Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala

"The man with two wives, one young and the other old." Rav Ami and Rav Assi were in social converse with Rabbi Isaac Naphcha, when one of them said to him, "Tell us, sir, some pretty legend," and the other said, "Pray explain to us rather some nice point of law." When he began the legend he displeased the one, and when he proceeded to explain a point of law, he offended the other. Whereupon he took up this parable in illustration of the plight in which their obstinacy placed him. "I am like the man with the two wives, the one young and the other old. The young one plucked out all his gray hairs (that he might look young), and the old wife pulled out all his black hairs (that he might look old); and so between the one and the other he became bald. So is it with me between you. However, I've something nice for both of you. It is written (Exod. xxii. 6), 'If a fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field be consumed therewith, he that kindled the fire shall surely make restoration.' The Holy One—blessed be He!—hath said, 'I must both judge myself and take upon myself to indemnify the evil of the conflagration I have caused, for I have kindled a fire in Zion,' as it is written (Lament, iv. 11), 'He hath kindled a fire in Zion, and hath devoured the foundations thereof.' I must therefore rebuild her with fire, as it is written (Zech. ii. 5), 'I will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.'"

Bava Kama, fol. 60, col. 2.

Rabbi Oshaia asked, "What is this that is written, (Zech. xi. 7), 'I took unto me two staves; the one I called Amiable and the other Destroyer'?" The staff called Amiable represents the disciples of the wise in the land of Israel, who were friendly one toward another in their debates about the law. The staff called Destroyer represents the disciples of the wise of Babylon, who in the like debates were fierce tempered and not friendly toward one another. What is the meaning of Babel or Babylon? Rabbi Yochanan says it means "confused in the Bible, confused in the Mishna, and confused in the Talmud." "He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old" (Lam. iii. 6). Rabbi Jeremiah said by this we are to understand the Babylonian Talmud.

Sanhedrin, fol. 24, col. 1.

The Rabbis say these three hate their fellows—dogs, cocks, and conjurors; to which some add, among others, the disciples of the wise of Babylon. (P'sachim, fol. 113, col. 2.)

On his return from Babylon to the land of Israel, Rabbi Zira fasted a hundred fasts, during which he prayed that he might be enabled to forget the Babylonian Talmud. (Bava Metzia, fol. 85, col. 1.)

Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Yonathan traveled one day together; they came to two roads, one of which led by the door of a place devoted to the worship of idols, and the other by a place of ill fame. Upon which one said to the other, "Let us go by the former, because our inclination to the evil that waylays us there is already extinguished." "Nay, rather," said the other, "let us go by the latter, and curb our desires; so shall we receive a reward in recompense." In this resolution they went on, and as they passed the place the women humbled themselves before them and withdrew ashamed into their chambers. Then Yochanan asked the other, "How didst thou know that this would occur to us?" He made answer, "From what is written (in Prov. ii. 2), 'Discretion (in the law) shall preserve thee.'"

Avodah Zarah, fol. 17, cols. 1, 2.

Given two dry firebrands and one piece of green wood, the dry will set fire to the green.

Sanhedrin, fol 93, col. 1.

With two dogs they caught the lion.

Ibid., fol. 95, col. 1.

Both these proverbs express the same idea, that a minority, be it ever so strong, must give way to a majority.

"And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed together" (Numb. xxii. 7). Midian and Moab were never friendly toward each other; they were like two dogs tending a flock, always at variance. When the wolf came upon the one, however, the other thought, "If I do not help my neighbor to-day, the wolf may come upon myself to-morrow;" therefore the two dogs leagued together and, killed the wolf. Hence, says Rabbi Pappa, the popular saying, "The mouse and the cat are combined to make a feast on the fat of the unfortunate."

Ibid., fol. 105, col. 1.

Rabbi Yochanan, in the name of Yossi, the son of Zimra, asks, "What is this that is written (Ps. cxx. 3), 'What shall be given unto thee, or what shall be added unto thee, O thou false tongue'?" The Holy One—blessed be He!—said to the tongue, "All the members of the body are erect, thou only art recumbent; all other members are without, thou art within, and not only so, for I have surrounded thee with two walls, one of bone and the other of flesh. What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added unto thee, O thou false tongue?" Rabbi Yochanan, in the name of Yossi, says, "He who slanders is an atheist, for it is written (Ps. xii. 4), 'Who have said, With our tongues will we prevail; Our lips are with us; who is lord over us?'"

