Xi : XI. Go and learn from the tariff of donkey-drivers, ten miles for one zouz, eleven for two zouzim. Chaggigah, fol. 9, col. 2. {p. 120} When Israel went up to Jerusalem to attend the festivals, they had to stand in the Temple court closely crowded together, yet when prostrated there was a wide space...
Xxxiii : XXXIII. Manasseh did penance thirty-three years. Sanhedrin, fol. 103, col. 1. Balaam was thirty-three years of age when Phineas, the robber, slew him. Ibid., fol. 106, col. 2.
Lxx : LXX. Everybody knows why a bride enters the nuptial chamber, but against him who sullies his lips by talking about it, the decree for good, though of seventy years' standing, [*. A prayer consisting of eighteen Collects, which is repeated three times each day.] {p. 160} shall be reversed ...
Next. Xv : XV. The fifteen steps were according to the number of the Songs of Degrees in the Psalms. It is related that whosoever has not seen the joy at the annual ceremony of the water-drawing, has not seen rejoicing in his life. At the conclusion of the first part of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Priests...
Five Hundred : FIVE HUNDRED. The distance from the earth to the firmament is five hundred years' journey, and so it is from each successive firmament to the next, throughout the series of the seven heavens. P'sachim, fol. 94, col. 2. "Now, as I beheld the living creatures, behold, one wheel upon the earth by...
Five Thousand : FIVE THOUSAND. The Pentateuch contains five thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight verses. The Psalms have eight verses more than, and the Chronicles eight verses short of, that number. Kiddushin, fol. 30, col. 1. The number of verses in the Pentateuch is usually stated at 5845, the mnemonic sign...
Fasts And Festivals : FASTS AND FESTIVALS PASSOVER THE feast of unleavened bread, or "Passover," begins upon the evening of the 14th day of Nissan (April), and was instituted in commemoration of our ancestors' redemption from Egypt, a memorial forever. During its continuance we are strictly forbidden the use of any...
Eight Thousand : EIGHT THOUSAND. Tradition records that the ladder (mentioned Gen. xxviii. 12) was eight thousand miles wide, for it is written, "And behold the angels of God ascending and descending upon it." Angels ascending, being in the plural, cannot be fewer than two at a time, and so likewise must those...
Rabbinical Ana : RABBINICAL ANA {p. 290} {p. 291} RABBINICAL ANA IT WAS said of Rabbi Tarphon, that though a very wealthy man, he was not charitable according to his means. One time Rabbi Akiba said to him, "Shall I invest some money for thee in real estate, in a manner which will be very profitable?" Rabbi Tarph...
Seven Hundred : SEVEN HUNDRED. "For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet," etc. (Isa. iii. 1, 2). By "the stay" is meant men mighty...
Ccxx : CCXX. The cup of David in the world to come will contain two hundred and twenty-one logs; as it is said (Ps. xxiii. 5), "My cup runneth over," the numerical value of the Hebrew word, "runneth over," being two hundred and twenty-one. Yoma, fol. 76, col. 1. In the world to come the Holy One will make...
Judges : JUDGES. The judge, says the Scripture, who for but one hour administers justice according to true equity, is a partner, as it were, with God in His work of creation. Shabbath, fol. 10, col. 1. Despicable is the judge who judges for reward; yet his judgment is law, and must, as such, be respected...
Xxxi : XXXI. "Moses, thou didst say unto me, 'What is Thy name?' And now thou dost say, 'Neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all.' Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh (Exod. v. 23, vi. 1), but not what I am about to do to the thirty-one kings." Sanhedrin, fol. iii, col. 1.
Lxxxv : LXXXV. If in a book of the law the writing is obliterated all but eighty-five letters--as, for instance, in Num. x. 35, 36, "And it came to pass when the ark set forward," etc.,-- it may be rescued on the Sabbath from a fire, but not otherwise. Shabbath, fol. 116, col. 1. Elijah said to Rabbi Judah...
Cxx : CXX. Rabbi Yochanan the son of Zacchai lived a hundred and twenty years; forty he devoted to commerce, forty to study, and forty to teaching. Rosh Hashanah, fol. 30, col. 2. One hundred and twenty elders, and among them several prophets, bore a part in composing the Eighteen Blessings (the Shemonah...
Thirty Thousand : THIRTY THOUSAND. "And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death" (2 Chron. xxxii. 33). This is Hezekiah, king of Judah, at whose funeral thirty-six thousand people attended bare-shouldered,... and upon his bier was laid a roll of the law, and it was said, "This man has fulfilled wh...
