Alphabet of Ben Sira

Ben Sira's Birth and Childhood

1 It is written, (Job 9:10) "Who performs great deeds beyond understanding, And wondrous things without number." Come and see how great the Holy Blessed One's deeds are! Since it says, "Who performs great deeds beyond understanding," why does it also say "And wondrous things without number"? And since it says "And wondrous things without number," why does it also say "Who performs great deeds beyond understanding"? How have the Sages interpreted it? "Who performs great deeds beyond understanding," refers to all the created beings in the world, "And wondrous things without number," refers to the three beings who were born without their mothers having intercourse with men. They are Ben Sira, Rav Papa, and Rabbi Zeira. (Sefer Yuchasin records this story under the entry Abuha, citing Rabbi Judah the Pious; see also Tzemach David, part 1, year 3448.) All three were completely righteous, wise, and great scholars of Torah. And they said about Rabbi Zeira and Rav Papa that they never engaged in ordinary conversation; and never slept in the study hall, neither fully sleeping nor napping; and no one ever arrived at the study hall before them; and nobody ever found them sitting quietly instead of sitting and reciting Torah; and they never missed Kiddush; and they never gave their friends nasty nicknames; and never took honor from their friends' shame; and never went to bed still bearing a grudge against their companions; and never looked at the image of an evil person; and didn't accept gifts; and they were generous, fulfilling what is said (Proverbs 8:21): "I endow those who love me with substance; I will fill their treasuries." (The Talmud lists these qualities about other Sages, see further in Megillah 27b-28a.) And how did their mothers give birth without husbands? They said: Once they went to the bathhouse, and some seed from an Israelite entered their bellies, and they conceived and gave birth from this, without knowing who their fathers were. But Ben Sira's father was known to him! How did his mother give birth without a husband's intercourse? They said about her that she was the daughter of Jeremiah. Once, Jeremiah went to the bathhouse, and found there evildoers from the tribe of Ephraim, and he saw that they were all wasting their seed, because all the members of the tribe of Ephraim in that generation were evildoers, as it is written about them that they did what was wrong in God's eyes. And when he saw them, he began to rebuke them. Immediately, they rose up against him, and said, "Why are you rebuking us? We swear by the way to Beersheba that you will not leave here until you do what we are doing." He said to them, "Leave me alone and I will swear to you that I will never reveal this situation." They said to him, "Didn't Zedekiah see Nebuchadnezzar eating a live rabbit, and swear to him in God's name that he would not reveal his secret, and then break that oath? (Nedarim 65b, Eicha Rabbah s.v.: "they sit on the ground") You will do the same thing! But now, if you do what we are doing, good; otherwise, we will subject you to the act of Sodom, like our ancestors did for idolatrous purposes. If they did it for idolatry, how much more so should we do it to you!" Immediately, he did it, because he was terrified of them. When he began leaving there, he started to curse his birthday, saying (Jeremiah 20:14) "May the day I was born be cursed!" He left there, and fasted for this incident 248 fasts, corresponding to all the parts of the human body. And the drop that came from that righteous man was guarded until that righteous man's own daughter came to the bathhouse, and it entered her belly. At seven months, she gave birth to a son who had teeth and could speak, and once she gave birth, she was ashamed to face people, because they would say that she gave birth through promiscuity. The child opened his mouth and said to his mother, "Why are you ashamed to face people? I am the son of Sira." She said, "Who is Sira?" He said, "Jeremiah, and the reason he is called Sira is because he is the officer (sar) over all officers, and because he will ultimately name all officers and kings, and when you calculate 'Sira' and 'Jeremiah' by their numerical values, they are equal." She said to him, "My son, if this is true, you should have said, 'I am the son of Jeremiah.'" He said to her, "I would have wanted to say that, but it is a shameful thing, saying that Jeremiah has had sex with his daughter." She said to him, "My son, is it not written (Ecclesiastes 1:9) 'What has happened is what will happen,' and who has ever seen a daughter have a child by her father?" He said to her, "My mother, (Ecclesiastes 1:9) 'There is nothing new Beneath the sun!' Just as Lot was a completely righteous man, my father is also a completely righteous man. Just like Lot did it under compulsion, my father also had this done under compulsion." She said to him, "I am stunned by you. How do you know these things?" He said to her, "Do not be stunned by me, because there is nothing new under the sun. The same thing occurred with my father Jeremiah when his mother was kneeling to give birth- he opened his mouth, and my father called from his mother's womb, and said, 'I will not leave until you tell me my name.' His father opened his mouth and said, 'Come out, and your name will be Abraham' and he said, 'That is not my name.' He said, 'Come out, and your name will be Isaac...' and then Jacob and all the tribes, and all the men of that generation, and he kept saying, 'That is not my name.' Until Elijah, of blessed memory arrived there, and said, 'Your name will be Jeremiah, because in your days the Holy Blessed One will establish an enemy to raise (yarim) his hand against Jerusalem.' He said, 'That is my name. And you, who told me my name, let your name be my name- let me have "yahu" from your name, and call me Yirmi-yahu [Jeremiah].' Just as he was born speaking, I too was born speaking; just as he emerged with prophecy from his mother's womb, as it is said, (Jeremiah 1:5) 'Before I created you in the womb, I selected you'; I too was born with prophecy. Just as his name was known while he was still in his mother's womb, so was mine. Just as he wrote an alphabetical acrostic book (Lamentations), I also will write an alphabetical acrostic book, so do not be astonished by what I say." She said, "My son, do not say it, so the evil eye will not have power over you!" He said to her, "The evil eye has no power over me, so now do not keep talking to me, for I am going to do what my father did. It is about me that it is said, (Ketubot 63a) 'One ewe follows another,' and a son follows his father's deeds." She said to him, "My son, why are you preventing me from speaking?" He said, "Because you know that I am hungry, and you do not let me eat anything." She said to him, "Here are breasts for you- eat your food and drink your drink." He said to her, "I have no interest in your breasts. Rather, go and pick through flour like a hen, knead fine bread, and bring fatty meat and aged wine. You must eat with me." She said to him, "But how could I buy things like this?" He said to her, "Make clothes and sell them, and the verse will be upheld for you: (Proverbs 31:24) 'She makes cloth and sells it.' and if you support me, the verse (Proverbs 31:29), 'Many women have done well, But you surpass them all' will be true." She began to make clothes and sell them, and she would bring him bread and fatty meat, and aged wine, and she supported him for one year. And after that year, he said to her, "Bring me to the synagogue," so she brought him to the house of one educator who had seven daughters. He sat beside him, and said to him, "Rabbi, teach me Torah!" He said to him, "You are not yet eligible to study, because you are so small, and our sages, of blessed memory said (Pirkei Avot 5:21): 'A child of five should study Written Torah.'" Ben Sira said to him, "And have you not learned that (Pirkei Avot 2:15) 'the day is short, and the work is plentiful'? And you are telling me 'Sit and do not learn yet because you are so small,' while I see in the cemetery those smaller than me who have died, and who knows what will be, whether I will live or I will die?" The teacher said to him, "What, are you my teacher? Haven't our sages, of blessed memory, said: 'Anyone who gives a legal ruling in front of his teacher is liable to the death penalty'?" He said to him, "You are not my teacher yet, and I have not learned anything from you." The teacher said to Ben Sira, "Say, 'Aleph.'" He responded to him, saying:

The Hebrew Alphabet

2 Alef. "Do not allow worry into your heart, because worry has killed many." 3 Immediately the teacher was astonished, and said, "Nothing in the world worries me except my wife, who is ugly." He said, "Say, 'Bet.'" He said to him: 4 Bet. "A beautiful woman's appearance has destroyed many, and she has killed countless people." He said to him, "Because I have revealed to you my secret and told you that my wife is ugly, you tell me this kind of thing! Perhaps I have harmed you by telling you my secret." He said, "Say, 'Gimel.'" He said to him: 5 Gimel. "Reveal your secret to one person in a thousand, even if you have many well-wishers." He reconsidered, and said to him, "I have revealed my secret to you, but to no other." He said to him, "Advise me about what I am telling you. I want to divorce my wife, because an extremely beautiful woman lives in my neighborhood." He said, "Say, 'Dalet.'" He said to him: 6 Dalet. "Keep yourself away from an attractive woman, as you would from a burning coal." He said to him, "But what can I do? Every single time that I enter my house, she stretches herself out in front of me, and I look at her because I find her attractive." He said, "Say, 'Hey.'" He said to him: 7 He. "Turn your eyes away from an attractive woman so that you do not fall into her trap." The teacher said to him, "My son, what trap could I be caught in? If it is because of witchcraft she might use against me, I know that she will never use witchcraft against me! Because her first husband is a thin-bearded man, (see Sanhedrin 100b and Rashi there) and I am a thick-bearded man." He said to him, "Say 'Vav.'" He said to him: 8 Vav. "How unfortunate is someone who follows his eyes! Know that they lead him astray and offer nothing of substance." He said to him, "Say 'Zayin.'" He said to him: 9 Zayin. "Do not be thin-bearded or thick-bearded. Reject these things, because you do not know what has been decreed for you." He said to him, "I do not want to follow your advice, because I am considering marrying her. And I have seven daughters, and she has one, and they will live in my house and provide for me with dignity." He said, "Say, 'Chet.'" He said to him: 10 Het. "Everyone values sons, but fathers of daughters are unfortunate." He said to him, "But I have seven daughters, and they spin yarn and do all the chores of my household, and they are like a green olive tree or a beautiful garden in my house. So how could you tell me 'Fathers of daughters are unfortunate?' And if there were no females, where would the males come from?" Ben Sira said to him, "You poor man! You console yourself with empty assurances. For our sages, of blessed memory, said: (Pesachim 65a) 'Fortunate is the one whose children are male, and a father of daughters is unfortunate.' This is why I said it to you. And furthermore, when a daughter is coming out of her mother's womb into the world, the heavens and earth and stars and constellations and everything created in the world grieves over her, but when a son is coming out of his mother's womb into the world, the whole world is happy. And if a person has a daughter and you ask, 'What did So-and-So's wife give birth to?' he answers with a weak voice, somber expression, eyes downcast, 'She gave birth to a daughter.' But if it is male, he answers you brightly, 'She gave birth to a son,' in a pleasant voice, with a cheerful expression, and eyes looking upward." He said to him, "Say 'Tet.'" He said to him: 11 Tet. "A daughter is a deceptive treasure to her father. He cannot sleep at night for worrying about her." He said, "Say, 'Yud.'" He said to him: 12 Yod. "Her watchman cannot sleep: while she is young, he fears that she may be seduced or raped; when she is grown, that she may commit adultery." (see Sanhedrin 100b) He said to him, "Everything you have said is true." He said to him, "Say 'Kaf.'" He said to him: 13 Kaf. "When your daughter marries, you worry even more about her, fearing that she may not have children; and when she is old, that she may practice witchcraft." He said to him, "Say, 'Lamed.'" He said to him: 14 Lamed. "Do not sleep your youth away, and when you are old, do not marry an old woman. Because an old wife drains your energy even if you are young, but a virgin wife adds strength and power to you." He said to him, "Say 'Mem.'" He said to him: 15 Mem. "The waters of a virgin wife are sweet and add strength; the waters of an old wife are bitter as wormwood and drain strength, like a cistern whose water the wind has dried up." He said to him, "Say, 'Nun.'" He said to him: 16 Nun. "Free yourself from a bad wife who rules you with her tongue, because a bad wife is like a pack of mad dogs: even behind closed doors, she has an answer for everything." He said to him, "Say, 'Samech.'" He said to him: 17 Samekh. "A scribe and a teacher should marry a virgin woman and not marry a non-virgin woman. Because the waters of a virgin are for you alone, but the waters of a non-virgin have already been drawn by a stranger, not you." He said to him, "Say, 'Ayin.'" He said to him: 18 Ayin. "Turn your eyes away from a widow, and do not desire her beauty in your heart, because her children are the children of straying." He said to him, "Say, 'Peh.'" He said to him: 19 Pe. "Guard yourself against wicked companions. Do not walk on the road with them. Keep away from them so that you are not caught in their trap." He said to him, "Say, 'Tzadi.'" He said to him: 20 Tsadi. "My son, hide and store your money while you are alive, and until the day of your death, do not give it to your heirs." He said to him, "Say, 'Kuf.'" He said to him: 21 Qof. "Acquire money and a good wife, fear God, and have many sons, even a hundred." He said to him, "Say, 'Resh.'" He said to him: 22 Resh. "Stay away from a wicked neighbor and do not be counted among their friends. Because their feet run toward evil, and they are in a hurry to shed blood. But at the same time, have mercy on your neighbors, even if they are evil. Share your food with them, because when you are standing to be judged, they will testify about you." He said to him, "Say, 'Shin.'" He said to him: 23 Shin. "Listen, my master, to what I say, and pay attention to my words, 24 My master, stop quarreling with your neighbors, and if you see something evil about your friend, do not spread slander about them." He said to him, "Say, 'Tav.'" He said to him: 25 Tav. "Acquire gold coins and wealth of every kind, but do not tell your wife where the money is, even if she is good."