Erchin, fol. 15, col. 2.

Here are a few sayings from the Talmud on the abuse of the tongue.

He who slanders, he who receives slander, and he who bears false witness against his neighbor, deserve to be cast to the dogs.

Psachim, fol. 118, col. 1.

All animals will one day remonstrate with the serpent and say, "The lion treads upon his prey and devours it, the wolf tears and eats it, but thou, what profit hast thou in biting?" The serpent will reply (Eccl. viii. II), "I am no worse than a slanderer."

Taanith, fol. 8, col. 1.

Adonijah was deprived of life for no other reason than that he was given to quarreling. It is lawful to slander one so evil disposed as he was.

Perek Hashalom.

God will say to the prince of hell, "I from above and thou from below shall judge and condemn the slanderer."

Erchin, fol. 15, col. 2.

The third tongue (i.e., slander) hurts three parties: the slanderer himself, the receiver of slander, and the person slandered.

Ibid.

Four classes do not receive the presence of the Shechinah: scorners, liars, flatterers, and slanderers.

Sanhedrin, fol. 103, col. 1.

Where are we told that when two sit together and study the law the Shechinah is with them? In Mal. iii. 16, where it is written, "They that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it."

Berachoth, fol. 6, col. 1.

Why did Elijah employ two invocations, saying twice over, "Hear me! hear me!" (1 Kings xviii. 37.) Elijah first prayed before God, "O Lord, King of the universe, hear me!" that He might send fire down from heaven and consume all that was upon the altar; and again he prayed, "Hear me!" that they might not imagine that the result was a matter of sorcery; for it is said, "Thou hast turned their heart back again."

Berachoth, fol. 9, col. 2.

The twofold invocation of Elijah, which betokens his intense earnestness, anagrammatically expressed, is echoed in the words of the bystanders, "The Lord He is the God, the Lord He is the God."

"I dreamed," said Bar Kappara one day to Rabbi (the Holy), "that I beheld two pigeons, and they flew away from me." "Thy dream is this," replied Rabbi, "thou hast had two wives, and art separated from them both without a bill of divorcement."

Ibid., fol. 56, col. 2.

The Rabbis teach concerning the two kidneys in man, that one counsels him to do good and the other to do evil; and it appears that the former is situated on the right side and the latter on the left. Hence it is written (Eccl. x. 2), "A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart is at his left."

Ibid., fol. 61, col. 1.

For two sins the common people perish: they speak of the holy ark as a box and the synagogue as a resort for the ignorant vulgar.

Shabbath, fol. 32, col. 1.

On the self-same day when Jeroboam introduced the two golden calves, the one into Bethel and the other into Dan, a hut was erected in a part of Italy which was then subject to the Greeks.

Ibid., fol. 56, col. 2.

In the context where the above tradition occurs, which, as is obvious, relates to the founding of Rome, we meet with another on the same subject as follows:—When Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, the Angel Gabriel thrust a reed into the sea, stirring up therewith the sand and mud from the bottom. This, gradually collecting, first shaped itself into an island and then expanded so as to unite itself with the continent. And thus was the land created for the erection of the hut which should one day swell into the proportion of a proud imperial city.

If Israel kept only two Sabbaths, according to the strict requirement of the law, they would be freed at once from their compelled dispersion; for it is written (Isa. lvi. 4, 7), "Thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, Even them will I bring to my holy mountain."

Shabbath, fol. 118, col. 2.

Adam had two faces; for it is said (Ps. cxxxix. 5), "Thou hast made me behind and before."

Eiruvin, fol. 18, col. 1.