Xvi : XVI. The Romans faithfully observed their compact with Israel for twenty-six years. After that time they began to oppress them. Avoda Zarah, fol. 8, col. 2.
Next. Xxxvi : XXXVI. Abaii has said, "There are never fewer than thirty-six righteous men in every generation who receive the presence of the Shechinah; for it is said (Isa. xxx. 18), 'Blessed are all those who wait upon Him.'" The numerical value (by Gematria) of Him, is thirty-six. Sanhedrin, fol. 97, col. 2.
Seven Thousand : SEVEN THOUSAND. As the land of Canaan had one year of release in seven, so has the world one millennium of release in seven thousand years; for it is said (Isa. ii. 17), "And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day;" and again (Ps. xcii. 1), "A psalm or song for the Sabbath day," which means...
Illustrations : ILLUSTRATIONS JEWS OF JERUSALEM: Frontispiece Photogravure from life AMON AND TAMAR: p. 234 Photogravure from life SOLOMON AND THE QUEEN OF SHEBA: p. 330 Photogravure after the painting by Schopin {p. viii} {p. ix}
Cxxx : CXXX. When Adam observed that his sin was the cause of the decree which made death universal he fasted one hundred and thirty years, abstained all that space from intercourse with his wife, and wore girdles of fig-leaves round his loins. All these years he lived under divine displeasure, and beg...
Xxx : XXX. Rav Mari reports that Rabbi Yochanan had said, "He who indulges in the practice of eating lentils once in thirty days keeps away quinsy, but they are not good to be eaten regularly because by them the breath is corrupted." He used also to say that mustard eaten once in thirty days drives away...
The Midrashim : THE MIDRASHIM "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the Aggadah, as explained in the Midrashim" {p. 234} {p. 235} INTRODUCTORY NOTE THE Midrashim are ancient Rabbinical expositions of Holy Writ. The term Midrash (of which Midrashim is the plural form) occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible (2 Chron. Xiii...
Xc : XC. There was not a single individual in Israel who had not ninety Lybian donkeys laden with the gold and silver of Egypt. Bechoroth, fol. 5, col. 2. (2 Sam. xix. 35), "Can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink?" From this we learn that in the aged the sense of taste is destroyed.... Rav...
Iv : IV. Four things require fortitude in the observance:--The law, good works, prayer, and social duties. Respecting the law and good works it is written (Josh. i. 7), "Be thou strong and firm, that thou mayest observe to do all the law;" in which the word "strong" refers to the law, and the word...
Six Thousand : SIX THOUSAND. The world is to last six thousand years. Two thousand of these are termed the period of disorder, two thousand be long to the dispensation of the law, and two thousand are the days of the Messiah; but because of our iniquities a large fraction of the latter term is already passed...
Next. Xviii : XVIII. On the deposition of Rabbon Gamliel, Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah was chosen as his successor to the presidential chair of the academy. On being told of his elevation, he consulted with his wife as to whether or not he should accept the appointment. "What if they should depose thee also?" asked...
Xii : XII. "Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken and forgotten me" (Isa. xlix. 14). The community of Israel once pleaded thus with the Holy One--blessed be He!--"Even a man who marries a second wife still bears in mind the services of the first, but Thou, Lord, hast forgotten me." The Holy One--blessed be...
Xcix : XCIX. The judges who issued decrees at Jerusalem received for salary ninety-nine manahs from the contributions of the chamber. Kethuboth, fol. 105, col. 1. Ninety-nine die from an evil eye for one who dies in the usual manner. Bava Metzia, fol. 107, col. 2.
Cl : CL. There is a tradition that there was once a disciple in Yabneh who gave a hundred and fifty reasons to prove a reptile to be clean (which the Scripture regards as unclean.--Compare Lev. xi. 29). Ibid., fol. 13, col. 2. The ablutionary tank made by Solomon was as large as a hundred and fifty...
Next. Three Hundred : THREE HUNDRED. Revere the memory of Chananiah ben Chiskiyah, for had it not been for him the Book of Ezekiel would have been suppressed, because of the contradictions it offers to the words of the law. By the help of three hundred bottles of oil, which were brought up into an upper chamber, he...
Twelve Thousand : TWELVE THOUSAND. The tithes from the herds of Elazer ben Azaryah amounted to twelve thousand calves annually. Shabbath, fol. 54, col. 2. It is said that Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of disciples dispersed about between Gabbath and Antipatris, and all of them died within a short period...
