only for Israel: none are called the children of
God but Israel; none are beloved before God but Israel.
_Gerim_, chap. 1.
The Jew that has no wife abideth without joy, without a blessing, and
without any good. Without joy, as it is written (Deut. xiv. 26), "And
thou shalt reject, thou and thy household;" without blessing, as it is
written (Ezek. xliv. 30), "That He may cause a blessing to rest on thy
household;" without any good, for it is written (Gen. ii. 8), "It is not
good that man should be alone."
_Yevamoth_, fol. 62, col. 2.
The Jew that has no wife is not a man; for it is written (Gen. v. 2),
"Male and female created He them and called their name man." To which
Rabbi Eleazar adds, "So every one who has no landed property is no man;
for it is written (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the
Lord's, but the earth (the land, that is), hath He given to the children
of man.'"
_Yevamoth_, fol. 63, col. 1.
Three things did Moses ask of God:--1. He asked that the Shechinah might
rest upon Israel; 2. That the Shechinah might rest upon none but Israel;
and 3. That God's ways might be made known unto him; and all these
requests were granted.
_Berachoth_, fol. 7, col. 1.
What was the Shechinah? Was it the presence of a Divine person
or only of a Divine power? The following quotations will show
what is the teaching of the Talmud on the matter, and will be
read with interest by the theologian, whether Jew or Christian.
Where do we learn that when ten persons pray together the
Shechinah is with them? In Ps. lxxxii. 1, where it is written,
"God standeth in the congregation of the mighty." And where do
we learn that when two sit together and study the law the
Shechinah is with them? In Mal. iii. 16, where it is written,
"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and
the Lord hearkened and heard it." (_Berachoth_, fol. 6, col. 1.)
Where do we learn that the Shechinah does strengthen the sick?
In Ps. xli. 3, where it is written, "The Lord will strengthen
him upon the bed of languishing." (_Shabbath_, fol. 12, col. 2.)
He who goes from the Synagogue to the lecture-room, and from the
lecture-room back to the Synagogue, will become worthy to
receive the presence of the Shechinah; as it is written (Ps.
lxxxiv. 1), "They go from strength to strength; every one of
them in Zion appeareth before God." (_Moed
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