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 HDI

HW 5163

THE

POETRY OF THE TALMUD.

SEKLES .
1
 THE

POETRY OF THE TALMUD.

BY

S. SEKLES .

NEW YORK :
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR.

1880 .
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by
S. SEKLES ,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

JY
‫וקין‬ Y

gutl

STEAM PRESS OF
H. O. A. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL,
76TH ST. , NEAR THIRD AVE.
 PREFACE .

OURS is the century of research and exploration. The

weird autographs of former civilizations have been deciphered.
The early beginnings of history have been successfully reached .
The lurking places of antiquity, so mysterious in their origin
and solemn in their associations, have disclosed their secrets .
From mount, and cliff, and sepulchre what wondrous lights
have been shed, recompensing man for his courage, endurance,
insight, and enterprise. It is once more the legend of en-
chantment, and modern science has broken the spell and bid-
den a world again arise.
Prominent among the monuments of antiquity, which have
been made the subject of modern research, is the Talmud.
To the historian and general reader it may not appear with
the fascination with which the Sphinx is invested, but to
the student of literature and to the descendant of that race,
whose ancient history it illumined, it must possess a peculiar
interest. Its age, its history, its character, its encyclopædic
contents, and the hundreds of men whose opinions it cites, its
wealth of illustrations and anecdotes, its flood of light on
Jewish thought and customs, and the veneration with which
it is regarded by numerous descendants of those whose names
and views it has immortalized-surely, no obelisk or temple
ruins can compete with this work.
And apart from the question of archæology, the student's
iv PREFACE .

interest is further enhanced by the reflection that the Talmud

is recognized as an authority in the religion and ceremonial of
the large majority of the Jewish race wherever scattered.
During the ages when the Jews remained strangers to the
outside world, formed a state within the state and were ex-
cluded from participation in seculiar studies, they exhausted all
their mental abilities in penetrating into the secrets of the
dialectical debates in the Talmud, whose ethical axioms be-
came the guide of their lives .
It was reserved for our age to study the Talmud not merely
for its ethical and religious value, but also for its literary,
historical, and scientific value.
Within recent decades the territory of the Talmud has been
diligently explored-chiefly by German authors for its con-
tributions to the better knowledge of antiquity ; information
in respect to the sciences of medicine, zoology, botany, astron-
omy, mathematics, etc., have been collected and commented
upon. They have given the results of their labors in mono-
graphs of more or less value, the whole forming a kind of
Talmudical library and an introduction to the work itself,
often of exceeding value to the specialist and of signal utility
in popularizing the study of the Talmud.
Nor is this renewed activity limited to Jewish scholars ;
learned Christians, especially students of Oriental languages,
eagerly strive to gain new light for their studies from the
pages of the Talmud.
In the present volume, the author introduces the reader to
fragments of Oriental poetry, scattered through the pages of
Talmudical literature. He has collected some of the proverbs,
 PREFACE. V

hymns, songs, and parables. In its preparation the author's

greatest difficulty has been the abundance of material, but he
has sought to cull the best selections, and trusts that he has
been successful .

He has consulted the works of previous laborers in this

field, and his grateful acknowledgments are especially due to
Graetz, Delitzsch, Dukes, and Hamburger for the assistance
their works have afforded him. Nor can he in this connection

omit to express his thanks to the kind friends who have aided
him in the revision of his work, among others to Miss Deborah
Kleinert and Mr. A. Henschel for their poetical renderings .
In the hope that this volume may serve to awaken fresh in-
terest in the Talmud among the people and throw new light
on its character and contents, the author intrusts it to the
reader.
 CONTENTS .

CHAPTER I.
PAGE

HISTORY OF TALMUDICAL POETRY, 1

1. Jewish Poetry from the Second Temple to the Maccabees, 1

2. From the Maccabees to the Destruction of the Temple, 6

3. Mishna-Talmudical Times, 8

CHAPTER II .

FORMS OF TALMUDICAL POETRY, 14

CHAPTER III .

LITURGY, 19

1. Prayers, 20

2. Benedictions, 25

3. Songs and Hymns, 27

a. Drawing of Water for the Altar, 28

b. Festooning the Altar, 28

c. Illuminating and Torch-Dances, 29

4. Mashal , 31

5. History, 35

CHAPTER IV .

WEDDINGS AND WEDDING-FEASTS, 37

CHAPTER V.

1. FUNERAL ORATIONS AND ELEGIES , 41

I. The Cause of Death, 42

II. Untimely and Sudden Death, 42

III. Reflections upon the Signification of Death , 44

IV. The Irreparable Loss to Mankind, 44

V. Commiseration of the People, 45

VI. Special References, 45

2. STANZAS BY WOMEN 48
viii CONTENTS .

CHAPTER VI.
PAGE
VALEDICTORIES, 51

CHAPTER VII .

FABLES IN THE TALMUD, 57

1. The Lion and the Ibis , 59

2. The Fox and the Fishes, 60

3. The Fox and the Lion, • 61

4. The Fox and the Wolf, 61

5. The Iron and the Trees, 62

6. The Rivers and the Euphrates, 63

7. The Euphrates and the Tigris , 63

8. The Forest-Trees and the Fruit- Trees , 64

9. The Straw, the Chaff, and the Stubble, 64

10. The Fox as a Singer, 64

11. The Serpent, 66

12. Two Dogs, 66

13. The Rooster and the Owl, 67

14. The Mule, the Donkey, and the Pig , 67

15. The Fox in the Vineyard, 67

16. The Tail as Leader, 68

17. Lie and Vice, 69

18. The Power of the Tongue, 69

LOST FABLES , 71

CHAPTER VIII .

PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA, 74

1. Joshua ben Sirach, 74

2. Contents of the Proverbs , 75

3. Proverbs of Ben Sira in Talmud and Midrash, 78

4. Alphabet of Ben Sira, 84

CHAPTER IX .

RIDDLES IN THE TALMUD, 87

CHAPTER X.

MISCELLANEOUS , 97

1. A Rabbi Poet, 97

2. Messianic Predictions, 99
 CONTENTS . ix

CHAPTER xi.
PAGE

THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD , 101

1

1. Hyperbolic Aphorisms, 102

2. Conceptions of God , 104

3. Hyperbolic Slanders, 106

4. Hyperbolic Legends, 108

5. Enigmatical in place of Improper Language, 110

6. Metaphysical Hyperboles , 111

7. Historical Narratives, 112

8. Bar Bar Chana, 113

9. Scientific Axioms, 116

CHAPTER XII .

ELIJAH IN THE AGADAH, 118

CHAPTER XIII .

FOREIGN MYTHS, 125

1. Greek Myths in the Talmud, 125

2. Egyptian Myths, 131

APPENDIX.

HEBREW TEXTS , 135

Poetry of the Talmud.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORY OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

1. JEWISH POETRY FROM THE SECOND TEMPLE TO THE

MACCABEES.

