10. Rabbi Meier said, “diminish your worldly affairs and engage in the
study of the law, and be humble in spirit before all men; and if thou
neglect the law, there are many hinderances to oppose thee, but if thou
hast labored in the study of the law, there is much reward to be given
thee.”
11. Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Jacob, said, “he who performs but one
precept gains for himself an advocate; and he who commits a single sin,
gains for himself an accuser; repentance and good deeds are a shield
before the divine punishment.” Rabbi Johannan Hasandelar said, “every
congregation formed for God will be permanent, but that which is not for
God will not be permanent.”
12. Rabbi Eliezer, son of Shamua, said, “let the honor of thy disciple be
as dear to thee as thine own, and the honor of thy companion as the fear
of thy master, and the fear of thy master as the fear of God.”
13. Rabbi Judah said, “be careful in doctrine, for an error in doctrine is
presumptuous sin.” Rabbi Simon said, “there are three crowns—the crown of
the law, the crown of the priesthood, and the crown of monarchy, but the
crown of a good name is better than all of them.”
14. Rabbi Nehorai said, “flee to a place where the law is studied, and do
not say that it will follow thee, for thy companions will establish it for
thee, and lean not to thine own understanding.”
15. Rabbi Janai said, “the prosperity of the wicked and the chastisements
of the righteous are not in our hands.” Rabbi Mathia, son of Charash,
said, “be forward to greet all men, and be rather as the tail of the lion,
than as the head of the foxes.”
16. Rabbi Jacob said, “this world may be likened to a courtyard before the
world to come, therefore prepare thyself in the hall, to enter into the
dining-room.”
17. He used to say, “one hour employed in repentance and good deeds in
this world is better than the whole life in the world to come; and one
hour’s refreshment of spirit in the world to come is better than the whole
life in this world.”
18. Rabbi Simon, son of Eleazar, said, “try not to pacify your neighbor in
the moment of his anger, and do not console him while his dead lies before
him; inquire not of him in the moment of his vowing, nor desire to see him
in the time of his calamity.”
19. The younger Samuel used to say, “rejoice not when thine enemy falls,
and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it and
it be evil in His sight, and He turn His wrath from him.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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