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VERSE 20.

And called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Rav Acha recorded, that Rabbi Elazer had said: Whence is it proved that the Holy One, blessed be He! called Jacob God? It is said: "And he called him El-Elohe-Israel." If the altar was so called, it should read: And Jacob called it, etc. Hence construe the passage thus: And Elohe-Israel (the God of Israel) called him (Jacob) El (God). Meguillah, fol. 18, col. 1.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

VERSE 31.

Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

HARLOTS, UNCHASTITY, AND THE LIKE.

1. If one retires to a closet, let him first take off his phylacteries at a distance of four cubits, stow them away in an aperture somewhere near the public thoroughfare, and then enter; and when he comes out, let him put them on at a distance of four cubits from the place. Such are the words of the school of Shamai. The school of Hillel say: He may hold them in his hand while he enters. Rabbi Akiva says: He may keep them in his garment while he enters. In his garment! (exclaims a listener). Might he not drop them thoughtlessly? Say then in his garment and his hand; but let him put them into a hole in the closet, and not in one outside, lest passers by take them away, which may give rise to suspicion. A disciple did so once, when a venal woman purloined them, and entering the academy, she cried out: See what that man gave me for my reward. The disciple then threw himself headlong from the roof and was killed. On that occasion it was enacted, that the phylacteries might be held with the hand through the garment whilst inside. Berachoth, fol. 23, col. 1.

3. In the note book of Rabbi Shimon ben Laive it was written : Whoever is born on the first day of the week, will be either a thoroughly good, or a thoroughly bad man; because light and darkness were created on that day. If on the second day of the week, he will be an irritable man; because the waters were then divided. If on the third day of the week, he will be rich and incontinent; because vegetation, plentiful and commingling, were then created. If on the fourth day of the week, he will be wise and of a beaming countenance; because the lights were then suspended. If on the fifth day of the week, he will be benevolent; because fishes and fowls were then

created, which are fed solely by Divine goodness. If on the sixth day of the week, he will be bent upon the accomplishment of good works; because it is the preparation day for the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath day, he will die on a Sabbath, as an expiation for its desecration at his birth. Ravah bar Rav Shila adds: And he will be called Holy.

Rabbi Chanena said to his disciples (who had called his attention to the note book): Go, and tell the son of Laive: The planetary influence does not depend upon days, but hours. He that is born under the influence of the sun (no matter on what day), will have a beaming face; he will eat and drink of his own; his secrets will come to light, and no prosperity will attend him, if given to thieving. (The sun, says Rashi, is one of the planets.) If born under the influence of Venus (Nogah, splendour), he will be rich and incontinent, because fire originated from it. If under the influence of Mercury (Chochab, star), he will be bright and wise, because that planet is the attendant scribe of the sun. If under the influence of the moon, he will be subject to affliction, will build and pull down, and pull down and build, will eat and drink that which is not his own; his secrets will remain hidden; and prosperity will attend him, if given to thieving. If under the influence of Saturn (Shabtha), his resolutions will come to nought. If under the influence of Jupiter (Zedek, just), he will be benevolent. If under the influence of Mars (Maadim, red), he will be a bloodshedder, that is, a phlebotomist, a highwayman, a butcher, or a circumciser. Rava then remarked, that he was born under the influence of Mars, to which Abaii observed: The master also punishes, and kills (as the Head of the Captivity.) Shabbath, fol. 156, col. 1.

6. Rava and Rav Saphra once heard it expounded in their presence, that a single man leading a chaste life in a town, was daily extolled in heaven. The former noticing the beaming face of Rav Saphra, who was a single man living in a town, said to him: It is not meant one like thee, but like Rabbi Chanena and Rabbi Oshaya. These Rabbis were shoemakers residing in the land of Israel, and they used to sit in the market of the prostitutes, and make shoes for them. But even when the Rabbis waited upon them, they would not raise their eyes to look at them. Hence these women were in the habit of swearing: By the life of the holy Rabbis in the land of Israel. Psachim, fol. 113, col. 2.

12. Rabbi (the compiler of the Mishnah), Rabbi Chanena, and Rabbi Yonathan were once walking on the road, and coming to where it parted into two, one leading to an idolatrous place of worship, and the other to a brothel; one said: Let us take the road that leads to the place of worship, for there is no temptation to idolatry now. No, said another, let us follow the other road, and by overcoming temptation, we shall secure a reward. At their approach, the women retired. Arodah-zarah, fol. 17, col. 2.

15. Rav said: Israel knew that idols were nothing, but they preferred their worship for the public (parhasia, mapovσia) licence it allowed in the intercourse with near relations. Sanhedrin, fol. 63, col. 2.

22. They asked Rabbi Elazer, whether it was right to drink out of the hand of a bride, whilst her husband reclined at meat with her. He

replied: Whoever drinks out of the hand of a bride, drinks, as it were, out of the hand of a prostitute. They said: Are not all the daughters of Israel discreet? God forbid! was the answer; persons over whose lips the Law does not pass, have no discretion. Rabbi Elazer ben Azaryah then caused it to be proclaimed at the blast of three hundred trumpets, that whoever drinks out of the hand of a bride, whether she be the daughter of a disciple of the wise, or of an amhaaretz, drinks, as it were, out of the hand of a prostitute. They also added: Whoever receives a cup from the hand of a bride, and drinks it, has no portion in the world to come. Calah.