The history of Jewish poetry-in contradistinction to Hebrew

poetry, represented by the different books of the Bible-com-
mences with the rebuilding of the Temple.
When Judah first went into exile, the priests, the sons of Zadok,
who had kept aloof from idolatry, carried along the Torah (the
Pentateuch) ; the disciples of the prophets took with them the
books of prophetical speeches ; the Levites, the sublime Psalms ;
the wise men, the great treasure of proverbs, and the scribes the
chronicles of happier times. The earthly wealth was destroyed,
but the Treasure saved. They brought into foreign land a rich,
glorious, and manifold collection of works, from which they de-
rived knowledge, culture, and consolation.
The precepts of the Pentateuch, which they had neglected and
disobeyed in the native country, they now studied and observed
upon foreign ground, and it was especially Ezra who impressed
a new character upon the whole system of Judaism. The Book
of Law was to him the emanation of God, revealed to Moses.
He stamped his own conviction upon the minds of the Baby-
lonian-Persian congregations, among whom already prevailed the
inclination to cling to their religion and nationality, and he even
caused prominent men to join him in the return to Palestine,
where the national affairs had assumed a sombre aspect.
1
 2 HISTORY OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

With the powerful assistance of Nehemiah he formed an

assembly, consisting of learned men and of representatives of the
people, which, under the name of Keneset-haggedolah (the great
assembly) , passed laws and ordinances for the proper organization
of the Jewish religious body.
Soon after the time of Nehemiah, a peculiar institution was
called into existence, which, with more or less influence, and
possibly without any interruption, existed down to the destruction
of the Second Temple-the Sanhedrin, the high council, consist-
ing of seventy or seventy-one members. *
They strengthened the work commenced by Ezra and Nehe-
miah, by new regulations in a thorough manner, and while they
took the Pentateuch as their guide, they still produced a total
change.
All new ordinances for the ritual communal life during the
two following centuries were their work ; new rules, which tradi-
tion refers to Ezra or which are quoted as Soferite institutions
(dibre Soferim), were the creation of that body. They laid the
sound foundation for the structure which had to withstand the
attacks of powerful foes through thousands of years .
They ordained the regular reading of the Torah on every Sab-
bath and holiday, and the translating of it into the vernacular
of the people. Even on Mondays and Thursdays, when the
country people visited the markets of the cities, a few verses of
the Pentateuch were to be read.

The text of the Bible, which was formerly written with anti-
quated Phœnician or old Babylonian characters, they transcribed
into more modern characters, such as were in use on the shores
of the Euphrates and Tigris (Ketab Ashurit), and which were
familiar to the Jews in Babylon.

* No more appropriate time could be designated during the whole period,

from Nehemiah down to the more historical period , for calling into exist-
ence such an institution. Glowing zeal for the laws of the Pentateuch
was then in full vigor, and naturally the leaders imitated the example set
by Moses in selecting seventy elders. Very probably, the first Sanhedrin
was selected from the different families who returned to Palestine, with
the high-priest as the presiding officer.
 THE SOFERIM . 3

By the regular reading of the Torah and the introduction of

popular characters, there was awakened a revival and an inter-
est for the faith, which soon gave a new religious character to the
whole nation. The Law became the spiritual property of the
masses, and their hearts the sanctuary where the word of God
was enshrined .

Another institution of great consequence was about this time

called into existence. The Soferim opened schools for the youths,
where the laws were expounded and love for them instilled into the
hearts of the disciples. The spiritual leaders of the people recom-
mended to future generations, " Raise up many disciples " (Abot
i. 1), and what they recommended to others, they undoubtedly did
themselves. Such a school certainly existed in Jerusalem (Bet
Mäad), as Yose ben Yoeser of the time of the Hasmoneans speaks
of it as a known institution.
The leaders of the people also organized synagogues (Bet ha-
Kenesset) and composed formulas for prayers which excelled by
reason of their simplicity, and are still recited although in a
somewhat extended form in the synagogues of the present day.
These energetic men, called in the Talmudical literature Sofe-
rim, produced in the Jewish nation the peculiar zeal to search,
expound, and speculate upon each verse and word of the Bible,
to develop therefrom some hidden truth or principle, which in the
course of the following centuries became still further developed.
Although that tendency, to find everything in the Bible, some-
times produced heresies and mysticisms , still the thinking and
reasoning faculties of the nation were thereby sharpened. " If
there still existed a trace of relationship between them and the
other nations of Semitic origin, the newly acquired peculiarity to
read and to search in the Scriptures entirely obliterated it "
(Graetz) .
It is remarkable that, in this long period of almost two centu-
ries, during which the Jewish commonwealth was thus wondrously
strengthened, developing its own and accepting foreign elements,
not a single name of any personality has been preserved who
contributed to that structure, destined to withstand the storms of
4 HISTORY OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

thousands of years. Did the spiritual leaders, the founders of

these new precepts, from excessive modesty withdraw their names
from publicity, to keep from their creations every appearance of
personal influence ? Was posterity ungrateful and neglectful in
recording their names for the memory of future generations ? Or
were they not prominent or talented enough to deserve individual
distinction, while the commonwealth has rather to thank for its
development their combined efforts, in which the individual was
completely absorbed ? History and tradition are silent, and the
facts recorded from that period are very few.
About the activity of one man of that time, history or rather
legend has preserved some facts, and although reliable history
knows very little about Simon I. , he must have been a most pro-
minent man. He lived about 300-270 before Christian era, and
was the only high-priest of the house of Jeshua or Yozadek of
whom anything praiseworthy is recorded. He stood as high-priest
not only at the head of the commonwealth and of the Sanhedrin,
but also as teacher at the head of the schools. His sayings,
which have been preserved, evince a true religious spirit. "On
three things the world is stayed, on the Torah, and on the
worship, and on the bestowal of kindnesses " (Abot i. 2). The
honor in which he was held found expression in the magnificent
eulogy of Ben Sira, the writer of Ecclesiasticus.
Describing the services which Simon I. had rendered to the
Temple and to the city of Jerusalem, he said :-

" A saint among his brethren, a crown to his people

Was Simon, son of Onias, the high-priest.
In his days the Temple was completed ,
And its walls were fully restored.
He caused the city to be fortified,
And new wells dug for the temples.
How fatherly did he care for his people !

How beautiful was he, when coming from the temple,

He appeared from within the veil !
He was as the morning star in the midst of clouds,
And as the moon in the days of Nissan:
 HELLENIC ATTACKS ON JUDAISM . 5

As the sun shining upon a palace,

And as the rainbow in the cloud;
As the waving wheat in the field,
As the Persian lily by the fountain,
And as the tree of Lebanon in the days of vintage ;
As the perfume of frankincense upon a censer,
As a collar of gold of variegated beauty,
And adorned with precious stones ;
As a fair olive-tree whose boughs are perfect,
And as the tree of anointing whose branches are full ."

While the Soferim were adding stone to stone, in order to

strengthen the structure of Judaism and, in accordance with their
principle, “ Make a fence to the Torah " (Abot i. 1), imposed
from time to time additional restrictions, so as to keep the people
at a safe distance from forbidden ground, towards the latter part
of that period appeared a formidable foe, who threatened to
demolish all their efforts.
By the conquests of Alexander the Great in Asia, the Jews
came in contact with the Greeks ; and Hellenic manners and
conceptions threatened to exercise a decided influence upon the
future moral development of the Jews for good and evil. While
the exertions of Ezra and the Soferim had openly the tendency
to isolate the Jews from the demoralizing influence of the neigh-
boring nations, the Jewish admirers of Grecian polished manners
strove to approach and possibly to unite with the strangers.
They might have referred to the sublime speeches of the proph-
ets, who considered as their highest ideal, the union of Israel
with other nations !

But if these Hellenists in Palestine, at first, might have been

inspired by the purest intentions, in hoping to be able to combine
two nations of heterogeneous character, they soon lost their Jew-
ish ground and became estranged to their national religion and
their nation.
When the Hellenistic spirit had reached its highest point, and
used even force to demolish Judaism, there a reaction took place.
Judaism arose with renewed strength, and by the victories of the
6 HISTORY OF TALMUDICAE POETRY .

Maccabees, a new era, the golden age of the Second Temple, com-
menced.

