Rabbi Meir

“ The sneak thief fears their eyes, yet he does not honor the eye of the king, the eye of God, which watches all his actions."
Rabbi Meir says, "This law teaches us how God regards industry. If a person steals an ox he must return five in its place, because while the animal was in his unlawful possession it could not work for its rightful owner. A lamb, however, does no labor, and is not profitable that way; therefore he is only obliged to replace it fourfold."
Rabbi Nachman dined with his teacher, Rabbi Yitzchak, and upon departing after the meal, he said, "Teacher, bless me!" ”

“ No Synagogue is to be sold except on condition that there be power of re-purchase. These are the words of Rabbi Meir; but the sages say it may be sold unconditionally, except in these four particular cases: that it be not turned into a bath-house, a tannery, a wash-house, or a laundry.
Meggillah, fol. 27, col. 2.
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zachai was once asked by his disciples how he had attained such length of days. "Never once," he said, "in my life have I acted irreverently within four cubits of a place where prayer is offered; never have I called a person by a wicked name ”

“ The answer to this problem is that the Rambam believes that the Rabbis do agree with Rabbi Meir's derivation, that a connection between the verses of plagues and that of judgment leads to the conclusion that monetary and capital court cases must start during the day. However, while Rabbi Meir's position is that the complete case must be processed during daytime, the Rabbis derive from the verse: "You shall judge the people at all times..." that monetary cases can be concluded at night. ”

“ Mishnah 1
Rabbi Meir says: Anyone who involves himself in Torah for its own sake merits many things, and moreover the entire world is worthwhile for his sake; He is called "friend," "beloved," "lover of the Ominpresent," "lover of [all] creatures," "delighter of the Ominpresent," "delighter of [all] creatures;" He is clothed in humility and reverence, and it prepares him to be righteous, devout, upright and trustworthy, and it distances him from sin, and draws him near to merit ”

“ These are the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: In the middle, one may greet out of fear and return a greeting out of honor, And at the breaks, one may greet out of honor and return a greeting to any person. ”

“ Rabbi Meir permits to read and learn in a place where one is unfamiliar, for in these topics one will have discomfort trying to understand, however Rabbi Yehuda forbids it, and the law is according to Rabbi Yehuda, and according to the {textual} reading of the Rif and the Rosh, they also argue regarding school children, where {similarly} Rabbi Meir permits {study} and Rabbi Yehuda forbids it, and the law is like Rabbi Yehuda as well. ”

“ It is almost impossible to separate the true from the false in the numerous traditions respecting his life. He became the chief teacher in the rabbinical school of Jaffa, where, it is said, he had 24,000 scholars. Whatever their number, it seems certain that among them was the celebrated Rabbi Meir, and that through him and others ‛Aqība exerted a great influence on the development of the doctrines embodied in the Mishnah. He sided with Bar Cochebas in the last Jewish revolt against Rome, recognized him as the Messiah, and acted as his sword-bearer. ”

“ The judges who issued decrees at Jerusalem received for salary ninety-nine manahs from the contributions of the chamber.
Kethuboth, fol. 105, col. 1.
Ninety-nine die from an evil eye for one who dies in the usual manner.
Bava Metzia, fol. 107, col. 2.
The Rabbis have taught us who they are that are to be accounted rich. "Every one," says Rabbi Meir, "who enjoys his riches." But Rabbi Tarphon says, "Every one who has a hundred vineyards and a hundred fields, with a hundred slaves to labor in them." Rabbi Akiva pronounces him well off who has a wife that is becoming in all her ways. ”

“ In response to his argument that the shomer (guard) is more honorable than the nishmor (watched) , he quotes a teaching in Bereishit Rabbah that Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehudah, and Rabbi Shimon debated who is greater: the shomer or the nishmor? ”

“ The interior of the synagogue was half-empty. The people dispersed slowly and silently, as if they were seized by a great sorrow and doubt. The poor and rich, until now great admirers of the Rabbi. There was the rustle of the belated women in the gallery, and then everything was quiet and deserted.
As in times of yore, Joseph Akiba was coming back in the moonlit night, to his shepherd's hut, so Meir pale and trembling approached the house of his fathers. ”

