b. Here follows the measurement of the 8 of that and other Rabbis, which Rashi explains in the ordinary way, for the benefit of the student, but of which Tosephoth feels somewhat ashamed. The latter, therefore, adds: This haggadah must not be taken literally; or, these matters are recorded, to guard from obloquy, such people, as may be possessed of such peculiarities.

7. Tradition records as follows: Rabbi Yehudah ben Bethaira says: As long as the Temple was in existence, there was no joy but over flesh meat; as it is said (De. xxvii. 7): "And thou shalt slay peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the Lord thy God." But now that the Temple no longer exists, joy is only over wine; as it is said (Ps. civ. 15): “And wine that maketh glad the heart of man.” Psachim, fol. 109, col. 1.

10. He that desires to pour wine upon the altar, let him pour it into the gullet of the disciples of the wise; for it is said (Pr. viii. 4): "Unto you, Oh, men, I call" (or, You I call sacrifices; DWN, without the yod, would signify sacrifices, because burnt with fire). Yoma, fol. 71, col. 1.

11. The matter in dispute between the school of Shamai and that of Hillel, with reference to the meal on the Sabbath-eve, is this: The former say, that a blessing must first be pronounced on the day, and then on the wine, because it is the day that necessitates the use of the wine. But the school of Hillel maintain, that a blessing must first be pronounced on the wine, and then on the day, for it is the wine that invests the day with its sanctity. Sucah, fol. 56, col. 1; Maimonides, Hilch. Shabbath, Sec. 29, Halachah 7.

13. Rabbi (compiler of the Mishnah) says: I hold, that priests should never drink wine (even on such days when, were the Temple in existence, it would not be their turn to serve in it); but what shall I do in view of the circumstance, that their misfortune is for their advantage (there is now no probability of the immediate restoration of the sacrificial services, and their participation in them. Rashi). Taanith, fol. 17, col. 1.

14. "And royal wine in abundance" (Es. i. 7), or superior, 27. Rav said: It intimates, that every guest had wine given him of an age greater than his own. "And the drinking was according to law." (Es. i. 8.) What law? Rav Chanan said in the name of Rabbi Meir: According to the law of God. That law enjoins to take more food at meals than drink, and that wicked man (Ahasuerus) regulated his feast by the same law. "None did compel." (Es. i. 8.) Rabbi Eliezer said: It intimates, that every guest was served with the wine of his own country. Meguillah, fol. 12, col. 1.

16. He that has drunk a quarter of a measure of wine, may not expound the Law. Kethuboth, fol. 10, col. 2.

18. A wet-nurse should have relaxation from work, and an additional allowance to her diet; also an extra allowance of wine; for wine is good for the milk. Kethuboth, fol. 65, col. 2.

19. If a man say to a woman: Be thou consecrated as my wife, by this cup of wine, and it be found to contain honey, or vice versá, she is not consecrated. Kiddushin, fol. 48, col. 2.

20. The daughter of Cæsar once said jeeringly to Rabbi Yehoshua

ben Chananyah (alluding to his unprepossessing appearance): Excellent wine in an ugly vessel! Take a lesson, replied he, from thy father's household, who, though abundantly supplied with gold and silver utensils, yet prefer to keep the wine in earthen vessels; and so, added he, is it also with the Law. But, said she, there are many learned men, who are also handsome. They would be more learned, rejoined he, if they were not handsome. Nedarim, fol. 50, col. 2; Taanith, fol. 7, col. 1.

21. The wise men have allowed a wine-seller to mix milder wine with stronger (before offering it for sale to a Jew), because the wine is thus improved. He may not mix, however, the lees of wine with the wine; but he may offer for sale the lees separately. If his wine has become accidentally mixed with water, he may not sell it in a shop (retail), unless he informs each Jewish customer of the fact; but he may not sell it to a merchant (wholesale), even if he informs him of the accident; for that must end in deception. Bava-metzia, fol. 60, col. 1.

22. He that drinks wine habitually, even if his heart be as closed up as a virgin, is rendered wise by it; for it is said (Zec. ix. 17): "And new wine opens up, 22, virgins.' Bava-bathra, fol. 12, col. 2. The consecration of the Sabbath may only be performed with such wine, which may be poured upon the altar (not fresh from the wine-press, etc.). Bava-bathra, fol. 97, col. 1.

24.

T. N. There is a lesson here to rigid abstainers, who labour hard to force a meaning of their own upon the word ".

26. No blessing is to be pronounced over the cup of wine, unless water has first been mixed with it. Such are the words of Rabbi Eliezer (first century). But the wise men are not particular. Berachoth, fol. 50, col. 1.

