and this agrees with what Rabbi Cheeya bar Ami has said, in the name of Ulla, that since the destruction of the Temple nothing else has remained to God in His world but four ells of the Halachah.
Berachoth, fol. 8, col. 1.
Whoso walks even four ells with a proud unbending gait is as though he spurned with his haughty head the feet of the Shechinah; for it is written (Isa. vi. 3), "The whole earth is full of His glory."
Ibid., fol. 43, col. 2.
Four are in duty bound to return thanks to God:—They that have returned from a voyage at sea (Ps. cvii. 23, 24, 31); those who have traveled in the desert (verses 4–8); they who have recovered from a serious illness (verses 17–21); and those that are liberated from prison (verses 10–15).
Berachoth, fol. 54, col. 2.
If one does not walk, say four cubits, before falling asleep after a meal, that which he has eaten, being undigestible, causes foulness of breath.
Shabbath, fol. 41, col. 1.
Four have died in consequence of the seduction of the serpent:—Benjamin, the son of Jacob; Amram, the father of Moses; Jesse, the father of David; and Chileab, the son of David.
Ibid., fol. 55, col. 2.
These four are reckoned to have died on account of original sin, and not solely because of actual transgression, which, says Rashi, they never committed.
The traveler who is overtaken with the approach of Sabbath-eve before he has completed his journey should hand over his purse to a Gentile to carry; and if there be no Gentile at hand, let him stow it away on his ass. As soon as the nearest halting-place is reached, those burdens which may be lifted on the Sabbath should then be removed, and then the cords should be slackened that the rest may slip off of its own accord.
Ibid., fol. 153, col. 1.
Here the Gemara very graciously appends a direction as to the disposal of the purse, in case the traveler should happen to be on foot and have no Gentile attendant. He may take care of it himself, provided he halt at every other step and deposit it on the ground, for at least a distance of four cubits.
A master is bound to rehearse a lesson to his pupil four times.
Eiruvin, fol. 54, col. 2.
Alas for the power which prepares a grave for its possessor, for there is not a prophet who hath not in his lifetime witnessed the decadence of four kings; as it is said (Isa. i. 1), "The vision of Isaiah … in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah" (see also Hosea i. 1).
P'sachim, fol. 87, col. 2.
Once Rav Pappa and Rav Hunnah partook together of a common meal, and as the latter ate only one morsel the former ate four. After this, when Rav Hunnah and Ravina ate together, the latter devoured eight portions to the other's one, upon which Rav Hunnah jocularly remarked, "A hundred (Rav) Pappas to one Ravina."
P'sachim, fol. 89, col. 2.
No food may be eaten on Passover-eve from the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice (in order, i.e. that abstinence may whet the appetite for the Matsoth). Even the poorest in Israel may not break his fast till the hour of reclining; nor is he to partake of less than four glasses of wine, even though he has been reduced so low as to subsist on the porridge doled out by public charity.
Ibid., fol. 99, col. 2.
There are four things the doing of which by man brings judgment upon his own head:—If he turn in between a wall and a date-palm; if he turn in between two date-palms; if he drink borrowed water; and if he step across spilt water, such even as his own wife may have thrown away. (All these doings, says Rashi, are bound to annoy the evil genii.)
Ibid., fol. 111, col. 1.
Four precepts did our holy Rabbi (Yehudah Hakadosh) urge upon his children:—Not to choose Shechentzia as a dwelling-place, for scoffers resided there; not to use the bed of a Syrian odalisque; not to shirk the payment of fiscal dues, lest the collector should confiscate all their property; not to face an ox when he came up (ruffled) from the cane-brake, for Satan sported betwixt his horns.
P'sachim, fol. 112, col. 2.
Whosoever prieth into the four things in the matter of the chariot in Ezekiel's vision—what is above, what is beneath, what is before, or what is behind—it were better for him if he had never been born.
Chaggigah, fol. 11, col. 2.
The work or matter of the chariot, the Rabbinic term for the Vision of Ezekiel, ranks among the Arcana Judaica, which are not to be told save to the initiated.
Four men entered Paradise—these are their names:—Ben Azai, Ben Zoma, Acher, and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva thus warned his companions: "When you come across pavements of pellucid marble, do not cry out 'Water! water!' for it is said (Ps. ci. 7), 'He that uttereth falsehood shall not dwell in my sight.'" Ben Azai looked and died; concerning him the Scripture says (Ps. cxvi. 15), "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Ben Zoma looked and went out of his mind; of him the Scripture says (Prov. xxv. 16), "Hast thou found honey? eat only so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit it." Acher cut the plants. Only Akiva departed in peace.
Chaggigah, fol. 14, col. 2.
Rashi explains this by saying these men went up to heaven; but Maimonides much more rationally teaches that the Paradise or garden here is merely the retreat of profound philosophic meditation. These five intuitions were;—(1.) To know that there is a God; (2.) to ignore every other beside Him; (3.) to feel His unity; (4.) to love His person; and (5.) to stand in awe of His Majesty (see Vad Hachaz, chap. 4, sec. 19). Deep thought in these matters was spoken of by the Rabbis as promenading in the garden.
Four times a year is the world subject to an ordeal of judgment:—At Passover, which is decisive of the fruits of the field; at Pentecost, which is decisive of the fruits of the garden; at the feast of Tabernacles, which is decisive in respect of rain; on New Year's Day, when all who come into the world pass before the Lord like sheep, as it is said (Ps. xxxiii. 15), "Who formed their hearts together; who understandeth all their works."
Rosh Hashanah, fol. 16, col. 1.
There are four varieties of cedar:—Erez, Karthom, Etz-Shemen, and Berosh.
Ibid., fol. 23, col. 1.
Ben Kamzar would not teach the art of writing, and yet it is related of him that he could, by taking four pens between his fingers, write off a word of four letters at one stroke.
Yoma, fol. 38, col. 2.
There are four kinds of quails:—Sichli, Kibli, Pisyoni, and the common quail. The first was of superior quality, and the last inferior.
Ibid., fol. 75, col. 2.
A man may obtain forgiveness after the third transgression, but if he repeat the offense a fourth time, he is not pardoned again; for it is said (Amos ii. 4), "For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof;" and again (Job xxxiii. 29), "Lo! all these things doth God two or three times" (and so inferentially not four
