with our words, if we have received the gift therefor; we may trust to the power of public preaching as did those renowned preachers whose words went forth and penetrated to the farthest ends of the earth. Or, we may enlighten men with our example and instruct them with our conduct and bearing, sometimes even in spite of themselves. It was therefore, as we read in Holy Writ, that Joshua never left Moses, his Master, and that Elisha ministered unto Elijah, the prophet, until the hour of his death. Now, the Talmud maintains that one derives more benefit from intercourse with wise men than from their direct teaching by word of mouth; that is to say, when life and teaching of the master are in full agreement, when the one is the living commentary on the other. To those who do not so impress their words on their hearers, we apply the reproach, also given in the Talmud: “Would that thy deeds were as beautiful as thy words; it were better thou hadst never opened thy mouth; for no eloquence can repair the evil which the beauty of thy words has wrought." ISAAC ARAMA,

(XV. Century).

XXIII.

Saving Our Soul.

He that keepeth the Commandments, keepeth his own soul-Prov, xix. 16.

Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward; he that guardeth his soul shall be far from them.— Prov. xxii. 5.

EEK thou the company of the wise, and the friendship of them whose hearts are filled with the reverence of God's Law; and flee far from those who obey Him from vainglory. Avoid thou the doers of evil, even though good works might be done with their aid. For, without aware they shall steal from thee the piety of thy mind, and they shall spoil thee ere that thou knowest it.

Let thy dearest rest be in thine own home, for there art thou safe from strife and destruction.

When thou enterest the House of God, sit thyself down in the place of the poor.

Visit the sick, not less those that are stricken with poverty than those that are rich in the goods of the world. Let the sympathy that thou shewest, and the help that thou bringest, be the sole purpose of thy visit. Honor the dead, and go with them on their last earthly journey. Visit them that mourn, and comfort them. Mark well their pain; for there seest thou the fate of all men. Take thou this to heart, and prepare thyself early in life.

And when those of other faiths seek to lead thee astray from that of thy fathers, then leave thou thy

country and thy home, and go where thou canst live unmolested. Shew thy manhood and thy strength, and regret not the possessions that thou leavest behind; they are dross in the face of the integrity of thy soul. SOLOMON ALAMI,

RANT me the power, the right to see

To love the good who follow thee;

And in that love, O, grant the love

Of all on earth, of God above.

(XV. Century).

XXIV.

The Animal Soul.

The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, thy God in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.Deut. v. 14.

The righteous man considereth the soul of his cattle.-Prov. xii. 10.

THE Talmud tells the following: A calf that was

about to be slaughtered, fled to Rabbi Yehudah, the Prince, and hid its head in his garment. But he repulsed it, crying: "Go hence! for this hast thou been created!" For many years thereafter heavy troubles afflicted the Prince. It happened one day that he saw the serving maid about to destroy the young of a cat. "Do it not," he cried, "for it is said: God's mercy is ex

tended over all His creatures." And from this time on his burdens grew lighter, and finally ceased.

Noxious animals may be killed; but must not suffer unnecessary pain. The same holds good of beasts required for nourishment, or for the healing of the sick. We are not bidden to save the calf that ministers to our sustenance. The evils that came upon the Rabbi were not punishments, but trials, such as God sends to the greatest and the best, so that others may take example from their conduct. For God demands accounting more strictly of those that are favored mentally, than He does of ordinary persons; a hair's breadth straying from the straight path is heavy sin in them. Rabbi Yehudah, the Prince, should not have used the words: "For this hast thou been created;" and he should have permitted the animal to find refuge, for a time at least, with him. For the contrary behavior in this great man and teacher has surely hardened the heart of many a one towards animals; nor was he justified in saying that the calf had only been created to be killed. And I would believe that every living being, even that which may be slaughtered, will be recompensed by the Creator for the agonies that it has endured. For it is opposed to justice to believe, what the words of the great Rabbi implied, that wrong should be done to any being, be it man or animal. RABBI ACHAI, (VIII. Century).

LESSED is the man whose softening heart

Feels all another's pain;

To whom the supplicating eye
Was never raised in vain.

XXV.

Spiritual nurture.

Come, children, hearken unto me; I will teach

you the fear of God.-Psalms xxxiv. 11.

MY beloved, be ye wise in that fear only; and you

will prove that you have gained that wisdom, if you forsake it not when men scorn you for it. Set apart a fixed time of each day for the study of God's Word, and try also to teach it to others; for thereby the Law will be the more firmly rooted in your own memory. Do not imagine you stand in no need of either such constant learning or teaching, on the plea that you have, as it were, inherited much learning from your father, and through him, from your forefathers; on the contrary, you are only the more culpable if you give up the constant study of God's teachings. I counsel you also, to exhort one another by turns from the texts of Midrash (the homilies of the early Masters), for by this practice you will free yourself from many a fault, and break the power of many a besetting sin, which you cannot otherwise overcome. Make it likewise your custom to read often in such books, as "The Duties of the heart," the "Book of Righteousness," "Call to Repentance; "take their instructions to heart, and live in accordance with them. Beware! O beware! lest you be numbered with any one of the four classes of people, of whom our Sages affirm that they never can appear before the face of God: liars, mockers, gamblers, slanderers. From the Testament of Jehudah ben Asher, (XIV. Century).