From the time of the Soferim date probably the oldest parts
of the Tefila or Eighteen Benedictions, the first three and the
last three benedictions, as they are already quoted in the Mishna
under special names (Rosh ha-Shanah iv.). Besides some for-
mulas for prayer (Yomah vi. 2; vii. 1; Berachot ix.) , merely
a few sayings of the colleges are preserved in the Talmud (Abot
i. 1, 2 ; Yomah vi.) .
Nevertheless that period was productive in poetical works,
as Isaiah Second, the unknown prophet, whose prophecies form
the second part of the Book of Isaiah, from Chapter 40 to the
end, different psalms; and, according to modern exegetists, also
Koheleth and the Song of Songs were written during this time.
The gnomology of Joshua ben-Sira ben-Elieser, a priest of Jeru-
salem, who lived (about 200 B. c.) in the saddest epoch of the
Jewish state, just preceding the wars of the Maccabees (although
not admitted into the Canon) , forms a precious treasure preserved
from the time of the Soferim .

2. FROM THE MACCABEES TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE

TEMPLE .

Although the greatest portion of the people had become faith-

less to their God, had been allured to run after Grecian deities,
and assumed Grecian manners, there still existed a party of pious
men. The more the leaders of the people and the masses inclined
to strange gods, the more did these men cleave to the belief of their
ancestors, and the more did they jealously watch over their inher-
itance. And when Judah recovered again his independence, and
the heroes of the house of Matathias ruled as God-fearing men,
then the national party acquired also the political power, and
with a rejuvenated spirit subjected the ancient laws to a revision.
With the Bible in hand, they endeavored to develop therefrom
the rules of life, and to justify existing regulations from the time
of the Soferim, as based upon the word of God; and even dur-
ing the following years of disturbance, under Hyrcanus and his
 HILLEL'S BENEFICIAL INFLUENCE. 7

successors, the men of science worked with little interruption

for the maintenance of religion. New methods of dialectics
were invented, lively debates about ritual practices were held, and
while the outside world engaged in bloody fights and petty
court intrigues, the colleges discussed theological and juridical
questions, and although harassed by the events of the times and
even persecuted by the political powers, they continued to develop
the principles for the preservation of Judaism.
Of the greatest importance and consequence was the activity of
Hillel and his school (although his antagonist, Shamai, also
largely contributed to the upholding of the religion), and rightly
the Talmud said about him : " Hillel was to his time what Ezra
was to his time," a restorer of the ancient law (Succah 20) .
The influence of Hillel exerted itself over the whole domain of

Jewish science; he raised the study of the unwritten law to a

very high reputation, and gave it a greater precision than it had
heretofore attained. To the school of Hillel, in conjunction
with that of Shamai, is attributed the Megillath Beth Hashmo-
naim, a work on the history of the Maccabees, no longer extant,
and also the Megillath Taanith, a collection of laws and notes on
the penitential times and solemnities of the Jews, which is
quoted in the Mishna ( Taanith ii. 8). He was also the founder
of a family and race of hierarchs in the wisdom and administration
of the law, who held the dignity of Nissim or " patriarchs " in
thirteen generations for about four hundred years.
If the glorious victories of the Maccabees and the restoration
of the interrupted temple-service still inspired some national
poets, who, with the elegance and fire of the years of yore, sang
praises to God, which were incorporated into the existing collec-
tion of psalms; soon after, the sweet sound of poetry vanished,
not to be revived for a long period of years, and not a trace of
poetical productions, like those of happier days, from the time
after John Hyrcanus remained. What the people needed for
devotion was supplied by the poetry of former days, and for
knowledge they read the existing records of the past. Only
history was produced to preserve the memory of deeds and
8 HISTORY OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

events ; the recent past and the immediate present offered abun-
dant material .

The historians, whose names are lost, composed their works

after the style of the Bible; they did not use the dry forms of the
chronicler, but composed their narrative in a flowing, vivid style.
The few fragments remaining prove that also for history the
Hebrew language was used, and still existed almost pure from
Aramaisms.
The original parts of the First Book of the Maccabees, which
formerly existed in Hebrew (now only in a Greek translation),
were undoubtedly composed about this time, although revised at
a later period. The history of Hyrcanus was soon after his
death compiled under the title Dibre ha- Yamim, “ chronicles of
the time, " of which a small fragment is preserved in the Talmud.

3. MISHNA- TALMUDICAL TIMES.

The Temple was laid in ruins, and the remnant of the people
turned away from their cherished fatherland, to enter upon a
pilgrimage which lasted many centuries.
What prevented this homeless people from degenerating into
brutalized vagabonds, into a vagrant horde of gypsies ? Dr. Graetz,
in his " History of the Jews ” (Vol. IV. ), graphically answers this
question. " The Jewish people carried along the ark of the
covenant, which breathed into their hearts ideal aspirations and
even illumined with an apostolic glory the badge of disgrace
affixed to their garments. The proscribed, outlawed, universally
persecuted Jew felt a sublime, noble pride in being singled out to
suffer, but at the same time to perpetuate a religion which reflects
eternity, and by which the nations of the earth were gradually
educated to a knowledge of God and to morality, and from which
are to spring the salvation and redemption of the world. The
consciousness of his glorious apostolic office sustained the sufferer,
and even elevated such sufferings to become a portion of his
sublime mission. A people who disdain the present, but have
their eyes steadily fixed on the future are sustained by study, and
 JEWISH SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY . 9

the exuberant effusions of poetry instill balm into their lacerated

hearts."

When Vespasian, while besieging Jerusalem, received the fugi-

tive R. Yochanan ben Sakkai, and gave him leave to ask a favor,
the Roman general must have derisively smiled when the Rabbi
modestly begged to be permitted to open a school at Jabné ; the
emperor could not suspect that by this insignificant act power-
less Judea would acquire the strength to survive vigorous iron
Romanism for thousands of years. R. Yochanan, as well as his
disciples and their successors, for a period of five hundred years-
the Talmudical epoch-were almost exclusively occupied with the
farther construction of the religious life; and with uninterrupted
zeal collected, sifted, and expounded all the ancient traditions.
They had all their exertions and mental capacities directed to
the exposition of the Holy Word transmitted to them, to be used
as a guide in all new relations of life ; and this activity was so
predominant and exclusive that no other branch of knowledge,
except as far as it would further the peculiar drift of their studies,
could find room at its side.

Whatever their thinkers thought, whatever poetical feelings or

the fire of their imagination produced in their minds, was con-
nected with the word of God as an exposition or a deduction.
Exposition was the ruling spiritual activity for many centuries in
the history of Jewish life. They expended energy and talent,
the deepest feelings of the heart, and the best powers of the mind
to drink from the everliving fountain of divine revelation. They
cherished it as an inexhaustible treasure, from which fresh sup-
plies of spiritual food for encouragement and comfort may con-
tinually be taken ; they found therein answer to every question
of the present.
This spiritual activity branched off into two directions, known
under the names Halachah and Agadah.
The Halachah, a word which means custom or usage, as well
as practice, constitutes the elementary material of the oral law,
the faithful preservation and the conscientious transmission of
which were the vital objects of this period. The Halachah is
10 HISTORY OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

dialectic and juridical, its conclusions are chiefly derived from

the Pentateuch, the exclusive Book of Law, by means of syllogistic
formulas. The last results of these conclusions and diligent
researches were considered binding for strict observance. With
these were combined ancient customs received and sanctioned by
tradition .

The Agadah (homily) is the poetical and fantastical part of

Talmudical literature. It incloses the blossoms which enlivened
the colorless subject matter of the laws by their brilliant tints
and sweet fragrance, and was properly compared to the " lily
work " which adorned the pillars in the temple of Solomon.
While the Halachah engaged the skill of erudition, it sometimes
led the mind into a labyrinth of dialectics, and its final legal
decisions appear as the result of complicated debates. The
Agadah, on the other hand, evinced deep feeling, which rose up
to the loftiest and holiest heights, proclaimed comfort and reli-
gious knowledge, fortified the minds for the sufferings of the
present, and whose inmost fountain was the deepest religious
belief.

