But sit a third, stand a
third, and walk a third.
Ibid., fol. 111, col. 1.
He who holds his household in terror tempts to the commission of three
sins:--Fornication, murder, and Sabbath breaking.
_Gittin_, fol. 6, col. 2.
Three things weaken the strength of man:--Fear, travel, and sin. Fear,
as it is written (Ps. xxxviii. 10), "My heart palpitates, my strength
faileth me." Travel, as it is written (Ps. cii. 23), "He hath weakened
my strength in the way." ... Sin, as it is written (Ps. xxxi. 10), "My
strength faileth me, because of my iniquity."
Ibid., fol. 70, col 2.
Abraham was three years old when he first learned to know his Creator;
as it is said (Gen. xxvi. 5), "Because Abraham obeyed my voice."
_Nedarim_, fol. 32, col. 1.
The conclusion arrived at here is founded on interpreting the
Hebrew letters of the word rendered "because" numerically, in
which the value of the letters gives a total of one hundred and
seventy-two; so that the sense of the text is, "Abraham obeyed
my voice" one hundred and seventy-two years. Now Abraham died
when he was a hundred and seventy-five, therefore he must have
been only three when he began to serve the Lord.
As Abraham plays so important a part both in the history and the
imagination of the Jewish race, we may quote here a score or so
of the Talmudic traditions regarding him.
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