deserves death.” Both schools were Pharisees, but the School of Shammai was the straiter sect. Seven different shades of character have been attributed to the Pharisees of that age: there were those who served God [pg 016] from selfishness—those who did it gradually—those who avoided the sight of women—saints in office—those who asked you to name some duty which they ought to perform—those who were pious from fear of God—and those who were pious from love of Him. Popular opinion differed with regard to them. Some said, “If only two men be saved, one must be a Pharisee”; while others defined a Pharisee to be “one who wished to play the part of Zimri, and to claim the reward of Phinehas.” The great opponents of the Pharisees were the Sadducees, who arose b.c. 300, and were followers of Baithos and Sadok. Their rivals on the other side were the Mehestanites, who returned from the Captivity versed in the doctrines of Zoroaster—in astrology, and in the influences of good and bad spirits. To these might be added the Misraimites, who studied the Kabbala, specially in reference to the forms of letters. The letter Koph, for example, has its curved part severed from its stem, and thus teaches that “the door of mercy is always open to the penitent.” The numerical value of the letters of Messiah and Nachash (serpent) is the same, and this teaches that “the Messiah will overcome the Serpent.”

The Kabbalists believed nothing but what they “received.” Their teachers received from the prophets—the prophets received from angels—David from the Angel Michael, Moses from Metatron, Isaac from Raphael, Shem from Yophiel—and the angels themselves from God. The Metatron is the connecting link between the Divine Spirit and the world of matter. It resembles the Demiurgos of the Gnostics. It is the mystical expression for the Being that forms a union between God and nature, or, as the Zohar puts it, between the “King and the Queen.” There were also the Essenes, who allegorized the Law; the Hellenists, who mixed it up with Greek philosophy; the Therapeutists, who thought supreme happiness to be meditation; the political Herodians; the Zealots; and other petty sects who formed the great mass of the people, and held either with or against the two great schools. The decisions of both schools are remarkable for their concise brevity. A phrase suggests many thoughts—a single word awakes a whole train of reasoning. A German writer has said of the Mishna, that “it is a firmament of telescopic [pg 017] stars, containing many a cluster of light, which no unaided eye has ever resolved.” Some of its sayings are of touching beauty. Such are the words of Rabbi Tarphon, “The day is short—the labor vast;—but the laborers are slothful, though the reward is great, and the Master of the house presseth for despatch.” Some of its sayings are extravagant—some are loathsome—and some are blasphemous. But mixed up as they are together, they form an extraordinary monument of “human industry, human wisdom, and human folly.”

The Talmud contains a system of casuistry in reference to the doctrines of intention and legal uncleanness. It proportions responsibility to the amount of intention, and thereby hands over tender consciences to the control of the Rabbis. It proportions legal uncleanness to every degree of approach to the source, or, as it is called, “the father” of uncleanness; and this again renders necessary continual appeals to the decision of the Rabbis.

Predestination and free will are both taught. “Everything is in the hands of heaven, except the fear of heaven.” “All things are ordained of God, but men's actions are their own.” When men wish to sin they are enjoined to go to a place where they are unknown, and to clothe themselves in black so as not to dishonor God openly. Hereditary sin was denied by the early Kabbalists, but the later ones allow it. They believe that all souls were created in Adam, and therefore partake of his fall. Every kind of philosophy known at the time of its compilation is more or less introduced into the Talmud, and all more or less tinged with Magian superstition. From this superstition grew the mysticism of the Jewish schools. All the arts and sciences, under some form or other, are alluded to, and references to historical events abound in its pages. When it is dangerous to speak of them openly they are veiled under some figure known only to the initiated. Some observations seem to anticipate future discoveries. The Antipodes are hinted at. And the Jerusalem Gemara says that Alexander the Great was represented as carrying a ball in his hand because he believed the figure of the earth to be a sphere. Astronomy is fully discussed. The planets are “moving stars.” Mercury is “the star”; Venus, “splendor”; Mars, [pg 018] “redness”; Jupiter, “rightness”; Saturn, “the Sabbath star.” The signs of the Zodiac have the same names as are now used. The Galaxy is “the river of light.” Comets are “burning arrows.” And it is said that when a comet passes through Orion it will destroy the world. A certain Ishmaelite merchant is related to have invited Rabba to come and see where the heavens and the earth touched. Rabba took his bread basket and placed it on the window while he prayed. He afterward looked for it, but it was gone. He asked the Ishmaelite, “Are there thieves here?” “No,” he replied, “but your basket has gone up in the revolving of the firmament. It will return if you wait till morning when the revolving of the firmament returns where it was before.”

Astrology is treated as a science which governs the life of man. The stars make men wise. The stars make them rich. “A man born on the first day of the week will excel in only one quality. He that is born on the second day will be an angry man, because on that day the waters were divided. He that is born on the third day of the week will be rich and licentious, because on it the herbs were created. He that is born on the fourth day will be wise and of good memory, because on that day the lights were hung up. He that is born on the fifth day will be charitable, because on that day the fishes and fowls were created. He that is born on the Sabbath, on the Sabbath he also shall die, because on his account they profaned the great Sabbath day.” Rabba bar Shila says, “He shall be eminently holy.” Rabbi Chanina says, “The influence of the stars makes wise, the influence of the stars makes rich, and Israel is under the influence of the stars.” Rabbi Jochanan says, “Israel is not under the influence of the stars. Whence is it proved? ‘Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them’ (Jer. x. 2). The heathen, but not Israel.” “An eclipse of the sun is an evil sign to the nations of the world; an eclipse of the moon is an evil sign to Israel, for Israel reckons by the moon, the nations of the world by the sun.” It is also said that Saturn and Mars are the baleful stars, and whosoever begins a work, or walks in the way, when either of these two is in the ascendant, will come to sorrow. Astrology naturally leads to [pg 019] amulets and charms. Amulets are divided into two classes, approved and disapproved. An approved amulet is “one that has cured three persons, or has been made by a man who has cured three persons with other amulets.”

Charms are abundantly provided against accidents. “For bleeding of the nose let a man be brought to a priest named Levi, and let the name Levi be written backward. If there be not a priest, get a layman, who is to write backward ‘Ana pipi Shila bar Sumki,’ or ‘Taam dli bemi ceseph, taam dli bemi pagam’; or let him take a root of grass, and the cord of an old bed, and paper, and saffron, and the red part of the inside of a palm tree, and let him burn them together, and let him take some wool, and twist two threads, and dip them in vinegar, and roll them in ashes, and put them into his nose; or let him look out for a stream of water which flows from east to west, and let him go and stand with one leg on each side of it, and let him take with his right hand some mud from under his left foot, and with his left hand from under his right foot, and let him twist two threads of wool, and dip them in the mud, and put them into his nose.” If a man be bitten by a mad dog he must die, unless some remedy be found for him. “Abai says he must take the skin of a male adder, and write upon it, ‘I, M, the son of the woman N, upon the skin of a male adder, write against thee, Kanti Kanti Klirus, but some say, Kandi Kandi Klurus, Lord of Hosts. Amen. Selah.’ Let him also cast off his clothes, and bury them in a graveyard for twelve months of a year; then let him take them up, and burn them in a furnace, and let him strew the ashes at the parting of the roads. And during these twelve months let him only drink out of a brass tube, lest he see the phantom form of the demon, and he be endangered. This was done by Abba, the son of Martha—he is Abba, the son of Manjumi. His mother made him a tube of gold.”

Magic naturally follows from such teaching. Abba Benjamin says, “If leave had been given to see the hurtful demons, no creature could stand before them.” Abbai says, “They are more than we are, and stand against us, like the trench round a garden bed.” Rav Huni says, “Everyone has a thousand on his left hand, and ten thousand on his right hand.” Rabba says, “The want of room at the sermon is from them, the [pg 020] wearing out of the Rabbis' clothes is from their rubbing against them, bruised legs are from them.” “Whosoever wishes to know their existence, let him take ashes passed through a sieve, and strew them in his bed, and in the morning he will see the marks of a cock's claws. Whosoever wishes to see them, let him take the inner covering of a black cat, the kitten of a first-born black cat, which is also the kitten of a first-born, and let him burn it in the fire, and powder it, and fill his eyes with it, and he will see them. And let him pour the powder into an iron tube, and seal it with an iron signet, lest they steal any of it, and let him seal the mouth of it, lest any harm ensue. Rav Bibi bar Abbai did thus, and he was harmed, but the Rabbis prayed for mercy, and he was healed.” Arts of sorcery are attributed to the Rabbis. They are represented as having the power to create both men and melons. One of them is said to have changed a woman into an ass, and ridden the ass to market, when another sorcerer changed the ass again into a woman.

This sorcery is traced to Abraham, who is said (Gen. xxv. 6) to have given his sons gifts. These gifts are stated to have been the arts of sorcery. Legends abound everywhere throughout the Talmud. Rabbi Judah said, Rav said, “Everything that God created in the world, He created male and female. And thus he did with leviathan, the piercing serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent. He created them male and female; but if they had been joined together they would have desolated the whole world. What then did the Holy One do? He enervated the male leviathan, and slew the female, and salted her for the righteous in the time to come, for it is said, ‘And He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea’ (Isa. xxvii. 1). Likewise, with regard to behemoth upon a thousand mountains, He created them male and female; but if they had been joined together they would have desolated the whole world. What then did the Holy One do? He enervated the male behemoth, and made the female barren, and preserved her for the righteous in the time to come. That period is to be a season of great feasting. The liquor to be drunk will be apple-wine of more than seventy years old. The cup of David alone will hold one hundred and twenty-one logs. It is related that a Rabbi once saw in a desert a flock of geese [pg 021] so fat that their feathers fell off, and the rivers flowed in fat. He said to them, ‘Shall we have part of you in the world to come?’ One of them lifted up a wing and another a leg, to signify the parts we shall have. We should otherwise have had all parts of these geese, but that their sufferings are owing to us. It is our iniquities that have delayed the coming of the Messiah, and these geese suffer greatly by reason of their excessive fat, which daily increases, and will increase till the Messiah comes.”

