perfumers, hairdressers, etc.,—­Abba Umna by name, who had a special mantle with slits in the sleeves for females, so that he could surgically operate upon them without seeing their naked arms, while he himself was covered over head and shoulders in a peculiar cloak, so that his own face could not by any chance be seen by them.

From Shabbath, fol. 156, col. 1, we learn that a person born under the influence of Maadim, i.e., Mars, will in one way or another be a shedder of blood, such as a phlebotomist, a butcher, a highwayman, etc., etc.

Six blasts of the horn were blown on Sabbath-eve.  The first was to set free the laborers in the fields from their work; those that worked near the city waited for those that worked at a distance and all entered the place together.  The second blast was to warn the citizens to suspend their employments and shut up their shops.  At the third blast the women were to have ready the various dishes they had prepared for the Sabbath and to light the lamps in honor of the day.  Then three more blasts were blown in succession, and the Sabbath commenced.

Shabbath, fol. 35, col. 2.

He who passes seven nights in succession without dreaming deserves to be called wicked.

Berachoth, fol. 14, col. 1.

Gehinnom has seven names:—­Sheol (Jonah ii. 2), Avadon (Ps. lxxxviii. 11), Shachath (Ps. xvi. 2), Horrible pit (Ps. xl. 2), Miry clay (Ps. xl. 2), the Shadow of death (Ps. cvii. 14), the Subterranean land.

Eiruvin, fol. 19, col. 1.

A dog in a strange place does not bark for seven years.

Ibid., fol. 61, col. 1.

Seven things were formed before the creation of the world:—­The Law, Repentance, Paradise, Gehenna, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah.

P’sachim, fol. 54, col. 1.

The Midrash Yalkut (p. 7) enumerates the same list almost word for word, and the Targum of Ben Uzziel develops the tradition still further, while the Targum Yerushalmi fixes the date of the origin of the seven prehistoric wonders at “two thousand years before the creation of the world.”

Seven things are hid from the knowledge of a man:—­The day of death, the day of resurrection, the depth of judgment (i.e., the future reward or punishment), what is in the heart of his fellow-man, what his reward will be, when the kingdom of David will be restored, and when the kingdom of Persia will fall.

P’sachim, fol. 54, col. 2.

Seven are excommunicated before heaven:—­A Jew who has no wife, and even one who is married but has no male children; and he that has sons but does not train them up to study the law; he who does not wear phylacteries on his forehead and upon his arm and fringes upon his garment, and has no mezuzah on his doorpost; and he who goes barefooted.

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.