Talmud. Various Authors

meal. The dishes used in the morning may be cleansed for the mid-day meal, and those of the mid-day meal for the afternoon; but those of the afternoon must not be cleansed until the Sabbath is over. All this is said concerning dishes; but glasses, cups, and all drinking utensils may be cleansed at any time, because there are no fixed times for drinking.

      R. Simeon ben Pazi in the name of R. Jehoshua ben Levi, quoting Bar Qapara, said: One who keeps the commandment to eat three times on the Sabbath will be rid of three punishments, viz.: "The tribulations (at the time) of Messiah; the punishment of Gehenna, and the war of Gog and Magog." From the tribulations of Messiah, because the Sabbath is always mentioned as the day, and it is written [Malachi iii. 23]: "Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the day of the Lord, the great and the dreadful." From the punishment of Gehenna, because it is written [Zephaniah i. 15]: "A day of wrath is that day," etc., meaning the Gehenna. From the war of Gog and Magog, because it is written [Ezekiel xxxviii. 18]: "On the day of Gog's coming."

      R. Johanan said in the name of R. Jose: One who makes the Sabbath pleasant will be rewarded with a boundless inheritance, as it is written [in Isaiah lviii. 14]: "Then shalt thou find delight in the Lord; and I will cause thee to tread upon the high places of the earth, and I will cause thee to enjoy the inheritance of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Not the inheritance of Abraham, concerning whom it is written [Genesis xiii. 17]: "Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it," etc., and not as in the case of Isaac, as it is written [ibid. xxvi. 4]: "And I will give unto thy seed all these countries," but as it is written of Jacob [ibid. xxviii. 14]: "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south."

      R. Na'hman bar Itz'hak said: (The man who makes the Sabbath pleasant) will also be saved the pain of exile, because it is written [Isaiah lviii. 14]: "And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth," and [Deut. xxxiii. 29]: "And thou shalt tread upon their high places." Said R. Jehudah in the name of Rabh, "He who makes the Sabbath pleasant is given everything his heart desires," because it is written [Psalms xxxvii. 4]: "And delight thyself in the Lord, and he will give thee the wishes of thy heart." What is meant by "delight"? From the passage [Isaiah lviii. 13]: "If thou call the Sabbath a delight," we can adduce that the delight means Sabbath.

      Wherewith should the Sabbath be made pleasant? Said R. Jehudah, the son of R. Samuel bar Shilath, in the name of Rabh: "With a mess of beets, large fish, and garlic-heads." But R. Hyya bar Ashi said in the name of Rabh: "Even with any dish whatever prepared especially for the Sabbath." What does "any dish whatever" mean? Said R. Papa: "Even small fish fried in oil."

      R. Jehudah said in the name of Rabh: "If the Israelites had kept the first Sabbath (after the commandments were given) properly, no nation or race on earth could have harmed them. For it is written [Exodus xvi. 27]: 'And it came to pass on the seventh day that there went out some of the people to gather; but they found nothing.' And not long afterwards Amalek attacked the Israelites."

      R. Johanan said in the name of R. Simeon ben Jochai: "If the Israelites were to keep two Sabbaths in succession as they should, they would immediately be released from exile, for it is written [Isaiah lvi. 6]: 'Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves unto the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be unto him as servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath by not violating it, and those who take hold of my covenant,' and immediately afterwards it is written [ibid. ibid. 7]: 'Even these will I bring to my holy mountain.'

R. Jose said: "May my share in the world to come be with those who eat three meals on the Sabbath." Again he said: "May my share in the world to come be with those who recite Hallel 1 every day." This is not so. The Master says, that he who recites Hallel every day is a blasphemer. Nay; R. Jose does not mean Hallel, but Hallelujah.

