teaches her, as it were, silly things. Soteh, fol. 20, col. 1 ; Maimonides, Hilchoth Talmud Torah, Sec. 1, Halachah 13. 49. "For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light." (Pr. vi. 22.) Scripture likens the commandment to a lamp, because, like it, its fulfilment protects only for the time being; but the study of the Law, like the solar light, is a perpetual protection. ... A commandment transgressed, neutralises a commandment fulfilled; but it does not neutralise the (merit of studying the) Law. Soteh, fol. 21, col. 1. 53. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have recorded: Long ago the wicked government sent two commissioners (sardiotos, σrparwrns) to the wise men of Israel, saying: Teach us your Law. Three times did they read it through, and on their departure, the commissioners said to them: We have carefully examined your Law, and find it true (just), except in this particular. You say: An ox of an Israelite, which has gored to death an ox of an alien, does not render its owner liable to any compensation; but if an ox of an alien has gored to death the ox of an Israelite, its owner must make the entire loss good, whether it was the first or the second time that it had killed another ox (in which case, an Israelite pays only to another Israelite half the value of his gored animal), or the third time (when he pays the whole). Either "neighbour" (in Ex. xxi. 35; instead of "another" it should be neighbour, 1) is taken stricty (as referring to an Israelite only), and then an alien also should be entirely free, if his ox gores to death that of an Israelite; or if "neighbour" is to be understood in its widest sense, why should not an Israelite be bound to pay when his ox gores to death that of an alien? The reason of this (adds the compiler) we do not communicate to the government (namely, says Rashi, referring to a preceding halachah, that an alien has forfeited the right to his own property in favour of the Jews. See page 203, Note 16). Bava-kama, fol. 38, col. 1: Amsterdam edition. Maimonides, Hilchoth Nizkey Mammon, viii. 54. Whoever teaches his neighbour's son the Law, is counted worthy to occupy a seat in the heavenly seat of learning And whoever teaches the son of an amhaaretz the Law, the Holy One, blessed be He! rescinds even evil decrees for his sake; for it is said (Je. xv. 19): "If thou bring forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth." Bava-metzia, fol. 85, col. 1. 56. Whoever makes himself little in this world, for the sake of the words of the Law, will be made great in the world to come; and whoever makes himself like a slave in this world, for the sake of the words of the Law, will be made free in the world to come. (Mat. xxiii. 12.) Bava-metzia, fol. 85, col. 2. 58. Rav Yehudah recorded, that Rav had said: Cherish the memory of that man, his name is Yehoshua ben Gamla. (He is said in Yevamoth, fol. 61, col. 1, to have been elevated by Alexander Jannænus to the highpriesthood, in consideration of a tarkav, īpɩκaßos, of denars, given him by his bride, Martha the daughter of Bithos.) But for him, the Law would have been forgotten by Israel. At first each father used to teach his own children; consequently orphans were neglected. Hence schools were established at Jerusalem, but even then the fatherless had no one to take them up to Jerusalem. So schools were opened in the large provincial towns, and pupils were admitted at the age of sixteen years. But Yehoshua ben Gamla went beyond this. He established schools in every town, and reduced the age of admission to six years. Rav (some four centuries later) used to say to the schoolmaster, Rav Shemuel bar Shilath: Do not admit them before the age of six years; cram them like oxen; strike them only with a thong; if a wayward boy mends, well; if not, let him remain where he is (do not expel him). Bava-bathra, fol. 21, col. 1. 59. Come, said an Arab to Ravah bar bar Channah, and I will show thee the spot, where Corah and his party were swallowed up. On our arrival there (says the Rabbi), I noticed smoke issuing from two fissures. I tied a quantity of moist wool to the head of a spear, and inserted it into the fissures, and when I took it out again, it was singed. Listen, said the Arab. I did so, and I heard them cry: Moses and his Law are true, and we are liars. Every thirty days, continued the Arab, gehenna stirs them round to this place like flesh in a caldron. Bava-bathra, fol. 74, col. 1. 67. A Gentile who studies the Law (beyond the seven precepts) has incurred the penalty of death; for it is said (De. xxxiii. 4): "Moses commanded us a Law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob," but not of Gentiles (and therefore, adds Rashi, it is robbery on the part of a Gentile to study it. See page 91, Note 68). Sanhedrin, fol. 59, col. 1. 79. "Come, therefore, I will advise thee." (Nu. xxiv. 14.) Balaam said to Balak: The God of these people hates fornication, and they are fond of linen garments. Set up tents (kala, κaλia) with linen garments for sale. Let a young woman remain inside, and an old one be stationed at the entrance. He did so, and when Israelites in postprandial glee passed the tents, the old woman offering the coveted articles for sale, asked the reasonable price, which was reduced by her companion inside. The latter then placed wine before her customer, till at last she seduced him into an act of idolatry. And not only this, she would conclude, thou shalt not leave me till thou hast denied the Law of Moses, thy Rabbi. (See page 260, Note 23.) Sanhedrin, fol. 106, col. 1. 