Hebraic Literature 15

Hebraic Literature 15

Ibid., mish. 4.

 

Ten miracles were wrought for our forefathers in Egypt, and ten at the

Red Sea. Ten plagues did the Holy One--blessed be He!--inflict on the

Egyptians in Egypt, and ten at the sea. Ten times did our ancestors

tempt God in the wilderness, as it is said (Num. xiv. 22), "And have

tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice."

 

Ibid., mish. 5, 6, 7.

 

Ten times did God test our forefathers, and they were not so much as

once found to be perfect.

 

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 34.

 

Ten times the Shechinah came down unto the world:--At the garden of Eden

(Gen. iii. 8); at the time of the Tower (Gen. xi. 5); at Sodom (Gen.

xviii. 21); in Egypt (Exod. iii. 8); at the Red Sea (Ps. xviii. 9); on

Mount Sinai (Exod. xix. 20); into the Temple (Ezek. xliv. 2); in the

pillar of cloud (Num. xi. 25). It will descend in the days of Gog and

Magog, for it is said (Zech. xiv. 4), "And His feet shall stand in that

day upon the Mount of Olives" (the tenth is omitted in the original).

 

Ibid.

 

The Shechinah made ten gradual ascents in passing from place to

place:--From the cover of the ark to the cherub (2 Sam. xxii. 11);

thence to the threshold of the house (Ezek. ix. 3); thence to the

cherubim (Ezek. x. 18); thence to the roof of the Temple (Prov. xxi. 9);

thence to the wall of the court (Amos vii. 7); thence to the altar (Amos

ix. 1); thence to the city (Micah vi. 9); thence to the mount (Ezek. xi.

23); thence to the wilderness (Prov. xxi. 9); whence the Shechinah went

up, as it is said (Hosea v. 15), "I will go and return to my place."

 

_Avoth d Rab. Nathan_, chap. 34.

 

Ten different terms are employed to express the title of

prophet:--Ambassador, Faithful, Servant, Messenger, Seer, Watchman, Seer

of Vision, Dreamer, Prophet, Man of God.

 

Ibid.

 

Ten distinct designations are applied to the Holy Spirit:--Proverb,

Interpretation, Dark, Saying, Oracle, Utterance, Decree, Burden,

Prophecy, Vision.

 

Ibid.

 

Ten are designated by the term Life or Living:--God, the law, Israel,

the righteous, the garden of Eden, the tree of life, the land of Israel,

Jerusalem, benevolence, the sages; and water also is described as life,

as it is said (Zech. xiv. 8), "And it shall be in that day that living

water shall go out from Jerusalem."

 

Ibid.

 

If there are ten beds piled upon one another, and if beneath the

lowermost there be any tissue woven of linen and wool (Lev. xix. 19), it

is unlawful to lie down upon them.

 

_Tamid_, fol. 27, col. 2.

 

Alexander of Macedon proposed ten queries to the elders of the

south:--"Which are more remote from each other, the heavens from the

earth or the east from the west?" They answered, "The east is more

remote from the west, for when the sun is either in the east or in the

west, any one can gaze upon him; but when the sun is in the zenith or

heaven, none can gaze at him, he is so much nearer." The Mishnaic

Rabbis, on the other hand, say they are equidistant; for it is written

(Ps. ciii. 11, 12), "As the heavens are from the earth, ... so is the

east removed from the west." Alexander then asked, "Were the heavens

created first or was the earth?" "The heavens," they replied, "for it is

said, 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.'" He then

asked, "Was light created first or was darkness?" They replied, "This is

an unanswerable question." They should have answered darkness was

created first, for it is said, "And the earth was without form and void,

and darkness was upon the face of the deep," and after this, "And God

said, Let there be light, and there was light."

 

_Tamid._, fol. 31, col. 2.

 

There are ten degrees of holiness, and the land of Israel is holy above

all other lands.

 

_Kelim_, chap. i, mish. 6.

 

There are ten places which, though Gentile habitations are not

considered unclean:--(1.) Arab tents; (2.) A watchman's hut; (3.) The

top of a tower; (4.) A fruit-store; (5.) A summer-house; (6.) A

gatekeeper's lodge; (7.) An uncovered courtyard; (8.) A bath-house; (9.)

