8. Rabbi Yochanan said: What is it that is written (Mal. ii. 7): "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the angel of the Lord of hosts"? If the Rabbi ("priest") resembles an angel of the Lord of hosts, Law may be sought at his mouth; but not otherwise. Chaguigah, fol. 15, col. 2. 12. When three men are walking on the road, the Rabbi should walk in the middle, the superior disciple on his right, and the next on his left. We find the same course adopted by the ministering angels, who visited Abraham : Michael was in the middle, Gabriel to his right, and Raphael to his left. Yoma, fol. 37, col. 1; Maimonides,

Hilchoth Talmud Torah, Sec. 6, Halachah 5.

14. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have taught: If an individual manifests no sympathy with Israel, when in trouble, his two guardian angels place their hands upon his head, and say: Let this man, who separates himself from the public, never share in the consolation of the public. Again it is taught: When the public is in trouble, let no man say, I will go home, and eat, and drink, and peace be to thee, O my soul, etc. (Lu. xii. 19). Taanith, fol. 11, col. 1.

15. "When the king saw Esther the queen.' (Es. v. 2.) Rabbi Yochanan said: At that time three ministering angels came to her assistance; one raised her neck, a second drew upon her face a line of grace, and one lengthened the golden sceptre, some say two cubits, some twelve, some sixteen, twenty-four, sixty, and two hundred. Meguillah, fol. 15, col. 2.

16.

"And he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read." (Es. vi. 1.) It indicates, that they were read of themselves (i.e., by no visible agent). "And it was found written;" it should be, And there was found writing. It intimates, that Shimshai (Ezr. iv. 8) was erasing the writing, and Gabriel wrote it afresh. Meguillah, fol. 15, col. 2.

17. "And Haman was falling upon the bed." (Es. vii. 8.) It should be fell (not a continuance of falling, as if struggling to keep erect). It indicates, that an angel came and pushed him upon it. Meguillah, fol. 16, col. 1.

25. The Holy One, blessed be He! wished to build Jerusalem according to measure; as it is said (Zec. ii. 2): "Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof." Lord of the universe! pleaded the ministering angels, Thou hast created many Gentile cities in Thy world, without circumscribing the measure of their length and breadth; and to Jerusalem, in which Thy name, the Sanctuary, and the righteous are, Thou art assigning a measure! At once "he said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein " (ver. 4). Bava-bathra, fol. 75, col. 2.

36. When wicked Nebuchadnezzar threw Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah into the fiery furnace, Yurcami, the prince of hail, appeared in the presence of the Holy One, blessed be He! and said: Lord of the universe! let me go down and cool the furnace, so as to save these righteous men. Gabriel replied: This is not the way, in which the

power of the Holy One, blessed be He! is manifested; because thou art the prince of hail, and all know that water extinguishes fire. Let me go, who am the prince of fire, and I will cool it inside, and heat it outside, and so there will be a twofold miracle. On receiving permission to go, Gabriel exclaimed: The faithfulness of God abides for ever. (He alluded to what has been stated on page 239, Note 2.) Psachim, fol. 118, col. 1.

40. The name of the angel, who has charge of disembodied spirits, is Dumah. (Silence.) Sanhedrin, fol. 94, col. 1.

41. Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha (who is said to have officiated in the Holy of Holies) said: Three things were communicated to me by Suriel, the Prince of the Presence: Take not thy shirt in the morning, from the hand of the servant, in order to put it on; wash not thy hands in a basin, held by one, who has not washed his (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, Sec. 4, Par. 2); return the cup of asparagus wine only to him, who has given it to thee; for Thachsiphis (an association of demons), some say, a company of malignant spirits (Istalganith, areλyaww), lie in wait for every man, and say: When will he fall into one of the above snares, and become a prey to us! Berachoth, fol. 51, col. 1.

48. What is said with reference to Michael, implies superior excellence in him than in Gabriel; for of the former it is said (Is. vi. 6): "Then flew one of the seraphim" (i.e., he performed the distance in one flight); but of Gabriel it is said (Da. ix. 21): "The man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying flew " (ie., did it in two flights). How do we know that "one" in the former passage refers to Michael? Rabbi Yochanan replied: Because it is written (Da. x. 13): "Michael, one of the chief princes." It is recorded: Michael completes the distance of the world in one flight; Gabriel in two; Elijah in four; the angel of death in eight, and in times of pestilence, in one. Berachoth, fol. 4, col. 2.

49. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Laive said (see page 110): The angel of death communicated three things to me (for two of them, see Note 41, supra; and the third is): Stand not in the presence of women, when they return from a funeral (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Dayah, Sec. 359, Par. 2), because I am then leaping on before them, with the sword in my hand, and with power to destroy. But (asks some one) if one has met them, what is he to do? Let him leap aside a distance of four cubits; or if there be a river near, let him cross it; or if there be another path, let him move into it; or if there be a wall, let him stand behind it; and if not, let him turn away his face, and say repeatedly (Zec. iii. 2): "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan," till the women have passed on. Berachoth, fol. 51, col. 1. 53. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have taught: If there be pestilence in a town, let no man walk in the middle of the road, for the angel of death walks there... When there is pestilence in a town, let no man enter alone into the synagogue, because the angel of death hides his weapons there, provided no children (dardiki) are taught in it, and ten men do not pray therein. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have also taught: When dogs howl, it indicates the advent of the angel of death; if they sport, it indicates that of Elijah the prophet,

provided there is no female among them, because in that case, the latter is the cause of the sport. Bava-kama, fol. 60, col. 2.

54. Rav Cahana said: Rav Chama, the son of Chasa's daughter, related to me, that Ravah bar Nachmaine died in consequence of an edict, issued for his destruction, &TD. He had been denounced to the king, for depriving the treasury of the capitation tax of twelve thousand Jews, by detaining them annually, in his academy, for a month in the spring, and another month in autumn. A royal messenger (pristaka, poorayn) was sent to arrest him, and he traced him from Pumbeditha to Akra, Agma, Shachin, Zeripha, etc., and at last both he and the fugitive happened to be in the same inn (oshpiz, hospes), at Pumbeditha. Two cups were placed before the former on a table, and when the table was removed, his face was forced backwards. Alas! cried the innkeeper, he is a royal messenger! Place the table again before him, said the fugitive Rabbi, with only one cup upon it, so as to counteract the evil effects of the even number. They did so, and he was cured. Well, said the messenger, I know that the man whom I want is here; I will lock him up in a room in this house. I shall readily sacrifice my life rather than give him up; but I will not submit to torture. On the departure of the messenger, the Rabbi, by his prayers, effected a breach in the wall, and escaped to Agma, where he engaged in study seated upon the stem of a tree. At that moment there happened to be a divergence of opinion in the celestial academy. The question at issue was this: If the bright spot precedes the white hair, the leper is unclean; and if the white hair precedes the bright spot, he is clean. (Le. xiii. 25.) But if it be doubtful, which has preceded the other, the Holy One, blessed be He! says, He is clean, and all the celestial academy say, He is unclean. (Maimonides, Hilchoth Tumath Zuraath, Sec. 2, Halachah 9, adopts the latter view as the correct one.) Who shall decide? was the general cry. Let Ravah bar Nachmaine decide, was the answer; for that Rabbi used to say: I am unequalled in the knowledge of the halachoth respecting leprosy. So the angel of death was despatched to fetch him; but as the Rabbi's lips never ceased repeating the Law, he was inaccessible to the messenger. Whilst in this perplexity, a breeze disturbed the reeds close by, which was attributed by the Rabbi to the approach of mounted soldiers. Better for me, said he, to die than to be delivered into the hands of the government. He therefore, paused in his study, and so his soul took its flight, while he cried: Clean, clean; and an echo of a voice was heard exclaiming: Blessed art thou, Ravah bar Nachmaine; for thy body is pure, and thy soul has departed in purity. Soon after a scroll (pitaka, pittacium) fell down from heaven in Pumbeditha, on which was written: Ravah bar Nachmaine was wanted in the celestial academy. When Abaii and Rava, and all the other Rabbis went in search of the body, they were led to it by hopping birds. The mourning lasted three days and three nights; but threatened with excommunication, by another scroll, which fell down from heaven, if they departed, they prolonged the mourning for seven days, when a third scroll ordered them to go home in peace. On the day of the Rabbi's decease, a mounted Arab was transferred bodily by a tempest, together with his camel, from one side of the river Pappa to

the other. What is this? asked the astonished Arab. It is by reason of the death of Ravah bar Nachmaine, said the bystanders to him. Lord of the universe! exclaimed the Arab: the whole world is Thine, and Ravah bar Nachmaine is Thine, Thou art Ravah's, and Ravah is Thine, why dost Thou desolate the world? The tempest ceased.

Bava-metzia, fol. 86, col. 1.

59. What is it that is written (Ca. i. 3): "The odour of thy good ointments?" Why is a disciple of the wise likened to a bottle of ointment? Because, like it, his odour is only emitted when he opens his mouth, and not otherwise; and what is more, hidden things are revealed unto him; as it is said: "The virgins love thee;" read here More than this, the angel of death loves him; read not ny, virgins; but no by, he that is over death. What is still more, he is an heir of both worlds; read here, worlds. Avodah-zarah, fol. 35, col. 2.

.hidden things עלומות

60. Rav Chisda was studying the Law in the academy of Rav, and the angel of death could not approach him, as long as he continued repeating the Law. The angel of death, therefore, climbed up a cedar tree, and splitting it, caused a momentary interruption in the Rabbi's study, by the noise thus made, and so overcame him. Maccoth, fol. 10, col. 1.

