Chapter VII: Part 7

This story cannot fail to remind those who are conversant with
Herodotus or Schiller of the legend of King Polycrates, which
dates back five or six centuries before the present era.
Polycrates, the king of Samos, was one of the most fortunate of
men, and everything he took in hand was fabled to prosper. This
unbroken series of successes caused disquietude to his friends,
who saw in the circumstance foreboding of some dire disaster;
till Amasis, king of Egypt, one of the number advised him to
spurn the favor of fortune by throwing away what he valued
dearest. The most valuable thing he possessed was an emerald
signet-ring, and this accordingly he resolved to sacrifice. So,
manning a galley, he rowed out to the sea, and threw the ring
away into the waste of the waters. Some five or six days after
this, a fisherman came to the palace and made the king a present
of a very fine fish that he had caught. This the servants
proceeded to open, when, to their surprise, they came upon a
ring, which on examination proved to be the very ring which had
been cast away by the king their master. (See Herodotus, book
iii.)

Among the many legends that have clustered round the memory of
Solomon, there is one which reads very much like an adaptation
of this classic story. The version the Talmud gives of this
story is quoted in another part of this Miscellany (chap. vi.
No. 8, note), but in Emek Hammelech, fol. 14, col. 4, we have
the legend in another form, with much amplitude and variety of
detail, of which we can give here only an outline. When the
building of the Temple was finished, the king of the demons
begged Solomon to set him free from his service, and promised in
return to teach him a secret he would be sure to value. Having
cajoled Solomon out of possession of his signet-ring, he first
flung the ring into the sea, where it was swallowed by a fish,
and then taking up Solomon himself, he cast him into a foreign
land some four hundred miles away, where for three weary long
years he wandered up and down like a vagrant, begging his bread
from door to door. In the course of his rambles he came to Mash
Kemim, and was so fortunate as to be appointed head cook at the
palace of the king of Ammon (Ana Hanun, see 1 Kings xii. 24;
LXX.). While employed in this office, Naama, the king's daughter
(see 1 Kings xiv. 21, 31, and 2 Chron. xii. 13), fell in love
with him, and, determining to marry him, eloped with him for
refuge to a distant land. One day as Naama was preparing a fish
for dinner, she found in it a ring, and this turned cut to be
the very ring which the king of the demons had flung into the
sea, and the loss of which had bewitched the king out of his
power and dominion. In the recovery of the ring the king both
recovered himself and the throne of his father David.

The occurrence of a fish and a ring on the arms of the city of
Glasgow memorializes a legend in which we find the same singular
combination of circumstances. A certain queen of the district
one day gave her paramour a golden ring which the king her
husband had committed to her charge as a keepsake. By some means
or other the king got to know of the whereabouts of the ring,
and cleverly contriving to secure possession of it, threw it
into the sea. He then went straight to the queen and demanded to
know where it was and what she had done with it. The queen in
her distress repaired to St. Kentigern, and both made full
confession of her guilt and her anxiety about the recovery of
the ring, that she might regain the lost favor of her husband.
The saint set off at once to the Clyde, and there caught a
salmon and the identical ring in the mouth of it. This he handed
over to the queen, who returned it to her lord with such
expressions of penitence that the restoration of it became the
bond and pledge between them of a higher and holier wedlock.

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 to the quarter of the wood store, in consequence of a tradition they inherited from their ancestors that the Ark of the Covenant was hidden in that locality. The origin of the tradition was this:--A priest, being once engaged near the wood store, and observing that part of the plaster differed from the rest, went to tell his companions, but died before he had time to relate his discovery. Thus it became known for certain that the Ark was hidden there.

_Shekalim_ chap. 3, hal, 1.

It is more than probable that the Chananiah, mentioned above, is
the person alluded to in the Acts, chap, xxiii. 2, as "the high
priest Ananias." For the tradition about the Ark. see also 2
Macc. ii. 4, 5.

There were thirteen horn-shaped collecting-boxes in the Temple, and upon them were inscribed new shekels, old shekels, turtle-dove offerings, young-pigeon offerings, fire-wood, contributions for Galbanus, gold for the mercy-seat; and six boxes were inscribed for voluntary contributions. New shekels were for the current year, old shekels were for the past one.

_Yoma_, fol. 55, col, 2.

Once on account of long-continued drought Rabbi Eliezer proclaimed thirteen public fasts, but no rain came. At the termination of the last fast, just as the congregation was leaving the synagogue, he cried aloud, "Have you then prepared graves for yourselves?" Upon this all the people burst into bitter cries, and rain came down directly.

_Taanith_, fol. 25, col. 2.

A boy at thirteen years of age is bound to observe the usual fasts in full, i.e., throughout the whole day. A girl is bound to do so when only twelve. Rashi gives this as the reason:--A boy is supposed to be weaker than a girl on account of the enervating effect of much study.

