ceforth Israel will hold aloof from the stranger, like
an elder brother whom the younger brethren have offended."

Meir looked at the old man with a gentle, half-triumphant smile.

"Reb!" he replied, "the voice of my ancestor will give an answer to
your question:"

"A time will come when wrong and injustice will disappear from the
earth. The gates of knowledge will be thrown open wide before you.
Enter quickly with a joyful heart, because understanding is the
greatest weapon given by the Lord who rules the world by the eternal
laws of wisdom."

"They do not wish to behold the works of the Creator; of such it is
said: 'A fool hath no delight in understanding.'"

"The second thing I asked from my people is: Remembrance. Rava asked
Raba, the son of Moro, the origin of the proverb! 'Do not throw mud
into the fountain from which thou drinkest.' Raba answered with the
words of the Scriptures: 'Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because
thou wast a stranger in his land.' Eliezer the son of Azalrya, said:
'The Egyptians did not invite the Israelites into their country from
self-interest, therefore the Lord rewarded them.' Since the country
whose bread you eat did not treat you as cattle to plough his field,
but as a tired brother to rest on his bosom, how have you rewarded
it, O Israel?"

"It is not said, Thou shalt despoil the stranger, but 'One Law shall
be for him that is home-born and unto the stranger that sojourneth
among you.'"

"When I was holding the office bestowed upon me by the king, two base
Israelites were found who had gone to the enemy's camp and betrayed
the king's secrets and brought calamity and trouble upon the kings
troops. What did I do with these base subjects? I ordered it to be
published by the sound of trumpets, all over the country, that these
two, traitors to their God and their country, were for ever expelled
from the bosom of Israel. I did this because when contemplating their
deed my heart boiled over with wrath. I saw, as if in a dream, the
second Moses, who said: 'Thrust them out of Israel, for they have
betrayed those that received them as guests into their land.'"

"Not only for the good of your souls did I ask you for remembrance
and gratitude, but also for your earthly welfare. When I sat in the
great Synod assembled at the wish of the king and nobles, in the rich
town of Lublin, I advised and urged the wise and honest men to send
out a proclamation that would shake the hearts and b