certain important point of law, "Retract,"
they said, "and we will promote thee to be president of the tribunal."
To which he replied, "I would rather be called a fool all the days of my
life than be judged wicked for one hour before Him who is omnipresent."
_Edioth_, chap. 5, mish. 6.
Let thy house be open wide toward the south, the east, the west, and the
north, just as Job, who made four entrances to his house, in order that
the poor might find entrance without trouble from whatever quarter they
might come.
_Avoth d'Rav. Nathan_, chap. 7,
Rabbah once saw a sea-monster on the day it was brought forth, and it
was as large as Mount Tabor. And how large is Mount Tabor? Its neck was
three miles long, and where it laid its head a mile and a half. Its dung
choked up the Jordan, till, as Rashi says, its waters washed it away.
_Bava Bathra_, fol. 73, col. 2.
Shemuel said, "We know remedies for all maladies except three:--That
induced by unripe dates on an empty stomach; that induced by wearing a
damp linen rope round one's loins; and that induced by falling asleep
after meals without having first walked a distance of at least four
cubits."
_Bava Metzia_, fol. 113, col. 2.
The five times repeated "Bless the Lord, O my soul" (Ps. ciii. civ.),
were said by David with reference both to God and the soul. As God fills
the whole world, so does the soul fill the whole body; as God sees and
is not seen, so the soul sees and is not seen; as God nourishes the
whole world, so does the soul nourish the whole body; as God is pure, so
also is the soul pure; as God dwelleth in secret, so does the soul dwell
in secret. Therefore let him who possesses these five properties praise
Him to whom these five attributes belong.
_Berachoth_, fol. 10, col. 1.
Five things have in them a sixtieth part of five other things:--Fire,
honey, the Sabbath, sleep, and dreams. Fire is a sixtieth of hell, honey
a sixtieth of manna, the Sabbath a sixtieth of the rest in the world to
come, sleep the sixtieth of death, and a dream the sixtieth of prophecy.
_Berachoth_, fol. 57, col. 2.
There are five weak things that are a source of terror to the
strong:--The mosquito is a terror to the lion, the gnat is a terror to
the elephant, the ichneumon-fly is a terror to the scorpion, the
flycatcher is a terror to the eagle, and the stickleback is a terror to
the leviathan.
_Shabbath_, fol. 77, col. 2.
These five should be killed even on the S
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