Rabba bar Chama says that he once saw “a bird so tall, that its head reached to the sky and its legs to the bottom of the ocean.” The water in which it stood was so deep that a carpenter's axe which had fallen in seven years before had not then reached the bottom. He also saw “a frog as large as a village containing sixty houses.” This frog was swallowed up by a serpent, and this serpent in turn by a crow; this crow flew, and perched upon a cedar, and this cedar was as broad as sixteen wagons abreast. There is also an account of a fish which was killed by a worm. This fish, when driven ashore, destroyed sixty cities, and sixty cities ate of it, and sixty cities salted it, and with its bones the ruined cities were rebuilt. Stories are also told of fishes with eyes like the moon, and of horned fishes three hundred miles in length. These stories are intended to confirm the text, “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep” (Ps. cvii. 23, 24). To illustrate the statement of Amos (iii. 8), a story is told of a lion which one of the Cæsars wished to see. At 400 miles distance he roared, and the walls of Rome fell. At 300 miles he again roared, and all the people fell on their backs, and their teeth fell out, and Cæsar fell off his throne. Cæsar then prayed for his removal to a safer distance.

The Talmud informs us that “a young unicorn, one day old, is as large as Mount Tabor.” Consequently Noah had great difficulty in saving an old one alive. He could not get it into the ark, so he bound it by its horn to the side of the ark. At the same time Og, King of Bashan (being one of the antediluvians), was saved by riding on its back. We are further informed that he was one of the giants who came from the intermarriage of angels with the daughters of men. [pg 022] His footsteps were forty miles long, and one of his teeth served to make a couch for Abraham. When the Israelites came against him under the command of Moses, he inquired the size of their camp, and hearing that it was three miles in extent he tore up a mountain of that size, to hurl it upon them. Grasshoppers were, however, sent to bore holes in it, so that it fell over his head on to his neck. His teeth also grew and were entangled in the rocks, as the Psalmist says, “Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly” (Ps. iii. 7). He is also said to be identical with Eliezer the servant of Abraham, and to have been, like Enoch, translated to Paradise. This account, however, differs widely from the statements of the Jerusalem Targum on the Book of Numbers (xxi. 34).

The Talmud affirms that Adam was made from dust of all parts of the earth; and that he was created with two faces, as it is written, “Thou hast beset me behind and before” (Ps. cxxxix. 5). The Rabbis further state that he was formed in two parts, one male and one female. His height before his fall reached to the firmament, but after his fall God put his hand upon him, and compressed him small. In the tenth hour after he was made, he sinned; and in the twelfth he was driven out of Paradise. Abraham is said to have put Sarah into a box when he brought her into Egypt, that none should see her beauty. At the custom-house toll was demanded. Abraham said he was ready to pay. The custom-house officers said, “Thou bringest clothes.” He said, “I will pay for clothes.” They said, “Thou bringest gold.” He said, “I will pay for gold.” They said, “Thou bringest silk.” He said, “I will pay for silk.” They said, “Thou bringest pearls.” He said, “I will pay for pearls.” They said, “Thou must open the box,” whereupon her splendor shone over the whole land of Egypt.

Abraham, it is also said, had a precious stone hung around his throat, on which when the sick looked they were healed. Some of the laws of Sodom are also recorded: “Whosoever cut off the ears of another's ass received the ass till his ears grew again.” “Whosoever wounded another, the man wounded was obliged to pay him for letting his blood.” When the judges of Sodom attempted to fine Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, because another man had wounded him, he took [pg 023] up a stone and flung it at the judge. He then bid the judge to pay the fine, which was now due to him for letting his blood, to the man who had first wounded him. There was a public bed in Sodom, and every stranger was obliged to lie in it. If his legs were too long for it, they were cut off; and if too short, they were racked out to the proper length. When a traveller came, each citizen, to show his hospitality, was obliged to give him a coin with his name written upon it. The traveller was then deprived of bread; and when he had died of starvation, the citizens came, and each one took back his own money. The Sodomites thus kept up their character for liberality.

At the giving of the Law the Israelites stood at the lower part of the mount (Exod. xix. 17). Rabbi Avidmi says, “these words teach us that the Holy One, blessed be He, turned the mountain over them like a tub, and said to them, ‘If ye will receive the Law, well; but if not, there shall be your grave.’ ” Rabbi Joshua says, “As each commandment proceeded from the mouth of the Holy One, Israel retreated twelve miles, and the ministering angels led them back, as it is said, ‘The angels of the host did flee apace’[6] (Ps. lxviii. 13). Do not read ‘they fled’ but ‘they led.’ ” Rabbi Eliezer, the Modite, says, that Jethro “heard the giving of the Law; for when the Law was given to Israel His voice went from one end of the world to the other, and all the nations of the world were seized with trembling in their temples, and they repeated a hymn, as it is said, ‘In His temple doth everyone speak of His glory’ ” (Ps. xxix. 9). The question is asked, “Why are the Gentiles defiled?” “Because they did not stand on Mount Sinai, for in the hour the serpent came to Eve he communicated defilement, which was removed from Israel when they stood on Mount Sinai.” Rav Acha, the son of Rabbi, said to Rav Ashai, “How then is it with proselytes?” He answered, “Although they went not there, their lucky star was there, as it is written, ‘With him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day’ ” (Deut. xxix. 15).

In the hour that Moses ascended up on high the ministering angels said before God, “O Lord of the world, what business has he that is born of woman amongst us?” He answered, “He is come to receive the Law.” They replied, “This desirable treasure, which has been treasured up from the six days of creation, six hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created, dost Thou now wish to give it to flesh and blood? what is man that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that Thou visitest him? O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, Who hast set Thy glory above the heavens.” The Holy One said to Moses, “Return them an answer.” He said, “O Lord of the world, I fear, lest they burn me with the breath of their mouth.” God said, “Lay hold on the throne of my glory, and return them an answer; for it is said, ‘He that holdeth the face of His throne, He spreadeth His cloud over him’ ” (Job xxvi. 9). Rabbi Nahum says, “This means that the Almighty spread some of the glory of the Shechinah and His cloud over him.” He then said, “Lord of the world, what is written in the Law that Thou art about to give me?” “I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee out of Egypt.” He then said, “Did ye (angels) ever go down into Egypt and serve Pharaoh? why then should ye have the Law?” Again, “What is written therein?” “Thou shalt have none other God.” He then asked them, “Do ye then dwell among the uncircumcised, that ye should commit idolatry?” Again, “What is written?” “Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it.” “Do ye then do any work so as to need rest?” Again, “What is written?” “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” “Have ye then any work that would lead to this sin?” Again, “What is written?” “Honor thy father and mother.” “Have ye then got any father or mother?” Again, “What is written?” “Thou shalt do no murder.” “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” “Thou shalt not steal.” “Have ye then envy or the principle of evil amongst you?” Immediately they praised the Holy One, “Blessed be He.”

Wonderful stories are told of the manna. The manna is said to have fallen from heaven, accompanied by showers of pearls and precious stones. It tasted to everyone according to his desire. If one wished for fat fowl, so it tasted. If another [pg 025] other wished for honey, so it tasted, as it is written, “Thou hast lacked nothing” (Deut. xi. 7). The Targum of Jonathan goes on to inform us, “At the fourth hour, when the sun had waxed hot upon it, it melted and became streams of water, which flowed away into the great sea, and wild animals that were clean, and cattle, came to drink of it, and the children of Israel hunted and ate them” (Exod. xvi. 21). It is further related that the Queen of Sheba (whom the Rabbis labor to prove to have been the King of Sheba) wished to test the knowledge of Solomon who had written on botany “from the cedar to the hyssop.” She once stood at a distance from him with two exquisite wreaths of flowers—one artificial, one natural. They were so much alike that the King looked perplexed, and the courtiers looked melancholy. Observing a swarm of bees on the window, he commanded it to be opened. All the bees lighted on the natural and not one on the artificial wreath. Solomon is also said to have sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, to bind Aschmedai, the king of the devils. After deceiving the devil with wine he made him reveal the secret of the Schamir, or little worm, which can cleave the hardest stone. And by the aid of this worm Solomon built the Temple. The devil afterward asked Solomon for his signet ring, and when he had given it to him the devil stretched one wing up to the firmament and the other to the earth, and jerked Solomon four hundred miles away. Then assuming the aspect of Solomon, he seated himself on his throne. After Solomon had again obtained it, he wrote, “What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?” (Eccles. i. 3).

A story is told of Nebuzaradan, that he saw the blood of Zecharias bubbling in the court of the priests. When he asked what it meant, he was informed that it was the blood of bullocks and lambs. When he had ordered bullocks and lambs to be slain, the blood of Zecharias still bubbled and reeked above theirs. The priests then confessed that it was the blood of a priest and prophet and judge, whom they had slain. He then commanded eighty thousand priests to be put to death. The blood, however, still continued to bubble. God then said, “Is this man, who is but flesh and blood, filled with pity toward my children, and shall not I be much more?” So he gave a sign to the blood, and it was swallowed up in the place. [pg 026] Of the eighty thousand priests slain none was left but Joshua the son of Jozedek, of whom it is written, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” (Zech. iii. 2). Of Titus it is said that he was unclean in the Temple, and with a blow of his sword rent the veil, which flowed with blood. To punish him a gnat was sent into his brain, which grew as large as a dove. When his skull was opened, the gnat was found to have a mouth of copper, and claws of iron.

