flagration I have caused,
for I have kindled a fire in Zion,' as it is written (Lament, iv. 11),
'He hath kindled a fire in Zion, and hath devoured the foundations
thereof.' I must therefore rebuild her with fire, as it is written
(Zech. ii. 5), 'I will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will
be the glory in the midst of her.'"

_Bava Kama_, fol. 60, col. 2.

Rabbi Oshaia asked, "What is this that is written, (Zech. xi. 7), 'I
took unto me two staves; the one I called Amiable and the other
Destroyer'?" The staff called Amiable represents the disciples of the
wise in the land of Israel, who were friendly one toward another in
their debates about the law. The staff called Destroyer represents the
disciples of the wise of Babylon, who in the like debates were fierce
tempered and not friendly toward one another. What is the meaning of
Babel or Babylon? Rabbi Yochanan says it means "confused in the Bible,
confused in the Mishna, and confused in the Talmud." "He hath set me in
dark places, as they that be dead of old" (Lam. iii. 6). Rabbi Jeremiah
said by this we are to understand the Babylonian Talmud.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 24, col. 1.

The Rabbis say these three hate their fellows--dogs, cocks, and
conjurors; to which some add, among others, the disciples of the
wise of Babylon. (_P'sachim_, fol. 113, col. 2.)

On his return from Babylon to the land of Israel, Rabbi Zira
fasted a hundred fasts, during which he prayed that he might be
enabled to forget the Babylonian Talmud. (_Bava Metzia_, fol.
85, col. 1.)

Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Yonathan traveled one day together; they came
to two roads, one of which led by the door of a place devoted to the
worship of idols, and the other by a place of ill fame. Upon which one
said to the other, "Let us go by the former, because our inclination to
the evil that waylays us there is already extinguished." "Nay, rather,"
said the other, "let us go by the latter, and curb our desires; so shall
we receive a reward in recompense." In this resolution they went on, and
as they passed the place the women humbled themselves before them and
withdrew ashamed into their chambers. Then Yochanan asked the other,
"How didst thou know that this would occur to us?" He made answer, "From
what is written (in Prov. ii. 2), 'Discretion (in the law) shall
preserve thee.'"

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 17, cols. 1, 2.

Given two dry firebrands and one piece of green wood, t