There is a notion among the Rabbis that Adam was possessed originally of a bisexual organization, and this conclusion they draw from Gen. i. 27, where it is said, "God created man in his own image; male-female created He them." These two natures, it was thought, lay side by side; according to some, the male on the right and the female on the left; according to others, back to back; while there were those who maintained that Adam was created with a tail, and that it was from this appendage Eve was fashioned. Other Jewish traditions tell us that Eve was made from "the thirteenth rib of the right side" (Targ. Jonath.), and that "she was not drawn out by the head, lest she should be vain; nor by the eyes, lest she should be wanton; nor from the mouth, lest she should be given to garrulity; nor by the ears, lest she should be an eavesdropper; nor by the hands, lest she should be intermeddling; nor by the feet, lest she be a gadder; nor by the heart, for fear she should be jealous; but she was taken out from the side. Yet, in spite of all these precautions, she had all the faults so carefully provided against."

If in time of national calamity a man withdraw himself from his kindred and refuse to share in their sorrow, his two guardian angels come and lay their hands upon his head and say, "This man has isolated himself from his country in the day of its need, let him not live to see and enjoy the day when God shall restore its prosperity." When the community is in trouble, let no man say, "I will go home and eat and drink, and say, Peace be unto thee, oh my soul!" (Luke xii. 19); for to him Scripture hath solemnly said (Isa. xxii. 13, 14), "Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die."

Taanith, fol. 11, col. 1.

An infant that has died under a month old is (to be) carried to the grave in the arms (not in a coffin), and buried by one woman and two men, but not by one man and two women.

Moed Katan, fol. 24, col. 1.

Both Rashi and the Tosephoth allude to a case which justifies the rule given here, where a woman actually carried a living child in a coffin, in order to avoid the suspicion of an assignation she had made with a man, who set out to join her. But the Tosephoth, after noticing this version of Rashi, gives another more to the point. The story in the Tosephoth is to this effect:—A woman was once weeping and groaning over the grave of her husband, and not very far away was a man who was guarding the corpse of a person who had been crucified. In the moment of mourning an affection sprung up between the two, and in the engrossment of it the corpse which the man guarded was stolen. He was in great trepidation for fear of the king's command. The woman said, "Don't be afraid; exhume my husband, and hang him up instead." This was accordingly done. (See Kiddushin, fol. 80, col. 2.)

There were two date trees in the Valley of Hinnom from between which smoke ascended, and this is the gate of hell.

Succah, fol. 32, col. 2.

According to Jewish tradition, there are three gates to Gehinnom, one in the desert, one in the sea, and one in Jerusalem: In the desert, as it is written (Numb. xvi. 33), "They went down, and all that belonged to them, alive into hell." In the sea, as it is written (Jonah ii. 2), "Out of the belly of hell have I called," etc. In Jerusalem, as it is written (Isa. xxxi. 9), "Thus saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem."

When two women are seen sitting on opposite sides of a cross road facing each other, it is to be presumed that they are up to witchcraft and contemplate mischief. What in that case must you do? Go by another road, if there is one, and if not, with a companion, should such turn up, passing the crones arm-in-arm with him; but should there be no other road and no other man, then walk straight on repeating the counter-charm, as you pass them—

Agrath is to Asia gone,And Blussia's killed in battle. P'sachim, fol. 111, col. 2.

Agrath and Blussia are two Amazons well known to those familiar with Rabbinic demonology.

"If Mordecai, before whom thou hast began to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, expect not to prevail against him, but thou shalt fall" (Esth. vi. 13). Wherefore these two fallings? They told Haman, saying, "This nation is likened to the dust, and is also likened to the stars; when they are down, they are down even to the dust, but when they begin to rise, they rise to the stars."

Meggillah, fol. 16, col. 1.

If any two disciples of the wise, dwelling in the same city, have a difference respecting the Halachah, let them remember what Scripture denounces against them, "And also I gave them statutes that are not good, and judgments by which they shall not live" (Ezek. xx. 25).

Ibid., fol. 32, col. 1.

If a man espouse one of two sisters, and does not know which he has espoused, he must give both a bill of divorce. If two men espouse two sisters, and neither of them know which he has espoused, then each man must give two bills of divorce, one to each woman.

Yevamoth, fol. 23, col. 2.

There is a time coming (i.e., in the days of the Messiah), when a grain of wheat will be as large as the two kidneys of the great ox.

Kethuboth, fol. 111, col. 1.

