The Talmud: Selections: III. Incidents in The Lives of the Rabbis: Rabbi Simon

"So it is with thee, my pupil. How shall I bless thee? Thou art perfect in the law, eminent in the land, respected, and blessed with means. May God grant that all thy off spring may prove goodly as thyself." ______________ A wise man, say the Rabbis, was Gebiah ben Pesisah. When the children of Canaan accused the Israelites of stealing their land, saying, "The land of Canaan is ours, as it is written, 'The land of Canaan and its boundaries belong to the Canaanites,'" and demanded restitution, Gebiah offered to argue the case before the ruler. Said Gebiah to the Africans, "Ye bring your proof from the Pentateuch, and by the Pentateuch will I refute it, 'Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren' (Gen. 9: 25). To whom does the property of p. 284 a slave belong? To his master. Even though the land belonged to ye, through your servitude it became Israel's." "Answer him," said the ruler. The accusers asked for three days' time to prepare their reply, but at the end of the three days they had vanished. Then came the Egyptians, saying, "'God gave the Israelites favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they lent them gold and silver.' Now return us the gold and silver which our ancestors lent ye." Again Gebiah appeared for the sages of Israel. "Four hundred and thirty years," said he, "did the children of Israel dwell in Egypt. Come, now, pay us the wages of six hundred thousand men who worked for ye foe naught, and we will return the gold and silver."