An armory; (10.) A military camp.

 

_Oholoth_ chap. 18, mish. 10.

 

"An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord,

even to the tenth generation," etc. (Deut. xxiii. 4). One day Yehuda, an

Ammonite prophet, came into the academy and asked, "May I enter the

congregation (if I marry a Jewess)?" Rabban Gamliel said unto him, "Thou

art not at liberty to do so;" but Rabbi Joshua interposed and

maintained, "He is at liberty to do so." Then Rabban Gamliel appealed to

scripture, which saith, "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the

congregation of the Lord, even to the tenth generation." To this Rabbi

Joshua retorted and asked, "Are then these nations still in their own

native places? Did not Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, transplant the

nations? as it is said (Isa. x. 13), 'I have removed the bounds of the

people, and have robbed their treasures, and have put down the valor of

the inhabitants.'" Rabban Gamliel replied, "scripture saith (Jer. xlix.

6), 'Afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of

Ammon,' and so," he argued, "they must have already returned." Rabbi

Joshua then promptly rejoined, "scripture saith (Jer. xxx. 3), 'I will

bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,' and these have

not returned yet." And on this reasoning the proselyte was permitted to

enter the congregation.

 

_Yadayim_, chap. 4, mish. 4.

 

Go and learn from the tariff of donkey-drivers, ten miles for one zouz,

eleven for two zouzim.

 

_Chaggigah_, fol. 9, col. 2.

 

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 between each of them (Rashi says about four

ells), so that they could not hear each other's confession, which might

have caused them to blush. They had, however, when prostrated, to extend

eleven ells behind the Holy of Holies.

 

_Yoma_, fol. 21, col. 1,

 

In the days of Joel, the son of Pethuel, there was a great dearth,

because (as is said in Joel i. 4) "That which the palmerworm hath left

hath the locust eaten," etc. That year the month of Adar (about March)

passed away and no rain came. When some rain fell, during the following

month, the prophet said unto Israel, "Go ye forth and sow." They

replied, "Shall he who has but a measure or two of wheat or barley eat

and live or sow it and die?" Still the prophet urged, "Go forth and

sow." Then they obeyed the prophet, and in eleven days the seed had

grown and ripened; and it is with reference to that generation that it

is said (Ps. cxxvi. 5), "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."

 

_Taanith_ fol. 5, col. 1.

 

What is a female in her minority? One who is between eleven years and

one day, and twelve years and one day. When younger or older than these

ages she is to be treated in the usual manner.

 

_Yevamoth_, fol. 100, col. 2.

 

Whoever gives a prutah to a poor man has six blessings bestowed upon

him, and he that speaks a kind word to him realizes eleven blessings in

himself (see Isa. lviii. 7, 8).

 

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 9, col. 2.

 

On the next page of the same tract it is said, "For one prutah

given as alms to a poor man one is made partaker of the beatific

vision." (See also Midrash Tillim on Ps. xvii. 15.)

 

The prutah was the smallest coin then current. It is estimated

to have been equal to about one-twentieth of an English penny.

In some quarters of Poland the Jews have small thin bits of

brass, with the Hebrew word prutah impressed upon them, for the

uses in charity on the part of those among them that cannot

afford to give a kreutzer to a poor man. The poor, when they

have collected a number of these, change them into larger coin

at the almoner's appointed by the congregation. Thus even the

poor are enabled to give alms to the poor. (See my "Genesis," p.

277, No. 31.)

 

Rabbi Yochanan said eleven sorts of spices were mentioned to Moses on

Sinai. Rav Hunna asked, "What scripture text proves this?" (Exod. xxx.

34), "Take unto thee sweet spices" (the plural implying two), "stacte,

myrrh, and galbanum" (these three thus making up five), "sweet spices"

(the repetition doubling the five into ten), "with pure frankincense"

(which makes up eleven).

 

_Kerithoth_, fol. 6, col. 2.

