Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.

Four things cancel the decrees of Heaven:—­Alms, prayer, change of name, and reformation of conduct.  Alms, as it is written (Prov. x. 2), “But alms (more correctly, righteousness) delivereth from death.”  Prayer as it is written (Ps. cvii. 6).  “Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.”  Change of name, as it is said (Gen. xvii. 15, 16), “As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.”  And after this change of name it is written, “And I will bless her, and give thee a son of her.”  Reformation of conduct, as it is written (Jonah iii. 10), “And God saw their works,” and “God repented of the evil,” etc.  Some say also change of residence has the effect of turning back the decree of Heaven (Gen. xii. 1), “And the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country;” and then it is said, “I will make of thee a great nation.”

Rosh Hashanah, fol. 16, col. 2.

Four things cause an eclipse of the sun:—­When a chief magistrate dies and is not mourned over with the due lamentation; when a betrothed damsel calls for help and no one comes to the rescue; when the people commit the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah; and when brother murders brother.

Succah, fol. 29, col. 1.

Four things cause an eclipse among the luminaries of heaven:  The writing of false documents; the bearing false witness; the breeding of small cattle, such as sheep and goats, in the land of Israel; and the cutting down of fruit-trees.

Ibid., fol. 29, col. 1.

There are four things God repents of having created:—­The Captivity, the Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites, and the evil passion in man.  The Captivity, as it is written (Isa. lii. 5), “What have I here, saith the Lord, that my people are taken away for nought?” etc.  The Chaldeans, as it is written (Isa. xxiii. 13), “Behold the land of the Chaldeans:  this people was not.”  The Ishmaelites, as it is written (Job xii. 6), “The tents of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure, into whose hand God bringeth abundance.”  The evil passion, as it is written (Micah iv. 6), “And whom I have caused to be evil.”

Succah, fol. 52, col. 2.

There have been four beautiful women in the world:—­Sarah, Abigail,
Rahab, and Esther.

Meggillah, fol. 15, col. 1.

Tosephoth asks, “Why was not Eve numbered among these beauties, since even Sarah, in comparison with Eve, was an ape compared to a man?” The reply is, “Only those born of woman are here enumerated.”

In fol. 13, col. i, of the same treatise from which the above is quoted, we are informed by Ben Azai that Esther was like the myrtle-tree, neither tall nor short statured, but middle-sized.  Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha states that Esther’s complexion was of a yellow or gold color.

One cup of wine is good for a woman, two are disgraceful, three demoralizing, and four brutalizing.