hour; whilst the bereaved remain silent, and seated on the ground. Berachoth, fol. 19, col. 1.

2. The tears dropped on the death of a virtuous man are counted by the Holy One, blessed be He! and laid by in His treasuries. (Ps. lvi. 8.) Shabbath, fol. 105, col. 2.

3. From the number of the mourners, one can judge, whether the deceased was worthy of partaking in the joys of the world to come. Shabbath, fol. 153, col. 1.

5. It happened when Rabbi Akiva's sons died, that all Israel came and made great lamentation. At their departure, Rabbi Akiva mounted a high stool, and said: Brethren of the house of Israel, hear. Though bereaved of two sons, who were bridegrooms, I am yet comforted by the honour you have shown me. If you have come simply for the sake of Akiva, behold, there are many Akivas in the market-place: but you said (Ps. xxxvii. 31): “"The law of his God is in his heart; so much the greater is your reward. Go home in peace. katon, fol. 21, col. 2.

Moed

7. When Ravina died, the mourner exclaimed: Ye palm-trees bow your heads in grief for the departed, who flourished like a palmtree (Ps. xcii. 12); let us mourn day and night over him, who applied himself to the Law day and night. Moed-katon, fol. 25, col. 2.

8. When Rav Zera died, the mourner cried out: The land of Shinar conceived and brought forth, and the land of glory has reared the pleasant plant. (He was born in Babylon, and brought up in Palestine.) Woe unto the latter, cries Tiberias; for her glorious weapon has perished.

At the death of Rabbi Abuhu, the columns of Cæsarea were lacrymoniously affected; at that of Rabbi Yakob, the stars were seen by day; at that of Rav Assi, the trees were uprooted; at that of Rabbi Cheyah, stones of fire fell from heaven, etc. Moed-katon, fol. 25, col. 2.

9. Ula said: DD (one of the demonstrations of mourning) is smiting upon the chest; for it is written (Is. xxxii. 12): "They shall lament (10) upon the breasts;" is clapping the hands, and Dp is to stamp with the feet. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have laid down, that the stamper should not wear sandals, but shoes, to prevent risk to the feet. Moed-katon, fol. 27, col. 2.

VERSE 4.

Give me a possession of a buryingplace with you.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

BURIAL, GRAVES, AND BURIAL GROUNDS, ETC.

3. Rabbi Eliezer had once proclaimed thirteen public fasts, on account of the absence of rain; but none came. When at the close of the last, the congregation were leaving the synagogue, he exclaimed: Have you prepared graves for yourselves? Upon this the

whole congregation burst out in bitter cries; and the result was, that rain came down.

On another occasion, Rabbi Eliezer descended before the reading desk, and offered twenty-four blessings with no effect. He was followed by Rabbi Akiva, who said: Our Father, our King, we have no other King but thee. Our Father, our King, have compassion upon us. The rain came down. The Rabbis murmured; but an echo of a voice was heard, saying: It is not because one is greater than the other; but because, unlike Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Akiva does not stand upon his rights (is magnanimous). Taanith, fol. 25, col. 2.

4. Whenever something is repeated in the name of a deceased disciple of the wise, his lips move in his grave. Yevamoth, fol. 97, col. 1.

5. If one has sold his family grave, the way to it, and the spot, where the funeral procession halts to make lamentation, his deceased relative may, if others wish to save the honour of the family, be buried there by force. Kethuboth, fol. 84, col. 1.

7. If one has hewn out a grave for his father, and buried him in another, the son can never be buried in the former. Sanhedrin, fol. 47, col. 2.

9. "And they ascended by the south, and he came unto Hebron." (Nu. xiii. 22.) It should read: "And they came unto Hebron." Rava said: It teaches that Caleb separated himself from the counsel of the spies, and went and threw himself upon the graves of the patriarchs. My fathers, cried he, pray for me, that I may escape the counsel of the spies. (Invocation of the dead. See 116, Note 27.) As for Joshua, Moses had already prayed for him, when he called him by that name, which means: May God save thee. Soteh, fol. 34, col. 2.

