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The Wisdom of Israel by Edwin Collins [1910] Contents Start Reading Page I

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Bethany Beightol
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« Reply #15 on: November 22, 2012, 06:44:06 pm »

p. 28
BETTER FEED THE POOR THAN ENTERTAIN THE ANGELS.

He who does an act of kindness to those who really need it, will have a greater reward than that of Abraham, who showed hospitality to angels. Abraham stood under a tree and waited on the three strangers while they ate and drank. And what reward had his descendants? The manna came down to them, and the springs of water rose up for them; quails came around them for their food, and the cloud of the Divine Glory stood to watch over them. But Abraham's guests were angels, who needed nothing: how much greater, then, will be the reward of those whose kindness is done to the poor, who need all things?

Barmidbar R., Chap. XXXIV.

"Remember," says Rabbi Abin, "when a poor man stands at your door, The Holy One stands at his right hand."

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« Reply #16 on: November 22, 2012, 06:44:19 pm »

THE SAND, AND THE FURNACE THAT PURIFIES.

Israel has been compared to the sand of the seashore. What meaneth this?

Men take of the sand and cast it into a fiery furnace and it comes out clear and bright, and they make glass vessels of it through which the light shines. So Israel is cast into the fiery furnace of persecution, and not only are they

p. 29

saved to come out alive (Dan. iii.), but they are purified and they are knit closer together, and help mankind to see the light of heaven.
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« Reply #17 on: November 22, 2012, 06:44:37 pm »

THE STARS ARE NOT ENVIOUS!

The righteous are compared to the stars. For, as the stars (each one of which could burn up this whole world) shine in glory, and never clash together, and are never jealous of one another, but all go on in their appointed courses, dispensing light, so the righteous are at peace with each other, and are glad when others shine. Therefore we pray for Israel that they may all be righteous, and then, "as the Lord maketh peace in heaven," so there will be peace among us.

Barmidbar R., Chap. II.
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« Reply #18 on: November 22, 2012, 06:44:59 pm »

THE KING TALKS WITH ALL HIS SERVANTS, SMALL AND GREAT.

It is not to Israel alone that God has spoken and revealed His will; nor even only to recognised prophets, whether in Israel or among the nations. But to all who have His work to do He speaks, much or little, clearly or in parables and visions, according to their needs and according to their fitness to hear and understand.

When a king enters a province, to whom does he first speak? Surely to the Governor of the province, who has all the responsibility for the

p. 30

feeding and health of the inhabitants. In like manner God spoke to Moses, who had all the trouble and responsibility of Israel on his shoulders.

But Scripture tells of God speaking to Adam and to Noah; to the common earth man and to him who was the type of the whole human race. * This is like unto a king who speaks to his own husbandmen, his gardeners, and the keeper of his cattle. For God gave to Adam the task of keeping and tilling the Garden of Eden, and Noah he commanded to take care of the cattle, and preserve them alive at the time of the deluge.

In like manner, there is no man who has not some work to do in the world, the garden of God, or that has not some living creatures under his care.

It is no disgrace to the king to talk with the man who keeps his garden and cultivates it, nor with his herdsmen; and the King of Kings will not leave any of His creatures without guidance.

Rabbi Chamma bar Chanina, and Rabbi Issachar of Chapur Mandai, say, that the difference between the prophets of Israel and the prophets of the other peoples of all the earth, is that the prophets of Israel had a fuller revelation. But the rewards and punishments of obedience or heedlessness were only in proportion to the fulness of the revelation given to each. Even the children of Israel were not held guilty under the law

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after the revelation at Sinai, until it had been taught, and explained, and repeated to them from the Tabernacle.

This may be likened to a king who issues edicts. The people in his realm are not punished for transgressing the new laws until time has been allowed for their promulgation.

Comp. Vayikra Rabbah, Chap. I.; Bereshith R., LII.; and Nasso.

Footnotes

30:* There are, in Hebrew, several words for "man." Adam, from the same root as adamah, the red earth, the ground, is used for all mankind in general (Latin, homo), and also as opposed to eesh, the higher type of man; while geber, from a root suggesting strength, is nearly an equivalent for the Latin vir.
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« Reply #19 on: November 22, 2012, 06:45:19 pm »

THE PAVILION OF THE KING'S DAUGHTER.

