Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 9, scan section 28

tivate." R. Eliezer said : A generous eye ; R. Joshua said: A loyal friend; R. Jose said: A good neighbor ; R. Simeon thought : Prudence and foresight ; R. Elazar said : A good heart. Thereupon the Master said : " I consider R. Elazar b. Arach's judgment the best, for in his all of yours are included." He said to them again : ** Go and find out which is the evil way a man should shun." R. Eliezer said : An evil eye; R. Joshua said : An evil companion ; R. Jose said : An evil neighbor ; and R. Simeon said ; He that bor- rowed and repayeth not ; he that borrows from a man is ^^ THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. the same as if he borroweth from the Omnipotent, as k is written [Ps. xxxvii. 21] : *'The wicked borroweth and repayeth not, but the righteous is beneficent and giveth.** R. Elazar said : An evil heart. Thereupon the Master said : " I consider R. Elazar b. Arach*s judgment the best, for in his all of yours are included." MiSHNA L. Each of these disciples had three maxims. R. Eliezer : *' Thy fellowman's honor must be as dear to thee as thine own. Do not allow thyself to be easily angered. Repent one day before thy death." (He also said 🙂 " Warm thyself before the light of the wise, but beware of their embers, perchance thou mayest be singed ; for their bite is the bite of a fox, and their sting the sting of a scorpion, and their hiss is that of a fiery-serpent ; and all their words are as coals of fire." MisHNA M, R. Joshua : '' An envious eye, sinful pro- pensities, and misanthropy drive a man out of the world." Tosephtha—Aboth of R. Nathan, *** An envious eye^* etc. How so ? It means one shall look upon the house of his neighbor with the same eye as he looks upon his own ; and as one is anxious that there be no bad repute against his wife and children, so should he be anxious in regard to his neighbor's or his children's. Another explanation of this passage is: One shall not be envious of the erudition of his neighbor. It happened to one who was envious, that his days were shortened, and he departed prematurely from this world in consequence thereof. ' Sinful propensities,'' How so? It is said that the evfl propensities are thirteen years older than the good propensities, as they begin to grow with the child in the mother's womb, SO that he defiles the Sabbath and commits other transgressions, and there is nothing in his mind to remonstrate with him. But when he is thirteen years old, the good thoughts are born. If he defiles the Sabbath, they tell him : Scoundrel, is it not writtea [Ex. xxxi. 14]: " Every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death." If he is about to commit adultery, they say to him: * Chapter XVI. of the original. TRACT ABOTH. 63 Scoundrel, is it not written [Lev. xx. 10]: *^ Then shall the adulterer be put to death, together with the adulteress." When one becomes excited and is about to commit incest, all the mem- bers of his body are willing, for the evil thoughts reign over all the two hundred and forty-eight members; but when he is about to perform a meritorious deed, all his members begin to pain him, for the evil thoughts within him reign over all the two hundred and forty-eight members of his body; and the good thoughts are compared to one who is imprisoned, as it is written [Eccl. iv. 14]: " For out of the prison cometh the one to reign," which refers to the good thoughts. [There are others who say that it refers to Joseph the upright. This wicked woman (his mistress) used to persecute him with her words. She said: " I will imprison thee.'* He answered: ** The Lord looseneth the prisoners.** She said: '* I will dig out thy eyes.** He answered: "The Lord causeth the blind to see.** She said: ** I will bend thy stature.** He answered: " The Lord raiseth up those who are bowed down.** And in reality there is no wonder that Joseph the upright refused to listen to her, as the same happened to R. Zadoq, as it was said : To R. Zadoq, who was great in his generation, while he was in captivity, a certain matron sent a beautiful female slave; but as soon as he noticed her he turned around to the wall, so as not to see her, and absorbed himself with the Torah all night. In the morning she went to complain to her mistress, and said : " Death is preferable to me than to be with this man.*' The matron sent for him and asked : ** Why hast thou not treated this woman as men usually treat women ?** He answered: *' I could not do otherwise. I belong to a great family of priests. I have entirely ignored her, so as not to be tempted to have intercourse with her, and add bastards to Israel.*' When she heard this, she gave orders concerning him, and then dismissed him with great honor. Neither is there any wonder for the refusal of R. Zadoq, as R. Aqiba was greater in his act ; and to him happened the following: R. Aqiba, while at one time in a certain country, was ca- lumniated before the Sultan (and was imprisoned). He sent to him two beautiful women, who were washed, anointed, and adorned as brides. They were hugging him all night, each one inviting him to herself. He, however, repulsed them. They complained before the Sultan, and said: " Death is preferable tous than to be with that man.** He sent for him and asked: 64 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. " Why hast thou not treated these women as men treat even homely women — are they not human beings as thyself ? Hath not thy Creator also created them ?" He answered: " I could not do otherwise: their odor seemed to me to be that of putre- fied carcasses." And even R. Aqiba is not to be admired for his act, for R. Eliezer the Great exceeded him by the following act : He brought up his own sister's daughter, and for thirteen years slept with her in one bed. When she became of marriageable age, he told her to get married. She, however, replied: "Am I not thy servant ? Use me as a slave to wash thy disciples* feet." He again told her: " I am too old. Get married to one suitable to thy age." She answered: ** Have I not already told thee I am thy servant, and to use me as a slave to wash thy disciples' feet ?" When he heard this, he proposed to her and married her.] Said R. Reuben b. Aztrobli : How difficult it is for one to avoid the evil propensities which are within him from the min- ute of his birth ! As it is written [Gen. iv. 7]: " Sin lieth at the door." So we see that a young animal is always careful not to approach harmful things, as fire or a well, because it has no evil propensities, while a human child must always be guarded against putting his hand into fire, and other harmful things, because he has a desire to do those things, and this is due to the evil pro- pensities born with him. Said R. Simeon b. Elazar: ** What are the evil thoughts to