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כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא, שנאמר ועמך כולם צדיקים, לעולם יירשו ארץ, נצר מטעי מעשה ידי להתפאר
1. Akavia ben Mahalalel said, “Consider three things, and you will not come into the hands of transgression. Know from where you came, and where you are going, and before whom you are about to give account and reckoning. Know from where you came: From a putrid drop. And where you are going: To worms and maggots. And before whom you are about to give an account and reckoning: Before the King of the kings of kings, blessed is He.”
2. R. Chanina, an assistant of the Kohanim, said, “Pray for the peace of the government (malchut), because without the fear of it, people would swallow their neighbors alive.”
“I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men: for kings and all who are in high places, that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of G-d our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.”
1 Timothy 2:1-4
3. R. Chanina ben Tradyon said, “Two that sit together without words of Torah are a session of scorners, for it is said, “Do not sit in the seat of the scornful,” but two that sit together and are occupied in words of Torah, the Shekhinah rests among them, for it is said, “Then those who feared Hashem spoke one with another, and HaShem listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared HaShem, and who honored his name. (Malachi 3:16). One that sits and studies, the Scripture imputes to him as if he fulfilled the whole Torah, for it is said, “He sits alone and keeps silence, because he has borne it upon him.” (Lamentations 3:28)
“Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst.”
Matthew 18:19-20
4. R. Shimon said, “Three that have eaten at one table, and have not said over it words of Torah, are as if they had eaten of sacrifices of the dead, for it is said, “For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness without HaMakom. But if three that have eaten at one table, and have said over it words of Torah, they are as if they had eaten of the table of HaMakom, blessed is He, for it is said, “And he said to me, ‘This is the table that is before HaShem.” (Ezekiel 41:22)
5. R. Chanina ben Chachinai said, “He who awakes by night, and he who is walking alone by the way, and turns aside his heart to idleness, bears guilt for his soul.”
6. R. Nechuniah ben haKanah said, “Whoever receives upon him the yoke of Torah, they remove from him the yoke of royalty and the yoke of worldly care, and whoever breaks off the yoke of Torah, they lay upon him the yoke of royalty and the yoke of worldly care.”
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
7. R. Chalaftha ben Dosa of Kefar Chanania said, “When ten sit and are occupied in words of Torah the Shekhinah is among them, for it is said, “G-d stands in the congregation of the mighty (Psalm 82:1).And from where is it proved of even five? Because it is said, “He judges among gods.” And whence even three? Because it is said, . . . “and has founded his troop in the earth (Amos 9:6). And even two? Because it is said, “Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another.” And even one? Because it is said, “In all places where I record my name I will come unto you, and I will bless you (Exodus 20:24).
8. R. Elazar ben Yehuda of Bartota said, “Give Him of what is His, for you and yours are His, and thus David said, “For all things come of You, and of your own have we given you (I Chronicles 29:14).”
“…Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Matthew 22:21
[Click here for more info on this passage and why it connects to the statement of R. Elazar]
9. R. Yaakov said, “He who is walking by the way and studying, and interrupts his study and says, “How fine is this tree! How fine is that tree! and how fine is this field? They account it to him as if he bears guilt for his soul.”
10. R. Dostai bar Yannai, said in the name of R. Meir, “When a scholar of the wise sits and studies, and has forgotten a word of his mishnah, they account it unto him as if he bears guilt for his soul,” for it is said, “Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the words which your eyes have seen (Deuteronomy 4:9). Perhaps his mishnah has but grown hard to him? What need then to say, “And lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life”? Lo! He is not guilty, until he has sat down and allowed them to depart from his mind.”
“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”
Yaakov 1:23-24
11. R. Chananiah ben Dosa said, “Anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom will remain, and anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, his wisdom will not remain.”
12. He used to say, “Anyone whose deeds are greater than his wisdom, his wisdom will endure. And anyone whose wisdom is greater than his deeds, his wisdom will not endure.”
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you tells them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled, and yet you did not give them the things the body needs, what good is it? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. Yes, a man will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith.”
Yaakov 2:14-18
13. He used to say, “With whoever the spirit of men is pleased, the Spirit of HaMakom is pleased, and with whoever the spirit of men is not pleased, the Spirit of HaMakom is not pleased.”
14. R. Dosa ben Horkinas said, “Late morning sleep, and midday wine, and the babbling of youths, and frequenting the meeting houses of the vulgar, remove a man from the world.”
15. R. Elazar ha-Moda’i said, “He that profanes things sacred, and offends the festivals, and annuls the covenant of Abraham our father, and acts barefacedly against the Torah, even though he be a doer of good works, has no portion in the world to come.”
“…sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes holy ones, nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate, but rather giving of thanks. Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Messiah and G-d.”
Ephesians 5:3-5
16. R. Ishmael said, “Be pliant of disposition and yielding to a superior, and receive every person with cheerfulness.”
17. R. Akiva said, “Levity, and lightness of disposition, accustom a man to lewdness.” He used to say, “Tradition is a fence to Torah, tithes are a fence to wealth, vows a fence to sanctity, a fence to wisdom is silence.”
18. He used to say, “Beloved is man that he was created.” “Beloved are Israel that they are called children of G-d, greater love was it that it was made known to them that they are called children of G-d, as it is said, “You are the children of HaShem your G-d (Deuteronomy 14:1). Beloved are Israel that there was given to them the instrument with which the world was created; greater love (was it that it) was made known to them that there was given to them the instrument with which the world was created, as it is said, “For I give you good doctrine, forsake not My Torah.” (Proverbs 4:2).
19. “Everything is foreseen, and choice is given. And the world is judged by grace, and everything is according to work.”
20. He used to say, “Everything is given on loan, and the net (Ecclesiastes 9:12) is cast over all the living. The office is open, and the broker gives credit. The ledger is open, and the hand writes, and whoever will borrow comes and borrows, and the bailiffs go round continually every day, and exact from a man whether he wills or not; and they have whereon to lean, and the judgment is a judgment of truth. And everything is prepared for the banquet.”
21. R. Elazar ben Azariah said, “No Torah, no culture. No culture, no Torah. No wisdom, no fear (of God). No fear (of God), no wisdom. No knowledge, no discernment. No discernment, no knowledge. No flour, no Torah. No Torah, no flour.”
22. He used to say, “Anyone whose wisdom is greater than his works, to what can he be likened? To a tree whose branches are abundant, but its roots are few, and the wind comes, and uproots it, and overturns it. And anyone whose works are greater than his wisdom, to what can he be likened? To a tree whose branches are few, yet its roots are abundant, though all the winds come upon it, they cannot move it from its place.”
“Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine, yet does not do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell – and great was its fall.”
Matthew 7:24-27
23. R. Elazar Chismah said, Kinnin (bird-sacrifices) and the laws of niddah (menstruation) are essentials of Torah. Astronomy and Gematria are seasonings (parparot) of wisdom.