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Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala
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571 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1943
356 people are currently reading
345 people want to read
About the author
Maurice H. Harris
61 books1 followerMaurice Henry Harris (1859 – 1930) was an English-born Jewish-American rabbi from New York.
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December 7, 2013
This was an incredibly eye opening book. I have always wondered at the Jewish resistance to Christianity. After reading all the minutia of the Jewish oral tradition, it's a wonder that the Jewish people even believe in God. The final analysis for me was that this was an incredibly dry and depressing book.
April 14, 2019
Some samples
SUPERSTITIONS
Three dreams come to pass:—That which is dreamed in the morning; that which is also dreamed by one's neighbor; and a dream which is interpreted within a dream; to which some add, one that is dreamed by the same person twice; as it is written (Gen. xli. 32), "And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice."
Ibid., fol. 55, col. 2.
It were better to cut the hands off than to touch the eye, or the nose, or the mouth, or the ear, etc., with them without having first washed them. Unwashed hands may cause blindness, deafness, foulness of breath, or a polypus. {36} It is taught that Rabbi Nathan has said, "The evil spirit Bath Chorin, which rests upon the hands at night, is very strict; he will not depart till water is poured upon the hands three times over."
Ibid. fol. 109, col. 1.
STORIES
Abraham was circumcised on the Day of Atonement, and God looks that day annually on the blood of the covenant of our father Abraham's circumcision as atoning for all our iniquities, as it is said in Lev. xvi. 30, "For on that day shall he make an atonement for you, to cleanse you from all your sins."
Yalkut Chadash, fol. 121, col. 1, sec. 3.
Before Abraham was circumcised God spake to him in the Chaldee language, that the angels should not understand it.
Yalkut Chadash, fol. 117.
Abraham's father, Terah, was both an idolater, a manufacturer of idols, and a dealer in them. Once when Terah had some engagement elsewhere he left his son Abraham to attend to his business. When a customer came to purchase an idol, Abraham asked him, "How old art thou?" "Lo! so many years," was the ready reply. "What," exclaimed Abraham, "is it possible that a man of so many years should desire to worship a thing only a day old?" The customer, being ashamed of himself, went his way; {50} and so did all other customers, who underwent a similar inquisition. Once an old woman brought a measure of fine flour and wished to present it as an offering to the gods. This so enraged Abraham that he took a staff and broke all the images, excepting the largest, into whose hands he fixed the staff. When his father came and questioned him about the destruction of the gods, he replied, "An old woman placed an offering of flour before them, which immediately set them all by the ears, for every one was hungrier than another, but the biggest god killed all the rest with this staff which thou now seest he still holds in his hands." Superstition, especially when combined with mercenary motives, knows neither reason nor human affection, therefore the father handed over his son Abraham to the inquisition of Nimrod, who threw him into the fiery furnace, as recorded elsewhere in this Miscellany. This is an historical fact, to the truth of which the whole orthodox Jewish world will bear testimony, and is solemnly recorded in Shalsheleth Hakkabalah fol. 2, col 1.
Abraham our father had a precious stone suspended from his neck, and every sick person that gazed upon it was immediately healed of his disease. But when Abraham died, God hung up the stone on the sphere of the sun.
Bava Bathra, fol. 16, col. 2.
Abraham was a giant of giants; his height was as that of seventy-four men put together. His food, his drink, and {46} his strength were in the proportion of seventy-four men's to one man's. He built an iron city for the abode of his seventeen children by Keturah, the walls of which were so lofty that the sun never penetrated them: he gave them a bowl full of precious stones, the brilliancy of which supplied them with light in the absence of the sun.
Sophrim, chap. 21.
Abraham was the author of a treatise on the subject of different kinds of witchcraft and its unholy workings and fruits, as also of the Book of Creation, through holy names (by means of which, namely, anything could be created).
Nishmath Chayim, chap. 29.
The whole world once believed that the souls of men were perishable, and that man had no pre-eminence above a beast, till Abraham came and preached the doctrine of immortality and transmigration.
Ibid., fol. 171, col. 1.
Talmudic health
Beware of these three things:—Do not sit too much, for it brings on hemorrhoids; do not stand too much, for it is bad for the heart; do not walk too much, for it is hurtful to the eyes. But sit a third, stand a third, and walk a third.
Kethuboth., fol. 111, col. 1.