“ To be just to the rabbis it is necessary to penetrate into the true spirit of the Talmud, to become thoroughly familiar with the manner in which the ancients generally, but especially the Orientals, deliver theological, moral, and even physical truths in fables and allegories, to become familiar also with the style of Oriental hyperbole in reference to everything that can be of interest to man. Moreover, the rabbis should be treated in the spirit in which they themselves excused Rabbi Meïr who had a heretic for his teacher,—the spirit expressed in a passage [Pg 127] already quoted. ”

“ Schmul seized his hand and began to kiss it.
"Morejne, you are good. You always help poor people. You pity my stupid child."
When the enthusiasm of his gratitude had cooled a little, he stretched himself and began to whisper in Meir's ear.
"Morejne, you are good and generous and the grandson of a very rich man, and I am a poor and stupid hajet, but you are as honey in my mouth, and I must open my heart to you. You are wrong in quarrelling with our great Rabbi and with the members of the kahal. Our Rabbi is a great Rabbi and there is no other like him in the whole world. ”

“ See, the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away, and blessed be the name of the Lord!" "Blessed be the name of the Lord!" echoed Rabbi Meir, and blessed be his name for thy sake, too! for well is it written, 'He that has found a virtuous woman, has a greater treasure than costly pearls. She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the instruction of kindness.'"
Yalkut to Proverbs, XXXI; § 964.
The Lord Helpeth Man and Beast
The Lord helpeth man and beast.—Psalm xxxvi. ”

“ Said Jehoshua the son of Ziruz, the son of R. Meir's father-in-law before Rabbi: "Did not R. Meir say, that in a case of this kind one is liable for a sin-offering?" Said Rabbi: "Was R. Meir so particular, that he determined just how far down the ends of one's toga should reach?" Still he (Rabbi) let down his toga; and when Rabhin came from Palestine he said, that it was not Jehoshua ben Ziruz who made that remark, but Jehoshua ben Bepusai the son-in-law of R. Aqiba ”

“ The communities had elected his eldest son, Jochanan, in his place, and the king had confirmed their choice. He had been in office five years, and was projecting the establishment of an academy, when a former pupil of his father, one Isaiah ben Abba-Mari, arrived in France from Savoy with the authorization of the German chief rabbi, Meïr ben Baruch Halevi, granting to him alone the right to maintain an academy and ordain pupils as rabbis. Whoever exercised rabbinical functions without his authority and, especially, meddled with marriages and divorces, was threatened with excommunication. ”

“ Emperor Rudolph ordered him to be placed under arrest in the tower of Ensisheim, in Alsace (4th Tammuz—19th June, 1286) . The emperor did not intend to punish the runaway rabbi, but to keep him safe and prevent him from emigrating. He was afraid that, by the departure of the Jews en masse, the imperial income obtained from these serfs of the chamber ("servi cameræ") would suffer heavy loss. Meïr's imprisonment was, therefore, not a severe one. He was permitted to receive visits, to instruct his pupils, and to perform all the functions of a rabbi, but he was not permitted to leave the place. ”

“ RASHBAM (1085–1174) , Jewish scholar, so called from the initials of his full name, Rabbi Samuel ben Meir, was a leading member of the French school of Biblical exegesis. He was a grandson of Rashi (q.v.) , but differed in his method of interpretation. He wrote commentaries on the Pentateuch and some other parts of the Scriptures. Rashbam adopts a natural (as distinct from a homiletical and traditional) method; thus (in agreement with the modern school) Rashbam (on Gen. i. 5) maintained that the day began at dawn and not from the previous sunset (as later Jewish custom assumed) . ”

“ That to-morrow after sunset, a great and terrible curse will be pronounced against the audacious and disobedient Meir Ezofowich, son of Benjamin, through the mouth of Rabbi Isaak, son of Baruch, for the hearing of which all the Israelites of Szybow and the environs will be summoned by the messenger; and Meir Ezofowich will be thrust out and ignominiously expelled from the bosom of Israel. All of you who remain faithful unto the Lord and the covenant live in peace and happiness with all your brethren in Israel. ”