Xlix : XLIX. When God gave the law to Moses, He assigned forty-nine reasons in every case for pronouncing one thing unclean and as many for pronouncing other things clean. Sophrim, chap. 16, mish. 6.
Vii : VII. He who passes seven nights in succession without dreaming deserves to be called wicked. Berachoth, fol. 14, col. 1. Gehinnorn has seven names:--Sheol (Jonah ii. 2), Avadon (Ps. lxxxviii. ii), Shachath (Ps. xvi. 2), Horrible pit (Ps. xi. 2), Miry clay (Ps. xl. 2), the Shadow of death (Ps. cvii...
One Million : ONE MILLION. It is related by the Rabbis that Rabbon Yochanan ben Zacchai was once riding out of Jerusalem accompanied by his disciples, when he saw a young woman picking barley out of the dung on the road. On his asking her name, she told him that she was the daughter of Nikodemon ben Gori...
L : L. He that has fifty zouzim, and trades therewith, may not glean what is left in the corner of the field (Lev. xix. 9). He that takes it, and has no right to it, will come to want before the day of his departure. And if one who is entitled to it leaves it to others more needy, before he dies he...
Lxxi : LXXI. The Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-one members. It is recorded that Rabbi Yossi said, "Seldom was there contention in Israel, but the judicial court of seventy-one sat in the Lishkath-hagazith, "i. e.", Paved Hall, and two (ordinary) courts of justice consisting of twenty-three, one of which...
Xxiv : XXIV. Rabbi, Yehoshua ben Levi said, "In twenty-four cases doth the tribunal excommunicate for the honor of a Rabbi, and all are explained in our Mishna." Rabbi Elazer interposed and asked, "Where are they?" The reply was, "Go and seek, and thou shalt find." He went accordingly and sought, but...
V : V. The five times repeated "Bless the Lord, O my soul" (Ps. ciii. civ.), were said by David with reference both to God and the soul. As God fills the whole world, so does the soul fill the whole body; as God sees and is not seen, so the soul sees and is not seen; as God nourishes the whole world...
Lxxii : LXXII. Ptolemy, the king (of Egypt), assembled seventy-two elders of Israel and lodged them in seventy-two separate chambers, but did not tell them why he did so. Then he visited. each one in turn and said, "Write out for me the law of Moses your Rabbi." The Holy One--blessed be He!--went...
Ccxlviii : CCXLVIII. Beruriah once found a certain disciple who studied in silence. As soon as she saw him she spurned him and said, "Is it not thus written (2 Sam. xxiii. 5), 'Ordered in all and sure'? If ordered with all the two hundred and forty-eight members of thy body, it will be sure; if not, it will...
One Thousand : ONE THOUSAND. If one is sick and at the point of death, he is expected to confess, for all confess who are about to suffer the last penalty of the law. When a man goes to the market place, let him consider himself as handed over to the custody of the officers of judgment. If he has a headache, let...
One Hundred Thousand : ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND. That mule had a label attached to his neck on which it was stated that its breeding cost a hundred thousand zouzim. Bechoroth, fol. 8, col. 2. Rabbi Yossi said, "I have seen Sepphoris (Cyprus) in the days of its prosperity, and there were in it a hundred and eighty thous...
Xlv : XLV. These are the forty-five righteous men for whose sake the world is preserved. Chullin, fol. 92, col. 1.
Three Thousand : THREE THOUSAND. Rav Hamnunah said, "What is it that is written (1 Kings iv. 32), 'And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five'?" It is intended to teach that Solomon uttered three thousand proverbs upon each and every word of the law, and for every word...
The Kabbala : THE KABBALA "The words of the wise and their dark sayings" (Prov. i. 6). {p. 266} {p. 267} INTRODUCTORY NOTE THE Hebrew word Kabbal means "to receive," and its derivative, Kabbalah, signifies, "a thing received," viz, "Tradition," which, together with the written law, Moses received on Mount Sinai...
Eight Hundred : EIGHT HUNDRED. "The same was Adino the Eznite," etc. (2 Sam. xxiii. 8). This mighty man when studying the law was as pliant as a worm; but when engaged in war he was as firm and unyielding as a tree; and when he discharged an arrow he killed eight hundred men at one shot. Moed Katon, fol. 16, col...
