Original
א) "Do not allow worry into your heart, because worry has killed many." Immediately the educator was stunned, and said, "I have no worry in the world, except on behalf of my wife, who is ugly." He said, "Say, 'Bet.'" He said to him:
Reader
Alphabet of Ben Sira Reader
Read Alphabet of Ben Sira in source order, passage by passage, with the close English translation where available and the original source text for checking.
Contents on This Page40
Contents on This Page
1Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Aleph2Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Bet3Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Gimel4Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Dalet5Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Hey6Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Vav7Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Zayin8Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Chet9Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Tet10Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Yud11Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Kaf12Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Lamed13Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Mem14Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Nun15Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Samech16Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Ayin17Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Peh18Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Tzadi19Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Kuf20Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Resh21Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Shin22Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Tav23Alphabet of Ben Sira 124Alphabet of Ben Sira 2425Alphabet of Ben Sira 2526Alphabet of Ben Sira 2627Alphabet of Ben Sira 2728Alphabet of Ben Sira 2829Alphabet of Ben Sira 2930Alphabet of Ben Sira 3031Alphabet of Ben Sira 3132Alphabet of Ben Sira 3233Alphabet of Ben Sira 3334Alphabet of Ben Sira 3435Alphabet of Ben Sira 3536Alphabet of Ben Sira 3637Alphabet of Ben Sira 3738Alphabet of Ben Sira 3839Alphabet of Ben Sira 3940Alphabet of Ben Sira 40
Original
ב) "By the appearance of a beautiful woman have many been destroyed, and numerous are those she has killed." He said to him, "Because I have revealed to you my secret and told you that my wife is ugly, you tell me this kind of thing! Perhaps I harmed you when I told you my secret." He said, "Say, 'Gimel.'" He said to him:
Original
ג) "Reveal your secret to one out of a thousand, even if you have many well-wishers." He thought again, and said to him, "I have revealed my secret to you, but to no other." He said to him, "Advise me based on what I tell you. I want to divorce my wife, because there is in my neighborhood an extremely beautiful woman." He said, "Say, 'Dalet.'" He said to him:
Original
ד) "Deprive your flesh of a graceful woman, like the flame of a coal." He said to him, "But what can I do? Every single time that I enter my house, she is laid out before me, and I place my eye on her, since she suits my eye." He said, "Say, 'Hey.'" He said to him:
Original
ה) "Blind your eyes because of the graceful woman, lest you be caught in her trap." The educator said to him, "My son, what trap could I be caught in? If it is because of some magic you could do for me, I know that you will never do magic for me! Because her first husband is a thin-bearded man, (see Sanhedrin 100b and Rashi there) and I am a thick-bearded man." He said to him, "Say 'Vav.'" He said to him:
Original
ו) "Woe to one who follows after his eyes! And know that they are the product of straying, and there is nothing to them." He said to him, "Say 'Zayin.'" He said to him:
Original
ז) "Do not be thin-bearded or thick-bearded. Scorn these things, because you do not know what has been decreed about you." He said to him, "I do not want to take your advice, because I am considering marrying her. And I have seven daughters, and she has one, and they will live in my house and provide for me with dignity." He said, "Say, 'Chet.'" He said to him:
Source Text
"Males are dear to all, but woe to fathers of females." He said to him, "But I have seven daughters, and they spin yarn and do all the chores of my household, and they are like a green olive tree or a beautiful garden in my house. So how could you tell me 'Woe to fathers of females?' And if there were no females, where would the males come from?"
Ben Sira said to him, "Oh, poor one! You comfort yourself with empty comfort. For this is how our Sages z"l said it: (Pesachim 65a) 'Fortunate is the one whose children are male, and woe to the father of females.' This is why I said it to you.
And furthermore, when a daughter is coming out of her mother's belly to the air of the world, the heavens and earth and stars and constellations and everything created in the world grieves over her, but when a son is coming out of his mother's belly to the air of the world, the whole world is happy. And if a person has a daughter and you ask, 'What did So-and-So's wife give birth to?' he answers with a weak voice, somber expression, eyes downcast, 'She gave birth to a daughter.'