These things are said concerning garlic:—It nourishes, it glows inwardly, it brightens the complexion, and increases virility. Some say that it is a philtre for love, and that it exterminates jealousy.
Bava Kama, fol. 82, col. 1.
Five things cause forgetfulness:—Partaking of what has been gnawed by a mouse or a cat, eating bullock's heart, habitual use of olives, drinking water that has been washed in, and placing the feet one upon the other while bathing.
Horayoth, fol. 13, col. 2.
Five things restore the memory again:—Bread baked upon coals, soft-boiled eggs without salt, habitual use of olive oil, mulled wine, and plenty of salt.
Ibid.
Any one who doeth any of these things sinneth against himself, and his blood is upon his own head:—He that (1.) eats garlic, onions, or eggs which were peeled the night before; (2.) or drinks water drawn over night; (3.) or sleeps all night in a burying-place; (4.) or pares his nails and throws the cuttings into the public street.
Niddah, fol. 17, col. 1.
A soft-boiled egg is better than six ounces of fine flour.
Ibid., fol. 44, col. 2.
Six things are a certain cure for sickness:—Cabbage, beetroot, water distilled from dry moss, honey, the maw and the matrix of an animal, and the edge of the liver.
Ibid.
TALMUDIST PERSONALITY
Rabbi Yochanan the son of Zacchai lived a hundred and twenty years; forty he devoted to commerce, forty to study, and forty to teaching.
Rosh Hashanah, fol. 30, col. 2.
Once a Gentile came to Shamai, and said, "Proselytize me, but on condition that thou teach me the whole law, even the whole of it, while I stand upon one leg." Shamai drove him off with the builder's rod which he held in his hand. When he came to Hillel with the same challenge, Hillel converted him by answering him on the spot, "That which is hateful to thyself, do not do to thy neighbor. This is the whole law, and the rest is its commentary." (Tobit, iv. 15; Matt. vii. 12.)
Ibid., fol. 31, col. 1.
Six things are a disgrace to a disciple of the wise:—To walk abroad perfumed, to walk alone by night, to wear old clouted shoes, to talk with a woman in the street, to sit at table with illiterate men, and to be late at the synagogue. Some add to these, walking with a proud step or a haughty gait.
Berachoth, fol. 43, col. 2.
Seven precepts did Rabbi Akiva give to his son Rabbi Yehoshua:—(1.) My son, teach not in the highest place of the city; (2.) Dwell not in a city where the leading men are disciples of the wise; (3.) Enter not suddenly into thine own house, and of course not into thy neighbor's; (4.) Do not go about without shoes; (5.) Rise early and eat in summer time because of the heat, and in winter time because of the cold; (6.) Make thy Sabbath as a week-day rather than depend for support on other people; (7.) Strive to keep on close friendly terms with the man whom fortune favors (lit. on whom the present hour smiles). Rav Pappa adds, "This does not refer to buying or selling, but to partnership."
P'sachim, fol. 112, col. 1.
TALMUDDERY
When a man is dangerously ill, the law grants dispensation, for it says, "You may break one Sabbath on his behalf, that he may be preserved to keep many Sabbaths."
Shabbath, fol. 151, col. 2.
MYTHOLOGY
All who go down to hell shall come up again, except these three:—He who commits adultery; he who shames another in public; and he who gives another a bad name.
Ibid., fol. 58, col. 2.
Six things are said respecting demons. In three particulars they are like angels, and in three they resemble men. They have wings like angels; like angels they fly from one end of the world to the other, and they know the future, as angels do, with this difference, that they learn by listening behind the veil what angels have revealed to them within. In three respects they resemble men. They eat and drink like men, they beget and increase like men, and like men they die.
Chaggigah, fol. 16, col. 1.
Six things are said respecting the children of men, in three of which they are like angels, and in three they are like animals. They have intelligence like angels, they walk erect like angels, and they converse in the holy tongue like angels. They eat and drink like animals, they generate and multiply like animals, and they relieve nature like animals.
Chaggigah, fol. 16, col. 1.
Seven things were formed before the creation of the world:—The Law, Repentance, Paradise, Gehenna, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah.
P'sachim, fol. 54, col. 1.
There are seven skies:—Villon, Raakia, Shechakim, Zevul, Maaon, Maachon, and Aravoth.
Chaggigah, fol. 12, col. 2.
