Cheya ben Abba, "Why does the word,
'signifying that it may be well with thee' not occur in the first copy
of the ten commandments (Exod. xx.) as it does in the second?" (Deut.
v.) He replied, "Before thou askest me such a question, first tell me
whether the word occurs in Deuteronomy or not? for I don't know if it
does." The required answer was given by another Rabbi, "The omission of
the word in the first publication of the ten commandments is due to the
foresight of what was to befall the first tables, for if the word good
had been in the tables, and broken withal, then goodness would have
ceased to bless the sons of Israel."

_Bava Kama_, fol. 55, col. 1.

The Tosephoth in Bava Bathra (fol. 113, col. 1) ingenuously
admits that the Rabbis were occasionally ignorant of the letter
of Scripture. The above quotation may be taken as a sample of
several in corroboration.

The Rabbis have taught that when pestilence is abroad no one should walk
along the middle of the road, for there the angel of death would be sure
to cross him. Neither when there is pestilence in a town should a person
go to the synagogue alone, because there, provided no children are
taught there, and ten men are not met to pray there, the angel of death
hides his weapons. The Rabbis have also taught that (like the Banshee of
Ireland), the howling of dogs indicates the approach of the angel of
death, whereas when they sport it is a sign that Elijah the prophet is
at hand, unless one of them happen to be a female, for it is her
presence among them, and not any super-natural instinct, that is to be
understood as the cause of the demonstration.

Ibid., fol. 60, col. 2.

Ten constitutions were founded by Ezra:--The reading of a portion of
Scripture during the afternoon prayers on the Sabbath-day, and during
morning prayers on the second and fifth days of the week (a rule that is
to this day observed in orthodox places of worship), and this for the
reason that three days should not pass by without such an exercise; to
hold courts for the due administration of justice on the second and
fifth days of the week, when the country people came to hear the public
reading of the Scriptures; to wash their garments, etc., on the fifth
day, and to prepare for the coming Sabbath; to eat garlic on the sixth
day of the week, as this vegetable has the property of promoting
secretions (see Exod. xxi. 10); that the wife should be up betimes and
bake the