Hebraic Literature (1901) Reader

The Mishnic Rabbis have ordained that ten cups of wine be drunk in the house by the funeral party; three before supper, to whet the appetite; three during supper, to aid digestion; and four after the meal, at the recitation of the four benedictions. Afterward four complimentary cups were added, one in honor of the precentors, one in honor of the municipal authorities, another in remembrance of the Temple, and the fourth in the memory of Rabbon Gamliel.

Drunkenness so often ensued on these occasions that the number had to be curtailed to the original ten cups. The toast to the memory of Rabbon Gamliel was to commemorate his endeavors to reduce the extravagant expenses at burials, and the consequent abandonment of the dead by poor relations. He left orders that his own remains should be buried in a linen shroud, and since then, says Rav Pappa, corpses are buried in canvas shrouds about a zouz in value.

When Solomon was desirous of conveying the Ark into the Temple, the doors shut themselves of their own accord against him. Here cited 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

What is the meaning where it is written (Ps. x. 27), "The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened; " The fear of the Lord prolongeth days" alludes to the four hundred and ten years the first Temple stood, during which period the succession of high priests numbered only eighteen. But " the years of the wicked shall be shortened • is illustrated by the fact that during the four hundred and twenty years that the second Temple stood the succession of high priests numbered more than three hundred. If we deduct the forty years during which Shimon the Righteous held office, and the eighty of Rabbi Yochanan, and the ten of Rabbi Ishmael ben Rabbi, it is evident that not one of the remaining high priests lived to hold office for a whole year

The above tradition is founded on Judges xiii. 25, in which it is said of Samson, "And the spirit of God began to move him at times in the camp of Dan, between Zoreah and Eshtaol,® in which the word " move,8 signifies also to " strike a stroke, ® " step a step, and *<mce.* Founding on which last two meanings, Rabbi Yehudah says, " Samson strode in one stride from Zoreah to Eshtaol,® a giant stride of two miles or more. Taking the word in the sense of " strike,® or " producing a ringing sound,® another Rabbi tells us that the hairs of Samson's head stood upright, tinkling one against another like bells, the jingle of which might be heard from Zoreah to Eshtaol. The version in the text takes the same word in the sense of to " strike together.®

Ben Hey-Hey said to Hillel, " What does this mean that is written in Mai. iii. 18, 'Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not '? Does the righteous here mean him that serveth God, and the wicked him that serveth Him not? Why this repetition? To this Hillel replied, "The expressions, (he that serveth God, and he that serveth Him not,' are both to be understood as denoting ( perfectly righteous,' but he who repeats his lesson a hundred times is not to be compared with one who repeats it a hundred and one times.

Then said Ben Hey-Hey, " What! because he has repeated what he has learned only one time less than the other, is he to be conconsidered as (one who serveth Him not? " Yes! was the reply; " go and learn a lesson from the published tariff of the donkey-drivers — ten miles for one zouz, eleven for two.M

To pray loudly is not a necessity of devotion; when we pray we must direct our hearts toward heaven. Charity is greater than all. Who gives charity in secret is greater than Moses. He finds authority for this saying in the words of Moses, " For I was afraid of the anger, }) and the words of Solomon which he presents as an answer, " A gift given in secret pacifieth anger.8.

A miser is as wicked as an idolater. Charity is more than sacrifices. " He who gives (charity) becomes rich," or as it is written, " A beneficent soul will be abundantly gratified. One day a philosopher inquired of Rabbi Akiba, " If your God loves the poor, why does He not support them. 34© PROVERBIAL SAYINGS. " God allows the poor to be with us ever,8 responded Akiba, " that the opportunities for doing good may never fail.*.

One hundred and three chapters (or psalms) were uttered by David, and he did not pronounce the word Hallelujah until he came to contemplate the downfall of the wicked; as it is written (Ps. civ. 35), " Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord. O my soul, Hallelujah I* Instead of one hundred and three we ought to say a hundred and four, but we infer from this that "Blessed is the man,8 etc., and " Why do the heathen rage? • etc., are but one psalm

arise, and hurrying back they just reached the ship as the sailors were lifting the anchor, and in the haste and confusion many lost their places, and were not as comfortable during the balance of their voyage as at the outset. They were wiser, however, than the fourth party; these latter stayed so long upon the island and tasted so deeply of its pleasures, that they allowed the ship's bell of warning to sound unheeded.

Said they, " The sails are still to be set; we may enjoy ourselves a few minutes more. Again the bell sounded, and still they lingered, thinking, " The captain will not sail without us." So they remained on shore until they saw the ship moving; then in wild haste they swain after it and scrambled up the sides, but the bruises and injuries which they encountered in so doing were not healed during the remainder of the voyage.

