Hebraic Literature 36

Hebraic Literature 36

The Rabbi replied:--

 

"I will answer ye with a parable. There was once a king who had a son to

whom he gave a certain yearly allowance, paying the entire sum for his

year's support on one appointed day. It soon happened that this day on

which the allowance was due, was the only day in the year when the

father saw his son. So the king changed his plan, and gave his son each

day his maintenance for that day only, and then the son visited his

father with the return of each day's sun.

 

"So was it with Israel; each father of a family, dependent upon the

manna provided each day by God's bounty, for his support and the support

of his family, naturally had his mind devoted to the Great Giver and

Sustainer of life."

 

When Rabbi Eleazer was sick his scholars visited him, and said, "Rabbi,

teach us the way of life, that we may inherit eternity."

 

The Rabbi answered, "Give honor to your comrades. Know to whom you pray.

Restrain your children from frivolous conversation, and place them among

the learned men, in order that they may acquire wisdom. So may you merit

life in the future world."

 

When Rabbi Jochanan was sick his scholars also called upon him. When he

beheld them he burst into tears.

 

"Rabbi!" they exclaimed, "Light of Israel! The chief pillar! Why weep?"

 

The Rabbi answered, "Were I to be brought before a king of flesh and

blood, who is here to-day and to-morrow in the grave; who may be angry

with me, but not forever; who may imprison me, but not forever; who may

kill me, but only for this world; whom I may sometimes bribe; even then

I would fear. But now, I am to appear before the King of kings, the Most

Holy One, blessed be He, who lives through all eternity. If He is wroth,

it is forever. If He imprisons me, it is forever; if He slays me, it is

for the future world; and I can bribe Him neither with words nor money.

Not only this, two paths are before me, one leading to punishment, the

other to reward, and I know not which one I must travel. Should I not

weep?"

 

The scholars of Rabbi Johanan, the son of Zakai, asked of their teacher

this question:--

 

"Wherefore is it, that according to the law, the punishment of a

highwayman is not as severe as the punishment of a sneak thief?

According to the Mosaic law, if a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills

it or sells it, he is required to restore five oxen for the one ox, and

four sheep for the one sheep; but for the highwayman we find, 'When he

hath sinned and is conscious of his guilt, he shall restore that he hath

taken violently away; he shall restore it and its principal, and the

fifth part thereof he shall add thereto.' Therefore, he who commits a

highway robbery pays as punishment one-fifth of the same, while a sneak

thief is obliged to return five oxen for one ox, and four sheep for one

sheep. Wherefore is this?"

 

"Because," replied the teacher, "the highway robber treats the servant

as the master. He takes away violently in the presence of the servant,

the despoiled man, and the master--God. But the sneak thief imagines

that God's eye is not upon him. He acts secretly, thinking, as the

Psalmist says, 'The Lord doth not see, neither will the God of Jacob

regard it.' Listen to a parable. Two men made a feast. One invited all

the inhabitants of the city, and omitted inviting the king. The other

invited neither the king nor his subjects. Which one deserves

condemnation? Certainly the one who invited the subjects and not the

king. The people of the earth are God's subjects. The sneak thief fears

their eyes, yet he does not honor the eye of the king, the eye of God,

which watches all his actions."

 

Rabbi Meir says, "This law teaches us how God regards industry. If a

person steals an ox he must return five in its place, because while the

animal was in his unlawful possession it could not work for its rightful

owner. A lamb, however, does no labor, and is not profitable that way;

therefore he is only obliged to replace it fourfold."

 

Rabbi Nachman dined with his teacher, Rabbi Yitzchak, and upon departing

after the meal, he said, "Teacher, bless me!"

 

"Listen," replied Rabbi Yitzchak. "A traveler was once journeying

through the desert, and when weary, hungry, and thirsty, he happened

upon an oasis, where grew a fruitful tree, wide-branched, and at the

foot of which there gushed a spring of clear, cool water.

 

"The stranger ate of the luscious fruit, enjoying and resting in the

grateful shade, and quenching his thirst in the sparkling water which

bubbled merrily at his feet.

 

"When about to resume his journey, he addressed the tree and spoke as

follows:--

 

"'Oh, gracious tree, with what words can I bless thee, and what good can

I wish thee? I cannot wish thee good fruit, for it is already thine; the

blessing of water is also thine; and the gracious shade thrown by thy

beauteous branches the Eternal has already granted thee, for my good and

the good of those who travel by this way. Let me pray to God, then, that

all thy offspring may be goodly as thyself.'

