T. N. The whole column is filled with Scripture passages, which forced the tears of different Rabbis at different times.

VERSE 6.

For these two years hath the famine been in the land.

I. Rav Huna the son of Rav Yehoshua said: If one does not know what year it is after that of release, let him divide the number of years from the destruction of the Temple by one hundred; deduct fifty from the remaining sum (if such a large one be left); add to the remainder (if any) one (the year in which the Temple was destroyed), and two for each century, or one for each jubilee (as the fiftieth years counted both ways); divide by seven, and what remains gives the year after the release year. As a mnemonic sign take the above text.

T. N. For instance, it is 1772 years after the destruction of the Temple. 1772 ÷ 5035; to the remainder of 22 add 1 + 35, or two for each century, and one for the jubilee 5878, and the remaining 2 is the year after that of release. The whole calculation is based on the assumption, that the destruction of the Temple took place in a release year.

II. Rabbi Chanena said: Four hundred years after the destruction of the Temple, if one offers thee a field worth one thousand denars for one denar, do not buy it. (For, says Rashi, the restoration will then take place, and thou wilt lose the denar. When Rabbi Chanena said this, adds the same commentator, the four hundred years had not yet transpired.) Avodah-zarah, fol. 9, col. 2.

VERSE 13.

And ye shall tell my father of all my glory (honour) in Egypt.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

HONOUR.

1. No honour is to be conferred upon a Rabbi, when by so doing the name of God is profaned. Berachoth, fol. 19, col. 2.

3. Rav Nachman bar Rav Chisda (noticing that Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak sat among inferior company) said to him: Let the master come and sit near us. He replied: Tradition records, that Rabbi Yosi had said: It is not the place which confers honour upon the man; but it is the man who confers honour upon the place. Taanith, fol. 21, col. 1.

5. It is said: Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand couples of disciples scattered between Gabbath and Antipatris, all of whom died within a short period (of six months), because they conferred no honour one upon the other. The world was then desolate, until Rabbi Akiva

arrived among our Rabbis of the south, and taught the Law to Rabbis Meir, Yehudah, Yosi, Shimon, and Elazer ben Shamua, who reestablished the Law. Yevamoth, fol. 26, col. 2.

6. A father has the power of pardoning a slight upon his honour, but not a Rabbi. Kiddushin, fol. 32, col. 1; Maimonides, Hilchoth Mamrim, Sec. 6, Halachah 1.

10. Study the Law out of love, and honour will come in the end. Nedarim, fol. 62, col. 1.

11. Rabbon Yochanan ben Zachai was asked by his disciples : Why does the Law treat a thief more severely than an open robber? (The thief restores four-fold, or five-fold.) He replied: The robber does not confer greater honour upon the slave than upon his Master (he defies, in fact, both God and man alike); whereas the thief confers more honour upon the slave than upon his Masier (evinces greater fear of man than of God). Bava-kama, fol. 79, col. 2.

15. A prince has the power of pardoning a slight upon his honour, but not a king. (See Note 6 supra.) Sanhedrin, fol. 19, col. 2.

17. Whoever honours his neighbour for the sake of his mammon, will in the end part with him in disgrace; but whoever slights his neighbour for the sake of (the observance of) a precept, will in the end part honourably with him. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan. chap, 29.

18. The pure-minded at Jerusalem used, as a mark of honour, to follow behind the roll of the Law, whenever it was brought out (of the ark), and returned. Sophrim, chap. 14.

19. Be as careful about thy neighbour's honour as about thine own. Dayrech-ayretz Zuta, chap. 2.

VERSE 14.

"And

And he fell upon his brother's Benjamin's necks (plural). How many necks had Benjamin? Rabbi Elazer replied: He wept in anticipation of the destruction of the two sanctuaries (Temples), which were destined to be in his portion. Benjamin wept upon his necks" (is unfortunately also in the plural, which is noticed by Tosephoth); he wept in anticipation of the destruction of the Tabernacle of Shiloh, which was to be in Joseph's (Ephraim's) portion. Meguillah, fol. 16, col. 2.

VERSE 23.

And to his father he sent .... ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt.

Rabbi Elazer said: He

acceptable to old people.

sent him old wine, which is very Meguillah, fol. 16, col. 2.

VERSE 24.

See that ye fall not out by the way.