27. There are three sorts of wine, which one need not be afraid to leave uncovered, lest a poisonous reptile should drink of them, and infuse its venom into them, viz.: spiced, bitter, and sweet. Avodahzarah, fol. 30, col. 1.

32. Rabbi Yochanan said: All the prophets, even every one of them, prophesied only for (had in view) those, who give their daughters in marriage to the disciples of the wise, who undertake the management of the commercial affairs (prakmatia) of the disciples of the wise, and who benefit disciples of the wise of their substance. But with reference to the disciples of the wise themselves, "eye hath not seen, Oh, God, beside thee, what he hath prepared," etc. What is it that eye hath not seen? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Laive said: It is the wine preserved in the grapes (for the leviathan banquet) since the six days of creation. (See pages 58-60.) Sanhedrin, fol. 99, col. 1.

33. A Nazarite who has soaked his bread in wine, and it has absorbed the quantity of an olive berry, is guilty of breaking his vow. Shevuoth, fol. 21, col. 2.

34. A man who has taken a moderate quantity of wine, may not perform his prayers; but if he has done so, his prayer is acceptable. The prayer of an inebriate person is an abomination. A man is in

the former condition, when he is able to speak in the presence of a king; and in the latter, when he cannot do so. Eiruvin, fòl. 64, col. 1.

35. The purchase and the sale effected by an inebriate person, are valid. If he has committed a capital crime, or incurred flagellation, the sentence is executed. The general rule is, that he is treated like a sober man in every respect; but he is exempt (!), D, from prayer. Rabbi Chanena says: That only applies, if his intoxication has not reached the same degree as that of Lot (who could not distinguish his daughters); but if it has, he is exempt from all punishment. Eiruvin, fol. 65, col. 1; Maimonides, Hilchoth Ishuth, Sec. 4, Halachah, 18; Hilchoth Neziroth, Sec. 1. Halachah, 12, etc.

36. An inebriate priest may not lift up his hands to bless the people. Whence is this proved? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Laive replied, in the name of Bar Capara: Why does the injunction, concerning the blessing by the priests, follow close upon the ordinances, respecting the Nazarite? (Nu. vi.) To intimate, that the benedictory priest, like the Nazarite, may not drink wine, even before blessing the people. Taanith, fol. 26, col 2.

37. Rava said: A man is bound, ", to indulge himself in intoxication, on the feast of Purim, to such an extent, that he can no longer distinguish between Cursed be Haman, and Blessed be Mordecai. (The Jerusalem Talmud reads: Cursed be Zeresh, and blessed be Esther. Cursed be all the wicked, and blessed be all the Jews.) Rava and Rav Zerah once kept the feast of Purim together, when Ravah arose and slaughtered Rav Zerah. The next day he prayed to the All merciful, and, by that means, restored him to life. The following year, the revived Rabbi asked Ravah to keep again the feast with him. It is not always, replied Ravah, that a miracle happens. Meguillah, fol. 7, col. 2.

T. N. The above law, which is observed to this day by the Jews, in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, is incorporated in the Digest of Maimonides, Hilchoth Meguillah, Sec. 2, Halachah 15.

40. An inebriate woman once said, whilst another cup was being poured out for her: Behold, I am a Nazarite, with reference to it. The wise men then ruled, that what she meant was, that this cup was to her Corban; (but not that she should abstain from the use of wine altogether, as if she had taken the vow of a Nazarite). Nazir, fol. 11, col. 1.

41. Rav Abba bar Chana related: Once upon a time, we journeyed in the desert. There was in our caravan an Arab, who, by smelling the dust, could tell the road to any place, and twice he told us correctly, by that means, how far we were from water. We once changed the dust, in order to test him; but he proved too much for us. Come, said he, and I will show you the bodies of the men, that had (come out of Egypt and) died in the wilderness. We followed him to the spot, and there we found them, looking like intoxicated people asleep, with their faces upwards. One had his knee raised, and the Arab passed under it on horseback, with his spear high up in air, and yet could not

touch it. We removed the corner of one's praying scarf (in order to decide some point at issue between the schools of Hillel and Shamai, with reference to the fringes), but our beasts could not move from the spot. If you have taken anything from them, said the Arab to me, return it; for it is well known, that whoever takes anything from them, is not permitted to move from the spot. We returned it, and were enabled to proceed. When I came into the presence of the Rabbis (continues the narrator), they said: Every Abba is an ass, and every bar Chana is a fool. For what purpose didst thou want the part of the garment, but to decide the controversy between the schools of Hillel and Shamai. Thou shouldest have counted on the spot the number of the threads and knots in the fringes.