 

"So it is with thee, my pupil. How shall I bless thee? Thou art perfect

in the law, eminent in the land, respected, and blessed with means. May

God grant that all thy offspring may prove goodly as thyself."

 

A wise man, say the Rabbis, was Gebiah ben Pesisah. When the children of

Canaan accused the Israelites of stealing their land, saying, "The land

of Canaan is ours, as it is written, 'The land of Canaan and its

boundaries belong to the Canaanites,'" and demanded restitution, Gebiah

offered to argue the case before the ruler.

 

Said Gebiah to the Africans, "Ye bring your proof from the Pentateuch,

and by the Pentateuch will I refute it. 'Cursed be Canaan; a servant of

servants shall he be unto his brethren.' To whom does the property of a

slave belong? To his master. Even though the land belonged to ye,

through your servitude it became Israel's."

 

"Answer him," said the ruler.

 

The accusers asked for three days' time to prepare their reply, but at

the end of the three days they had vanished.

 

Then came the Egyptians, saying, "'God gave the Israelites favor in the

eyes of the Egyptians, and they lent them gold and silver.' Now return

us the gold and silver which our ancestors lent ye."

 

Again Gebiah appeared for the sages of Israel.

 

"Four hundred and thirty years," said he, "did the children of Israel

dwell in Egypt. Come, now, pay us the wages of six hundred thousand men

who worked for ye for naught, and we will return the gold and silver."

 

Then came the children of Ishmael and Ketura, before Alexander of

Mukdon, saying, "The land of Canaan is ours, as it is written, 'These

are the generations of Ishmael, the son of Abraham;' even as it is

written, 'These are the generations of Isaac, the son of Abraham.' One

son is equal to the other; come, give us our share."

 

Again Gebiah appeared as counsel for the sages.

 

"From the Pentateuch, which is your proof, will I confound ye" said he.

"Is it not written 'Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, but unto the

sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts?' The man

who gives his children their inheritance during his life does not design

to give it to them again after his death. To Isaac Abraham left all that

he had; to his other children he gave gifts, and sent them away."

 

 

 

 

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 cooks will be neither hot nor cold.

 

Truth lasts forever, but falsehood must vanish.

 

This is the punishment of the liar, that when he tells the truth nobody

believes him.

 

Use thy best vase to-day, for to-morrow it may, perchance, be broken.

 

When Satan cannot come himself he sends wine as a messenger.

 

Woe to the children banished from their father's table.

 

A handful of food will not satisfy the lion, neither can a pit be filled

again with its own dust.

 

Pray to God for mercy until the last shovelful of earth is cast upon thy

grave.

 

Cease not to pray even when the knife is laid upon thy neck.

 

Open not thy mouth to speak evil.

 

To be patient is sometimes better than to have much wealth.

 

The horse fed too liberally with oats becomes unruly.

 

Happy the pupil whose teacher approves his words.

 

When the cucumbers are young we may tell whether they will become good

for food.

 

Poverty cometh from God, but not dirt.

 

Our kindly deeds and our generous gifts go to heaven as messengers, and

plead for us before our Heavenly Father.

 

The noblest of all charities is in enabling the poor to earn a

livelihood.

 

The camel wanted to have horns and they took away his ears.

 

The egg of to-day is better than the hen of to-morrow.

 

The world is a wedding.

 

Youth is a wreath of roses.

 

A myrtle even in the desert remains a myrtle.

 

Teach thy tongue to say, "I do not know."

 

The house which opens not to the poor will open to the physician.

 

The birds of the air despise a miser.

 

Hospitality is an __EXPRESSION__ of Divine worship.

 

Thy friend has a friend, and thy friend's friend has a friend; be

discreet.

 

Do not place a blemish on thine own flesh.

 

Attend no auctions if thou hast no money.

 

Rather skin a carcass for pay, in the public streets, than lie idly

dependent on charity.

 

Deal with those who are fortunate.

 

What is intended for thy neighbor will never be thine.

 

The weakness of thy walls invites the burglar.

 

The place honors not the man, 'tis the man who gives honor to the place.

 

The humblest man is ruler in his own house.

 

If the fox is king bow before him.

 

If a word spoken in its time is worth one piece of money, silence in its

time is worth two.

