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Translation: What is the law regarding the blessings of a non-Jew, whether he is a Torah scholar or not? Rabbi says: "If he blesses with enthusiasm, he is a Torah scholar, and if n...
Rabbi Yochanan made a promise that sounds almost too good to be true: "Whoever blesses over a full cup is granted an inheritance without boundaries." The teaching, preserved in Ein...
(2) (Fol. 3b) R. Abahu said: "Cyrus was a worthy king, and therefore were his royal years counted in accordance with those of the kings of Israel [beginning with Nissan]." R. Josep...
(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...
(8) With whose opinion does our Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) agree? Neither with that of R. Maier, nor with that of R. Juda, nor with that of R. Jose, nor with that ...
(9) We are taught in a Baraitha: R. Juda taught in the name of R. Akiba: "Why does the Torah command (Lev. 23, 10) a sheaf of the first fruits to be brought on the Passover? Becaus...
(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...
(13) Raba expounded what is meant by the passage (Ps. 116, 1) It is lovely to me that the Lord heareth my voice. Thus said the congregation of Israel unto the Holy One, praised be ...
(16) (Ib. b) (Ex. 34, 6), And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed. R. Jochanan said: "Had this passage not been written, it would have been impossible to think of it, for ...
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...
There were two dumb men in the neighborhood of Rabbi, who were sons of the daughter of R. Jochanan b. Gudgada, and others say, sons of his sister, who, when Rabbis entered the hous...
Rabba b. b. Chana said further: "He said again to me: 'Come and I will show you where earth and heaven meet.' I followed him and saw it was made full of apertures. I took my basket...
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...
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says, “There are three matters that the earthly court did and the heavenly court agreed with them, and these are they: Reading the Scroll [of Esther on Puri...
Alexander the Great tied two eagles together with meat in front of them, so they fly upwards with him until his eyelids dropped from the cold. He then descends in a glass box to th...
The Jews being prevented by decree from studying, Pappos met R. Akiba who had defied that decree. Rebuked by Pappos Akiba replied: “A fox on the shore of the sea saw some fish hidi...
A man whilst praying did not return the salute of the Hegemon. The excuse he gave was that standing before the King of Kings, he could not pay respect to inferiors.
Beruria, the brilliant wife of Rabbi Meir, was one of the sharpest minds in all of rabbinic literature. And one day, she corrected her husband on a point of theology that has echoe...
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 ...
Short note of the destruction of Bet-Tur through the axle of the waggon. They used to plant trees on the birth of a child and afterwards used them at its wedding. These were once c...
Nakdimon ben Gorion was one of the wealthiest men in Jerusalem, and he had made a dangerous bargain. He borrowed twelve wells of water from a Roman nobleman — the Hegemon — promisi...
Rabbi Judah took upon himself the education of the daughter of Rabbi Tarfon, raising her in Torah and wisdom. It was an act of extraordinary devotion — accepting responsibility for...
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 ...
A man who pursued an ascetic life, was accused by his sister-in-law of having stolen her jewelery; He declined to take an oath to prove his innocence. R.Johanan b.Zakkai prayed to ...
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...
R. Akiba met a dead man gathering sticks for his own burning. in Gehinom. Akiba inquired how he could be saved and acted accordingly; viz., he educated the man’s son until he could...
Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa was one of the most miracle-working sages in all of Jewish history. He lived in grinding poverty — the Talmud says that each week he survived on a single meas...
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...
The son of Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai fell desperately ill. The great sage, who would one day preserve Judaism itself by establishing the academy at Yavneh after the destruction of t...
R. Hanina b. Dosa prayed for the son of R. Gamliel and foretold the hour when the fever would leave him. It came true and he knew it from the fluency with which he was able to reci...
Two men came to pray before Rabbi Eliezer. One prayed at enormous length — pouring out his heart in elaborate, detailed petitions that stretched on and on. The other prayed briefly...
A potter refused to bring water any longer to Rish Lakish in Tiberias unless he prayed that the potter should be with him in Paradise. Rish Lakish promised that he would pray for h...
Rabbi Akiba heard that one of his students had fallen gravely ill. The young man was bedridden, burning with fever, and growing weaker by the day. No one expected him to survive. B...
R. Ishmael and R. Elazar b. Azaryah did not act uni- alike while reciting prayers, in order that the pupils should not follow the way of one alone, as they would have done if they ...
Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta was invited to a brit milah — the circumcision ceremony of a newborn child. He came, he prayed, and through the power of his prayer, the life of the infant...
11. Ashmedai wished to confuse Solomon's wisdom, so he brought up from the netherworld a man with two heads. Solomon was surprised and so was Benaya, who would not believe it. Aske...
18. Story of Ben Sabar, a very charitable man who went to a distant place to marry a young couple. On his return he crossed safely over the back of a dragon stretched across the la...
20. A young lad, going on a journey, encountered a storm at sea. All the other passengers who were very rich took out their idols and prayed without any result. He who was poor wen...
In time of drought the sages sent to Abba Hilkiah to pray for rain. They found him digging in the field and he did not reply to their greeting. In the evening, returning home, the ...
In time of drought, the people appealed to Honi to pray on their behalf. He drew a circle, stood in the midst of it and prayed saying he would not step out of the circle until rain...
A pious man, travelling, saw a cave in the mountains and on entering, found a pool of water and behind it another small dark cavern. He went thither and was on the point of returni...
A woodcutter once complained of his hard life. He worked and carried heavy loads and could scarcely earn enough to live. One day in the wood he prayed to God and then fell asleep. ...
How should a person pray? The Talmud (Berakhot 30b) records a teaching that reshaped how Jews understood their daily standing before God. When you pray, the sages said, you are not...
Beruria, the brilliant wife of Rabbi Meir, is one of the few women in the Talmud whose legal opinions are cited alongside those of the greatest sages. And one of her most famous in...
In a year of terrible drought, Nakdimon ben Gorion — one of the three wealthiest men in Jerusalem — approached a Roman official and made a desperate bargain. He borrowed twelve wel...
Blessing of Sabbath. Gen. R. 10 §4. Midr. Hagadol, Exod. Jithro. Krauss, Antoninus, p. 37. 121a. Money in Stick. Nedarim, f. 25 a. Shebuot, f. 29 a. Pesikta R. ed. Fried- mann, f. ...