MARRIAGE
Rabbi Akiva says he who marries a woman not suited to him violates five precepts:—(1.) Thou shalt not avenge; (2.) thou shalt not bear a grudge; (3.) thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; (4.) thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; (5.) and that thy brother may live with thee. For if he hates her he wishes she were dead, and thus he diminishes the population.
Avoth d'Rab. Nathan, chap. 26.
LIFESTYLE FOR THE ORDINARY JEWS
The Jew that has no wife abideth without joy, without a blessing, and without any good. Without joy, as it is written (Deut. xiv. 26), "And thou shalt reject, thou and thy household;" without blessing, as it is written (Ezek. xliv. 30), "That He may cause a blessing to rest on thy household;" without any good, for it is written (Gen. ii. 8), "It is not good that man should be alone."
Yevamoth, fol. 62, col. 2.
Four persons are intolerable:—A poor man who is proud, a rich man who is a liar, an old man who is incontinent, and a warden who behaves haughtily to a community for whom he has done nothing. To these some add him who has divorced his wife once or twice and married her again.
There are four who are accounted as dead:—The pauper, the leper, the blind man, and he who has no male children.
Nedarin, fol. 64, col. 2
Psachim., fol. 113, col. 2.
The Jew that has no wife is not a man; for it is written (Gen. v. 2), "Male and female created He them and called their name man." To which Rabbi Eleazar adds, "So every one who has no landed property is no man; for it is written (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth (the land, that is), hath He given to the children of man.'"
Yevamoth, fol. 63, col. 1.
A man should divide his capital into three parts, and invest one-third in land, employ one-third in merchandise, and reserve one-third in ready money.
Bava Metzia, fol. 42, col. 1.
TALMUDIC MORALITY
Six things are said respecting the illiterate:—No testimony is to be borne to them, none is to be accepted from them; no secret is to be disclosed to them; they are not to be appointed guardians over orphans, nor keepers of the charity-box, and there should be no fellowship with them when on a journey. Some say also no public notice is to be given of their lost property.
P'sachim, fol. 49, col. 2.
The expression here rendered "illiterate" means literally "people of the land," and was, there is reason to believe, originally applied to the primitive inhabitants of Canaan, traces of whom may still be found among the fellahin of Syria. They appear, like the aboriginal races in many countries of Christendom in relation to Christianity, to have remained generation after generation obdurately inaccessible to Jewish ideas, and so to have given name to the ignorant and untaught generally. This circumstance may account for the harshness of some of the quotations which are appended in reference to them
If the ox of an Israelite bruise the ox of a Gentile, the Israelite is exempt from paying damages; but should the ox of a Gentile bruise the ox of an Israelite, the Gentile is bound to recompense him in full.
Bava Kama, fol. 38, col. 1.
When an Israelite and a Gentile have a lawsuit before thee, if thou canst, acquit the former according to the laws of Israel, and tell the latter such is our law; if thou canst get him off in accordance with Gentile law, do so, and say to the plaintiff such is your law; but if he cannot be acquitted according to either law, then bring forward adroit pretexts and secure his acquittal. These are the words of the Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva says, "No false pretext should be brought forward, because, if found out, the name of God would be blasphemed; but if there be no fear of that, then it may be adduced."
Bava Kama, fol. 113, col. 1.
If one find lost property in a locality where the majority are Israelites, he is bound to proclaim it; but he is not bound to do so if the majority be Gentiles.
Bava Metzia, fol. 24, col. 1.
If a Gentile smite an Israelite, he is guilty of death; as it is written (Exod. ii. 12), "And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw there was no man, he slew the Egyptian."
Sanhedrin, fol. 58, col. 2.Some random quirky things:
____
It calls Christianity the heresy of James. James was the brother of Jesus. This supports the account in acts of the apostles, that James was the boss of Christendom in Jerusalem.
____
There are three reasons one should not enter a ruin:
1 you may be suspected of mischief
2 the building might fall down on you
3 evil spirits dwell in ruins
// Evil spirits = disease, so all the advice is good. The counsil is rational superstition, as opposed to our superstitious rationalizations like "don't catch and eat hedgehogs, it would harm biodiversity" or "expired milk is dangerous, it is filled with bacteria"
____
A man should divide his wealth in thirds. One for buying land, one for merchandise, one in ready cash.
// 1/n is a good diversification strategy.
