se under six heads;
Micah enumerated only three: "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to
do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." Another
prophet limited them to two: "Keep ye judgment, and do righteousness."
Amos put all the commandments under one: "Seek ye me, and ye shall
live"; and Habakkuk said: "The just shall live by his faith."--This is
the ethics of the Talmud.

Another characteristic manifestation of the idealism of the Talmud is
its delicate feeling for women and children. Almost extravagant
affection is displayed for the little ones. All the verses of Scripture
that speak of flowers and gardens are applied in the Talmud to children
and schools. Their breath sustains the moral order of the universe: "Out
of the mouth of babes and sucklings has God founded His might." They are
called flowers, stars, the anointed of God. When God was about to give
the Law, He demanded of the Israelites pledges to assure Him that they
would keep His commandments holy. They offered the patriarchs, but each
one of them had committed some sin. They named Moses as their surety;
not even he was guiltless. Then they said: "Let our children be our
hostages." The Lord accepted them.

Similarly, there are many expressions to show that woman was held in
high esteem by the rabbis of the Talmud: Love thy wife as thyself; honor
her more than thyself.--In choosing a wife, descend a step.--If thy wife
is small, bend and whisper into her ear.--God's altar weeps for him that
forsakes the love of his youth.--He who sees his wife die before him
has, as it were, been present at the destruction of the sanctuary
itself; around him the world grows dark.--It is woman alone through whom
God's blessings are vouchsafed to a house.--The children of him that
marries for money shall be a curse unto him,--a warning singularly
applicable to the circumstances of our own times.

The peculiar charm of the Haggada is best revealed in its legends and
tales, its fables and myths, its apologues and allegories, its riddles
and songs. The starting-point of the Haggada usually is some memory of
the great past. It entwines and enmeshes in a magic network the lives of
the patriarchs, prophets, and martyrs, and clothes with fresh, luxuriant
green the old ideals and figures, giving them new life for a remote
generation. The teachers of the Haggada allow no opportunity, sad or
merry, to pass without utilizing it in the guise of an apologue or
pa