Abraham was as tall as seventy-four people; what he ate and drank was
enough to satisfy seventy-four ordinary men, and his strength was
proportionate.
_Sophrim_, chap. 21, 9.
The venerable Hillel had eighty disciples, thirty of whom were worthy
that the Shechinah should rest upon them, as it rested upon Moses our
Rabbi; and thirty of them were worthy that the sun should stand still
(for them), as it did for Joshua the son of Nun; and twenty of them
stood midway in worth. The greatest of all of them was Jonathan ben
Uzziel, and the least of all was Rabbi Yochanan ben Zacchai. It is said
of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zacchai that he did not leave unstudied the Bible,
the Mishna, the Gemara, the constitutions, the legends, the minutiae of
the law, the niceties of the scribes, the arguments _a fortiori_ and
from similar premises, the theory of the change of the moon, the
Gematria, the parable of the unripe grapes and the foxes, the language
of demons, of palm-trees, and of ministering angels.
_Bava Bathra_, fol. 134, col. 1.
A male criminal is to be hanged with his face toward the people, but a
female with her face toward the gibbet. So says Rabbi Eliezer; but the
sages say the man only is hanged, not the woman. Rabbi Eliezer retorted,
"Did not Simeon the son of Shetach hang women in Askelon?" To this they
replied, "He indeed caused eighty women to be hanged, though two
criminals are not to be condemned in one day.
Pages:
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314