“ The order of Meïr of Vienna, that every rabbi should be ordained, that he should earn the title (Morenu) , and that, without such preparation, he should be precluded from dealing with matrimonial matters, marriages and divorces, was dictated by the exigencies of the times, not the presumptuousness of its author. The insignificance of even the most respected of the German rabbis of this period is apparent from the fact that not one of them has left any important Talmudical work; that, on the contrary, they all pursued a course productive of mental stagnation. ”

“ If it be people's doing, other people will come in time to set it right. My business is to look after my family and their well-being. I am not a judge or a Rabbi either; therefore I keep quiet, try to please God and the people, and be in nobody's way. These re my principles, and I wish they were yours also Meir. ”

“ Meyer, a Jew of Breslau, charged with host desecration, 4, 261. Meyer, Edward, opponent of the Jews, 5, 602. Meyer, Peter, pastor in Frankfort, permits Pfefferkorn to preach, 4, 449. Meyerbeer, father of, 5, 563. composes songs for the Leipsic Reform service, 5, 573. Meyuchas, Mordecai Joseph, rabbi of Jerusalem, encourages opposition to Napoleon, 5, 459. Mezuzzoth, the use of, prohibited under Hadrian, 2, 424. Miasa. See Meïr. Micah (I) , prophet. See Michaiah. Micah (II) , prophet, prophecies of, 1, 261–2. encourages the people of Judah under Hezekiah, 1, 273. ”

“ Meir's disciples, who had watched their master's conduct, ventured to expostulate with him on thus permitting a woman to offer him such an indignity, observing that this was the way to make the people despise the law and its professors. "My children," said their pious instructor, "think ye that your master ought to be more punctilious about his honor than his Creator? Even He, the Adorable, blessed be He, permitted His holy name to be obliterated, [11] in order to promote peace between man and wife, and shall I consider anything as an indignity that can effect so desirable an object? ”

“ His wife, Beruriah, is often cited in the Talmud as an exemplar of generosity and faith. She was a daughter of the martyr Hananiah ben Teradion. On one occasion Meïr, who had been frequently troubled by his ungodly neighbours, uttered a prayer for their extinction. “Nay,” said Beruriah, “it is written (Ps. civ. 35) let sins be blotted out, not sinners”; whereupon Meïr prayed for the evildoers' conversion. But she is best known for her conduct at the sudden death of her two sons. It was the Sabbath, and Meïr returned home towards sunset. ”

“ Rabba and R. Joseph both sat in the presence of R. Shesheth, when he finished his lecture, and R. Shesheth concluded by saying, that Rabh decided the above Halakha in accordance with the opinion of R. Meir. Rabba shook his head. Said R. Joseph: Is it possible, that two such great men (as R. Shesheth and Rabba) should be mistaken? If Rabh's dictum were according to R. Meir, why was it necessary to state, that the outer court was occupied by an Israelite? (R. Meir holds, that even one Gentile and one Israelite are sufficient to make it unlawful to carry in one court.) ”

“ It is the writing of a true Israelite who tells of the glory of his people."
They listened in silence, and Meir went on:
"Woe to the people who have no fatherland! The soul of the people clings to the soil as a child clings to its mother's breast which gives it nourishment, health, and relief from sickness. The Lord ordained it thus; but the people acted against His will and tore your soul, O Israel, from the soil to which it was attached. As an outcast you went and knocked for charity at the very doors of those that had despoiled you ”

“ The dark eyes of Lija—she who had first betrayed her cousin's secret—shone with tears. Only Saul's son-in-law, blue-eyed Ber, looked at the accused boy with sad sympathy, and several young men, Meir's playmates, gazed into his face with curiosity and friendly uneasiness.
Meir answered in a trembling voice:
"In our holy books, Reb Moshe, neither in the Torah nor in the Mishma is there any mention of Sefirots and En-Sof. But there it is stated plainly that Jehovah, although he has commanded us to keep the Sabbath, permitted twenty people to violate the Sabbath in order to save one man." ”

“ When Euonymus mourned for438 the death of his parents, Meïr visited him in order to condole with him, for he held that a heathen who occupied himself with the Torah was as worthy as a high priest of Judaism, for it says in Holy Writ, "These laws man shall observe in order to live," by which Meïr explained that Jews were not exclusively appointed to enjoy eternal happiness. ”