The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-11-24

! the form. Tt is better to give your
 child with a warm hand than with a
 cold hand;" hence the frequency of dowries. But dowries are a heavy
 task on a poor father especially if his daughter is not comedy, for "A pretty
 face is half dowry," so her advent is
 not hailed with joy; indeed, Seven
 sons prepare chair for you in heaven,
 seven daughters prepare a seat for you
 in he'll" This is the more painful to
 him, since "A son after death, daugh-
 ter during life," i. e., the son will say kadish after the parents, which may be the only obligation he will bear to his progenitors, while the daughter shows
 her affection as long as her parents
 live. He educates his children gently, for "A good boy needs no blows, bad
 boy is not helped by them;" yet too
 much lenience is not good for them,
 and ''It is better for children to weep
 than for parents"
 Though he values learning highly,
 knowing that "A well-instructed Jew
 will always be able to help himself, he
 values work even higher: "An artisan
 does not die of hunger" "Handicraft
 lS tie DeSl COal OL llloll dSdlllSt poNcl-
 ty,' An humble handicraft is also
 a handicraft," are some of the many
 maXims of this kind. If with all that
 he admires wealth, it is only because
 this is the only avenue for his ambi-
 tion, and yet Jewish wealth is like
 March snow" In fact, nothing is per
 manent with the Jew but his poverty,
 and he takes especial delight to be
 merry at his own want, though his heart be heavy. Three men," he says, "sing from sorrow-a Chazon, a beggar and a Badchen' or else, When does a Jew sing? When he is hungry Nor can a Jew well be rich, for "A Jew has only money to lose and time to be sick" And when in sickness he allows himself the luxury of a chicken, the chicken is equally afflicted, since When poor man eats chicken he is sick or the chicken" Yet poor people are not only cheerful, but generous;
 Poor people have good hearts," and God rejoices when one beggar scratch es another" A beggars joys are few: "A beggar is happy when he has lost and found again" He is long suffering, but When does a beggar complain? When he has two weddings in one day." for he loses his chance of eating at one of them.
 The Jews Rabelaisian humor finds vent in many sayings similar to the last. Barefoot a whole year and in socks on Tishe- be-ab" is an ironical il- illustration of poor man who, to show his sorrow at the fall of the temple, dons his socks on that holiday which he could not afford to wear during the rest of the year. When one is angry at the Chazon he does not make the re- sponses of 'amen,'" is a good pendant to spiting one's face by cutting off the nose. An English proverb says that every dog has his day, but the Jewish adage is more explicit and informs us of the precise time the dog has his day: "When has dog his holiday? When he has broken his leg" Somewhat drastic is the following illustration of the ubiquity and universality of the Talmud Tn the holy Gemara you may find everything, even a shrivelled up bedbug." Those who have ever seen a Russian chedar will fully appreciate the truth of the statement Death" says another adage, lis the only gratis thing, and yet it costs your life" Of death the Jew makes as light as he | isests with religion. Tt is never too late to die" and the angel of death | cares not whether the dead man has his | shroud'' Though filial affection, love to children and wife are frequently l upon, the mere romantic | love has but one representative, and | even that smacks of utilitaranism; | born of bitter experience: Love is l sweet, but ie tastes better with bread.' i
 Humility is encouraged and pride 1 meets with stern reproach. Pride sleeps on a dunghill," but "the greater the gentleman the smaller he feels.' Of family pride, so common among the Jews, the proverb says: "A genealogy n the memetery and tribulations at 1ome," or pearls on your neck and stones in your heart" Independence is as the highest good: Better your own porrdge than somebody else's 'oast meat,' and one is warned of needless humbleness: If you stoop oo low they will step on your head"
 It must be noted that the proverb plays more important part in the life of the Jew and is more requently made use of as an illustra- ion by the raconteur than is the case with the nations whose languages are nore generally used for literary pur- ,oses. Whole conversations and stories Ire often a string of maxims in their proper sequence.-Jewish Comment.