The Talmud teaches that evil spirits, devils, and goblins are the offspring of Adam. They are said to fly about in all directions. They know from eavesdropping what is to come in the future. Like men, they eat, drink, and multiply. They are represented as playing men awkward tricks. One is stated to have broken a vessel of wine, and to have spilled it on the ground. The Rabbis, however, afterward compelled him to pay for it. People are forbidden to ride oxen fresh from the stall, as Satan dances between their horns. Men are forbidden to salute their companions by night, lest they may turn out to be devils. It is also commanded to shake out, before drinking, some water from the vessel, to get rid of what is sipped by the evil spirits. It is, however, permitted to consult Satan on week-days. He is considered identical with the Angel of Death. But he is described as having no power over those engaged in reading the law. Many of his devices are related in the Talmud, whereby he made learned men leave off reading, and then he snatched away their souls. A story is told of the attempt of Rabbi Joshua, the son of Levi, and Satan to deceive each other about the Rabbi's place in paradise. Finally, however, Satan managed to take away his life, whereupon the voice of Elijah is heard shouting in heaven, “Make room for the son of Levi,”—“Make room for the son of Levi.” The Angel of Death is represented as standing at the head of the dying man. He has a drawn sword in his hand, on which is a drop of gall. When the dying man sees it, he shudders and opens his mouth. The Angel of Death then lets it fall into his mouth. The sick man dies, corrupts, and becomes pale. Three days the soul flies about the body, thinking to return to it, but after it sees the appearance of the face changed, it leaves it and goes away.

Rabbi Isaac moreover asserts, that a worm in a dead body [pg 027] is as painful as a needle in a living one. The Talmud still further states that there are three voices continually heard—the voice of the sun as he rolls in his orbit—the voice of the multitudes of Rome—and the voice of the soul as it leaves the body. The Rabbis, however, prayed for mercy on the soul, and this voice has ceased. Instances are also given of men overhearing the conversations of the dead, and receiving profit from them. A man is said to have heard one girl tell another in the grave, that those who sowed their crops at a particular time would find their harvests fail. So he took care to sow at another time, and he had an abundant yield. It is also said that every Friday evening a second soul enters into the bodies of men, and that it remains to the end of the Sabbath, when it departs. The evidence of this second soul is shown by an increased appetite for eating and drinking.

Good angels are stated to be daily created out of the stream of glory which flows from the throne of God, and they sing a new song, and vanish; as it is said, “They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lam. iii. 23). The Rabbis also say that angels are created out of every word which proceeds from the mouth of God; as it is said, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Ps. xxxiii. 6). The following story is also told: In the hour when Nimrod, the impious, cast Abraham into the midst of the fiery furnace, Gabriel said before the blessed God, “Lord of the world, I will go down and cool the flame, and deliver the righteous One from the furnace of fire.” The blessed God said to him, “I am the ONE in this world, and he is the one in his world. It becomes the ONE to deliver the one.” But as the blessed God deprives no one of his reward, He said, “Thou shalt be deemed worthy to deliver three of his posterity.” Rabbi Simon, the Shilonite, taught, “In the hour that Nebuchadnezzar, the impious, cast Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah into the midst of the fiery furnace, Jorkemo, the prince of hail, stood up before the blessed God, and said, ‘I will go down and cool the flame, and deliver the righteous ones from the furnace of fire.’ To him said Gabriel, ‘The power of the blessed One is not so, since thou art the prince of hail, and everyone knows that waters quench fire; but I, the prince of fire, will go down and cool inwardly, [pg 028] and heat outwardly, and I will make a wonder within a wonder.’ ” To him said the blessed God, “Go down.” In the same hour Gabriel began and said, “And the truth of the Lord endureth for ever” (Ps. cxvii. 2).

Israelites are forbidden to pray in the Syriac language, as the angels do not understand it, and consequently cannot carry their petitions to God. Gabriel, however, is acquainted with it, as he taught Joseph the seventy languages. The chief of all the angels is said to be the Metatron, who once received fiery blows from another angel called Ampiel. With regard to heaven, the Rabbis teach that Egypt is four hundred miles long and broad, the Morians' land is sixty times larger than Egypt, and the world is sixty times larger than the Morians' land; heaven is sixty times larger than the world, and hell is sixty times larger than heaven. It follows that the “whole world is but a pot-lid to hell.” Yet some say that hell is immeasurable, and some say heaven is immeasurable. It was a pearl amongst the sayings of a Rabbi. “Heaven is not like this world, for in it there is neither eating, nor drinking, nor marriage, nor increasing, nor trafficking, nor hate, nor envy, nor heart-burnings; but the just shall sit with their crowns on their heads, and enjoy the splendors of the Shechinah.”

Hell is said to have three doors,—one in the wilderness, one in the sea, and one in Jerusalem. In the wilderness, as it is written, “They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit” (Num. xvi. 33). In the sea, as it is written, “Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice” (Jonah ii. 3). In Jerusalem, as it is written, “Saith the Lord whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem” (Is. xxxi. 9). The school of Rabbi Ishmael teaches that the “fire in Zion” is hell and “His furnace in Jerusalem” is the gate of hell. It is also taught that the fire of hell has no power over the sinners in Israel, and that the fire of hell has no power over the disciples of the wise. It is again, however, stated that the Israelites who sin with their bodies, and the Gentiles who sin with their bodies, go to hell, and are punished there twelve months. After their body is wasted, and their soul is burned, the wind scatters them beneath the soles of the righteous, as it is said, “And ye shall tread down the wicked: for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet” (Mal. iv. 3). Heretics—deniers [pg 029] of the resurrection—Epicureans, and other sinners, shall be perpetually tormented “where their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched.”

The doctrine of the resurrection is clearly taught in the Talmud. As for the last judgment, the following story is told: “Said Antoninus to Rabbi, The body and soul can free themselves from judgment. How? The body can say, The soul sinned from the time it separated from me, while I lay as a stone in the grave. And the soul can say, The body sinned from the time it separated from me, while I flew in the air as a bird.” He replied, “I will give you an example to which it is like. It is like a king of flesh and blood, who has a beautiful garden, and in which are pleasant fruits, and he placed two watchmen therein, of whom one was lame and the other was blind. Said the lame to the blind, ‘I see pleasant fruits in the garden; come, and let me sit upon thee, and let us go and eat.’ ” The lame sat upon the blind, and they went and ate. After some days the lord of the garden came, and said, “Where are my pleasant fruits?” The lame said, “I have no legs to go to them.” The blind said, “I have no eyes to see them.” What did he do? He set the lame upon the blind, and judged them as one. So the blessed God will return the soul into the body, and judge them as one, as it is said, “He shall call to the heavens from above and to the earth, that he may judge his people” (Ps. iv. 4). He shall call to the heavens from above, that is the soul; and to the earth that he may judge his people, that is, the body. After the resurrection men will live without work or weariness of body, their houses shall be of precious stones, and their beds of silk, and the rivers shall run with wine and perfumed oil.

The Talmud often contradicts Holy Scripture. It says that they are in error who believe the Bible account of the sons of Reuben, of the sons of Eli, and of the sons of Samuel. It allows usury, and the passing of children through the fire to Moloch. It permits deceit, and supports it with the text, “With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure, and with the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavory” (2 Sam. xxii. 27). The Rabbis teach hatred of Christians and Gentiles. Instead of saying, “In the presence of the king,” they are taught to say, “In the presence of the dog.” A Jew who bears witness [pg 030] against another Jew before a Gentile is publicly cursed. A Jew is also released from any oath he may swear to a Gentile. It is only permitted a Jewish physician to heal Gentiles for the sake of the fee, or for the practice of medicine, but it is not allowed to save their lives in seasons of danger. Their marriage is no marriage; and their butchers' meat is only carrion. It is wrong to invite them into a Jewish house; and it is not needful to restore what they have lost. When the ox of a Jew gores the ox of a Gentile, the Jew is free; but if the ox of a Gentile gores the ox of a Jew, the Gentile must pay the full cost. A story is told of a Rabbi who sold a number of palm-trees to a Gentile, and afterward ordered his servant to cut off some pieces from them. “For,” he said, “the Gentile knows their number, but he does not know whether they be thick or thin.”

The precepts binding on the sons of Noah are stated to be seven: to do justice; to bless the name of God; to avoid idolatry; to flee from fornication and adultery; to abstain from blood-shedding; not to rob; and not to eat a member of a living animal. An account is given of the river Sambation, which flows with stones all the six days of the week, but rests on the Sabbath day. Examples are also furnished of gluttony and drunkenness. The paunches of some Rabbis grew so big, that, when put together, a pair of oxen might go between them. A story is also related of one Rabbi killing another in a drunken fit, and then working a miracle which restored him to life. In the following year he again invited the Rabbi to drink with him, but he declined, on the ground that “miracles are not wrought every day.” Instances are also given of the anguish of Rabbis in the prospect of death. They express themselves as being without hope of salvation, and as having the fear of hell before them.

Proverbs everywhere abound in the Talmud, and they are generally replete with shrewd observation. “The world subsists through the breath of school children. Whosoever transgresses the words of the Scribes is guilty of death. Whosoever teaches a statute before his teachers ought to be bitten by a serpent. There is no likeness between him who has bread in his basket and him who has none. Rather be the head of foxes than the tail of lions.” This, however, again appears as [pg 031] “Rather be the tail of lions than the head of foxes.” “The righteous in the city is its splendor, its profit, its glory: when he is departed, there is also departed the splendor, the profit, and the glory.” “Licentiousness in a house is as a worm in a pumpkin.” This reappears as “Violence in a house is as a worm in a pumpkin.” “Thy friend has an acquaintance, and the acquaintance of thy friend has also an acquaintance; be discreet.” The unworthy child of a good father is called “vinegar, the son of wine.” “If the opportunity fails the thief, he deems himself honest. The cock and owl await together the morning dawn. Says the cock to the owl, ‘Light profits me, but how does it profit thee?’ Youth is a crown of roses, old age a crown of thorns. Many preach well, but do not practise well. It is the punishment of liars, that men don't listen to them when they speak truth. Every man who is proud is an idolater. To slander is to murder. Whosoever humbles himself, God exalts him; whosoever exalts himself, God humbles him. Men see every leprosy except their own. He who daily looks after his property finds a coin. The post does not honor the man; but the man the post. Every man is not so lucky as to have two tables. Not what thou sayest about thyself, but what thy companions say. The whole and broken tables of the Law lie in the ark. The salt of money is almsgiving. He who walks four cubits in the land of Israel is sure of being a child of the world to come. The plague lasted seven years, and no man died before his time. Let the drunkard only go, he will fall of himself. Be rather the one cursed than the one cursing. The world is like an inn, but the world to come is the real home. The child loves its mother more than its father: it fears its father more than its mother. Repent one day before thy death. If your God is a friend of the poor, why does He not support them? A wise man answered, ‘Their case is left in our hands, that we may thereby acquire merits and forgiveness of sin.’ The house that does not open to the poor shall open to the physician. He who visits the sick takes away one-sixtieth part of their pain. Descend a step in choosing a wife; mount a step in choosing a friend. An old woman in a house is a treasure. Whosoever does not persecute them that persecute him, whosoever takes an offence in silence, whosoever does good from love, whosoever is cheerful [pg 032] under his sufferings, they are friends of God, and of them says the Scripture, ‘they shall shine forth as the sun at noonday.’ ” R. Phineas, son of Jair, said, “Industry brings purity—purity, cleanness—cleanness, holiness—holiness, humbleness—humbleness, fear of sin—and fear of sin, partaking of the Holy Ghost.”