_Kethuboth_, fol. 5, col. 1.

A poor man once came to Rava and begged for a meal. "On what dost thou usually dine?" asked Rava. "On stuffed fowl and old wine," was the reply. "What!" said Rava, "art thou not concerned about being so burdensome to the community?" He replied, "I eat nothing belonging to them, only what the Lord provides; as we are taught (Ps. cxlv. 15), 'The eyes of all wait upon Thee, and Thou givest them their meat in his season.' It is not said in their season, for so we learn that God provides for each individual in his season of need." While they were thus talking, in came Rava's sister, who had not been to see him for thirteen years, and she brought him as a present a stuffed fowl and some old wine also. Rava marveled at the coincidence, and turning to his poor visitor said, "I beg thy pardon, friend; rise, I pray thee, and eat."

Ibid., fol. 67, col. 2.

So great is circumcision that thirteen covenants were made concerning it. Tosafoth says that covenant is written thirteen times in the chapter of circumcision.

_Nedarim_, fol. 31, col. 2.

Rabbi (the Holy) says sufferings are to be borne with resignation. He himself bore them submissively for thirteen years; for six he suffered from lithiasis, and for seven years from stomatitis (or, as some say, six years from the former and seven from the latter). His groans were heard three miles off.

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 85, col. 1.

The Rabbis have taught thirteen things respecting breakfast (morning-morsel):--It counteracts the effects of heat, cold or draught; it protects from malignant demons; it makes wise the simple by keeping the mind in a healthy condition; it enables a man to come off clear from a judicial inquiry; it qualifies him both to learn and to teach the law; it makes him eagerly listened to, to have a retentive memory, etc.

Ibid. fol. 107, col. 2.

The land of Israel is in the future to be divided among thirteen tribes, and not, as at first, among twelve.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 122, col. 1.

Rabbi Abhu once complimented Rav Saphra before the Minim by singling him out in their hearing as a man distinguished by his learning, and this led them to exempt him from tribute for thirteen years. It so happened that these Minim once posed Saphra about that which is written in Amos iii. 2, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." "Ye say you are God's friends, but when one has a friend does he pour out his wrath upon him?" To this Rav Saphra make no reply. They then put a rope round his neck and tormented him. When he was in this sorry plight, Rabbi Abhu came up and inquired why they tormented him thus. To this they made answer, "Didst thou not tell us that he was a very learned man, and he does not even know how to explain a text of Scripture?" "Yes, I did so say," replied Rabbi Abhu; "he is an adept in the Talmud only, but not in the Scriptures." "Thou knowest the Scriptures;" they replied, "and why ought he not to know them as well?" "I have daily intercourse with you," said the Rabbi, "and therefore I am obliged to study the Scriptures, but he, having no intercourse with you, has no need to trouble himself, and does not at all care about them."

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 4, col. 1.

In order to understand aright the grounds on which Rabbi Abhu
would fain excuse Rav Saphra for not caring at all about the
Scriptures, certain passages from both Talmuds should be read,
which, in the usual metaphorical style of the Rabbis, set forth
the respective merits of Scripture and Tradition. The three
times three in Sophrim (chap. 15), in which the Scripture is
compared to water, the Mishna to wine, and the Gemara to mulled
wine, and that in which the Scripture is likened to salt, the
Mishna to pepper, and the Gemara to spice, and so on, are too
well known to need more than passing mention; but far less
familiar and much more explicit is the exposition of Zech. viii.
10, as given in T.B. Chaggigah, fol. 10, col. 1, where,
commenting on the Scripture text, "Neither, was there any peace
to him that went out or came in," Rav expressly says, "He who
leaves a matter of Halachah for a matter of Scripture shall
never more have peace;" to which Shemuel adds, "Aye, and he also
who leaves the Talmud for the Mishna;" Rabbi Yochanan chiming in
with "even from Talmud to Talmud;" as if to say, "And he who
turns from the Babli to the Yerushalmi, even he shall have no
peace." If we refer to the Mishna (chap. 1, hal. 7) of Berachoth
in the last-named Talmud, we read there that Rabbi Tarphon,
bent, while on a journey, on reading the Shema according to the
school of Shammai, ran the risk of falling into the hands of
certain banditti whom he had not noticed near him. "It would
have served you right," remarked one, "because you did not
follow the rule of Hillel." In the Gemara to this passage Rabbi
Yochanan says, "The words of the scribes are more highly valued
than the words of the law, for, as Rabbi Yuda remarks, 'If Rabbi
Tarphon had not read the Shema at all he would only have broken
a positive command,' but since he transgressed the rule of
Hillel he was guilty of death, for it is written, 'He who breaks
down a hedge (the Rabbinic hedge to the law, of course), a
serpent shall bite him'" (Eccles. x. 8). Then Rabbi Chanina, the
son of Rabbi Ana, in the name of Rabbi Tanchum, the son of Rabbi
Cheyah, says, "The words of the elders are more important than
the words of the prophets." A prophet and an elder, whom do they
resemble? They are like two ambassadors sent by a king to a
province. About the one he sends word saying, "If he does not
present credentials with my signature and seal, trust him not;"
whereas the other is accredited without any such token; for in
regard to the prophet it is written (Deut. xiii. 2), "He giveth
thee a sign or token;" while in reference to the elders it is
written (Deut. xvii. 11), "According to the decision which they
may say unto thee shalt thou do; thou shalt not depart from the
sentence which they may tell thee, to the right or to the left."
Rashi's comment on this text is worth notice: "Even when they
tell thee that right is left and left is right." In a word, a
wise man (i.e., a Rabbi) is better than a prophet. (_Bava
Bathra_ fol. 12, col. 1.)