Come, said the Arab to me, and I will take thee to the spot, where sky and earth kiss each other.

T. N. What he meant, explains Rashi, was a high mountain, and not the end of the world. For the length of the radius from Palestine, which lies exactly in the centre of the world, to the circumference of the earth, would be 250 years' journey.

On arriving there, I placed my basket in a niche in the firmament, but to my surprise, when I finished my prayers, I found that it was gone. What! said I to him, are there thieves here? No, replied he, the celestial wheel has gone round; wait till to-morrow, and the basket will come back. Bava-bathra, fol. 73, col. 2.

42. Yehudah and Chiskiyah, the sons of Rabbi Cheyah, were sitting at a meal, in the presence of Rabbi, without uttering a word. Give some wine to the boys (dardiki), exclaimed Rabbi, that they may feel encouraged to say something. When they had drunk the wine, they opened their mouths, and said: The Son of David will not come, until the two patriarchal houses of Israel shall cease; that is, the Head of the captivity in Babylon, and the Prince in the land of Israel; for it is said (Is. viii. 14): "And he shall be for a sanctuary, and for a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel." My children, exclaimed Rabbi (who was the patriarch of Tiberias), you are thrusting thorns into my eyes! Rabbi, remarked Rabbi Cheyah, take it not ill of them; wine, is given with seventy, and so is a secret, D (the numerical value of each is seventy), when the first comes in, the second goes out. Sanhedrin, fol. 38, col. 1.

T. N. a. The enunciation of the boys has reference to Ge. xlix. 10, according to which, Shiloh will not come, as long as there is a sceptre and a lawgiver in Judah. The patriarchates in Babylon and Palestine were considered as still representing, though in a modified form, the regal and legislative independence of Judah. But even these shadows vanished long ago, and Jewish controversialists of the present day have, therefore, repudiated altogether the Messianic import of Jacob's prediction. (See page 75, Note 6.)

b. The following story is related in Midrash Vayikra Rabbah, chap. 12:

A rich man was so addicted to intemperance, that he sold all he had to gratify his craving for drink. To cure him of this fearful vice, his sons carried him away from home, when in the last stage of inebriation, and deposited him in a sepulchral cave, at some distance from the town. They persuaded themselves, that on awaking to consciousness and sobriety, he would be so impressed with the monuments of death

around him, as to resolve on radical amendment. It happened, however, that some wine merchants approaching the burial ground, were alarmed by a tumultuous noise, coming from the direction of the town. They, therefore, concealed the skin bottles of wine in the cave, and hastened on to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. Meanwhile, the drunkard woke up, and finding the wine so near at hand, he took a deep draught, and was asleep again. Great was the surprise of his sons, when, some time afterwards, they found him in the same condition, in which they had left him. Father, father, cried they, how didst thou manage to procure drink among the dead? It was provided for me, said the incorrigible drunkard, by Him "who satisfieth the desire of every living thing." (Ps. cxlv. 16.) The narrator had better not have added, that the sons came to the same conclusion, and resolved henceforth to supply him with drink.

VERSE 25.

And he said, Cursed be Caanan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have recorded: On the twentyfourth day of Nissan (April), public investigation (Dimusonai, Enμooiwvns) was made, with reference to Judah and Jerusalem. When the children of Africa came to litigate with Israel, before Alexander the Macedonian, they said: The land of Canaan is ours; for it is written (Nu. xxxiv. 2): "The land of Canaan, with the coasts thereof;" and Canaan was our father. Then Gueviha ben Pesesa said to the wise men: Permit me to go and plead our cause before Alexander the Macedonian. If they get the better of me, say: It is an unlettered man (hediot), whom you have overcome; but if I have the best of them, say: It is the Law of Moses, that has overcome you. So he was permitted to defend the Jewish cause. Whence, demanded he of the Africans, do you derive your proofs? From the Law, was the reply. Well, said he, then I also will rest my defence on the Law. It is said (Ge. ix. 25): "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." If a slave acquires property, whose slave is he, and whose property is it? And yet how many years have now passed since you ceased to serve us! Put in your reply, said Alexander to the Africans. The latter asked for a period of three days to consider the matter; but unable to find an answer, they fled, leaving behind their sown fields and cultivated vineyards. And that year happened to be one of release. Sanhedrin, fol. 91, col. 1.

VERSE 27.

God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.

Rabbon Shimon ben Gamliel said: The Holy Scriptures also not be written in any other secular language except Greek.

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