 

"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 He!--replied, "Daughter, I have created twelve

constellations in the firmament, and for each constellation I have

created thirty armies, and for each army thirty legions, each legion

containing thirty divisions, each division thirty cohorts, each cohort

having thirty camps, and in each camp hang suspended 365,000 myriads of

stars, as many thousands of myriads as there are days in the year; all

these have I created for thy sake, and yet thou sayest, 'Thou hast

forsaken and forgotten me!' Can a woman forget her sucking-child, that

she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may

forget, yet will I not forget thee."

 

_Berachoth_, fol. 32, col. 2.

 

No deceased person is forgotten from the heart (of his relatives that

survive him) till after twelve months, for it is said (Ps. xxxi. 12), "I

am forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am like a lost vessel" (which,

as Rashi explains, is like all lost property, not thought of as lost for

twelve months, for not till then is proclamation for it given up).

 

Ibid., fol. 58, col. 2.

 

Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Yossi, and Rabbi Shimon (ben Yochai) were sitting

together, and Yehudah ben Gerim (the son, says Rashi, of proselyte

parents) beside them. In the course of conversation Rabbi Yehudah

remarked, "How beautiful and serviceable are the works of these Romans!

They have established markets, spanned rivers by bridges, and erected

baths." To this remark Rabbi Yossi kept silent, but Rabbi Shimon

replied, "Yea, indeed; but all these they have done to benefit

themselves. The markets they have opened to feed licentiousness, they

have erected baths for their own pleasure, and the bridges they have

raised for collecting tolls." Yehudah ben Gerim thereupon went direct

and informed against them, and the report having reached the Emperor's

ears, an edict was immediately issued that Rabbi Yehudah should be

promoted, Rabbi Yossi banished to Sepphoris, and Rabbi Shimon taken and

executed. Rabbi Shimon and his son, however, managed to secret

themselves in a college, where they were purveyed to by the Rabbi's

wife, who brought them daily bread and water. One day mistrust seized

the Rabbi, and he said to his son, "Women are light-minded; the Romans

may tease her and then she will betray us." So they stole away and hid

themselves in a cave. Here the Lord interposed by a miracle, and created

a carob-tree bearing fruit all the year round for their support, and

opened a perennial spring for their refreshment. To save their clothes

they laid them aside except at prayers, and to protect their naked

bodies from exposure they would at other times sit up to their necks in

sand, absorbed in study. After they had passed twelve years thus in the

cave, Elijah was sent to inform them that the Emperor was dead, and his

decree powerless to touch them. On leaving the cave, they noticed some

people plowing and sowing, when one of them exclaimed, "These folk

neglect eternal things and trouble themselves with the things that are

temporal." As they fixed their eyes upon the place, fire came and burnt

it up. Then a Bath Kol was heard exclaiming, "What! are ye come forth to

destroy the world I have made? Get back to your cave and hide you."

Thither accordingly they returned, and after they had stopped there

twelve months longer, they remonstrated, pleading that even the judgment

of the wicked in Gehenna lasted no longer than twelve months; upon which

a Bath Kol was again heard from heaven, which said, "Come ye forth from

your cave." Then they arose and obeyed it.

 

_Shabbath_, fol. 33, col 2.

 

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that at every utterance which proceeded

from the mouth of the Holy One--blessed be He!--on Mount Sinai, Israel

receded twelve miles, being conducted gently back by the ministering

angels; for it is said (Ps. lxviii. 12), "The angels of hosts kept

moving."

 

_Shabbath_, fol. 88, col. 2.

 

A Sadducee once said to Rabbi Abhu, "Ye say that the souls of the

righteous are treasured up under the throne of glory; how then had the

Witch of Endor power to bring up the prophet Samuel by necromancy?" The

Rabbi replied, "Because that occurred within twelve months after his

death; for we are taught that during twelve months after death the body

is preserved and the soul soars up and down, but that after twelve

months the body is destroyed and the soul goes up never to return."

 

Ibid., fol. 152, col. 2.

 

Clever answers to puzzling questions like the above, are of frequent

occurrence in the Talmud; and we select here a few out of the many

specimens of Rabbinical ready wit and repartee.

