27.

"There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked." (Ec. viii. 14.) Happy are the righteous, to whom it happens in this world, as it happens to the wicked in the world to come according to their work! Woe unto the wicked, to whom it happens in the world to come, as it happens to the righteous in this world according to their (few evil) works! Horayoth, fol. 10, col. 2.

28. "For with Jah Jehovah formed the worlds." (Is. xxvi. 4. See original.) These are the two worlds, which the Holy One, blessed be He! created; one by the letter Yod, and the other by the letter Hay. (The "Book of Creation," an old cabalistic work, says that God divided His name Jah, ', into two parts, and three drops falling from the Hay, produced fire, water, and air, and the whole world. See page 92, Note II.) Why was the world to come created with the letter Yod (the smallest in the alphabet)? Because the righteous men in it are of little account. Mat. vii. 14. Minachoth, fol. 29, col. 2.

29. "So I bought her for fifteen." (Ho. iii. 2.) That is, on the fifteenth day of Nissan, when Israel was redeemed from Egyptian bondage. "Silver" are the righteous. "An homer of barley, and an half homer," equivalent to forty-five measures; these are the fortyfive righteous men, for whose sake the world is preserved. But I do not know whether there are thirty here (Babylon), and fifteen in the land of Israel, or the reverse. When, however, it is said (Zec. xi. 13): "I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord;" it follows that there are thirty in the land of Israel, and fifteen here. Abaii adds, that the majority of them are found under the gable end of the synagogue. Rav Yehudah says: It refers to the thirty righteous men, always found among the nations of the world, for whose sake they are preserved. Ula says: It refers to the thirty precepts received by the nations of the world, of which, however, they keep only three: viz.: they do not enter into formal marriage contracts with males; they do not openly offer for sale the carcases of animals, which have died naturally; and they have respect for the Law. Chulin, fol. 92, col. 1.

30. "Be not overmuch wicked." (Ec. vii. 17.) Is then one to be a little wicked? (Answer) If one has rendered his breath offensive by eating garlic, let him not make it worse by eating more. Shabbath, fol. 31, col. 2.

31. The poor, the rich, and the wicked, will be equally condemned for not studying the Law. It is related of Hillel the Elder, that he used to work every day for half a denar, one moiety of which he expended for the maintenance of his household, and the other he paid for admission into the debating room. One day, in the depth of winter, having failed to procure work, he was refused admittance. Not to lose the words of the living God, which, says the narrator, were spoken by Shemaiah and Avtalyon, he mounted to the window sill, and remained seated there, till he was covered with three cubits of snow. Brother Avtalyon! remarked Shemaiah, how dost thou account for the continued darkness, though the day is evidently far advanced? On examining the window, they discovered the figure of a man. He was

at once brought in, and both Rabbis agreeing, that the Sabbath might

be desecrated for one like him, his immediate wants were attended to. (He was afterwards president of the Sanhedrin during the reign of Herod).

Rabbi Elazer ben Charsom inherited from his father a thousand villages, and as many ships; and yet he would wander habitually, carrying a bag of flour on his back, from town to town, and from district to district, in order to find opportunities for studying the Law. He was once pressed into service (angaria) by his own slaves. Let me go and study the Law, he begged. By the life of our master, they replied, thou shalt perform thy task.

It is related of Joseph, that the wife of Potiphar used to change her garments twice every day. She threatened to confine him in prison. He answered (anticipating, Ps. cxlvi. 7): "The Lord looseth the prisoners." She would deprive him of his eyesight. 'The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind" (ver. 8), was his reply. She offered him a thousand talents of silver: in vain. So Hillel will condemn the poor; Rabbi Elazer the rich; and Joseph the wicked. (Only Joseph's case has nothing to do with the study of the Law.) Yoma, fol. 35, col. 2.

32. An impudent man may be called wicked; for it is said (Pr. xxi. 29): "A wicked man hardeneth his face." Taanith, fol. 7, col. 2.

34. When the wicked perishes from the world, he is met by three companies of malignant angels. One says (Is. xlviii. 22): "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." Another says (Is. 1. 11): "Ye shall lie down in sorrow." And the third says (Eze. xxxii. 19): "Go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised." Kethuboth, fol. 104, col. 1.

35. Who is a foolish saint? One who sees a woman sinking in the river, and renders her no help, because, says he, it is not proper to look at a woman. Who is a cunning rogue? One who explains his cause to the judge before his adversary has appeared; or, one who, by the donation of a denar, completes the sum possessed by a poor man, which raises him legally above the class of paupers, who are by law entitled to pick up the ears of corn in his mown field. Soteh, fol. 21, col. 2.

36. Not half the praises of Goliath are related in Scripture. Hence, it follows, that it is wrong to tell the praises of the wicked. Soteh, fol. 42, col. 2.

