Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 16, scan section 44

Can you tell me how many teeth are in your mouth? And he put his hand in his mouth and began to count them. Rejoined R. Gamaliel: You are not aware of the number of teeth in your mouth, and you claim to know how many stars there are in heaven? A Min said to R. Gamaliel : He who created the mountains has not created the wind, as it reads [Amos, iv, 13] : " He that formed the mountains and created the wind." And he an- swered : If so, then concerning a man, of whom it reads [Gen. i. 2'J^, : " And God created," and [ibid. ii. 7] : " And the Lord God formed," should also mean that he who has formed has not created, and vka versa. There is in the body of man one span square, in which two holes are to be found — one in the nose and one in the ear. It must be also that he who created one of them did not create the other, as it reads [Ps. xciv. 9] : " He that hath planted the ear, shall he not hear? Or he that 374 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. hath formed the eye, shall he not see ? " And the Min said : Yea, I am of this opinion. Rejoined Gamaliel : How is it, then, when death comes? Are both creators reconciled, to kill their creation together? A magician said to Rabban Gamaliel : The lower half of your body is created by ahcrmes (God), but the upper half by Hermes (Mercury). And he answered: If it is so, why does then ahernes leave the dirty water coming from the upper half to pass the lower half? The Caesar said to R. Tanhum : Let us unite and be a people of one and the same creed. And he answered: Very well; but we who are circumcised cannot be like your people. However, ye are able to be like us if ye will circumcise yourself. And the Caesar answered: Your answer is right. However, it is a rule that he who conquers the king must be thrown in the vivarius to be devoured by the beasts. He was thrown in the vivarius and was not touched. And there was a Min who said to the king: They did not devour him, because they were not hungry. And they then threw him in the vivarius and he was devoured. Another atheist said to R. Gamaliel : You say that upon every ten Israelites the Shekhina rests. How many Shekhina have you then? Gamaliel then called the servant of the atheist, struck him with a whip, saying: Why didst thou leave the sun enter the house of your master? His master, however, answered : Every one is pleased with the sun. Rejoined Gamaliel : The sun, which is only one of the hundredth millions servants of the Lord, is pleasant to every one, so much the more the Shekhina of the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself. A Min said to R. Abuhu : Your God is a jester. He com- mands Ezekiel to lie on his left side and then on his right side [Ezek. iv. 4-6] : " At the same time a disciple came and questioned him: What is the reason of the Sabbatic year?" And Abuhu answered : I will now say something which will be an answer to both of you. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel : Work up the earth for six years and release the sev- enth for the purpose that you shall be aware that the earth is mine. However, they did not do so, bur sinned, and were ex- iled. It is custom of a human king if a country has rebelled against him to kill all of them if he is a tyrant, and to kill half of them if he is merciful. But if he is full of mercy he chastises TRACT SANHEDRIN (SUPREME COUNCIL). 375 the leaders only; so was it with Ezekiel, the Holy One, blessed be He, chastised him for the sin of Israel. There was a Min who said to R. Abuhu: Your God is a priest, as it reads [Ex. xxv. 2] : " Bring Me a thenimah." Now when He buried Moses where did He dip Himself? (Took the legal bath prescribed for him who touches a corpse.) You cannot say that He did so in the water, as it reads [Isa. xl. 12] : " Who hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters." And he answered (a joke to a joke) : He dipped Himself in fire, as it reads [ibid. Ixvi. 15]: "For behold, the Lord will come in fire." And to the question of the Min : Is it legal to dip in fire? he answered: On the contrary, the principal dipping is in fire, as it reads [Num. xxxi. 23] : " And whatsoever doth not come into the fire shall ye cause to go through water." There was a Min who said to R. Abina: It reads [II Sam. vii. 2^] : " And who is like thy people, Hke Israel, the only nation on the earth?" What is your proudness about? Are you not mingled among other nations, of whom it reads [Isa. xl. 17] : " All the nations are as naught before him "? And he answered : A prophet of nations themselves has testified con- cerning us [Num. xxiii. 9] : "And among the nations it shall not be reckoned." R. Elazar propounded a contradiction from [Sam. iii. 25] : " The Lord is good unto those that hope in him " to [Ps. cxlv. 9] : " The Lord is good to all " ? This question may be an- swered with the following parable to one who possesses a fruit garden. When he waters it, he waters all o^ them. And when he hoes to cover up the roots, he does so only to the best of them, i.e., when He feeds. He feeds the whole world with dis- criminating, but to save from trouble He helps only those who hope in Him. It reads [I Kings, xxii. 36] : " And there went a rinah (song) t'hroug'hout the camp." Said R. Aha b. Hanina: This is what is written [Prov. xi. 10] : " And when the wicked perish there is rinah," means when Achab, the son of Omri, perisfhed, there was rinah. Is this so? Is it then pleasant for the Holy One, blessed be He, the ruin of the wicked? Is it not written [II Chron. xx. 21] : " As they went out before the armed array and said: Give thanks unto the Lord; for unto everlasting endureth His kindness "? And R. Johanan said: Why is it not written here: " He is good," as [Ps. cxviii. i] : Because the Holy One, blessed be He, is not rejoicing over the ruin of the wicked, as J76 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. R. Samuel b. Na'hman said in the name of R. Jonathan : It reads [Ex. xiv. 20] : " And the one came not near unto the other all the night." At that time the angels wanted to sing their song before the Holy One, blessed be He, but He said to them: " My creatures are sinking in the sea, and ye want to sing." * It reads [I Kings, xviii. 3] : "And Rehab called Obadiah, who was the superintendent of the house; — now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly." To what purpose does the passage relate that Obadiah feared the Lord? Said R. Itz'hak: Achab said to him, concerning Jacob, it reads [Gen. xxx. 27] : " The Lord hath blessed me for thy sake." And concerning Joseph it reads [ibid, xxxix. 5] : " The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for the sake of Joseph." I, however, keep thee and my house is not blessed. Perhaps thou art not fearing God? To