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R. Elazar b. Abina said further: "Much more is said [regarding the actions] of Michael than is said of Gabriel; for in describing Michael, it is written (Is. 6, 6.) Then flew unto ...
(Fol. 5a) R. Levi b. Chama, in the name of Simon b. Lakish said: "At all times let man stir up his good inclination against the evil inclination), for it is said (Ps. 4:5) Tremble,...
Furthermore, said R. Levi b. Chama, in the name of Resh Lakish : "What is meant by the passage (Ex. 24:12) And I will give thee the tablets of stone, with the law and the Commandme...
A disciple recited before R. Jochanan: "Whoever occupies himself with the study of the Torah and with the practice of loving kindness and (Ib. b.) buries his children [during his l...
(1) ROSH HASHANAH (Fol. 2b) "When Aaron died, Sichon was still living (Fol. 3), as it is written (Num. 21, 1) And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, heard. What did he hear? He heard...
(3) (Fol. 10b) We have been taught that R. Eliezer says: "In the month of Tishri the world was created; in the month of Tishri the Patriarchs [Abraham and Jacob], were born, and in...
(4) R. Joshua, however, says: "Whence do we know that the Patriarchs were born in the month of Nissan? It is said (I Kings 6, 1) In the fourth year, in the month Ziv (glory), which...
(10) R. Isaac said: "A year which is poor (Israel appears humble) in the beginning, will be rich in the end (Israel's request will be granted). What is the reason for it? For it is...
(11) R. Kruspedai said in the name of R. Jochanan: "Three books are opened on New Year's Day: one for the grossly wicked, one for the perfectly righteous, and one for the intermedi...
Come, listen. The proselyte Beluria asked Rabban Gamaliel: "It is written in your Torah (Deut. 17) The Lord who forgiveth no persons and taketh no bribe; and it is also written (Nu...
(22) We are taught in a Baraitha, R. Simeon b. Jochai said: "There are four matters that R. Akiba expounded, but which I interpret differently. The fast of the fourth, means the se...
It is taught (in a baraita (a teaching from outside the Mishnah)): Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Yosei, said: "All acts of charity and kindness that Jews perform in this world make gr...
What is meant by 'a wicked bond'? Shebna taught to twelve myriads, while Hezekiah taught to eleven myriads. When Sennacherib came and besieged Jerusalem, Shebna wrote on an arrowhe...
Turnus Rufus and Akiba dispute about the preeminence of the Sabbath. Rufus holds high office, having been appointed by the Emperor. Akiba says that the Sabbath has also been appoin...
Trayanos kills Pappos and Lulianos in Laodicea. He said to them "If you are brethren of the Three Youths then you also may be saved miraculously.” They replied “They and Nebuchadne...
When the heathen conquered the Temple Josef Meshita was asked to go in first. He was told that whatever he brought out should be his. He carried out a golden candlestick, which was...
A Matrona asked R. Eleazar: "Why for the one sin of worshipping the golden calf were they punished with three kinds of death ?” He refused to answer a woman, but explained to his p...
An heathen heard of the honour paid to the high priest and he wished to become a Jew. Shammai refused him saying that it was ridiculous for him to pretend to become high priest. Hi...
Two Jews were carried away captive from Mount Carmel. The captor following them overheard one saying to the other “A she -camel has passed before us, she is blind of one eye and on...
Miriam and her seven sons died as martyrs for their holy faith. Each of her sons refused to worship idols quoting the appropriate passages from the Bible. When the last boy was cal...
The beautiful son and daughter of R. Ishmael were sold as slaves, and were shut up by their masters in one room in order to obtain similarly beautiful children, not recognising one...
The son of Hananya joined a band of robbers and betrayed them to one of the great men of Rome. They found it out and killed him. In the funeral oration his father delivered, he tri...
Rome had issued a decree: no new rabbis could be ordained. The empire understood that as long as the chain of rabbinic authority remained unbroken, the Jewish people could never tr...