The German poet, Heine, who received Talmudical training in

his youth, in his poem " Judah ben Halevy," says about the
Halachah and Agadah :
The heavens pour down upon us
Lights of two distinctive descriptions :
Glaring daylight of the sun,
And the moonlight's softer lustre.

Thus two different lights the Talmud

Also sheds, and is divided
In Halachah and Agadah ;
Now the first's a fighting school,

And the latter, the Agadah,

I should rather call a garden ;
Yes, a garden, most fantastic,
Comparable to the other,

Which in days of yore was planted

In the town of Babylon-
 THE HALACHAH AND AGADAH . 11

Great Semiramis's garden,

That eighth wonder of the world.

High upon colossal pillars,

Palms and cypresses were standing,
Golden oranges, fair flow'r beds,
Marble statues, gushing fountains.

Firmly , skilfully united

By unnumber'd hanging bridges,
Which appear'd like climbing plants,
And whereon the birds were rocking.

Solemn birds, large, many color'd ,

All deep thinkers, never singing,
While around them finches flutter'd ,
Keeping up a merry twitter.

The two branches, Halachah and Agadah, of Talmudical liter-

ature, appear in the Talmud interchanging with each other.
When the student had followed the contests of dialectic athletes
to solve a juridical or exegetical problem, his overstrained mind
finds a welcome rest in a bed of flowers from the garden of the
Agadah.
But both are couched in the same peculiar style, which (as
Delitzsch says) we may call brachylogy, the expression of ideas
and facts in the most concise manner. Here the words appear
as anagrams, or rather like abbreviations or contractions of ideas.
The word does not necessarily represent one conception or idea,
but, on the contrary, it sometimes appears as the focus where
several ideas are concentrated. Its poetical productions are,
therefore, also of a peculiar character, and must be differently
classified from those of our modern languages. They are alto-
gether epigrammatic, concentrating the ideas, so as to form sur-
prising contrasts. They are seldom picturesque or idealizing
imitations of nature; but they appear rather like the flashes of
lightning, descending from higher regions to illumine terres-
trial scenes.

These poetical productions, as they appear in Talmudical lit-

erature, form chiefly two classes : Mashal and Shir. The Mashal
12 HISTORY OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

(a simile or parable), the production of practical discernment,

almost in contradiction with the generally accepted idea of
poetry, comprises sayings of the wise, popular proverbs, riddles,
fables, parables, and allegories. The Shir (song) appears in
Talmudical literature merely as brief wedding or funeral hymns.
According to statements in the Talmud, R. Meir and Bar
Kappora each composed three hundred fables (a round number
expressing a great many), as also other prolific poets produced a
large number of fables, but of these only a small number have been
preserved. Sayings of the wise and popular proverbs appear in
great abundance, scattered through the different volumes of the
Talmud and Midrash, and especially the Mishna Abot or
Pirke Abot (Chapters of the Fathers) consist, to a great extent,
of maxims of the Jewish Fathers, whose names are mentioned in
its pages, and which is chiefly valued as a compendium of prac-
tical ethics, although it is not without a mystical element in
portions of its fifth and concluding chapter. The Abot de Rabbi
Nathan is another large collection of sayings, wherein the origi-
nal maxims of R. Nathan appear enlarged and edited at a later
time. The treatise Derech Erets contains maxims for social life;
while Derech Erets Suta describes rules for scholars, and Perek-
ha-Sholom exalts the value of peace.
The literature of songs (or rather carmen) consists of elegies
recited by Sufdanin or mourners, and a few occasional composi-
tions at ordinations, weddings, receptions, feasts, and other pub-
lic gatherings.
More fruitful was the production of prayers and benedictions,
of which a large collection for public or private devotion is pre-
served in the Talmud. To these, also, belong the oldest parts
of the Agadah shel Pesach, a collection for prayers and reflec-
tions for family service, still in use on the eve of Passover. It is
written in the style of the old Agadah, and contains, besides seri-
ous reflections on the importance of the occasion, playful conver-
sations of the Rabbis, which, to any one not initiated into the
peculiar dialectical method of the Talmud, appears not only unin-
telligible, but ridiculous.
 THE MIDRASH WORKS . 13

Of the different Agadic expositions of the Bible, wherein the

word of the Bible is analyzed, compared, and expounded in all
possible, ingenious, and far-fetched ways, the greatest number
possess a high poetical hue. These expositions are collected in
different Midrash works, as Bereshit Rabba (commentary on
Genesis), Shemoth Rabba (on Exodus), Sifra, Sifri, Yalkut,
Yelamdenu, and some others of different periods, ranging from
the second to the eleventh century.
We cannot deny that among the wheat much chaff has been
smuggled in; that there are many extravagant and far-fetched
expositions and Agadoth; that there are obscure and seemingly
superstitious sayings and narratives ; but we must say with Mai-
monides : " Beware that thou takest not literally those words of
the Chachamim, for this would be degrading to the sacred doc-
trine, and would sometimes contradict it. Seek rather the hid-
den sense ; and, if thou cannot find the kernel, let the shell alone,
and confess : ' I cannot understand this ! ""
14 FORMS OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

CHAPTER II .

FORMS OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

The Greek and Roman classics, surpassing the compositions of

other nations, preserved by their finished style and the melodious
flow of their poetry, will remain as models for all ages. But they
are at the same time rude evidences of the world's childhood . In
them, passion has not yet yielded to the sway of reason, ven-
geance is recognized as right, and all the vices of heathenism ap-
pear in alluring forms.
How much superior are those pure moral precepts, those heaven-
born truths, which filled the soul of God-inspired sages !
. Their compositions yield to those of Greek and Roman classics
in arrangement of ideas, in method, in beauty of form, but they
are superior in moral truth, as they have for their centre God
and His revealed Law. Instead of the gay, joyous, and worldly
spirit of the Greeks, an elegiac tone prevails through the whole
literature of the Talmud, as most of its productions were com-
posed in times of oppression and suffering.
In fact, very few efforts appear to have been made during
Talmudical times to express thought in the beautiful form of
poetry. The words came forth as a natural result of the feelings;
the spirit within the sage urged him to utterance and he did not
first ask, " What shall I utter? " but his ideas poured forth, like
the water plunging down the cataract, without any visible method,
but still sublime and filled with grandeur.
The numerous pages of the two Talmuds are filled with reflec-
tions and remarks, mostly springing from every-day occurrences.
They are strewn about like the wild flowers of the field. We very
seldom meet with anything approaching a well-set composition
and distinguished for its poetical forms.
The whole Talmud appearslike a series of almost uninterrupted
 SOME METRICAL EXAMPLES . 15

debates, interchange of ideas, flashes of thoughts, where the most

important questions of the time, the highest concerns of life, and
the most insignificant rites are discussed. Everything, whatever
a teacher appeared to have uttered in earnest or in jest, as a state-
ment of deep thought or a passing witticism, was thought import-
ant enough to be recorded. It was preserved for later times to
collect the strewn flowers into bouquets, to arrange the scattered
thoughts into poems of rare excellence, and to clothe them into
poetical garb and beauty. Still there are some compositions of
intrinsic value, proverbs and sayings showing cadence or measure,
assuming a metrical form, while others already appear in rhyme.
The fragments of the proverbs of Ben Sira in the two Talmuds
and Midrash give some examples of metric forms, and some with
1
returns of corresponding sounds. It distinctly appears that Ben
Sira composed after the model of Solomon's Proverbs. The verses
are subdivided commonly into couplets, containing an equal
number of syllables, and each couplet ends with the same word.
Such approaches to a fixed rhythmical arrangement and
regular rhyme appear in numerous Talmudical aphorisms and
popular proverbs. The fixed formulas for prayer in the two Tal-
muds, the ritual prayers of the Temple, some private prayers of
prominent teachers, and a few occasional compositions also show
a certain regularity of arrangement in their words and syllables.
But they cannot be classified as metrical productions or as dis-
tinct poems.
An important branch of Talmudical literature, of poetical value,
forms the Targumim, Chaldaic paraphrases of the Bible, emanat-
ing from the Talmud and Midrash. They either keep closely to
the spirit and construction of the original text (as the Targum
Onkelos on the Pentateuch and the Targum to Job), or the
words of the Bible are the golden hooks on which they fastened
the variegated curtains of legend, interwoven with many-colored
threads of Orientalism and Rabbinism. In the first case, the
peculiarities of the Biblical poetry are faithfully preserved, and
only slightly tinged with an Agadaic coloring; in the other,
legends abound, and the style of the interpretation more often re-
 16 FORMS OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

