“ What is the meaning of the verse: And I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law and the commandment, which I have written that thou mayest teach them? [121] 'Tables of stone': these are the ten commandments; 'the law': this is the Pentateuch; 'the commandment': this is the Mishnah; 'which I have written': these are the Prophets and the Hagiographa; 'that thou mayest teach them': this is the Gemara. [122] It teaches [us] that all these things were given to Moses on Sinai.
R. Isaac says: If one recites the Shema' upon his bed, it is as though he held a two-edged sword in his hand. ”

“ If he holds that the night has three watches, let him say: Till four hours [in the night] . And if he holds that the night has four watches, let him say: Till three hours? — He holds indeed, that the night has three watches, but he wants to teach us that there are watches in heaven [22] as well as on earth. For it has been taught: R. Eliezer says: The night has three watches, and at each watch the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and roars like a lion. For it is written: The Lord does roar from on high, and raise His voice from His holy habitation ”

“ At first when I saw the scholars running to the lecture on a Sabbath day, I thought that they were desecrating the Sabbath. [228] But since I have heard the saying of R. Tanhum in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi: A man should always, even on a Sabbath, run to listen to the word of Halachah, as it is said: They shall walk after the Lord, who shall roar like a lion, [229] I also run. R. Zera says: The merit of attending a lecture lies in the running. Abaye says: The merit of attending the Kallah sessions lies in the crush. ”

“ He arose immediately and studied the Torah till the break of dawn. After the break of dawn the wise men of Israel came in to see him and said to him: Our lord, the King, Israel your people require sustenance! He said to them: Let them go out and make a living one from the other. [49] They said to him: A handful cannot satisfy a lion, nor can a pit be filled up with its own clods. [50] He said to them: Then go out in troops and attack [the enemy for plunder] . They at once took counsel with Ahithofel and consulted the Sanhedrin and questioned the Urim and Tummim. ”

“ Leprosy and [the lack of] children are not chastisements of love. But is leprosy not a chastisement of love? Is it not taught: If a man has one of these four symptoms of leprosy, [159] it is nothing else but an altar of atonement? — They are an altar of atonement, but they are not chastisements of love. If you like, I can say: This [teaching of the Baraitha] is ours [in Babylonia] , and that [saying of R. Johanan] is theirs [in Palestine] . ”

“ It has been taught: Abba Benjamin says, When two people enter [a Synagogue] to pray, and one of them finishes his prayer first and does not wait for the other but leaves, [179] his prayer is torn up before his face. [180] For it is written: Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger, shall the earth be forsaken for thee? [181] And more than that, he causes the Divine Presence to remove itself from Israel. ”

“ Abba Benjamin says, If the eye had the power to see them, no creature could endure the demons. Abaye says: They are more numerous than we are and they surround us like the ridge round a field. R. Huna says: Every one among us has a thousand on his left hand and ten thousand on his right hand. [185] Raba says: The crushing in the Kallah [186] lectures comes from them. [187] Fatigue in the knees comes from them. The wearing out of the clothes of the scholars is due to their rubbing against them. The bruising of the feet comes from them. ”

“ If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His eyes, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee which I have put upon the Egyptians ”

“ It would be sufficient to say; 'because of suspicion and falling debris'? — When there are two decent people going into a new ruin. But if there are two, then there is no danger of demons either? — In their haunt there is danger. If you like I can say, indeed the reference is to one man and to a new ruin which was situated in the fields; in which case there is no suspicion, for a woman would not be found in the fields, but the danger of demons does exist.
Our Rabbis taught: The night has four watches. ”

“ If one wishes to see them, let him take the after-birth of a black she-cat, the offspring of a black she-cat, the first-born of a first-born, let him roast it in fire and grind it to powder, and then let him put some into his eye, and he will see them. ”

“ A man should always take special care about the afternoon-prayer. For even Elijah was favourably heard only while offering his afternoon-prayer. For it is said: And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening offering, that Elijah the prophet came near and said ... ”

“ The Gemara deduces from that saying that he regarded the death of children as a chastisement of love. Aruch understands this to have been a tooth of the last of his sons which he preserved and used to show to people who suffered bereavement in order to induce in them a spirit of resignation such as he himself had in his successive bereavements. ↑ The implication is that if one lovingly acquiesces in his sufferings, his reward in the world to come is very great. ”

“ There is a bird in the coast towns [238] whose name is kerum, and as soon as the sun shines upon it it changes into several colours. [239] R. Ammi and R. Assi both say: [When a man needs the support of his fellow-beings] it is as if he were punished with two [opposite] punishments, with fire and water. For it is said: When Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads, we went through fire and through water. ”

“ However they will be rewarded for enduring the rush and crush. The mechanical repetition of a tradition has no value if you do not try to understand it better. The merit of a fast day lies not in the fasting but in giving charity to the poor people, that they may have something to eat, etc. ↑ Ps. XII, 9. ↑ MS.M.: An Arab passed by and saw him. ↑ V. Jast. Rashi: 'As if there were two powers'. ↑ Ibid. ↑ Lit., 'standing on the highest point of the world'. ↑ He interprets, 'When the exalted things (kerum) are reviled among the sons of men'. The reference is to Prayer. ”

“ And both interpret one and the same verse, [viz.,] When thou liest down and when thou risest up. Hence in the evening the Ge'ullah must not be joined closely to Tefillah. [92] R. Johanan argues: There is here an analogy between lying down and rising. Just as [at the time of] rising, recital of Shema' precedes Tefillah, so also [at the time of] lying down, recital of Shema' precedes Tefillah. R. Joshua b. Levi argues [differently] : There is here an analogy between lying down and rising. ”

“ David by rising at midnight forestalled them by eight hours, i.e., two watches each having four hours. ↑ Lit., 'words of the Torah'. It would show disrespect for the dead. ↑ Ibid. 147. E.V. 'dawn'. ↑ Prov. VII, 9. ↑ That has a very light sleep, v. Suk. 26a. ↑ I Sam. XXX, 17. ↑ Neshef in this case denoting 'dawn'. ↑ Neshef in this case denoting 'dusk'. ↑ Ex. XI, 4. ↑ Lit., 'heaven'. ↑ Let the rich support the poor. ↑ We cannot be self-supporting to supply all our needs, any more than a handful can satisfy a lion, or the soil taken out of a pit fill its cavity. ”