But, alas, for the fifth party. They ate and drank so deeply that they did not even hear the bell, and when the ship started they were left behind. Then the wild beasts hid in the thickets made of them a prey, and they who escaped this evil, perished from the poison of surfeit.

The five times repeated Bless the Lord, O my soul • (Ps. ciii. civ.), were said by David with reference both to God and the soul. As God fills the whole world, so does the soul fill the whole body; as God sees and is not seen, so the soul sees and is not seen; as God nourishes the whole world, so does the soul nourish the whole body; as God is pure, so also is the soul pure; as God dwelleth in secret, so does the soul dwell in secret. Therefore let him who possesses these five properties praise Him to whom these five attributes belong Berachoth, fol. 10, col. I.

Turnus Rufus once said to Rabbi Akiva, " If your God is a friend to the poor, why doesn't he feed them?0 To which he promptly replied, " That we by maintaining them may escape the condemnation of Gehenna. " On the contrary, said the Emperor, "the very fact of your maintaining the poor will condemn you to Gehenna. I will tell thee by a parable whereto this is like, It is as if a king of our own flesh and blood should imprison a servant who has offended him, and command that neither food nor drink should be given him, and as if one of his subjects in spite of him should go and supply him with both.

When the king hears of it will he not be angry with that man? And ye are called servants, as it is said (Lev. xxv. 55), ( For unto me the children of Israel are servants. } To this Rabbi Akiva replied, " And I too will tell thee a parable whereunto the thing is like. It is like a king of our own flesh and blood who, being angry with his son, imprisons him, and orders that neither food nor drink be given him, but one goes and gives him both to eat and drink. When

One of the most charming women that we find figuring in the Talmud was the wife of Rabbi Meir, Beruriah by name; and as we meet with her in the immediate context of the above quotation, it may be well to introduce her here to the attention of the reader. The context speaks of a set of ignorant fellows (probably Greeks) who sorely vexed the soul of Rabbi Meir, her husband, and he ardently prayed God to take them away.

Then Beruriah reasoned with her husband thus: — "Is it, pray, because it is written (Ps. civ. 35), 'Let the sinners be consumed*? It is not written 'sinners,* but 'sins.* Besides, a little farther on in the' text it is said, 'And the wicked will be no more;* that is to say, 'Let sins cease, and the wicked will cease too.* Pray, therefore, on their behalf that they may be led to repentance, and these wicked will be no more.** This he therefore did, and they repented and ceased to vex him.

Of this excellent and humane woman it may well be said, "She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness** (Prov. xxxi. 26). Her end was tragic. She was entrapped by

It is related of Benjamin the righteous, who was keeper of the poor-box, that a woman came to him at a period of famine and solicited food. " By the worship of God,w he replied, " there is nothing in the box." She then exclaimed, "0 Rabbi, if thou dost not feed me I and my seven children must needs starve. Upon which he relieved her from his own private purse. In course of time he fell ill and was nigh unto death. Then the ministering angels interceded with the Holy One — blessed be He! — and said, " Lord of the Universe, Thou hast said he that preserveth one" single soul of Israel alive is as if he had preserved the life of the whole world; and shall Benjamin

Concerning the bone, the os coccygis, there is an interesting story in Midrash Kohelet (fol. 114, 3), which may be appropriately inserted here. Hadrian (whose bones may they be ground, and his name blotted out) once asked Rabbi Joshua ben Chanania, "From what shall the human frame be reconstructed when it rises again? B " From Luz in the backbone, B was the answer. " Prove this to me,8 said Hadrian. Then the Rabbi took Luz, a small bone of the spine, and immersed it in water, but it was not softened; he put it into the fire, but it was not consumed; he put it into a mill, but it could not be pounded; he placed it upon an anvil and struck it with a hammer, but the anvil split and the hammer was broken. (See also Zohar in " Genesis, " 206, etc. etc.)

share in the burial-place.8 "Indeed it did,® they argued, "for our father, just before he died, said (Gen. 1. 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.

Rabbi Abba, in the name of Shemuel, says, The schools of Shammai and Hillel were at variance three years, the one party contending and saying, (The Halacha is according to us; and the other, ( The Halacha is according to us. Then came a voice from the Lord and said, ( Both these and those are the words of the living God, but yet the Halacha is according to the school of Hillel. } What was the merit of the school of Hillel that the Halacha should be pronounced to be according to it?