Why did God command the building of the Tabernacle, and sanction the building of the Temple? Surely He requires no dwelling-place. "Behold the Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain Him." "Do not I fill Heaven and Earth?" It must be for the honour of His people that He appointed the place of meeting.

Rabbi Azariah said, in the name of Rabbi Judah the son of Simon, "This may be likened to a king of flesh and blood, who had an only daughter, whom he loved very dearly! When she was a little girl he always talked with her in public. If he saw her in the court, he spoke with her, and even rebuked her before his courtiers. When she grew up, to a marriageable age, the king said, It is no longer for the honour of my daughter that, whenever my daughter wishes to speak with me, I should talk with her in public. Let a pavilion be built for her, so that whenever I wish to speak to my daughter I may do so from inside of the

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pavilion." So when Israel was in Egypt, the nation was yet young: "When Israel was a child I loved him; from Egypt did I call My son" (Hosea xi. 1), and at Sinai (Deut. v. 4), "Face to face the Lord spake with you." But from the time when they accepted the Torah, with the words: "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do, and we will hear," they were a fully-developed nation. Then He said, "It is not seemly for My children that I should speak to them and correct them in public; or, when I have hard words to say to them, that all the world should hear; but let them build for Me a tabernacle, and when I have to speak to them I will speak from the Tabernacle."

Barmidbar R., Chap. XII.
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« Reply #20 on: November 22, 2012, 06:45:38 pm »

THE GREEDY PRINCE: THE VINE IS NOT WATERED WITH WINE.

God needs no sacrifice, but the sacrificial worship had, for one of its objects, the weaning of Israel from idolatry and from temptation to the cruelty to animals practised by idolaters in sacrificing to devils and the supposed powers of evil. Rabbi Phineas said, in the name of Rabbi Levi:

"This may be likened to a king's son, who was greedy and who used to eat at the tables of all kinds of people, and learned their ways, and used to eat unclean food. Then the king said, He shall always eat at my table, and there he shall remain."

Thus, because the children of Israel were

p. 33

yearning after the idolatry they had seen in Egypt, and "sacrificing unto devils," they were commanded to bring sacrifices to the God of life, and to Him alone; to kill only in a merciful manner, and not to shed the blood of animals at all without the solemnity of an offering.

But the heathen thought their gods required food, whereas even mortal man, when in close intercourse with God, requires neither eating nor drinking; for Moses was forty days in the mount without food. How much less can the Holy One of Israel be in need of the flesh of sacrifices! The idea is ridiculed in the Psalms. Rabbi Chiya bar Abba says: "Even the lowest of God's creatures are not in need of their own produce; how much less then is the Creator in need of what He has created. Have ye ever heard it said, 'Irrigate this vine with wine, so that it may produce much wine, or this olive-tree with oil, that it may produce much oil '? These plants are in no need of their own products to nourish them; shall, then, God be in need of what He has created?"

Vayikra Rabbah, Chap. XXII., and Barmidbar Rabbah, Chap. XXI.
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« Reply #21 on: November 22, 2012, 06:45:52 pm »

THE POTTER AND HIS WARES: THE TRIALS OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

It is written (Ps. xi. 5), "The Lord trieth the righteous, but His soul hateth the wicked and the lover of violence."

Rabbi Jonathan said: "The potter does not

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try the vessels that have been made imperfectly, because he does not doubt that if he strike them even once, it will break them. But he tries the fair vessels; for however many times he may strike them, they will not be broken. So he strikes them to show the purchaser how strong and good they are." Thus, God does not try the wicked but the righteous, and their trials show their virtue to the world. In this way "the Lord tried Abraham" (Gen. xxii.).

Rabbi Jose bar Chanina said: "This is like unto the weaver of a fabric. The more he strikes at it and cuts at it, the more it is praised, and the more does it acquire a good name. When he knows the fabric is bad, he does not dare to cut at it even once, for fear of tearing it." Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, does not try the wicked, but the righteous.

Behold this may be likened to the goodman of the house who has two heifers; one healthy and strong, the other weak. On which of them will he put the yoke? Is it not upon the healthy and strong one? In like manner the Holy One, blessed be He, trieth the righteous.
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« Reply #22 on: November 22, 2012, 06:46:08 pm »

THE EDUCATION OF THE PRINCE.

