Maurice Henry Harris - Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala

P'sachim , fol. 49, col. 2.

Rav Yehudah says it is good to eat the pulp of a pumpkin with beetroot as a remedy, also the essence of hemp seed in Babylonian broth; but it is not lawful to mention this in the presence of an illiterate man, because he might derive a benefit from the knowledge not meant for him.

Nedarim , fol. 49, col. 1.

No contribution or heave-offering should be given to an ignorant priest.

Sanhedrin , fol. 90, col. 2.

No boor can be pious, nor an ignorant man a saint.

Avoth , chap. 2, mish. 6.

Sleep in the morning, wine at mid-day, the idle talk of inexperienced youth, and attending the conventicles of the ignorant drive a man out of the world.

Ibid. , chap. 3, mish. 16.

Rabbi Jonathan says, "Where do we learn that no present is to be made to an ignorant priest?" In 2 Chron. xxxi. 4, for there it is said Hezekiah "commanded that all the people that dwelt in Jerusalem should give a portion to the priests and to the Levites, that they might be strong in the law of the Lord." He who firmly lays hold of the law has a claim to a portion, otherwise he has none.

Chullin , fol. 130, col. 2.

The aged, if ignorant, grow weaker in intellect the older they become in years, for it is written (Job xii. 20), "He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged." But it is not so with them that are old in the study of the law, for the older they grow the more thoughtful they become, and the wiser, as it is said (Job xii. 12), "With the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days understanding."

Kinnin , chap. 3.

The salutation of the ignorant should be responded to quietly, and with a reluctant nod of the head.

Taanith , fol. 14, col. 2.

No calamities ever befall the world except such as are brought on by the ignorant.

Bava Bathra , fol. 8, col. 1.

Rav Hunna's widow once appeared before Rav Nachman as plaintiff in a lawsuit. "What shall I do?" he said. "If I rise before her (to honor her as the widow of a Rabbi), the defendant, who is an amhaaretz , will feel uneasy; and if I don't rise I shall break the rule which ordains that the wife of an associate is to be treated as an associate." So he said to his servant, "Loose a young goose over my head, then I'll get up."

Rav bar Sheravyah had a lawsuit with an amhaaretz before Rav Pappa, who bade him be seated, and also asked the other to sit down. When the officer of the court raised the amhaaretz with a kick, the magistrate did not request him to be seated again.

Shevuoth , fol. 30, 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.

The Talmud is particularly rich in demonology, and many are the forms which the evil principle assumes in its pages. We have no wish to drag these shapes to the light, and interrogate them as to the part they play in this intricate life. Enough now if we mention the circumstance of their existence, and introduce to the reader the story of Ashmedai, the king of the demons. The story is worth relating, both for its own sake and its historical significance.

In Ecclesiastes ii. 8, we read, "I gat me men singers and women singers, the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts." These last seven words represent only two in the original Hebrew, Shiddah-veshiddoth . These two words in the original Hebrew translated by the last seven in this verse, have been a source of great perplexity to the critics, and their exact meaning is matter of debate to this hour. They in the West say they mean severally carriages for lords and carriages for ladies, while we, says the Babylonish Talmud, interpret them to signify male demons and female demons. Whereupon, if this last is the correct rendering, the question arises, for what purpose Solomon required them? The answer is to be found in 1 Kings vi. 7, where it is written, "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither," etc. For before the operation commenced Solomon asked the Rabbis, "How shall I accomplish this without using tools of iron?" and they remembering of an insect which had existed since the creation of the world, whose powers were such as the hardest substances could not resist, replied, "There is the Shameer, with which Moses cut the precious stones of the Ephod." Solomon asked, "And where, pray, is the Shameer to be found?" To which they made answer, "Let a male demon and a female come, and do thou coerce them both; mayhap they know and will reveal it to thee." He then conjured into his presence a male and a female demon, and proceeded to torture them, but in vain, for said they, "We know not its whereabouts and cannot tell; perhaps Ashmedai, the king of the demons, knows." On being further interrogated as to where he in turn might be found, they made this answer: "In yonder mount is his residence; there he has dug a pit, and, after filling it with water, covered it over with a stone, and sealed with his own seal. Daily he ascends to heaven and studies in the school of wisdom there, then he comes down and studies in the school of wisdom here; upon which he goes and examines the seal, then opens the pit, and after quenching his thirst, covers it up again, re-seals it, and takes his departure."

Solomon thereupon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, provided with a magic chain and ring, upon both of which the name of God was engraved. He also provided him with a fleece of wool and sundry skins with wine. Then Benaiah went and sank a pit below that of Ashmedai, into which he drained off the water and plugged the duct between with the fleece. Then he set to and dug another hole higher up with a channel leading into the emptied pit of Ashmedia, by means of which the pit was filled with the wine he had brought. After leveling the ground so as not to rouse suspicion, he withdrew to a tree close by, so as to watch the result and wait his opportunity. After a while Ashmedai came, and examined the seal, when, seeing it all right, he raised the stone, and to his surprise found wine in the pit. For a time he stood muttering and saying, it is written, "Wine is a mocker: strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." And again, "Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart." Therefore at first he was unwilling to drink, but being thirsty, he could not long resist the temptation. He proceeded to drink therefore, when, becoming intoxicated, he lay down to sleep. Then Benaiah, came forth from his ambush, and stealthily approaching, fastened the chain round the sleeper's neck. Ashmedai, when he awoke, began to fret and fume, and would have torn off the chain that bound him, had not Benaiah warned him, saying, "The name of thy Lord is upon thee." Having thus secured him, Benaiah proceeded to lead him away to his sovereign master. As they journeyed along they came to a palm-tree, against which Ashmedai rubbed himself, until he uprooted it and threw it down. When they drew near to a hut, the poor widow who inhabited it came out and entreated him not to rub himself against it, upon which, as he suddenly bent himself back, he snapt a bone of his body, and said, "This is that which is written (Prov. xxv. 15), 'And a gentle answer breaketh the bone.'" Descrying a blind man straying out of his way, he hailed him and directed him aright. He even did the same service to a man overcome with wine, who was in a similar predicament. At sight of a wedding party that passed rejoicing along, he wept; but he burst into uncontrollable laughter when he heard a man order at a shoemaker's stall a pair of shoes that would last seven years; and when he saw a magician at his work he broke forth into shrieks of scorn.

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