Oved, the Galilean, has expounded that there are thirteen _vavs_ (i.e., the letter _vav_ occurs thirteen times) in connection with wine. _Vav_ in Syriac means woe.

_Sanhedrin_ fol. 70, col. 1.

The Rabbis have a curious Haggada respecting the origin of the
culture of the vine. Once while Noah was hard at work breaking
up the fallow ground for a vineyard, Satan drew near and
inquired what he was doing. On ascertaining that the patriarch
was about to cultivate the grape, which he valued both for its
fruit and its juice, he at once volunteered to assist him at his
task, and began to manure the soil with the blood of a lamb, a
lion, a pig, and a monkey. "Now," said he, when his work was
done, "of those who taste the juice of the grape, some will
become meek and gentle as the lamb, some bold and fearless as
the lion, some foul and beastly as the pig, and others
frolicsome and lively as the monkey." This quaint story may be
found more fully detailed in the Midrash Tanchuma (see Noah) and
the Yalkut on Genesis. The Mohammedan legend is somewhat
similar. It relates how Satan on the like occasion used the
blood of a peacock, of an ape, of a lion, and of a pig, and it
deduces from the abuse of the vine the curse that fell on the
children of Ham, and ascribes the color of the purple grape to
the dark hue which thenceforth tinctured all the fruit of their
land as well as their own complexions.

At thirteen years of age, a boy becomes bound to observe the (613) precepts of the law.

_Avoth_, chap. 5.

Rabbi Ishmael says the law is to be expounded according to thirteen logical rules.

_Chullin_, fol. 63, col. 1.

The thirteen rules of Rabbi Ishmael above referred to are not to
be found together in any part of the Talmud, but they are
collected for repetition in the Liturgy, and are as follows:--

1. Inference is valid from minor to major.

2. From similar phraseology.

3. From the gist or main point of one text to that of other
passages.

4. Of general and particular.

5. Of particular and general.

6. From a general, or a particular and a general, the ruling
both of the former and the latter is to be according to the
middle term, i.e., the one which is particularized.

7. From a general text that requires a particular instance, and
_vice versà_.

8. When a particular rule is laid down for something which has
already been included in a general law, the rule is to apply to
all.

9. When a general rule has an exception, the exception mitigates
and does not aggravate the rule.

10. When a general rule has an exception not according
therewith, the exception both mitigates and aggravates.

11. When an exception to a general rule is made to substantiate
extraneous matter, that matter cannot be classed under the said
general rule, unless the Scripture expressly says so.

12. The ruling is to be according to the context, or to the
general drift of the argument.

13. When two texts are contradictory, a third is to be sought
that reconciles them.

Rabbi Akiva was forty years of age when he began to study, and after thirteen years of study he began publicly to teach.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan._

Thirteen treasurers and seven directors were appointed to serve in the Temple. (More there might be, never less.)

_Tamid_, fol. 27, col. 1.

Thirteen points of law regulate the decisions that require to be made relative to the carcass of a clean bird.

_Taharoth_, chap. i, mish. 1.

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; that day was a Friday.

_Shabbath_, fol. 88, col. 1.

