The compiler of
this Miscellany was once witness to a case which illustrates its
inconvenience: it occurred at Tiberias. A pious young Jew who
had to traverse a narrow road to pass from the lake to the town
was kept standing for a very considerable time under a broiling
sun, simply because two young women, to tease him, guarded the
entrance, and dared him to pass between them. Of course he dared
not accept the challenge, otherwise he would have incurred the
penalty of death, according to the judgment of the Talmud; for
"Whosoever transgresses any of the words of the Scribes is
guilty of death." (_Eiruvin_, fol. 21, col. 2.)
These three will inherit the world to come:--He who dwells in the land
of Israel; he who brings up his sons to the study of the law; and he who
repeats the ritual blessing over the appointed cup of wine at the close
of the Sabbath.
_P'sachim_, fol. 113, col. 1.
There are three whom the Holy One--blessed be He!--Himself proclaims
virtuous:--The unmarried man who lives in a city and does not sin; the
poor man who restores a lost thing which he has found to its owner; and
the rich man who pays the tithes of his increase unostentatiously. Rav
Saphra was a bachelor, and he dwelt in a large city.
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