1 Which is further, from heaven to earth or from east to west? They replied: From east to west. The proof is that when the sun is in the east all can look at it, and when it is in the west all can look at it, but when the sun is in the middle of the sky no — one can look at it. The Sages, however, say: The distance in both cases is the same, as it says, For as the heaven is high above the earth [so great is His mercy towards them that fear Him]; as far as the east is from the west, [so far hath He removed our transgressions from us]. Now if one of these distances is greater, the text should not write both but only the one which is the greater. What then is the reason why no — one can look at the sun when it is in the middle of the sky? Because it is absolutely clear and nothing obstructs the view. He said to them: Were heavens created first or the earth? They replied: The heavens were created first, as it says. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. He said to them: Was light created first, or darkness? They replied: This question cannot be solved. Why did they not reply that darkness was created first, since it is written, Now the earth was unformed and void and darkness, and after that, And God said, Let there be light, and there was light? — They thought to themselves: perhaps he will go on to ask what is above and what is below, what is before and what is after. If that is the case, they should not have answered his question about the heaven either? — At first they thought that he just happened to ask that question, but when they saw that he pursued the same subject, they bethought themselves not to answer him lest he should go on to ask what was above and what was below what was before and what was after. He said to them: Who is called wise? They replied: Who is wise? He who discerns what is about to come to pass. He said to them: Who is called a mighty man? They replied: Who is a mighty man? He who subdues his evil passions. He said to them: Who is called a rich man? They replied: Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot. He said to them: What shall a man do to live? They replied: Let him mortify himself. What should a man do to kill himself? They replied: Let him keep himself alive. He said to them: What should a man do to make himself popular? They replied: Let him hate sovereignty and authority. He said to them: I have a better answer than yours: let him love sovereignty and authority and confer favours on mankind. He said to them: Is it better to dwell on sea or on dry land? They replied, It is better to dwell on dry land, because those who set out to sea are never free from anxiety till they reach dry land again. He said to them: Which among you is the wisest? They replied: We are all equal, because we have all concurred in the same answers to your questions. He said to them: Why do you resist me? They replied: The Satan is too powerful. He said to them: Behold I will slay you by royal decree. They replied: power is in the hands of the king, but it beseems not a king to be false. Forthwith he clothed them with garments of purple and put chains of gold on their necks. He said to them: I want to go to the country of Africa. They said to him: You cannot get there, because the Mountains of Darkness are in the Way. He said to them: That will not stop me from going. Was it for that I asked you? But tell me what I am to do. They said to him: Take Libyan asses that can travel in the dark and take coils of rope and fix them at the side [of the road] so that when you return you can guide yourself by them and reach your destination. He did so and set forth. He came to a place where there were only women. He wanted to make war with them, but they said to him, If you slay us, people will say that he killed women, and if we slay you they will call you the king who was killed by women. He said to them: Bring me bread. They brought him gold bread on a gold table.ᵃᵇᶜᵈᵉᶠᵍʰⁱʲᵏˡᵐⁿ
2 . He said to them: Do people here eat gold bread? They replied: If you wanted bread, had you no bread in your own place to eat that you should have journeyed here? When he left the place he wrote on the gate of the city: ‘I, Alexander of Macedon, was a fool until I came to the city of women in Africa and I learnt counsel from the women’. As he was journeying he sat by a well and began to eat. He had with him some salted fish, and as they were being washed they gave off a sweet odour. He said: This shows that this well comes from the Garden of Eden. Some say that he took some of the water and washed his face with it; others say that he went alongside of it until he came to the door of the Garden of Eden. He cried out, Open the door for me. They replied, This is the gate of the Lord, [the righteous shall enter into it]. He replied: I too am a king; I am also of some account, give me something. They gave him an eyeball. He went and weighed all his silver and gold against it, and it was not equal to it. He said to the Rabbis: How is this? They replied: It is the eyeball of a human being, which is never satisfied. He said to them: How can you prove that this is so? They took a little dust and covered it, and immediately it was weighed down; and so it is written, The nether world and Destruction are never satiated; [so the eyes of man are never satiated]. The Tanna de-be Eliyahu taught: Gehinnom is above the firmament; some, however, say that is behind the Mountains of Darkness. R. Hiyya taught: If one studies the Torah at night, the Divine presence faces him, as it says, Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord. R. Eliezer b. Azariah said: The disciples of the wise increase peace in the world, as it says, And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. Read not banayik, [thy children], but bonayik [thy builders]. MISHNAH. THE SUPERINTENDENT SAID TO THEM, PRONOUNCE ONE BLESSING, AND THEY DID SO: THEY THEN RECITED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, AND THE FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD SECTIONS OF THE SHEMA’, AND THEY BLESSED THE PEOPLE WITH THREE BENEDICTIONS, NAMELY, TRUE AND FIRM, AND ABODAH, AND THE PRIESTLY BENEDICTION. ON SABBATH THEY ADDED A BENEDICTION TO BE SAID BY THE WATCH WHICH WAS LEAVING. MISHNAH . HE SAID TO THEM, THOSE WHO ARE FRESH TO THE INCENSE COME AND DRAW LOTS, AND ONE OR OTHER WAS SUCCESSFUL. HE THEN SAID, NEW AND OLD, COME AND DRAW LOTS TO SEE WHO SHALL TAKE UP THE LIMBS FROM THE ASCENT TO THE ALTAR. R. ELlezer B. JACOB SAYS, THE ONE WHO LIFTS THE LIMBS ON TO THE ASCENT ALSO TAKES THEM UP TO THE ALTAR. MISHNAH . HE THEN HANDED THEM OVER TO THE ATTENDANTS, WHO STRIPPED THEM OF THEIR GARMENTS, LEAVING ON THEM ONLY THE BREECHES. THERE WERE WINDOWS THERE ON WHICH WAS INSCRIBED THE NAME OF THE GARMENT TO WHICH EACH WAS ASSIGNED. MISHNAH. THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN SELECTED TO OFFER THE INCENSE TOOK UP THE SPOON, WHICH WAS IN SHAPE LIKE A BIG TIRKAB OF GOLD. IT HELD THREE KABS, AND THE [SMALL] DISH WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF IT,ᵒᵖᵠʳˢᵗᵘᵛʷˣʸᶻᵃᵃᵃᵇᵃᶜᵃᵈᵃᵉᵃᶠᵃᵍᵃʰ