Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 9, scan section 26

** Is not my own grief sufficient, that thou must remind me of that of Adam the First ? " Next entered R. Joshua, and also asked for permission to say something, which was granted, who then said: " Job, who had many sons and daughters, all of whom died in one day, yet he accepted consolation. As it is written [Job, i. 21]: 'The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away ; may the name of the Lord be blessed.* " He rejoined: " Is not my own grief suffi- cient, that thou remindest me of that of Job ? " Next entered R. Jose. He sat down before him and said: " Be it thy wish that I say something." And being encouraged by the sage, he continued: "Aaron had two full-grown sons, and both died on one day, yet he accepted consolation, as it is written [Lev. x. 3] : * And Aaron held his peace,* which means that he was consoled. Would it not be right that thou shouldst do likewise ? '* The sage rejoined: ** Have I not enough of my own grief ? Why do you remind me of the grief of Aaron ? " Then entered R. Simeon, and said: "Rabbi, may I be favored by thee to say a word in thy august presence ? " And the sage answered: " Proceed." Then the former said: " King David had a son who died, and he received condolence. It well becomes thee to persuade thyself into comfort. As to King David, it is written [II Sam. xii. 2z^] : ' And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and he went in unto her, and lay with her; and she bore a son, and called his name Solomon.* " He re- joined: " Is not my own grief sufficient, that you all remind me of the grief of others ? '* Finally R. Elazar b. Arach entered, and when the master saw him he said to his servant: " Take a vessel and follow me to the bath-house; the man who is entering now is a great man, and I am sure that I could not withstand his arguments." He entered, sat down before him, and said: " I will entertain thee 56 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. by telling a parable: A king had intrusted one of his subjects with a precious article. The man used to exclaim, weeping: * Woe is me ! When will I be relieved of this responsibilitj ? ' This, O Rabbi, is thy case. Thy son, who spent his time in sacred study, departed from the world sinless. What a com- fort it ought to be to thee that thou hast returned the article in- trusted to thy care intact ! " Hereupon the sage said : " Elazar, my son, thou hast consoled me as people should console each other. * ' When they left him, Elazar said: " I will go to Damsith, which is a fine place with excellent waters " ; and the other dis- ciples said: "We will go to Jamnia, where there are many scholars, and love the study of Law." He that went to Dam- sith lost a good deal of his authority, but the names of those who went to Jamnia, the seat of great scholarship, became legion in learned circles. Tosephtha — A both of R. Nathan. *" Thy fellow's honor must be as dear to thee as thine own^ How so ? As one watches over his own honor, so should he guard the honor of his neighbor, and as one is loath to see his own honor assailed, he should be so in regard to the honor of his neighbor. Another explanation of the above is : When one is possessed of an hundred thousand, and all is taken away from him, he should keep his conscience clear even of the value of a small coin. ''Do not allow thyself to be easily angered.'' That is, one should be as meek as Hillel the Elder, and not as irritable as Shammai the Elder. It is said about Hillel that two men once wagered the sum of four hundred zuz upon his patience; the one who could succeed to provoke his anger was to receive the amount. (See Sabbath, p. 50 ; the whole legend ending with): *' Take care of thy temper. A Hillel is worthy that twice that amount be lost through him; a Hillel must not get excited." t What was the irascibility of Shammai the Elder ? It was * Chapter XV. of the original. f This is also stated in Sabbath, p. 51 ; but because it is here more in detaft, we give it again. TRACT ABOTH. 57 related that once a man came to Shammai and said: " Rabbi, how many Laws have you ?" " Two Laws: the written and the oral Law." He answered: " I beheve in the written, but not in the oral Law," said the man. But Shammai rebuked him, and drove him away. The same man came to Hillel and said: " Rabbi, how many Laws were given ? " And he told him two — the written and the oral. The man said: " I believe in the written, but not in the oral Law." And Hillel said: "Sit down, my son, and write for me the Aleph-Beth. After he did so, he asked him what the first letter was. "An Aleph," said the man. " It is not an Aleph, but a Beth," said Hillel. And he again asked him: " What is this ?" And the man said: " A Beth." " It is not a Beth, but a Gimel," said Hillel. " Whence knowest thou that this is Aleph, the other a Beth, and the third a Gimel ? Because it is a tradition of our forefathers, and whereas thou believest in one tradition, believe also in the other." It happened that a Gentile passing by a synagogue heard a child reading: " And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe " [Ex. xxviii. 4]. He came to Shammai and said: " Rabbi, to whom belongeth all that honor?" " To the high-priest who serves at the altar," was the answer. The Gentile then said: " Convert me, on the condition that I be made a high-priest." Said Shammai: " Are there no priests in Israel, or have we no high-priests, but that we should raise to this dignity this lowly stranger, who came to us but with his staff and knapsack ? " He rebuked him, and drove him away. He then came to Hillel with the same request, and the latter said: " Sit down, and I will tell thee something. If one is to appear before a human king, is it not demanded of him that he learn how to make his entrance and exit ?" " It is so," said the Gentile. Then continued Hillel: " Thou, who art desirous of appearing before the King of kings of kings, how much more necessary for thee to learn how to enter the Holy of Holies, how to trim the lamps, how to approach the altar, how to order the table, and how to prepare the fire on the altar." The man then replied: "What seems right to thee?" So Hillel wrote for him the Aleph-Beth, and he learned it; then he instructed him in Leviticus, and he went on learning till he came to the pas- sage: "And the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death " [Numb. i. 51]. Then he of himself made the following jS THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. deduction : If the people of Israel, who are called the children of the Lord, and of whom the Shekhina said [Ex. xix. 6]: ** And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation," were so warned by Scripture, should not I, an insig-