When the Roman siege tightened around Jerusalem, starvation became a weapon more terrible than any sword. Doeg ben Josef was a man of means — he offered a full measure of gold for ...
The story of Kamsa and bar Kam§a and the fall of Jerusalem. A man had company and had invited Bar Kamsa who was his enemy, by mistake. He afterwards turned him out in spite of his ...
It was the custom to present newly married people with a hen and a cock and once the Roman soldiers passing by caught the birds and ate them; the Jews then attacked them. This was ...
A young man and woman who were betrothed to one another were seized by raiders and sold into slavery. By cruel coincidence — or perhaps by providence — they were sold to the same m...
The Romans led Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel and Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha to their execution together. Both were among the greatest sages of their generation, and both had been condemne...
A young Torah scholar died in the prime of his life, and his widow was inconsolable. He had been pious, devoted, careful in his observance of every commandment. Why would God take ...
The story of the weasel and the well. Once a young girl, beautifully dressed, lost herself in the desert on her way home. Getting very thirsty and seeing a well with a rope and a b...
The judgment of poor, rich, and young after death when they neglect study. The poor man who pleads want of 75 - means is compared to Hillel who was wont to work all day for a very ...
R. Eleazar b. Shimeon was a very strongly built man and used to carry people across the river upon his shoulders. Once the Prophet Elijah came to him in the form of an old man and ...
R. Eleazar b. Shimeon, who was appointed an official of the government, was accustomed to catch thieves in a very clever way when he found them drinking very heavily in the drinkin...
During a terrible famine, King Monobaz opened the royal treasury and distributed everything inside it to the poor. Every coin, every jewel, every stored reserve of wealth that his ...
Nahum Ish Gamzu was a man whose name became his philosophy. Whatever happened to him, no matter how terrible, he would say "Gam zu l'tovah" — "This too is for the good." But the re...
King Solomon wished to build a temple with unhewn stone, as he was not allowed to use iron, that being forbidden by law. So he tried to obtain Shamir which he was told was in the p...
The Story of Antoninas andR. [Jehudaha-Nassi] who preferred the cold meals of the Sabbath. The Rabbi explained to Antoninus that the superiority of Sabbath meals over those of the ...
The death and leave-taking of R. Eliezar the Great. He foretold to every one the manner of his death as well as the martyrdom of R. Akiba. He used the parable of the seas being ink...
Rabbi Eliezer was one of the most formidable scholars in Israel — a man whose rulings could silence an entire academy. So when a slave in his household died and his students came t...
R. Jose wept on his death bed because he had not taken sufficient part in the deliberations of the Court of Justice. Israel was like a ship and every member like a beam; if one wer...
R. Johanan b. Zakkai wept on his death bed because he had to appear before a King where no bribe was possible. He lamented over the difficulty of the choice between the two ways, t...
The story of Ben Sabar who helped an orphan to be married. On his journey home he was met by the angel §5 of death. He went to the R. Shaffan b. Laish and was saved from death thro...
R. Joshua b. Levi met the angel of death, who brought him to the wall of the Garden of Eden. R. Joshua took the angel’s sword and jumped into the garden. He returned the sword at t...
Story of the son of R. Reuben the Libellarius to whom the angel of death appeared in the form of an old man at the wedding festivities. He was treated with great respect on the adv...
(147.) R. Akiba began his life as a very poor man and ended it as a very rich one. He had a large crown made for his wife set with many precious stones, and when his children asked...
Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa once placed his foot directly over the hole of a deadly scorpion — and it was the scorpion that died. This brief but astonishing tale, preserved in the Exempl...
Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa was deep in prayer, standing perfectly still, his eyes closed, his lips moving in silent communion with God. He did not notice the venomous adder that had sli...
Of all those who comforted R. Johanan b. Zakkai on the death of his son, Elazar b. Arach was pre-eminent; he said, “Thou hast but restored in a perfect condition that which was ent...