But if it is male, he answers you with sparkle, 'She gave birth to a son,' in a pleasant voice, with the best expression, and eyes looking upward." He said to him, "Say 'Tet.'" He said to him:
Original
ט) A daughter is a false image to her father. Out of fear of her, does not sleep at night." He said, "Say, 'Yud.'" He said to him:
Original
י) "The watchman does not sleep. When she is a minor- lest she be seduced or raped in her youth. When she has grown up- lest she commit adultery." (see Sanhedrin 100b) He said to him, "Everything that you have said, you have said truly." He said to him, "Say 'Kaf.'" He said to him:
Original
ל) "Do not sleep in your youth, and when you are old, do not marry an old wife. Because an old wife drains your energy even if you are a youth, but a virgin wife adds strength and power to you." He said to him, "Say 'Mem.'" He said to him:
Original
מ) "The waters of a virgin wife are sweet and add strength; the waters of an old wife are bitter as wormwood and drain strength, like a cistern that had water but the wind has drawn it out." He said to him, "Say, 'Nun.'" He said to him:
Original
נ) "Shake yourself off from a wife who is bad and rules over you with her tongue, because a bad wife is like crazy dogs, and doors close to her while she has much in her mouth to answer." He said to him, "Say, 'Samech.'" He said to him:
Original
ס) "A scribe and an educator should marry a virgin woman and not marry a non-virgin woman. Because the waters of a virgin are for you alone, but the waters of a non-virgin have already been drawn by a stranger aside from you." He said to him, "Say, 'Ayin.'" He said to him:
Original
ע) "Blind your eyes because of a widowed woman, and do not covet her beauty in your heart, because her children are the children of straying." He said to him, "Say, 'Peh.'" He said to him:
Original
פ) "Control your face around evil friends. Do not walk on the road with them. Hold your feet back around them, lest you be caught in their trap." He said to him, "Say, 'Tzadi.'" He said to him:
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צ) "My son, hide your money during your lifetime and store it, and until the day of your death, do not give it to your heirs." He said to him, "Say, 'Kuf.'" He said to him:
Original
ק) "Acquire for yourself money, and a good wife, fear of God, and accumulate sons for yourself, even a hundred of them." He said to him, "Say, 'Resh.'" He said to him:
Original
ר) "Distance yourself from an evil neighbor and do not be counted among their friends. Because their legs run to evil, and they are in a rush to spill blood. But at the same time, have mercy on your neighbors, even if they are evil. Share your food with them, because when you are standing to be judged, they will testify about you." He said to him, "Say, 'Shin.'" He said to him:
Original
ש) "Listen, master, to what I am saying, and incline your ear to my speech. Rest yourself, master, from starting quarrels with your neighbors, and if you see something evil about your friend, do not produce their slander on your tongue." He said to him, "Say, 'Tav.'" He said to him:
Original
ת) "Acquire for yourself gold coins, and all money, but do not tell your wife where the money is, even if she is good."
Source Text
Another Alphabet of ben Sira It is written, (Job 9:10) "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed, And wondrous things without number." Come and see how great are the Holy Blessed One's deeds! Since it says, "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed," why does it also say "And wondrous things without number"? And since it says "And wondrous things without number," why does it also say "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed"?
How have the Sages interpreted it? "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed," refers to all the created beings in the world, "And wondrous things without number," refers to the three beings who were born without their parents having mortal sex. And these are they: Ben Sira, Rav Papa, and Rabbi Zeira. (The "Yuchasin" brings the matter regarding Rabbi Judah the Pious's father, see further Tzemach David Part 1 1:448) They are all completely righteous ones, and wise, and great Torah scholars.
And they said about Rabbi Zeria and Rav Papa that they never once spoke of worldly matters; and never slept in the Hall of Study, neither fully sleeping nor napping; and nobody ever showed up to the Hall of Study earlier than they did; and nobody ever found them sitting quietly instead of sitting and reciting Torah; and they never missed Kiddush; and they never gave their friends nasty nicknames; and never took honor from their friends' shame; and never even cursed their friends from their beds; and never looked at the image of an evil person; and didn't accept gifts; and these two both fulfill what is said: (Proverbs 8:22) "I endow those who love me with substance; I will fill their treasuries." (The Talmud lists these qualities about other Sages, see further in Megillah 27b-28a.) And how did their mothers give birth without husbands?
They said: Once they went to the bathhouse, and some seed from an Israelite entered their bellies, and they conceived and gave birth from this, without knowing who their fathers were. But Ben Sira's father was known to him! How did his mother give birth without a husband's intercourse? They said about her that she was the daughter of Yirmiyahu.
Once, Yirmiyahu went to the bathhouse, and found there evildoers from the tribe of Ephraim, and he saw that they were all wasting their seed, because the whole tribe of Ephraim in that generation were evildoers, as it is written about them that they did what was wrong in God's eyes. And when he saw them, he began to rebuke them. Immediately, they rose up against him, and said, "Why are you rebuking us?
We swear by the road to Bethlehem that you will not leave here until you do what we are doing." He said to them, "Leave me alone and I will swear to you that I will never reveal this situation." They said to him, "Didn't Tzidkiyahu see Nevuchadnetzar eating a live rabbit, and swear to him in God's name that he would not reveal his secret, and then nullify that oath? (Nedarim 65b, Eicha Rabbah s.v.: "they sit on the ground") You will do the same thing!