____
There is a story of how Abraham's father was a manufacturer of idols. At one point Abraham destroys everything in the shop - inspiration for Muhammad? or maybe this was common?
___
Six things are a certain cure for sickness:- Cabbage, beetroot, water distilled from dry moss, honey, the maw and the matrix of an animal, and the edge of the liver.
// Notice that they recommend a combination of paleo and ascetic. The one non-paleo component is honey, which they seem to have associated with asceticism. John lived on wild honey and grasshoppers. I bet this diet is great for overcoming illness. It does not sound to tasty so it probably reduced how much you ate. Sharks, snakes and mammals all fast when sick so evolution is giving is a pretty obvious hint.
Another quote:
A soft-boiled egg is better than six ounces of fine flour
___
No bour can be pious, nor an ignorant man a saint
// Typical for the Talmud to esteem knowledge.
___
// Bestiary (paraphrase)
Demons resemble angels in three ways:
1 They have wings
2 They fly across the world
3 They know the future, though by listening in to what is reveled to angels
They resemble men in three ways
1 They eat and drink
2 They multiply
3 They are mortal
//Winged men as angels originally are Persian, right? And this was written in 500? I find it interesting to track cultural osmosis
____
// It has a little stories about how Nero converted to Judaism (did the Jews like Nero?)
_____
//The book is about in-group morality. It says that if you find something valuable in the street you should try returning it to its owner if you live in an area with Jewish majority, keep it if it is in a gentile community.
_____
//
--- some ideas of mine
There is almost nothing negative about believing that magic was real in the past, so nothing prevents flowery mythology from coming into existence. However: where it really mattered people had to have rational beliefs. So the Talmud has good recommendations about financial management and diet. Given that Talmuddery allows absurd interpretations of scripture, Jewish culture was in practice open to innovations and absorbing good ideas from abroad. Empirically good practices spread and then the rabies Talmuddized some religious motivations. Intellectual dishonesty used to be an essential lubricant for letting pragmatism reign.
The Talmud has better recommendations on diet than western medicine had in the 1980s. The danger of things like the high carb low fat diet becomes obvious after a few decades - you do not need science for realizing such things.
SUPERSTITIONS
Three dreams come to pass:—That which is dreamed in the morning; that which is also dreamed by one's neighbor; and a dream which is interpreted within a dream; to which some add, one that is dreamed by the same person twice; as it is written (Gen. xli. 32), "And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice."
Ibid., fol. 55, col. 2.
It were better to cut the hands off than to touch the eye, or the nose, or the mouth, or the ear, etc., with them without having first washed them. Unwashed hands may cause blindness, deafness, foulness of breath, or a polypus. {36} It is taught that Rabbi Nathan has said, "The evil spirit Bath Chorin, which rests upon the hands at night, is very strict; he will not depart till water is poured upon the hands three times over."
Ibid. fol. 109, col. 1.
STORIES
Abraham was circumcised on the Day of Atonement, and God looks that day annually on the blood of the covenant of our father Abraham's circumcision as atoning for all our iniquities, as it is said in Lev. xvi. 30, "For on that day shall he make an atonement for you, to cleanse you from all your sins."
Yalkut Chadash, fol. 121, col. 1, sec. 3.
Before Abraham was circumcised God spake to him in the Chaldee language, that the angels should not understand it.
Yalkut Chadash, fol. 117.
Abraham's father, Terah, was both an idolater, a manufacturer of idols, and a dealer in them. Once when Terah had some engagement elsewhere he left his son Abraham to attend to his business. When a customer came to purchase an idol, Abraham asked him, "How old art thou?" "Lo! so many years," was the ready reply. "What," exclaimed Abraham, "is it possible that a man of so many years should desire to worship a thing only a day old?" The customer, being ashamed of himself, went his way; {50} and so did all other customers, who underwent a similar inquisition. Once an old woman brought a measure of fine flour and wished to present it as an offering to the gods. This so enraged Abraham that he took a staff and broke all the images, excepting the largest, into whose hands he fixed the staff. When his father came and questioned him about the destruction of the gods, he replied, "An old woman placed an offering of flour before them, which immediately set them all by the ears, for every one was hungrier than another, but the biggest god killed all the rest with this staff which thou now seest he still holds in his hands." Superstition, especially when combined with mercenary motives, knows neither reason nor human affection, therefore the father handed over his son Abraham to the inquisition of Nimrod, who threw him into the fiery furnace, as recorded elsewhere in this Miscellany. This is an historical fact, to the truth of which the whole orthodox Jewish world will bear testimony, and is solemnly recorded in Shalsheleth Hakkabalah fol. 2, col 1.