10. Rabbi Yanai said to his sons: Do not bury me in white shrouds, nor in black ones, lest I be condemned in judgment, and I appear as a bridegroom in the midst of mourners; or I may be acquitted, and I shall then appear as a mourner in the midst of bridegrooms; but bury me in coloured shrouds, which come from the maritime province. (See page 117, Note 41; page 118, Note 47.) Shabbath, fol. 114, col. 1.

14. A man may not walk in a cemetery wearing his phylacteries, or holding the book of the Law and reading therein. If he does so, he offends according to Pr. xvii. 5: "Whoso mocketh the poor (the dead, who are destitute of these advantages) reproacheth his Maker." Berachoth, fol. 18, col. 1.

17. A burial ground may not be lightly used. Cattle may not graze in it; no canal may be dug through it; and no herbs may be gathered in it; and if some have been gathered, they shall be burned on the spot, out of regard for the dead. Meguillah, fol. 29, col. 1.

18. Rava bar Avuha once encountered Elijah (the Tishbite) in a Gentile burial ground, and at the close of a discussion on some legal question, the Rabbi proceeded: Is not the master a priest? (Some of the Rabbis held him to be a descendant of Aaron.) Wherefore, then, dost thou stand in a cemetery? The Tishbite replied: Hast thou

ever studied (the laws concerning) Purifications? (It is the name of one of the six divisions of the Mishnah.) For tradition records, that Rabbi Shimon ben Yochi had laid down, that the graves of the nations of the world do not defile. It is said (Eze. xxxiv. 31): "And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men; ye are called men, but the nations of the world are not called men, but brutes. (Only creeping things defile, when dead, but not other animals.) And, adds Rashi, it is written (Nu. xix. 14): "When a man dieth in the tent." Bavametzia, fol. 114, col. 2; Amsterdam Edition; Yevamoth. fol. 61, col. 1; Crethuth, fol. 6, col. 2; Maimonides, Hilchoth Tumath-meth, Sec. 1, Halachah 13.

19. The judicial authorities had two burial places provided: one for beheaded and strangled criminals, and the other for stoned and burned. When the flesh was consumed, they collected the bones, and buried them in their appointed place. The relations then came and saluted the judge and the witnesses, as if to say: We bear no grudge against you, who were only actuated by judicial justice. They refrained from outward demonstrations of sorrow, but cherished grief in their heart. Sanhedrin, fol. 46, col. 1.

22. If an infant be found near a burial ground, holding flowers in his hand, and there are no other flowers near, but on an unclean spot, the child is ceremonially clean; for somebody may have passed him, and given them to him. So also if an ass be found among the tombs, the articles upon its back are clean. (They have the benefit of the doubt, whether, or not, the ass laid down and touched a grave.) Taharoth, chap. iii. Mishnah 7.

23. The Pharisees say: We complain of you Sadducees, because you hold, that a stream of water running through a burial place, is incapable of contracting ceremonial defilement. The Sadducees retort: We complain of you Pharisees (who hold that masters are not responsible for damages done by their slaves). If I am responsible for the damage done by my ox and ass, with reference to whom I am bound by certain precepts, how much more responsible should I be for damage done by my male and female slaves, concerning whom I am not bound by any precept. They replied: You would not apprehend in the case of the irrational ox and ass, as you might in that of the rational male and female slave; lest, if they be provoked, they go and set another man's stack of grain on fire, which you should have to make good? Yaddayim, chap. iv. Mishnah 7.

T. N. Accordingly, it is said in Bava-kama, fol. 87, col. 1, and adopted into his Digest of the Law, by Maimonides, Hilchoth Chovel Umazik, Sec. 4, Halachah 28, that the mischief done by slaves, women, and children is irreparable. If any one injures them, he is bound to make the damage good to the master, or the husband. But if they injure others, they are exempt, at least as long as they remain in the condition of slaves, or married women.

VERSE 9.

The cave of Machpelah.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

CAVES.