Ideas of God are gathered from the occupations which the authors of the Talmud assign to him. “The day contains twelve hours. The first three hours the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and studies the Law. The second three hours He sits and judges the whole world. When He sees that the world deserves destruction, He stands up from the throne of judgment, and sits on the throne of mercy. The third three hours He sits and feeds all the world, from the horns of the unicorns to the eggs of the vermin. In the fourth three hours He sits and plays with leviathan, for it is said, ‘The leviathan, whom thou hast formed to play therein’ ” (Ps. civ. 26). Rabbi Eliezer says, “The night has three watches, and at every watch the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and roars like a lion; for it is said, ‘The Lord shall roar from on high and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He shall mightily roar upon His habitation’ ” (Jer. xxv. 30). Rabbi Isaac, the son of Samuel, says in the name of Rav, “The night has three watches, and at every watch the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and roars like a lion, and says, ‘Woe is me, that I have laid desolate my house, and burned my sanctuary, and sent my children into captivity among the nations of the world!’ ” He is described as praying, and wearing phylacteries, and as having a special place for weeping. “Before the destruction of the Temple the Holy One played with leviathan, but since the destruction of the Temple, He plays with it no more. In the hour that the Holy One remembers His children who are dwelling with suffering among the nations, He lets two tears fall into the Great Ocean, the noise of which is heard from one end of the world to the other, and this is an earthquake.” It is further said that He “braided the hair of Eve,” and “shaved the head of Sennacherib.” He is represented as keeping school, and teaching the sages. To this school the devils come, especially Aschmedai, the king of the devils. In the discussions that take place, God is said to be sometimes overcome by the wiser Rabbis.

The question of the Messiah is often brought forward. “The tradition of the school of Elijah is, that the world is to stand six thousand years, two thousand years confusion, two thousand years the Law, and two thousand years the days of the Messiah.” It is further said that the time for the coming of the Messiah is expired. “Rav says the appointed times are long since past.” The Jerusalem Talmud relates that “it happened once to a Jew, who was standing ploughing, that his ox lowed before him. An Arab was passing, and heard its voice. He said ‘O Jew! O Jew! unyoke thine ox, and loose thy ploughshare, for the Temple is desolate.’ It lowed a second time, and he said, ‘O Jew! O Jew! yoke thine ox and bind thy ploughshare, for King Messiah is born.’ The Jew said, ‘What is His name?’ He answered ‘Menachem.’ He asked again, ‘What is His father's name?’ He said, ‘Hezekiah.’ He asked, ‘From whence is He?’ He replied, ‘From the royal palace of Bethlehem Judah.’ The Jew then went and saw him; but when he went again, the mother told him ‘that the winds had borne the child away.’ ” The Babylon Talmud further states that “Rabbi Joshua, the son of Levi, found Elijah standing at the door of the cave of Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai, and said to him, ‘Shall I reach the world to come?’ He answered, ‘If the Lord will.’ Rabbi Joshua, the son of Levi, said, ‘I see two, but I hear the voice of three.’ He also asked, ‘When will Messiah come?’ Elijah answered, ‘Go and ask Himself.’ Rabbi Joshua then said, ‘Where does he sit?’ ‘At the gate of Rome.’ ‘And how is he known?’ ‘He is sitting among the poor and sick, and they open their wounds, and bind them up again all at once: but he opens only one, and then he opens another, for he thinks, Perhaps I may be wanted, and then I must not be delayed.’ Rabbi Joshua went to him, and said, ‘Peace be upon thee, my Master, and my Lord.’ He answered, ‘Peace be upon thee, son of Levi.’ The Rabbi then asked him, ‘When will my Lord come?’ He answered, ‘To-day’ ” (Ps. xcv. 7). It is said that “the bones of those who reckon the appointed time of the Messiah must burst asunder.” Again, however, it is said that “Elias told Rabbi Judah, the brother of the pious Rabbi Salah, that the world would not stand less than eighty-five years of Jubilee, and in the last year of Jubilee the son of David will come.” It is further stated that there [pg 034] are first to be the wars of the Dragon, and of Gog and Magog; and that God will not renew the earth until seven thousand years are completed. The Rabbis also say that when the Messiah comes to fulfil the prophecy of riding upon an ass (Zech. ix. 9), the ass shall be one of “an hundred colors.” As for the return of the ten tribes to their own land, the Talmud in some places asserts it, and in some places denies it. But it is said that in the days of the Messiah all the Gentiles shall become proselytes to the Jewish faith. The Rabbis are divided as to the continuance of the Messiah; some say forty years, some seventy years, some three generations, and some say that He will continue as long as from the creation of the world or the time of Noah “up to the present time.” Others say that the kingdom of the Messiah will endure for thousands of years, as “when there is a good government it is not quickly dissolved.” It is also said that He shall die, and His kingdom descend to His son and grandson. In proof of this opinion Isaiah xlii. 4 is quoted: “He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth.” The lives of men will be prolonged for centuries: “He will swallow up death in victory” (Is. xxv. 8); and “the child shall die an hundred years old” (Is. lxv. 20). The Talmud applies the former verse to Israel, the latter verse to the Gentiles. The men of that time will be two hundred ells high. This is said to be proved by the word “upright” (Lev. xxvi. 13), “upright” being applied to the supposed height of man before the fall. “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun; and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days” (Is. xxx. 26). The land of Israel will produce cakes and clothes of the finest wool. The wheat will grow on Lebanon as high as palm-trees; and a wind will be sent from God to reduce it to fine flour for the support of those who gather it; as it is said “with the fat of kidneys of wheat” (Deut. xxxii. 14). Each kidney will be as large as “the kidneys of the fattest oxen.” To prove that this is nothing wonderful, an account is given of a rape seed in which a fox once brought forth young. These young ones were weighed, and found to be as heavy as sixty pounds of Cyprus weight. Lest these statements should be thought a contradiction of the verse “There is no new thing under the sun” (Eccles. i. 9), the [pg 035] Rabbis say that it is just like the growth of mushrooms, toadstools, and the delicate mosses on the branches of trees. Grapes will also grow most luxuriantly; and in every cluster there will be thirty jars of wine. Jerusalem will be built three miles high; as it is written, “It shall be lifted up” (Zech. xiv. 10). The gates of the city will be made of pearls and precious stones, thirty ells high and thirty ells broad. A disciple of the Rabbis once doubted whether precious stones could be found so large; and shortly afterward, he saw an angel with similar stones, as he was out at sea. On his return to land he related what he had seen to Rabbi Jochanan. Whereupon the Rabbi said, “Thou fool, if thou hadst not seen, thou hadst not believed; thou mockest the words of the wise.” He then “lifted up his eyes upon him, and he was made an heap of bones.”

Said R. Samuel, the son of Nachman, R. Jochanan said, “Three shall be called by the name of the Holy One; blessed be He.” And these are the Righteous, the Messiah, and Jerusalem. The Righteous, as is said (Is. xliii. 7). The Messiah, as it is written (Jer. xxiii. 6): “And this is His name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jerusalem, as it is written (Ezek. xlviii. 35): “It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be The LORD is THERE.”

In the later editions of the Talmud the allusions to Christ and Christianity are few and cautious, compared with the earlier or unexpurgated copies. The last of these was published at Amsterdam in 1645. In them our Lord and Saviour is “that one,” “such an one,” “a fool,” “the leper,” “the deceiver of Israel,” etc. Efforts are made to prove that He is the son of Joseph Pandira before his marriage with Mary. His miracles are attributed to sorcery, the secret of which He brought in a slit in His flesh out of Egypt. His teacher is said to have been Joshua, the son of Perachiah. This Joshua is said to have afterward excommunicated him to the blast of 400 rams' horns, though he must have lived seventy years before His time. Forty days before the death of Jesus a witness was summoned by public proclamation to attest His innocence, but none appeared. He is said to have been first stoned, and then hanged on the eve of the Passover. His disciples are [pg 036] called heretics, and opprobrious names. They are accused of immoral practices; and the New Testament is called a sinful book. The references to these subjects manifest the most bitter aversion and hatred.

The Rabbis have laid down thirteen rules for the interpretation of the Talmud. These rules form their system of logic. They are as follows:

(1.) “Light and heavy,” an argument from the less to the greater. An example is furnished in the case of Miriam (Num. xii. 14). “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.” The argument is here drawn from the conduct of man, the less, to that of God, the greater. The owner of an ox is also fined more for his beast if it gores his neighbor's beast than if it eats his neighbor's corn; since the tooth only means sustenance for the stomach, but the horn means mischief.

(2.) “Equality,” an argument from the similarity or identity of words and impressions. An example is furnished in Deut. xv. 12: “If thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt let him free from thee.” In the 18th verse, when this law is again referred to, the man only is mentioned; but as the woman was mentioned in the former verse, it is concluded that the law applies equally to both.

(3.) “The building of the father,” an argument from the statements in (a) one place in the Law to other passages, which are similar. An example is furnished in Exod. xii. 16, where servile work is forbidden during the feast of unleavened bread, and the conclusion is drawn that servile work is equally forbidden in all festivals of the same nature. This mode of argument is also applied to (b) two places in the Law, where one place refers to the general proposition, and another to particulars arising out of it. An example is furnished in Lev. xv. 1, where a man with an issue is unclean, but in the 4th verse this uncleanness is limited to his bed and his seat.