      R. Jose said again: "May my share in the world to come be with those who perform their morning devotion as soon as the sun begins to rise." Again said he: "May my share be with those who die of abdominal disease, for the Master said, that most of the righteous die of bowel troubles." He also said: [paragraph continues] "May my share be with those who die when about to fulfil a commandment; also with those who receive the Sabbath in Tiberias and see it out in Zipporias (Tiberias was in a valley and Zipporias on a hill); also with those who remain in the houses of learning, and not with those who attempt to draw scholars away from their studies; also with those who solicit alms but not with those who dispense alms; also with those who are suspected but are not guilty." Said R. Papa: "I have been suspected but was not guilty." Said R. Jose: "I have gone in unto my wife five times and have planted five cedars in Israel." Who are they? R. Ishmael, R. Eliezer, R. 'Halafta, R. Aftiles, and R. Mena'hem, all sons of R. Jose. But he also had a son called Vradimos? Nay; Vradimos is the same as R. Mena'hem, and the reason he was called Vradimos was because his face was as beautiful as a rose (Vrad is Aramaic for rose).

      Said R. Jose again: "In all my days the ceiling of my house never saw the seam of my undershirt." Again said be: "I never acted contrary to the advice of my colleagues. I know well that I am not a descendant of priests, but when my colleagues asked me to pronounce a benediction usually said by priests, I did so." Again he said: "I never said a thing that I afterwards repented having said."

R. Na'hman said: "May it be accounted to me (for my reward), that I have observed the three meals (in honor of the) Sabbath." R. Jehudah said: "May it be accounted to me, that I have given my prayers preliminary consideration." 1 R. Huna, the son of R. Jehoshua, said: "May it be accounted to me, that I have never walked four ells with uncovered head." R. Shesheth said: "May it be accounted to me, that I have observed the commandment of Tephillin," and R. Na'hman said again: "May it be accounted to me, that I have observed the commandment of Tzitzith (showthreads)."

      Said R. Joseph to R. Joseph the son of Rabha: "Canst thou tell me which commandment thy father observed most punctually?" The answer was: "The commandment of Tzitzith. For it happened one day that my father was ascending the stairway, and a thread of his Tzitzith becoming torn off, he would not leave his place until a new thread had been brought to him and the Tzitzith were mended."

      Said Abayi: "May it be accounted to me, that whenever I noticed a young scholar (of my college) had finished a Tract of the Talmud, I gave a feast to all the sages of the day." Said Rabha: "May it be accounted to me, that whenever a young scholar and another man came before me for judgment, I did not put my head on the pillow (rest) until I exhausted every to find the scholar's words prove the justice of his claim." Said Mar, the son of R. Ashi: "I am unfit to judge a young scholar because I love him as well as I do myself, and no man call see himself unjust."

      R. Hanina used to wrap himself in a cloak on the eve of Sabbath and say: "Come with me, and let us go toward Sabbath the queen." R. Yanai used to clothe himself in his holiday clothes on the eve of Sabbath and say: "Come, bride; come, bride."

      Rabba, the son of R. Huna, came as a guest to the house of Rabba the son of R. Na'hman. At the table three cakes steeped in the fat of the ram (which were only served on special occasions) were placed before him. Said he to his host: "Didst thou know that I would come to visit thee?" Answered the host: "Art thou then better than the Sabbath? (We prepare it usually for every Sabbath, as it is written: 'And thou shalt call the Sabbath a pleasure.')"

R. Aba used to buy on the eve of every Sabbath thirteen Isteris' (six and a half Dinars) worth of meat from thirteen different butchers, and would hand them the money immediately upon their entering his door 1 and delivering the meat, saying to them: "Make haste, make haste and deliver your orders to others." R. Abuha used to sit on an ivory stool and make fire in honor of the Sabbath. R. Anan used to don a black apron in order to show that this day (the eve of the Sabbath) was a day of preparation, and that work had to be performed for the Sabbath. R. Safra used to singe a cow's head himself for the Sabbath, and Rabha would salt fish himself. R. Huna would light candles himself. R. Papa would prepare the wicks for the lamps. R. Hisda would cut herbs himself. Rabba and R. Joseph would chop wood for Sabbath. R. Zera would light the kindling