Ben Sira's Learning

26 The teacher said to him, "The natural order of creation has changed for you." He said to him, "There is nothing new under the sun. Consider this: Jeremiah taught Baruch son of Neriah this way, and the natural order of creation did not change. Jeremiah told him to say alef, and he answered, 'How lonely the city sits' (Lamentations 1:1). He told him to say bet, and he answered, 'She weeps bitterly at night' (Lamentations 1:2). They did the same for all the alphabetical acrostics in the scroll of Lamentations." Additionally, they said about Ben Sira that he learned the book of Leviticus in one day, and the teacher said to him, "The natural order of creation has changed for you." Ben Sira said to him, "There is nothing new under the sun. Consider how Jeremiah learned it [this way], and it is written, (2 Samuel 23:20) 'Benaiah son of Jehoiada, son of a living man,' where 'living' (chai) is written but 'valiant' (chayil) is read. Was the whole world dead, with [only] him alive? Rather, he must have been 'living' through Torah, when he studied the book of Leviticus in one day." 27 They told about Ben Sira: That same year, he learned the entire book of Torah. The second year, he learned the Mikrah and the Mishnah, and the Talmud, both laws and narratives. The third year, he learned the finer points of Torah and scribal interpretation. The fourth year, he learned tools of logical inference, the calculation of seasons, and numerical interpretation of letters. The fifth year, he learned the language of palm trees, the language of the ministering angels, the language of demons, and the Fox Fables. The sixth year, he learned the Sifra, and Sifrei, and Tanna De-Bei Eliyahu. The seventh year, he had studied everything, great and small.

At Nebuchadnezzar's Court

28 Come and see how wise Ben Sira was! They would bring him a se'ah [a measure of volume] of wheat, and he would say to them, "Count the wheat grains in this se'ah, and you will find in it exactly that number of grains," until his reputation had spread around the whole world. Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, heard of his wisdom. And who did he hear it from? From his sages. And when his sages heard of his [Ben Sira's] wisdom, they said, "How terrible for us! How dreadful for us! because now Nebuchadnezzar will get rid of us. Instead, let us slander him to the king. Let him summon him, and we will ask him a difficult question of our choosing, not his, and if he does not give us an answer, we will kill him." And this they did- they told the king and he sent for him, and he said to them, "And what do you want to ask him?" They said to him, "What does 'Oy Vanehi' mean? If he knows, very well, and if not, we will kill him." A thousand horsemen went after him, all of whom had severed fingers and could uproot trees. They all said, as one, to the King, "Your Majesty, if you want to send us anywhere in the world, we will go. But do not send us to one of the Israelite Sages, so that he does not do us what Elisha did to the Aramean troops." He wrote to them (Jeremiah 27:6; Shabbat 150a): 'I even give him [Nebuchadnezzar] the wild beasts of the field to serve him.' He wrote it in a letter for them, saying, "Go and tell him this sign: his God promised me this, so he should come with you." When they arrived to him and showed him the letter, Ben Sira said to them, "He sent you not for me but for one rabbit that I have." Immediately, he took a rabbit and wrote on its head, "Here is one of the wild animals, and it will serve you." Nebuchadnezzar said, "How has this hair been shaved off so that it looks like parchment? It was not done with iron or another cutting tool. I can see its flesh inside, and parchment cannot have flesh inside it." He did not know how it had been done. Immediately, he sent after him another delegation, and sent him in writing, "If you do not want to come in my honor, come in the honor of your rabbit." Immediately, he [Ben Sira] softened and agreed to come, and went to him. And at the point when he arrived to him, he was seven years old. Immediately all Nebuchadnezzar's wise ones gathered around him and began questioning him. They said to him, "What is Oy Vanehi?" He said to them, "When you heard about me, you had an 'Oy,' and if I kill you, you would have a 'Nehi.'" They said to him, "Explain clearly to us: what is 'Nehi,' and what is 'Vay'?" He said, "There are two vavs in it, and their meaning is: When someone goes and touches a dog, and grabs its ear- that is certainly 'Vay' for him. And before he escapes from a snake, if a lion comes to him - that is certainly 'Oy Vanehi.'" When they heard this, they were afraid, and they tried to evade his words, and said, "We do not know what you are saying. Show us 'Voy Vanehi' with our own eyes." Immediately, he went and took a container (a hollow tube) with two openings and went and caught three snakes and three scorpions, and placed the scorpions in the lower opening and the snakes in the upper opening, and sealed the container and came before the king. And his sages said, "What is in the container?" He said to them, "Look!" Immediately one of them put his hand in the container in the first opening and felt the snakes, and said, "Vay, what is this?!" Another put his hand in the lower opening and a scorpion struck him, and he said, "Vay Vanehi!" Ben Sira said to them, "Now you know 'Vay Vanehi' and you have seen them." When they saw that it was so, they immediately became afraid, sweated, and trembled, and fell on their faces. The king said to them, "You agreed with me that if he did not know 'Vay Vanehi' you would kill him; as you can see, he knows 'Vay Vanehi.' The judgment that you ruled for him, that he should be executed- now you are liable for that execution." They said to him, "Let the king do whatever he wants to his servants." Immediately he handed them over to Ben Sira. He said to them, "Haven't you brought me here for 'Vay Vanehi?'" Immediately he took them and threw them into the lion's den and they died, at the words 'Vay Vanehi.' Then the king lifted Ben Sira and seated him on a golden throne and set a crown on his head. The king said to him, "I will make you king, since you are suitable to rule." He said to him, "Your Majesty, I do not want it, since I am young. And it would not be suitable for me to rule over Israel, since I am not from the dynasty of David." He said to him, "But Joash assumed the throne when he was seven years old." He said to him, "He was from the royal dynasty." He said to him, "Since you do not want it, sit with me in my kingship, since I want to ask you about any matters that I have in my heart, that I see in the world and do not know." He said to him, "Your Majesty, ask whatever you want, and I will explain to you anything that you say." Then he asked him twenty-two questions (the number of the alphabet) and he responded to (and answered) his questions, and here they are:

Nebuchadnezzar's Questions

29 First he asked him, "How did you shave the rabbit's head?" He said to him, "With a serum of quicklime." He said to him, "What is it like?" He said to him, "It is a preparation that removes hair." He said to him, "And what is it called?" He said to him, "A serum of quicklime, which is quicklime and 'zernich' (arsenic), and this material, in the days of your mother, was created by Solomon through his own wisdom. When your mother, the Queen of Sheba, came to Solomon and brought him a gift to see his wisdom, he found her attractive, and he wanted to sleep with her, and he found her entirely hairy, and he brought quicklime and arsenic, chopped the lime by hand with a blade, ground the arsenic, and mixed them in water, and it turned into the quicklime serum for shaving, and he applied it to her, and rinsed her, and her hair fell out, and at that point he was intimate with her." She said to Solomon, "I did not believe these things until I saw them myself." He said to him, "How do you know this?" He said to him, "I am a prophet and the Holy Blessed One reveals all hidden things to me." He said to him, "If so, then what you have told me is true." 30 "Count the trees in my garden." He said to him, "There are thirty kinds of trees in your garden. Ten of them are eaten as-is, and here they are: apples, figs, sycamore figs, citrons, grapes, quinces, pears, botnim, peppers, and limonia, which is Arabic and is prepared salted. And for ten of them the inside is eaten and the outside is discarded, and here they are: pomegranates, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, sanduvin, morlin, katpilin [kalpilin], gonzarin, krumin. [Only nine names are preserved in this group.] And their names in Arabic are goz, luz, fistuk, banduk, sahablot, doman, tznobar, blot [...] For ten of them, what is on the outside is eaten, and here they are: dates, olives, carobs, peaches, crabapples, plums, achonyot, gadgadniyot, charutim, alusim." He said to him, "And who planted them?" He said to him, "Adam took them from the Garden of Eden, and even before he left, he took them from there, with the permission of the Holy Blessed One. And he took with them too all kinds of fragrant plants and other medicines, thirty types." 31 He said to him, "Have you seen them in my garden? Or have you been told?" He said to him, "If you want, cover my eyes and go out with your soldiers, and form them into separate troops for yourself, and I will tell you which troop you are in." And he did so- he covered his eyes and placed a trusted man with him. A troop passed noisily, shouting, until the earth was shaking. The trusted one who was with him said to him, "Is the king among this troop?" He said to him, "No." (In the Talmud, this story concerns Rav Sheshet; Berakhot 58a.) Another troop passed by with great shouting, and it had cavalry running along all the sides. The trusted man said, "Is the king among this troop?" He said to him, "No." A third troop passed by with chants and all kinds of music. He said to him, "Is there a king here?" He said to him, "No." A fourth troop passed by in silence, and even the sound of the horses' hooves could not be heard, only a faint silence. He said to him, "Is it here?" He said to him, "Yes. [And there he is, right opposite me!" Immediately they opened his eyes and he saw him standing by him.] The king said to him, "Inform me how you knew this great secret." He said to him, "You are so proud of your royal power that you compare yourself to the Holy Blessed One, as it is said, 'And God passed by with a faint, quiet sound,' in which the King of kings was visible seated on a high and lofty throne." He said to him, "You equate me with your God!" He said to him, "You are not equal to Them, but because of your pride and great wickedness, you have become comparable to the Holy Blessed One's authority, and that is why Their anger is against you." He said to him, "And if Their anger is against me, how could They have lifted me up, and made me great in the world, and handed everything over to me?" He said to him, "When the Holy Blessed One wants to bring a person low, They first raise them and then lower them, as it says, (Obadiah 1:4) 'If you go as high as an eagle...'" Immediately, he said to him, "If you become my son-in-law and marry my daughter, I will appoint you king in my place." He said to him, "I am a human being, and I cannot marry an animal, as it says, 'Their flesh is the flesh of donkeys...'" When the king heard that he was cursing, insulting and slandering the nations of the world, he got very angry. He said to his sages, "Tell me something that we can feed him secretly so that he will die." They said to him, "We do not know." Immediately, he killed them, and said to Ben Sira: 32 "I will ask you about something, and you will answer me, and I will give you one r'em [a large wild animal] made of silver, and incomprehensible amounts of gold. I have a friend and I hate him and want to kill him using something he doesn't know about, with a food that they can feed him so he dies." Immediately, Ben Sira understood that he intended to kill him, so he said to him, "Let me compare it to a fable for you. There was once an exceptionally beautiful horse belonging to Nimrod. The other horses said to him, 'Give us your head to cut off, and we will give you a house full of straw and barley.' The horse knew what they were trying to do to him, for he was intelligent. He said to them, 'Fools! If I give you my head to cut off, who will eat the straw and barley?' In the same way, you are trying to kill me, but if you kill me, who will take one r'em [a large wild animal] made of silver and gold, and who will eat them?" He said to him, "By Chemosh's life, I will not kill you." He said to him, "I will tell you." He said to him, "Have him eat egg yolks without salt for ten days, and he will die." The king thought to himself, "He is lying." He brought someone and fed it to him, and he died. The king said to him, "Eat it before me, and I will leave you alone." He said to him, "I cannot eat anything you prepare yourself. I will prepare it and eat it." What did he do? He added salt secretly, and he ate it for a full month. He said to him, "Why did you lie to me?" He said to him, "I made them thin, crushed them a little, and put something in them." Immediately, the king went and did this, and became ill. He said to him, "Heal me!" He wrote him an amulet, and he was healed. He said to him, "Why did you try to kill me?" He said to him, "The old proverb says: Evil comes from evil people. Act first to kill someone who is trying to kill you." (If someone comes to kill you, act first.) Immediately, his small son became ill. The king said to him, "Heal my son, and if you do not, I will kill you." He immediately sat down and quickly wrote him an amulet using the divine Name, and wrote the names of the angels who are appointed for healing, with their names, structure, shapes, wings, arms, and legs. And when Nebuchadnezzar saw the amulet he said, "What are these?"