A certain king had an only son. Every day and every hour he would say: "Now, my son, eat," "now, my son, drink," "now, my son, go to the house of study," "now, my son, come from the house of study." There was no moment

p. 35

when the king, in his love and anxiety for his son, had not some command, or instruction, or admonition for him. This is like the dealing of the Holy One, blessed be He, with Israel. Every day He said unto Moses: "Command the children of Israel," "say unto the children of Israel," "speak unto the children of Israel." It is the love of God for His people, and His will to make them perfect, in body as well as in character, that accounts for His loading them with incessant commandments.

Vayikra Rabbah, Chap. II.
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« Reply #23 on: November 22, 2012, 06:46:21 pm »

THE INDUCTION ROBE OF THE ELDER.

Why are so many commands given to Israel beyond the laws of right conduct that are binding on all mankind?

Rabbi Berachia says: "This may be likened to an elder (the principal of a college for the study of law and religion) who had one long robe, about which he was always telling his disciples: 'Shake this robe carefully for me, fold it carefully,' and so forth. One day his disciples asked him: 'How is it, Rabbi, that you are so particular about this one robe? You have many other robes and you never tell us to take care of them.'

"'This,' he replied, is the robe that I wore for the first time on the day when I was appointed elder. It was the first outward sign of my dignity and that my words would be hearkened to, and therefore it is dear to me.'"

p. 36

In like manner Moses said: "Oh, Sovereign of the universe, Thine are all the nations of the world, yet Thou dost not tell me to give all these laws to any one of them, but only to Israel."

He replied: "That is because they were the first nation to accept My sovereignty, when, at Mount Sinai, they exclaimed, 'All that the Lord commands we will do, and we will hearken to.'"

Vayikra Rabbah, Chap. II.
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« Reply #24 on: November 22, 2012, 06:46:36 pm »

THE KING AND THE WEARY TRAVELLERS: THE RIGHTEOUS KNOW WHAT IS IN STORE.

All the reward of the righteous is prepared for them in the world to come, but the Holy One, blessed be He, shows it to them while they are yet in this world; so that their souls are satisfied and they go to sleep in peace, and death has no terror for them.

Rabbi Eliezer says: "This may be likened to a feast that was made by a certain king. He invited wayfarers to the feast, but when they came, weary and travel-stained, he wished that they should rest before the banquet. So he showed them the good provision he had made for them, and said: 'See, this is what you will eat and drink in my palace.' Then they laid them down and slept content." In like manner the Holy One, blessed be He, shows to the righteous, while they are yet in this world, what they are destined to enjoy in the world to come, and they lie down to sleep: with peaceful souls they accept the summons to depart from this life.

p. 37

There is no material food in heaven; the angels feed on the light of the Divine Presence. (The righteous have, in this world, seen a vision of the light of God's presence.)

Bereshith Rabbah, Chap. LXII. Comp. Debareem Rabbah.

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« Reply #25 on: November 22, 2012, 06:47:00 pm »

EQUALITY OF ALL BEFORE GOD: AND THE PARABLE OF A PRINCESS ATTACKED BY ROBBERS.

And the Eternal said unto Moses, "Why dost thou cry unto me?" Here, says the Midrash, is another saying (Ps. lxv. 2), "Oh, Thou who hearest prayer, right up to * Thy very presence all flesh shall come." Rabbi Judah says in the name of Rabbi Eliezar, "If a poor man approach a human being he will not be listened to at once, but if a rich man wants to say something he is received and listened to at once." The Holy One, blessed be He, is not like this, but before Him ALL are equal; women and men, slaves and servants, poor and rich. You know that Moses, our teacher, was the greatest of all the prophets; yet the Scripture puts him and his prayers on the same level with the prayers of the poorest man. It is written (Ps. xc. 1), "Prayer of Moses the man of God," and (Ps. cii. 1), "Prayer of the poor, when his spirit is overwhelmed and he poureth out his meditation before the All Present One." In each case it is called a prayer [heard by God], to show that in prayer before the Omnipresent ALL are equal. But the

p. 38

verse from Exodus quoted shows this even more forcibly. When Israel went forth from Egypt, Pharaoh pursued them, "and Pharaoh drew near," "and they cried unto the Eternal" (Exod. xiv. 10). Moses also began to pray unto the Omnipresent, but the Holy One said unto Moses: "Why dost thou stand and pray? My children have already prayed and I have heard their prayer. . . ."