(4.) “Universal and particular.” Where there is a general and a special statement, the special binds the general. An example is furnished in Lev. i. 2: “If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the [pg 037] cattle, even of the herd and of the flock.” Cattle (in the Hebrew Behemah) includes both wild and tame. The special terms “herd” and “flock” limit the offering to domesticated animals.

(5.) “Particular and universal,” or argument from the special to the general. An example is furnished in Deut. xxii. 1: “Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.” In the 3d verse, it is further commanded to restore “all lost things of thy brother's.” Hence it is concluded, not only his ox or his sheep, but that everything, which he has lost is to be restored to him.

(6.) “Universal, particular and universal.” Where there are two universal statements with a particular statement between, the particular limits the universals. An example is furnished in Deut. xiv. 26, where, speaking of the application of the second tithe, it is said, “Thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after; for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth.” The special limitation, between the two universal permissions, is to productions of the land of Canaan.

(7.) “The general that requires the special, and the special that requires the general.” An example is furnished in Lev. xvii. 13: “Whatsoever man ... hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.” The word “cover” or “hide” is again used in Gen. xviii. 17: “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I shall do?” The conclusion is drawn, that cover is restricted to the blood being hidden under dust, and not put in any vessel. Again (Exod. xiii. 2): “Sanctify unto me all the first-born; whatever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast, it is mine.” From this verse females might be included with males. Reference is made to Deut. xv. 19, where it is found “All the firstling males.” Still it is obscure, when there are firstling females, about the males born afterward. Reference is made to Exod. xxxiv. 19: “All that openeth the matrix is mine.” Here all first-born are allowed. This, however, is too general, and it is again restricted by the word males. And as this is too general, it is again restricted by “all that openeth the matrix.”

(8.) “Whatsoever is taught in general and something special is mentioned—it is mentioned to strengthen the general rule.” An example is furnished in Lev. xx. 2, where the worship of Moloch is forbidden, and the penalty for the sin is death. The conclusion drawn is, that such mention of a special form of idolatry confirms the prohibition of all idolatry.

(9.) “When there is a general rule and also an exception—the exception lightens and does not aggravate.” An example is furnished in the command (Exod. xxi. 12), “He that smiteth a man so that he die, he shall surely be put to death.” The exception is, “Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly” (Deut. xix. 4, 5), “he can flee to one of the cities of refuge.”

(10.) “When there is a general rule, and an exception not agreeing with the general rule, the exception both lightens and aggravates.” An example is furnished from the plague of leprosy (Lev. xiii. 3) when the hair is turned white. The head and beard are excepted (29th verse) lest there be gray hairs—this lightens. But if on the head and beard there be “yellow thin hair,” it is a dry scall—this aggravates.

(11.) “When there is an exception from a general rule to establish a new matter—the new matter cannot be brought under the general rule again, unless it be mentioned in the text.” An example is furnished from the eating of holy things (Lev. xxii. 10-13). The priest, any soul bought with his money, and he that is born in his house, may eat of it. This is the general rule. If the priest's daughter be married to a stranger, she may not eat of them. This is the exception. This exception would have remained if she continued married to a stranger, or had a child, or had not returned to her father's house. Therefore a new law is provided, that in the event of none of these things happening, she may again eat of the holy things.

(12.) “Things that teach from the subject, and things that teach from the end.” An example is furnished from the eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” This law, if applied to man-stealing or kidnapping, implies capital punishment. The reason given is from its following “Thou shalt do no murder,” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery”—two laws which, if violated, entailed death. The second part of this rule applies to things that teach from the end. What is [pg 039] meant by the end is a matter of dispute. Some say it means the final cause of logicians. Others say it means something in the end or conclusion of the law itself. If it be the latter, an example is furnished from the case of the leprous house (Lev. xiv. 45): “And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the mortar of the house.” These directions teach that houses made of mud are excepted.

(13.) “When two texts contradict each other, until a third be found to decide between them.” An example is furnished in Gen. i. 1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” It is again written, Gen. ii. 4, “In the day that the Lord made the earth and the heavens.” The question now arises, Which did He make first? The answer is found in Isaiah xlviii. 13: “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens.” The conclusion is drawn that He made both at once. Another instance is the discrepancy in the census of Israel. In 2 Sam. xxiv. 9, the number stated is eight hundred thousand. In 1 Chron. xxi. 5, the number is said to have been “eleven hundred thousand.” The difference of three hundred thousand is accounted for by referring to 1 Chron. xxvii. 1, where it is said that twenty-four thousand served the king every month. These men, when multiplied by the months, make two hundred and eighty-eight thousand. And the twelve thousand which waited upon the twelve captains raise the number to three hundred thousand, the amount required to reconcile the two statements.

In reading the following tracts it should be borne in mind that the meaning in many places is more implied than expressed.[7] Often an idea is taken for granted, which patient continuance in reading can alone bring to light. The subjects to which these tracts refer should first be studied in the Bible; because after such study the restless subtlety of the Rabbis in “binding heavy burdens on men's shoulders” can be more fully discerned. It is desirable to look on these writings from this point of observation; just as on some mountain top one [pg 040] looks not only at the gold which the morning sun pours on grass and flower, but also on the deep valley where the shadows still rest, that one may the more sensibly feel how glorious the sun is. The whole theory of this second, or Oral Law, has arisen from inattention to the express statement of Moses: “These words (the ten commandments) the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: AND HE ADDED NO MORE” (Deut. v. 22). And it tends to nullify the declaration of the Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and he has taken the law upon himself to keep it” (Isaiah ix. 6).

In concluding this introduction it is perhaps well to glance briefly at the age in which the Talmud grew to its present state. It was a period of great activity and thought. Old systems of debasing superstition were breaking up and passing away. A new faith had arisen to regenerate man. The five centuries which followed the appearing of our Saviour in this world were filled with religious and political events which still make their vibrations felt. From the destruction of Jerusalem and the overthrow of the Jewish polity, an impulse was given to those political changes which have since gone on without intermission among the nations of the earth. From the overthrow of the Jewish Temple an impulse was given to religious earnestness which, often from wrong, often from right motives, has increased, and will increase, as the great consummation draws nigh.

While the Rabbis were laboring at their gigantic mental structure, while generation after generation of their wisest and most patriotic men were accumulating materials to build the tower which became a beacon to their countrymen for all time, the Christian Church was not idle. By their writings and eloquence the Fathers were gathering the treasures of patristic lore which have descended to us. While Rabbis were discoursing in the synagogues of Tiberias and Babylon, Christian orators were preaching in the basilicas of Constantinople and Rome. They have all gone from this mortal scene. But their thoughts are handed down, so that we may converse with them, though they are no longer on earth. We can hear their wisdom—we can see their errors—we can almost fancy [pg 041] we behold their forms—so that, being dead, they yet speak. Since they ceased from their labors empires have risen and fallen, countless millions of our race have vanished into eternity, and left their bodies to moulder into dust. But their teachings still live on, to influence immortal souls for weal or woe. Doubtless their departures from the Word of God prepared a way and furnished matter for the numerous heresies and lawless deeds which form a great portion of the history of mankind. From their errors sprang at least in part the Koran. This and kindred themes, however, open up an interminable vista, leading us away from the Talmud itself. It is better now to conclude this introduction. And with what more suitable words can I close than with those drawn from the wisdom of the Fathers? “It is not incumbent upon thee to complete the work: neither art thou free to cease from it. If thou hast studied the law, great shall be thy reward; for the Master of thy work is faithful to pay the reward of thy labor: but know that the reward of the righteous is in the world to come.”

[Transcriber's Note: What follows is actually only extracts from the Mishna, and not the Gemara; as explained above, what is considered the Talmud is the Mishna and the Gemara together.]

[pg 043]

On Blessings

Recitation of the Shemah—Blessings—Rabbi Gamaliel—Exemptions from the Recitation—Prayers—Differences Between the Schools of Shammai and Hillel—Reverence for the Temple.

Chapter I

1. “From what time do we recite the Shemah[8] in the evening?” “From the hour the priests[9] enter (the temple) to eat their heave offerings, until the end of the first watch.”[10] The words of R. Eleazar; but the Sages say “until midnight.” Rabban Gamaliel says, “until the pillar of the morn ascend.” It happened that his sons came from a banquet. They said to him, “we have not yet said the Shemah.” He said to them, “if the pillar of the morn be not yet ascended, you are bound to say it; and not only this, but all that the Sages say, ‘till midnight,’ they command till the pillar of the morn ascend.” The burning of the fat and members they command “till the pillar of the morn ascend.” And all offerings, which must be eaten the same day, they command “till the pillar of the morn ascend.” If so, why do the Sages say “until midnight”? “To withhold man from transgression.”

2. “From what time do we recite the Shemah in the morning?” When one can discern betwixt “blue and white.” R. Eleazar says “betwixt blue and leek green.” And it may be finished “until the sun shine forth.” R. Joshua says “until the third hour.”[11] For such is the way of royal princes to rise at the third hour. He who recites Shemah afterward loses nothing. He is like a man reading the Law.

3. The school of Shammai say that in the evening all men are to recline when they recite the Shemah; and in the morning they are to stand up; for it is said, “when thou liest down and when thou risest up.”[12] But the school of Hillel say, that every man is to recite it in his own way; for it is said, “when thou walkest by the way.”[13] If so, why is it said, “when thou liest down and when thou risest up”? “When mankind usually lie down, and when mankind usually rise up.” R. Tarphon said, “I came on the road, and reclined to recite the Shemah according to the words of the school of Shammai, and I was in danger of robbers.” The Sages said to him, “thou wast guilty against thyself, because thou didst transgress the words of the school of Hillel.”

4. In the morning two blessings are said before (the Shemah), and one after it; and in the evening two blessings before and two after it, one long and one short.[14] Where the (Sages) have said to lengthen, none is allowed to shorten; and to shorten none is allowed to lengthen: to close, none is allowed not to close; not to close, none is allowed to close.