Its disciples were gentle and forbearing, for while they stood by their own decisions, they also stated those maintained by the school of Shammai, and often even mentioned the tenets of the school of Shammai first and their own afterward. This teaches us that him who humbles himself, God will exalt; and him who exalts himself, God will abase. Whoso pursueth greatness, greatness will flee from him; and whoso fleeth from greatness, greatness will pursue him."

It is also needful that thou shouldst know that the Kabbalists believe in metempsychosis from the body of one species into the body of another species. Thou hast already been informed of the mystery of clean and unclean animals; and some of the later sages of the Kabbalah say that the soul of an unclean person will transmigrate into an unclean animal, or into abominable creeping things or reptiles...

For one form of uncleanness the soul will be invested with the body of a Gentile, who will (eventually) become a proselyte; for another, the soul will pass into the body of a mule; for others, it transmigrates into an ass, a woman of Ashdod, a bat, a rabbit or a hare, a she-mule or a camel. Ishmael transmigrated first into the she-ass of Balaam, and subsequently into the ass of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair.

fi For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet," etc. (Isa. iii. 1, 2). By " the stay" is meant men mighty in the Scriptures, and by " the staff " men learned in the Mishna; such, for instance, as Rabbi Yehudah ben Tima and his associates. Rav Pappa and the Rabbis differed as to the Mishna; the former said there were six hundred orders of

From the context of the passage just quoted we cull the following, which proves that the Talmud itself bases the precept concerning the washing of hands on oral tradition and not on the written law: — "Rav Yehudah ascribes this saying to Shemuel, that when Solomon "gave to the traditional rules that regulated the washing of hands and -other ceremonial rites the form and sanction of law, a Bath Kol came forth and said (Prov. xxiii. 15), ( My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine; y and again it said (Prov. xxvii, 11), <My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me/® (See Prov. xxx. 5, 6.)

Akiva thus warned his companions: " When you come across pavements of pellucid marble, do not cry out Water! water!) for it is said (Ps. ci. 7), ( He that uttereth falsehood shall not dwell in my sight. Ben Azai looked and died; concerning him the Scripture says (Ps. cxvi. 15), " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Ben Zoma looked and went out of his mind; of him the Scripture says (Prov. xxv. 16), " Hast thou found honey? eat only so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit it.* Acher cut the plants. Only Akiva departed in peace.

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.

" Every one has two portions, one in paradise and another in hell." Acheer asked Rabbi Meyer, "What meaneth this that is written (Eccl. vii. 14), God also has set the one over against the other? Rabbi Meyer replied, " There is nothing which God has created of which He has not also created the opposite. He who created mountains and hills created also seas and rivers.

But said Acheer to Rabbi Meyer, " Thy master, Rabbi Akiva, did not say so, but spake in this way: He created the righteous and also the wicked; He created paradise and hell: every man has two portions, one portion in paradise, and the other in hell. The righteous, who has personal merit, carries both his own portion of good and that of his wicked neighbor away with him to paradise; the wicked, who is guilty and condemned, carries both his own portion of evil and also that of his righteous neighbor away with him to hell. • When Rav Mesharshia asked what Scripture guarantee there was for this, this was the reply: " With regard to the righteous, it is written (Isa. lxi. 7), 'They shall rejoice in their portion, therefore in their land (beyond the grave) they shall possess the double. Respecting the wicked it is written (Jer. xvii. 18), (And destroy them with double destruction.}>>

Most donkey-drivers are wicked, but most sailors are pious. The best physicians are destined for hell, the most upright butcher is a partner of Amalek. Bastards are mostly cunning, and servants mostly handsome. Those who are well-descended are bashful, and children mostly resemble their mother's brother. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai bids us " kill the best of Gentiles (modern editions qualify this by adding, in time of war), "and smash the head of the best of serpents. "The best among women," he says, " is a witch. Blessed is he who does the will of God! Sophrim, chap. 15, hal. 10.

When Moses was about to enter Paradise he turned to Joshua and said, " If any doubtful matters remain, ask me now and I will explain them." To this Joshua replied, "Have I ever left thy side for an hour and gone away to any other? Hast thou not thyself written concerning me (Exod. xxxiii. n), ( His servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tabernacle? ' As a punishment for this pert reply, which must have distressed and confounded his master, Joshua's power of brain was immediately weakened, so that he forgot three hundred Halachahs, and seven hundred doubts sprang up to perplex him.