But now, if you do what we are doing, good, and not, we will do the Sodomite act to you, like our ancestors did for idolatrous purposes. If they did it for idolatry, how much more so should we do it to you!" Immediately, he did it, out of great terror and fear of them. When he began leaving there, he started to curse his birthday, saying (Jeremiah 20:14) "Accursed be the day That I was born!"
He left there, and fasted for this incident 248 fasts, parallel to all the organs of a man. And the drop that came from that righteous man was guarded until that righteous man's own daughter came to the bathhouse, and it entered her belly. At seven months, she gave birth to a son who had teeth and could speak, and once she gave birth, she developed shame around people, because they would say that she gave birth through promiscuity.
The child opened his mouth and said to his mother, "Why are you ashamed around people? I am the son of Sira." She said, "Who is Sira?" He said, "Yirmiyahu, and the reason he is called Sira is because he is the officer (sar) over all officers, and because he will ultimately name all officers and kings, and when you calculate 'Sira' and 'Yirmiyahu' in numerical values, they are equal."
She said to him, "My son, if this is true, you should have said, 'I am the son of Yirmiyahu.'" He said to her, "I would have wanted to say that, but it is a shameful thing, saying that Yirmiyahu has had sex with his daughter." She said to him, "My son, is it not written (Ecclesiastes 1:9) "Only that shall happen Which has happened," and who has ever seen a daughter have a child by her father?" He said to her, "My mother, (Ecclesiastes 1:9) 'There is nothing new Beneath the sun!'
Just as Lot was a completely righteous man, my father is also a completely righteous man. Just like Lot did it under compulsion, my father also had this done under compulsion." She said to him, "I am stunned by you. How do you know these things?"
He said to her, "Do not be stunned by me, because there is nothing new beneath the sun. The same thing occurred with my father Yirmiyahu when his mother was kneeling to give birth- he opened his mouth, and my father called from his mother's innards, and said, 'I will not leave until you tell me my name.' His father opened his mouth and said, 'Come out, and your name will be Avraham' and he said, 'That is not my name.'
He said, 'Come out, and your name will be Yitzchak...' and then Yaakov and all the tribes, and all the men of that generation, and he kept saying, 'That is not my name.' Until Eliyahu of Blessed Memory arrived there, and said, 'Your name will be Yirmiyah, because in your days the Holy Blessed One will establish an enemy to raise (yarim) his hand against Jerusalem.' He said, 'That is my name. And you, who told me my name, let your name be my name- let me have "yahu" from your name, and call me Yirmi-yahu.'
Just as he was emerged speaking, I also emerged speaking; just as he emerged with prophecy from his mother's innards, as it is said, (Jeremiah 1:5) 'Before I created you in the womb, I selected you'; just as he wrote an alphabetical acrostic book (Eicha), I also will write an alphabetical acrostic book, so not do not but stunned by my speech." She said, "My son, do not say it, so the Evil Eye will not reign over you!"
He said to her, "The Evil Eye has no permission to reign over me, so now do not keep talking to me, for I am going to do what my father did. It is about me that it is said, (Ketubot 63a) 'One ewe follows another,' and a son follows his father's deeds." She said to him, "My son, why are you stopping me from talking?" He said, "Because you know that I am hungry, and you do not let me eat anything."
She said to him, "Here are breasts for you- eat your food and drink your drink." He said to her, "I have no interest in your breasts. Rather, go and sift through flour like a hen, knead fine bread and fatty meat, and old wine, and you must eat together with me." She said to him, "But how could I buy things like this?"
He said to her, "Make clothes and sell them, and the verse will be upheld for you: (Proverbs 31:24) 'She makes cloth and sells it.' and if you support me, the verse (Proverbs 31:29), 'Many women have done well, But you surpass them all' will be true." She began to make clothes and sell them, and she would bring him bread and fatty meat, and old wine, and she supported him for one year. And after that year, he said to her, "Bring me to the synagogue," so she brought him to the house of one educator who had seven daughters.
He sat beside him, and said to him, "Rabbi, teach me Torah!" He said to him, "You are not yet eligible to study, because you are so small, and our Sages z"l said (Pirkei Avot 5:21): 'A child of five should study Written Torah.'" Ben Sira said to him, "And have you not learned that (Pirkei Avot 2:15) 'the day is short, and the work is plentiful'? And you are telling me 'Sit and do not learn yet because you are so small,' while I see in the cemetery those smaller than me who have died, and who knows what will be, whether I will live or I will die?"