5. We commemorate the departure from Egypt at night; said R. Eleazar, son of Azariah, “truly I am a son of seventy years, and was not clear that thou shouldst say the departure from Egypt at night until the son of Zoma expounded, ‘that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life;’[15] the days of thy life (are) days; all the days of thy life (include) the nights.” But the Sages say, “the days of thy life (are) this world; all the days of thy life (include) the days of the Messiah.”

Chapter II

1. “If one who is reading in the Law when the time comes for praying intends it in his heart?” “He is free.” “But if not?” “He is not free.” “At the end of the sections one salutes out of respect, and responds; but in the middle of a section he salutes from fear, and responds.” Such are the words of R. Mair. R. Judah says, “in the middle he salutes from fear, and responds out of respect; at the end he salutes out of respect, and repeats peace to every man.”

2. The intervals of the sections are between the first blessing and the second—between the second and “Hear, O Israel;” between “Hear” and “it shall come to pass;”[16] between “and it shall come to pass” and “and he said;”[17] between “and he said” and “it is true and certain.”[18] Said R. Judah, “between ‘and he said’ and ‘it is true and certain,’ none is to pause.” R. Joshua, the son of Korcha, said, “Why does the (section) ‘Hear,’ etc., precede ‘and it shall come to pass’? ‘That one may take on himself the kingdom of heaven, before he take on himself the yoke of the commandments.’ Why does (the section) ‘and it shall come to pass’ precede ‘and he said’? Because ‘and it shall come to pass’ may be practised by day and by night;[19] but ‘and he said,’ etc., only by day.”[20]

3. He who recites the Shemah so as not to be audible to his own ears, is legally free.[21] R. José says “he is not legally free.” “If he has said it without grammar and pronunciation?” R. José says “he is legally free.” R. Judah says “he is not legally free.” “If he said it irregularly?” “He is not legally free.” “In recitation he mistook?” “He must recommence from the place where he mistook.”

4. Laborers may recite the Shemah on the top of a tree, or of a wall, but they are not allowed to do so with the prayer.[22]

5. A bridegroom is exempted from reciting the Shemah on the first night of marriage, and, even until the expiration [pg 046] of the Sabbath if the marriage be not complete. It happened that Rabban Gamaliel recited on the first night. His disciples said to him, “hast thou not taught us, our master, that a bridegroom is exempted from reciting Shemah on the first night?” He said to them, “I will not hear you, to deprive myself of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven even one hour.”

6. He (R. Gamaliel) bathed on the first night of his wife's death. His disciples said to him, “hast thou not taught us, our master, that a mourner is forbidden to bathe?” He said to them, “I am not like all other men; I am infirm.”

7. When his slave Tabbi died, he received visits of condolence. His disciples said to him, “hast thou not taught us, our master, that visits of condolence are not to be received for slaves?” He said to them, “my slave Tabbi was not like all other slaves, he was upright.”

8. The bridegroom who wishes to recite the Shemah on the first night may recite it. R. Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, said, “not every one who wishes to affect the pious reputation can affect it.”

Chapter III

1. He whose dead lies before him is exempted from reciting the Shemah,—from the prayer,—and from the phylacteries.[23] Those who carry the bier, and those who relieve them, and those who relieve the relief,—those who go before the bier, and those who follow it, who are required for the bier, are exempted from reciting the Shemah. But those not required for the bier are bound to recite it. Both (parties) are exempted from the prayer.

2. When they have buried the dead, and return, if they have time to begin and end (the Shemah) before they reach the rows (of mourners), they must begin: if not, they must not begin. Of those standing in the rows the inner (mourners) are exempt, but the outer ones are bound to recite the Shemah.

3. Women, slaves, and children, are exempt from reciting the Shemah, and also from the phylacteries; but they are [pg 047] bound in the prayer, the sign on the door-post, and the blessing after food.

4. A man in his legal uncleanness is to meditate in his heart on the (Shemah), but he is not to bless before, or after it. After his food he blesses, but not before it. R. Judah says “he blesses both before and after it.”

5. If one stand in prayer, and recollect that he is in his uncleanness, he is not to pause, but to shorten (the prayer). If he has gone down into the water (to bathe),[24] and can go up, dress, and recite the Shemah before the sun shines forth, he is to go up, dress, and recite it. But he is not to cover himself with foul water or with water holding matter in solution unless he has poured clean water to it. “How far is he to keep from foul water, or excrement?” “Four cubits.”

6. A man in his uncleanness with a running issue, a woman in her uncleanness, during separation, and she who perceives the need of separation, require the bath. But R. Judah “exempts them.”

Chapter IV

1. The morning prayer may be said till noon. R. Judah says “until the fourth hour.” The afternoon prayer until the evening. R. Judah says “until half the afternoon.” The evening prayer has no limit, and the additional prayers may be said all day. R. Judah says “until the seventh hour.”

2. R. Nechooniah, son of Hakanah, used to pray when he entered the lecture-room, and when he went out he said a short prayer. The (Sages) said to him, “what occasion is there for this prayer?” He said to them, “when I enter I pray that no cause of offence may arise through me; and when I go out I give thanks for my lot.”

3. Rabban Gamaliel said, “one must daily say the eighteen prayers.” R. Joshua said “a summary of the eighteen.” R. Akivah said, “if his prayer be fluent in his mouth, he says the eighteen; if not, a summary of the eighteen.”

4. R. Eleazar said, “if one make his prayer fixed, his prayer is not supplications.” R. Joshua said, “if a man travel in dangerous places, let him use this short prayer: ‘Save, O [pg 048] Lord, thy people, the remnant of Israel; at every stage of their journey[25] let their wants be before thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hearest prayers.’ ”

5. If one ride on an ass, he must dismount: if he cannot dismount, he must turn his face; and if he cannot turn his face, he must direct his heart toward the Holy of Holies.

6. If one be seated in a ship, or in a carriage, or on a raft, he must direct his mind toward the Holy of Holies.

7. R. Eleazar, the son of Azariah, said “the additional[26] prayers are only to be said in a public congregation.” But the Sages say, “if there be a public congregation, or no public congregation.” R. Judah said in his name, “in every place, where there is a public congregation, individuals are exempted from additional prayers.”

Chapter V

1. Men should not stand up to pray, except with reverential head. The pious of ancient days used to pause one hour before they began to pray, that they might direct their hearts to God. Though the king salute, one must not respond; and though a serpent wind itself round his heel, one must not pause.

2. Men should mention the heavy rain in praying for the resurrection of the dead; and entreat for rain in the blessing for the year, and “the distinction between the Sabbath and weekday”[27] is to be said in the prayer “who graciously bestows knowledge.”[28] R. Akivah said, “the distinction between the Sabbath and week-day is to be said in a fourth prayer by itself.” R. Eleazar said, “in the thanksgivings.”

3. He who says, “Thy mercies extend to a bird's nest,” or, “for goodness be Thy name remembered,” or he who says, “we give thanks, we give thanks,”[29] is to be silenced. If a man pass up to the ark (where the rolls of the Law are kept) and make a mistake, another must pass up in his stead; nor may he in such a moment refuse. “Where does he begin?” “From the beginning of the prayer in which the other made the mistake.”

4. He who passes up to the ark is not to answer “Amen” after the priests, lest his attention be distracted. If no other priest be present but himself, he is not to lift up his hands (to bless the congregation). But if he be confident that he can lift up his hands, and then resume, he is at liberty.

5. If a man pray, and make a mistake, it is a bad sign for him. If he be a representative of a congregation, it is a bad sign for his constituents, for a man's representative is like himself. They say of R. Hanina, son of Dosa, that when he prayed for the sick, he used to say, “this one will live,” or “this one will die.” The (Sages) said to him, “how do you know?” He said to them, “if my prayer be fluent in my mouth, I know that he is accepted; but if not, I know that he is lost.”

Chapter VI

1. “How do we bless for fruit?” “For fruit of a tree say, ‘Who createst the fruit of the wood,’ excepting the wine. For wine say, ‘Who createst the fruit of the vine.’ For fruits of the earth say, ‘Who createst the fruit of the ground,’ excepting the morsel. For the morsel say, ‘Who bringest forth bread from the earth.’ For vegetables say, ‘Who createst the fruit of the ground.’ R. Judah says, ‘Who createst various kinds of herbs.’ ”

2. He who blessed the fruits of the tree (thus), “Who createst the fruits of the ground?” “He is free.” And for the fruits of ground (said), “Who createst the fruits of the wood?” “He is not free.” But, in general, if one say, “(Who createst) everything?” “He is free.”

3. For the thing which groweth not from the earth, say, “(Who createst) everything.” For vinegar, unripe fruit, and locusts, say “everything.” For milk, cheese, and eggs, say “everything.” R. Judah says, “whatever it be, which had its origin in a curse, is not to be blessed.”

4. If a man have before him many kinds of fruits? R. Judah says, “if there be among them of the seven[30] kinds, he [pg 050] is to bless them.” But the Sages say “he may bless whichever of them he pleases.”

5. “If one blessed the wine before food?” “The blessing frees the wine after food.” “If he blessed the titbit before food?” “It frees the titbit after food.” “If he blessed the bread?” “It frees the titbit.” But the blessing on the titbit does not free the bread. The school of Shammai say, “neither does it free the cookery.”

6. “If several persons sit down to eat?” “Each blesses for himself.” “But if they recline together?” “One blesses for all.” “If wine come to them during food?” “Each blesses for himself.” “But if after food?” “One blesses for all.” He also blesses for the incense, even though they have not brought it till after the repast.

7. “If they first set salt food before a man and bread with it?” “He blesses the salt food, which frees the bread, as the bread is only an appendage.” The rule is, whenever there is principal and with it appendage,—the blessing on the principal frees the appendage.