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 and Levites descended into the women's ante-court, where they made great preparations (such as erecting temporary double galleries, the uppermost for women, and those under for men). There were golden candelabra there, each having four golden bowls on the top, four ladders reaching to them, and four of the young priests with cruses of oil ready to supply them, each cruse holding one hundred and twenty logs of oil. The lamp-wicks were made of the worn-out drawers and girdles of the priests. There was not a court in all Jerusalem that was not lit up by the illumination of the "water-drawing." Holy men, and men of dignity, with flaming torches in their hands, danced before the people, rehearsing songs and singing praises. The Levites, with harps, lutes, cymbals, trumpets, and innumerable musical instruments, were stationed on the fifteen steps which led from the ante-court of Israel to the women's court; the Levites stood upon the steps and played and sang. Two priests stood at the upper gate which led from the ante-court for Israel to that for the women, each provided with a trumpet, and as soon as the cock crew they blew one simple blast, then a compound or fragmentary one, and then a modulated or shouting blast. This was the preconcerted signal for the drawing of the water. As soon as they reached the tenth step, they blew again three blasts as before. When they came to the ante-court for women, they blew another three blasts, and after that they continued blowing till they came to the east gate. When they arrived at the east gate, they turned their faces westward (i.e., toward the Temple), and said, "Our fathers, who were in this place, turned their backs toward the Temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the East, for they worshiped the sun in the East; but we turn our eyes to God!" Rabbi Yehudah says, "These words were repeated, echoing, 'We are for God, and unto God are our eyes directed!'"

_Succah_, fol. 51, col. 1, 2.

Rabbon Shimon ben Gamliel has said there were no such gala-days for Israel as the fifteenth of Ab and the Day of Atonement, when the young maidens of Jerusalem used to resort to the vineyard all robed in white garments, that were required to be borrowed, lest those should feel humiliated who had none of their own. There they danced gleefully, calling to the lookers-on and saying, "Young men, have a care; the choice you now make may have consequences."

_Taanith_, fol. 26, col. 2.

Rabbi Elazar the Great said, "From the fifteenth of Ab the influence of the sun declines, and from that day they leave off cutting wood for the altar fire, because it could not be properly dried (and green wood might harbor vermin, which would make it unfit for use)."

_Taanith_, fol. 31, col. 1.

He who eats turnips to beef, and sleeps out in the open air during the night of the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the months of summer (that is, when the moon is full), will most likely bring on an ague fever.

_Gittin_, fol. 70, col. 1.

A lad should, at the age of fifteen, begin to apply himself to the Gemara.

_Avoth_, chap. 5.

"So I bought her to me for fifteen" (Hosea iii. 2), that is, on the fifteenth day of Nisan, when Israel was redeemed from the bondage of Egypt. "Silver;" this refers to the righteous. "An homer and a half-homer;" these equal forty-five measures, and are the forty-five righteous men for whose sake the world is preserved. I don't know whether there are thirty here (that is, in Babylon), and fifteen in the land of Israel, or _vice versà_; as it is said (Zech. xi. 13), "I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." It stands to reason that there are thirty in the land of Israel, and, therefore, fifteen here. Abaii says that the greater part are to be found under the gable end of the synagogue. Rav Yehudah says the reference is to the thirty righteous men always found among the nations of the world for whose sake they are preserved (but see No. 103 _infra_). Ulla says it refers to the thirty precepts received by the nations of the world, of which, however, they keep three only; i.e. they do not enter into formal marriage-contracts with men; they do not expose for sale the bodies of such animals as have died from natural causes; and they have regard for the law.

_Chullin_, fol. 92, col. 1.

Rabbi Cheyah bar Abba says, "I once visited a house-holder 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, that it took sixteen men to carry it. When they set the table in its place they said (Ps. xxiv. 1), 'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,' and upon removing it, they said (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth hath He given to the children of men.' I said, 'Son, how hast thou come to deserve all this?' 'I was,' replied he, 'a butcher by trade, and I always set apart for the Sabbath the best of the cattle.' 'How happy art thou,' I remarked (adds Rabbi Cheyah), 'to have merited such a reward, and blessed be God who has thus rewarded thee.'"

_Shabbath_, fol. 119, col. 1.

Rash Lakish said, "I have seen the flow of milk and honey at Tzipori; it was sixteen miles by sixteen miles."

_Meggillah_, fol. 6, col. 1.

Rashi explains the above as follows:--The goats fed upon figs
from which honey distilled, and this mingled with the milk which
dropped from the goats as they walked along. On the spot arose a
lake which covered an area of sixteen miles square. (See also
Kethuboth, fol. iii, col. 2.)

A cedar tree once fell down in our place, the trunk of which was so wide that sixteen wagons were drawn abreast upon it.

_Bechoroth_, fol. 57, col. 2.

Who can estimate the loss the world sustains in its ignorance of
the trees of the Talmud? What a sapling in comparison with this
giant cedar of Lebanon must the far-famed Mammoth tree have been
which was lately cut down in California, and was the largest
known to the present generation!

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.

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 his wife. He replied, "Use the precious bowl while thou hast it, even if it be broken the next." But she rejoined, "Thou art only eighteen years old, and how canst thou at such an age expect folks to venerate thee?" By a miracle eighteen of his locks turned suddenly gray, so that he could say, "I am as one of seventy."

_Berachoth_, fol. 27, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that Shimon Happikoli had arranged the eighteen benedictions before Rabbon Gamliel at Javneh. Rabbon Gamliel appealed to the sages, "Is there not a man who knows how to compose an imprecation against the Sadducees?" Then Samuel the Little stood up and extemporized it.

