Read Exempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924) in source order, passage by passage, with the close English translation where available and the original source text for checking.
The tale of the ass who was appointed toll-gatherer.' A lion and fox passed by and the lion killed the ass for asking him to pay toll. The fox ate the heart of the ass. The lion asked for it but the fox replied that the ass could not have had any as he was such a fool as to ask toll of a lion.
245. Death of R. Akiba in prison. Elijah brought R. Joshua ha-Garsi to the place and carried the body to a cavern where there was a bed, a table and a candle ready.
246 f. 169a. Solomon after his fall was well treated by the rich and yet made miserable since they reminded him that he had fallen. But when treated by the poor to small fare he was consoled.
Death of R. Akiba in prison. Elijah brought R. Joshua ha-Garsi to the place and carried the body to a cavern where there was a bed, a table and a candle ready.
246. Solomon Well & Badly T reated.
Proverbs, XV, 17.
Midr. Hagadol, Deut.
Shofetim.
Yalk. II, § 953.
Farhi, 0. P. I, p. 18b; in, f. 40.
Yalk. Sip. Ill, p. 109. Ginzburg, IV, p. 169.
Solomon after his fall was well treated by the rich and yet made miserable since they reminded him that he had fallen. But when treated by the poor to small fare he was consoled.
247. Justina, the daughter of Asverus, married at six, and had a child at seven years old. The sages remark that one cannot have a child before eleven.
247. Marriage of Children. Niddah, f. 45.
Midr. Hagadol, Exod.
Vayakhel.
Yalk. Sip. I. p. 89.
Justina, the daughter of Asverus, married at six, and had a child at seven years old. The sages remark that one cannot have a child before eleven.
248. R. Akiba refused to allow a girl three years old to be considered fit for priestly purity in view of peculiar circumstances.
The Exempla of the Rabbis preserves a sprawling collection of tales about Solomon and the power of the divine Name. In these stories, Solomon commands demons, builds the Temple without iron tools using the miraculous Shamir worm, and outwits Ashmedai, the king of demons, only to be outwitted in return.
The most famous episode tells how Solomon tricked Ashmedai into revealing where the Shamir could be found. But Ashmedai, once freed from his chains, hurled Solomon four hundred parasangs away and took his throne. For years, Solomon wandered as a beggar, telling anyone who would listen, "I am Kohelet, I was king over Israel in Jerusalem" (Ecclesiastes 1:12). No one believed him.
The cycle also includes tales of Solomon's wisdom in judgment, his ability to understand the speech of birds and animals, and the legendary wealth that flowed through his kingdom. These stories appear across the Talmud (Gittin 68a-b), Targum Sheni to Esther, and various collections of medieval Jewish folklore.
249. Akiba & Woman with Blemish.
Niddah, f. 45 a.
-Midr. Hagadol, Levit. Mesora.
Yalk. Sip. I. p. 89.
Story of Herod and the Hasmonaean princess
(Mariamne). She killed herself and he kept her body preserved in honey for seven years and he slew all the Rabbis except Baba b. Bita who was blind. He visited him secretly and
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learned from him how careful Rabbis were. At his advice Herold rebuilt the Temple.
251. Judith Legend. Sabbath, ch. 2.
Megillat Taanit, ch. 6. Orehot Hayim, f. 118 a. Kolbo § 44, f. 43d.
R. Samuel in Tosafot to Megilla, f. 4a.
Nissim, f. 22 b.
Nissim to Alfasi.
Ben Atar, f. 38 a. Gedalyah, Shalshelet Hakkabala, f. 17a. Azaria de Rossi, Meal Enayim, ch. 51.
Hemdat Yamim, vol. 2, f. 68d— 71c.
Farhi, O. P. I, f. 14b. Jellinek, B. H. I, 130 to 131, 132 — 136; II, p. 12—22.
Frankl, Nes Hanukah, (Spanish), s. 1. v. a, f. 6aff.
Araki Cohen, Sef. Ha- maasiyot. ch. 55. Eisenstein, Oser, p. 204. Arabic Version in Abr. Maimonides Homilies to Gen. Mikes. Cod. G. 125.
Zunz, G. V.2 p. 131. Gaster, P. S. B. A.
March 1894.
Codd. Oxf. 2339, f. 176b to 177 b, 2240, 5; 2669; 2797.
Codd. G. 130, No. 45; 251, f. 172 a; 274 (La- dino) f. 27b; 591, d; 942, f. 23b; 1292.
King Manasseh repented when placed inside a brass bull in a furnace, and was saved by God, who had made a hole under His Throne to allow Manasseh's prayer to ascend, the angels having stopped all other access.
253. Repentance of Elazar b. Dordaya.
Aboda Zara, f. 17 a. Aboab, Men. Ham. ch. 29.
Tendlau, Sagen3, No. 24. Cod. G. 184, No. 195.
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255- Shimeon b. Shetah & Janai.
Sanhedrin, f. 19 a. Berakhot, f. 48 a, ch. VII.
J. Berakhot, VII, 2. Midr. Hagadol, Exod.
Mishpatim.
Numb. R. § 91.
Cod. Br. M. 2351 (Midr.
Hahefes), f. 303 b. Cod. G. 184, No. 190.
Repentance of Elazar b. Dordaya who went to a base woman, and by accident was reminded of his sinful and forlorn life. He repented, asking Heaven and earth to plead for him. In the end he died in tears, his repentance accepted.