X : X. The general height of the Levites was ten ells. Shabbath, fol. 92, col. 1. Ten things cause hemorrhoids:--Eating cane leaves, the foliage and tendrils of the vine, the palate of cattle, the backbones of fish, half-cooked salt fish, wine lees, etc. Berachoth, fol. 55, col. 1. Ten things provoke...
Xxix : XXIX. The renewal of the moon comes round in not less than twenty-nine days and a half and forty minutes. Ibid., fol. 25, col. 1.
Nine Hundred : NINE HUNDRED. There are nine hundred and three sorts of deaths in the world; for the expression occurs (Ps. lxviii. 20), "Issues of death." The numerical value of "issues" is nine hundred and three. The hardest of all deaths is by quinsy, and the easiest is the Divine kiss (of which Moses, Aar...
Xxxiv : XXXIV. For thirty-four years the kingdom of Persia lasted contemporaneously with the Temple. Avodah Zarah, fol. 9, col. 1.
Four Hundred : FOUR HUNDRED. Rav Hunna had four hundred casks of wine which had turned into vinegar. On hearing of his misfortune, Rav Yehudah, the brother of Rav Salla the Holy, or, as some say, Rav Adda bar Ahavah, came and visited him, accompanied by the Rabbis. "Let the master," said they, "examine himself...
Lxxxiii : LXXXIII. (Exod. xxiii. 35), "And I will take away sickness from the midst of thee." It is taught that sickness (Machlah) means the bile. But why is it termed Machlah? Because eighty-three diseases are in it. Machlah by Gematria equals eighty-three; and all may be avoided by an early breakfast...
Ix : IX. On the ninth day of the month Ab (about August) both the first Temple and the second were destroyed. Rosh Hashanah, fol. 18, col. 2. In 2 Kings xxv. 8, the seventh of Ab is the date given for the first of these events, whereas Jeremiah (lii. 12) mentions the tenth as the fatal day. Josephus...
Witchcraft : WITCHCRAFT. The daughters of Israel burn incense for (purposes of) sorcery. Berachoth, fol. 53, col. 1. Ben Azai (son of impudence), says, "... he who seats himself and then feels... (which must not be explained), the effects of witchcraft, even when practiced in Spain, will come upon him. What is...
Ciii : CIII. One hundred and three chapters (or psalms) were uttered by David, and he did not pronounce the word Hallelujah until he came to contemplate the downfall of the wicked; as it is written (Ps. civ. 35), "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord...
Iii : III. The night is divided into three watches, and at each watch the Holy One--blessed be He!--sits and roars like a lion; as it is written (Jer. xxv. 30), "The Lord will roar from on high,... roaring, He will roar over his habitation." The marks by which this division of the night is recognized are...
Lxxx : LXXX. The venerable Hillel had eighty disciples, thirty of whom were worthy that the Shechinah should rest upon them, as it rested upon Moses our Rabbi; and thirty of them were worthy that the sun should stand still (for them), as it did for Joshua the son of Nun; and twenty of them stood midway...
Xxxii : XXXII. When Rav Deimi arrived at Babylon, he reported that the Romans had fought thirty-two battles with the Greeks without once conquering them, until they allied themselves with Israel, on the stipulation that where Rome appointed the commanding officers the Jews should appoint the governors...
Xviii : XVIII. On the twenty-eighth day of Adar there came good news to the Jews. The Roman Government had passed a decree ordaining that they should neither study the law, nor circumcise their children, nor observe the Sabbath-days. Yehudah ben Shamua and his associates went to consult a certain matr...
Xiii : XIII. There were thirteen horn-shaped collecting-boxes, and thirteen tables, and thirteen devotional bowings in the Temple service. Those who belonged to the houses of Rabbi Gamliel and of Rabbi Chananiah, the president of the priests, bowed fourteen times. This extra act of bowing was directed...
Lx : LX. Black cummin is one of the sixty deadly drugs. Berachoth, fol. 40, col. 1. Ulla and Rav Chasda were once traveling together, when they came up to the gate of the house of Rav Chena bar Chenelai. At sight of it Rav Chasda stooped and sighed. "Why sighest thou?" asked Ulla, "seeing, as Rav says...
C : C. The Rabbis have taught us who they are that are to be accounted rich. "Every one," says Rabbi Meir, "who enjoys his riches." But Rabbi Tarphon says, "Every one who has a hundred vineyards and a hundred fields, with a hundred slaves to labor in them." Rabbi Akiva pronounces him well off who h...