Ibid., fol. 28, col. 2.

The "imprecation against the Sadducees" stands twelfth among the
collects of the Shemoneh Esreh. It is popularly known as
"Velama-leshinim" from its opening words, and is given thus in
modern Ashkenazi liturgies:--"Oh, let the slanderers have no
hope, all the wicked be annihilated speedily, and all the
tyrants be cut off, hurled down and reduced speedily; humble
Thou them quickly in our days. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who
destroyest enemies and humblest tyrants." There has been much
misconception with regard to this collect against heretics.
There is every reason to believe it was composed without any
reference whatever to the Christians. One point of interest,
however, in connection with it is worth relating here. Some have
sought to identify the author of it, Samuel the Little, with the
Apostle Paul, grounded the conclusion on his original Hebrew
name, Saul. They take Paulus as equal to _pusillus_, which means
"very little" or "the less," and answers to the word _Hakaton_,
a term of similar import. Samuel, however, died a good Jew (see
Semachoth, chap. 8), and Rabbon Gamliel Hazaken and Rabbi
Eleazar ben Azariah pronounced a funeral oration at his burial.
"His key and his diary were placed on his coffin, because he had
no son to succeed him." (See also Sanhedrin, fol. ii, col. 1.)

Eighteen denunciations did Isaiah make against the people of Israel, and he recovered not his equanimity until he was able to add, "The child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable" (Isa. iii. 5).

_Chaggigah_, fol. 14, col. 1.

The Rabbis have related that there was once a family in Jerusalem the members of which died off regularly at eighteen years of age. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zacchai shrewdly guessed that they were descendants of Eli, regarding whom it is said (1 Sam. ii. 25), "And all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age;" and he accordingly advised them to devote themselves to the study of the law, as the certain and only means of neutralizing the curse. They acted upon the advice of the Rabbi; their lives were in consequence prolonged; and they thenceforth went by the name of their spiritual father.

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 18, col. 1.

Eighteen handbreadths was the height of the golden candlestick.

_Menachoth_, fol. 28, col. 2.

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 of age will bear till she is sixty; if she marries at twenty she will bear until she is forty; if she marries at forty she will not have any family.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 119, col. 2.

At twenty pursue the study of the law.

_Avoth_, chap. 5.

Rabbi Yehudah says the early Pietists used to suffer some twenty days before death from diarrhoea, the effect of which was to purge and purify them for the world to come; for it is said, "As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise" (Prov. xxvii. 21).

_Semachoth_, chap. 3, mish. 10.

It may not be out of place to append two or three parallel
passages here by way of illustration:--"Bodily suffering purges
away sin" (_Berachoth_, fol. 5, col. 1). "He who suffers will
not see hell" (_Eiruvin_, fol. 41, col. 2). "To die of diarrhoea
is an augury for good, for most of the righteous die of that
ailment" (_Kethuboth_, fol. 103, col. 2, and elsewhere).

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.

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, Joseph being seventeen years old when he had the dreams." And it is written also (Gen. xli. 46), "And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh," etc. From seventeen to thirty are thirteen, to which add the seven years of plenty and the two years of famine, which make the sum total of twenty-two.

_Berachoth_, fol. 55, col. 2.

In the pages which precede and follow the above quotation there
is much that is interesting on the subject of dreams and their
interpretation, and one is strongly tempted to append
selections, but we refrain in order to make room for a prayer
which occurs in the morning service for the various festivals,
and is given in the preceding context:--"Sovereign of the
Universe! I am thine, and my dreams are thine. I have dreamed a
dream, but know not what it portendeth. May it be acceptable in
Thy presence, O Lord my God, and the God of my fathers, that all
my dreams concerning myself and concerning all Israel may be for
my good. Whether I have dreamt concerning myself, or whether I
have dreamt concerning others, or whether others have dreamt
concerning me, if they be good, strengthen and fortify them,
that they may be accomplished in me, as were the dreams of the
righteous Joseph; and if they require cure, heal them as Thou
didst Hezekiah, king of Judah, from his sickness; as Miriam the
prophetess from her leprosy, and Naaman from his leprosy; as the
bitter waters of Marah by the hands of our legislator Moses, and
those of Jericho by the hands of Elisha. And as Thou wast
pleased to turn the curse of Balaam, the son of Beor, to a
blessing, be pleased to convert all my dreams concerning me and
all Israel to a good end. Oh, guard me; let me be acceptable to
Thee, and grant me life. Amen." (The translation of this prayer
is borrowed from the Jewish liturgy.)