37. Rabbi Yosi said: Come and see the blindness of those, who lend to Israelites on usury. One calls the other wicked, and he resents it as if the offender had endangered his life. But in the case of usurers, they bring witnesses, a scribe, pen and ink, and (virtually) write and seal, that the usurer has denied the God of Israel! Bavametzia, fol. 71, col. 1.

39. Whoever raises his hand to strike his neighbour, though he has not inflicted the blow, is called wicked; for it is said (Ex. ii. 13): "And he said to the wicked, Why wilt thou smite," not hast smitten, or dost smite, "thy fellow? Sanhedrin, fol. 58, col. 2.

41. When woe overtakes the wicked, his neighbour is implicated in it. Negaim, chap. xii. 6.

VERSE 11.

And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Wherever the word "corruption" is used, it means adultery and idolatry. In the sense of conjugal infidelity, it is used in chap. vi. 12; and in that of idolatry, it is employed in De. iv. 16. Sanhedrin, fol. 57, col. 1.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

ROBBERY, VIOLENCE, AND THE LIKE.

1. Whoever is habitually saluted by a friend (is asked about his welfare) should seek to anticipate him in asking for his; for it is said (Ps. xxxiv. 14): "Seek peace, and pursue it." And if his salutation be not reciprocated, the offender is called a robber. Berachoth, fol. 6, col. 2.

2. A troop of soldiers engaged in a voluntary campaign (those of Joshua were obligatory) may appropriate (rob) dry sticks wherever they find them. Eiruvin, fol. 17, col. 1.

3. Rabbi Yochanan said: If the Law had not been given, we might have learned decency from the cat, to avoid robbery from the ant, to eschew fornication from the dove, and to act with worldly propriety from the bantam, which coaxes, and then... Eiruvin, fol. 100, col. 2.

4. Five precepts did Canaan give to his sons (i.e., they observe them so universally, as if they had been enjoined upon them by him): love one another; practice robbery; indulge in sensuality; hate your masters; and speak not the truth. Psachim, fol. 113, col. 2.

5. The majority of robbers (listin) are of Israel. Baitza, fol. 15, col. 1.

6. If one has committed a robbery, and does not know the person, whom he has robbed, let him, in case he wishes to restore the property, apply it for the public benefit. Baitza, fol. 29, col. 1.

7. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochi (second century) said: "For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering." (Is. lxi. 8.) A mortal king once passed by the house of custom, and ordered his servants to pay the tribute to the publicans. But is not all the tribute intended for thyself? asked they. He replied: Let travellers learn of me, and let them not evade paying tribute. So also the Holy One, blessed be He said: "I hate robbery for burnt offering." Let My children learn of Me, and eschew robbery. (Mat. xvii. 25.) Sucah, fol. 30, col. 1.

8. Rain is only withheld for the sin of robbery; as it is said (Job xxxvi. 32. See original): "On account of (the robbery of) the hands, he hides the rain." Taanith, fol. 7, col. 2.

9. The testimony of a robber, considered as such by the Rabbis, viz.: a pigeon-flyer, or a dice player, is exceptionally admissible in

questions affecting the dissolution of the bonds of matrimony, which the Rabbis hold to be of minor importance 177; but the testimony of a robber, according to the written Law, is not admissible even in such questions. Yevamoth, fol. 25, col. 1, 2; Maimonides, Hilch. Guerushin, Sec. 12; Halachah 17.

10. If one, willing to restore stolen property, does not know to whom it belongs, and five people claim it each as his own, Rabbi Tarphon says: Let him leave the property with them, and depart. Rabbi Akiva says: That is not the way to escape the consequences of transgression; he must restore it to every one of them. Yevamoth, fol. 118, col. 2.

12. Things generally set apart for holy purposes, or as a heave offering, or as tithes by a thief, a robber, or an unscrupulous man, are acceptable as such. Bava-kama, fol. 67, col. 1.

13. He that steals wood, and makes vessels of it, or wool, and makes garments of it, restores only their original value. If he steals a cow, and she calves in his possession, a wool-laden sheep, and he shears it, he pays what they were worth when he stole them. If he steals a cow with no prospect of calving, and she calves in his possession, a shorn sheep, and he shears its wool grown in his possession, he pays only their original value. This is the rule: Robbers restore only the original value of the stolen property. Bava-kama, fol. 93, col. 2.

14. Habitual robbers and usurers willing to restore their ill-gotten property to the owners, should not be allowed to do so; and the wise men are not pleased with him, who accepts it from them. It happened that such a man, in a penitent mood, wished to restore their property to all his victims. Raca! said his wife to him, if thou repentest, not even the girdle upon thy loins is thine. He therefore abandoned the idea of repentance. On hearing of it, the wise men decreed, that habitual robbers and usurers should not be allowed to restore their illgotten property; and it was added, that the wise men are not pleased with him, who receives it from them. Bava-kama, fol. 94, col. 2.