Rabbi Elazer said: Joseph advised his brothers not to engage in halachic debates, lest they lose the way. Taanith, fol. 10, col. 2.

CHAPTER XLVI.

VERSE 15.

These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah.

Abba Chalepha Keruya asked Rav Cheyah bar Abba : In the total (of Jacob's family, exclusive of himself) thou findest seventy; whereas the details amount only to sixty-nine? (Leah's family,

given as thirty-three, amounts only to thirty-two, including Dinah; and Leah is assumed to have died in Caanan. See Ge. xlix. 31. Silpah's family amounts to sixteen, exclusive of herself, who must have also died in Canaan. Rachel's family, including Manasseh and Ephraim, are fourteen; and the family of Bilhah, who must have also died in Canaan (or the wives are not reckoned), are seven, equal to sixty-nine. And so it is said, Ge. xlvi. 26: "All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt. . . . were threescore and six." Manasseh and Ephraim, who were born in Egypt, and Joseph, raise the number to sixty-nine. To make up the deficiency of one.) Rav Cheyah replied, that the copula ns in verse 15 (which the Rabbis take as an augmentative particle) implies Dinah to have been one of twin sisters. But, rejoined the other, this same particle occurs also in connection with Benjamin (and, in fact, with many others of Jacob's family). Alas! cried Rav Cheyah, I am in possession of a costly pearl (a sound way of accounting for the deficiency), and thou seekest to deprive me of it (to worm the secret out of me). Thus said Rav Chama bar Rav Chanena: The number is made up by adding Jochebed, of whom it is said (Nu. xxvi. 59): Whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt;" her birth was in Egypt; i.e., just on entering Egypt; but her conception was on the way to it. Bava-bathra, fol. 123, col. 1, 2.

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CHAPTER XLVII.

VERSE 6.

And if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have taught: When our Rabbis entered the vineyard at Yavneh (Jamnia, the debating place, where the disciples were seated in rows like vines, was called vineyard), Rabbis Yehudah, Yosi, Nechemya, and Elazer the son

of Rabbi Yosi the Galilæan, who happened to be there, began, each in turn, to say something in praise of hospitality offered to disciples of the wise. Rabbi Yosi said: "Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian because thou wast a stranger in his land." (De. xxiii. 7.) Here is an á fortiori argument. If such was the commandment, respecting the Egyptians, who attracted Israel for their own benefit; as it is said: "And if thou knowest," etc., how much greater will be the reward of him, who offers hospitality to a disciple of the wise in his house, gives him to eat and to drink, and part of his substance. Berachoth, fol. 63, col. 2.

VERSE 12.

And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

MAINTENANCE AND RULER OF THE CONGREGATION.

1. If one has emigrated to the maritime province, and his wife demands maintenance, the court undertakes the management of his estate, and maintains and supervises his wife, but not his sons and daughters; or, another thing (the exact meaning of which is contested by later Rabbis). Kethuboth, fol. 48, col. 1.

2. The father is not bound (in his life-time, adds Rashi) to maintain his daughter. This enactment (to which effect was given in the marriage contract) had been laid down by Rabbi Elazer ben Azaryah at the vineyard (see comment to verse 6, supra) in Yavneh, in the presence of the wise men, viz. : The sons inherit their mother's marriage portion, and the daughters are maintained. As the sons can only claim the deceased mother's portion after the death of their father, so also can the daughters claim their maintenance only after their father's death. (See page 213, Note 5.) Kethuboth, fol. 49, col. 1.

3. At Usha it was decreed, that if a man transferred all his property by deed to his sons, he and his wife had, nevertheless, a claim to be maintained out of it. Kethuboth, fol. 49, col. 2.

5. If a male and a female orphan apply for maintenance by public charity, the latter has the preference, because it is the way of a man to beg from door to door, but not of a woman. Kethuboth, fol. 67,

col. 1.

8. He that has fifty zouzes, and trades with them, may not take what is left "in the corner of the field." (Le. xix. 9.) If any one takes it, who is not entitled to it, he will not depart from the world before he is in need of help from his fellow creatures. And if one is entitled to it, and does not take it, he will not die in old age before he maintains others. Payah, chap. 8, Mishnah 9.

11. Rabbi Yochanan said: Three objects the Holy One, blessed be He! proclaims Himself, Famine, Plenty, and a Good ruler of the congregation.