 

Turnus Rufus once said to Rabbi Akiva, "If your God is a friend to the

poor, why doesn't he feed them?" To which he promptly replied, "That we

by maintaining them may escape the condemnation of Gehenna." "On the

contrary," said the Emperor, "the very fact of your maintaining the poor

will condemn you to Gehenna. I will tell thee by a parable whereto this

is like. It is as if a king of our own flesh and blood should imprison a

servant who has offended him, and command that neither food nor drink

should be given him, and as if one of his subjects in spite of him

should go and supply him with both. When the king hears of it will he

not be angry with that man? And ye are called servants, as it is said

(Lev. xxv. 55), 'For unto me the children of Israel are servants.'" To

this Rabbi Akiva replied, "And I too will tell thee a parable whereunto

the thing is like. It is like a king of our own flesh and blood who,

being angry with his son, imprisons him, and orders that neither food

nor drink be given him, but one goes and gives him both to eat and

drink. When the king hears of it will he not handsomely reward that man?

And we are sons, as it is written (Deut. xiv. 1), 'Ye are the sons of

the Lord your God.'" "True," the Emperor replied, "ye are both sons and

servants; sons when ye do the will of God; servants when ye do not; and

now ye are not doing the will of God."

 

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 10, col. 1.

 

Certain philosophers once asked the elders at Rome, "If your God has no

pleasure in idolatry, why does He not destroy the objects of it?" "And

so He would," was the reply, "if only such objects were worshiped as the

world does not stand in need of; but you idolaters will worship the sun

and moon, the stars and the constellations. Should He destroy the world

because of the fools there are in it? No! The world goes on as it has

done all the same, but they who abuse it will have to answer for their

conduct. On your philosophy, when one steals a measure of wheat and sows

it in his field it should by rights produce no crop; nevertheless the

world goes on as if no wrong had been done, and they who abuse it will

one day smart for it."

 

_Avoda Zarah_, fol. 54, col. 2.

 

Antoninus Caesar asked Rabbi (the Holy), "Why does the sun rise in the

east and set in the west?" "Thou wouldst have asked," answered the

Rabbi, "the same question if the order had been reversed." "What I

mean," remarked Antoninus, "is this, is there any special reason why he

sets in the west?" "Yes," replied Rabbi, "to salute his Creator (who is

in the east), for it is said (Neh. ix. 6), 'And the host of heaven

worship Thee.'"

 

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 91, col. 2.

 

Caesar once said to Rabbi Tanchum, "Come, now, let us be one people."

"Very well," said Rabbi Tanchum, "only we, being circumcised, cannot

possibly become like you; if, however, ye become circumcised we shall be

alike in that regard anyhow, and so be as one people." The Emperor said,

"Thou hast reasonably answered, but the Roman law is, that he who

nonpluses his ruler and puts him to silence shall be cast to the lions."

The word was no sooner uttered than the Rabbi was thrown into the den,

but the lions stood aloof and did not even touch him. A Sadducee, who

looked on, remarked, "The lions do not devour him because they are not

hungry," but, when at the royal command, the Sadducee himself was thrown

in, he had scarcely reached the lions before they fell upon him and

began to tear his flesh and devour him.

 

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 39, col. 1.

 

A certain Sadducee asked Rabbi Abhu, "Since your God is a priest, as it

is written (Exod. xxv. 2), 'That they bring Me an offering,' in what did

He bathe Himself after He was polluted by the burial (Num. xix. 11, 18)

of the dead body of Moses? It could not be in the water, for it is

written (Isa. xl. 12), 'Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His

hand?' which therefore are insufficient for Him to bathe in." The Rabbi

replied, "He bathed in fire, as it is written (Isa. lxvi. 15), 'For

behold the Lord will come with fire.'"

 

Ibid.

 

Turnus Rufus asked this question also of Rabbi Akiva, "Why is the

Sabbath distinguished from other days?" Rabbi Akiva replied, "Why art

thou distinguished from other men?" The answer was, "Because it hath

pleased my Master thus to honor me." And so retorted Akiva, "It hath

pleased God to honor His Sabbath." "But what I mean," replied the other,

"was how dost thou know that it is the Sabbath-day?" The reply was, "The

river Sambatyon proves it; the necromancer proves it; the grave of thy

father proves it, for the smoke thereof rises not on the Sabbath."

