Rabba, the grandson of Channa, said that he himself once saw a frog larger than any seen now, though not so large as the frog in Egypt. It was as large as Acra, a village of some sixty houses (_Bava Bathra_, fol. 73, col. 2.)
Apropos to the part the frog was conceived to play or symbolize in the Jewish conception of the mode and ministry of Divine judgment, we quote the following:--"We are told that Samuel once saw a frog carrying a scorpion on its back across a river, upon the opposite bank of which a man stood waiting ready to be stung. The sting proving fatal, so that the man died; upon which Samuel exclaimed, 'Lord, they wait for Thy judgments this day: for all are Thy servants.' (Ps. cxix. 91.)" (_Nedarim_, fol. 41, col. 1.)
"According to the days of one king" (Isa. xxiii. 15). What king is this that is singled out as one? Thou must say this is the King Messiah, and no other.
Rabbi Levi contends that Manasseh has no portion in the world to come, while Rabbi Yehudah maintains that he has; and each supports his conclusion in contradiction of the other, from one and the same Scripture text.
The words, "Remember the Sabbath day," in Exod. xx. 8, and "Keep the Sabbath day," in Deut. v. 12, were uttered in one breath, as no man's mouth could utter them, and no man's ear could hear.
The officer who inflicts flagellation on a criminal must smite with one hand only, but yet with all his force.
I would rather be called a fool all my days than sin one hour before God.
He who observes but one precept secures for himself an advocate, and he who commits one single sin procures for himself an accuser.
He who learns from another one chapter, one halachah, one verse, or one word or even a single letter, is bound to respect him.
The above is one evidence, among many, of the high esteem in which learning and the office of a teacher are held among the Jews. Education is one of the virtues--of which the following, extracted from the Talmud, is a list--the interest of which the Jew considers he enjoys in this world, while the capital remains intact against the exigencies of the world to come. These are:--The honoring of father and mother, acts of benevolence, hospitality to strangers, visiting the sick, devotion in prayer, promotion of peace between man and man, and study in general, but the study of the law outweighs them all. (_Shabbath_, fol. 127, col. 1.) The study of the law, it is said, is of greater merit to rescue one from accidental death, than building the Temple, and greater than honoring father or mother. (_Meggillah_, fol. 16, col 2.)