Sublime

8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;+ 9it is not from works, so no one may boast.

IN THE REBBE’S OFT-REPEATED words—paraphrasing the Mishnah408—”hamaaseh hu ha’ikar,” which means that the essential thing is the deed, not abstract study. Otherwise, teachings and words, no matter how beautiful, wise, or aesthetic, are devarim beteilim “empty expressions” and their

A merchant is permitted to take some superior produce and other inferior produce from several sources and place them in one granary from which he sells, even if the inferior produce is not obvious because there is so little of it or because its appearance resembles that of the higher quality produce. [The rationale is that] since everyone knows tha

Using his unquestioned religious authority, Muhammad instituted a mandatory tithe called zakat, which every member of the Ummah had to pay according to his or her means. Once collected, the money was then redistributed as alms to the community’s neediest members. Zakat literally means “purification,” and was not an act of charity but of religious d

We bestow of Our Mercy on whom We please, and We suffer not, to be lost, the reward of those who do good. 57 But verily the reward of the Hereafter is the best, for those who believe, and are constant in righteousness.

As to those who hold fast by the Book and establish regular prayer,—never shall We suffer the reward of the righteous to perish.

Rabbeinu Tam states that salt extracts liquid absorbed by the weights and thus makes them lighter. Thus when the seller uses them for a sale, he will give the customer less. Since it is the seller’s weights that are regularly used during transactions, storing his weights in salt could lead to the customers receiving less than the amount agreed upon