T. N. Consult by all means page 369, Note 48, where the same Rabbi, as president of the academy, prohibits teaching women the Law. See also page 211, T. N. d.

30. Tamar and Zimri had both committed fornication. The former (did it from a good motive, Ge. xxxviii. 26, and) became the ancestress of kings and prophets. The latter was the cause of the destruction of myriads in Israel. Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: To commit sin with a good motive is better than to conform to the Law from a bad motive (which is illustrated in the case of Tamar and Zimri, and in that of Lot and his daughters). Nazir, fol. 23, col. 2

32. Rav Pappa said: The Law entitles the man to compensation for the children, even if they be the issue of fornication; for Scripture says (Ex. xxi. 22): "According as the woman's by will lay upon him." Bava-kama, fol. 43, col. 1.

36. Rabbi Nathan said: No love is so intense as that which is conceived for the Law; no wisdom is so great as that which prevails in the land of Israel; there is no beauty as that of Jerusalem; no riches as that of Media; no bravery as that of Persia ; no lewdness as that of the Arabians; no haughtiness as that of Elam; no hypocrisy as that of Babylon; and no witchcraft as that of Egypt. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan, chap. 28.

37. Levity in women is incipient fornication. Zuta, chap. 3.

Dayrech-ayretz

CHAPTER XXXV.

VERSE 10.

Thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel.

Ben Zoma asked the wise men: Will mention be made of the Egyptian exodus in the days of the Messiah? Is it not said (Je. xxiii. 7, 8): "The days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt: but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them"? They replied: The Egyptian exodus will not

lose its place altogether, but will only become secondary in view of the liberation from the subjection to the other Gentile, kingdoms. Similarly it is said: “ Thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name." Now Jacob has not lost its place altogether, but has become secondary to Israel. Berachoth, fol. 12, col. 2.

VERSE 18.

But his father called him Benjamin.

In the whole Law Benjamin is written, 1 (without a second), but here in full, 2. Soteh, fol. 36, col. 2. ¡p.

VERSE 22.

And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, etc. I. Some portions of Scripture are read publicly, and interpreted; others are read, but not interpreted; and others again are neither read, nor interpreted. Read and interpreted are the account of the creation, the story of Lot and his two daughters, the first part of the account of the golden calf, the curses and the blessings, the admonitions and the penalties, the story of Amnon and Tamar, the story of the concubine at Gibeah, and the portion of Scripture commencing with the words, "Cause Jerusalem to know her abominations" (Eze. xvi. 2), and that in spite of Rabbi Eliezer, who, on hearing a man reading that chapter at a seat above him, said to him: Before thou enquirest into the abominations of Jerusalem, find out those of thy mother; who, on examination, was discovered to have a serious blot on her reputation. The story of Reuben (Ge. xxxv. 22) is read, but not interpreted. The congregational reader at Cavul once read that story in the presence of Rabbi Chanena ben Gamliel, and the latter stopped the interpreter, for which he was praised by the wise men. (See next Note.) The repetition of the story of the golden calf (from Ex. xxxii. 22-28) is also read, and not interpreted. Meguillah, fol. 28, col. 1, 2.

Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. II. Rav Shemuel bar Nachmaine recorded, that Rabbi Yonathan had said: Whoever says, that Reuben had sinned, is decidedly in error; for it is said (Ge. xxxv. 22): "Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:" which teaches, that they were all alike (morally). But how am I to understand the words, that "Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine"? It teaches only, that Reuben having introduced unwarranted alterations in his father's bedchamber in favour of his mother, Scripture

considers him, as if he lay with Bilhah. Tradition records, that Rabbi Shimon ben Elazer said: That righteous man was kept from such an iniquitous act, and the sin was never committed. Is such an act conceivable on the part of one whose seed was destined to stand on Mount Ebal, and say (De. xxvii. 20): "Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife"? No, he only stood up against the reproach of his mother. My mother's sister, said he, had precedence of my mother, shall my aunt's maidservant have the precedence now that her mistress is dead? So he made alterations in the bedchamber. Shabbath, fol. 55, col. 2.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

VERSE 20.

These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land.

I. Rav said: Whoever says, that a daughter has an equal claim to her deceased father's property with his (deceased) son's daughter, even if he be patriarch in Israel, is not to be listened to; for it is just what the Sadducees maintain. Tradition records: On the twenty-fourth day of Tayveth (January), we reverted to the old law (respecting inheritance). For the Sadducees used to say, that a daughter had equal claims to inheritance with a (deceased) son's daughter. Rabbon Yochanan ben Zachai then joined issue with them, and said: Fools, how do you prove it? There was no one who gave any answer, except an old man, who kept on prating against him: If the granddaughter can claim the inheritance by virtue of the son of the deceased, how much more can the daughter claim it by virtue of the deceased himself! Rabbon Yochanan read to him in reply the following text: "These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land: Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah;" and (further on): "These are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah and Anah." How (continued he) could Zibeon be Anah's brother and father, except by an incestuous intercourse with his own mother? and yet he is counted among the sons of Seir who inhabited (or inherited) Seir's land, because the son's offspring has the same right as the son, and like him, excludes a daughter of the deceased grandfather.

II. Rabbi, said the Sadducee, dost thou dismiss me with such an answer? Fool, cried the Rabbi; and is not our perfect Law as good as your idle talk? If a son's daughter acquires an hereditary capacity among her uncles (because she has no

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