61. The Holy One, blessed be He! said to Gabriel: Go and make an inkmark upon the foreheads of the righteous, in order that the destroying angels may have no power over them; but make a bloodmark upon those of the wicked, that the destroying angels may have power over them. (Eze. ix. 4.) Shabbath, fol. 55, col. 1.

63.

Let no one go out alone on Wednesday nights and Sabbath nights; for Iggereth the daughter of Machloth (uaxλos), accompanied by eighteen myriads of destroying angels, then roams about, and every one of her band has power to destroy for himself. Formerly they used to go forth every day. Once, however, she encountered Rabbi Chanena ben Dosa, and said to him: Did they not proclaim in heaven, Take heed of Rabbi Chanena ben Dosa and his knowledge of the Law, I would injure thee. Well, said he, if I am so favourably regarded in heaven, I herewith banish thee from all inhabited parts. Upon this she begged him to give her some release, and he left her free to go forth on Wednesday nights and Sabbath nights. She subsequently (adds the compiler) encountered Abaii, and making the same remark to him, he banished her altogether. But (it is asked) do we not see, that she still issues forth? (Answer) It is only stragglers, whose horses stray into inhabited parts, and they come to fetch them. Psachim, fol. 112, col. 2.

70. An evil spirit rests upon eatables and drinkables, when placed under a bedstead, even though they be covered over with iron vessels. Psachim, fol. 112, col. 1.

72. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have noticed five symptoms in a rabid dog; its mouth is open; its saliva flows; its ear flaps dangle; its tail is kept between its legs; and it walks on the side paths. Some say, that it also barks without being heard. How is this accounted for? Rav says: Witchwives play with it; and Shemuel says: An evil spirit rests upon it. What is the practical difference

between them? According to Shemuel, the animal is only to be destroyed by means of an arrow, or a knife, aimed at it; but personal contact with it must be shunned. Injury is the result of contact: death that of a bite. What is the remedy against the former? Throw off the clothes and run away. Rav Hunah bar Rav Yehoshua, having come into contact with a rabid dog in the street, stripped and fled. I have experienced in myself, cried he, the truth of the saying (Ecc. vii. 12): "Wisdom preserves the life of its possessor." What is the remedy for a bite? Abaii said? Write upon the skin of a male hyæna, I so and so, the son of so and so (mother's, not father's name, there being no possibility of doubt as to the parentage of the former), write about thee, upon the skin of a male hyæna, Chanthi, chanthi, Klirus, Jah, Jah, Jehovah of hosts, Amen, Amen, Selah. Strip off your clothes, and bury them in a grave. Take them out at the end of a year, burn them in an oven, and scatter the ashes, where several roadways cross each other. During the time the clothes are buried, use for drinking purposes a brazen tube, to prevent the patient seeing the water, and detecting in it the image of the canine demon. Yoma, fol. 83, col. 2.

77. A man should not enter a ruin for three reasons: lest he give rise to suspicion that he has made an assignation there; lest it tumble over him; and lest he encounter malignant spirits. Berachoth, fol. 3, col. 1.

78. The malignant spirits keep aloof from him, who reads the Shemah upon his bed. Berachoth, fol. 5, col, 1.

79. Abbi Benyamin says: Were the eye permitted to see the malignant spirits, no creature could abide on account of them. Abaii said: They are more numerous than we are, and they stand about us as the earth of the trenches surround the garden beds. Rav Huna said: Every one of us has a thousand on his left side, and ten thousand on his right. (Ps. xci. 7.) Rava said: The pressure at the academy is caused by their intrusion; the weariness in the knees of the Rabbis is caused by them; the torn clothes of the Rabbis are caused by the demons rubbing against them. If any one wishes to see traces of their presence, let him take ashes passed through a sieve, and scatter them round his bed, and in the morning he will see the footprints of fowls. If any one wishes to see the demons themselves, let him burn and reduce to ashes the placenta of a firstborn black cat, the offspring of a firstborn black cat; let him put a little of it in his eyes, and he will see them. The ashes, however, must be kept in an iron tube, and sealed with an iron seal, lest the evil spirits steal of it and do mischief. (Evil spirits have no power over sealed things. See Chulin, fol. 103, col. 2.) Rav Beve bar Abaii did so, and was injured; but the Rabbis prayed for him, and he was healed. Berachoth, fol. 6, col. 2.

84. Rabbi Yochanan said: There were three hundred different species of male demons in Sichin; but what the female demon is like I know not. Guittin, fol. 68, col. 1.

85. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have taught: Let none that come from the ND, do marriage duty, until a time sufficient to walk half a mile has elapsed; for the demon of that place accompanies