Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 9, scan section 55

to your companion, it shall be considered by you the greatest wrong; but if you have done him good, though it have been a great deal, you shall consider it little. On the contrary, if your companion has done you the least good, you shall consider it much ; and if he has done you a great wrong, consider it little. Be as a tight leather-bag that has no opening to let in the wind. Be prepared to receive affliction, and be forgiving to those who oppress you. The following articles were made and were hidden : The first tabernacle, and the vessels therein contained; the ark, the broken tables and the receptacle of the manna, the staff, the bottle of the oil of anointment ; the staff of Aaron, its buds and blossoms; the garments of the first priests and the garments of the anointed priest. But the mortar of the house of Abtinas, the table, the candelabra of the Temple, the curtain, the golden plate, are still in Rome. All that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world was so created only for His glory, as it is written [Is. xliii. 7] : ** Every one that is called by my name, and whom I have cre- ated for my glory, whom I have formed — ^yea, whom I have made**; and it is also written [Ex. xv. 18]: ** The Lord will reign for ever and ever.** R. Hananiah b. Akashia said; The Holy One, blessed be He, desired to reward Israel in the world to come, and therefore He magnified the Law for them and gave them a great number of merits, as it is written [Is. xlii. 21]: ** The Lord willed to do this for the sake of his righteousness; therefore he magnifieth the law, and maketh it honorable.** END OF TRACT ABOTH AND OF ABOTH OF R. NATHAN. TRACT DERECH ERETZ— RABBA AND ZUTA (WORLDLY AFFAIRS.) TRACT DERECH ERETZ-RABBA, (WORLDLY AFFAIRS.) CHAPTER II.* The Sadducees, the common informers, the wicked, the hypocrites, the heretics, of them the Scripture says [Job, xiii. i6] : ''For a hypocrite cannot come before him " ; the terrifying, the overbearing, the haughty, the barefaced, those who develop only their muscular strength, of them the Scripture says [Psalms, xxxvii. 17]: "For the ovens of the wicked shall be broken ; but the upholder of the righteous is the Lord." Evil-thinkers, story-tellers, talebearers, smooth-tongued persons, of them the Scrip- ture says [ibid. xxxv. 5] : " May their way be dark and slippery, and may the angel of the Lord pursue them." Those who assault their neighbor in private and those who insult him in public, those who trifle with majorities, and those who cause quarrels, they will become as Kora'h and his society, of whom the Scripture says [Numb. xvi. 33] : " And the earth closed over them, and they dis- appeared from the midst of the congregation." Those who forestall fruit, those who raise the prices, those who diminish the measure, those who accept payment in large-sized shekels, and those who live on usury, of them the Scripture says [Amos, viii. 7] : " Sworn hath the Lord by the excellency of Jacob. Surely I will not for- get to eternity all their works." The following leave no inheritance to their children, * Chapter I. belongs to Tract Kedushin, and will be added to that tract. 2 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. and if they do leave to their children, nothing of it comes to their grandchildren : viz., those who play at dice, and those who raise tender cattle (in Palestine) ; those who do business with the money obtained from the fruit of the Sabbatical year, and those who pay with coins (of doubtful genuineness) coming from the sea-countries, and a priest and a Levite who obtained advances on their shares (of heave-offering and tithes), and those who dis- grace the Holy Name, of them the Scripture says [Ps. ix. i8] : '' The wicked shall return into hell, all the nations that are forgetful of God." And of them it is also writ- ten [Eccles. i. 15] : "What is crooked cannot be made straight." Those who motion with their hands, stamp their feet, walk on their toes (to show pride), of them the Scripture says [Ps. xxxvi. 12]: "Let not come against me the foot of pride, and let not the hand of the wicked chase me off." The conceited, the slanderers, those who indulge in obscene language, those who are wise in their own eyes, of them the Scripture says [Mai. iii. 19] : " For, behold, the day is coming which shall burn as an oven," etc. One who lets his young son marry an older woman, and one who marries off his daughter to an old man, and one who bestows favors upon those who are unworthy, concerning such Scripture says [Deut. xxix. 19] : " The Lord will not pardon him." The collectors, the war- instigators, the publicans, of them Scripture says [Ezek. xxvii. 27]: "Thy wealth and thy warehouses, thy com- merce, thy mariners and thy pilots, thy caulkers and the conductors of thy commerce, and all thy men of war that were in thee, and in all thy assemblage which was in the midst of thee, fell into the heart of the seas on the day of thy downfall." One who betrays his partner, one who does not return a thing found to its rightful owner, one who loans money to another in order to get possession of his house or fields in case of non-payment, and one who lives immorally with his wife, and one who maliciously TRACT DERECH ERETZ— RABBA. 3 slanders his wife in order to divorce her, of them the Scripture says [Jer. xvii. 10] : " I the Lord search the heart, probe the veins." Those who are wronged and do not wrong, etc. [see Yomah, p. 33, 1. 9] ; those who consider themselves con- temptible and despicable, those who overcome their pas- sion, and are altogether modest, of them the Scripture says [Is. xlix. 8] : " Thus hath said the Lord, In the time of favor have I answered thee, and on the day of salva- tion have I helped thee, and I will preserve thee, and I will appoint thee as a people of my covenant to raise up the land, to divide out desolate heritages." Trustworthy men, those who keep other people's secrets, those who gladly return articles intrusted to their care, and found things to their rightful owners, of them Scripture says [Ps. ci. 6] : ''My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may abide with me." One who loves his wife as himself, who honors her more than himself, and one who leads his children on the right path, and one who marries off his son in due time to prevent him from sin, of them it is written [Job, v. 24]: '* And thou shalt know that there is peace in thy tent ; and thou wilt look over thy habitation, and shalt miss nothing. And thou shalt know that thy seed is numerous, and thy offspring as the herbage of the earth." One who loves his neighbors and is friendly to his relatives, and one who marries off his sister's daughter, and one who loans even a small amount to a poor man in