All Israel then rose up to murder him, but the Holy One — blessed be He! — said unto him, "To teach thee the Halachahs and their explanation is impossible, but go and trouble them with work; as it is said (Josh. i. i), (Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua,* etc. Temurah, fol. 16, col. i.

Four things cancel the decrees of Heaven: — Alms, prayer, change of name, and reformation of conduct. Alms, as it is written (Prov. x. 2), "But alms (more correctly, righteousness) delivereth from death.* Prayer as it is written (Ps. cvii. 6), "Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.8 Change of name, as it is said (Gen. xvii. 15, 16), "As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.* And after this change of name it is written, <{ And I will bless her, and give thee a son of her."

Reformation of conduct, as it is written (Jonah iii. 10), "And God saw their works, and " God repented of the evil,* etc. Some say also change of residence has the effect of turning back the decree of Heaven (Gen. xii. 1), "And the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country; " and then it is said, " I will make of thee a great nation.*

Three classes appear on the day of judgment: — The perfectly righteous, who are at once written and sealed for eternal life; the thoroughly bad, who are at once written and sealed for hell; as it is written (Dan. xii. 2), "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt; and those in the intermediate state, who go down into hell, where they cry and howl for a time, whence they ascend again; as it is written (Zech. xiii. 9), "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on my name, and I will hear them." It is of them Hannah said (1 Sam. ii. 6), "The Lord killeth and maketh alive;

Rav Acha said when God was about to create Adam He consulted the ministering angels, and asked them, saying, " Shall we make man? B They enquired, " Of what good will this man be? " He replied, " His wisdom will be greater than yours. " One day, therefore, He brought together the cattle, the beasts, and the birds, and asked them the name of them severally, but they knew not. He then caused them to pass before Adam, and asked him, " What is the name of this and the other?

Then Adam replied, "This is an ox, this is an ass," and so on. "And thou, why is thy name Adam?" (i. e. in Hebrew, man). " I ought to be called Adam," was his reply, " f or I was created from Adamah " (the ground). "And what is My name? B " It is meet Thou shouldst be called Lord, for Thou art Lord over all Thy creatures." Rav Acha says, "<I am the Lord, that is My name" (Isa. xlii. 8). <That is

As an anathema enters all the two hundred and fortyeight members of the body, so does it issue from them all. Of the entering-in of the anathema it is written (Josh. vi. 17), " And the city shall be accursed; by Gematria amounting to two hundred and forty-eight. Of the coming-out of the anathema it is written (Hab. iii. 2), " In wrath remember mercy; a transposition of the letters of the word for accursed, also amounting by Gematria to two hundred and forty-eight. Rabbi Joseph says, "

and the latter by indulging in sensuous pleasures), shall go down into Gehenna, and there be punished for twelve months, after which period their bodies will be destroyed and their soul consumed, and a wind shall scatter their ashes under the soles of the feet of the righteous; as it is said (Mai. iv. 3), "And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet.8 But the Minim, the informers, and the Epicureans, they who deny the law and the resurrection of the dead, they who separate themselves from the manners of the congregation, they who have been a terror in the land of the living, and they who have sinned and have led the multitude astray, as did Jeroboam the son of Nebat and his companions, — these shall go down into Gehenna, and there be judged for generations upon generations, as it is said (Isa. lxvi. 24), " And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me,* etc. Gehenna itself shall be consumed but they shall not be burned up in the destruction; as it is said (Ps. xlix. 14; Heb. xv.), "And their figures shall consume hell from being a dwelling.

Our teacher, Moses, always bore his share in the troubles of the congregation, as it is written, "They took a stone and put it under him." Could they not have given him a chair or a cushion? But then he said, " Since the Israelites are in trouble (during the war with Amalek) lo, I will bear my part with them, for he who bears his portion of the burden will live to enjoy the hour of consolation. Woe to the one who thinks, (Ah, well, I will neglect my duty; who can know whether I bear my part or not; even the stones of his house, aye, the limbs of the trees, shall testify against him, as it is written, ( For the stones will cry from the wall, and the limbs of the trees will testify. >

caused oxen, rams, and lambs to pass before him, that he might become well-versed and expert in his official duties. During the whole of the seven (preparatory) days neither victuals nor drink were withheld from him, but toward dusk on the eve of the Day of Atonement they did not allow him to eat much, for much food induces sleep. Then the elders of the Sanhedrin surrendered him to the elders of the priesthood, and these conducted him to the hall of the house of Abtinas, and there they swore him in; and after bidding him good-bye, they went away.

