folk-lore, weird imaginings, quaint beliefs, superstitions and humor.
They are presented haphazard, most irrelevantly introduced in between
the complex discussions, breaking the thread that however is never lost,
but always taken up again.
From this point of view the Talmud is a great maze and apparently the
simplest roads lead off into strange, winding by-paths. It is hard to
deduce any distinct system of ethics, any consistent philosophy, any
coherent doctrine. Yet patience rewards the student here too, and from
this confused medley of material, he can build the intellectual world of
the early mediæval Jew. In the realm of doctrine we find that "original
sin," "vicarious atonement," and "everlasting punishment," are denied.
Man is made the author of his own salvation. Life beyond the grave is
still progressive; the soul is pre-existent.
A suggestion of the wit and wisdom of the Talmud may be gathered from
the following quotations:--
A single light answers as well for a hundred men as for one.
The ass complains of cold even in July.
A myrtle in the desert remains a myrtle.
Teach thy tongue to say, "I do not know."
Hospitality is an expression of Divine worship.
Thy friend has a friend, and thy friend's friend has a friend;
be discreet.
Attend no auctions if thou hast no money.
Rather flay a carcass, than be idly dependent on charity.
The place honors not the man, 'tis the man who gives honor to the place.
Drain not the waters of thy well while other people may desire them.
The rose grows among thorns.
Two pieces of coin in one bag make more noise than a hundred.
The rivalry of scholars advances science.
Truth is heavy, therefore few care to carry it.
He who is loved by man is loved by God.
Use thy noble vase to-day; to-morrow it may break.
The soldiers fight and the kings are heroes.
Commit a sin twice, it will seem a sin no longer.
The world is saved by the breath of the school children.
A miser is as wicked as an idolater.
Do not make woman weep, for God counts her tears.
The best preacher is the heart; the best teacher time;
the best book the world; the best friend God.
The philosophy in the Talmud, rather than the philosophy of it, has been
made the subject of separate treatment just as the whole of the Agada
has been drawn out of the Talmud and published as a separate work.
What is the Talmud to the Jew to-day? It is literature rather than law.
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