Ibid., fol. 99, col. 2.

There are four things the doing of which by man brings judgment upon his own head:—­If he turn in between a wall and a date-palm; if he turn in between two date-palms; if he drink borrowed water; and if he step across spilt water, such even as his own wife may have thrown away. (All these doings, says Rashi, are bound to annoy the evil genii.)

Ibid., fol. 111, col. 1.

Four precepts did our holy Rabbi (Yehudah Hakadosh) urge upon his children:—­Not to choose Shechentzia as a dwelling-place, for scoffers resided there; not to use the bed of a Syrian odalisque; not to shirk the payment of fiscal dues, lest the collector should confiscate all their property; not to face an ox when he came up (ruffled) from the cane-brake, for Satan sported betwixt his horns.

P’sachim, fol. 112, col. 2.

Whosoever prieth into the four things in the matter of the chariot in Ezekiel’s vision—­what is above, what is beneath, what is before, or what is behind—­it were better for him if he had never been born.

Chaggigah, fol. 11, col. 2.

    The work or matter of the chariot, the Rabbinic term for the
    Vision of Ezekiel, ranks among the Arcana Judaica, which are not
    to be told save to the initiated.

Four men entered Paradise—­these are their names:—­Ben Azai, Ben Zoma, Acher, and Rabbi Akiva.  Rabbi Akiva thus warned his companions:  “When you come across pavements of pellucid marble, do not cry out ’Water! water!’ for it is said (Ps. ci. 7), ’He that uttereth falsehood shall not dwell in my sight.’” Ben Azai looked and died; concerning him the Scripture says (Ps. cxvi. 15), “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”  Ben Zoma looked and went out of his mind; of him the Scripture says (Prov. xxv. 16), “Hast thou found honey? eat only so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit it.”  Acher cut the plants.  Only Akiva departed in peace.

Chaggigah, fol. 14, col. 2.

Rashi explains this by saying these men went up to heaven; but Maimonides much more rationally teaches that the Paradise or garden here is merely the retreat of profound philosophic meditation.  These five intuitions were;—­(1.) To know that there is a God; (2.) to ignore every other beside Him; (3.) to feel His unity; (4.) to love His person; and (5.) to stand in awe of His Majesty (see Vad Hachaz, chap. 4, sec. 19).  Deep thought in these matters was spoken of by the Rabbis as promenading in the garden.

Four times a year is the world subject to an ordeal of judgment:—­At Passover, which is decisive of the fruits of the field; at Pentecost, which is decisive of the fruits of the garden; at the feast of Tabernacles, which is decisive in respect of rain; on New Year’s Day, when all who come into the world pass before the Lord like sheep, as it is said (Ps. xxxiii. 15), “Who formed their hearts together; who understandeth all their works.”