But why did the Holy One, blessed be He, lead them into the terrible position in which they were: the sea in front, the enemy behind, and the mountains and the wilderness shutting them in? The drawing near of Pharaoh made them draw near to God * in repentance and contrition—they even grieved for the death of the first born of Egypt—and this was what God willed. In love He afflicted them, and in warm desire for their prayers; to draw them near unto Himself.

"To what may this be likened?" says Rabbi Joshua ben Levi. "To a certain king who was on a journey, and he heard the cry of a princess: 'I beg thee deliver me from the hand of these robbers.' And when the king heard, he came to her rescue.

"And after many days he thought of her, and wished to marry her, and he longed for her to speak to him again. But it pleased her not to do so. What did he? He sent his servants to pretend to be robbers, † so that she might

p. 39

remember him and again cry to him for help, and that he might hear the voice that was so dear to him. And when the supposed robbers came upon her, she thought of her deliverer and began to call out for the king. Then the king said unto her, 'Thus, I was longing to hear thy voice.'"

In like manner, when Israel was in Egypt they began to cry out, and they looked to God, depending on His help. . . . And the Holy One began to bring them out of Egypt with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm. But He wished to hear their voice again and draw them near unto Himself with the same feeling of entire dependence on Him that had made them cry to Him before. So He caused Pharaoh to pursue after them and to cause them to draw nigh unto Him. Then "the children of Israel cried unto the Lord." In that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Thus I wished to hear your voice," as it is written (Song of Sol. ii.), "Oh my dove that art in the clefts of the rock . . . let me hear thy voice,"—a voice, any voice, is not written, but thy voice; just that same voice that I heard in Egypt (not the voice of a great prophet interceding for them, but the voice of the whole people crying out in entire dependence on God and perfect trust in Him), and when they prayed, the Holy One said unto Moses, "Why dost thou stand and pray; their prayer has already anticipated thy prayers."

Shemoth Rabbah, Parshah Beshalach.

Footnotes

37:* ad, the Hebrew word used in this verse of the Psalm, means "right up to," "into," and the meaning is weakened if we translate it as if it were el, "to," as in the A. V.

38:* There is in the original a clever play on the word hikrib, taken transitively and intransitively, which can hardly be reproduced in English.

38:† There are several variants of this Parable, and from one of them I take this trait. In the version from which the remainder is rendered, the king "sends robbers."
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« Reply #26 on: November 22, 2012, 06:47:20 pm »

p. 40
THE FATHER AND HIS SON: THE BATH AND THE OCEAN.

"And thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God."

Rabbi Samuel of Pargreeta says in the name of Rabbi Meir: "To what may this be likened? To the son of a king who went away from home and turned to evil ways; and the king sent a tutor to him with a message, saying, 'Return, my son.' And the son sent him back with the answer, 'How can I come back to thee, oh sire, to be put to shame before thee?' Then the king sent again to him, saying, 'Can a son be ashamed to come back to his father, and if thou dost return is it not to thine own father that thou dost return?'" In like manner, when God sent messages to Israel by the prophets, telling them to repent, and they were ashamed by reason of their sins, Jeremiah was sent to tell them, "If you return, it is to a loving father that you are returning (Jer. xxxi.), for I have been a father unto Israel."

Rabbi Channanya bar Papa asked Rabbi Samuel bar Nachman, what is the meaning of the verse (Psalm), "As for me I will offer my prayer unto Thee in an acceptable time "? He replied, "The gates of prayer are sometimes open and sometimes closed, but the gates of repentance are always open." It is like the difference between a gathering together of waters made by man, and the great open sea. The waters that man has drawn together reflect the face of heaven

p. 41

when they are not dried up, and the man-made Mikveh * will cleanse one from impurity, but it is sometimes closed: the vast ocean is always open. It always reflects the light of heaven, and all may bathe therein at any time.

So the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, is at all times stretched out to receive the repentant (those that return). Rabbi Onon says, "Also the gates of prayer are always open."

Debarrim Rabbah, Chap. II.

Footnotes

41:* Mikveh is a bath in which living water flows. Such baths are made for every Jewish congregation, and used on all occasions when the ceremonial or hygienic law requires the taking of a bath.
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« Reply #27 on: November 22, 2012, 06:47:38 pm »

THE TUTOR WHO CORRUPTED THE KING'S SON.