According to a recent discovery, which has been confirmed by subsequent observation and experiment, wheat is a development by cultivation of the tiny grain of the Ægilops ovata, a sort of grass; but we are indebted to Rabbinic lore for the curious information that before the Fall of man wheat grew upon a tree whose trunk looked like gold, its branches like silver, and its leaves like so many emeralds. The wheat ears themselves were as red as rubies, and each bore five sparkling grains as white as snow, as sweet as honey, and as fragrant as musk. At first the grains were as big as an ostrich's egg, but in the time of Enoch they diminished to the size of a goose's egg, and in Elijah's to that of a hen, while at the commencement of the common era, they shrank so small as not to be larger than grapes, according to a law the inverse of the order of nature. Rabbi Yehudah (Sanhedrin, fol. 70, col. 1) says that wheat was the forbidden fruit. Hence probably the degeneracy.

Of two that quarrel, the one that first gives in shows the nobler nature.

Ibid., fol. 71, col. 2.

He who sets aside a portion of his wealth for the relief of the poor will be delivered from the judgment of hell. Of this the parable of the two sheep that attempted to ford a river is an illustration; one was shorn of its wool and the other not; the former, therefore, managed to get over, but the latter, being heavy-laden, sank.

Gittin, fol. 7, col. 1.

Zoreah and Eshtaol (Josh. xv. 33) were two large mountains, but Samson tore them up and grated the one against the other.

Soteh, fol. 9, col. 2.

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," signifies also to "strike a stroke," "step a step," and "once." 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."

On the day when Isaac was weaned, Abraham made a great feast, to which he invited all the people of the land. Not all of those who came to enjoy the feast believed in the alleged occasion of its celebration, for some said contemptuously, "This old couple have adopted a foundling, and provided a feast to persuade us to believe that the child is their own offspring." What did Abraham do? He invited all the great men of the day, and Sarah invited their wives, who brought their infants, but not their nurses, along with them. On this occasion Sarah's breasts became like two fountains, for she supplied, of her own body, nourishment to all the children. Still some were unconvinced, and said, "Shall a child be born to one that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?" (Gen. xvii. 17.) Whereupon, to silence this objection, Isaac's face was changed, so that it became the very picture of Abraham's; then one and all exclaimed, "Abraham begat Isaac."

Bara Metzia, fol. 87, col. 1.

Rava relates the following in the name of Rabbi Yochanan:—"Two Jewish slaves were one day walking along, when their master, who was following, overheard the one saying to the other, 'There is a camel ahead of us, as I judge—for I have not seen—that is blind of one eye and laden with two skin-bottles, one of which contains wine and the other oil, while two drivers attend it, one of them an Israelite, and the other a Gentile.' 'You perverse men,' said their master, 'how can you fabricate such a story as that?' The slave answered, and gave this as his reason, 'The grass is cropped only on one side of the track, the wine, that must have dripped, has soaked into the earth on the right, and the oil has trickled down, and may be seen on the left; while one of the drivers turned aside from the track to ease himself, but the other has not even left the road for the purpose.' Upon this the master stepped on before them in order to verify the correctness of their inferences, and found the conclusion true in every particular. He then turned back, and … after complimenting the two slaves for their shrewdness, he at once gave them their liberty."

Sanhedrin, fol. 104, col. 2.

When the disciples of Shamai and Hillel increased in Israel, contention increased along with them, so much so, that the one law became as two laws (and these contradictory).

Soteh, fol. 47, col. 2.

If two parties deposit money with a third, one a single manah and the other two hundred, and both afterward appear and claim the larger sum, the depositary should give each depositor one manah only, and leave the rest undivided till the coming of Elijah.

Bava Metzia, fol. 37, col. 2.

"Till Elijah comes" is a phrase which is in use among the Jews to express postponement forever, like ad Kalendas Græcas. It is applied to questions that would take Elijah to settle, which, it is believed, he will not appear to do till doomsday.

"And I will make thy windows of agates" (Isa. liv. 12). Two of the angels in heaven, Gabriel and Michael, once disputed about this: one maintained that the stone should be an onyx, and the other asserted it should be a jasper; but the Holy One—blessed be He!—said unto them, "Let it be as both say, which, in Hebrew, abbreviated, is an agate."