8. “If one have eaten figs, grapes, and pomegranates?” “He must say after them three blessings.” The words of Rabban Gamaliel. But the Sages say, “one blessing—a summary of the three.” R. Akivah says, “if one have eaten [pg 051] boiled (pulse); and it is his meal, he must say after it three blessings.” Whoever drinks water for his thirst, says, “By whose word everything is,” etc. R. Tarphon says, “Who createst many souls,” etc.

Chapter VII

1. Three men who have eaten together are bound to bless after food. “If a person have eaten of that which is doubtful, whether it has paid tithe or not; or of first tithe from which the heave offering has been taken; or of second tithe or consecrated things, which have been redeemed; also, if the waiter have eaten the size of an olive; or a Samaritan be of the party?” “The blessing must be said.” “But if one have eaten the untithed—or first tithes from which the heave offering has not been taken—or consecrated things which are unredeemed; or if the waiter have eaten less than the size of an olive, or a stranger be of the party?” “The blessing is not to be said.”

2. There is no blessing at food for women, slaves, and children. What quantity is required for the blessing at food? The size of an olive. R. Judah says “the size of an egg.”

3. “How do we bless at food?” “If there be three, one says, ‘Let us bless,’ etc.; if three and himself, he says, ‘Bless ye,’ etc.: if ten, he says, ‘Let us bless our God,’ etc.; if ten and himself, he says, ‘Bless ye,’ etc.; (so) if there be ten or ten myriads. If there be an hundred, he says, ‘Let us bless the Lord our God,’ etc.; if there be an hundred and himself, he says, ‘Bless ye,’ etc.: if there be a thousand, he says, ‘Let us bless the Lord our God, the God of Israel;’ if there be a thousand and himself, he says, ‘Bless ye,’ etc.: if there be a myriad, he says, ‘Let us bless the Lord our God, the God of Israel, the God of Hosts, who sitteth between the Cherubim,’ etc.; if there be a myriad and himself, he says, ‘Bless ye,’ etc. As he pronounces the blessing, so they respond after him, ‘Blessed be the Lord our God, the God of Israel, the God of Hosts, who sitteth between the Cherubim, for the food we have eaten.’ ” R. José the Galilean says they should bless according to the number of the assembly; for it is written, “Bless ye God in the congregations; (even) the Lord from the fountain of [pg 052] Israel.”[31] Said R. Akivah, “What do we find in the synagogue? whether many or few the minister says, ‘Bless ye the Lord,’ ” etc. R. Ishmael says, “Bless ye the Lord, who is ever blessed.”

4. When three have eaten together, they are not permitted to separate without blessing; nor four or five. But six may divide into two parties, and so may any number up to ten. But ten may not separate without blessing, nor any number less than twenty (who can divide into two parties).

5. If two companies have eaten in one house, and some of each company be able to see some of the other company, they may join in the blessing; but if not, each company blesses for itself. “They should not bless the wine till it has been mixed with water.” The words of R. Eleazar. But the Sages say “they may bless it unmixed.”

Chapter VIII

1. These are the controversies relating to meals between the schools of Shammai and Hillel. The school of Shammai say, “one must say the blessing of the day, and then bless the wine;” but the school of Hillel say, “one must say the blessing on the wine, and then bless the day.”

2. The school of Shammai say, “men must pour water on the hands, and then mix the goblet;” but the school of Hillel say, “the goblet must be mixed, and then water poured on the hands.”

3. The school of Shammai say, “one is to wipe his hands on the napkin, and lay it on the table;” but the school of Hillel say, “on the cushion.”

4. The school of Shammai bless “the light, the food, the spices, and the distinction of the day;” but the school of Hillel bless “the light, the spices, the food, and the distinction of the day.” The school of Shammai say, “who created the light of fire;” but the school of Hillel say, “Creator of the lights of fire.”

6. Men must not bless light and spices of idolatrous Gentiles, nor light and spices of corpses, nor light and spices before [pg 053] an idol. They must not bless the light until they have enjoyed the light.

7. “If one have eaten, and forgotten, and not blessed?” The school of Shammai say, “he must return to his place and bless.” But the school of Hillel say, “he may bless in the place where he recollects.” “How long is one obliged to bless?” “Until the food in his stomach be digested.”

8. “If wine came to the company, and there is but one goblet?” The school of Shammai say “that one must bless the wine and then bless the food.” But the school of Hillel say “that one must bless the food and then bless the wine.” Men must answer “Amen” when an Israelite blesses; but they must not answer “Amen” when a Samaritan blesses, until the whole[32] blessing be heard.

Chapter IX

1. He who sees a place where signs were wrought for Israel, says, “Blessed be He who wrought signs for our fathers in this place;” a place where idolatry has been rooted out,—says, “Blessed be He who hath rooted idolatry out of our land.”

2. On comets, earthquakes, lightnings, thunder, and tempests, say, “Blessed be He whose strength and might fill the world.” On mountains, hills, seas, rivers, and deserts, say, “Blessed be He who made the creation.” R. Judah says, when a man sees the great sea he is to say, “Blessed be He who made the great sea,”—when he sees it at intervals. On rains, and on good news say, “Blessed be He who is good and beneficent.” On bad news say, “Blessed be the true Judge.”

3. He who has built a new house, or bought new furniture, says, “Blessed be He who has kept us alive,” etc. One must bless for evil the source of good; and for good the source of evil. “He who supplicates for what is past?” “Such prayer is vain.” “How?” His wife is pregnant, and he says, “God grant that my wife may bring forth a male child.” Such prayer is vain. Or if one on the road hear the voice of lamentation in the city, and say, “God grant that it may not be my son, my house,” etc., such prayer is vain.

4. Whoever enters a fortified town must say two prayers, one at his entrance, and one at his departure. Ben Azai says, “four, two at his entrance, and two at his departure; he returns thanks for the past, and supplicates for the future.”

5. Man is bound to bless God for evil, as he is bound to bless Him for good. For it is said, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”[33] “With all thy heart” means, with both thy inclinations, the evil as well as the good. “With all thy soul” means, even should He deprive thee of life; and “with all thy might” means with all thy wealth. Another opinion is, that “with all thy might” means whatever measure He metes out unto thee, do thou thank Him with thy entire might. No man is to be irreverent opposite the eastern gate of the Temple, for it is opposite the Holy of Holies. No man is to go on the mountain of the house with his staff, shoes, or purse, nor with dust on his feet, nor is he to make it a short cut, nor is he to spit at all. All the seals of the blessings in the sanctuary used to say, “from eternity.” But since the Epicureans perversely taught there is but one world, it was directed that man should say, “from eternity to eternity.” It was also directed that every man should greet his friend in THE NAME, as it is said, “And behold Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord (be) with you: and they answered him, The Lord bless thee.”[34] And it is also said, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.”[35] And it is said, “Despise not thy mother when she is old.”[36] And it is also said, “(It is) time for (thee), Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law.”[37] R. Nathan says, “They have made void thy law because (it is) time for (thee), Lord, to work.”

On The Sabbatical Year

Ploughing—Gardening—Dunging—Removing Stones—Sowing—Cutting Down Trees—Fruits—Buying and Selling—Territory Included in the Sabbatical Year—Produce Governed by Its Laws—Debts and Payments.

Chapter I

1. “How long do men plough in a field with trees on the eve of the Sabbatical year?”[38] The school of Shammai say, “so long as it is useful for the fruit;” but the school of Hillel say, “till Pentecost,” and the words of the one are near to the words of the other.

2. “What is a field with trees?” “Three trees to every fifty cubits square, if they be fit to produce a heap of figs worth sixty Italian minas;[39] on their account men can legally plough the earth for the whole fifty cubits square around them. Less than for these they may not legally plough, save the extent of the gatherer of fruit with his basket outward.”

3. “Whether they be fruitless or fruitful?” “Men may regard them as though they were fig-trees.” “If they be fit to produce a heap of figs worth sixty Italian minas?” “On their account they may legally plough the whole fifty cubits square around them. Less than for these they may not plough, save what is absolutely needful.”

4. “One tree produced a heap of figs, and two trees did not produce it; or two trees produced it, and one did not produce it?” “Men may not plough save what is absolutely needful for them, till they be from three to nine in number.” “If they be ten?” “On their account men may legally plough around them the whole fifty cubits square; and also from ten trees and upward, whether they produce or do not produce [pg 056] it.” As is said, “in earing-time and in harvest thou shalt rest.”[40] There is no need to say earing-time and harvest in the Sabbatical year, but earing-time on the eve of the Sabbatical year, when it is just entering on the Sabbatical year; and harvest of the Sabbatical year, which is proceeding toward the close of the Sabbatical year. Rabbi Ishmael said, “as the earing-time (mentioned Exod. xxxiv. 21) is voluntary, so the harvest is voluntary, except the harvest of the (omer) sheaf.”[41]

5. “If the three trees belong to three owners?” “They are reckoned as one, and on their account they may legally plough the whole fifty cubits square around them.” “And how much space must be between them?” Rabban Simon, the son of Gamaliel, said, “that a bullock with his ploughing instruments may pass.”

6. “If there be ten saplings dispersed in the fifty cubits square?” “On their account men may plough the whole fifty cubits square around them till new year's day.” “If they be placed in a row, or rounded like a crown?” “Men may not plough save what is absolutely needful for them.”

7. The saplings and the gourds are reckoned alike in the fifty cubits square. Rabban Simon, the son of Gamaliel, said, “for every ten cucumbers in the fifty cubits square, men may plough the fifty cubits square around them till new year's day.”

8. “How long are they called saplings?” Rabbi Eleazar, the son of Azariah, said,[42] “till they can be used.” R. Joshua said, “till the age of seven years.” R. Akiba said, “a sapling, as commonly named.” “A tree decays and sprouts afresh; when less than a handbreadth, it is a sapling; when more than a handbreadth, it is a tree.” The words of Rabbi Simon.

Chapter II

1. “How long may men plough in a white[43] field on the eve of the Sabbatical year?” “Till the productiveness ceases; so long as men usually plough to plant cucumbers and gourds.” Said R. Simon, “thou hast put the law in every man's hand. [pg 057] But men may plough in a grain field till the Passover, and in a field of trees till Pentecost.”