 

Ibid., fol. 65, col. 2.

 

See Bereshith Rabba, fol. 4, with reference to what is here said

about Turnus Rufus and his father's grave. The proof from the

necromancer lies in the allegation that his art was unsuccessful

if practiced on the Sabbath-day. The Sambatyon, Rashi says, is a

pebbly river which rushes along all the days of the week except

the Sabbath, on which it is perfectly still and quiet. In the

Machsor for Pentecost (D. Levi's ed. p. 81), it is styled "the

incomprehensible river," and a footnote thereto informs us that

"This refers to the river said to rest on the Sabbath from

throwing up stones, etc., which it does not cease to do all the

rest of the week." (See Sanhedrin, fol. 65, col. 2; Yalkut on

Isaiah, fol. 3, 1; Pesikta Tanchuma. See also Shalsheleth

Hakabbala and Yuchsin.)

 

Those Israelites and Gentiles who have transgressed with their bodies

(the former by neglecting to wear phylacteries, and the latter by

indulging in sensuous pleasures), shall go down into Gehenna, and there

be punished for twelve months, after which period their bodies will be

destroyed and their soul consumed, and a wind shall scatter their ashes

under the soles of the feet of the righteous; as it is said (Mal. iv.

3), "And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be as ashes

under the soles of your feet." But the Minim, the informers, and the

Epicureans, they who deny the law and the resurrection of the dead, they

who separate themselves from the manners of the congregation, they who

have been a terror in the land of the living, and they who have sinned

and have led the multitude astray, as did Jeroboam the son of Nebat and

his companions,--these shall go down into Gehenna, and there be judged

for generations upon generations, as it is said (Isa. lxvi, 24), "And

they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have

transgressed against me," etc. Gehenna itself shall be consumed but they

shall not be burned up in the destruction; as it is said (Ps. xlix, 14;

Heb. xv.), "And their figures shall consume hell from being a dwelling."

 

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 17, col. 1.

 

Once when Israel went up by pilgrimages to one of the three annual

feasts at Jerusalem (see Exod. xxxiv. 23, 24), it so happened that there

was no water to drink. Nicodemon ben Gorion therefore hired of a

friendly neighbor twelve huge reservoirs of water promising to have them

replenished against a given time, or failing this to forfeit twelve

talents of silver. The appointed day came and still the drought

continued, and therewith the scarcity of water; upon which the creditor

appeared and demanded payment of the forfeit. The answer of Nicodemon to

the demand was, "There's time yet; the day is not over." The other

chuckled to himself, inwardly remarking, "There's no chance now; there's

been no rain all the season," and off he went to enjoy his bath. But

Nicodemon sorrowful at heart, wended his way to the Temple. After

putting on his prayer scarf, as he prayed, he pleaded, "Lord of the

Universe! Thou knowest that I have not entered into this obligation for

my own sake, but for Thy glory and for the benefit of Thy people." While

he yet prayed the clouds gathered overhead, the rain fell in torrents,

and the reservoirs were filled to overflowing. On going out of the house

of prayer he was met by the exacting creditor, who still urged that the

money was due to him, as he said, the rain came after sunset. But in

answer to prayer the clouds immediately dispersed, and the sun shone out

as brightly as ever.

 

_Taanith_, fol. 19. col. 2.

 

Nicodemon ben Gorion of the above story is by some considered to

be the Nicodemus of St. John's Gospel, iii. 1-10; vii. 50; xix

30.

 

Would that my husband were here and could listen to me; I should permit

him to stay away another twelve years.

 

_Kethuboth_, fol. 63. col. 1.

 

Hereto hangs a tale stranger than fiction, yet founded on fact.

Rabbi Akiva was once a poor shepherd in the employ of Calba

Shevua, one of the richest men in all Jerusalem. While engaged

in that lowly occupation his master's only daughter fell in love

with him, and the two carried on a clandestine courtship for

some time together. Her father, hearing of it, threatened to

disinherit her, to turn her out of doors and disown her

altogether, if she did not break off her engagement. How could

she connect herself with one who was the base-born son of a

proselyte, a reputed descendant of Sisera and Jael, an ignorant