sembles a Midrash than a paraphrase. The Targum Jerushalmi

and the Targumin on the five Megilloth form most beautiful and
systematic national works of art, through which the golden thread
of the Scriptures passes.
Also the Midrashim are partly poetical works of art, and may
be called Agadic dramas, Agadic hymns, and Agadic elegies ; their
manner of exposition is poetical in form and contents. The
method of exposition is sometimes analytical, so that the Biblical
text stands as the introduction to the Agadah, at other times
synthetical, where the Biblical text closes the whole as the com-
pletement of the statement and appears as its confirmation. Echa
Rabati and Shir ha Shirim Rabati are great exegetic poetical
compositions. The theories and rules of the Occidental poetry,
however, cannot be applied to these, wherein the most heteroge-
neous elements are mingled. The Midrash on the Song of Songs
is a mystical-erotic composition, the Midrash on Lamentations a
tragical elegy, Yelamdenu a didactical hymn. History and ex-
position, old tales and new narratives, lyrical and epic, Biblical
and Talmudical, Tanaim and Amoraim, grave and ridiculous,
Oriental and Occidental-all are blended there together like the
colored glasses of the kaleidoscope. Combine with this the
marble-like, imposing, fantastical, mysterious Chaldee, which
seems to be expressly formed to become the language of the
thoughtful Mashal, the extravagant myth, the mystical Kabala-
and you have a picture of the rhymeless, unfettered, Jewish-
national poetry of the Targum and Midrash.
The language, or rather the languages, in which the composi-
tions of the Talmud and Midrash appear, are Hebrew, Chaldee
and Talmudical.

With a few exceptions in Chaldee, the entire literature of

Palestine in the Soferite age was Hebrew. The language had
undergone serious modifications. Old words were either sup-
planted by new words, or were retained with new shades of mean-
ing; and the language put forth its vigor in the development of
new words which answered to the wants of the times .
In this idiom Joshua Ben Sina wrote his Proverbs, the men of
 THE VARIOUS IDIOMS . 17

the Great Assembly and of the Sanhedrin expressed their aphor-

isms and composed the liturgy of the Temple and of the syna-
gogue. The Hebrew remained also in the following ages the lan-
guage of worship, of science, and of literature.
Among the masses, Chaldee intermixed with Hebrew became
prevalent, so that in Palestine a Palestine dialect, called Sursi,
and in Babylon another dialect, less mixed than the first, called
Aramy, were spoken. * These dialects were also used by the
learned, at the side of the Hebrew, which, continually undergoing
transition, departed more and more from its original form in the
Scriptures, and appeared as a sort of idiom, the Leshon Chacha-
mim, or " dialect of the sages," a language peculiar to the Rab-
binical schools, and the voluminous writings which have issued
from them. This language has also been used by later commen-
tators. It is to this dialect that the term " Talmudical

Hebrew, " exclusive of the other post-biblical literature, is to be

applied .
But also the phraseology of the Scriptures was entwined with
the common conversation of the Talmudical sages, and the words
of prophetic inspiration hovered on their lips. In their epistol-
ary correspondence, the Biblical element largely intermingled,
both in imparting a tone and character to their style of writing,
and in furnishing beautiful and appropriate tokens of friendship.
The literature of the Talmud, therefore, appears in three idioms,
Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Talmudical. During the time of the Tal-
mud, all three branches were flourishing, the Hebrew, used for
ritual purposes and peculiarly developed for judicial distinctions ;
the comparatively pure Chaldaic, and the mixture of these two
* The Palestine idiom is distinguished from the Bablyonian. For in-
stance, Jer. Sota ix. 6 (compare Abel Rabati viii. 2). At the point of
death Samuel Hakatan said, " Simon and Ismael are destined to
destruction, their companions to death, the people to plunder, and great
oppressions are approaching. " He spoke Aramaic and the persons
present did not understand him. In Baba Kama (3, a) Rabbi asked,
" Why is Syriac spoken in Palestine ? Why do the people not rather
speak either Hebrew or Greek ? " to which R. Yosé rejoined, “ Why is
the Aramaic the vernacular of the Jews of Babylon ? Why do they not
use either the holy language or Persian ? "
2
18 FORMS OF TALMUDICAL POETRY .

idioms into a third, which has many peculiarities of its own, the
Talmudical language.
None of these idioms appears exclusively for any kind of com-
position. Halachah and Agadah, Shir, Mashal and Tefila appear
in one or the other idiom. None appears in larger passages with-
out an intermixture of the other, they stand together like the
leaves on one stem. The Chaldee in the mouth of the common
people appears intermingled with Hebrew words and phrases,
just as the Hebrew in the mouth of the learned has Chaldaic and
other foreign ingredients.
 REVIVAL AT THE TIME OF THE SECOND TEMPLE . 19

CHAPTER III .

LITURGY .

The history of the prayers of a nation is equal with the his-

tory of its progress in culture and civilization.
With man's first consciousness of his dependence on a higher
being, he raises his voice to the invisible Power, who rules and
governs his destiny.
During the existence of the First Temple, the Israelite, when-
ever his heart prompted him to communicate with God, raised
his voice and laid his feelings bare before the throne of the Most
High . Especially would he choose the solemn shrine on Mount
Moriah for his devotion. The temple was to him not a mere
place of sacrifice, but a " house of prayer," hence we find specific
forms of confession already in the Pentateuch, as used in the
First Temple. Such is the Vidui or confession of the high-
priest (Lev. xvi. 21), and the formula prescribed at the obla-
tion of Bechoroth or " first-fruits " (Deut. xxvi.) From
David's time downwards, the Holy Scriptures furnished various
forms of prayers and praise. (See examples in 1 Kings viii. 47;
Daniel ix. 4; Neh. ix. 5.)
At the time of the Second Temple, when a revival in religious
feelings took place, and a longing arose among the masses dis-
persed in Babylon to come into closer connection with their God,
fixed formulas for daily and regular prayers were introduced.
Prayers ceased to be a mere matter of choice, and became a mat-
ter of duty, and in the temple and in the numerous synagogues
fixed prayers were recited in the morning and evening.
The liturgy then in existence we may range under the distinct
heads Tefila, " the prayer, " Beracha, " the benediction, " and
Shir, " song or poetic chant of praise. "
20 THE LITURGY.