Four Thousand : FOUR THOUSAND. All the prophets were rich men. This we infer from the account of Moses, Samuel, Amos, and Jonah. Of Moses, as it is written (Num. xvi. 15), "I have not taken one ass from them." Of Samuel, as it is written (1 Sam. xii. 3), "Behold, here I am; witness against me before the Lord...
Xcii : XCII. Rabbi (the Holy) was ninety-two years old, and yet could judge by taste of what was cooking in the pot." Shabbath, fol. 152, col. 1. Rava said, "Life, children, and competency do not depend on one's merit, but on luck; for instance, Rabbah and Rav Chasda were both righteous Rabbis; the one...
Cc : CC. Foolish saints, crafty villains, sanctimonious women, and self-afflicting Pharisees are the destroyers of the world. What is it to be a foolish saint? To see a woman drowning in the river and refrain from trying to save her because of the look of the thing. Who is to be regarded as a crafty...
Next. Xvi : XVI. Rabbi Cheyah bar Abba says, "I once visited a householder at Ludkia, and they placed before him a golden table so loaded with silver plate, basins, cups, bottles and glasses, besides all sorts of dishes, delicacies, and spices, {p. 139} that it took sixteen men to carry it. When they set...
Clxxx : CLXXX. A hundred and eighty years before the destruction of the Temple, the empire of idolatry (Rome) began the conquest of Israel. Shabbath, fol. 15, col. 1. The empire of Rome was, some think, so designated, because it strove with all its might to drag down the worship of God to the worship...
Xiv : XIV. A man must partake of fourteen meals in the booth during the Feast of Tabernacles. Succah, fol. 27, col. 1. Traditional chronology records that the Israelites killed the Paschal lamb on the fourteenth day of Nisan, the month on which they came out of Egypt. They came out on the fifteenth; th...
Twenty Thousand : TWENTY THOUSAND. Now we know what God does during the day, but how does He occupy Himself in the night-time? We may say He does the same as at day-time; or that during the night He rides on a swift cherub over eighteen thousand worlds; as it is said (Ps. lxviii. 17), "The chariots of God are twenty...
Three Hundred : THREE HUNDRED (PART 2). Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah proclaimed this anathema with the blast of three hundred trumpets:--"Whoever shall take drink from the hand of a bride, no matter whether she be the daughter of a disciple of the wise or the daughter of an Amhaaretz, it is all one as if he drunk it...
Xvii : XVII. The Rabbis have taught that a small salt fish will cause death if partaken of after seven, seventeen, or twenty-seven days; some say after twenty-three days. This is said with reference to half-cooked fish, but when properly cooked there is no harm in it. Neither does any harm result...
Ii : II. Not every man deserves to have two tables. Berachoth, fol. 5, col. 2. The meaning of this rather ambiguous sentence may either be, that all men are not able to succeed in more enterprises than one at a time; or that it is not given to every one to make the best both of the present world...
Criminals And Criminal Punishments : CRIMINALS AND CRIMINAL PUNISHMENTS. Four kinds of capital punishment were decreed by the court of justice:--Stoning, burning, beheading, and strangling; or as Rabbi Shimon arranges them--Burning, stoning, strangling, and beheading. As soon as the sentence of death is pronounced, the criminal is led...
Next. Xvii : XVII. Rabbi Yochanan plaintively records, "I remember the time when a young man and a young woman sixteen or seventeen years of age could walk together in the streets and no harm came of it." Bava Bathra, fol. 91, col. 2.
The Talmud : THE TALMUD {p. 3} THE TALMUD, THE MIDRASHIM, AND KABBALA WHERE do we learn that the Shechinah rests even upon one who studies the law? In Exodus xx. 24, where it is written, "In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." Berachoth, fol. 6, col. 1. One pang...
Lxxiv : LXXIV. Abraham was as tall as seventy-four people; what he ate and drank was enough to satisfy seventy-four ordinary men, and his strength was proportionate. Sophrim, chap. 21, 9.
Xxii : XXII. Rabbi Levi says the realization of a good dream may be hopefully expected for twenty-two years; for it is written (Gen. xxxvii. 2), "These are the generations of Jacob, {p. 142} Joseph being seventeen years old when he had the dreams." And it is written also (Gen. xli. 46), "And Joseph w...
Viii : VIII. The Rabbis teach that the precept relating to the lighting of a candle at the Feast of Dedication applies to a whole household, but that those who are particular light a candle for each individual member, and those that are extremely particular light up eight candles on the first day, seven...