The Healing Angels and Lilith

33 He said to him, "The angels appointed for healing: Sanoy, Sansanoy, Semangalof. When the Holy Blessed One first created Adam alone, They said, (Genesis 2:18) 'It is not good for this Adam to be alone.' They created for him a wife from the earth, as Adam had been created, and called her Lilith. Immediately they began to argue. She said, 'I will not lie underneath.' He replied, 'I will not lie underneath you, only on top. You belong underneath, and I belong on top.'⁠a Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other because we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air above the world. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator and said, 'Sovereign of the universe! The woman you gave me has run away from me.' Immediately, the Holy Blessed One sent these three angels to bring her back. The Holy Blessed One said to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' They departed and pursued her, and overtook her in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters where the Egyptians would later drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.' She said to them, 'Let me be. I was created only to cause illness to infants. I have dominion over them for eight days after birth if they are male, and if female, after birth for twenty days.' When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted on taking her. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God, 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed that one hundred of her children would die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons die, and for the same reason, we write their names on the amulets of young children, and when she sees them, she remembers her oath, and the child is healed."

The King's Daughter

34 After some time, the king said to him, "I have a daughter who passes wind a thousand times an hour. Heal her." He said to him, "Send her to me in the morning with her guards and I will heal her." In the morning, she came to him with her guards. When he saw her, he began to get angry. She said to him, "Why did you get angry?" He said to her, "Your father has decreed upon me to pass wind a thousand times before him tomorrow and in two days, and I am afraid that he will kill me. He has given me three days, and I do not know what I will do." She said to him, "Do not worry about this- I will go in your place and I will pass wind before him a thousand times for you and for myself." He said to her, "Since that is the case, stay with me for three days and do not pass wind during them, and be 'prepared for the third day.'" Immediately, each time she felt the urge to pass wind, she would stand on one foot and open her eyes wide, as he had told her, and she restrained herself and gradually closed her 'mouth' [anus], until the urge to pass wind stopped entirely. After three days, she no longer passed wind. On the third day, he took her to her father and said to her, "Go pass wind two thousand times for your father." She went before him, and she could not pass wind even one time. Immediately, he stood up and kissed him. He began asking him questions. He said to him: 35 "Why was passing wind created?" He said to him, "If not for passing wind, people would defecate in their clothes, but when a person feels the urge to pass wind, they can go and attend to their needs, so that they are not embarrassed and left sitting in soiled clothes." 36 He said to him, "Why is it that on a person's body every follicle has two hairs, but on their head each follicle has one hair?" He said to him, "The Holy Blessed One created on the head every follicle with one hair, but if They had created two in every follicle, both their eyes would grow dim. (Bava Batra 16a) The same applies to the world: if two raindrops fell through a single opening, the world would be destroyed, for there would be more water than in the Flood. And in a place where the Holy Blessed One has created an affliction, They have also created its cure." He said to him, "How fortunate you are, my son, that the Holy Blessed One has revealed so much to you." 37 He said to him, "Why were gnats created? They live in the world for only one day, then die, and others are created." He said to him, "For the sake of one gnat that will one day punish the evil Titus. The rest keep raven chicks alive when they hatch from the eggs. They go out to their nest and their parents flee and leave them, and they cry out to God, as it says, (Psalms 147:9) 'to the raven's brood what they cry for' and God brings gnats to their mouths, and they eat them and live on them for three days. After three days they turn black and their parents return to them, and the Holy Blessed One prepares the cure before the harm." 38 He said to him, "Why did the Holy Blessed One create in Their world wasps and spiders, which cause harm and serve no purpose?" He said to him, "It once happened that David King of Israel, peace be upon him, was sitting in his garden, and he saw a wasp eating a spider, and a fool arrived with a stick in his hand and was chasing them away. David said before the Holy Blessed One: 'Master of the world! What benefit is there to these, which you created in your world? The wasp eats honey and stings, and she gets no benefit from it; the spider weaves all year but he never dresses in it; the fool with no intelligence harms other creatures and does not know your unity and strength, and there is no benefit in him to the world.' The Holy Blessed One said to him: 'David! You are slandering the creatures. The hour will come when you will need them, and you will know why they were created.' And when he hid in a cave because of King Saul, the Holy Blessed One sent a spider, and she wove a web over the mouth of the cave and sealed it. Saul came and saw it woven. He said, 'Certainly nobody has entered here, for anyone entering would have torn the webbing to shreds.' He continued and did not enter there. And when David exited and saw the spider, he kissed her and said to her, 'Blessed is your Creator and blessed are you! Master of the world, who can compare to your workings and strength? For all you make is good.' And before Achish, he made himself out to be a fool before his men, and Achish's daughter was an insane fool, so when they brought him [David] to him, he [Achish] said to them, 'Are you mocking me? Is it because of my daughter who is a fool that you brought this to me? Or maybe I do not already have enough fools?' Immediately, they released him, and he escaped and gave thanks to God for his deeds, for everything that he created in the world has benefit in it. And when David found Saul lying down at noontime, Abner was lying at the entrance, with his head at one entrance and his legs outstretched, and he [David] came and entered between his legs and took the water flask. And when he went to leave between his legs, Abner stretched his legs and covered him with them, and they lay over him like two great pillars. And he asked for mercy from Hashem, and said, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' At that moment, a miracle occurred for him: God sent a hornet, and she bit Abner's legs, and he straightened them, and David exited and praised the Holy Blessed One. So it is wrong for a person to speak against what God has made." 39 Nebuchadnezzar said to Ben Sira, "Why does an ox have no hair on his nose?" He said to him, "When Israel and Joshua were encircling Jericho to make it fall, Joshua was fat. They brought him a horse, a donkey, and a mule to ride, but they all died under his weight. So they brought him an ox and it carried him, and when he saw this he kissed him on his nose, and therefore it has no hair." 40 He said to him, "Why do cats eat mice more than any other vermin?" He said to him, "At the beginning, the cat and the mouse were friends. Once, the mouse went and slandered the cat to the Holy Blessed One. He said to Them, 'Ruler of the world! The cat and I are partners and we have nothing to eat.' They said to him, 'You slandered your friend so that you could eat him; now he will eat you, and you will be his food!' He said to Them, 'Ruler of the world! But what did I do?' They said to him, 'Oh, impure vermin! Haven't you learned a lesson from the sun and moon, which were equal in stature and appearance, but because the moon slandered the sun I reduced the moon's light and increased the sun's? You too slandered your companion to obtain food, therefore he will eat you.' He said to Them, 'Ruler of the world! If this is the case, then I and my offspring will be destroyed!' They said to him, 'I will allow a remnant of you to remain, as I did for the moon.' Immediately, the mouse went and bit the cat on his head, and the cat jumped and threw the mouse to the ground and bit him and he died. From that moment the cat hated the mouse, and therefore they eat them." 41 He asked, "Why does a donkey urinate on the urine of another donkey and smell its excrement?" He replied, "When the Holy One, blessed be He, created every creature, the donkey said to the horse and the mule, 'Every creature has its own benefit, and we toil from generation to generation without any benefit.' They prayed to their Creator to grant them some benefit, but their prayers were not answered. The Holy Blessed One said to them, 'When the time comes that your urine will flow like rivers and your excrement will smell like perfumes, then I will give you your reward.' Therefore, they smell and urinate on each other's waste." 42 He said to him, "And why is there hatred between the dog and the cat?" He said to him, "When the cat was created, he went and partnered with the dog, and the two of them would hunt and eat. One day came along, and then a second and third, when they could not find anything to eat. Then the dog said to the cat, 'How long will we sit hungry? You, go to Adam and live with him in his house, and eat and be satisfied, and I will go to the wild animals, and we will eat whatever we find and live.' The cat said to the dog, 'Let us both swear not to go to the same master.' He said to him, 'You have spoken well.' Immediately they both swore, and the cat went to the house of Adam and found mice and ate and was satisfied, and the remaining ones fled from him. When he saw this, Adam said, 'The Holy Blessed One has sent me a great healing!' Immediately he settled him in his house and fed him bread and gave him water. Then what did the dog do? He went to the wolf. He said to him, 'Can I come to you tonight and sleep over?' He said to him, 'Yes.' They both went into a cave and lay down. The dog heard the sound of loud animal footsteps. Immediately he woke the wolf and said to him, 'I hear the sound of bandits!' He said to him, 'You go out and chase them away.' They stood up against him as if to kill him. He ran away and went to the monkey, and he chased him away. He went to the sheep, and he accepted him and lay down with him. He heard the sound of footsteps. The dog said to the sheep, 'I hear the sound of bandits!' He said to him, 'You go out.' The dog went out and started barking. The wolves said, 'The sheep went there,' and they went and found him [the sheep] and ate him, and the dog ran away from lodging to lodging and could not find any rest at all. Immediately, he went to Adam, who accepted him and lay down to lodge with him. At midnight, the dog said to Adam, 'I hear footsteps!' Immediately, Adam stood up and took up the spear and went with the dog, and they chased the animals until they had made them run away, and the two of them returned together. Adam said to the dog, 'Come with me to my home, and live with me and eat my food and drink my water.' So he went with him. When the cat heard the dog's voice, he came out to greet him. He said to him, 'Why have you come to me?' He said to him, 'Adam brought me.' They began to quarrel. Adam said to the cat, 'Why are you fighting with him? I brought him, because I saw that he is completely loyal.' He [Adam] said to him [the cat], 'Do not worry! You will remain with me as before.' He said to him, 'My master, he is a thief. Is it right to live with a thief?' The cat said to the dog, 'Why did you break your oath?' He said to him, 'I will not come into your residence, I will not eat what you have, I will not harm you at all.' He would not listen to him, so they began to quarrel. When the dog saw that it was so, he immediately ran to Seth's house and lived with him. The dog would try to make peace with the cat, but the cat would not agree, and from that moment until today they have remained enemies. And the practice of the ancestors is the practice of the descendants, whether wild animals, domesticated animals, or people. And they say this parable about them: 'One ewe follows another.'" 