1. PRAYER .

The Aboda or divine service of the Second Temple under Ezra

and his successors became more copious in material for its
liturgy. At the feast of Tabernacles, the one hundred and
eighteenth psalm was sung, accompanied by trumpets and cym-
bals (Ezra iii. 10, 11 ; Neh. xii. 24).
The titles given to certain psalms in the Septuagint indicate a
fixed use of them at certain periods of week-day and Sabbath
worship. (Compare Mishna Tamid end ; Soferim 18.) The se-
lection for the different days of the week, commencing with Sun-
day, were Psalms 24, 48, 82, 94, 81, 93, 92. There can be no
doubt that these psalms were not expressly composed for that
purpose, but were taken from a collection then existing.
The fifteen " Songs of Degree " also were evidently liturgical,
and probably derive their name from the fifteen semicircular
steps at the Nicanor gate of the great court of the temple on
which the Levites stood, while singing them.
So the Mishna (Succah 5, 4), " On the fifteen steps which led
into the women's court of the temple, corresponding with the
fifteen songs of degrees, stood the Levites with their instruments
of music and song."
The psalms 113-118, called the Great Hallel, were, according to
the Talmud (Pessachim 117), recited on holidays during prophetic
times, and the Septuagint distinguished them by a special title.
Special verses from the Psalms are reported as having been
used as fixed formulas. For instance, " Save now, we beseech
thee, O Lord : O Lord, we beseech thee, send now prosperity "
(cxviii. 25) was recited by the priests at their procession with
twigs of willows around the altar of burning sacrifices on the
seven days of the Feast of Weeks. The exclamation, " Awake,
why sleepest thou, O Lord? " ( Ps. xliv . 24) was daily repeated
by the Levites in times of distress and tribulations. * (Yalkut
Shimoni to the verse.)

* John Hyrcanus, the high-priest, abolished the use of this verse, which
was introduced during the sufferings under the Syrian reign.
 SCHECHARITH TEFILLA . 21

Besides these psalms, newly composed prayers were recited,

which in form were entirely differing from those poetical produc-
tions admitted into the Canon .
The most ancient portions of these prayers may be arranged
under two heads.
They are found in 1. The Shecharith or morning prayers; the
portions which accompany the confession of the Divine Unity,
called Shema (from the initial words Shema Israel, “ Hear, O
Israel ! " (Deut. vi. 4-9 ; xi. 13-21; Num. xv. 37-41). The
devotional parts connected with the reading of these Biblical
paragraphs are three, two preceding these paragraphs, celebrating
the worship of God as Creator and setting forth the love of God
for Israel, in having communicated to Israel His laws, and the
third, following the Shema, an adoration of God as Israel's Re-
deemer.

2. The other part bears the usual name of the Tefilla or also
Shemonah Ezreh, the " Eighteen Benedictions," though, strictly
speaking, they are in the present form nineteen benedictions.
Of these nineteen benedictions the first three and the last three
are considered to be the most ancient, and belong rather in their
entirety to the class of Beracha, benedictions, while the included
thirteen contain the prayers proper, for knowledge, for repent-
ance, for forgiveness, etc. Each of them closes with a Beracha,
benediction.

The six oldest benedictions are undoubtedly of the Soferite age

and appear also designated by special names in the Mishna;
Abot, Geburot, Kedusha, Aboda, Hoda'a and Birkat-Kohanim
:
(Rosh Hashana iv. 5) ; while the others were composed in the
course of about three hundred years.
The authors of these prayers used the greatest care in word-
ing them, * and in a very simple, popular, and impressive lan-
* About the introduction of the expressions ‫האל הגדול הגבור והנורא‬
into the first benediction, which is credited to the men of the Great Syn-
agogue , the following legend appears in Talmud Yoma (56, a) : "Moses
used the expression in his prayer ' Great, powerful, and tremendous
God ! ' Jeremiah reasoned: ' Foreign nations intruded upon His sanc-
tuary, where is His tremendousness ? ' and in his prayer omitted the
 22 THE LITURGY .

guage they laid down therein the principles of the Jewish religion.
By repeated recitals, every Israelite became thoroughly acquainted
with the dogmas of his creed, and received thereby a clear and
pure conception of his Creator. For this reason all anthropo-
morphisms and even poetical embellishments, which in any way
could be misunderstood by the common people, were studiously
avoided.

The form of these ancient prayers differs from those of the

Psalms and other compositions, admitted into the Canon and sup-
posed to have their origin in Soferite times, by entirely discard-
ing parallelism, that dwelling upon one favored sentiment in a
variety of ways, as if loath to part with it, but expresses the idea
in the most clear and concise form, and by its language indicates
the transformation of the Biblical into the more popular and
dogmatical Talmudical Hebrew, tinted with new formed words
and Aramaisms.
The oldest part, however, preserved some indications of the
former or contemporary poetical productions, as they are some-
times musical and harmonious in sound, and have an assonance
of the closing words of the sentences. There are many expres-
sions of the most sublime parts of the Biblical Hebrew used in

attribute ' tremendous ' (Jeremiah xxx. 18). At a later time Daniel
remarked : ' Other nations rule over his people, how could I call Him
" powerful ? " " and he in his turn omitted the attribute ' powerful '
(Dan. ix. 4) . The men of the Great Synagogue, however, asserted :
' His tremendousness and power are the more visible now ! He keeps
back his wrath, and is long-suffering with the wicked; and his small,
insignificant nation He guards and preserves in the midst of a multitude
of nations, ' and, therefore, introduced all three attributes used by Moses
into the prayers. " Also, in reference to the use of these three attributes
of God, the following narrative appears in Talmud Megillah (28) : "A
reader in a synagogue added of his own will to the three above quoted
attributes of God three similar ones, but was interrupted by R. Chanina,
who said : ' Canst thou express by words the greatness of God ? We
were not even allowed to use any attribute in reference to God if the
example in using ' the great, powerful, and tremendous God ' had not
been set by Moses." In reference to the first three and last three
benedictions, Maimonides asserts : " No man has power to diminish
from, or add to them, or subject them to the least change " (Hilchot
Tefilla 1 , 11).
 MODIFICATION OF THE LITURGY . 23

these benedictions.* Also twice in the Kedusha and Hoda'ah, the

musical expression Selah, which only appears in the highest parts
of Biblical lyrical pieces, has been admitted, as an expression of
poetry. Taken as a whole, these ancient prayers are highly
poetical in their simplicity and most appropriate as expressions
of adoration of the Most High.
From the time of the second restoration of the Temple ser-
vice by the Maccabees down to the destruction of the Temple, the
liturgy was somewhat changed and enlarged. The appearance of
different sects, religious divisions among the people, and an ani-
mosity springing up between different parties, caused the leaders
to transform some prayers, which seemed to be misunderstood.
The daily recital of the Ten Commandments, until then in com-
mon use, was abolished, in order that no heretic might assert
that the Ten Commandments comprise all the laws given by
Moses (Jer. Berachot c. 1). For the same reason the college
of Hillel taught against the college of Shamai, that the Shema
should not be recited with special veneration in distinction of
other prayers, nor that the Modim, “ We adore thee " in She-
monah Ezreh should be repeated, that it may not appear as if the
Jews worship two deities.
The Shemonah Ezreh was enlarged by prayers for the prose-
lytes, sages, and elders, and for the appearance of the Messiah
(Megillah 25) .
The liturgy experienced again a new revision after the destruc-
tion of the Temple, in order that the prayers recited may agree
with the changed circumstances of the times. We are, however,
in the dark as to how far these changes extended. Further
changes and additions are reported from that time to the close of
the Talmud.
Among the fragments of prayers from the earliest, the Soferite
age, we must mention the exclamations on the days of fasting,
as given in Mishna Taanit (2 ; 4, 5) :

* For instance, ‫) רב להושיע‬Is. xiii. 2( ‫) סומך נופלים‬Ps. cxlv. 14( ‫מחיר‬

‫) אסורים‬Ps. cxlvi. 7( ‫) ישני עפר‬Dan. xii. 2( ‫) מצמיח ישועה‬Is. xlv. (.
24 THE LITURGY.

" May He who answered Abraham on the Mount Moriah answer you,
and listen graciously this day to your cry. May He who answered our
fathers at the Red Sea answer you, etc. May He who answered Joshua
at Gilgal answer you, etc. May He who answered Samuel at Mizpah
answer you, etc."