Power of repentance. Story of Rabbi Simeon b. Lakish and his two former robber companions. He repented, fasted, prayed and gave charity. They continued robbing. After death he went to Paradise, they to Hell. They saw him and asked if God were partial. God replied: “ He repented. " They were then willing to repent but were told, “It is too late to do so after death."
King Janai was brought before the tribunal of Shimeon b. Shetah, since one of his attendants had committed murder. The colleagues of Shimeon b. Shetah were afraid to judge and were punished for it by the angel Gabriel.
256. Astrologers Converted.
J. Baba Kama, IV. Baba Kama 38.
Sifre, Deut. Berakha,
ch. 33, v. 3.
Yalk. Sip. II, p. 163.
257. Meal Half-Cooked & Well Cooked.
Derekh Eres, ch. 7. Yalk. Sip. II, p. 116. Cod. G. 184, No. 44.
a. Rabbi Akiba offered his pupils firstly a dish half-cooked. This was only partaken of by a fool: afterwards a well -cooked dish was brought which was eaten by the wise. The rabbi did this to test their characters.
a. Two astrologers were sent to Rabbi Gamliel in Usha to study Jewish Law. They did so and found everything excellent, except some minor legal prescriptions.
Rabbi Akiba followed Rabbi Joshua to his privacy, only to learn good manners from him.
259. Hillel & Belated Meal. Mass. Kallah, ed. Coro-
nel f. 16b.
Derekh Eres R. ch. 6. Yalk. Sip. Ill, p. 73. Cod. G. 184, No. 41.
Man should not be hasty nor angry. Hillel's wife gave all the dinner to a poor man, to be used as his daughter's wedding feast, and kept Hillel and his guest waiting until she had another ready. Hillel never lost his temper.
260. HilleVs Pupils.
Baba Batra, f. 134 a. Succah, f. 28 a.
Abot de R. Nathan,
ch. 14, v. 6; ch. 29. Raymundus Mart., Pu- gio, p. 254.
Hillel had eighty pupils, thirty like Moses, thirty like Joshua, and twenty between the two. Of these, the greatest was Jonathan b. Uzziel. Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, the famous scholar, was the least\\\ [Details are given in the text of the scholarship of both.]
261. R. Joshua & Philosophers of Alexandria.
Midr. Hagadol, Gen.
Vayer a; Le vit. Masor a. Letter of Aristeas. Heinrici, Griechisch- Byzant. Gesprachs- biicher.
Rumanian Questions & Answers. Gaster, Lit. Pop. Rom. p. 452.
The people of Alexandria put 12 questions to R. Joshua b. Hananya and he answered them all satisfactorily. Three concerned legal decisions, three Agada, three commonplace, three ethical. They all rested on statements, seemingly contradictory, in the Bible.
262. R. Afciba & Shipwreck. Yebamot, f. 121.
Yalk. Sip. V, p. 93.
cf. Arabic Maase Nissim. (See also No. 298.)
b. Rabbi Gamliel saw R. Akiba in a ship that had foundered and found him afterwards when he came to shore. R. Akiba had floated on a piece of wood and had thus been saved.
263. Dangerous Discussion. Sabbath, f. 33 b.
Midr. Hagadol, Gen.
Vayishlah.
Gen. R. f. 79.
Yalk. Sip. I. p. hi. Eisenmenger, II, p. 404 to 406.
Cod. G. 184, No. 251.
Rabbi Judah son of R. Elai, Rabbi Jose, and Rabbi Shimeon b. Johai discussed together with Judah b. Giri, the merits of the Romans. Rabbi Juda praised them. Rabbi Jose kept silent. Rabbi Shimeon blamed them. Juda b. Giri denounced them. In consequence R. Judah was raised to a high position. Rabbi Jose was exiled to Sepphoris and Rabbi Shimeon b. Johai had to flee for his life, and hid with his son in a cavern for thirteen years. After that his father-in-law, R. Pinehasb. Jair found him full of scars and wounds. He was restored to health.
264. General Almsgiving. Baba Batra, f. 8a. Aboab, Men. Ham.
ch. 196.
Ben Gorion II, p. 57,
339-
Cod. G. 184, No. 226.
Rabbi Judah ha-Nassi wanted to exclude the ignorant from his alms in a years of famine. He was taught better by his pupil Jonathan b. Amran who asked to be fed if only like a dog, under the pretence that he was an ignorant man. He thus learned that everybody must be fed.
265. Creation of the World. Midr. Hagadol, Gen.
Toledot.
Gen. R. ch. 65.
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Exod. R. 13 § 1. Lament. R. Petiha, § 2. Yalk. Sip. I, p. 3.
Abdemos Hagardi asked Rabbi Meir how the earth was created. He sent him to Abba Josef the builder, whom he found [sitting] on a beam, and from whom he heard that it was created from a snowball under the Throne of God.
Rabbi Gamliel and Rabbi Joshua were in a boat. Rabbi Joshua was better informed as to the length of the journey through his star-lore. More learned still were
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his two pupils Elazar ha-Sama and Johanan b. Gadgada, who were none the less starving. Afterwards Rabbi Gamliel appointed them to high positions. [The reason is given why the rabbi was surnamed ha-Sama (the ashamed)].
267. Eyes of a Leviathan. Baba Batra, f. 74 a. Midr. Hagadol, Gen.,
f. 18a.
R. Johanan: Raba bar b. Hana, f. 18 c — 19 b. Yalk. Sip. I, p. 11. Gaster, Alexander Legend. JRAS, 1897, p. 485 f.
Cod. G. 242, f. 60b.
Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Joshua were together on a boat. R. Joshua was startled by a great light, probably the eyes of the leviathan.
