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MEIR
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MEIR , Jewish See also:rabbi of the 2nd See also:century, was See also:born in See also:Asia See also:Minor and according to See also:legend was a descendant of the See also:family of See also:Nero. He was the most notable of the disciples of Aqiba (q.v.), and after the Hadrianic repressions of A.D. 135 was instrumental in refounding the Palestinian See also:schools at Usha. Among his teachers was also See also:Elisha See also:ben Abuya (q.v.), and, Meir continued his devotion to Elisha after the latter's See also:apostasy He is said to have visited See also:Rome to See also:rescue his wife's See also:sister. His wife, Beruriah, is often cited in the See also:Talmud as an exemplar of generosity and faith. She was a daughter of the See also:martyr IJananiah ben Teradion. On one occasion MeIr, who had been frequently troubled by his ungodly neighbours, uttered a See also:prayer for their extinction. " See also:Nay," said Beruriah, " it is written (Ps. civ. 35) let sins be blotted out, not sinners "; whereupon Meir prayed for the evildoers' See also:conversion. But she is best known for her conduct at the sudden See also:death of her two sons. It was the See also:Sabbath, and Meir returned See also:home towards sunset. He repeatedly asked for the See also:children, and Beruriah, after parrying his question, said: " Some See also:time ago a See also:precious thing was See also:left with me on See also:trust, and now the owner demands its return. Must I give it back ? " " How can you question it? " rejoined her See also:husband. Beruriah then led him to the See also:bed whereon were stretched the bodies of the children. Meir burst into tears. But the wife explained that this was the treasure of which she had spoken, adding the See also:text from See also:Job: " The See also:Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of . the Lord." MeIr himself was the author of many famous sayings: " Look not to the See also:flask, but to its contents. Many a new See also:vessel contains old See also:wine, but there are old casks which do not contain even new wine." " Condole not with a mourner while his dead is laid out before him." " See also:Man cometh into the See also:world with closed hands as though claiming the ownership of all things; but he departeth hence with hands open and limp, as if to show that he taketh naught with him." " What See also:God does is well done." " The See also:tree itself supplies the handle of the See also:axe which cuts it down." His See also:wisdom was proverbial, and to him was in particular assigned an intimate acquaintance with fables, and he is reported to have known 300 See also:Fox-Fables. " With the death of Rabbi Meir," says the Mishnah (Sota ix. 15), " Fabulists ceased to be." Meir's wide sympathies were shown in his inclusion of all mankind in the hopes of salvation (Sifra to See also:Leviticus xviii. 5). He was certainly on friendly terms with See also:heathen scholars. Meir contributed largely to the material from which finally emerged the Mishnah. His See also:dialectic skill was excessive, and it was said jestingly of him that he could give 15o reasons to prove a thing clean, and as many more to prove it unclean. His balanced See also:judgment fitted him to carry on Aqiba's See also:work, sifting and arranging the oral traditions, and thus preparing the ground for the Mishnaic See also:Code. Meir left See also:Palestine some time before his death, owing to disagreements between him and the See also:Patriarch. He died in Asia Minor, but his love for the See also:Holy See also:Land remained dominant to the last. " See also:Bury me," he said, " by the See also:shore, so that the See also:sea which washes the land of my fathers may See also:touch also my bones." The See also:tomb shown as that of Meir at See also:Tiberias is inauthentic. of the See also:population are Buddhists. The headquarters See also:town, See also:MEIKTILA, stands on the See also:banks of the See also:lake, which supplies See also:good drinking See also:water. Pop. (1go1), 7203. A wing of a See also:British See also:regiment is stationed here. A See also:branch railway connects it at Thazi station with the See also:Rangoon-See also:Mandalay See also:line, and continues westward to its See also:terminus on the See also:Irrawaddy at See also:Myingyan. The See also:division includes the districts of Meiktila, See also:Kyaukse, Yamethin and Myingyan, with a See also:total See also:area of Io,852 sq. m., and a population (1901) of 992,807, showing an increase of 10'2% in the preceding See also:decade, and giving a See also:density of 91 inhabitants to the square mile. All but a small portion of the division lies in the dry See also:zone, and cultivation is mainly dependent on See also:irrigation. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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