The people who perished at the time of the flood, says Rabbi Yochananan, received their punishment, and have a share in the world to come. But why was the earth destroyed, and why did the animals perish? Rabbi Jodon said: "It is like a certain king who entrusted his son to a tutor, who led him forth to evil ways, to vice and crimes so vile that the king, in anger, slew his son. Then said the king: 'No one led my son into evil ways but this man. My son has perished, shall this one remain alive?'"

The world and its abundance led man to sin; the animals, even, were corrupt.

The whole human race are God's beloved children; for them all was created. The world had caused their ruin; it must perish with them.

p. 42

Or, says Rabbi Pinchas, It may be likened to a king who caused his son to marry, and prepared a splendid bridal chamber for him. But the son turned to evil ways, and the king was angered and slew him. Then he entered the bridal chamber and broke down its walls and tore the curtains and destroyed all the ornaments. The king said: "Nothing of all this was made except for my son; now he has perished, shall these things remain?"

Bereshith Rabbah, on the verse "I will destroy them with the earth" (Gen. vi. 13).
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« Reply #28 on: November 22, 2012, 06:47:58 pm »

THE AFTER-LIFE, AND THE BANQUET OF THE KING.

Rabbi Pinchas, in the name of Rabbi Reuben, uttered this Parable.

"There was a certain king who made a feast and invited to it all the wayfarers and strangers in his dominions; but he made a decree that every man should bring with him something to sit upon at the feast. Some brought with them beautiful and comfortable cushions, and some brought handsome but hard seats, and some brought sofas to recline upon, and some brought logs of wood, and some brought stones and boulders. The king provided everything for the nourishment and entertainment of all corners, and to adorn the court of the palace; but ordered that each man should sit, at the feast, on the couch or seat that he had made or brought for himself.

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"Then they who were sitting on logs, and stones, and other uncomfortable and ugly seats, grumbled at the king and said:

"'Is it to the honour of the king that we should be sitting here in such discomfort, on stones and bits of wood?'

"And when the king heard their complaints he said to them:

"'Is it not enough for you that you disgrace my palace with stones and logs, my palace that I have built and beautified at so much cost; but will you also insult me and fasten an accusation upon me? Your honour and splendour are such as you make for yourselves.'" Thus, in the world to come the wicked are adjudged to Gehinom, and they complain in loud anger against the Holy One, blessed be He, and say: "Behold we were hoping for the salvation of God, and this is what has come to us!"

And the Holy One, blessed be He, sayeth unto them: "In the world in which you were, were you not quarrelling and fighting against each other, and slandering one another, and doing all evil things; and were ye not contentious and acting with violence?" "Behold, all of you kindle a fire, and compass yourselves about with sparks." Therefore "you are only walking in the light of your own fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled" (Is. l. 11). Perhaps you will say that you have this at my hands. It is not so; but you yourselves have made all this for yourselves, therefore, "you shall lie down in sorrow" (ibid.), "it is at your own hands that you suffer all this." The condition of your souls in the life to come,

p. 44

in the banquet of eternal splendour that God has provided, will be such as you prepare for yourselves.

Midrash Koheleth.

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« Reply #29 on: November 22, 2012, 06:48:14 pm »

MANY MANSIONS IN THE LIFE TO COME.

"And a man goeth to his everlasting home" (Eccles. xii. 5).

The preacher does not say to "an everlasting home," but "his everlasting home," in order to teach that for every individual righteous man there is a special home in the world to come.

This may be likened to a king who entered a district accompanied by the governors of districts in his dominions, his counsellors, many high officers of state, and a numerous retinue. They all entered by one gate, but as soon as they were in the chief city, they were all led to different quarters. Some were lodged in palaces and some in mansions, and some in more humble quarters—each according to his rank and the honour due to him. So it is with the righteous that enter the kingdom of Heaven. All must enter through the one gate of death; but the lot of each one is according to his merit. The degree of the repentant sinner is higher than that of the righteous, for they have tasted the sweets of sin, and virtue has been attained with greater sacrifice and effort.

Vayikra Rabbah, Chap. XVIII. Comp. Midrash Koheleth and Babylonian Talmud.
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