43 He said to him, "Why can the dog recognize his owner but the cat does not?" He said to him, "Anyone who eats from food that a mouse has eaten forgets his studies (Horayot 13a), so a cat who eats the mouse itself, how much more likely is it to be unable to recognize its owner!" 44 He said to him, "Why are there 'stitches' on a mouse's mouth?" He said to him, "During the days of the Flood, the creeping animals entered the ark, male and female. Once the mouse was sitting with his female companion near the cat. The cat said, 'I remember that my father ate him, and I am permitted to eat his offspring...' Immediately he went to eat him. The mouse ran away and was looking for a hole to hide, but could not find one. Immediately a miracle was done for him, and he found a hole and entered there. The cat came to the hole and wanted to enter after him, but he could not because the hole was too small. He put his paw in to take him out, the mouse opened his mouth, and he caught his cheeks with his claws, and below his mouth it was torn about half a finger-width. When the cat left, the mouse exited the hole and went to Noah and said to him, 'Righteous man, do a righteous act for me, and stitch up my cheeks which my enemy the cat has torn.' He said to him, 'Go bring me a hair from the pig's tail [so he went to the pig, and found him asleep, and stole hair from his tail], and he went to Noah and he stitched it, and until today the stitches can be seen." 45 He said to him, "Why does the raven dance while it walks?" He said to him, "Once, the raven saw the dove walking well, with a finer walk than any other bird. He admired the dove's walk, and said to himself, 'I will also walk the way she does!' And he would work hard at copying her walk, and the other birds made fun of him. The raven got embarrassed and said, 'I will go back to my original walk.' He tried to go back, but he could not, because he forgot his original walk, and he seemed like a dancer, and he could manage neither his original walk nor the new one. And they say the parable about this: One who tries to grasp more ends up holding less. So he was left with nothing." 46 He said to him, "And why does the raven release semen from his mouth?" He said to him, "The Sages of Israel disagreed about this. Some said that because he mated on the ark, he was made different (and likewise, the dog was decreed to become tied during mating), while some said that because he is wicked, a thief, and damaging, therefore he was made different from all creatures. One Sage came and said to the disagreeing Sages, 'I will support your arguments.' He said, 'In the ark, when Noah wanted to send him to see whether the waters had receded, he slipped away from Noah and went under the eagle's wing, so that Noah would not send him. They searched for him and found him under the eagle's wing. Noah said to him, "Wicked one, go out of the ark and see if the waters have lessened from upon the land." He said to him, "Of all the birds, you only found me?!" He said to him, "I only have permission to send out two, whose Hebrew names begin with ayin and yod: raven and dove." He said to him, "But why the raven, and not the eagle and the dove?" He said to him, "Because there is one city and its name is Ai, and its residents will in the future kill Jair, who prohibited the raven and permitted the dove." The raven said to Noah brazenly, "You only send me in order to kill me and to mate with my wife, and for this reason everything that you brought into the ark is two by two, and I am part of a couple." Immediately, Noah cursed him and said to him, "By the thing about which you are slandering me falsely, you will be cursed, for you will never mate with your female partner except with your mouth!" And all the animals that were on the ark answered and said, "Amen!" The raven said to him, "Why have you cursed me? I have a legal case against you!" He said to him, "Because you are promiscuous and a fool and you suspect innocent people." He [Noah] said to him, "Wicked one! Even my wife, who is in my form, in my image, and permitted to me, I am not intimate with, so your female partner, who is not in my form, and in contrast is even prohibited to me, how could I be intimate?!" He said to him, "And why did you tell me 'You are promiscuous?'" He said to him, "You certainly are promiscuous, as your words prove, and I have not slandered you falsely." From that time on, the raven used his mouth for mating, as Noah had cursed him.'" 47 He said to him, "Why is it that all species on land have their parallel in the sea except for the species of fox (and weasel) which are not in the sea?" He said to him, "Because the fox is intelligent, and when the Holy Blessed One created the Angel of Death and he saw the creatures, he said to Them, 'Ruler of the world, give me permission to kill them.' They said to him, 'You have permission for any of the creatures and their offspring except for the offspring of Malchas the bird, who must not experience death [and therefore he is called Malchas the bird, for he has compassion (chas) on his life to escape (lehimalet) from sin.] He said to Them, 'Master of the world, separate them, because they are righteous, so that they do not learn the habits of the other creatures and sin before you, so they will not experience sin.' Immediately, They gave him permission, and he built them a large city and brought them into it, and sealed the doors of that city and said, 'It is decreed that my sword will not rule over you, nor the sword of another, and you will not experience death until the end of all generations.' Afterwards, he returned to before the Holy Blessed One. They said to him, 'Throw into the sea some of all the creatures, pair by pair, and what remains you will rule over.' Immediately he did this, and was throwing into the sea some pairs from all the species and drowning them in the sea. When the fox saw this, what did he do? Immediately he stood and was crying. The Angel of Death said, 'Why are you crying?' He said to him, 'For my friends, who you threw into the sea.' He said to him, 'And where are your friends?' Immediately the fox stood on the seashore and the Angel of Death saw the fox's reflection in the sea and thought that he had thrown in a pair other than him. He said to him, 'Get away from here.' Immediately the fox ran away and escaped. The weasel ran into him, and he told him what had happened and what he had done. The weasel went and did it too, and escaped. After a year, Leviathan gathered up all the creatures in the sea, and the fox and the weasel were missing, for they had not entered the sea. He sent for them, and they told him what the fox had done, and that he and the weasel had escaped through their wisdom, and they said to him that he was extremely wise. And when Leviathan heard about him that he was intelligent, he was jealous of him and sent after him big fish and commanded them to steal his intelligence and bring it to him. They went and found him strolling along the seashore. When the fox saw that the fish were playing on the seashore, he was astounded and entered among them. When they saw him, they asked him, 'Who are you?' He said to them, 'I am a fox.' They said to him, 'Do you know that a great honor is coming to you, and that we have come for you?' He said to them, 'What is it?' They said to him, 'Leviathan is sick, and close to death. He has commanded that nobody but the fox should rule in his place, because he has heard that you are wiser and more understanding than all other creatures. So come with us, for we are messengers and have come for your honor.' He said to them, 'But how could I enter the sea and not die?' They said to him, 'You will ride on one of us, and he will carry you over the sea, and the sea will not wet even the edge of your paw, until you reach the royal residence, and we will bring you down, and you will not even notice [how] and you will rule over everything, and you will be king, and you will be happy all your days, and you will not need to seek out food anymore or have evil animals larger than you attack and eat you.' When he heard their words, he believed them, and he rode on one of them, and they carried him over the sea. When the waves came over him, he began to get uncomfortable. His mind left him and he said, 'Oy, what have I done? The fish have tricked me in return for all the tricks I played on other creatures, and now I have fallen into their hands, and how can I be saved from their hands?' He said to them, 'Now that I have come with you and I am in your possession, tell me the truth. Why do you want me?' They said to him, 'We will tell you the truth. Leviathan heard your reputation, that you are the wisest, and he said, "I will tear his belly and eat his heart and I will become wise."' He said to them, 'Why did you not tell me the truth? I would have brought my heart with me, and I would have given it to King Leviathan and he would have honored me. But now you are making a mistake.' They said to him, 'Your heart is not with you?' He said to them, 'No, for our custom is such that we leave our hearts in our residences while we travel here and there. If we need it, we bring it; otherwise, it remains in our residence.' They said to him, 'So now what will we do?' He said to them, 'My residence, my lodging, is on the seashore. If you want, bring me back to the place where you took me from, and I will get my heart and I will come with you and I will give it to Leviathan, so he will honor me and he will honor you too. But if you bring me like this, with no heart, he will be angry with you and he will eat you. For myself, I am not afraid, because I can tell him, "My master, they did not tell me ahead of time, and when they did tell me about you I told them to go back with me so I could get my heart, but they did not want to."' Immediately, the fish said, 'What he says makes sense.' So they returned to the place from where they had taken him, to the seashore, and he descended off from the fish, and he started dancing and throwing himself onto the sand and laughing. They said to him, 'Quickly, get your heart and we will go!' He said to them, 'Go away, fools! If my heart had not been with me, I could not have gone into the sea with you! Do you know any creature that can walk around without its heart?' They said to him, 'You have tricked us.' He said to them, 'Oh, fools. I tricked the Angel of Death, how much more so you!' Immediately, they returned embarrassed, and told him [Leviathan] this. He said to them, 'Truly, he is clever and you are simpletons, and about you it is said: (Proverbs 1:32) "The complacency of fools will kill them." And he ate them. And from that time forward, all the species from all of creation, even Adam and his wife, exist in the sea, except for the fox and the weasel, which are not in the sea."