16. Rav Shimon the Holy said: It is not permitted to rob a Gentile; but his lost property may be appropriated. For Rav Hunah (Head of the Babylonian captivity in the third century) had once proposed the question: Whence is it proved, that it is not permitted to rob a Gentile? It is said, was the reply (De. vii. 16): 66 And thou shalt consume all the people, which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee;" i.e., only when they are delivered into thy hand (as the Canaanites), but not otherwise. But that his lost property may be appropriated is evident, for Rav Chama bar Gurya said, that Rav had proposed the question: Whence is it proved, that the lost property of a Gentile may be appropriated? It is said, was the answer (De. xxii. 3): "With all the lost things of thy brother's;" restore it to thy brother, but not to a Gentile. (See Lu. x. 29.) But may it not mean, that he need not restore the lost property so long only as it is not yet actually in his possession, and that he must restore it when he has it in his hand? No! replied Ravina, "And thou hast found" (ibid.), means, that it has come into his actual possession. Maimonides, Hilchoth Gzailah Va-avaidah, Sec. 11; Halachah 3.

Tradition teaches in the name of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yaîr (second

century), that when the name of God may be profaned by withholding it, even the appropriation of the lost property of a Gentile is not allowed. Shemuel (third century) says: Advantage may be taken of the mistakes of a Gentile. Thus, this same Shemuel bought of a Gentile a golden basin (lekan, λekavη), as a copper one, for four zouzes, and managed, moreover, to cheat him of one zouz. Rav Cahana once bought 120 casks of wine from a Gentile, for a hundred zouzes, and cheated him of one zouz, whilst the Gentile said to him: Thou seest that I rely upon thy honesty. Rava once bought, in partnership with a Gentile, a tree, which was cut up into parts. Go, said the Rabbi to his servant, and pick out the thick pieces for me; but take no more than the number of pieces due to me, for the Gentile knows how many there are. Rav Ashi was once walking on the road, and saw in an orchard bunches of grapes depending from a vine. Go, said he to his servant, and see whether they belong to a Gentile, and if so, bring them to me; but do not touch them, if they belong to an Israelite. What! cried the Gentile, who happened to be in the orchard, and overheard the Rabbi's order, is it allowed to rob a Gentile? No, replied the Rabbi evasively, a Gentile would accept payment, but an Israelite would not. Bava-kama, fol. 113, col. 2.

T. N. The exponents of Judaism in this country, have, in public lectures and in the periodical literature, held up to our admiration the high-minded and widehearted tolerance of Rabbinism, to the disparagement of Christianity. And with a contemptuous wave of the hand, they will, no doubt, consign the above extract, and many others of similar import, which are so complacently recorded, be it remembered, not by enemies, but by the Rabbis themselves, and which are, moreover, embodied in his Digest, by Maimonides, and in Tur Shulchan Aruch,-to the category of the productions of Eisenmenger, Wagensail, and M'Caul. It is far easier, of course, to do this, to affect an authoritative and haughty tone, and to abuse an inconvenient writer, than to challenge his accuracy in a frank and manly way. Did space permit, much more matter might be added, in confirmation of the systematic Rabbinic depression of the Gentiles, both in theory and in practice, far below the level of the Jews, who alone, according to Talmudic legislation, constitute the human species. It is not for us to determine how far the Rabbis, in national exclusiveness and contempt for all other nations, surpassed, or were left behind, by all or any of the latter. The political relations of the Jewish people, and the extreme rigour of their religious views, acting and reacting upon each other, will sufficiently account for much that is startling in the Talmudic treatment of "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel." But we should have to face and explain a most astounding and utterly inexplicable anomaly, if with our knowledge of human nature, and with what we know of the inexorable severity of traditional Judaism, and the severe oppression endured for centuries by the Jews, we were to admit the truth of the glowing representations, respecting the unbounded liberalism of the Rabbis, which have of late been volunteered by interested Jewish writers, who, though occupying Rabbinical chairs, are, at best, but superficially acquainted with the Talmud in the original. Indisputably, we are confronted with such an anomaly in the pages of the New Testament; but it is, to use a mild phrase, the strangest way of explaining it, by insinuating, in opposition to inexorable facts, that the noble flame of an all-comprehensive charity, kindled in the hearts of the founders of the Christianity, and their removal of all degrading distinctions between different nations, were due to the teaching of the Rabbis, of which we cannot detect the least trace; whilst just the reverse abounds in the Talmud.

17. Whoever robs his fellow (a Jew, see above) of the value of the lowest coin, robs him, as it were, of his soul; for it is said (Pr. i. 19):