The educator said to him, "What, are you my teacher? Haven't our Sages z"l said: "Anyone who teaches halacha in front of their Rabbi is liable for the death penalty'?" He said to him, "So far, you are not my Rabbi and so far, I have learned nothing from you." The educator said to Ben Sira, "Say, 'Aleph.'" He responded to him, saying:
Source Text
The educator said to him, "The natural orders of Creation have been changed for you." He said to him, "There is nothing new under the sun, as behold: Yirmiyahu studied this way with Baruch ben Neriah, and the natural orders of Creation were not changed. For he said to him, "Say, 'Aleph'" and he said, (Lamentations 1:1) "Alas! Lonely sits the city..."
And he said to him, "Say, 'Bet'" and he said, (Lamentations 1:2) "Bitterly she weeps in the night..." And so on for every alphabetical acrostic that is in the scroll of Lamentations. Additionally, they said about Ben Sira that he learned the book of Leviticus in one day, and the educator said to him, "The natural orders of Creation have been changed for you." Ben Sira said to him, "There is nothing new under the sun, as behold Yirmiyahu learned it [this way], and it is written, (II Samuel 23:20) "Benaiah son of Jehoiada, son of a 'living' man," where 'living' ("chai") is written but we read it 'valorous' ("chayil").
Could it be that the whole world is dead, and [only] he is living? Instead- he must have been 'living' through Torah, when he studied the book of Leviticus in one day."
Source Text
They told about Ben Sira: That same year, he learned the entire book of Torah. The second year, he learned the Mikrah and the Mishnah, and the Talmud, both laws and narratives. The third year, he learned the Biblical and scribal grammatical traditions. The fourth year, he learned tools of logical inference, calculating equinoxes, and geometry. The fifth year, he learned the language of palm trees, the language of the ministering angels, the language of demons, and the Fox Fables. The sixth year, he learned the Sifra, and Sifrei, and Tanna De-Bei Eliyahu. The seventh year, he did not leave anything -large or small - without study.
Source Text
Come and see how wise Ben Sira was! They would bring him a se'ah [2-ish gallons] of wheat, and he would say to them, "Count the wheat grains in this se'ah, and you will find in it such-and-such number of grains in sum," until his reputation had spread around the whole world. Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon heard of his wisdom. And who did he hear it from?
From his wise ones. And when his wise ones heard of his [Ben Sira's] wisdom, they said, "Oy for us, Voy for us- because now Nebuchadnezzar will get rid of us. Instead, let us slander him to the king. He should send after him, and we will ask him something difficult, from our own logic that is not his logic, and if he does not respond do us with an answer, we will kill him."
And this they did- they told the king and he sent for him, and he said to them, "And what do you want to ask him?" They said to him, "What is 'Oy Vanehi.' If he knows, very well, and if not, we will kill him." A thousand cavalry went after him, all of whom had cut off a finger and uprooted a tree.
They all said, as one, to the King, "Our master, if you want to deploy us to anywhere in the world, we will go. But do not send us to one of the Israelite Sages, so that he does not do us what Elisha did to the Aramean troops. He wrote to them: (Jeremiah 27:6) (Shabbat 129b (150a?)) '"I even give him [Nebuchadnezzar] the wild beasts of the field to serve him." As he tells you, you must go.
They said to him(?): "This is a sign that his God has entrusted me, and he should come with you," and he wrote it for them in a letter. When they arrived to him and showed him the letter, Ben Sira said to them, "He sent you not for me but for one rabbit that I have." Immediately, he took a rabbit and wrote on its head, "Behold, this is of the wild beasts of the field and will serve you." He [Nebuchadnezzar] said, "How is it that this hair is shaved off like vellum?"
He said, "It is not by iron or any other thing." "I see its flesh inside it, and vellum cannot possibly have its flesh inside it." And he did not know how it was constructed. Immediately, he sent after him another delegation, and sent him in writing, "If you do not want to come in my honor, come in the honor of your rabbit."
Immediately, he [Ben Sira] softened and became willing to do it, and went to him. And at the point when he arrived to him, he was seven years old. Immediately all Nebuchadnezzar's wise ones gathered around him and began questioning him. They said to him, "What is Oy Vanehi?"
He said to them, "When you heard about me, you had an 'Oy,' and if I kill you, you would have a 'Nehi.'" They said to him, "Explain it well for us, what is "Nehi' and what is 'Vay?" He said, "There are two vavs in it, and their meaning is: When someone goes and touches a dog, and grabs its ear- that is certainly 'Vay' for him. And even before being saved from a snake, if a lion comes to him - that is certainly 'Oy Vanehi.'"
