The Cow That Refused to Plow on Shabbat

Gaster, Exempla of the Rabbis No. 312 (1924); Codex Gaster 185

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·April 19, 2026

A cow which belonged to a pious man when sold to a stranger refused to work on the Sabbath and thus the trangressor was taught a lesson.

Themes

Sabbath Miracles Righteousness Community

Biblical References

Exodus 20:10

Continue Reading

The Exempla of the Rabbis (1924)The Shabbat Journey the Bear Protected and the Robbers MissedThree men were traveling together through a lonely country. As Friday afternoon wore on, one of them stopped. "The sun is setting," he said. "I will not travel Hebraic Literature (1901)The Butcher of Ludik Who Bought His Prosperity with Sabbath MeatRabbi Achiya, the son of Abba, used to tell this story of a Sabbath he spent in the town of Ludik. He had been invited into the home of a wealthy man. The table The Exempla of the Rabbis (1924)The Dream That Foiled a Blood Libel on PassoverAn apostate, a Jew who had abandoned his people, invented a blood libel and decided to prove it. He found a bird, slaughtered it, drained its blood into a small The Exempla of the Rabbis (1924)The Pearl in the Fish and the Honor of ShabbatThere was a man called Yosef Mokir Shabbat, "Yosef the Honorer of the Sabbath." Every Friday he spent whatever he had on the best food available for the Shabbat Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on GenesisEliezer, Who Was Worth Three Hundred and EighteenTargum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 14:14) delivers one of the boldest numeric readings in the Aramaic tradition. The Hebrew Bible says Abram armed three hundred Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on ExodusThe Harder Egypt Pushed, the More Israel GrewPharaoh's whole policy had one aim, shrink the Hebrews. And this verse is the Targum's quiet demolition of the whole policy. "But as much as they depressed them