Makkot

six hundred and eleven,1 ‘I am’ and ‘Thou shalt have no [other Gods]’ [not being reckoned, because] we heard from the mouth of the Might [Divine].2 David came and reduced them to eleven [principles],3 as it is written, A Psalm of David.4 Lord, who shall sojourn in Thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy holy mountain? — [i] He that walketh uprightly, and [ii] worketh righteousness, and [iii] speaketh truth in his heart; that [iv] hath no slander upon his tongue, [v] nor doeth evil to his fellow, [vi] nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour, [vii] in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but [viii] he honoureth them that fear the Lord, [ix] He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not, [x] He putteth not out his money on interest, [xi] nor taketh a bribe against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. ‘He that walketh uprightly’: that was Abraham, as it is written, Walk before Me and be thou whole-hearted.5 ‘And worketh righteousness,’ such as Abba Hilkiahu.6 ‘Speaketh truth in his heart,’ such as R. Safra.7 ‘Hath no slander upon his tongue,’ that was our Father Jacob, as it is written, My father peradventure will feel me and I shall seem to him as a deceiver.8 ‘Nor doeth evil to his fellow,’ that is he who does not set up in opposition to his fellow craftsman.9 ‘Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour;’ that is he who befriends his near ones [relatives].10 ‘In whose eyes a vile person is despised;’ that was Hezekiah the king [of Judah] who dragged his father's bones on a rope truckle-bed.11 ‘He honoureth them that fear the Lord;’ that was Jehoshaphat12 king of Judah, who every time he beheld a scholar-disciple rose from his throne, and embraced and kissed him, calling him Father, Father;13 Rabbi, Rabbi; Mari, Mari! ‘He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not,’ like R. Johanan; for R. Johanan [once] said:14 I shall remain fasting until I reach home. ‘He putteth not out money on interest,’ not even interest from a heathen.15 ‘Nor taketh a bribe against the innocent,’ such as R. Ishmael son of R. Jose.16 It is written [in conclusion], He that doeth these things shall never be moved. Whenever R. Gamaliel came to this passage he used to weep, saying: [Only] one who practised all these shall not be moved; but anyone falling short in any of these [virtues] would be moved! Said his colleagues to him: Is it written, ‘He that doeth all these things [shall not fall]’? It reads, ‘He that doeth these things’, meaning even if only he practises one of these things [he shall not be moved]. For if you say otherwise,17 what of that other [similar] passage, Defile not ye yourselves in all these things?18 Are we to say that one who seeks contact with all these vices, he is become contaminated; but if only with one of those vices, he is not contaminated? [Surely,] it can only mean there, that if he seeks contact with any one of these vices he is become contaminated, and likewise here, if he practises even one of these virtues [he will not be moved]. Isaiah came and reduced them to six [principles],19 as it is written, [i] He that walketh righteously, and [ii] speaketh uprightly, [iii] He that despiseth the gain of oppressions, [iv] that shaketh his hand from holding of bribes, [v] that stoppeth his ear from hearing of blood, [vi] and shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil; he shall dwell on high. ‘He that walketh righteously,’ that was our Father Abraham, as it is written, For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, etc.;20 ‘and speaketh uprightly,’ that is one who does not put an affront on his fellow in public. ‘He that despiseth the gain of oppressions,’ as, for instance, R. Ishmael b. Elisha;21 ‘that shaketh his hand from holding of bribes,’ as, for instance, R. Ishmael son of Jose;22 ‘that stoppeth his ear from hearing of blood’, one who hears not aspersions made against a rabbinic student23 and remains silent,24 as once did R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon;25 ‘and shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil,’ as R. Hiyya b. Abba [taught]; for R. Hiyya b. Abba said: This refers to one who does not peer at women as they stand washing clothes [in the court-yard]26 and [concerning such a man] it is written, He shall dwell on high.27 Micah came and reduced them to three [principles], as it is written, It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord doth require of thee: [i] only to do justly, and [ii] to love mercy and [iii] to walk humbly before thy God.28 ‘To do justly,’ that is, maintaining justice; and to love mercy,’ that is, rendering every kind office; ‘and walking humbly before thy God,’ that is, walking in funeral and bridal processions.29 And do not these facts warrant an a fortiori conclusion that if in matters that are not generally performed in private the Torah enjoins ‘walking humbly,’ is it not ever so much more requisite in