Hebraic Literature 18

Hebraic Literature 18

 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.

 

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 lamentation." Even the very horses and asses joined in it,

we are told. On arriving at the Cave of Machpelah, Esau once more

protested, and said, "Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and

Rebekah, are all buried here. Jacob disposed of his share when he buried

Leah in it, and the remaining one belongs to me." "But thou didst sell

thy share with thy birthright," remonstrated the sons of Jacob. "Nay,"

rejoined Esau, "that did not include my share in the burial-place."

"Indeed it did," they argued, "for our father, just before he died, said

(Gen. l. 5), 'In my grave which I have bought for myself.'" "Where are

the title-deeds?" demanded Esau. "In Egypt," was the answer. And

immediately the swift-footed Naphthali started for the records. ("So

light of foot was he," says the Book of Jasher, "that he could go upon

the ears of corn without crushing them.") Hushim, the son of Dan, being

deaf, asked what was the cause of the commotion. On being told what it

was, he snatched up a club and smote Esau so hard that his eyes dropped

out and fell upon the feet of Jacob; at which Jacob opened his eyes and

grimly smiled. This is that which is written (Ps. lviii. 10), "The

righteous shall rejoice when he sees vengeance; he shall wash his feet

in the blood of the wicked." Then Rebekah's prophecy came to pass (Gen.

xxvii. 45), "Why shall I be deprived also of you both in one day?" For

although they did not both die on the same day, they were both buried on

the same day.

 

_Soteh_, fol. 13, col. 1.

 

This story slightly varied, is repeated in the Book of Jasher

and in the Targum of Ben Uzziel.

 

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,

to cut and tie two threads, to tie, to untie, to sew two stitches, to

tear two threads with intent to sew, to hunt game, to slay, to skin, to

salt a hide, to singe, to tan, to cut up a skin, to write two letters,

to scratch out two letters with intent to write, to build, to pull down,

to put out a fire, to light a fire, to smite with a hammer, to convey

from one Reshuth [a private property in opposition to a public] to

another.

 

_Shabbath_, fol. 73, col. 1.

 

King Yanai had a single tree on the royal mound, whence once a month

they collected forty seahs (about fifteen bushels) of young pigeons of

three different breeds.

 

_Berachoth_, fol. 44, col. 1.

 

Forty years before the destruction of the Temple the Sanhedrin were

exiled, and they sat in the Halls of Commerce.

 

_Shabbath_, fol. 15, col. 1.

 

Until one is forty eating is more advantageous than drinking. After that

age the rule is reversed.

 

Ibid., fol. 152, col. 1.

 

The Rabbis have taught that during the forty years in which Simeon the

Just officiated in the Temple the lot always fell on the right (see Lev.

xvi. 8-10). After that time it sometimes fell on the right and sometimes

on the left. The crimson band also, which in his time had always turned

white, after that period sometimes turned white, and at others it did

not change color at all.

 

_Yoma_, fol. 39, col. 1.

 

The Rabbis have taught:--Forty years before the destruction of the

Temple the lot did not fall on the right, and the crimson band did not

turn white; the light in the west did not burn, and the gates of the

Temple opened of themselves, so that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zacchai rebuked

them, and said, "O Temple! Temple! why art thou dismayed? I know thy end

will be that thou shalt be destroyed, for Zachariah the son of Iddo has

already predicted respecting thee (Zech. xi. i), 'Open thy doors, O

Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.'"

 

Ibid., fol. 39, col. 2.

 

During the forty years that Israel were in the wilderness there was not

a midnight in which the north wind did not blow.

 

_Yevamoth_, fol. 71, col. 1.

 

Rabbi Zadok fasted forty years that Jerusalem might not be destroyed,

and so emaciated was he, that when he ate anything it might be seen

going down his throat.

 

_Gittin_, fol. 56, col. 1.

 

Forty days before the formation of a child a Bath Kol proclaims, "The

daughter of so-and-so shall marry the son of so-and-so; the premises of so-and-so shall be the property of so-and-so."