ra_ fol. 25, col. 1.)

Rabbi Akiva says, "For three things I admire the Medes:--1. When they
carve meat, they do it on the table; 2. When they kiss, they only do so
upon the hand; 3. And when they consult, they do so only in the field."

_Berachoth_, fol. 8, col. 2.

The stone which Og, king of Bashan, meant to throw upon Israel is the
subject of a tradition delivered on Sinai. "The camp of Israel I see,"
he said, "extends three miles; I shall therefore go and root up a
mountain three miles in extent and throw it upon them." So off he went,
and finding such a mountain, raised it on his head, but the Holy
One--blessed be He!--sent an army of ants against him, which so bored
the mountain over his head that it slipped down upon his shoulders, from
which he could not lift it, because his teeth, protruding, had riveted
it upon him. This explains that which is written (Ps. iii. 7), "Thou
hast broken the teeth of the ungodly;" where read not "Thou hast
broken," but "Thou hast ramified," that is, "Thou hast caused to branch
out." Moses being ten ells in height, seized an axe ten ells long, and
springing up ten ells, struck a blow on Og's ankle and killed him.

Ibid., fol. 54, col. 2.

This same story is given with more than Talmudic exaggeration in
the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, while the author of the Book
of Jasher (chap. lxv., verses 23, 24) makes the camp and the
mountain forty miles in extent. The giant here figures in
antediluvian tradition. He is said to have been saved at the
Flood by laying hold of the ark, and being fed day by day
through a hole in the side of the ark by Noah himself. A
tradition which says the soles of his feet were forty miles long
at once explains all the extraordinary feats ascribed to him.

Rav Yehudah used to say, "Three things shorten a man's days and
years:--1. Neglecting to read the law when it is given to him for that
purpose; seeing it is written (Deut. xxx. 20), 'For He (who gave it) is
thy life and the length of thy days.' 2. Omitting to repeat the
customary benediction over a cup of blessing; for it is written (Gen.
xii. 3), 'And I will bless them that bless thee.' 3. And the assumption
of a Rabbinical air; for Rabbi Chama bar Chanena says, 'Joseph died
before any of his brethren, because he domineered over them.'"

_Berachoth_, fol. 55, col. 1.

The first of these refers to the reading of the law in public
worship, the second to a