matters that usually call for modesty? Again came Isaiah and reduced them to two [principles], as it is said, Thus saith the Lord, [i] Keep ye justice and [ii] do righteousness [etc.].30 Amos came and reduced them to one [principle], as it is said, For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye Me and live.31 To this R. Nahman b. Isaac demurred, saying: [Might it not be taken as,] Seek Me by observing the whole Torah and live? — But it is Habakuk who came and based them all on one [principle], as it is said, But the righteous shall live by his faith.32 Said R. Jose b. Hanina: Our Master Moses pronounced four [adverse] sentences on Israel, but four prophets came and revoked them. Moses said, And Israel dwelleth in safety, alone,33 at the fountain of Jacob;34 Amos came and revoked that, as it is said, Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech Thee; how shall Jacob stand [alone]? for he is small, and it goes on saying, The Lord repented concerning this; ‘This also shall not be,’ saith the Lord God.35 Moses had said, And among those nations thou shalt have no repose;36 Jeremiah came and said, Thus saith the Lord, The people that were left of the sword have found grace in the wilderness, even Israel, when I go to afford him rest.37 Moses had said, The Lord is . . . visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation;38 Ezekiel came and declared, the soul that sinneth, it shall die.39 Moses had said, And ye shall perish among the nations;40 Isaiah came and said, And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great horn shall be blown; [and they shall come that were lost in the land of Assyria, etc.]41 Rab observed: I have misgivings about that verse, And ye shall perish among the nations.40 R. Papa demurred at this [apprehension of Rab] saying: Could it not perhaps rather be taken in the sense of something lost and searched for, as it is written, I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant, etc.!42 — But it was the latter part of that verse [that perturbed Rab]: And the land of your enemies shall eat you up.43 Mar Zutra then demurred, saying: Might it not be [understood] in the way that cucumbers and pumpkins are eaten? 44 Long ago, as Rabban Gamaliel, R. Eleazar b. ‘Azariah, R. Joshua and R. Akiba were walking on the road, they heard the noise of the crowds at Rome [on travelling] from Puteoli,45 a hundred and twenty miles away. They all fell a-weeping, but R. Akiba seemed merry. Said they to him: Wherefore are you merry? Said he to them: Wherefore are you weeping? Said they: These heathens who bow down to images and burn incense to idols live in safety and ease, whereas our Temple, the ‘Footstool’ of our God46 paternal grandfather, ‘Onias that drew a circle’ around him, in which he prayed). He was most scrupulous in his ‘work’, bearing and words, and would not take the least credit to himself or allow any false impression. All these are illustrated in Ta'an. 23a-b. communication between the two countries. An offer was made once to him by a buyer for an article whilst he was reciting the Shema’ when he could not indicate his acceptance and the anxious purchaser increased his offer; but R. Safra refused to receive an increased offer which had been made under misapprehension, he being satisfied with the first offer. V. Rashb. B.B. 88a. On another occasion he and Raba were walking on the road when they met Mar Zutra son of R. Nahman who expressed his appreciation on meeting these two great men, saying that it was more than he could have expected of them, to come and meet him, whereupon R. Safra felt in duty bound to explain that they had only met him casually, but added that he would have come even a longer distance to show Mar Zutra respect. V. Hul. 94b. to the table of the Nasi (R. Judah II). J. Ned. VIII, 1, however, is a more appropriate illustration, where R. Johanan said: I shall remain fasting until I have finished my (allotted) study of Mishnah or Scripture. 70b-71a, and Tosef. Ibid. end of Chapter V). of (as usual) on Friday, because, said the gardener, he had cited someone to appear with him before R. Ishmael. He refused the fruit and appointed two other scholars to hear the case. While listening to the proceedings he found himself unconsciously thinking of the possible pleadings in the gardener's favour, and remarked to himself how perverting an influence bribery was. Keth. 105b. a gift of the first-fleece (Deut. XVIII, 4). In reply to a question whether there was not a priest in his own place to be the recipient, the visitor told him that he had a suit with someone. R. Ishmael thereupon refused the gift and appointed others to hear the case. He (as told above of his junior), found himself unconsciously biassed in the visitor's favour. Keth. 105b. husband appeared and told her in a dream that it was because he had once heard aspersions being made against a scholar without defending him as he should have done. apprehension was, lest the Jew should lose identity.