Bava Bathra, fol. 75, col. 1.

"The horseleech has two daughters, crying, Give! give!" (Prov. xxx. 15.) Mar Ukva says, "This has reference to the voice of two daughters crying out from torture in hell, because their voice is heard in this world crying, 'Give! give!'—namely—heresy and officialism."

Avodah Zarah, fol. 17, col. 1.

Rashi says heresy here refers to the "heresy of James," or, in other words, Christianity.

Two cemeteries were provided by the judicial authorities, one for beheaded and strangled criminals, and the other for those that were stoned or burned. When the flesh of these was consumed, they collected the bones and buried them in their own place, after which the relations came and saluted the judge and the witnesses, and said, "We owe you no grudge, for you passed a just judgment."

Sanhedrin, fol. 46, col. 1.

Alas! for the loss which the world has sustained in the degradation of the helpful serpent. If the serpent had not been degraded, every Israelite would have been attended by two of kindly disposition, one of which might have been sent to the north, and the other to the south, to bring for its owner precious corals and costly stones and pearls.

Sanhedrin, fol. 59, col. 2.

Here are two or three other sayings from the Talmud relative to the serpent.

Benjamin the son of Jacob, Amram the father of Moses, and Jesse the father of David all died, not because of their own sin (for they had none, says Rashi), but because of the (original) sin committed under the serpent's temptation.

Shabbath, fol. 55, col. 2.

No man was ever injured by a serpent or scorpion in Jerusalem.

Yoma, fol. 21, col. 1.

"And dust is the serpent's food" (Isa. lxv. 25). Rav Ammi says, "To the serpent no delicacy in the world has any other flavor than that of dust;" and Rav Assi says, "No delicacy in the world satisfies him like dust."

Ibid., fol. 75, col. 1.

Two negatives or two affirmatives are as good as an oath.

Shevuoth, fol. 36, col. 1.

Like two pearls were the two drops of holy oil that were suspended from the two corners of the beard of Aaron.

Horayoth, fol. 12, col. 1.

For two to sit together and have no discourse about the law, is to sit in the seat of the scornful; as it is said (Ps. i. I), "And sitteth not in the seat of the scornful."

Avoth, chap. iii.

When two are seated together at table, the younger shall not partake before the elder, otherwise the younger shall be justly accounted a glutton.

Derech Eretz, chap. vii.

Philemo once asked Rabbi (the Holy), "If a man has two heads, on which is he to put the phylactery?" To which Rabbi replied, "Either get up and be off, or take an anathema; for thou art making fun of me."

Menachoth, fol. 37, col. 1.

It is thus Rav Yoseph taught what is meant when it is written in Isaiah xii. I, "I will praise Thee, O Lord, because Thou wast angry with me: Thine anger will depart and Thou wilt comfort me." "The text applies," he says, "to two men who were going abroad on a mercantile enterprise, one of whom, having had a thorn run into his foot, had to forego his intended journey, and began in consequence to utter reproaches and blaspheme. Having afterward learned that the ship in which his companion had sailed had sunk to the bottom of the sea, he confessed his shortsightedness and praised God for His mercy."

Niddah, fol. 31, col. 1.

The night is divided into three watches, and at each watch the Holy One—blessed be He!—sits and roars like a lion; as it is written (Jer. xxv. 30), "The Lord will roar from on high, … roaring, He will roar over his habitation." The marks by which this division of the night is recognized are these:—In the first watch the ass brays; in the second the dog barks; and in the third the babe is at the breast and the wife converses with her husband.

Berachoth, fol. 3, col. 1.

The Rabbis have taught that there are three reasons why a person should not enter a ruin:—1. Because he may be suspected of evil intent; 2. Because the walls might tumble upon him; 3. And because of evil spirits that frequent such places.

Ibid., fol. 3, col. 1.

He who three times a day repeats David's psalm of praise (Ps. cxlv.) may be sure of an inheritance in the world to come.

Ibid., fol. 4, col. 2.

Three precious gifts were given to Israel, but none of them without a special affliction: these three gifts were the law, the land of Israel, and the world to come.