כ מאי
20 and no boy or girl, man or woman was found who was not thoroughly versed in the laws of cleanliness and uncleanliness.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' These are probably mentioned on account of their difficulty. The reference to girls and women is interesting as shewing that in the ideal Jewish state they too must be educated. ');"><sup>36</sup></span> And concerning that generation it is said, And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' lsa. VII, 21; i.e., one shall possess a minimum of cattle, so that very little time be required for its tending. ');"><sup>37</sup></span> and it is further said, And it shall come to pass on that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 23. ');"><sup>38</sup></span> though a thousand vines be worth a thousand silverlings, yet shall it be for briers and thorns.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., in spite of the high price, people shall neglect the cultivation of the vines for the study of the law. ');"><sup>39</sup></span> And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of a caterpillar.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XXXIII, 4. ');"><sup>40</sup></span> The prophet said unto Israel: 'Gather your spoil.' Thereupon they questioned him, 'To take it as our own booty, or to divide it?'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Shall the booty belong to us, or must we divide it amongst other peoples, since it contains the spoil taken from the ten tribes, which is forbidden to us as theft? (Rashi.) ');"><sup>41</sup></span> 'Like the gathering of a caterpillar', replied he: just as caterpillars gather, each one for itself, so take your spoil, each one for himself. 'But', objected they, 'the wealth of the Ten tribes is mixed up therein.' He answered, 'As the watering of pools doth he water it:'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. ');"><sup>42</sup></span> just as pools purify the unclean,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'raise man from uncleanness to cleanness'. ');"><sup>43</sup></span> so are the possessions of Israel, which having fallen into the hands of heathens,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [I.e., Sennacherib and his armies plundered Israel of their possessions.] ');"><sup>44</sup></span> become clean [i.e., legitimate].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When the latter abandoned all hope of the return thereof; hence other Jews may take it. Here follows in the text a bracketed passage, which is rightly deleted as having no bearing upon the subject. ');"><sup>45</sup></span> R. Huna said: That wicked man<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Sennacherib. ');"><sup>46</sup></span> made ten marches on that day, as it is written, [i] He is come to Aiath; [ii] he is passed at Migron; [iii] at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages; [iv] they are gone over the passage; [v] they have taken up their lodgings at Geba; [vi] Ramah is afraid; [vii] Gibeah of Saul is fled. [viii] Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim, [ix] cause it to be heard unto Laish, [x] O poor Anathoth. [xi] Madmenah is removed; [xii] the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. X, 28-31. ');"><sup>47</sup></span> But these are more [than ten]! Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim was said by the prophet to the people of Israel: Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim, thou daughter of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who performed good deeds as the waves<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Heb. galle, constr. of gallim. ');"><sup>48</sup></span> of the sea [in multitude]. Cause it to be heard unto Laish: Fear not this man, but be in dread of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, who is likened to a lion, as it is written, The Lion [sc. Nebuchadnezzar] is come up from his thicket.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. IV, 7: laish (layyish) too is a 'lion'. 'Cause it to be heard unto laish' therefore means, 'thy cries should be on account of Nebuchadnezzar, the lion, not Sennacherib'. ');"><sup>49</sup></span> What is meant by