Death and the Garden of Eden

48 He said to him, "Why does the angel of death have dominion over all creatures except for the descendants of Malchas the Bird?" He said to him, "It is not just the descendants of Malchas the Bird over which the angel of death has no dominion, but even the descendants of Jonadab, and some say that human beings entered the Garden of Eden alive." 49 He said to him, "Who were they?" He said to him, "Enoch; and Serah daughter of Asher; and Bithiah daughter of Pharaoh; and Hiram, King of Tyre; and Eliezer, servant of Abraham; and Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian; and the servant of Rabbi Judah; and Jabez; and Rabbi Joshua ben Levi; and all the descendants of Jonadab; and all the descendants of Malchas the Bird." He said to him, ["And why?" He said to him,] "I will tell you: Enoch- because he was righteous in his generation, for nobody was like him, and he lives in the Garden of Eden. Eliezer, servant of Abraham- he is the son of Ham, son of Noah, and when he heard the curse of his father, he gave himself over to Abraham and became righteous and he is in the Garden of Eden. Serah daughter of Asher- because she told Jacob, 'Joseph is alive.' Jacob said to her, 'This mouth that informed me about Joseph being alive will not experience death.' Bithiah daughter of Pharaoh- because she raised Moses our teacher from his infancy, so that they do not say, 'what was her reward for that?' Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian- who saved Jeremiah from the muddy pit. The servant of Rabbi Judah the Patriarch- because he was righteous, humble, and modest. Jabez- he is in the Garden of Eden too, because he was the most righteous from his whole generation. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi- for he too was completely righteous, and beloved by the angel of death. Once he said to the angel of death, 'Show me the Garden of Eden.' He said to him, 'With pleasure!' He walked with him on the way. He said to him, 'I am afraid of you- perhaps you will kill me with your sword unintentionally. If you love me and want me to come with you, let me hold your blade while I walk with you and you show me the Garden of Eden properly, so that I can look into its rooms from the gate.' He said to him, 'Very well,' and immediately he brought him. What did Rabbi Joshua do? He stood in the entryway to the Garden of Eden and began looking and suddenly jumped and entered the Garden of Eden. The angel of death's blade was in his hand too, and he held it for seven years until the Holy Blessed One said to him, 'Joshua ben Levi, you have done a serious thing. Return the angel of death's blade.' And when he had jumped from before the angel of death and entered the Garden of Eden, the angel of death had shouted a great shout, and had wanted to destroy the world, but God had quieted him. And after seven years, he returned it (the blade) to him. Hiram, King of Tyre- the Holy Blessed One gave him entry to the Garden of Eden because he built the Temple. He was originally God-fearing, and was made to live in the Garden of Eden for a thousand years, but afterwards he became arrogant and said, 'I am a god.' As it says: (Ezekiel 28:2) "Mortal man, say..." And therefore he was expelled from the Garden of Eden and he entered Gehinnom. The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab- because he wrote all the matters that are in the book of Jeremiah, and he was righteous and reproved Israel, and he lives in the Garden of Eden. And the descendants of Malchas the Bird- when Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge and gave to her husband too and he ate with her, she grew jealous of the other creatures and fed it to all of them. She saw Malchas the Bird and she said to him, 'Eat from this, which your friends have eaten from.' He said to her, 'Is it not enough for you that you have sinned to Blessed Hashem, and that you have caused others to die, that you are also coming to me to entice me to break the command of the Holy Blessed One, so I will eat it and I will die? I am not listening to you.' And then he reproved Eve and all the creatures. A heavenly voice immediately called out and said to Eve and to Adam, 'You are commanded, but you did not observe, and you sinned, and you came to Malchas the Bird to make him sin too, and he refused, and he feared Me, even though I had not commanded him, and he kept my decree. Therefore, eternally, he will not experience death, neither him nor his descendants." 50 He said to him, "And why does the eagle reach closer to the firmament than any other bird?" He said to him, "When they left the ark, the (female) eagle was standing with another bird in front of her, and she wanted to eat it. All the animals said, 'One who wants to eat his companion deserves the death penalty!' They hit her and shaved her wings and threw her into a lions' den. The Holy Blessed One protected her, and the lions did not kill her. After a year, her wings grew, and she flew away. The birds caught her and tried to kill her, but the raven used trickery to help her escape. He had sex with her and she became pregnant by him, and gave birth to an eagle, and that is why it is called an eagle [nesher]. And the raven is called raven ['orev] because he mixed ['irbev] his seed in all directions, due to the magnitude of his promiscuity. All the animals were searching for her, and a miracle was done and the Holy Blessed One manifested Their Shechinah over her so that his creation should not go extinct, and gave her the strength to fly above all the birds. Therefore it is called an eagle [nesher], because the Holy Blessed One manifested [hishrah] Their Shechinah over her. That is why she flies above, up to the firmament, so that her enemies will not catch her and kill her, wiping out one kind of the Holy Blessed One's creatures from the world." He said to him, "Blessed is the One who distributes Their wisdom to those who fear Them, and has revealed secret, deep matters." 51 The book of Ben Sira is complete