2. Men may dung and dig among cucumbers and gourds till new year's day, and they may also do so in a parched-up field. They may prune them, remove their leaves, cover them with earth, and fumigate them, till new year's day. R. Simon said, “one may even remove the leaf from the bunch of grapes in the Sabbatical year.”

3. Men may remove stones till new year's day. They may gather the ears, they may break off branches, they may cut off the withered part till new year's day. R. Joshua said, “as they may break off branches and cut off the withered part of the fifth year, so also they may do it in the sixth year.” Rabbi Simon said, “every time I am permitted to work among the trees, I am permitted to cut off the withered part.”

4. Men may smear the saplings, and bind them, and cut them down, and make sheds for them, and water them, till new year's day. R. Eleazar, the son of Zadok, said, “one may even water the top of the branch in the Sabbatical year, but not the root.”

5. Men may anoint unripe fruits, and puncture[44] them, till new year's day. Unripe fruit of the eve of the Sabbatical year which is just entering on the Sabbatical year, and unripe fruit of the Sabbatical year which is proceeding to the close of the Sabbatical year, they may neither anoint nor puncture. Rabbi Jehudah said, “the place where it is customary to anoint them, they may not anoint them, because that is work. The place where it is not customary to anoint them, they may anoint them.” R. Simon “permitted it in trees because it is allowable in the usual culture of the trees.”

6. Men may not plant trees, make layers, or engraft them, on the eve of the Sabbatical year, less than thirty days before new year's day. And if one plant them, or make layers, or engraft them, they must be rooted out. Rabbi Judah said, “every graft which does not cohere in three days has no more cohesion.” Rabbi José and R. Simon said “in two weeks.”

7. Rice, and millet, and poppy, and simsim,[45] which have taken root before new year's day, must be tithed for the past year, and are allowed for use in the Sabbatical year; otherwise [pg 058] they are forbidden in the Sabbatical year, and must pay tithes for the following year.

8. R. Simon of Shezur said, “Egyptian beans which are sown at first for seed are reckoned like them.” R. Simon said, “the large lentils are reckoned like them.” R. Eliezer said, “the large lentils which put forth pods before new year's day are also reckoned like them.”

9. “Onions, not for seed, and Egyptian beans, from which water is withheld thirty days before new year's day, must pay tithes for the past year, and they are allowed for use in the Sabbatical year. Otherwise they are forbidden in the Sabbatical year, and must be tithed for the coming year, and so also (the produce) of a rain-field[46] from which the water of irrigation is withheld on two occasions.” The words of R. Maier. But the Sages say “three.”

10. “The gourds which stand over for seed?” “If they dry up before new year's day and are unfit for human food, it is lawful to let them remain on the Sabbatical year. Otherwise it is forbidden to let them stand over on the Sabbatical year. Their buds are forbidden in the Sabbatical year. But they may be sprinkled with white dust.”[47] The words of R. Simon. Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Jacob, “forbade them.” Men may irrigate rice in the Sabbatical year. Rabbi Simon said, “but they must not cut its leaves.”

Chapter III

1. “How long may men bring out dung to the heap?” “Till the time comes for stopping work.” The words of R. Maier. R. Judah said, “till its fertility[48] dry out.” R. José said, “till it hardens into a lump.”

2. “How much may men manure?” “As much as three times three heaps for fifty cubits square of ten times ten ass panniers, each containing a letech.[49] They may increase the [pg 059] panniers, but they must not increase the heaps.” Rabbi Simon said, “also the heaps.”

3. A man may make for his field three times three heaps to the fifty cubits square. “For more than these he must excavate the earth.” The words of R. Simon. But the Sages “forbid it, till he sink the heaps three handbreadths, or till he raise them three above the earth.” A man may keep his manure in store. Rabbi Maier “forbade it till he sink it three handbreadths, or till he raise it three.” If he have only a little, he may increase it and proceed in his work. Rabbi Eleazar, the son of Azariah, “forbade it till he sink the manure three handbreadths, or raise it three, or till he place it on a rock.”

4. “He who stables his cattle in his field?” “He may make a pen twice fifty cubits square. He may remove three sides and leave the middle one. It follows that he has a stable four times fifty cubits square.” Rabbi Simon, the son of Gamaliel, said “eight times fifty cubits square.” “If his whole field were four times fifty square cubits?” “He should leave a little space because of the observant eye, and he may remove the manure of his cattle from the pen and put it into the middle of his field, as men usually manure.”

5. A man may not open a quarry in the beginning of the Sabbatical year in his field, unless there be already in it three heaps of stones measuring three cubits by three cubits, and in height three cubits, counting twenty-seven stones in each heap.

6. A fence composed of ten stones each, of weight sufficient for two men, may be removed. “If the fence measure ten handbreadths?” “Less than this he may clear off, but he must leave it a handbreadth high over the ground.” These words only speak of his own field. But from his neighbor's field he may take away what he pleases. These words speak of the time when one did not begin the work on the eve of the Sabbatical year. “But if one begin on the eve of the Sabbatical year?” “He may take away what he pleases.”

7. Stones shaken by the plough, or those covered and afterward exposed, if there be among them two of a burden for two men, may be removed. He who removes stones from his field may remove the upper (ones),[50] but he must leave those touching the earth. And so also from a heap of rubbish, or a [pg 060] heap of stones, one may take away the upper part, but must leave that which touches[51] the earth. If there be beneath them a rock, or stubble, they may be removed.

8. Men must not build terraces on the face of the hills on the eve of the Sabbatical year, when the rains have ceased, because that is preparation for the Sabbatical year. But one may build them in the Sabbatical year, when the rains have ceased, because that is preparation for the close of the Sabbatical year. And men must not strengthen them with mortar, but they may make a slight wall. Every stone which they can reach[52] with their hands and remove, they may remove.

9. “Shoulder stones may come from every place, and the contractor may bring them from every place. And these are shoulder stones, every one which cannot be carried in one hand.” The words of R. Maier. Rabbi José said, “shoulder stones, commonly so named, all that can be carried, two, three, upon the shoulder.”

10. He who builds a fence between his own and public property may sink it down to the rock. “What shall he do with the dust?” “He may heap it up on the public property, and benefit it.” The words of R. Joshua. R. Akiba said, “as we have no right to injure public property, so we have no right to benefit it.” “What shall he do with the dust?” “He may heap it up in his own field like manure, and so also when he digs a well, or a cistern, or a cave.”

Chapter IV

1. In olden times they used to say a man may gather wood, stones, and grass in his own (field), just as he may gather that which is greater out of his neighbor's field. When transgressors increased, a rule was made that this one should gather from that one, and that one from this one, without benefit; and it is unnecessary to say that one could not promise victuals to those who gathered.

2. A field cleared of thorns may be sown in the close of the Sabbatical year. If it be tilled or manured by cattle, it must [pg 061] not be sown in the close of the Sabbatical year. “If a field be twice ploughed?”[53] The school of Shammai say, “its fruit must not be eaten in the Sabbatical year.” But the school of Hillel say, “it may be eaten.” The school of Shammai say, “they must not eat its fruit on the Sabbatical year, if (the owner of it have) benefit therefrom.” But the school of Hillel say, “men may eat it whether there be or be not benefit.” R. Judah said, “the words are contrary; that which is permitted by the school of Shammai is restricted by the school of Hillel.”

3. Men may contract for cultivated fields from Gentiles on the Sabbatical year, but not from Israelites. And they may strengthen the hands of the Gentiles on the Sabbatical year, but not the hands of Israelites. And in saluting Gentiles they may ask after their peace for the sake of peace.[54]

4. “If one thins olive trees?” The school of Shammai say, “only cut them down,” and the school of Hillel say, “one may root them out”; but they both agree that for smoothing the earth the trees must be cut down. “What is meant by thinning?” “Removing one or two.” “What is meant by smoothing the earth?” “Removing three trees each by the side of the other.” “How is this understood?” “That one may root them out not only of his own field, but also when smoothing down the field of his neighbor.”

5. “He who cleaves olive trees must not fill in the vacuum with earth; but he may cover it over with stones or stubble. He who cuts down trunks of sycamore must not fill in the vacuum with earth, but he may cover it over with stones or stubble. Men must not cut down a young sycamore in the Sabbatical year, because that is labor.” R. Judah said, “if as it is usually done it is forbidden: but one may allow it to be ten handbreadths high, or cut it just above the ground.” “He who lops off vine tendrils, and cuts reeds?” R. José the Galilean said, “he must leave them an handbreadth high.” Rabbi Akiba said, “he may cut them as it is usual with an axe, or sickle, or saw, or with whatever he pleases.” “A tree that is split?” “Men may bind it round in the Sabbatical year, not that it may cohere, but that its fissure may not extend.”

7. “From what time may the fruits of trees in the Sabbatical year be eaten?” “Unripe fruits, when they are becoming transparent, may be eaten with a piece of bread in the field. When they are mellow, they may be gathered into the house; and so also with all like them.” During the remainder of the seven years their tithes must be paid.

8. The sour grapes in which there is juice may be eaten with a piece of bread in the field. Before they rot they may be gathered into the house, and so also with all like them. During the remainder of the seven years their tithes must be paid.

9. “Olives from which men have collected the fourth of a log[55] of oil to the seah?”[56] “They may be crushed and eaten in the field.” When men can collect from them half a log, they may be pounded and used for anointing in the field. When those have been collected which have attained a third of their size they may be pounded in the field, and gathered into the house, and so also with all like them. During the remainder of the seven years their tithes must be paid. But for the rest of all fruits of trees, as are their seasons for the laws of tithes, so are their seasons for the laws of the Sabbatical year.

10. “From what time may men not cut trees in the Sabbatical year?” The school of Shammai say, “every tree when it shoots forth.” The school of Hillel say, “the locust trees when they put forth their curling tendrils, and the vines when they form berries, and the olives when they flower. And the rest of the trees when they shoot forth.” But it is permitted to cut all trees, when they come to the season, for tithes. “How much fruit should be in the olive tree to prevent its being cut down?” “A quarter cab.” Rabban Gamaliel said, “the whole depends on the size.”