80. Rabbi said: I have acquired much Law from my Rabbis, more from my associates, and most of all from my disciples. Maccoth, fol. 10, col. 1. 81. The men of the Great Synagogue said: Take time in delivering judgment, raise up many disciples, and make a fence to the Law.... Shimon the Just, who was among the last of the men of the Great Synagogue, used to say: The world stands upon three things, the Law, the Temple service, and active benevolence. . . . Shamai says: Have fixed hours for studying the Law; promise little, and do much; and be affable to every man. Avoth, chap. 1. 85. When two men sit together, and do not converse on matters of the Law, their's is the seat of scoffers. Whoever profanes holy things, depises the festivals, puts his neighbour to the blush publicly, effaces the sign of the covenant of Abraham our father, and brings out something from the Law, that is incompatible with an halachah, even if he is otherwise learned in the Law, and given to good works, has no part in the world to come. Avoth, chap. 3. 91. That is the way of (showing love to) the Law. Eat bread with salt; drink water in limited quantities; sleep upon the ground; live a life of trouble, and toil in the Law: if thou doest so, happy art thou in this world, and it will be well with thee in the world to come. Avoth, chap. 6. 92. The school of Shamai say: The Law should only be imparted to men of wisdom, of modesty, of family, and of riches. The school of Hillel say: Let it be imparted to all men: there were many transgressors in Israel, who were encouraged to study the Law, and who became the parents of righteous, holy, and virtuous men. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan, chap. 2. 94. If two disciples of the wise are engaged in the study of the Law, whilst a bridal, or a funeral procession passes by, they are to get up, and join in the manifestations of joy, and in telling the praises of the bride, or follow the funeral cortege, provided there are not sufficient people to attend to these matters. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan, chap. 4. 96. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (brother-in-law of Gamaliel II.) was twenty-two years old when he repaired to Rabbon Yochanan ben Zachai, for the purpose of studying the Law. His father was opposed to his plan, and by the time he reached Rabbon Yochanan, he had been twenty-four hours without food. Hast thou eaten anything? asked Rabbon Yochanan. No answer. He asked again, but could elicit no reply. One day his father, having ascertained where he was, came on purpose to disinherit him publicly. Rabbon Yochanan happened to be lecturing at the time in the presence of the most exalted personages of Jerusalem. On the approach of the father, Rabbon Yochanan asked Rabbi Eliezer to give an exposition. He did so after much solicitation, and such were the force and novelty of his remarks, that Rabbon Yochanan, calling him his Rabbi, thanked him for his instruction. Upon this, the father exclaimed: Rabbis, I have come here with the intention of disinheriting my son, but now I declare him heir of all my property, to the exclusion of all his brothers. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan, chap. 6. 99. Rabbi Yosi (commencement of second century) said: Whoever exalts himself above the words of the Law, shall be abased at last; and he that abases himself for the sake of the words of the Law, shall be exalted in the end. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan, chap. 11. 100. Rabbon Yochanan ben Zachai used to say: If thou hast acquired much knowledge of the Law, do not pride thyself upon it; for to that end wast thou created. Men were only created that they should study the Law. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan, chap. 14. 104. Rabbon Shimon ben Gamliel said: He that studies the Law in his youth, is like a young man marrying a virgin, who are suited to each other; but he that studies the Law in his old age, is like an old man marrying a virgin, who suits him, by nhan n, but he does not suit her. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan, chap. 23. 105. He that studies the Law in his youth, gets its words absorbed in his blood, and they proceed clearly from his mouth. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan, chap. 24. 109. It happened that five elders had written out the Law for king Ptolemy in Greek, and the day when this was done, was as grievous to Israel as that on which the golden calf had been made; because the Law could not be sufficiently rendered. Again it happened, that king Ptolemy placed the seventy-two elders in seventy-two chambers, etc. (See page 5, ver. 1.) Sophrim, chap. i. Mishnahs 7, 8. 