When they heard this, they were afraid, and they passed around the words, and said, "We do not know what you are saying. Show us 'Voy Vanehi' to our own eyes." Immediately, he went and took a container (a hollow tube) with two openings and went and caught three snakes and three scorpions, and placed the scorpions in the lower opening and the snakes in the upper opening, and sealed the container and came before the king.
And his wise ones said, "What is in the container?" He said to them, "Look!" Immediately one of them put his hand in the container in the first opening and felt the snakes, and said, "Vay, what is this?!" One put his hand in the lower opening and a scorpion struck him, and he said, "Vay Vanehi!"
Ben Sira said to them, "Behold- you know 'Vay Vanehi' and you have seen them." When they saw that it was so, they immediately were afraid and sweated and trembled, and fell on their faces. The king said to them, "You contracted with me that if he did not know 'Vay Vanhei' you would kill him; behold, he knows 'Vay Vanehi.' The judgment that you ruled for him, that he should be executed- now you are liable for that execution."
They said to him, "Let the king do whatever he wants to his servants." Immediately he handed them over to Ben Sira. He said to them, "Haven't you brought me here here for 'Vay Vanehi?'" Immediately he took them and threw them into the lion's den and they died, at the words 'Vay Vanehi.'
Then the king lifted Ben Sira and placed him on a golden throne and set a crown on his head. The king said to him, "I will king you, since you are suitable to rule." He said to him, "My master, I do not want it, since I am small. And it would not be suitable for me to rule over Israel, since I am not from the dynasty of David."
He said to him, "But Yoash assumed the throne when he was seven years old." He said to him, "He was from the royal dynasty." He said to him, "Since you do not want it, sit with me in my kingship, since I want to ask you about any matters that I have in my heart, that I see in the world and do not know." He said to him, "My master, anything that you want, ask, and I will explain to you anything that you say."
Then he asked him twenty-two questions (the number of the alphabet) and he responded to (and answered) his questions, and here they are:
Original
א First he asked him, "How does the rabbit shave her head?" He said to him, "With a serum of quicklime." He said to him, "What is it like?" He said to him, "The shaver shaves the hair."
He said to him, "And what is it called?" He said to him, "A serum of quicklime, which is quicklime and 'zernich' (arsenic), and this material, in the days of your mother, was created by Solomon from his mind, in his wisdom. When your mother, the Queen of Sheba, came to Solomon and brought him a gift to see his wisdom, she appealed to him, and he wanted to sleep with her, and he found her entirely hairy, and he brought her quicklime and arsenic, and crumbled it with a chopper by way of (the soles of) the feet, and crushed the arsenic, and mixed them in water, and it turned into the quicklime serum for shaving, and he applied it to her, and rinsed her, and her hair detached, and at that point he was intimate with her."
He said to him, "I would not believe these things unless I saw them with my own eyes." He said to him, "How do you know this?" He said to him, "I am a prophet and the Holy Blessed One reveals all sealed matters to me." He said to him, "If so, then what you have told me is true."
Original
ב "Count the trees in my garden." He said to him, "Thirty types of trees are in your garden. Ten of them are eaten as-is, and here they are: apples, figs, shekamim, citrons, grapes, quinces, pears, botnim, peppers, and limonia, which is the Ishmaelite language and is prepared salted. And for ten of them the inside is eaten and the outside is discarded, and here they are: pomegranates, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, sanduvin, morlin, katpilin [kalpilin], gonzarin, krumin.
And their names in the Arab language are goz, luz, fistuk, banduk, sahablot, doman, tznobar, blot [...] For ten of them, what is on the outside is eaten, and here they are: dates, olives, carobs, persimmons, crabapples, plums, achonyot, gadgadniyot, charutim, alusim." He said to him, "And who planted them?" He said to him, "The first Adam took them from the Garden of Eden, and even before he left, he took them from there, with the permission of the Holy Blessed One. And he took with them too all kinds of fragrances, and all kinds of other medicines, thirty types."
Original
ג He said to him, "Have you seen them in my garden? Or have you been told?" He said to him, "If you want, cover my eyes and go out with your soldiers, and form them into separate troops for yourself, and I will tell you which troop you are in." And he did so- he covered his eyes and placed a trusted man with him.
A troop passed by with noise and shouts, until the earth was shaking. The trusted one who was with him said to him, "Is the king among this troop?" He said to him, "No." (In the Talmud, this is told about Rav Sheshet, Berachot 55a) Another troop passed by with great shouting, and it had cavalry running along all the sides. The trusted man said, "Is the king among this troop?
