===Rabbi Akiba.===

Rabbi Akiba, like Hillel, declared the command to love one's neighbor as oneself <ref>Lev. xix. 18</ref> to be the fundamental proposition of religion <ref>Sifra, Khedoshim, ed. Weiss, p. 89a; Yer. Ned. 41c; Gen. R. xxiv.; comp. Ab. iii. 14; Ab. R. N. xxxix.</ref>. Robbery of which a non-Jew is the victim is robbery <ref>B. B. 113a</ref>. For his opinion of the non-Jewish peoples, the "Dialogue Between Israel and the non-Jews" is characteristic <ref>Mek., Beshallah., ed. Weiss, p. 44b; Sifre, Deut. 343; Cant. R. i. 3, v. 9, vi. 1</ref>. In another dialogue, Israel's monotheism is shown to be far superior to the ever-changing belief of the non-Jews <ref>Mek., Yitro, x.</ref>. His contempt for the folly of idolatry as practised by the Romans is apparent in his conversation with Rufus, in which he compares the G-ds to dogs <ref>Tan. Terumah, ed. Stettin, p. 139; comp. Gra"tz, ''Gesch.'' iv. 447</ref>.

Jose the Galilean rebukes Israel for its inconstancy, which he contrasts with the fidelity shown by the non-Jews to their ancestral beliefs <ref>Sifre, Deut. 87</ref>. The good done by non-Jews is rewarded <ref>see Gen. xxiii. 5; Sifra, Achare Mot, 85b</ref>.

Judah ben Baba holds that by the customs of the heathen forbidden in Lev. xviii. 3 were meant the cosmetic arts <ref>Sifra, 86a: see commentary of Abraham ben David ad loc.; comp. Tosef., Sot.ah, xv. 9; Shab. 62b</ref>.

===R. Mei"r.===

The warning against the practises of the heathen in Lev. xviii. 3 is interpreted by R. Mei"r <ref>Sifra, 85b</ref> to refer to the superstitions "of the Amorites" <ref>enumerated in Shab. 67a; comp. Mishnah vi., last section</ref>. He would not permit Jews to visit the theaters (arenas) of the non-Jews, because blood is spilled and idols are worshiped there <ref>Tosef., 'Ab. Zarah, ii. 5; 'Ab. Zarah 18b; Yer. Sanh. 40a; Ab. R. N. xxi.</ref>. Intolerant of idolatry <ref>'Ab. Zarah i. 5, 8; ii. 2, 4; iii. 1; Blumenthal, ''Rabbi Mei"r,'' pp. 82 et seq.</ref>, it was Mei"r who insisted that in Lev. xviii. 5 the word ''man,'' not ''priest,'' ''Levite,'' or ''Israelite,'' occurs, and thus claimed that a non-Jew versed in the Torah equals in rank the high priest <ref>B. K.. 38a; Sanh. 59a; Sifra, 86b, where II Sam. vii. 19 [''ha-adam'']; Isa. xxvi. 2, ''goi tzaddik.''; Ps. xxxiii. 1, ''tzaddikhim,'' and cxxv. 4, ''le-t.obim,'' are similarly applied to non-Jew and Jew alike</ref>. He was on a footing of intimacy with the non-Jew philosopher Euonymos of Gadara <ref>Gra"tz, l.c. iv. 469</ref>. In an anecdote, significant as indicating the freedom of intercourse between Jew and non-Jew, Mei"r illustrates the cynic materialism of a rich heathen who, angry at the lack of a trifle at his banquet, which offered "whatever was created in six days," broke a rich plate; pleading that, as the world to come was for Israel, he had to look to this world for his pleasures <ref>Pesik.. 59b; Num. R. xxi.</ref>. Mei"r has a conversation with a ''hegemon,'' who expresses his contempt of Israel, calling the Israelites slaves; whereupon Mei"r shows that Israel is a wayward son, always finding, if ready to repent, the father's house open <ref>Jellinek, ''B. H.'' I. 21</ref>. This anecdote, also, is significant as showing the sentiments of the non-Jews toward the Jews.

Simon ben Yochai is preeminently the anti-non-Jew teacher. In a collection of three sayings of his, beginning with the keyword <ref>Yer. Khid. 66c; Massek. Soferim xv. 10; Mek., Beshal-lah., 27a; Tan., Wayera, ed. Buber, 20</ref>, is found the expression, often quoted by anti-Semites, ''T.ob shebe-goyyim harog'' (="The best among the non-Jews deserves to be killed"). This utterance has been felt by Jews to be due to an exaggerated antipathy on the part of a fanatic whose life experiences may furnish an explanation for his animosity; hence in the various versions the reading has been altered, "The best among the Egyptians" being generally substituted. In the connection in which it stands, the import of this observation is similar to that of the two others: "The most pious woman is addicted to sorcery"; "The best of snakes ought to have its head crushed" <ref>comp. the saying, "Scratch a Russian and you will find a Tartar"</ref>.