Rabbi Levi said, "Come and see how unlike the character of the Holy One--blessed be He!--is to that of those who inherit the flesh and blood of humanity. God blessed Israel with twenty-two benedictions and cursed them with eight curses (Lev. xxvi. 3-13, xv. 43). But Moses, our Rabbi, blessed them with eight benedictions and cursed them with twenty-two imprecations" (see Deut. xxviii. 1-4, xv. 68).

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 59, col. i.

Once as they were journeying to Chesib (in Palestine), some of Rabbi Akiva's disciples were overtaken by a band of robbers, who demanded to know where they were going to. "We are going to Acco," was the reply; but on arriving at Chesib, they went no farther. The robbers then asked them who they were? "Disciples of Rabbi Akiva," they replied. Upon hearing this the robbers exclaimed, "Blessed surely is Rabbi Akiva and his disciples too, for no man can ever do them any harm." Once as Rabbi Menasi was traveling to Thurtha (in Babylonia), some thieves surprised him on the road and asked him where he was bound for. "For Pumbeditha," was the reply; but upon reaching Thurtha, he stayed and went no farther. The highwaymen, thus balked, retorted, "Thou art the disciple of Yehuda the deceiver!" "Oh, you know my master, do you?" said the Rabbi. "Then in the name of God be every one of you anathematized." For twenty-two years thereafter they carried on their nefarious trade, but all their attempts at violence ended only in disappointment. Then all save one of them came to the Rabbi and craved his pardon, which was immediately granted. The one who did not come to confess his guilt and obtain absolution was a weaver, and he was eventually devoured by a lion. Hence the proverbs, "If a weaver does not humble himself, he shortens his life;" and, "Come and see the difference there is between the thieves of Babylon and the banditti of the land of Israel."

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 26, col. 1.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus was twenty-two years of age when, contrary to the wishes of his father, he went to Rabbon Yochanan ben Zaccai purposing to devote himself to the study of the law. By the time he arrived at Rabbon Yochanan's he had been without food four-and-twenty hours, and yet, though repeatedly asked whether he had had anything to eat, refused to confess he was hungry. His father having come to know where he was, went one day to the place on purpose to disinherit him before the assembled Rabbis. It so happened that Rabbon Yochanan was at that time lecturing before some of the great men of Jerusalem, and when he saw the father enter, he pressed Rabbi Eliezer to deliver an exposition. So racy and cogent were his observations that Rabbon Yochanan rose and styled him his own Rabbi, and thanked him in the name of the rest for the instruction he had afforded them. Then the father of Rabbi Eliezer said, "Rabbis, I came here for the purpose of disinheriting my son, but now I declare him sole heir of all I have, to the exclusion of his brothers."

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 6.

The father of Eliezer acts more magnanimously by his son than
does the father of St. Francis. Like the Rabbi, as Mr. Ruskin
relates in his "Mornings in Florence," St. Francis, one of whose
three great virtues was obedience, "begins his spiritual life by
quarreling with his father. He 'commercially invests' some of
his father's goods in charity. His father objects to that
investment, on which St. Francis runs away, taking what he can
find about the house along with him. His father follows to claim
his property, but finds it is all gone already, and that St.
Francis has made friends with the Bishop of Assisi. His father
flies into an indecent passion, and declares he will disinherit
him; on which St. Francis, then and there, takes all his clothes
off, throws them frantically in his father's face, and says he
has nothing more to do with clothes or father."

Not the same strict scrutiny is required in money matters as in cases of capital punishment; for it is said (Lev. xxiv. 23), "Ye shall have one manner of law." What distinction is there made between them? With regard to money matters three judges are deemed sufficient, while in cases of capital offense twenty-three are required, etc.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 32, col. 1.

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 found only three--the case of the man who lightly esteems the washing of hands; of him who whispers evil behind the bier of a disciple of the wise; and of him who behaves haughtily toward the Most High.

_Berachoth_, fol. 19, col. 1.

There are three degrees of excommunication, i.e., separation,
exclusion, and execration. That mentioned in the above extract
is of the lowest degree, and lasts never less than thirty days.
The second degree of excommunication is a prolongation of the
first by thirty days more. The third or highest degree lasts for
an indefinite time. See Moed Katon, fol. 17, col. 1; Shevuoth,
fol. 36, col. 1; and consult Index II. appended.

A certain matron once said to Rabbi Yehuda ben Elaei, "Thy face is like that of one who breeds pigs and lends money on usury." He replied, "These offices are forbidden me by the rules of my religion, but between my residence and the academy there are twenty-four latrinæ; these I regularly visit as I need."

_Berachoth_, fol. 55, col. 1.

The Rabbi meant to say that paying attention to the regular
action of his excretory organs was the secret of his healthy
looks, and to imply that a disordered stomach is the root of
most diseases,--a physiological opinion well worthy of regard by
us moderns.