He said to him, "No." A third troop passed by with chants and all kinds of music. He said to him, "Is there a king here?" He said to him, "No." A fourth troop passed by in silence, and even the sound of the horses' hooves could not be heard, but rather a thin stillness. He said to him, "Is it here?"
He said to him, "Yes. [And behold he is right across from me!" Immediately they opened his eyes and he saw him standing by him.] The king said to him, "Inform me how you knew this great secret." He said to him, "You are so haughty in your royalty that you compare yourself to the Holy Blessed One, as it is said, 'And behold, God passed by with a thin, still sound,' in which the King, King of Kings, was visible seated on a high and lofty throne."
He said to him, "You equate me with your God!" He said to him, "You are not equal to Them, but because of your pride and great wickedness, you have become comparable to the Holy Blessed One's authority, and that is why Their anger is against you." He said to him, "And if Their anger is against me, how could They have lifted me up, and made me great in the world, and handed everything over to me?" He said to him, "When the Holy Blessed One wants to bring a person low, They first raise them and then lower them, as it says, (Ovadiah 1:4) 'If you go as high as an eagle...'"
Immediately, he said to him, "If you become my son-in-law and marry my daughter, I will appoint you king in my place." He said to him, "I am a human being, and I cannot marry an animal, as it says, 'Their flesh is the flesh of donkeys...'" When the king heard that he was cursing, insulting and slandering the nations of the world, he got very angry. He said to his wise ones, "Tell me something that we can feed him secretly so that he will die." They said to him, "We do not know." Immediately, he killed them, and said to Ben Sira:
Original
ד "I will ask you about something, and you will tell it to me, and I will give you one r'em of silver, and incomprehensible amounts of gold. I have a friend and I hate him and want to kill him using something he doesn't know about, with a food that they can feed him so he dies." Immediately, Ben Sira understood that he intended to kill him, so he said to him, "Let me compare it to a fable for you.
There was once an unendingly beautiful horse belonging to Nimrod. The other horses said to him, 'Give us your head to cut off, and we will give you a house full of straw and barley.' The horse knew what they were trying to do to him, for he was intelligent. He said to them, 'Fools!
If I give you my head to cut off, who will eat the straw and barley?' Thus you are seeking to kill me, but if you kill me, who will take one r'em of silver and gold, and who will eat them?" He said to him, "By Kemosh's life, I will not kill you." He said to him, "I will tell you."
He said to him, "Give him ten days and have him eat egg yolks without salt, and he will die." The king thought to himself, "He lies." He brought someone and fed it to him, and he died. The king said to him, "Eat it before me, and I will leave you alone."
He said to him, "Everything that you prepare with your hands I cannot eat. I will prepare it and eat them." What did he do? He added salt secretly, and he ate it for a full month.
He said to him, "Why did you lie to me?" He said to him, "I made them thin, crushed them a little, and put something in them." Immediately, the king went and did this, and became ill. He said to him, "Heal me!"
He wrote him an amulet, and he was healed. He said to him, "Why did you try to kill me?" He said to him, "Thus goes the ancient fable- evil comes from evil people. Act first to kill someone who is trying to kill you." ( Someone trying to kill you- kill them early) Immediately, his small son became ill.
The king said to him, "Heal my son, and if you do not, I will kill you." Immediately he sat and wrote him an amulet in the Name quickly, and wrote the names of the angels who are appointed for healing, with their names, and their composition, and their form, and their wings, and their arms, and their legs. And when Nebuchadnezzar saw the amulet he said, "What are these?"
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ה He said to him, "The angels appointed for healing: Sanoy, Sansanoy, Semangalof. When the Holy Blessed One created the first Adam alone, They said, (Genesis 2:18) 'It is not good for this Adam to be alone.' They created for him a wife out of the Earth like he had been, and called her Lilith. Immediately they began to challenge each other.
She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the Earth.' But they would not listen to one another.
When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the world's air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator and said, 'Sovereign of the universe! The woman you gave me has run away from me.' Immediately, the Holy Blessed One sent these three angels to bring her back.
The Holy Blessed One said to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' They departed and pursued her, and overtook her in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians would ultimately drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return.
The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.' She said to them, 'Let me be. I was created only to cause illness to infants. I have dominion over them for eight days after birth if they are male, and if female, after birth for twenty days.'
When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted on taking her. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God, 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write their names on the amulets of young children, and she sees them, she remembers her oath, and the child is healed."
After some time, the king said to him, "I have one daughter who sneezes [note- a euphemism for passing gas] one thousand sneezes in an hour. Heal her." He said to him, "Send her to me in the morning with her guards and I will heal her." In the morning, she came to him with her guards.