The Aramaic Alphabet and Its Commentary

1 Alef. Honor the doctor before you need him. (See the Wisdom of Ben Sira 38:1.) A person should always pray before trouble comes. If our father Abraham had not prayed before trouble came, not a single Israelite would have survived in the days of Joshua son of Nun. When did Abraham pray before trouble came? After leaving his ancestral home, as it says, 'He continued on his journeys from the Negev to Bethel.' What was the appeal Abraham made? Joseph son of Uzziel, Ben Sira's grandson, for Uzziel was his son, said: Our father Abraham knew what Achan would eventually do, and he saw in prophecy that not a single Israelite would survive. He therefore called on the name of the Lord and said, 'Master of the worlds, answer me! Nahor and Haran never knew your name, never followed your ways, and never left their ancestral home, yet their children and grandchildren will live and inherit land. I left my father's house and did not disobey your command, yet my children have been sentenced to destruction.' The Holy One, blessed be he, said to him, 'My son, a decree has already been written against your children: only one will remain, named Jair son of Manasseh, and I will multiply his descendants as the descendants of Jacob. But now that you have prayed to me before trouble came, only Jair son of Manasseh will be killed, so that Israel will not be destroyed.' Immediately, 'Abram traveled on, continuing toward the Negev.' So, among the Israelites between Bethel and Ai, where Abraham had prayed before trouble came, only Jair son of Manasseh was killed. It says, 'The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them.' The verse should have said 'thirty-six men.' Why does it say 'about thirty-six men'? It means Jair son of Manasseh, who was equal to thirty-six members of the Sanhedrin, a majority of that court. (Sanhedrin 44a.) When Jair son of Manasseh was killed, the Israelites therefore trembled, fell facedown, and said, 'How terrible for us! There was no one in Israel like him. How terrible for us! What will happen to us?' Immediately, 'The people's hearts melted and became like water.' So a person should pray before trouble comes. Send the doctor a gift too. When you become ill, he will remember your kindness and be willing to visit you. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Honor the doctor before you need him.' 2 Bet. A son who is no son: leave him on the water and let him float. Always discipline your son strictly and beat him. If you see that beating does him no good, leave him alone. If he pursues you, take him out to be stoned. If you can make nothing of him but a stubborn and rebellious son, throw him into the river and feed the fish. These are the words of Uzziel, Ben Sira's son. But Joseph son of Uzziel says: Can a person really kill his own son? What should someone with an unworthy son do? Leave him alone. If he sees that his son has fallen into a pit, he should not pull him out, but let him drown, and afterward weep and mourn for him. This is what David did: while Absalom pursued him, David left him alone, until the Holy One, blessed be he, punished Absalom and his head was caught in an oak. David did not rescue him, but sent someone to kill him, and afterward wept and mourned for him, so that people would not think that he had set out to kill him. A rebellious son is therefore dealt with according to Joseph son of Uzziel, Ben Sira's grandson. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'A son who is no worthy son: leave him on the water and let him float.' 3 Gimel. Gnaw the bone that falls to your share, [whether good or bad]. Only marry a woman of good family, even if you find her with nothing to wear. Do not marry a woman unsuitable for you, even if she wears silver and gold ornaments. If someone marries for money, one month comes and another goes, and the money is gone, as it says, 'They have betrayed the Lord, for they have fathered foreign children; now a month will consume their portions.' (Hosea 5:7.) You might say that marrying for money is not a sin, but the verse already says, 'They have betrayed the Lord.' You might say that the children born to her will be of good family, and that he will acquire much property, but it already says, 'Now a month will consume their portions.' You might say that their wealth will take a long time to disappear, but it already says 'a month,' a short time, as Radak explains. You might say that the Holy One, blessed be he, will destroy her property but not his, but it already says 'their portions.' Moreover, anyone who marries for money will never have a happy day with her. If he cannot marry a woman of good family, let him marry a freedwoman, because she is his destined partner, even if she is harder on him than Jezebel was on Ahab or Korah's wife was on Korah, for they destroyed their husbands. If he does not divorce her, he has done well, because on her account he will not be brought to judgment. We have learned that four kinds of suffering exempt a person from judgment: grinding poverty, intestinal illness, the government, and having a bad wife whom he does not divorce. (Eruvin 41b; there the wording is that these drive a person out of his own mind and away from his Creator.) If he divorces her, he has not done well, because fortune will not favor him afterward. Moreover, the world grows dark for him when he divorces her. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Gnaw the bone that falls to your share, whether good or bad.' 4 Dalet. Gold needs hammering, and a boy needs beating. Always discipline your son strictly, and do not spare him a beating each day, so that he will fear you. Just as gold needs hammering, a boy needs beating so that you can teach him the words of Torah, which are compared to bread: 'Not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the Lord.' Just as gold shines beautifully when you hammer it well, a boy will turn out well if you beat him well. So beat your son, so that he will fear you. If Saul son of Kish had not beaten his sons regularly, his son Jonathan would have pursued him when Saul said to him, 'Son of a perverse, rebellious woman!' But because Jonathan feared Saul, he did not pursue his father. How do we know that Saul beat his son Jonathan? It says, 'Saul hurled the spear at him to strike him,' and it also says, 'You will certainly die, Jonathan.' King David, peace be upon him, did not discipline or beat his sons, and so Absalom rose against him to kill him. How do we know that David did not discipline his son? It is written, 'His father had never upset him by asking why he had done it.' Our father Abraham too, if he had not beaten his sons and his household, would have been killed by Ishmael when he said to them, 'Stay here with the donkey,' meaning those who resemble the donkey. Isaac, peace be upon him, would have killed his father when he was bound on the altar. Eliezer would have broken his oath, and the sons of the concubines would have killed Abraham when he sent them away from his son Isaac. But they all feared him. How do we know that his sons and his household feared him? It says, 'For I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him.' So make sure your sons fear you, and do not spare them a beating, as it says, 'Do not withhold discipline from a boy.' This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Gold needs hammering, and a boy needs beating.' 5 He. Be good, and do not hold yourself back from your share of good things. Always fear Heaven in private, but do not make a show of it to others, because people will mock you and call you a fool. Solomon said, 'Do not be excessively righteous,' and it is also written, 'Do not be excessively wicked,' so that people will not call you wicked. Instead, take the middle course, like Saul king of Israel. Both sayings were applied to him. When he spared Agag, a heavenly voice declared, 'Do not be excessively righteous.' When he killed the people of Nob, the city of priests, a heavenly voice declared, 'Do not be excessively wicked.' When he removed the mediums and spiritists, a heavenly voice answered, 'Do not be excessively righteous.' When he went to consult a woman who was a medium, a heavenly voice answered, 'Do not be excessively wicked.' You might think that taking the middle course meant that he was not righteous, but it already says, 'No man among the Israelites was better than he was.' It also says, 'Saul was a year old when he became king.' But he already had children! 'A year old' means like a one-year-old who has never experienced sin. (Yoma 22b.) 'And he reigned two years over Israel' means that he reigned for two years without sin. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Be good, and do not hold yourself back from your share of good things.' 6 Vav. Misery for the wicked, and misery for those who attach themselves to them. Never live among wicked people, because they will inform against you. If this surprises you, consider Jephthah the Gileadite. He was righteous, but lived among the tribe of Ephraim, and they made him wicked. He saw them burning their sons and daughters for Baal, and did the same: he went and killed his daughter. He saw that they shed blood, and did the same: he went and killed forty-two thousand of them. So he became wicked and did not receive a proper burial. When he died and they buried him, they immediately found his bones scattered everywhere. It says, 'He was buried in the cities of Gilead,' teaching that his bones were scattered through all the cities of Gilead. Wherever people saw his bones, they buried them. Was he the only person punished because of wicked neighbors? Naboth the Jezreelite was punished too, because Ahab was thoroughly wicked, killed his neighbor, and led everyone who listened to him into sin. About this Ben Sira said: 'Misery for the wicked, and misery for those who attach themselves to them,' like the saying, 'Misery for the wicked, and misery for their neighbor.' 7 Zayin. Throw your bread on the water [and on dry land], and you will find it at the end of your days. ('Cast your bread,' Ecclesiastes 11:1.) Always keep your table set for anyone who comes, so that you will be worthy of the Divine Presence resting on you. If this surprises you, consider the old man named Micah, whom people called an idolater. Because his table was open to everyone, he merited having the Holy One, blessed be he, bring him back to life when the Israelites left Egypt: he had already died, and Moses brought him back to life. He even merited prophecy, as it says, 'The word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.' (See Sanhedrin 101b.) Lot too, because he practiced eshel, merited prophecy and escaped the destruction of Sodom. What does eshel mean? It is an acronym for food, drink, and escorting guests on their way. Some say the last word means lodging for anyone who comes. There was a man with a son whom he taught every day: 'Throw your bread on the water, and you will find it at the end of your days.' Eventually the man died, and the boy remembered his father's command, 'Throw your bread on the water.' Every day he took bread and threw it into the sea. Once Elijah, of blessed memory, appeared to him as an old man. The boy said to him, 'This is what my father commanded me: Throw your bread on the water.' Elijah said to him, 'Wasn't the lesson he taught you, Cast your bread on the surface of the water? Bread is like salt: just as bread cannot be eaten without salt, the world cannot survive without bread.' From then on he took a piece of bread each day, went to the river, and threw it into the water. After Elijah warned him, he no longer threw away all his bread, but only a piece. A fish waiting in that place ate the bread. The boy did this every day until the fish grew enormously large. It tormented the other fish there, until all the fish of the sea gathered and came to Leviathan. They said, 'Our master, there is a fish here that has grown very large, and we cannot live alongside it. In its strength it eats twenty or more of us each day.' Leviathan immediately sent for it. He sent a fish, and it ate the messenger; he sent another messenger, and it ate that one too, until Leviathan himself came to it. He said, 'Where did you grow so large?' It answered, 'At the riverbank.' He said, 'These fish live in the sea and do not grow so large, but you have grown like this at the water's edge?' It said, 'Yes, because a person brings me a piece of bread every day, and I eat it morning and noon. In the morning I eat twenty fish, and in the evening thirty.' Leviathan asked, 'Why do you eat your companions?' It answered, 'Because they come to me and I eat them. About them it is said, Do not ignore your own flesh.' Leviathan said, 'Go and bring that person to me.' It answered, 'Tomorrow.' The fish went and dug beneath the place the boy regularly visited, made a tunnel, and put its mouth into the opening. The next day the boy came as usual and tried to stand there, but fell into the water. The fish opened its mouth, swallowed him, carried him into the sea, and brought him to Leviathan. Leviathan said, 'Spit him out.' It spat him out, and he left that fish's mouth and fell into Leviathan's mouth. Leviathan said, 'My son, why did you throw your bread into the water?' He answered, 'Because from childhood my father taught me, Cast your bread on the surface of the water.' What did Leviathan do? He took him out of his mouth, kissed him, taught him seventy languages and the whole Torah, and threw him over three hundred parasangs of water to dry land. He landed in a place where no one had walked. Exhausted after his fall, he looked up and saw two ravens flying above him. One said to its father, 'Father, look at this person. Is he alive or dead?' The father answered, 'I do not know, my son.' The young raven said, 'I will go down and eat his eye, because I crave human eyes.' Its father said, 'My son, do not go down. He may be alive.' But the son said, 'I will go down and eat his eyes.' It immediately flew down. The man understood what they were saying to each other, and when it landed on his forehead, he reached out and caught it by the feet. The raven cried to its father, 'Father, father, know that the Lord has given me into his hand! I cannot get up.' When its father heard this, it cried and wept, saying, 'How terrible for my son!' It cried out, 'You human being, let my son go! May you understand my language. Get up and dig underneath you, and you will find a treasure of Solomon king of Israel.' He immediately released the son, dug beneath him, and found Solomon's treasure of precious stones and pearls, until both he and his sons became rich. About this Ben Sira said: 'Spread out your bread and your table; give to everyone who comes.' 8 Het. Have you seen a black donkey? Neither a black one nor a white one. Always teach your tongue to say, 'I do not know,' so that you are not caught in a falsehood. If someone comes and asks whether you have seen a particular lost object, say that you have not, even if you have seen it, because of the danger involved. There was a man standing on a public road when a gentile came and asked him, 'Have you seen an entirely white donkey here?' He answered, 'I saw an entirely white donkey with black ears.' The gentile asked, 'Which road did it take?' He answered, 'That road.' The gentile went along it and searched, but did not find the donkey. He returned and said, 'Come with me, and the two of us will search until we find it.' They went together but did not find the donkey. He said, 'Give me back my donkey! You stole it.' He immediately went to the city's governor and said, 'This man stole a white donkey worth a hundred dinars from me.' The governor collected a hundred dinars from the man for the donkey. The donkey's owner then made another claim, telling the governor, 'I had a cloak on the donkey worth fifty gold pieces, with two hundred dinars tied inside it.' The governor collected a total of four hundred dinars from him. So Ben Sira said: 'Teach your tongue to say, I do not know; that is worth gold and silver.' Uzziel said: If someone knows how to turn aside a question, that is best; otherwise, let him keep quiet. This is why the sages discouraged excessive speech and said, 'I have found nothing better for the body than silence.' No body is good unless it practices silence. Just as the sages prescribed silence because of the donkey, they prescribed it for an ox, a sheep, a garment, and every lost object in the world. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Have you seen a black donkey? Neither a black one nor a white one.' 9 Tet. Do no good to the wicked, and evil will not reach you. Whenever you see a wicked person, do not travel on the same road with him or do him any favor. Because of the favor Jacob did for the wicked Esau when he sent him that gift and instructed his messengers, 'This is what you shall say to my lord Esau: Your servant Jacob says this,' the Holy One, blessed be he, said to Jacob, 'I said, The older will serve the younger, but you said, Your servant Jacob, and made him your master. I will uphold your words: he will rule over you in this world, and you will rule over him in the world to come.' Jacob said before him, 'Master of the worlds, it is openly known to you that I did this out of fear.' The Holy One, blessed be he, said, 'Then turn back and do not travel on the same road with him.' Jacob said, 'Master of the worlds, I cannot separate from him, because I am afraid of him.' The Holy One, blessed be he, said, 'Lot was completely righteous and studied Torah, yet Abraham still refused to travel on the same road with him. Instead he said, If you go left, I will go right; if you go right, I will go left. Will you not separate from your brother Esau, who is thoroughly wicked?' What did Jacob do? He went and separated from him, as it says, 'Let my lord go ahead of his servant.' It also says, 'That day Esau returned on his way to Seir,' and, 'Jacob traveled to Sukkoth.' They said about Jacob that because he had traveled on the same road with Esau, all his livestock and animals died, and only one year-old ewe remained to him through the merit of his grandfather Abraham. Because Jacob instructed his messengers to tell Esau, 'Your servant Jacob is behind us,' we serve Esau's descendants today. How do we know that only one ewe remained? It says, 'He made shelters for his livestock.' Could a person make a shelter for each animal? Rather, it teaches that only one ewe remained, and he loved her so much that he made two shelters for her: she stayed in one by day and the other by night. So do not do a favor for a wicked person. Just as you should not travel on the same road with him, do not make a shelter for him either. There was a man traveling to the land of Israel. He looked up and saw two ravens, a father and son, quarreling. The father said to its son, 'Why do you not listen to me? When you told me that you wanted to eat the eyes of the man traveling through the field, I told you not to go down to him or eat his eyes, because he might be alive, and every human being is very cunning. But you said he was dead, refused to listen, went down, and were caught. You cried out loudly to me, and I pitied you. Because I saw your great distress, I showed him the treasure, as you saw. You refuse to listen to me about other things too.' The raven reproached its son about this, but the son refused to listen. The father became furious, rushed at its son in anger, and killed it. Then its anger subsided. Once its anger had subsided, it regretted everything it had done to its son. It quickly flew away, brought a plant in its beak, placed it on its son, and brought it back to life. The two went away together. The man had seen everything the raven did. He took the plant, hid it, and continued on his way. As he traveled, he looked up again and saw two birds fighting until one fell on the other and killed it. The living bird immediately flew away. The man sat where he was to see what the living bird would do for its dead companion: would it bring it back to life as the raven had done for its son? He waited there for two hours, until he saw the living bird return quickly with the plant in its beak. It placed it on the dead bird and revived it, and both flew into the air and went away together in peace. When the man saw what the bird had done with the plant, he said, 'I will take this plant and see whether it is like the other one I took from the raven.' He took it, saw that the two were alike, and said, 'Why am I standing here? I will take this plant, since it has been tested twice, and use it to revive the dead in the land of Israel.' As he traveled, he found a dead lion lying on the road. He said, 'I will take some of this plant, put it on the lion, and see whether I can revive it.' He immediately took some of the plant, placed it on the lion, and revived it. The lion immediately stood up, killed the man, and ate until it was full. Those two ravens stood over the man and said, 'How terrible for you! How terrible for you! You took the plant to your own harm.' This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Do no good to the wicked, and evil will not reach you.' 10 Yod. Do not hold your hand back from kindness. Never hold your hand back from giving a small coin to a poor person, or close your ears to his cry and plea. If someone withholds a small coin from a poor person, the Holy One, blessed be he, withholds good things from him, strips him of his property, and brings him into poverty. Property is like coins: just as coins are round, wealth turns like a wheel as it moves through the world. Anyone who shuts his eyes to a poor person's cry will himself cry out and receive no answer. If he gives charity to a poor person, the Holy One, blessed be he, gives charity to him, as it says, 'One who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.' Moreover, Scripture credits anyone who gives a small coin to a poor person as though he had built an altar and offered a sacrifice on it. When the Temple stood, a person gave his shekel and obtained atonement. Now that our sins have left us without the Temple, a person gives charity to the poor and obtains atonement for all his offenses. (Sukkah 49b.) Rabbi Yose said: Come and see how the ways of the Holy One, blessed be he, differ from human ways. A person brings a gift to a king, but it may or may not be accepted. Even if it is accepted, he may or may not see the king. Even if he sees the king, the king may or may not grant his request. Even if the king grants his request, he may or may not leave safely. But the Holy One, blessed be he, is different: anyone who gives charity to a poor person sees the face of the Holy One, blessed be he, as it says, 'In righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with your likeness.' They said about David king of Israel that he gave charity to a poor person every day. When he entered synagogues and study houses, he likewise gave charity and said, 'In righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with your likeness.' Someone who gives charity to a poor person should also comfort him with words. The giver receives six blessings (Bava Batra 9b): 'Then your light will break out like the dawn; your healing will quickly spring up; your righteousness will go before you; the glory of the Lord will guard your rear; then you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry out and he will say, Here I am; if you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing finger and harmful speech.' These are six blessings. They also said that someone who gives charity and comforts the poor person with words receives thirteen blessings: 'If you offer yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted person, your light will rise in darkness; your gloom will be like noon; the Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy you in dry places; he will strengthen your bones; you will be like a watered garden; like a spring whose waters never fail; your people will rebuild ancient ruins; you will raise up the foundations of generations; you will be called repairer of the breach, restorer of roads to live beside.' Anyone giving charity to the poor should comfort the recipient with words and give privately. Giving charity in secret is greater than Moses our teacher, peace be upon him. Of Moses it is written, 'For I was afraid of the anger and fury,' but of someone giving charity in secret it is written, 'A gift in secret subdues anger.' The anger here means the Angel of Death, as we find with Benjamin the Righteous, who regularly gave charity in secret and recovered from his illness: his charitable gifts subdued the Angel of Death. The Angel of Death even left his house, unable to exercise power over him, and twenty-two years were added to his life. Benjamin the Righteous was in charge of a charity fund. A woman with seven sons came to him and said, 'Rabbi, support me.' (For the appeal 'Rabbi, support me,' see Hagigah 15b; Ketubot 66b; Bava Batra 8a.) He said, 'The charity fund is empty.' She answered, 'If you do not support me, my children and I will die.' He immediately supported her privately from his own money. Some time later Benjamin the Righteous fell ill and was close to death. The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be he, 'Master of the worlds, you said that whoever preserves one Israelite life is regarded as preserving the whole world. Yet Benjamin the Righteous, who kept this widow and her seven sons alive and gave them charity in secret, is suffering the pain of death.' The ministering angels pleaded for mercy for him, tore up his death sentence, and added twenty-two years to his life. So do not hold your hand back from charity. Someone who has nothing to give should comfort the poor person with words, console him in his poverty, and say, 'May God have mercy on you.' Anyone who can give and does so, comforting the recipient with words, receives the thirteen blessings mentioned above. His life is prolonged and years are added to it. (See Shabbat 156b; Bava Batra 10b; Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbat 6:9.) He escapes an unnatural death and the judgment of Gehinnom. He has sons who give charity, possess wisdom, good judgment, Torah learning, and good character, and fulfill all the commandments in the world. He is saved from snakes, scorpions, harmful spirits, and every kind of destroyer. Once Joseph and Uzziel were traveling and saw two poor people coming down from a mountain, carrying wood on their heads. Joseph said to Uzziel, 'I see a boy here with wood on his head and a scorpion among it, but the scorpion has not been permitted to sting him.' He called the boy and asked, 'Have you done any charitable act on this journey?' The boy answered, 'An orphan boy came to the synagogue with me. He had nothing to eat, so I gave him some of my bread and he ate with me.' They said, 'How fortunate you are to have been saved from death!' This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Do not hold your hand back from kindness.' 11 Kaf. The bride entered the wedding canopy without knowing what would happen to her. Never announce anything without adding, 'If God decrees it,' meaning 'If God wills.' There was a man who said, 'Tomorrow I will sit with my fiancee under the wedding canopy and join her.' People told him, 'Say, If God decrees it.' He answered, 'Whether God decrees it or not, tomorrow I will sit with my fiancee under my wedding canopy.' He did so: he entered the canopy with his fiancee and sat with her all day. At night they both went to bed, and before he could have intercourse with his fiancee, both died. The next day they were found dead together. People said, 'Ben Sira spoke truly: The bride entered the wedding canopy without knowing what would happen to her.' From this they said: Anyone who wants to do something should say, 'If God decrees it.' If he does not say this, he will never succeed. There was also a very rich man with much land, but no oxen to plow it. What did he do? He took a purse containing a hundred dinars and went to a town to buy oxen or cows to plow his land. On the way he met Elijah, of blessed memory, who asked, 'Where are you going?' He answered, 'To a village to buy oxen or cows.' Elijah said, 'Say, If God decrees it.' He replied, 'Whether God decrees it or not, I have my money in my hand, and I will do what I need.' Elijah said, 'Not successfully.' The man continued on his way to do his business and dropped his purse. When he reached the cattle village to trade, he reached for the purse to pay, but found nothing. He immediately returned home bitterly distressed, took another sum of money, and went to a different village to avoid meeting Elijah. As he traveled, Elijah, of blessed memory, met him again, appearing as an old man, and asked, 'Where are you going?' He answered, 'To buy oxen.' Elijah said, 'Say, If God decrees it.' He replied, 'Whether God decrees it or not, I have my money in my hand and fear nothing.' The man continued on his way. Elijah made him sleepy, and he lay down on the road and slept. Elijah took the purse from his hand. When he woke, he found nothing and returned home dejected. He took money for a third time and set out. Elijah, of blessed memory, met him and asked, 'Where are you going?' He answered, 'To buy oxen, if God decrees it.' Elijah said, 'Go in peace and prosper.' Elijah immediately returned all his money, putting it into his purse without his knowing. He went to buy oxen and found two red cows without any blemish. He asked their owners, 'How much are these cows?' They answered, 'A hundred dinars.' He said, 'I do not have a hundred dinars with me.' Then he put his hand into his purse and found three hundred dinars. He immediately bought the cows, attended to everything he needed, and bought oxen to plow his land. Afterward he sold the cows to the king for a thousand gold dinars. So anyone who wants to do anything should say, 'If God decrees it,' because he does not know what will happen to him in this world between evening and morning. Ben Sira said, 'From morning to evening the world may be destroyed.' A person enters the wedding canopy without knowing what will happen before he enters [a reading has: before he leaves]. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'The bride entered the wedding canopy without knowing what would happen to her.' 12 Lamed. A hint for the wise, and a stick for a fool. (See Proverbs 22:15.) Never have dealings with a fool. If anything of yours falls into his hands, write it on a deer's horn, because you will never see it again. If a fool owes you anything, do not try to appease him or speak gently to him, but act forcefully. Speak to him with a stick, and with a stick recover everything of yours that he holds. Do not hint at anything, because he will not listen. We find this with Jehu son of Nimshi, king of Israel, who was an extreme fool. When Elisha, peace be upon him, sent Jonah son of Amittai to anoint Jehu as king, Jonah at first approached him only with a hint. Jonah found him sitting at a gathering, stood at the doorway, and signaled to him, but he did not understand. Jonah spoke to him, but he did not listen. The people sitting around him heard, but he heard nothing until Jonah took a stick and threw it after him. Then he listened, but did not come out to meet him, because he was lazy. Instead he asked, 'To which of us?' Jonah answered, 'To you, commander.' How do we know he was mad? It says, 'The driving is like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi, for he drives madly.' A wise person, however, understands everything in your mind from a hint. So do not signal to a fool except with a stick, as Ben Sira said: 'A hint for the wise, and a stick for a fool.' 13 Mem. Someone who honors those who despise him is like a donkey. Never honor the wicked, and never honor someone who despises you. Ahab son of Omri went and honored the wicked Ben-Hadad king of Aram. The prophet told him, 'Go and kill Ben-Hadad.' He went to him but refused to kill him; instead he spared his life and greatly honored him. Because of his great love for him, he made a covenant with him, gave him towns, all of Ramoth Gilead, and restored them to his kingdom. But Ben-Hadad was thoroughly wicked and despised the person who honored him. Eventually he thought, 'Why does Ahab son of Omri honor me? Only because he is afraid of me.' He broke the covenant he had made with him. That wicked man forgot Ahab's kindness, love, and great respect, rebelled against him, and immediately went to war against him. Moreover, he commanded his chariot officers not to fight anyone, small or great, until the king was killed. His servants did so, killed Ahab son of Omri, and repaid good with evil. So those who tell proverbs said, 'Anyone who honors his enemy will eventually die at his hand.' This is what happened to him. Saul king of Israel likewise spared Agag, kept him alive, and greatly honored him. As a result, the wicked Haman descended from Agag and sought to destroy, kill, and wipe out all the Jews. He had no pity on them and did not remember Saul's compassion for his ancestor Agag. There was also a very rich man with no one to inherit his property. An orphan boy who was a gentile lived nearby. The rich man thought, 'I will take in this orphan and raise him, and through him I will gain merit.' He immediately did so. The orphan lived with him for about three years, and attended to all the rich man's needs. When the orphan saw all his property and the wealth of his household, he thought, 'Now this man will die, and I will inherit everything.' One day he formed an evil plan: 'I will kill him and his wife, and everything will remain in my hands.' They were preparing a pot of food for a meal, and he put deadly poison into it. The man and his wife ate from it and both died. The orphan did not pity them as they had pitied him, and did not remember their kindness. Do not say that only this gentile did such a thing: an Israelite did so too. Joash king of Israel acted this way toward Jehoiada the priest. He acted as recorded in that account: he killed Jehoiada's son Zechariah and forgot his father's kindness. So Ben Sira said: 'Someone who honors those who despise him is like a donkey.' The word mevaserohi means 'those who despise him,' as the translation of 'because he despised the word of the Lord' is 'because he despised the saying of the Lord.' 14 Nun. A burning fire [another reading: a small, slight fire] burns many heaps of grain. Never inform against your companion. Someone who informs against his companion cannot make amends. A small fire burns many heaps of grain, for nothing destroys the world like malicious speech. A little malicious speech kills many righteous and faithful people. Because Doeg the Edomite spoke maliciously about David, many righteous and faithful people were killed: eighty-six men, their wives, children, little ones, and all their animals, the whole of Nob, the city of priests. They were not killed for any sin of theirs, neither forbidden sexual relations nor bloodshed, but because of malicious speech. [They were righteous people] who had given charity to David. They provided not only for David, but for all the people of Gibeon. Because Doeg saw Ahimelech give David food, he went and informed against him to the king, adding to what he had seen, as it says, 'He inquired of the Lord for him.' Why was he called Doeg? Because there was no one more wicked than he was. Moreover, because Ziba slandered his master, the Temple was destroyed. When David told Mephibosheth, 'You and Ziba shall divide the field,' a heavenly voice declared, 'Rehoboam and Jeroboam shall divide the kingdom.' (Shabbat 56b.) Because David accepted the slander, the Temple was destroyed and we were exiled from our land. About malicious speech Ben Sira said: 'A burning fire burns many heaps of grain.' 