Rav Birim says that the venerable Rav Benaah once went to all the interpreters of dreams in Jerusalem, twenty-four in number. Every one of them gave a different interpretation, and each was fulfilled; which substantiates the saying that it is the interpretation and not the dream that comes true.

Ibid., fol. 55, col. 2.

Twenty-four fasts were observed by the men of the Great Synagogue, in order that the writers of the books, phylacteries, and Mezuzahs might not grow rich, lest in becoming rich they might be tempted not to write any more.

_P'sachim_, fol. 50, col. 2.

When Solomon was desirous of conveying the Ark into the Temple, the doors shut themselves of their own accord against him. He recited twenty-four psalms, yet they opened not. In vain he cried, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates" (Ps. xxiv. 9). But when he prayed, "O Lord God, turn not Thy face away from Thine anointed; remember the mercies of David, Thy servant" (2 Chron. vi. 42), then the gates flew open at once. Then the enemies of David turned black in the face, for all knew by this that God had pardoned David's transgression with Bathseheba.

_Moed Katon_, fol. 9, col. 1.

In the Midrash Rabbah (Devarim, chap. 15) the same story is
told, with this additional circumstance among others, that a
sacred respect was paid to the gates when the Temple was sacked
at the time of the Captivity. When the glorious vessels and
furniture of the Temple were being carried away into Babylon,
the gates, which were so zealous for the glory of God, were
buried on the spot (see Lam. ii. 9), there to await the
restoration of Israel. This romantic episode is alluded to in
the closing service for the Day of Atonement.

There are twenty-four species of unclean birds, but the clean birds are innumerable.

_Chullin_, fol. 63, col. 2.

In twenty-four places priests are called Levites, and this is one of them (Ezek. xliv. 15), "But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok."

_Tamid_, fol. 27, col. 1.

There are twenty-four extremities of members in the human body which do not suffer defilement in the case of diseased flesh (see Lev. xiii. 10, 24). The tip-ends of the fingers and toes, the edges of the ears, the tip of the nose, etc.

_Negaim_, chap. 6, mish. 7.

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 more than the other, the one that teaches less is not to be dismissed, because if so, the other is liable to lapse into negligence also." Rav Deimi of Nehardaa, on the other hand, thinks the dismissal of the former will make the latter all the more eager to teach more, both out of fear lest he also be dismissed, and out of gratitude that he has been preferred to the other. Mar says, "The emulation of the scribes (or teachers) increaseth wisdom." Rava also says, "When there are two teachers, one teaching much but superficially, and one teaching thoroughly but not so much, the former is to be preferred, for the children will, in the long run, improve most by learning much." Rav Deimi of Nehardaa, however, thinks the latter is to be preferred, for a mistake or an error once learned is difficult to unlearn; as it is written in 1 Kings xi. 16, "For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he cut off every male in Edom." When David asked Joab why he killed only the males and not the females, he replied, "Because it is written in Deut. xxv. 19, 'Thou shalt blot out the male portion of Amalek.'" "But," said David, "we read 'the remembrance of Amalek.'" To this Joab replied, "My teacher taught me to read zachar and not zeichar," i.e., male, and not remembrance. The teacher of Joab was sent for; and being found guilty of having taught his pupil in a superficial manner, he was condemned to be beheaded. The poor teacher pleaded in vain for his life, for the king's judgment was based on Scripture (Jer. xlviii. 10), "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood."

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 21, col. 1.

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.

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 from eating half-cooked fish, if strong drink be taken after it.

_Berachoth_, fol. 44, col. 2.

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 matron, whom all the magnates of Rome were in the habit of visiting. She advised them to come at night and raise a loud outcry against the decree they complained of. They did so, and cried, "O heavens! are we not your brethren? are we not the children of one mother?" (Alluding to Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.) "Wherein are we worse than all other nations and tongues, that you should oppress us with such harsh decrees?" Thereupon the decrees were revoked; to commemorate which the Jews established a festival.

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 19, col. 1.

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.

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 sickness, but if taken every day the action of the heart is apt to be affected.

_Berachoth_, fol. 40, col. 1.

He who eats unripe dates and does not wash his hands will for thirty day be in constant fear, without knowing why, of something untoward happening.

_P'sachim_, fol. 111, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that the lighter kind of excommunication is not to last less than thirty days, and censure not less than seven. The latter is inferred from what is said in Num. xii. 14, "If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days?"

_Moed Katon_, fol. 16, col. 1.

If we meet a friend during any of the thirty days of his mourning for a deceased relative, we must condole with him but not salute him; but after that time he may be saluted but not condoled with. If a man (because he has no family) re-marries within thirty days of the death of his wife, he should not be condoled with at home (lest it might hurt the feelings of his new partner); but if met with out of doors, he should be addressed in an undertone of voice, accompanied with a slight inclination of the head.

Ibid., fol. 21, col. 2.