6. When Rabbi happened to be in the town of Rabbi Elazer ben Shimon (see page 70, Note 13), he enquired whether that righteous man had left a son behind. Yes, was the answer; and every harlot that may be had for two coins pays him eight. (A proverbial phrase.) Rabbi on finding him, gave him the title of Rabbi, and committed him to the guardianship of Rabbi Shimon ben Isai ben Lekunya, his maternal uncle. The boy kept continually saying: I shall return to my native town. What, said his guardian, they have made thee a wise man, they have given thee a gold embroidered robe, and call thee Rabbi, and thou sayest, I shall return to my native town! remained where he was, and he subsequently attended the college of Rabbi, and equalled his father's reputation. When he died, they carried his body to the burial cave of his father; but could not bury him there, because a huge serpent guarded the entrance to it, and remained deaf to all the commands of the Rabbis to open a path for the bier. Bava-metzia, fol. 85, col. 1.

He

7. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish was marking off the burial caves of deceased Rabbis; but could not find that of Rabbi Cheyah. In his annoyance he cried: Lord of the universe! am I then behind him in the exercise of legal ingenuity? The echo of a voice replied: Not in that, but in spreading the knowledge of the Law. (By way of illustration the compiler continues): When Rabbi Chanena had an angry dispute with Rabbi Cheyah, he used to say to him: Dost thou dare to dispute with me, who, if, God forbid! the Law should be forgotten by Israel, could restore it by my knowledge of it! To this Rabbi Cheyah replied (he was a disciple of the compiler of the Mishnah, and Chanena was probably his son): Dost thou dispute with me, who will take care, that the Law be not forgotten by Israel. I will go and cultivate flax and make nets, and entrap stags, and give the flesh to the fatherless, and make parchment rolls of their skins, and write the five books of Moses upon them. I shall then go to a town, and teach five boys a book each, and six other boys a division each of the Mishnah (the Guemara was not in existence yet), and order them till my return, to impart their knowledge to each other, and thus I will prevent the Law from being forgotten by Israel. Hence, Rabbi exclaimed: How great are the deeds of Cheyah!

Rav Zera said: Last night Rabbi Yosi ben Rabbi Chanena appeared to me (in a dream), and I asked him, where his seat was in the heavenly academy. Near Rabbi Yochanan, he answered. And where is his? Near Rabbi Yanai. And his? Near Rabbi Chanena. And his? Near Rabbi Cheyah. Rabbi Yochanan, then, I exclaimed, is not near Rabbi Cheyah. He replied: Who is to bring him into a place of such effulgence and flames of fire? Bava-Metzia, fol. 85, col. 2.

VERSE 16.

Four hundred shekels of silver.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

MAMMON AND MONEY.

1. "And all the substance that was in their possession;" literally, And all the rising, Dp, which was in their feet. (De. xi. 6.) That refers to a man's mammon, which raises him on his feet. Psachim, fol. 119, col. 1.

2. Money makes even bastards legitimate. Kiddushin, fol. 71, col. 1. 4. A man should always have his money ready by him; for it is said (De. xiv. 25): "And bind up the money in thine hand." One should always invest a third part of his money in land, another third in merchandise, and keep the rest with him. Bara-metzia, fol. 42, col. 1.

6. Whoever desires to be wise, let him study Civil Law; for nothing is more complicated than that: it is like an abounding well. Bava-bathra, fol. 175, col. 2.

7. If a man's money has been scattered on the ground, in the presence of an idol, let him not bend down to take it up; for it would give him the appearance of worshipping the idol. But if he can avoid that attitude, he may do so. Avodah-zarah, fol. 12, col. 1.

9. He who has money left him by his father, and is, therefore, indifferent about his expenditure, let him dress in fine linen, be served with costly glass vessels, hire labourers, and not watch them whilst at work. Chulin, fol. 84, col. 2.

CHAPTER XXIV.

VERSE 1.

And Abraham was old, well stricken in years.

I. Rav Chama bar Rav Chanena said: Since the days of our fathers, there have always been established seats of learning. Such a seat they had in Egypt; for it is said (Ex. iii. 16): “Go, and gather the elders of Israel" ("elders" in the sense of members of a council); they had one in the desert; for it is said (Nu. xi. 16): "Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel;" our father Abraham maintained such a seat of learning; for it is said: "And Abraham was old," or an elder; Isaac had one; for it is said (Ge. xxvii. 1): "When Isaac was old," and so on. Yoma, fol. 28, col. 1.