Also the four collects offered by the high-priest on the day of

atonement are preserved in the Jerusalem Talmud, in the Mishna,
and the Midrash Yelamdenu. They appear in the prayer-books
for that day, wherein the temple service, as it existed in olden
times, is poetically described for the devotion of the present
generation.
From later Talmudical times we possess a large number of very
impressive prayers, mostly for private devotion, and composed by
individual Rabbis, of which we give a few examples :
1. May it be Thy will, O Lord our God, and the God of our
fathers, to deliver us from the shameless, and from shamelessness,
from evil men, and from evil accident, from evil inclination,
from evil companion, from evil neighbor, and from Satan the
destroyer, * from hard judgment, and from a hard adversary,
whether he be a son of the covenant or not a son of the covenant

(Berachot 16, b).

2. May it be Thy will, O Lord our God, to let exist among us
love, brotherly feeling, peace, and good companionship, bless
our land with disciples, that we may prosper, and give us a por-
tion of future bliss (Berachot 16, a) .

* The name Satan, known from the Bible, has in the Talmud different
meanings, according to the ages when the sentences were uttered. It is
used for his inward and outward appearance. The Satan exists in the
human heart and outside of it. The Talmudists express both appear-
ances by the same word . They understand by it the obscure relation
between the happy man and some exterior circumstances, which even
without a moment's notice changes his welfare into great misfortune.
They also take it for the evil disposition in man, which expels his brutal
nature. It is farther used to express any kind of danger, ‫השטן מקטרג‬
‫ " בשעת הסכנה‬the Satan appears as accuser in time of danger " (Jer .
Sabbath 11), i. e. , man in a dangerous position, or during common mis-
fortunes , as epidemics, wars, etc. , is more exposed to lose his life or health
than he otherwise would be. We must avoid such dangers, and not
rely upon our good fortune (Sabbath, 32, a).
 FORMS OF BENEDICTION . 25

3. Lord of the universe ! It is revealed and known before Thee

that our will is to do Thy will. And who hinders ? The leaven
that is in the dough, and servitude to the kingdoms. May it be
Thy will to deliver us from their hand (Berachot 17, a) .
4. May it be Thy will, O Lord our God, to cause me to cleave
to Thy commandments. And bring me not into the hands of
sin, nor into the hands of iniquity, nor into the hands of tempta-
tion, nor into the hands of disgrace. And bow my inclinations *
to be subservient to Thee. And remove me from evil man, and
from evil companion. And cause me to cleave to the good
inclination and to a good companion in Thy world. And give
me over this day, and every day, to grace, and to favor, and to
mercy, in Thine eyes and in the eyes of all that behold me (Bera-
chot 60, b) .
5. O Lord our God! Endow us graciously with knowledge to
learn Thy ways ; cause our heart to fear Thee; forgive us, that
we may be among those that were redeemed ; remove from us
sorrow; satisfy us with Thy goodness; collect our exiles from the
four corners of the earth; judge the erring in accordance with
Thy holy will ; rejoice the just by the rebuilding of Thy city, the
erection of Thy temple, the sprouting forth of the horn of bliss
of David, Thy servant, and by the restoration of the light of the
son of Isai, Thy anointed † (Berachot 29).
2. BENEDICTIONS .

The adoration of the name and dominion of God pervades the

whole of the Jewish liturgy. Many of the prayers begin and end
with it. In fact this principle was asserted ‫כל ברכה שאין בה הזכרת‬
‫השם ומלכות אינה ברכה‬ " Any prayer wherein the name and
dominion of God are not mentioned, is not to be considered a
benediction. "

66

* Inclination ‫ יצר‬is generally accompanied by ‫טוב‬ good " or ‫חר‬

" evil. " The ‫ יצר הרע‬the evil inclinations in man are his passions. They
are also sometimes designated by Satan.
+ This prayer was composed by Samuel, in the third century, as a
shortened form of the Shemonah Ezreh .
26 THE LITURGY .

The oldest application of this form of prayer was made at the

regular service in the Temple, and such benedictions are pre-
served in the Bible at the close of the several books of the Psalms
xli. , lxxii. , lxxxix. and cvi., and in 1 Chron. xvi. 36.
The most complete of these benedictions appears attached to
Psalm 1xxii . , and runs as follows :

" Blessed be the Eternal, God, the God of Israel, who alone doth
wondrous things. And blessed be His glorious name forever, and
let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. "

To Psalm cvi.:

" Blessed be the Eternal, God of Israel from everlasting to ever-

lasting, and let all the people say Amen. Praise ye the Lord. "

To Psalm xli .:

" Blessed be the Eternal, God of Israel, from everlasting to ever-

lasting. Amen and Amen."

To Psalm 1xxxix. :

" Blessed be the Eternal for evermore. Amen and Amen."

In 1 Chron. xvi. 36, the following doxology is used:

" Blessed be the Eternal, God of Israel, forever and ever. And
all the people said Amen, and praised be the Eternal."

It is very probable that at the religious services in the Temple,

the Levites regularly concluded the singing of the Psalms with
one of these quoted doxologies, to which the people then responded
by repeating the last verse, or by " Amen, Amen."
When the priests pronounced the blessings in the Temple, and
whenever the high-priest, at the service of the day of Atonement,
uttered the most holy name of God, as well as at other benedictions
in the Temple, according to tradition, the people responded,
" Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom for evermore "
(Jer. Berachot, end).
It is distinctly stated in the Talmud (Taanit 16, b) that in the
Temple the people responded to the benedictions of the priests
 SONGS AND HYMNS . 27

and Levites by that formula, while in the synagogues they only

responded by “ Amen," or " Amen and Amen. "
After the confession of the unity of God, " Hear, O Israel, the
Eternal our God, the Eternal is one !" that formula was also
retained in the synagogues, but very likely in contradistinction
to the custom in the Temple, or in order not to interrupt the
connection of the Biblical passage, it was ordered that it be recited
with subdued voice (Pesachim 56, a) .
Of the Shemonah Ezreh the first three and the last three bene-

dictions belong properly to the class of Beracha, while the other

thirteen prayers all close with a Beracha, benediction, as also
many other prayers. It was the aim of the composers of prayers
that supplication, with prayer and thanksgiving, should be con-
tinually impressed upon the mind of the people, and also a deep
reverence for the everlasting name and the everlasting eye, which
to the exclusion of any other real or imaginary power, has domin-
ion over all our affairs .

The sages, therefore, prescribed benedictions for almost all

affairs of life, and increased their number to a great extent, not
only for every natural phenomenon and every accident, but also
at sight of a king, of a wise man (even of a Gentile), of a person
of unusual dimensions, either a giant or dwarf, and for many other
events special benedictions were composed.

3. SONGS AND HYMNS.

Shir, " song " or " chant," is a partly metrical composition

designed for chanting ; it consisted of words recited to musical
tones, but generally without a definite musical measure.
In Talmudical literature different fragments of such composi-
tions have been preserved, in nuptial songs, hymns for popular
feasts, dirges, and table songs, of which some sound almost
epicurean.
The few songs preserved from the Soferite times were used at
festive gatherings, when, in time of peace and comparative inde-
pendence, the people assembled around the Sanctuary, and ex-
pressed their feelings in exclamations of thanksgiving and joy.
28 THE LITURGY .

As these appear in connection with descriptions of such gather-

ings, and as their contents and form thereby become intelligible,
it will be interesting for the reader to become acquainted with
the character of the feasts.
No season of the year was more appropriate for joyful manifes-
tations than that which witnessed the Feast of Tabernacles, the
time of ingathering. This feast was already distinguished, accord-
ing to Biblical commands, by extraordinary sacrifices, offerings,
and ceremonies, both public and private. In accordance with
the laws laid down in the Pentateuch, the people from all parts
of the country, imbued with the best social and benevolent feel-
ings, and impressed with the idea of their common origin, faith,
and worship, mingled together in Jerusalem, and strengthened
the union of religious and secular sympathies .
With the restoration of the Second Temple the celebration of
the Feast of Tabernacles was enlarged by new ceremonies, namely:
a. A solemn drawing of water for the morning service at the
altar of sacrifices. b. Festooning the altar with willows, and c.
Illuminations and torch-dances.

a. Drawing of Water for the Altar.

