e frog, but she herself was
so large as to fill all the land of Egypt." Whereupon Rabbi Elazar ben
Azariah said unto him, "Akiva, what business hast thou with Haggadah? Be
off with thy legends, and get thee to the laws thou art familiar with
about plagues and tents. Though thou sayest right in this matter, for
there was only one frog, but she croaked so loud that the frogs came
from everywhere else to her croaking."
_Sanhedrin_, fol. 67, col. 2.
Rabba, the grandson of Channa, said that he himself once saw a
frog larger than any seen now, though not so large as the frog
in Egypt. It was as large as Acra, a village of some sixty
houses (_Bava Bathra_, fol. 73, col. 2.)
Apropos to the part the frog was conceived to play or symbolize
in the Jewish conception of the mode and ministry of Divine
judgment, we quote the following:--"We are told that Samuel once
saw a frog carrying a scorpion on its back across a river, upon
the opposite bank of which a man stood waiting ready to be
stung. The sting proving fatal, so that the man died; upon which
Samuel exclaimed, 'Lord, they wait for Thy judgments this day:
for all are Thy servants.' (Ps. cxix. 91.)" (_Nedarim_, fol. 41,
col. 1.)
"According to the days of one king" (Isa. xxiii. 15). What king is this
that is singled out as one? Thou must say this is the King Messiah, and
no other.
_Sanhedrin_, fol. 99, col. 1.
Rabbi Levi contends that Manasseh has no portion in the world to come,
while Rabbi Yehudah maintains that he has; and each supports his
conclusion in contradiction of the other, from one and the same
Scripture text.
Ibid., fol. 102, col. 2.
The words, "Remember the Sabbath day," in Exod. xx. 8, and "Keep the
Sabbath day," in Deut. v. 12, were uttered in one breath, as no man's
mouth could utter them, and no man's ear could hear.
_Shevuoth_, fol. 20, col. 2.
The officer who inflicts flagellation on a criminal must smite with one
hand only, but yet with all his force.
_Maccoth_, fol. 22, col. 2.
I would rather be called a fool all my days than sin one hour before
God.
_Edioth_, chap. 5, mish. 6.
He who observes but one precept secures for himself an advocate, and he
who commits one single sin procures for himself an accuser.
_Avoth_, chap. 4, mish. 15.
He who learns from another one chapter, one halachah, one verse, or one
word or even a single letter, is bound to respect him.
Ibid.
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