Abraham our father had a precious stone suspended from his neck, and every sick person that gazed upon it was immediately healed of his disease. But when Abraham died, God hung up the stone on the sphere of the sun.
Bava Bathra, fol. 16, col. 2.
Abraham was a giant of giants; his height was as that of seventy-four men put together. His food, his drink, and {46} his strength were in the proportion of seventy-four men's to one man's. He built an iron city for the abode of his seventeen children by Keturah, the walls of which were so lofty that the sun never penetrated them: he gave them a bowl full of precious stones, the brilliancy of which supplied them with light in the absence of the sun.
Sophrim, chap. 21.
Abraham was the author of a treatise on the subject of different kinds of witchcraft and its unholy workings and fruits, as also of the Book of Creation, through holy names (by means of which, namely, anything could be created).
Nishmath Chayim, chap. 29.
The whole world once believed that the souls of men were perishable, and that man had no pre-eminence above a beast, till Abraham came and preached the doctrine of immortality and transmigration.
Ibid., fol. 171, col. 1.
Talmudic health
Beware of these three things:—Do not sit too much, for it brings on hemorrhoids; do not stand too much, for it is bad for the heart; do not walk too much, for it is hurtful to the eyes. But sit a third, stand a third, and walk a third.
Kethuboth., fol. 111, col. 1.
These things are said concerning garlic:—It nourishes, it glows inwardly, it brightens the complexion, and increases virility. Some say that it is a philtre for love, and that it exterminates jealousy.
Bava Kama, fol. 82, col. 1.
Five things cause forgetfulness:—Partaking of what has been gnawed by a mouse or a cat, eating bullock's heart, habitual use of olives, drinking water that has been washed in, and placing the feet one upon the other while bathing.
Horayoth, fol. 13, col. 2.
Five things restore the memory again:—Bread baked upon coals, soft-boiled eggs without salt, habitual use of olive oil, mulled wine, and plenty of salt.
Ibid.
Any one who doeth any of these things sinneth against himself, and his blood is upon his own head:—He that (1.) eats garlic, onions, or eggs which were peeled the night before; (2.) or drinks water drawn over night; (3.) or sleeps all night in a burying-place; (4.) or pares his nails and throws the cuttings into the public street.
Niddah, fol. 17, col. 1.
A soft-boiled egg is better than six ounces of fine flour.
Ibid., fol. 44, col. 2.
Six things are a certain cure for sickness:—Cabbage, beetroot, water distilled from dry moss, honey, the maw and the matrix of an animal, and the edge of the liver.
Ibid.
TALMUDIST PERSONALITY
Rabbi Yochanan the son of Zacchai lived a hundred and twenty years; forty he devoted to commerce, forty to study, and forty to teaching.
Rosh Hashanah, fol. 30, col. 2.
Once a Gentile came to Shamai, and said, "Proselytize me, but on condition that thou teach me the whole law, even the whole of it, while I stand upon one leg." Shamai drove him off with the builder's rod which he held in his hand. When he came to Hillel with the same challenge, Hillel converted him by answering him on the spot, "That which is hateful to thyself, do not do to thy neighbor. This is the whole law, and the rest is its commentary." (Tobit, iv. 15; Matt. vii. 12.)
Ibid., fol. 31, col. 1.
Six things are a disgrace to a disciple of the wise:—To walk abroad perfumed, to walk alone by night, to wear old clouted shoes, to talk with a woman in the street, to sit at table with illiterate men, and to be late at the synagogue. Some add to these, walking with a proud step or a haughty gait.
Berachoth, fol. 43, col. 2.
Seven precepts did Rabbi Akiva give to his son Rabbi Yehoshua:—(1.) My son, teach not in the highest place of the city; (2.) Dwell not in a city where the leading men are disciples of the wise; (3.) Enter not suddenly into thine own house, and of course not into thy neighbor's; (4.) Do not go about without shoes; (5.) Rise early and eat in summer time because of the heat, and in winter time because of the cold; (6.) Make thy Sabbath as a week-day rather than depend for support on other people; (7.) Strive to keep on close friendly terms with the man whom fortune favors (lit. on whom the present hour smiles). Rav Pappa adds, "This does not refer to buying or selling, but to partnership."
