Genesis Rabbah on Jews in Rome
R. Joshua ben Levi went to Rome. He saw there pillars that were covered by tapestries during the cold so that they would not freeze and during the heat so that they would not break. And he saw, while walking around the market, a poor man wrapped in a mat, and there are some who say, half of a donkey’s saddle. Concerning those pillars, [R. Joshua] recited [the verse]: Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains (Psalm 36:7). When you give, you pour forth abundantly. Concerning that poor man, he recited [the continuation of the verse]: Your judgments are like the vast abyss (ibid.). When you smite, you do so powerfully.
Translated by Aaron Samuels.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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