112. Scripture is likened to water, the Mishnah to wine, and the Guemara to spiced wine (konditon). The world cannot exist without any of these beverages, and a rich man has all three; nor can the world exist without either Scripture, the Mishnah, or the Guemara. Again: Scripture is likened to salt, the Mishnah, to pepper, and the Guemara to spices. The world cannot exist, etc. Sophrim, chap. xv. T. N. The word rendered Guemara is "Shas," six divisions, which is usually applied to the whole Talmud, and if that is its meaning here, the treatise Sophrim is evidently of a later date than that assigned to the rest of the Mishnah. 114. The wise men have given greater emphasis to their words than to those of the Law. (See Note 21, supra.) Zevachim, fol. 101, col. 1. 116. A Gentile who offers to submit to all the words of the Law, except one, is not received. Rabbi Yosi ben Rabbi Yehudah said: Not even if he rejects but one of the niceties of the scribes. Bechoroth, fol. 30, col. 2. 120. With the death of Yoseph ben Yoezer, and Yoseph ben Yochanan of Jerusalem, the time was at an end when the exposition of the Law encountered no opposition. (Till then there were no legal disputes.) Rav Yehudah recorded, that Rav had said: Till the time of Yoseph ben Yoezer, the Law was expounded as in the days of Moses, without dispute on the part of the Rabbis; but from that time they no longer expounded it as in the days of Moses. Temurah, fol. 15, col. 2. T. N. According to Avoth, chap. 1, and Chaguigah, fol. 16, col. 1, Yoseph ben Yoezer and his associate were the predecessors of Shimon ben Shatach, who, tradition says, was the brother-in-law of Alexander Jannænus. It appears, then, that about 100 B.C. may be assigned as the date of the first deviation from the simplicity of legal exposition, and the origin of those Rabbinic contentions, which subsequently convulsed the schools of Hillel and Shamai. The struggle for independence, which was sustained, and brought to a successful issue by the Maccabeans, with the help of the zealous adherents of the Law, tended to concentrate all political power in the hands of that party; whilst the Hellenist faction, who had brought the nation to the verge of ruin, must have lost all influence. But though subdued for a time, and in bad odour with the people, they succeeded in alienating John Hyrcanus and some of his successors from their opponents, who on their part sought to maintain themselves by the favour of the multitude. But since excessive zeal for the Law was the surest way of securing the attachment of the people, legal studies came to be regarded with deeper interest, and pursued with increasing energy; till with the multiplication of the disciples, divisions and endless disputes were developed, and hence the origin of the Talmud. 123. "For in my house is neither bread nor clothing." (Is. iii. 7.) That is, I know neither Scripture, nor the Mishnah, nor the Guemara. Shabbath, fol. 120, col. 1. 124. "Let us get up early to the vineyard" (Ca. vii. 12); that is, the synagogues and the academies. "Let us see if the wine flourish ; i.e., the men of Scripture. Whether the tender grape appear; " i.e., the men of the Mishnah. "And the pomegranates bud forth;" i.e., the men of the Guemara. Eiruvin, fol. 21, col. 2. 129. Five years is the age for commencing to read the Scriptures; ten for the Mishnah; thirteen for the fulfilment of the precepts (age of religious, not legal discretion, which is twenty; see page 289, Note II.); fifteen for the study of the Guemara; eighteen for marriage; twenty for business pursuits; at thirty the highest physical development is attained; forty is the age of ingenuity; fifty of counsel; at sixty one is old; at seventy one is grey; at eighty one is in advanced age; at ninety one is bent; at a hundred one is, as it were, dead and gone, and done with the world. Avoth. chap. v. 132. Square shaped phylacteries were enjoined upon Moses, as an halachah on Mount Sinai; also that the parchment rolls, on which the portions of Scripture put therein are written, should be tied up with the hair, and that the phylacteries should be sewed together with the catguts of clean animals. . . . . Rabbi Meir used to say, that the n (rendered" badger" in Ex. xxv. 5) was a creature sui generis in the time of Moses. The wise men could not say exactly, whether it was a wild, or a domestic animal. It had one horn on its forehead, and it became extinct after the completion of the Tabernacle. Shabbath, fol. 28, col. 2. 133. Abaii said: The letter () Sheen and () Yod on the phylacteries, were enjoined on Moses as an halachah on Mount Sinai. Shabbath, fol. 62, col. 1. 143. The words of the Law abide only with him, who is ready to suffer destitution for their sake; for it is said (Pr. viii. 12): “I wisdom dwell with destitution" (y, which means subtilty, or nakedness). Soteh, fol. 21, col. 2. CHAPTER XXVII. VERSE 22. The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. The (first) voice refers to (the voice of lamentation occasioned by) Adrianus Cæsar, who slew at Alexandria of Egypt, double the number of Jews who had left it under Moses. The voice of Jacob refers to (the cry of distress called forth by) Aspasianus Cæsar, who slew in the city of Byther(?) four hundred myriads; some say, four thousand myriads. "The hands are the hands of Esau;" that is the empire which destroyed our House (a |