Ibid., fol. 31, col. 1.

When Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai and his son, Rabbi Elazar, came out of
their cave on a Friday afternoon, they saw an old man hurrying along
with two bunches of myrtle in his hand. "What." said they, accosting
him, "dost thou want with these?" "To smell them in honor of the
Sabbath," was the reply. "Would not one bunch," they remarked, "be
enough for that purpose?" "Nay," the old man replied; "one is in honor
of 'Remember' (Exod. xxii. 28); and one in honor of 'Keep' (Deut. v.
8)." Thereupon Rabbi Shimon remarked to his son, "Behold how the
commandments are regarded by Israel!"

Ibid., fol. 33, col. 2.

Not one single thing has God created in vain. He created the snail as a
remedy for a blister; the fly for the sting of a wasp; the gnat for the
bite of a serpent; the serpent itself for healing the itch (or the
scab); and the lizard (or the spider) for the sting of a scorpion.

Ibid., fol. 77. col. 2.

When a man is dangerously ill, the law grants dispensation, for it says,
"You may break one Sabbath on his behalf, that he may be preserved to
keep many Sabbaths."

_Shabbath_, fol. 151, col. 2.

Once when Rabbi Ishmael paid a visit to Rabbi Shimon, he was offered a
cup of wine, which he at once, without being asked twice, accepted, and