When he saw her, he began to get angry. She said to him, "Why did you get angry?" He said to her, "Your father has decreed upon me to sneeze a thousand sneezes before him tomorrow and in two days, and I am afraid that he will kill me. He has waited for me for three days, and I do not know what I will do."
She said to him, "Do not worry about this- I will go in your place and I will sneeze before him a thousand sneezes for you and for myself." He said to her, "Since that is the case, stay with me for three days and do not sneeze during them, and be 'prepared for the third day.' Immediately, every time when the sneeze came to her, she would stand on her feet and stretch between her eyes, as he had told her, and she suffered with herself and closed her mouth little by little, and the sneeze ended from her entirely.
After three days, no sneeze came from her mouth. On the third day, he took her to her father and said to her, "Go sneeze two thousand sneezes for your father." She went before him, and she could not sneeze even one time. Immediately, he stood up and kissed him. He began asking him questions. He said to him:
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ו "Why were sneezes created?" He said to him, "If not for sneezes, people would defecate in their clothes, but when a person knows that sneezes are coming upon them, they can go and attend to their needs, so they they do not come to shame, and sitting in their soiled clothes.
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ז He said to him, "Why is it is that on a person's body every follicle has two hairs, but on their head every follicle has one hair?" He said to him, "The Holy Blessed One created on the head every follicle with one hair, but if They had created two in every follicle, both their eyes would be darkened." (Bava Batra 16a) And so too, for the world- if there were two raindrops in each 'follicle' the world would be destroyed and it would be more than the Flood. And in a place where the Holy Blessed One has created an affliction, They have created parallel to it its cure." He said to him, "How fortunate you are, my son, that the Holy Blessed One has revealed so much to you."
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ח He said to him, "Why were gnats created? For they only exist in the world for just one day, and then they are destroyed and others are created?" He said to him, "On the merit of one gnat who will in the future get revenge on the evil Titus. And the remainder- to give life to raven chicks when they hatch from the eggs. They go out to their nest and their parents flee and leave them, and they cry out to them, as it says, (Psalms 147:9) 'to the raven's brood what they cry for' and they bring them gnats in their mouth, and they eat it and live off of it for three days. After three days they turn black and their parents return to them, and the Holy Blessed One prepares the cure before the harm."
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ט He said to him, "Why did the Holy Blessed One create in Their world wasps and spiders, which cause harm and get no benefit from it?" He said to him, "It once happened that David King of Israel, peace be upon him, was sitting in his garden, and he saw a wasp eating a spider, and a fool arrived with a stick in his hand and was chasing them away. David said before the Holy Blessed One: 'Master of the world!
What benefit is there to these, which you created in your world? The wasp eats honey and stings, and she gets no benefit from it; the spider weaves all year but he never dresses in it; the fool with no intelligence harms other creatures and does not know your unity and strength, and there is no benefit in him to the world.' The Holy Blessed One said to him: 'David! You are slandering the creatures.
The hour will come when you will need them, and you will know why they were created.' And when he hid in a cave because of King Saul, the Holy Blessed One sent a spider, and she wove a web over the mouth of the cave and sealed it. Saul came and saw it woven. He said, 'Certainly nobody has entered here, for anyone entering would have torn the webbing to shreds.'
He continued and did not enter there. And when David exited and saw the spider, he kissed her and said to her, 'Blessed is your Creator and blessed are you! Master of the world, who can compare to your workings and strength? For all you make is good.'
And before Achish, he made himself out to be a fool before his men, and Achish's daughter was an insane fool, so when they brought him [David] to him, he [Achish] said to them, 'Are you mocking me? Is it because of my daughter who is a fool that you brought this to me? Or maybe I do not already have enough fools?' Immediately, they released him, and he escaped and gave thanks to God for his deeds, for everything that he created in the world has benefit in it.
And when David found Saul lying down at noontime, Avner was lying at the entrance, with his head at one entrance and his legs outstretched, and he [David] came and entered between his legs and took the water flask. And when he went to leave between his legs, Avner stretched his legs and covered him with them, and they were over him like two great pillars. And he asked for mercy from Hashem, and said, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'
At that moment, a miracle was done for him, and sent him a hornet, and she bit Avner's legs, and he straightened them, and David exited and praised the Holy Blessed One. And it would be inappropriate for a human to slander God's doings."
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י Nebuchadnezzar said to Ben Sira, "Why does an ox have no hair on his nose?" He said to him, "When Israel and Joshua were encircling Jericho to make it fall, Joshua was fat. They brought him a horse, a donkey, and a mule to ride, but they all died underneath him. So they brought him an ox and it carried him, and when he saw this he kissed him on his nose, and therefore it has no hair."