 

Tobias committed the sins and his neighbor received the punishment.

 

Poverty sits as gracefully upon some people as a red saddle upon a white

horse.

 

Drain not the waters of thy well while other people may desire them.

 

The doctor who prescribes gratuitously gives a worthless prescription.

 

The rose grows among thorns.

 

The wine belongs to the master but the waiter receives the thanks.

 

He who mixes with unclean things becomes unclean himself; he whose

associations are pure becomes more holy with each day.

 

No man is impatient with his creditors.

 

Make but one sale, and thou art called a merchant.

 

Mention not a blemish which is thy own, in detraction of thy neighbor.

 

If certain goods sell not in one city, try another place.

 

He who reads the letter should execute the message.

 

A vessel used for holy purposes should not be put to uses less sacred.

 

Ornament thyself first, then magnify others.

 

Two pieces of coin in one bag make more noise than a hundred.

 

Man sees the mote in his neighbor's eye, but knows not of the beam in

his own.

 

The rivalry of scholars advances science.

 

If thou tellest thy secret to three persons, ten know of it.

 

When love is intense both find room enough upon one board of the bench;

afterward they may find themselves cramped in a space of sixty cubits.

 

When wine enters the head the secret flies out.

 

When a liar speaks the truth he finds his punishment in the general

disbelief.

 

Sorrow for those who disappear never to be found.

 

The officer of the king is also a recipient of honors.

 

He who studies cannot follow a commercial life; neither can the merchant

devote his time to study.

 

There is no occasion to light thy lamp at noontide.

 

If thy friends agree in calling thee an ass, go and get a halter around

thee.

 

At the gate of abundance there are many brothers and friends; at the

gate of misery there is neither brother not friend.

 

The consciousness of God's presence is the first principle of religion.

 

A man's home means his wife.

 

He who divorces his wife is hated before God.

 

If thy wife is small, bend down to take her counsel.

 

The daughter is as the mother was.

 

Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in

another time.

 

What the child says out of doors he has learned indoors.

 

This world is an ante-chamber to the next.

 

The just of all nations have a portion in the future reward.

 

Every nation has its special guardian angel, its horoscopes, its ruling

planets and stars. But there is no planet for Israel. Israel shall look

but to God. There is no mediator between those who are called His

children and their Father which is in heaven.

 

From the very spoon that the carver carved, he has to swallow hot

mustard.

 

The laborer is allowed to shorten his prayers.

 

He who teaches his son to trade is as if he taught him to steal.

 

The laborer at his work need not rise before the greatest doctor.

 

Life is a passing shadow, says the scripture. Is it the shadow of a

tower or a tree? A shadow which prevails for a while? No. It is the

shadow of a bird in its flight--away flies the bird, and there is

neither bird nor shadow.

 

Man's passions at first are like a cobweb's thread, at last become like

the thickest cable.

 

Were it not for the existence of passions no one would build a house,

marry a wife, beget children, or do any work.

 

There is not a single bird more persecuted than the dove, yet God has

chosen her to be offered upon the altar. The bull is hunted by the lion,

the sheep by the wolf, the goat by the tiger. And God said: "Bring me a

sacrifice, not from those that persecute, but from them that are

persecuted."

 

Prayer is Israel's only weapon, a weapon inherited from his fathers, a

weapon tried in a thousand battles.

 

When the righteous die, they live; for their example lives.

 

Let the fruit pray for the welfare of the leaf.

 

Meat without salt is fit only for the dogs.

 

Trust not thyself until the day of thy death.

 

Woe to the country which hath lost its leader; woe to the ship when its

captain is no more.

 

He who increaseth his flesh but multiplieth food for the worms.

 

The day is short, the labor great, and the workman slothful.

 

Be yielding to thy superior; be affable toward the young; be friendly

with all mankind.

 

Silence is the fence round wisdom.

 

Without law, civilization perishes.

 

Every man will surely have his hour.

 

Rather be the tail among lions than the head among foxes.

 

Into the well which supplies thee with water cast no stones.

 

Many a colt's skin is fashioned to the saddle which its mother bears.

 

Truth is heavy, therefore few care to carry it.

 

Say little and do much.

 

He who multiplieth words will likely come to sin.

 

Sacrifice thy will for others, that they may be disposed to sacrifice

their wills for thee.

 

Study to-day, delay not.