Should cause for dissension present itself, be slow to accept the quarrel; seek peace and pursue it with all the vigor you command. Even if you suffer loss thereby, forbear and forgive, for God has many ways of feeding and sustaining His creatures. ... In trade be true, never grasping at what belongs to another. For by avoiding these wrongs - scandal, falsehood, money-grubbing - you will surely find tranquility and affection. And against all evils, silence is the best safeguard. ...
Be very particular to keep your houses clean and tidy. I was always scrupulous on this point, for every injurious condition and sickness and poverty are to be found in foul dwellings. Be careful over the benedictions; accept no divine gift without paying back the Giver's part; and God's part is humanity's grateful acknowledgement.
On holidays and festivals and Sabbaths seek to make happy the poor, the unfortunate, widows and orphans, who should always be guests at your tables; their joyous entertainment is a religious duty. Let me repeat my warning against gossip and scandal: just as you speak no scandal, listen to none. For if there were no receivers, there would be no bearers of slanderous tales; therefore the reception and credit of slander is as serious an offense as the originating of it. The less you say, the less cause you give for animosity. ...
From the last testament of Rabbi Eleazar of Mainz, c. 1357
Materials for this sheet were taken from Plagues in Jewish History by Rabbi Robert Gamer