P'sachim, fol. 112, col. 1.
TALMUDDERY
When a man is dangerously ill, the law grants dispensation, for it says, "You may break one Sabbath on his behalf, that he may be preserved to keep many Sabbaths."
Shabbath, fol. 151, col. 2.
MYTHOLOGY
All who go down to hell shall come up again, except these three:—He who commits adultery; he who shames another in public; and he who gives another a bad name.
Ibid., fol. 58, col. 2.
Six things are said respecting demons. In three particulars they are like angels, and in three they resemble men. They have wings like angels; like angels they fly from one end of the world to the other, and they know the future, as angels do, with this difference, that they learn by listening behind the veil what angels have revealed to them within. In three respects they resemble men. They eat and drink like men, they beget and increase like men, and like men they die.
Chaggigah, fol. 16, col. 1.
Six things are said respecting the children of men, in three of which they are like angels, and in three they are like animals. They have intelligence like angels, they walk erect like angels, and they converse in the holy tongue like angels. They eat and drink like animals, they generate and multiply like animals, and they relieve nature like animals.
Chaggigah, fol. 16, col. 1.
Seven things were formed before the creation of the world:—The Law, Repentance, Paradise, Gehenna, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah.
P'sachim, fol. 54, col. 1.
There are seven skies:—Villon, Raakia, Shechakim, Zevul, Maaon, Maachon, and Aravoth.
Chaggigah, fol. 12, col. 2.
MARRIAGE
Rabbi Akiva says he who marries a woman not suited to him violates five precepts:—(1.) Thou shalt not avenge; (2.) thou shalt not bear a grudge; (3.) thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; (4.) thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; (5.) and that thy brother may live with thee. For if he hates her he wishes she were dead, and thus he diminishes the population.
Avoth d'Rab. Nathan, chap. 26.
LIFESTYLE FOR THE ORDINARY JEWS
The Jew that has no wife abideth without joy, without a blessing, and without any good. Without joy, as it is written (Deut. xiv. 26), "And thou shalt reject, thou and thy household;" without blessing, as it is written (Ezek. xliv. 30), "That He may cause a blessing to rest on thy household;" without any good, for it is written (Gen. ii. 8), "It is not good that man should be alone."
Yevamoth, fol. 62, col. 2.
Four persons are intolerable:—A poor man who is proud, a rich man who is a liar, an old man who is incontinent, and a warden who behaves haughtily to a community for whom he has done nothing. To these some add him who has divorced his wife once or twice and married her again.
There are four who are accounted as dead:—The pauper, the leper, the blind man, and he who has no male children.
Nedarin, fol. 64, col. 2
Psachim., fol. 113, col. 2.
The Jew that has no wife is not a man; for it is written (Gen. v. 2), "Male and female created He them and called their name man." To which Rabbi Eleazar adds, "So every one who has no landed property is no man; for it is written (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth (the land, that is), hath He given to the children of man.'"
Yevamoth, fol. 63, col. 1.
A man should divide his capital into three parts, and invest one-third in land, employ one-third in merchandise, and reserve one-third in ready money.
Bava Metzia, fol. 42, col. 1.
TALMUDIC MORALITY
Six things are said respecting the illiterate:—No testimony is to be borne to them, none is to be accepted from them; no secret is to be disclosed to them; they are not to be appointed guardians over orphans, nor keepers of the charity-box, and there should be no fellowship with them when on a journey. Some say also no public notice is to be given of their lost property.
P'sachim, fol. 49, col. 2.
The expression here rendered "illiterate" means literally "people of the land," and was, there is reason to believe, originally applied to the primitive inhabitants of Canaan, traces of whom may still be found among the fellahin of Syria. They appear, like the aboriginal races in many countries of Christendom in relation to Christianity, to have remained generation after generation obdurately inaccessible to Jewish ideas, and so to have given name to the ignorant and untaught generally. This circumstance may account for the harshness of some of the quotations which are appended in reference to them
If the ox of an Israelite bruise the ox of a Gentile, the Israelite is exempt from paying damages; but should the ox of a Gentile bruise the ox of an Israelite, the Gentile is bound to recompense him in full.
Bava Kama, fol. 38, col. 1.
