Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/606

502 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9-s.vi, fortiter in re" which the Rabbis (Taanith 20) intended in their declaration that "a man should endeavour to be as pliant as a reed, yet as hard as cedar-wood." That glorious sense of inde- pendence sung by Robert Burns finds con- firmation in Pesachim 112 : " Work even on the Sabbath rather than be dependent upon your fellow-man;" This sentiment springs up again in Yebamoth 63, recalling Pope's ver- sion of Horace's famous lines, Happy the man whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound. Said the Talmudists," He is no man who can- not boast possession of a rood of land." The following dialogue, extracted from Pesachim 118, may be of interest in this connexion :— " When God told Adam that thorns and thistles were to spring up on the hedgerows and the way- aide, he shed hot scalding tears of shame. ' Master of the Universe !' cried he in his agony, ' and am I than to feod out of the same crib with my ass T The rery thought makes me shudder.' Whereupon the Almighty, taking pity upon Adam, calmed him with the assurance ' that it was not so ordained; for by the sweat of his brow he was henceforward to obtain his daily bread.'" Hundreds of these meskolim (parables) dot like stars the cerulean of the Tallinni, but there is only space for a few choice dicta re- specting the fair sex. It is said of the bachelor (Yebamoth 62) that he " lacks delight, com- fort, and good cheer," to which personally I do not subscribe in toto. Of marriage the Tahiiudists tell us in Sota 2 that " it is easier to divide the Red Sea than to join the unwilling in matrimony." They give this excellent piece of advice to young men : "When choosing a wife, look down the social scale; when selecting a friend, look upwards" (Yebamoth 63). Karl Franzos warned Europe that every country has received the Jews it politically deserves. The Talmud (Sota 2) says, " Every man gets the wife he deserves." Wherefore, "if your wife" (Baba Metsia 59)" is a little lady, it is your duty to stoop when talk- ing to her," is a counsel of perfection as self- evident as any Euclidian postulate. Nay, more: when these shrewd Rabbis remind us, ibid., that" if the barrel lack barley, strife will arise in the house," we know that they too understood the underlying causes of res angustcg domi as well as ourselves in those cases where " love flies out of the window." Most readers of 'N. & Q.' are acquainted with the beautiful story of Beruria, wife of Rabbi Myer, which Coleridge did much to popularize in his abortive journal the friend; but the following anecdote is not so hackneyed and will bear retelling here. Rabbi Joshua Ben Chananya, a very plain- looking man, was appointed instructor to the .29.1900. daughter of a Roman emperor. The young princess was sorely puzzled that so uncomely a man should be so accomplished. One day she took her courage in both hands and asked her teacher outright, " How is it, Rabbi, that you, being so ungainly in person, are nevertheless so learned'(" Upon which, with true Hibernian artifice, he parried the ques- tion by another : " In what vessels does your august parent store his wines?" "In earthen vessels, of course," she promptly retorted. "I am surprised, my lady," said he, " that your father, being so wealthy, does not use gold or silver casks for his wine." "I think so, too," she meekly responded; "I will advise him to do so at once. Straightway went she to the emperor and begged him to discard his earthenware in favour of golden vessels. The wine of course soured. Calling the Rabbi before him, he remonstrated with him for the unsound ness of his advice to the young lady. " Well, your majesty," replied the Rabbi haughtily, "I wanted to rebuke the princess in a practical manner for her rudeness to myself. She could not under- stand that an ugly man is just as likely to possess mental endowments as one physically favoured, and I believa I have demonstrated it to her entire satisfaction " (Taanith 7). I could not more fittingly terminate this paper than by citing a geui extracted from Ethics ii. 21, which, in my judgment, can hardly be paralleled in any literature, classical or modern, for exalted spirituality and for unfaltering idealism :— " It is not incumbent on any man to complete his labours ; nor is he free to evade the duty of puahiiig on their completion. The man who acquires pro- ficiency in any branch of learning will receive an exceeding great reward; for the Overseer of each man's labours may be relied upon to mete out hand- somely the price of his labour. And always remember that payment due to the righteous is reserved for adjudication in a future state," in which "the worthiest men of all races," according to the Talmud, "have a distinct and assured portion assigned to them." M. L. R. BBESLAB. Percy House, South Hackney. MUNICIPAL CHURCHES OF THE LONDON BOKOUGH COUNCILS. ALMOST the first outcome of the elections for the new London Borough Councils has been the arrangement made by the Bishop of London that the following shall be the municipal churches in the boroughs created by the London Government Act, 1899, for public services, in case the Mayor and Cor-