Title Page : HEBRAIC LITERATURE TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TALMUD MIDRASHIM AND KABBALA. WITH SPECIAL INTRODUCTION BY MAURICE H. HARRIS, D.D. M. WALTER DUNNE, PUBLISHER WASHINGTON It May Be A Transcription Error.} {p. vi} COPYRIGHT 1901, BY M. WALTER DUNNE, PUBLISHER {p. vii}
Xli : XLI. Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav:--The Divine name, which consists of forty-two letters, is revealed only to him who is prudent and meek, who has reached the meridian of life, is not prone to wrath, not given to drink, and not revengeful. He that knows that name, and acts circumspectly...
Six Hundred : SIX HUNDRED. One Scripture text (1 Chron. xxi. 25) says, "So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold {p. 208} by weight." And another Scripture (2 Sam. xxiv. 24) says, "So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver." How is this? David took...
Vi : VI. Six things are a disgrace to a disciple of the wise:--To walk abroad perfumed, to walk alone by night, to wear old clouted shoes, to talk with a woman in the street, to sit at table with illiterate men, and to be late at the synagogue. Some add to these, walking with a proud step or a haughty...
Introduction : SPECIAL INTRODUCTION AMONG the absurd notions as to what the Talmud was, given credence in the Middle Ages, one was that it was a man! The medival priest or peasant was perhaps wiser than he knew. Almost, might we say, the Talmud was Man, for it is a record of the doings, the beliefs, the usages...
Forty Thousand : FORTY THOUSAND. Sennacherib the wicked invaded Jewry with forty-five thousand princes in golden coronets, and they had with them their wives and odalisques; also eighty thousand mighty men clad in mail and sixty thousand swordsmen ran before him, and the rest were cavalry. With a similar army they...
Xx : XX. If a man remain unmarried after the age of twenty, his life is a constant transgression. The Holy One--blessed be He!--waits until that period to see if one enters the matrimonial state, and curses his bones if he remain single. Kiddushin, fol. 29, col. 2. A woman marrying under twenty years...
Two Thousand : TWO THOUSAND. There was a great court at Jerusalem called Beth Yaazek, where all witnesses (who could testify to the time of the appearance of the new moon) used to assemble, and where they were examined by the authorities. Grand feasts were prepared for them as an inducement to them to come...
Xl : XL. The principal works of the hand are forty save one:--To sow, to plow, to reap, to bind in sheaves, to. thrash, to winnow, to sift corn, to grind, to bolt meal, to knead, to bake, to shear, to wash wool, to comb wool, to, dye it, to spin, to warp, to shoot two threads, to weave two threads...
Xxi : XXI. The bathing season at (the hot baths of) Dimsis lasted twenty-one days. Shabbath, fol. 147, col. 2. A fowl hatches in twenty-one days, and the almond tree ripens its fruit in twenty-one days. Bechoroth, fol. 8, col. 1.
Eighty Thousand : EIGHTY THOUSAND. "He hath cut off in His fierce anger all the horn of Israel," etc. (Lam. ii. 3). These are the eighty thousand war-horns or battering-rams that entered the city of Byther, in which he massacred so many men, women, and children, that their blood ran like a river and flowed ...
Proverbial Sayings And Traditions : PROVERBIAL SAYINGS AND TRADITIONS DO NOT to others what you would not have others do to you. The ass complains of the cold even in July (Tamuz.) First learn and then teach. Few are they who see their own faults. A single light answers as well for a hundred men as for one. Victuals prepared by many...
Xv : XV. Twenty-five children is the highest number there should be in a class for elementary instruction. There should be an assistant appointed, if there be forty in number; and if fifty, there should be two competent teachers. Rava says, "If there be two teachers in a place, one teaching the children...
Xxxvi : XXXVI. The sons of Esau, of Ishmael, and of Keturah went on purpose to dispute the burial (of Jacob); but when they saw that Joseph had placed his crown upon the coffin, they did the same with theirs. There were thirty-six crowns in all, tradition says. "And they mourned with a great and very sore...
Witnesses : WITNESSES. An ignoramus is ineligible for a witness. The following are ineligible as witnesses of the appearance of the new moon:--Dice-players, usurers, pigeon fliers, sellers of the produce of the year of release, and slaves. This is the general rule; in any case in which women are inadmissible...
Xlviii : XLVIII. Rabbi Meir had a disciple named Sumchus, who in every case assigned forty-eight reasons why one thing should be called clean and why another should be called unclean, though Scripture declared the contrary. (A striking illustration of Rabbinical ingenuity! ) Eiruvin, fol. 13, col. 2...