When an Israelite and a Gentile have a lawsuit before thee, if thou canst, acquit the former according to the laws of Israel, and tell the latter such is our law; if thou canst get him off in accordance with Gentile law, do so, and say to the plaintiff such is your law; but if he cannot be acquitted according to either law, then bring forward adroit pretexts and secure his acquittal. These are the words of the Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva says, "No false pretext should be brought forward, because, if found out, the name of God would be blasphemed; but if there be no fear of that, then it may be adduced."
Bava Kama, fol. 113, col. 1.
If one find lost property in a locality where the majority are Israelites, he is bound to proclaim it; but he is not bound to do so if the majority be Gentiles.
Bava Metzia, fol. 24, col. 1.
If a Gentile smite an Israelite, he is guilty of death; as it is written (Exod. ii. 12), "And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw there was no man, he slew the Egyptian."
Sanhedrin, fol. 58, col. 2.Some random quirky things:
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It calls Christianity the heresy of James. James was the brother of Jesus. This supports the account in acts of the apostles, that James was the boss of Christendom in Jerusalem.
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There are three reasons one should not enter a ruin:
1 you may be suspected of mischief
2 the building might fall down on you
3 evil spirits dwell in ruins
// Evil spirits = disease, so all the advice is good. The counsil is rational superstition, as opposed to our superstitious rationalizations like "don't catch and eat hedgehogs, it would harm biodiversity" or "expired milk is dangerous, it is filled with bacteria"
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A man should divide his wealth in thirds. One for buying land, one for merchandise, one in ready cash.
// 1/n is a good diversification strategy.
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There is a story of how Abraham's father was a manufacturer of idols. At one point Abraham destroys everything in the shop - inspiration for Muhammad? or maybe this was common?
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Six things are a certain cure for sickness:- Cabbage, beetroot, water distilled from dry moss, honey, the maw and the matrix of an animal, and the edge of the liver.
// Notice that they recommend a combination of paleo and ascetic. The one non-paleo component is honey, which they seem to have associated with asceticism. John lived on wild honey and grasshoppers. I bet this diet is great for overcoming illness. It does not sound to tasty so it probably reduced how much you ate. Sharks, snakes and mammals all fast when sick so evolution is giving is a pretty obvious hint.
Another quote:
A soft-boiled egg is better than six ounces of fine flour
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No bour can be pious, nor an ignorant man a saint
// Typical for the Talmud to esteem knowledge.
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// Bestiary (paraphrase)
Demons resemble angels in three ways:
1 They have wings
2 They fly across the world
3 They know the future, though by listening in to what is reveled to angels
They resemble men in three ways
1 They eat and drink
2 They multiply
3 They are mortal
//Winged men as angels originally are Persian, right? And this was written in 500? I find it interesting to track cultural osmosis
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// It has a little stories about how Nero converted to Judaism (did the Jews like Nero?)
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//The book is about in-group morality. It says that if you find something valuable in the street you should try returning it to its owner if you live in an area with Jewish majority, keep it if it is in a gentile community.
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--- some ideas of mine
There is almost nothing negative about believing that magic was real in the past, so nothing prevents flowery mythology from coming into existence. However: where it really mattered people had to have rational beliefs. So the Talmud has good recommendations about financial management and diet. Given that Talmuddery allows absurd interpretations of scripture, Jewish culture was in practice open to innovations and absorbing good ideas from abroad. Empirically good practices spread and then the rabies Talmuddized some religious motivations. Intellectual dishonesty used to be an essential lubricant for letting pragmatism reign.
The Talmud has better recommendations on diet than western medicine had in the 1980s. The danger of things like the high carb low fat diet becomes obvious after a few decades - you do not need science for realizing such things.
September 6, 2021
I Wish It Had Commentary
Exploring Jewish wisdom literature as a non-Jew requires both curiosity and patience. Maybe even more importantly, it often needs a guide with familiarity with both Hebrew and tradition. The translations here seem good, and the variety is great. The lack of a guide was tough and kept it from five stars. It’s with the read for anyone interested in the topic.
Exploring Jewish wisdom literature as a non-Jew requires both curiosity and patience. Maybe even more importantly, it often needs a guide with familiarity with both Hebrew and tradition. The translations here seem good, and the variety is great. The lack of a guide was tough and kept it from five stars. It’s with the read for anyone interested in the topic.
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