Berakhot

.R. Giddal said in the name of Rab: Over jasmine  the blessing is 'who createst fragrant woods'. R. Hananel said in the name of Rab: Over sea-rush  the blessing is 'who createst fragrant woods'. Said Mar Zutra: What Scriptural verse confirms this? She had brought them up to the roof and hid then, with the stalks of fax.  R. Mesharsheya said: Over garden narcissus the blessing is 'who createst fragrant woods'; over wild narcissus, 'who createst fragrant herbs'. R. Shesheth said: Over violets the blessing is, 'who createst fragrant herbs'. Mar Zutra said: He who smells a citron or a quince should say. 'Blessed be He who has given a sweet odour to fruits'. Rab Judah says: If one goes abroad in the days of Nisan [spring time] and sees the trees sprouting, he should say, 'Blessed be He who hath not left His world lacking in anything and has created in it goodly creatures and goodly trees for the enjoyment of mankind'. R. Zutra b. Tobiah said in the name of Rab: Whence do we learn that a blessing should be said over sweet odours? Because it says, Let every soul  praise the Lord.  What is that which gives enjoyment to the soul and not to the body? — You must say that this is fragrant smell. Mar Zutra b. Tobiah further said in the name of Rab: The young men of Israel  are destined to emit a sweet fragrance like Lebanon,  as it says His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his fragrance as Lebanon. R. Zutra b. Tobiah further said in the name of Rab: What is the meaning of the verse. He hath made everything beautiful in its time?  It teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, made every man's trade seem fine in his own eyes. R. Papa said: This agrees with the popular saying:  Hang the heart of a palm tree on a pig, and it will do the usual thing with it. R. Zutra b. Tobiah further said in the name of Rab: A torch is as good as two [persons]  and moonlight as good as three. The question was asked: Is the torch as good as two counting the carrier, or as good as two besides the carrier? — Come and hear: 'Moonlight is as good as three'. If now you say, 'including the carrier there is no difficulty. But if you say, 'besides the carrier', why do I want four, seeing that a Master has said: To one [person] an evil spirit may show itself and harm him; to two it may show itself, but without harming them; to three it will not even show itself? We must therefore say that a torch is equivalent to two including the carrier; and this may be taken as proved. R. Zutra b. Tobiah further said in the name of Rab — according to others. R. Hanah b. Bizna said it in the name of R. Simeon the Pious, and according to others again. R. Johanan said it in the name of R. Simeon b Yohai: It is better for a man that he should cast himself into a fiery furnace rather than that he should put his fellow to shame in public.  Whence do we know this? From Tamar, of whom it says, When she was brought forth etc. Our Rabbis taught: If oil and myrtle are brought before one,  Beth Shammai say that he first says a benediction over the oil and then over the myrtle, while Beth Hillel say that he first says a benediction over the myrtle and then over the oil. Said Rabban Gamaliel: I will turn the scale.  Of oil we have the benefit both for smelling and for anointing; of myrtle we have the benefit for smelling but not for anointing. R. Johanan said: The halachah follows the one who turned the scale. R. Papa was once visiting R. Huna the son of R. Ika. Oil and myrtle were brought before him and he took up the myrtle and said the blessing over it first, and then he said the blessing over the oil. Said the other to him: Does not your honour hold that the halachah follows the one who turned the scale? He replied: Thus said Raba: The halachah follows Beth Hillel. This was not correct,  however; he said so only to excuse himself. Our Rabbis taught: If oil and wine are brought before one,  Beth Shammai say that he first takes the oil in his right hand and the wine in his left hand and says a blessing over the oil  and then a blessing over the wine. Beth Hillel, however, say that he takes the wine in his right hand and the oil in his left, and says the blessing over the wine and then over the oil. [Before going out] he smears it on the head of the attendant; and if the attendant is a man of learning, he smears it on the wall, since it is unbecoming for a scholar to go abroad scented. Our Rabbis taught: Six things are unbecoming for a scholar. He should not go abroad scented; he should not go out by night alone; he should not go abroad in patched sandals; he should not converse with a woman in the street; he should not take a set meal  in the company of ignorant persons; and he should not be the last to enter the Beth ha-Midrash. Some add that he should not take long strides nor carry himself stiffly. 'He should not go abroad scented'. R. Abba the son of R. Hiyya b. Abba said in the name of R. Johanan: This applies only to a place where people are suspected of pederasty. R. Shesheth said: This applies only to [the scenting of] one's clothes; but [perfuming] the body removes the perspiration. R. Papa said: The hair is on the same footing as clothes; others, however, say: as the body. 'He should not go out at night alone', so as not to arouse suspicion.  This is the case only if he has no appointment [with his teacher]; but if he has an appointment, people know that he is going to his appointment. 'He should not go abroad in patched sandals'. This supports R. Hiyya b. Abba; for R. Hiyya b. Abba said: It is unseemly for a scholar to go abroad in patched sandals. Is that so? Did not R. Hiyya b. Abba go out in such? — Mar Zutra the son of R. Nahman said: He was speaking of one patch on top of another. And this applies only to the upper, but if it is on the sole, there is no objection. On the upper too this applies only to the public way; but in the house there is no objection. Further, this is the case only in summer; but in the rainy season there is no objection. 'He should not converse with a woman in the street'. R. Hisda said: Even with his wife. It has been taught similarly: Even with his wife, even with his daughter, even with his sister, because not everyone knows who are his female relatives. 'He should not take a set meal with ignorant persons'. What is the reason? — Perhaps he will be drawn into their ways. 'He should not be last to enter the Beth ha-Midrash', because he will be called a transgressor. 'Some add that he should not take long strides'; because a Master has said: Long strides diminish a man's eyesight by a five-hundredth part. What is the remedy? He can restore it with [drinking] the sanctification wine of Sabbath eve. 'Nor should he carry himself stiffly'; since a Master has said: If one walks with a stiff bearing even for four cubits, it is as if he pushed against the heels of the Divine Presence,  since it is written, The whole earth is full of His glory.