On the basis of Hab. iii. 6, Simon b. Yochai argued that, of all the nations, Israel alone was worthy to receive the Law <ref>Lev. R. xiii.</ref>. The non-Jews, according to him, would not observe the seven laws given to the Noachid? <ref>Tosef., Sot.ah, viii. 7; Sot.ah 35b</ref>, though the Law was written on the altar <ref>Deut. xxvi. 8</ref> in the seventy languages. Hence, while Israel is like the patient ass, the non-Jews resemble the easy-going, selfish dog <ref>Lev. R. xiii.; Sifre, Deut., Wezot ha-Berakah, 343</ref>. Yet Simon speaks of the friendly reception given to non-Jews <ref>Sifre, Deut. 1</ref>. The idols were called ''elilim'' to indicate that "woe is them that worship them" <ref>Jellinek, l.c. v. 78</ref>. Simon b. Yochai insists upon the destruction of idols, but in a different manner from that proposed by others <ref>'Ab. Zarah iii. 3; 'Ab. Zarah 43b</ref>. He extends to non-Jews the prohibition against sorcery in Deut. xviii. 10 et seq. <ref>Tosef., 'Ab. Zarah, viii. 6; Sanh. 55b</ref>.

Judah ben 'Illai recommends the daily recital of the benediction. "Blessed be Thou . . . who hast not made me a goi" <ref>Tosef., Ber. vii. 18: Men. 43b, sometimes ascribed to Mei"r; see Weiss, ''Dor,'' ii. 137</ref>. Judah is confident that the heathen (non-Jews) will ultimately come to shame <ref>Isa. lxvi. 5; B. M. 33b</ref>.The non-Jews took copies of the Torah, and yet did not accept it <ref>Sot.ah 35b</ref>.

Eliezer, the son of Jose the Galilean, calls the non-Jews poor ''goyyim dawim,'' because they would not accept the Torah <ref>Mek., Yitro. 62a</ref>, referring to Hab. iii. 6 and Ps. cxlvii. 20.

Joshua ben Kharcha is reported to have answered the accusation—still repeated in modern anti-Semitic literature—that Israel refuses to celebrate the festivals of the non-Jews—by showing that nature's bounties bring joy to all men alike <ref>Gen. R. xiii.</ref>.

Simon ben Gamaliel II. is the author of the saying that strict justice shall be done the non-Jew, who shall elect whether he shall be tried according to the Jewish or the non-Jew code <ref>Sifre, Deut. 16</ref>.

Josiah holds that every idolatrous heathen is an enemy of Israel <ref>Mek., Mishpat.im, 99a</ref>.

Jonathan insists that eclipses are of bad augury for non-Jews only, according to Jer. x. 2 <ref>Mek., Bo, 19b</ref>.

According to Hananiah b. Akabia the word <ref>Ex. xxi. 14</ref> may perhaps exclude the non-Jew; but the shedding of the blood of non-Israelites, while not cognizable by human courts, will be punished by the heavenly tribunal <ref>Mek., Mishpat.im, 80b</ref>.

Why non-Jew circuses and theaters continued while the Temple was in ruins, was a perplexing problem for many a plous Jew. Nehorai learns from Elijah that this is the cause of earthquakes <ref>Yer. Ber. 13c; Midr. Teh. to Ps. xviii. 8</ref>.

Jacob, the grandson of Elisha ben Abuya, reports having seen a heathen bind his father and throw him to his dog as food <ref>Sifre, Deut. 81</ref>.

Simon ben Eleazar does not favor the social amenities (e.g., invitations to wedding-feasts) between non-Jews and Jews <ref>Tosef., 'Ab. Zarah, iv. 6; Ab. R. N. xxvi.; 'Ab. Zarah 8a</ref>, referring to Ex. xxxiv. 16.

According to Judah ha-Nasi, the word ''goyyim'' designates the nations that subjected Israel, while ''ummim'' denotes those that did not. Both must praise the G-d of Israel <ref>Midr. Teh. to Ps. cxvii. 1</ref>.

Phinehas ben Jair prohibits the appropriation of an object lost by a non-Jew, as this is tantamount to desecrating G-d's name <ref>B. K. 113b</ref>.

Simon ben Jose likens Israel to a stone, and the non-Jews to a potsherd <ref>Isa. xxx. 14</ref>, applying the proverb: "If the stone falls on the pot, wo to the pot; if the pot falls on the stone, wo to the pot." This he offered as a consolation to persecuted Israel <ref>Esther R. iii. 6</ref>.

Antigonus complains of the cruelty of the non-Jews toward Israel <ref>Mek., Beshallah., 27a; but see Bacher, ''Ag. Tan.'' ii. 331, note 2</ref>.