In administering the oath they said, " My lord high priest, we are ambassadors of the Sanhedrin; thou art our ambassador and the ambassador of the Sanhedrin as well. We adjure thee, by Him who causes His name to dwell in this house, that thou alter not anything that we have told thee! Then they parted, both they and he weeping. He wept because they suspected he was a Sadducee, and they wept because the penalty for wrongly suspecting persons is scourging.

If he was a learned man he preached (during the night); if not, learned men preached before him. If he was a ready reader, he read; if not, others read to him. What were the books read over to him? Job, Ezra, and the Chronicles.

Zechariah the son of Kevootal says, " I have often read before him the Book of Daniel. If he became drowsy, the juniors of the priestly order fillipped their middle fingers before him, and said, " My lord high priest, stand up and cool thy feet upon the pavement." Thus they kept him engaged till the time of slaughtering (the sacrifices). Yoma, fol. 18, cols, i, 2; fol. 19, col. 2.

When Adam observed that his sin was the cause of the decree which made death universal he fasted one hundred and thirty years, abstained all that space from intercourse with his wife, and wore girdles of fig-leaves round his loins. All these years he lived under divine displeasure, and begat devils, demons, and spectres; as it is said (Gen. v. 3), " And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat in his own likeness, after his image," which implies that, until the close of those years, his offspring were not after his own image

Rabbi, Yehoshua ben Levi said, " In twenty-four cases doth the tribunal excommunicate for the honor of a Rabbi, and all are explained in our Mishna.8 Rabbi Elazer interposed and asked, " Where are they? The reply was, " Go and seek, and thou shalt find." He went accordingly and sought, but found only three — the case of the man who lightly esteems the washing of hands; of him who whispers evil behind the bier of a disciple of the wise; and of him who behaves haughtily toward the

On the twenty-eigth 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?w (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.

The Israelites were commanded to visit Jerusalem on three festivals. It happened upon one occasion that there was a scarcity of water in the city. One of the people called upon a certain nobleman who was the owner of three wells, and asked him for the use of the water which they contained, promising that they should be refilled by a stated date, and contracting in default of this to pay a certain large amount in silver as forfeit. The day came, there had been no rain, and the three wells were dry. In the morning the owner of the wells sent for the promised money. Nakdemon, the son of Gurion, the man who had undertaken this burden for his people's sake, replied, "The day is but begun; there is yet time.

Before he ordered the expedition he endeavored by means of signs, in accordance with the superstition of his age, to ascertain the result of the attempt. He shot an arrow from his bow, pointing to the west, and the arrow turned toward Jerusalem. Then he shot again, pointing toward the east, and the arrow sped toward Jerusalem. Then he shot once more, desiring to know in which direction lay the guilty city which should be blotted from the world, and for the third time his arrow pointed toward Jerusalem.

" And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth (Num. xxiii. 5). An angel took up his seat in Balaam's throat, so that when he wished to bless, the angel permitted him, but when he desired to curse, the angel tickled his throat and stopped him. " Word in this place means simply an angel; as it is said (Ps. cvii. 20), " He sent His word and healed them. Rabbi Yochanan says, " There was an iron nail in his throat which permitted him when he wished to bless, but rasped his throat and prevented him when about to curse. " Word in this place means only an iron nail; for it is said (Num. xxxi. 23), "Every thing (or word, for the original has both meanings) that may abide the fire.* Ibid.

When Israel came out of Egypt, Samael rose to accuse them, and thus he spoke: Lord of the Universe! these have till now worshiped idols, and art Thou going to divide the sea for such as they? What did the Holy One — blessed be He! — then do? Job, one of Pharaoh's high counselors, of whom it is written (Job i. i), "That man was perfect and upright, He took and delivered to Samael, saying, as He did so, " Behold, he is in thy hand; do with him as thou pleasest."

God thought to divert his evil designs by keeping him thus occupied with Job, that Israel meanwhile might cross the sea without any hindrance, after which He would return and rescue Job from his tender mercies. God then said to Moses, " Behold I have delivered Job to Satan; make haste. Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward (Exod. xiv. 15)

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, ^hou 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. <?., 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,

The Rabbis have taught that there are six sorts of fire: — (1.) Fire that eats but drinks not, i.e., common fire; (2.) fire that drinks but does not eat, i.e., a fever; (3.) fire that eats and drinks, i.e., Elijah, as it is written (1 Kings xviii. 38), " And licked up the water that was in the trench; w (4.) fire that burns up moist things as soon as dry, i.e., the fire on the altar; (5.) fire that counteracts other fire, i.e.. like that of Gabriel; (6.) fire that consumes fire, for the Master has said (Sanhed., fol. 38, col. 2),