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י"א He said to him, "Why do cats eat mice more than any other vermin?" He said to him, "At the beginning, the cat and the mouse were friends. Once, the mouse went and slandered the cat to the Holy Blessed One. He said to Them, 'Ruler of the world!
The cat and I are partners and we have nothing to eat.' They said to him, 'You slandered your friend so that you could eat from him; now he will eat you, and you will be his food!' He said to Them, 'Ruler of the world! But what did I do?'
They said to him, 'Oh, impure vermin! Haven't you learned a lesson from the sun and moon, which were equal in stature and appearance, but because the moon slandered the sun I reduced the luminaries and added onto the sun? Thus you too have slandered your friend to feed you, therefore he will eat you.' He said to Them, 'Ruler of the world!
If this is the case, then I and my offspring will be destroyed!' They said to him, 'I will allow a remnant of you to remain, as I did for the moon.' Immediately, the mouse went and bit the cat on his head, and the cat jumped and threw the mouse to the earth and bit him and he died. At that moment, the hatred of the cat for the mouse descended, and therefore they eat them."
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י"ב He asked, "Why does a donkey urinate on the urine of its fellow and smell its excrement?" He replied, "When the Holy One, blessed be He, created every creature, the donkey said to the horse and the mule, 'Every creature has its own benefit, and we toil from generation to generation without any benefit.' They prayed to their Creator to grant them some benefit, but their prayers were not answered. The Holy One said to them, 'When the time comes that your urine will flow like rivers and your excrement will smell like perfumes, then I will give you your reward.' Therefore, they smell and urinate on each other's waste."
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י"ג He said to him, "And why is there hatred between the dog and the cat?" He said to him, "When the cat was created, he went and partnered with the dog, and the two of them would hunt and eat. One day came along, and then a second and third, when they could not find anything to eat. Then the dog said to the cat, 'How long will we sit hungry?
You, go to First Adam and live with him in his house, and eat and be satisfied, and I will go to the creeping, crawling animals, and though nothing is found, we will eat and we will live.' The cat said to the dog, 'Let us both swear not to go to the same master.' He said to him, 'You have said well.' Immediately they both swore, and the cat went to the house of the First Adam and found mice and ate and was satisfied, and the remaining ones fled from him.
When he saw this, Adam said, 'The Holy Blessed One has sent me a great healing!' Immediately he settled him in his house and fed him bread and gave him water. Then what did the dog do? He went to the wolf.
He said to him, 'Can I come to you tonight and sleep over?' He said to him, 'Yes.' They both went into a cave and lay down. The dog heard the sound of loud animal footsteps.
Immediately he woke the wolf and said to him, 'I hear the sound of bandits!' He said to him, 'You go out and chase them away.' They stood up against him as if to kill him. He ran away and went to the monkey, and he chased him away.
He went to the sheep, and he accepted him and lay down with him. He heard the sound of footsteps. The dog said to the sheep, 'I hear the sound of bandits!' He said to him, 'You go out.'
The dog went out and started barking. The wolves said, 'The sheep went there,' and they went and found him [the sheep] and ate him, and the dog ran away from lodging to lodging and could not find any rest at all. Immediately, he went to First Adam, who accepted him and lay down to lodge with him. At midnight, the dog said to Adam, 'I hear footsteps!'
Immediately, Adam stood up and took up the spear and went with the dog, and they chased the animals until they had made them run away, and the two of them returned together. Adam said to the dog, 'Come with me to my home, and live with me and eat my food and drink my water.' So he went with him. When the cat heard the dog's voice, he came out to greet him.
He said to him, 'Why have you come to me?' He said to him, 'Adam brought me.' They began to quarrel. Adam said to the cat, 'Why are you fighting with him?
I brought him, because I saw that he is he is entirely loyal.' He [Adam] said to him [the cat], 'Do not worry! You will be with me as has been your habit.' He said to him, 'My master, he is a thief.
Is it nice to live with a thief?' The cat said to the dog, 'Why did you break your oath?' He said to him, 'I will not come into your residence, I will not eat what you have, I will not harm you at all.' He would not listen to him, so they began to quarrel.
When the dog saw that it was so, he immediately ran to Seth's house and lived with him. The dog would try to make peace with the cat, but the cat was not amenable, and from that moment until this day they are in a quarrel. And the practice of the ancestors is the practice of the descendants, whether wild animals, domesticated animals, or people. And they say this parable about them: 'One ewe follows another.'"
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י"ד He said to him, "Why can the dog recognize his owner but the cat does not?" He said to him, "Anyone who eats from something that a mouse has eaten from forgets his studies (Horayot 13a), so a cat who eats the mouse itself, how much more so should it be unable to recognize its owner!"