his will, and his nose smells occasionally what he would rather dispense with.

Italy is a fat land, i.e., a fertile country.

Dreams neither injure nor benefit: they are vain.

Matches are made in heaven.

In three different places of Holy Writ are we told that heaven appoints the wife of a man: in Gen. xxiv. 50, Judges xiv. 4, and in Prov. xix. 14.

Just as two knives are both sharpened by being rubbed one against the other, so scholars improve and increase in knowledge when in touch with one another.

The portion of the temple called the Drawing-court was so called because the people drew thence the Holy Spirit.

Rabbi Meier was asked by a skeptic how he could justify the conduct of Jacob, who, having vowed (Gen. xxviii. 22) to give to God a tithe of all he might bestow upon him, yet, out of the twelve tribes with which he was blessed, consecrated one tribe only to the service of God, which represented only the tithe of ten. The Rabbi replied: "Out of the twelve tribes there were to be deducted the first-born, who were themselves consecrated to God, and no tithe had to be given out of them."

Were it not for the patience and endurance which Rabbi Joshua manifested toward Onkeles, he would have slipped back into his former heathenism.

With the birth of a child a woman escapes blame for household accidents which would otherwise be charged to her. If anything is wasted or broken, there is no longer any inquiry as to who has done this; it is taken for granted that the child did it.

The ten tribes are on the other side of the river Sambation, and the Jews at present scattered over the earth are those of Judah and Benjamin.

The blessings that Isaac bestowed upon Jacob were indorsed from heaven (Gen. xxvii. 28, 29): "God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's

VOL. IV.-5.

sons bow down to thee." Micah (v. 6) says, "the remnant of Jacob shall be as the dew from the Lord." (Isaiah xxx. 23.) "Then shall ye sow the ground, and it shall be fat and plenteous." The same prophet (xlix. 23): "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their queens thy nursing mothers." And in Deut. xxvi. 19, " And to make thee above all nations." Frequently does David, in his prayers, use the phrase Arise, O God" (in Psalms iii., vii., ix., x., xvii.). We do not find a direct response to this prayer; but when he uses this prayer in connection with oppression of the poor, the answer he receives is," Now I will arise, saith the Lord" (Ps. xii. 5). The fact that we awake from sleep is some evidence for the resurrection.

Man in distress pledges himself to good deeds; man in prosperity forgets his good resolutions.

The righteous require no monuments; their lives and their teachings are their monuments.

We are told that Abraham took his wife Sarah, and the souls they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth into the land of Canaan. By this is meant the souls that they had brought away from idolatry and brought to the knowledge of the living God.

Man should be on his guard not to fall in love with his wife's sister.

Before the first captivity of Israel took place (the Egyptian captivity) the ancestor of their last redeemer (Perez) was already born.

Slaves do not, as a rule, bring blessings on their master's house, but Joseph's master's house was blessed because of Joseph. Slaves are not remarkable for being scrupulous, but Joseph gathered in the silver in Egypt for his king. Slaves are not distinguished for their chastity and modesty, but Joseph would not listen to a sinful suggestion.

Potiphar showed the subtlety for which the Egyptians were famous where their own interest was concerned. He boasted to his friends that as a rule a white man has a Cushite, a colored man, for his slave, whilst he, a Cushite, contrived to obtain a youth of the white race for a slave. Hence it became

a saying in Egypt, "The slaves sold (i.e., the Ishmaelites who sold Joseph); the slave bought (alluding to Potiphar, Pharaoh's servant); and the freeman has become the slave of both."

A certain matron, discussing Joseph with Rabbi José, maintained that the Biblical version of the incident with Potiphar's wife is not the correct one, but is intended to screen Joseph, whose virtues are vastly exaggerated. Rabbi José replied that Holy Writ is no respecter of persons, and records the history of those of whom it speaks just as it happened, the vices as well as the virtues. He cited Reuben's and Judah's transgressions, which are detailed without any attempt to screen them.

