ilt water, such even as his own wife may have thrown away. (All
these doings, says Rashi, are bound to annoy the evil genii.)

Ibid., fol. 111, col. 1.

Four precepts did our holy Rabbi (Yehudah Hakadosh) urge upon his
children:--Not to choose Shechentzia as a dwelling-place, for scoffers
resided there; not to use the bed of a Syrian odalisque; not to shirk
the payment of fiscal dues, lest the collector should confiscate all
their property; not to face an ox when he came up (ruffled) from the
cane-brake, for Satan sported betwixt his horns.

_P'sachim_, fol. 112, col. 2.

Whosoever prieth into the four things in the matter of the chariot in
Ezekiel's vision--what is above, what is beneath, what is before, or
what is behind--it were better for him if he had never been born.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 11, col. 2.

The work or matter of the chariot, the Rabbinic term for the
Vision of Ezekiel, ranks among the Arcana Judaica, which are not
to be told save to the initiated.

Four men entered Paradise--these are their names:--Ben Azai, Ben Zoma,
Acher, and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva thus warned his companions: "When
you come across pavements of pellucid marble, do not cry out 'Water!
water!' for it is said (Ps. ci. 7), 'He that uttereth falsehood shall
not dwell in my sight.'" Ben Azai looked and died; concerning him the
Scripture says (Ps. cxvi. 15), "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints." Ben Zoma looked and went out of his mind; of him
the Scripture says (Prov. xxv. 16), "Hast thou found honey? eat only so
much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit
it." Acher cut the plants. Only Akiva departed in peace.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 14, col. 2.

Rashi explains this by saying these men went up to heaven; but
Maimonides much more rationally teaches that the Paradise or
garden here is merely the retreat of profound philosophic
meditation. These five intuitions were;--(1.) To know that there
is a God; (2.) to ignore every other beside Him; (3.) to feel
His unity; (4.) to love His person; and (5.) to stand in awe of
His Majesty (see Vad Hachaz, chap. 4, sec. 19). Deep thought in
these matters was spoken of by the Rabbis as _promenading in the
garden_.

Four times a year is the world subject to an ordeal of judgment:--At
Passover, which is decisive of the fruits of the field; at Pentecost,
which is decisive of the fruits of the garden; a