15 Samekh. An old person in the house is a good sign for the house. Always honor old people, and do not despise them. Anyone who honors old people, even if he is wicked, becomes God-fearing, as it says, 'Rise before gray hair, honor an old person's presence, and fear your God; I am the Lord.' From this they said: Anyone who honors an old person is regarded as honoring the Holy One, blessed be he. Without old people, the world could not survive. If old people tell you to demolish your house and make it a rubbish heap, demolish it on their advice. If young people tell you to build a house on a rubbish heap, reject their advice and do not build: the demolition advised by old people is building, and the building advised by young people is demolition. Do not act like Rehoboam son of Solomon, who followed the young men's advice, abandoned the old men's advice, destroyed the kingdom, and lost his rule. The world survives only because of old people and innocent schoolchildren. Any province without an old person deserves destruction. If you see that the old people have vanished from a city, disaster is coming to it, as it says, 'The righteous person is taken away from the coming evil.' If this surprises you, consider Lot. As long as Lot remained in Sodom, the city was not overturned or burned; this happened only after he left. How do we know? On the day the angels went to Sodom, they wanted to destroy it. Once they had shut the house, they wanted to destroy the city and began by striking its people with blindness, as it says, 'The men reached out their hands, brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.' They immediately struck the city's men, as it says, 'They struck the men at the doorway with blindness, small and great, so that they wore themselves out trying to find the entrance.' Because Lot was old and righteous, the angels delayed destroying it through that day and night, until he left the next morning, as it says, 'As dawn rose, the angels urged him.' Just as he delayed leaving the city, the angels delayed destroying it, because they could do nothing, as it says, 'Hurry, escape there, because I cannot do anything.' As soon as he had gone about three steps out of it, they began its destruction. How do we know Lot was old? It says, 'The older daughter said to the younger, Our father is old.' In the generation of the Flood too, the Flood did not come on the earth until Methuselah died. As long as Methuselah lived, the Holy One, blessed be he, held back the Flood. (Avot de-Rabbi Nathan, chapter 32; Sanhedrin 108b.) We find that Noah entered the ark and remained there, but the Flood did not come. Noah said before the Holy One, blessed be he, 'Master of the worlds, why have you brought me into the ark: to die or to live?' He answered, 'To live.' Noah said, 'If so, we are sitting in the ark and no flood is coming. We would be better off on dry land.' The Holy One, blessed be he, answered, 'I have an old person on the earth who is completely righteous. I cannot send the Flood until he dies.' Noah asked, 'Master of the worlds, who is this righteous person?' He answered, 'Your grandfather Methuselah.' Noah said, 'Then bring him in with us, and let the Flood come as you said.' God answered, 'He has only one week left to live. Then he will die and the Flood will come,' as it says, 'In seven more days I will send rain on the earth.' Once the seven days had passed, Methuselah died and the Flood came. From this they said: Because of even one completely righteous old person on the earth, the Holy One, blessed be he, does not bring disaster on the world. We find that because of Methuselah the Flood was delayed; after his death it came immediately, as it says, 'After seven days the waters of the Flood came on the earth.' You might object that Noah was righteous, yet the Flood came without any delay on his account. Some say that Noah was righteous in his own generations, but would not have been in another generation. The Holy One, blessed be he, said to him, 'I have seen you to be righteous before me in this generation': in this generation you are righteous, but not in another. Moreover, he was not old. Because of old people, good comes into the world; when they are taken away, evil comes. It says, 'The righteous person dies and no one takes it to heart; faithful people are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous person is taken away from the coming evil.' Anyone who listens to an old person's advice is saved from every trouble, as Ben Sira said: 'An old person in the house is a good sign for the house.' (See Rashi on Leviticus 27:7.) 16 Ayin. A good guarantor requires a hundred mornings; a bad one, a thousand thousand. Never entrust your money to someone who is very rich or very poor. To recover your money from a good, wealthy guarantor you must come early to his door a hundred times; from a bad, poor guarantor you cannot recover it even after a thousand thousand visits. Instead, choose someone moderate in piety and moderate in wealth: not a righteous son of a wicked person or a wicked son of a righteous person, but a good son of a righteous person, like Judah son of Jacob. Wasn't Judah son of Jacob completely righteous? Because he sold his brother Joseph and caused prophecy to be taken away from his father, he is called only a good son of a righteous person. It says, 'Judah said to his brothers, What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites.' Moreover, he slept with his daughter-in-law Tamar. If you take security from someone very rich, you will not be able to overcome him, because his great wealth prevents you from compelling him. If you take it from someone very poor, who has nothing, what can he give you? He belongs neither among the living nor among the dead. There was a man who wanted to entrust his money to different people. A good and very rich man came to him. He asked, 'Will you stand as guarantor for me?' The rich man agreed, and he entrusted the money to him. Eventually, when the time came, he said, 'Give me what I entrusted to you.' The rich man answered, 'Come tomorrow.' He went the next day, but the rich man gave him nothing. He said, 'Come next week, and I will give you your money.' The man did so, but received nothing. He went from month to month, from week to week, and from day to day, arriving early at the door more than a hundred times, but was given nothing. Finally he said, 'Doesn't Scripture say, Do not tell your neighbor, Go away and come back; tomorrow I will give it, when you have it with you?' The rich man asked, 'Are you one of the learned disciples?' He immediately gave him his money, and the man left. The next year the man said, 'I will entrust my money to a poor person and see how it turns out.' He did so. When the time came, he went to the poor person, who said, 'I have nothing to give you.' He came early the following week, but the answer was, 'I have nothing to give you.' So it went every day, until he had visited more than a thousand times and received nothing. Finally he said, 'There is never any good security, whether from a rich person or a poor person.' This is what Ben Sira meant: 'A good guarantor requires a hundred mornings; a bad one, a thousand thousand.' 17 Pe. Set the table, and the quarrel will disappear. Always keep quarrels out of your house. When you see members of your household fighting, set your table and remove the quarrel from your house. Even an idolater fares well if there is no quarrel in his house; how much more will someone who practices fear of God fare well. It says, 'God stands in the assembly of God; among the gods he judges,' and, 'Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another; the Lord listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him.' How do we know that even an idolater fares well? It says, 'Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone,' and afterward, 'Their heart is divided; now they will bear their guilt.' (Derekh Eretz Zuta, chapter 9.) How should someone remove a quarrel from his house? Let him quickly set the table, and the fighting will end. We find this with Ish-bosheth son of Saul. When people in his house quarreled, his servant Ziba set the table, and the fighting immediately stopped. If he saw that they were still quarreling, he gave them more wine to cheer them, as it says, 'Wine makes the human heart glad.' Because Ziba stopped quarrels in his master's house, he merited sons and daughters, male and female servants, much property, and even the inheritance of his master's household. So whenever someone sees a quarrel in his house, he should set the table and stop it. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Set the table, and the quarrel will disappear.' 18 Tsadi. If you need to do business, let your share be with someone from a good family. Whenever you want to do business, seek a partner whose affairs are prospering. If you cannot find such a person, seek someone poor and righteous, and do not partner with a rich ignoramus. Always be trustworthy in business, and do not associate with someone unsuitable for you. Scripture explains this: 'Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but a companion of fools comes to harm.' We find this with Elisha: because he served Elijah and poured water over his hands, he became like him. Do not associate with a wicked person, because he brings you under suspicion. King Solomon, peace be upon him, said, 'A companion of fools comes to harm.' We find this with Jehoshaphat, who associated with Jehoram son of Ahab, king of Israel, and went with him to war at Ramoth Gilead. The prophet, peace be upon him, said to him, 'Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, anger from the Lord is against you.' So seek a good, trustworthy companion and associate with him, not with the wicked. David, peace be upon him, said, 'Do not compete with evildoers, for they will soon wither like grass and fade like green plants.' There was a man who partnered with an ignoramus, and the two traveled overseas to trade. As they traveled, he looked up and saw that the ignorant man was tight-fisted and stingy. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'If you need to do business, let your share be with someone from a good family.' 19 Qof. Trade close to home feeds its owner; distant trade consumes its owner. Always earn your living and do your trading in your own country. Do not keep looking toward the ends of the earth, wanting to travel there. Do not think that unless you go far away [to pursue your trade], nothing will come to you. Solomon said in his proverbs, 'A fool's eyes are at the ends of the earth.' This is what Ben Sira meant by 'Trade close to home feeds its owner.' If someone works or trades where he lives, God brings him profit and he eats well and stays healthy. Even though he works hard at it, afterward he rests, as King David, peace be upon him, said, 'When you eat the work of your hands, you are fortunate, and it is good for you.' But 'distant trade consumes its owner.' Even when he travels and makes good trades, he eats their proceeds in distress, journeys under pressure, and gets no sleep day or night. He fears the people waiting along the roads and the robbers who take the fruit of his hard work. Moreover, they seek his life, and he may not even receive a burial. This is what Solomon, peace be upon him, meant: 'One handful of rest is better than two handfuls of hard work.' So give priority to work or trade in your own home and country. The Holy One, blessed be he, will bring you profit, determine your earnings, and make your work succeed, if you act honestly and sincerely. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Trade close to home feeds its owner; distant trade consumes its owner.' 20 Resh. Do not deny an old friend. Never forget the love that has long existed between you and your companion. Keep it in your heart and do not make him depend on others. We find this with David king of Israel and Jonathan son of Saul, whom he loved as himself. Moreover, Jonathan made a covenant with David and made him swear not to abandon their love, as it says, 'Jonathan made a covenant with David.' David acted accordingly toward Jonathan's children after Jonathan died, as it says, 'David spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul because of the oath of the Lord between them.' The Holy One, blessed be he, likewise remembered Israel's youthful love and ancient covenant, as it says, 'I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your marriage, when you followed me.' Do not distress your friend over anything. Provide for him if he needs you, and do not make him depend on others. Be trustworthy toward him and conceal his private matters and offenses. Solomon, peace be upon him, said, 'Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but whoever repeats a matter separates close friends.' Moreover, preserve a father's friendship for his children after he dies. We find that someone who honors the children after their father's death, remembering his earlier friendship with him, is greatly admired by his contemporaries. They marvel at the generous way he remembers his friends. There is much more to this, as Ben Sira said, 'An old friend.' An earlier friendship thus joins with a later one, and when it is firmly established in the heart, it is worth more than weights of gold and silver. There is no greater sin than breaking a covenant made in youth and denying an old friendship. Someone who denies them becomes an enemy, as Job said, 'You turn cruel toward me; with your powerful hand you oppose me.' This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Do not deny an old friend.' 21 Shin. You may have sixty counselors, but do not abandon your own judgment. Whenever you want to do something, have many advisers to help you with it, and many advisers who can examine your plans. Do not despise or reject their advice. Solomon, peace be upon him, said, 'The heart knows its own bitterness.' Even when you know that your own advice is good, weigh your words against theirs, consider your own view, and judge them all. Then follow your own advice and set theirs aside, committing your heart and actions to your Creator, who is great in counsel and mighty in deeds. Solomon said, 'Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will be established.' David, peace be upon him, also said, 'The Lord knows human thoughts: they are empty.' This is what Ben Sira meant: 'You may have sixty counselors, but do not abandon your own judgment.' The word malkhin means advisers, as in, 'Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you,' and the translation of 'Come, let me advise you' is amalkhinakh. 22 Tav. Let the hand extended to you be one that has been full, not one that has been hungry. Always regard yourself as having all the world's delicacies, so that you do not depend on others. Present yourself before your friends and enemies as a person content with what he has. Solomon, peace be upon him, said, 'One person makes himself rich but has nothing; another makes himself poor but has great wealth.' If God later brings you prosperity, do not act like a hungry person who has just become full. Instead, be content throughout your life, so that your contemporaries do not despise you or say improper things about you. Those who tell proverbs say, 'No poor person is as poor as a rich person who is never satisfied.' This Arabic proverb means that no one in the whole world is as utterly impoverished as a very rich person who is not satisfied with his wealth. This is what Ben Sira meant: 'Let the hand extended to you be one that has been full, not one that has been hungry.'