Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 9, scan section 50

doorkeeper?" And R. Simeon answered: "By heaven, this was not done. On the contrary, watchmen were placed at my door : when they saw the poor approaching, they brought them to my table and were given food and drink, and they blessed heaven." " Perhaps when thou wert sitting at the Temple mount and lecturing, and all the multitudes of Israel were sit- ting before thee, thou hadst become haughty for a moment ?" " No, my brother Ishmael, I have never done that; but man should be prepared for affliction (without any reason what- ever)." They then beseeched the executioner in the following man- ner: One said: " I am a priest, the son of a high-priest. Kill me first, and spare me the pain of seeing my colleague die." And the other said: " I am a prince, the son of a prince. Kill me first, and spare me the pain of seeing my colleague die." And he advised them to cast lots. They did so, and it fell on Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel. Whereupon the executioner took the sword and cut off his head. R. Ishmael held it to his bosom, and wept and cried: "The holy mouth, the truthful mouth, a mouth whence issued precious stones, diamonds, and pearls, who has hidden thee in the dust, and who has filled thy tongue with dust and ashes? Thou art meant in the prophetic excla- TRACT ABOTH. 129 mation [Zech. xiii. 7] : * Awake, O sword, against my shep- herd, and against the man whom I have associated with me.* " Scarcely had he finished when also his head was struck off. To them Scripture refers when it is said [Ex. xxii. 23]: ** My wrath shall wax hot, and I will slay you with the sword ; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless." As the men are slain, is it not self-evident that the women become widows ? (Why, then, does Scripture say: " And your wives shall be widows" ?) To convey the idea that they were and were not widows; i.e., there was no evidence that the men were killed, as it happened in Bythar, where not a soul escaped to give evi- dence of any man's death, and consequently the women could not marry again. " And the children shall become fatherless " means that they could not inherit the property of their father, for the same reason. " Captivity comes upon the world,''* etc. Because of idol- atry, as it is written [Lev. xxvi. 30]: ** And I will destroy vour high places"; and [ibid. 33]: ** And you will I scatter among the nations"; and further [Deut. iv. 25]: " When thou beget- test children," etc. ; and [ibid. 27]: " And the Lord will scatter you among the nations"; and [ibid. 28]: " And ye will serve their gods, the work of man's hands." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: " As you are desirous of being idolatrous, I will exile you to a place where idolatry prevails." For not observing the Sabbatical year. Whence do we know this ? It is written [Lev. xxvi. 34] : " Then shall the land satisfy its Sabbaths," etc. Said the Holy One, blessed be He: " Because ye do not observe the Sabbatical year, the land itself •will observe it ; and the number of months that ye fail to observe it, the land itself will observe it." For that reason it is written [ibid.]: " Then shall the land satisfy its Sabbaths, all the days of its desolation." Tosephtha — A both of R. Nathan. * Five are not to be forgiven : The one who sins relying that he will repent, and repents and sins again (and thus he sins too much and repents too much); the one who sins relying upon the forgiveness of the day of atonement ; and the one who instigates others to sin; and the one who is guilty of profaning the Holy * Chapter XXXIX. of the original. I30 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. Name. And were it not for the sins of mankind, the keys to the mysteries would have been intrusted to man, and he would know by what means earth and heaven were created and also what there is above. R. Aqiba used to say: " Everything is foreseen and unconcealed, and everything is according to one's understanding. " He also used to say that everything was given as a pledge, and a net is spread out for all living, etc. The re- pentance of the wicked delays the execution of their judgment ; their verdict, however, remains sealed until they make restitu- tion. The quietness of the wicked (without having remorse) ends badly. Superiority buries its claimers. A man arrives into this world naked and leaves it in the same state, and it is desirable that the leaving should be as (sinless) as the coming. For profaning the Holy Name there is no re- pentance pending, and the Day of Atonement does not forgive. Repentance forgives till the day of death, and that day wipes out (all sin). The wicked are paid (in this world) and the upright are given credit (that is to say, the wicked that have studied the Law without performing what is written therein and otherwise have done nothing good, and those upright that have studied the Law with a good intention and have done no evil — these and those are given a small portion of what they earned), and the greater part is counted to them for the future. R. Elazar b. Zadoq says : The upright in this world can be compared with a tree whose trunk grows on a clean spot, while one of its branches extends over an unclean spot, of which peo- ple say : Cut off the branch, and the whole tree will be on a clean spot. The wicked ones can be compared with a tree standing on an unclean spot and extending its branches to a clean spot, in which case, if the branches would be cut off, the whole tree would stand on an unclean spot. Six different names were applied to the lion : Arjah, Cphir, Lobhi, Laish, Sha'hal, Sha'haz. Six names were applied to the serpent; viz., Na'hash, Soroph, Tanin, Ziphoni, Epheh, Ach- shubh. Six names were applied to Solomon ; namely, Solomon, Jedidiah, Koeleth, Ben lokoh, Ogur, L'muel. MiSHNA O, Four kinds of views are held by men con- cerning property. He who says : '' What belongs to me shall continue to be mine, and thou shalt keep thine own," holds the common view. Some consider this the view of TRACT ABOTH. 131 the men of Sodom.* " Mine shall be thine, and thine shall be mine," thus say the ignorant. " Mine shall be thine, and thou shalt also keep thine own," thus says the mag- nanimous. '' Thine shall be mine, and mine shall continue to be mine," are the words of the godless. MiSHNA P. There are four kinds of dispositions among men. Some are easily enraged, but as quickly soothed — there the fault is neutralized by the merit. Some are slow to anger, but are calmed only with difficulty — there the merit is counterbalanced by the fault. One is slow to anger and easily pacified — he is of a gentle disposition. Another is easily irritated and hard to soothe — he is a wicked man. MiSHNA Q. There are four kinds of pupils : one un-