During the thirty days of mourning for deceased friends or relatives, the bereaved should not trim their hair; but if they have lost their parents, they are not to attend to such matters until their friends force them to do so.

Ibid., fol. 22, col. 2.

"And Haman told them of the glory of his riches and the multitude of his children" (Esth. v. 11). And how many children were there? Rav said thirty; ten had died, ten were hanged, and ten went about begging from door to door. The Rabbis say, "Those that went about begging from door to door were seventy; for it is written (1 Sam. ii. 5), 'They that were full have hired themselves for bread.'"

_Meggillah_, fol. 15, col. 2.

When Rabbi Chanena bar Pappa was about to die, the Angel of Death was told to go and render him some friendly service. He accordingly went and made himself known to him. The Rabbi requested him to leave him for thirty days, until he had repeated what he had been learning; for it is said, "Blessed is he who comes here with his studies in his hand." He accordingly left, and at the expiration of thirty days returned to him. The Rabbi then asked to be shown his place in Paradise, and the Angel of Death consented to show him while life was still in him. Then said the Rabbi, "Lend me thy sword, lest thou surprise me on the road and cheat me of my expectation." To this the Angel of Death said, "Dost thou mean to serve me as thy friend Rabbi Yoshua did?" and he declined to intrust the sword to the Rabbi.

_Kethuboth_, fol. 77, col. 2.

If a man says to a woman, "Thou art betrothed to me after thirty days," and in the interim another comes and betroths her, she is the second suitor's.

_Kiddushin_, fol. 58, col 2.

If one finds a scroll, he may peruse it once in thirty days, but he must not teach out of it, nor may another join him in reading it; if he does not know how to read, he must unroll it. If a garment be found, it should be shaken and spread out once in thirty days, for its own sake (to preserve it), but not for display. Silver and copper articles should be used to take care of them, but not for the sake of ornament. Gold and glass vessels he should not meddle with--till the coming of Elijah.

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 29, col. 2.

Rabbi Zira so inured his body (to endurance) that the fire of Gehenna had no power over it. Every thirty days he experimented on himself, ascending a fiery furnace, and finally sitting down in the midst of it without being affected by the fire. One day, however, as the Rabbis fixed their eyes upon him, his hips became singed, and from that day onward he was noted in Jewry as the little man with the singed hips.

Ibid., fol. 85, col. 1.

An Arab once said to Rabbah bar Channah, "Come and I will show thee the place where Korah and his accomplices were swallowed up." "There," says the Rabbi, "I observed smoke coming out from two cracks in the ground. Into one of these he inserted some wool tied on to the end of his spear, and when he drew it out again it was scorched. Then he bade me listen. I did so, and as I listened heard them groan out, 'Moses and his law are true, but we are liars.' The Arab then told me that they come round to this place once in every thirty days, being stirred about in the hell-surge like meat in the boiling caldron."

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 74, col. 1.

Rabbi Yochanan, in expounding Isa. liv. 12, said, "The Holy One--blessed be He!--will bring precious stones and pearls, each measuring thirty cubits by thirty, and polishing them down to twenty cubits by ten, will place them in the gates of Jerusalem." A certain disciple contemptuously observed, "No one has ever yet seen a precious stone as large as a small bird's egg, and is it likely that such immense ones as these have any existence?" He happened one day after this to go forth on a voyage, and there in the sea he saw the angels quarrying precious stones and pearls like those his Rabbi had told him of, and upon inquiry he learned that they were intended for the gates of Jerusalem. On his return he went straight to Rabbi Yochanan and told him what he had seen and heard.

"Raca!" said the latter, "hadst thou not seen them thou wouldst have kept on deriding the words of the wise!" Then fixing his gaze intently upon him, he with the glance of his eye reduced to a heap of bones the carcass of his body.

Ibid., fol. 75, col. 1.

He who lends unconditionally a sum of money to his neighbor is not entitled to demand it back within thirty days thereafter.

_Maccoth_, fol. 3, col. 2.

If a man has lost a relative, he is forbidden to engage in business until thirty days after the death. In the case of the decease of a father or a mother, he is not to resume work until his friends rebuke him and urge him to return.

_Semachoth_, chap. 9.

It is unlawful for one to enter a banqueting-house for thirty days after the death of a relative; but he must refrain from so doing for twelve months after the demise of either father or mother, unless on the behest of some higher requirement of piety.

Ibid.

But I know not whether there are thirty righteous men here and fifteen in the land of Israel, or _vice versâ_.

_Chullin_, fol. 92, col. 1.

Thirty days in a year are equivalent to a whole year.

_Niddah_, fol. 44, col. 2.

"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.

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, and _vice versâ_.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 8, col. 2.

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.

For thirty-four years the kingdom of Persia lasted contemporaneously with the Temple.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 9, col. 1.

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.