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'— and drink their wine' (Amos 5:11). And if the buildings are agricultural estates, their crops do not grow as the person wishes — they grow only at the Lord's pleasure — so there is perpetual grief with them.
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And if he uproots and replants them, the grief doubles. And anxiety comes over withheld rain or flooding, and likewise drought, blight, locusts, and flash floods.
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As it says: 'Famine if there be in the land, pestilence if there be, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar if there be — when his enemy distresses him' (1 Kgs. 8:37).
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And the injustice of rulers and the oppression of their agents come until the cultivator works only for them and nothing falls to the owner — as it says: 'When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what advantage has the owner except to see them with his eyes?' (Eccl. 5:10).
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And if his crops multiply and his yield rises, his secret purpose and public intent is only to raise prices and narrow the market until the weak and poor are oppressed — as it says: 'To buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the refuse of grain' (Amos 8:6).
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Building was made dear to a person only that he prepare from it the measure he needs — as it says: 'And he settled there the hungry and they established a city for habitation; they sowed fields, planted vineyards, and produced a fruitful yield' (Ps. 107:36–37).
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Section XI. Chapter Eight: Longevity.
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Others held that the finest thing a person can seek in the abode of this world is care for long life. They said: through long life a person can reach everything he desires in matters of religion and of this world; if a person neglects it, what has he achieved?
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And scripture encouraged it, saying: 'that your days may be long on the land' (Exod. 20:12); 'that you may live many days' (Deut. 30:18).
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The causes of long life according to them: regularity of eating and drinking, moderation in intercourse, striving for peace of mind, and avoiding situations of danger and fear in matters of religion and of this world.