It was obviously to Joseph's advantage that the chief butler though he did not wish to benefit Joseph-had not mentioned Joseph's name to Pharaoh until all the astrologers had failed to interpret Pharaoh's dream to his satisfaction. Otherwise, if Joseph had been called before them, it might have been thought that they were able to interpret the dream. In your intercourse with the world it is well to bear in mind that there are thousands of men whose characteristic is lying, and woe to those that trust them.

The heathen stands by his god. (Gen. xli. 1.) The Jewish God stands by his people. (Gen. xxviii. 13.)

A dream toward morning is likely to be fulfilled.

During the twenty-two years that Joseph was separated from his brethren neither he nor they had tasted wine; hence they were somewhat overcome by drinking wine at the banquet to which he invited them in Egypt.

By the law of God even a slave, when his master knocked out his eye or tooth, had to be set free because of the pain he had suffered. Surely it can not be worse with God's own children when they undergo hardship, sorrow, and trouble in this life, their pain will surely purify them from the dross of iniquity, and they will inherit futurity.

Man, when reproached with his misdeeds, becomes confused and confounded. Balaam, when reproached by the humblest of animals and asked, "What have I done unto thee,

that thou hast smitten me these three times? Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? Was I ever wont to do so unto thee?" was constrained to reply "Nay." Joseph, telling his brethren who he was, said, "I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold to Egypt." And his brethren, ten great, proud, and mighty men, could not answer him, for they were confounded in his presence (Gen. xlv. 3). "How then, O man, will it be with me" (so do thou ask thyself), "when I stand before God's tribunal and a record of my conduct, during my life, is placed before me!"

To rebel against the king is to rebel against the King of Kings.

At the approach of the death of Moses the two silver trumpets which he had made for the purpose of calling the people together (Numb. x. 2) were hidden, so that no one else should use them.

A book of pedigrees was found in Jerusalem, wherein it was stated that Hillel was a descendant of King David.

The effects of the blessing bestowed upon Judah by his father are to be seen even at the present time. Jacob said (Gen. xlix. 8), "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise." If an Israelite describes his race, he says, "I am a Jew, i.e., a Judaite"; he does not describe himself as a Reubenite or a Simeonite.

Slander is compared to an arrow, not to any other handy weapon, such as a sword, etc., because like an arrow it kills at a distance. It can be uttered in Rome and have its baneful effect in Syria.

Amongst a number of great men who all reached the same age are Moses, Hillel, Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, and Rabbi Akiba. Moses's years were divided into three equal portions, viz., forty years in Pharaoh's palace, forty years in Midian, and forty years as leader of the Israelites in the wilderness.

Rabbi Johanan, too, had his forty years of trade, forty years of study, and forty years of serving his people. Rabbi Akiba was forty years an ignoramus, forty years he gave himself to study, and for forty years he served his community.

EXODUS RABBA

King David was a descendant of Miriam.

Jethro, who was originally a priest of Midianite idolatry, renounced his idols, and with them his priestly position. For this he was boycotted and excommunicated by his former compatriots; no one was to perform any work for him or his; or, indeed, to have any intercourse with them. His daughters, who were therefore compelled to look after their father's flock, were persecuted by the shepherds. Moses, from a sense of chivalry, seeing women do the work which generally was done by the stronger sex, and yet being harassed by them, offered the women his assistance.

It would be a serious error to say that Moses murdered the Egyptian. In slaying him he was the executioner of a man who, even by the laws of the Egyptians - who observed what are known as the seven commandments of the sons of Noah, one of which was prohibition of murder - deserved death. According to a tradition, this Egyptian ravished the wife of an Israelite, and to escape accusation by her husband he killed him, and thus incurred death.

He who lifts up his hand in a threatening manner against a fellow man, though he may not actually strike him, is designated a wicked man.

When Pharaoh's daughter indicated to her maidens, who accompanied her to the river, her intention of saving the weeping child (Moses), her maidens expressed their disapproval, arguing that it would be bad enough for any of the king's subjects to disregard his decree, but in the king's own daughter such a want of loyalty would be highly reprehensible. Their arguments- lest they should have the effect desired by them were cut short by the angel Gabriel, who struck them all down except one, so that the dignity of the princess should not be outraged by not having even one maid