Early in the morning of the first day of the festival, before the
morning service, a priest, carrying a golden jug, went down to
the brook Siloah (which ran through the city west of the Temple),
to fetch water.

He was accompanied by a large crowd of people, and returning

from the south side through the water-gate into the interior court,
he joined the other priests in offering the morning sacrifice. His
arrival was the signal for the blowing of the trumpet, and amid
music and singing, the water together with the wine offering was
poured into a special opening of the altar. This ceremony was
repeated every morning during the seven days of the festival
(Succah, 48, 49) .
b. Festooning the Altar.
From Motsah (Kalmia), in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, the
priests brought willows to the Temple every morning during the
 CEREMONIES AT FESTIVALS . 29

continuance of the festival. These willows were then arranged

around the altar, amid the blowing of trumpets and after the
regular prescribed ceremonies, a procession of priests was formed
around the altar, and the following verses were recited :
‫אנא יי הושיעה נא אנא יי הצליחה נא‬
" O Lord ! save us now, we beseech Thee ;
O Lord ! send us now prosperity, we beseech Thee ! "

According to a tradition, R. Judah cited the song thus :

‫אני והוא הושיעה נא‬
" I Am and God, save us now, we beseech Thee." *

On leaving the Temple the people exclaimed :

‫ יופי לך מזבח‬, ‫יופי לך מזבח‬
" Hail to thee, O altar, hail to thee, O altar ! "

c. Illuminating and Torch-Dances.

On the eve of the second day of the festival, men, women, and
children thronged the exterior court of the Temple in expectation
of the great spectacle.
On high posts large golden chandeliers were placed, each with
four branches. Young priests lustily climbed upon the ladders
to fill the hanging lamps with oil, and light them. The lamps
spread their rays over the whole city, and there was no place in
Jerusalem from which the illumination could not be seen. In the
courts of the Temple the most prominent and learned men intoned
hymns and psalms, while at the same time they bore lighted
torches in their hands. Many performed the most fantastic
motions with these torches to the enjoyment of the assembled
people. Even the great teacher Hillel is reported to have
balanced torches on his two thumbs.
Upon the fifteen steps which led from the exterior court into
the interior, the Levites were posted, singing Psalms 120-134,
accompanied by all kinds of musical instruments. In this way,
amid singing and music, the night was spent .
* Taking ‫ " אני‬I Am " and ‫ " הוא‬He is " as attributes of God (see
Tosephath Yomtob to Succah 4, 5).
 30 THE LITURGY .

When the morning sky became so bright that Hebron, lying in

the mountains to the southeast of Jerusalem, could be seen (which
fact was reported by the watch on the pinnacle of the Temple) ,
two priests appeared on the upper gate of the interior court and
proclaimed the approach of day to the assembled people by blow-
ing the trumpets. On marching down they sounded the trumpet
once more at the tenth, and again at the last step. Then amid
music the whole possession moved to the eastern gate, where they
turned toward the sanctuary and sang :
" Our fathers, here established by Thy grace,
Had turned their backs upon Thy holy place,
But we will turn to Thee, Eternal God,
Our eyes are set on Thee, Eternal God ! " (Succah 5.)

From the hymns which were sung by the people on that ocса-
sion, the Talmud (Succah 53, a) has preserved the following
fragments :
The pious and renowned men :
O happy youth, devoted sage,
Who will not put to shame our age.
The penitents :
O happy, also, is our age,
Which now atones for youth, not sage.
Chorus :

O happy he, on whom no guilt doth rest,

And he who sinn'd, with pardon shall be blest !

The Rabbis made great efforts to contribute to the national

rejoicings by participating in them, and composing songs for the
occasion. We possess several of them. One, as sung by Hillel,
runs as follows :

" If ' I Am ' is here, all is here,

If ' I Am ' is not here, who is here ?
Whatsoever place I take pleasure in,
Thither my feet lead me.
For thus said the Lord :
If thou wilt come to My house,
I will come to thy house ;
 THE FEAST OF TORCH- LIGHTS . 31

In all places, where I allow My name to be mentioned,

I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. " * (Succah 53. )

When Hillel noticed that the people became too boisterous in

their rejoicing, he thus reminded them of the sanctity of the spot :
" Who is present while we are here ?
Hath He any need of our praises,
He who is adored by myriads ? "

But when he preceived that they conducted themselves decor-

ously, he said :
" Who is present while we are absent ?
God loveth our praise more than that of angels."
(Jer. Succah 5, 9-12.)

This feast was called " rejoicing of the feast of torch-lights," †

‫ שמחת בית השואבה‬of which it is stated, " He who did not witness
the rejoicing of the feast of torch-lights, does not know a genuine
rejoicing " (Succah 51) .
From the Soferite times we also possess an account of public
gatherings of a joyous character on the fifteenth of Ab (August),
and on the Day of Atonement, of which we speak under " Wed-
ding and Wedding-feasts. "
During Talmudical times there were composed various songs
which we shall bring up under " Wedding and Wedding-feasts, "
" Funeral Dirges," and " Miscellaneous."

4. MASHAL.

The Mashal, originally simile or parable, hence proverb, com-

prises the smaller ethical productions of Talmudical literature.

* We give the above translation in accordance with the exposition of

Rashi, who takes ‫ אני‬as one of the designations of God, an expression
used by Hillel for the divine name. Or we may take the sentence as an
apostrophe of God to Israel, and then it would be " If I am here, all is
here, etc." Another commentator takes ‫ אני‬as referring to Israel, and ‫הכל‬
as a designation of God, “ the all comprising being," and then the trans-
lation would be, “ If I (Israel) am here, also the All comprising Being is
here. " The version in the text seems to us the most probable.
† According to Geiger's ingenious explanation of ‫ שאבה‬as flames of
torches.
32 THE LITURGY.

In the Biblical writings the word was applied to prophecy, to

doctrine, to history in the most impassioned and lofty style, to
sayings of the wise, to popular proverbs, and to instruction given
in a kind of poetic form, sometimes with the accompaniment of
the harp or other instruments ; in these various kinds of instruc-
tions, material subjects are introduced in the way of parallel or
comparison, to illustrate those which are spiritual or above the
natural powers of conception.
While on the restoration of the Jewish state, the " Tefilla,"
Prayer, and the “ Shir, ” Hymn, were cultivated and enlarged in
connection with and for the service of the Temple and syna-
gogues, the Mashal found its place of real cultivation in the
different colleges and schools, founded by Ezra and his followers,
the Soferim, and it grew there as well as in the colleges of the
succeeding generations to one of the most interesting and
instructive branches of literature, comprising wise remarks of
the highest importance, short precepts of the purest morality,
fables, parables, allegories, and riddles.
The Mashal, in its original form, consists of two elements : the
thesis, principal fact or lesson, and the type, emblem, or allusion
by which it is explained or enforced. The latter may be one of
the phenomena of nature, or an imaginary transaction in common
life (parable) ; or an imaginary group of personified agents
(apologue, allegory) ; or a composition wherein the moral or
practical idea is represented by agents not human, but acting and
speaking like human beings (fable) . Sometimes the Mashal
takes a mathematical cast, and the doctrines or principles are
laid down after a certain arithmetical proportion or canon (at a
later period designated by the name of Midda). When the
image or allusion of these kinds is wanting, the Mashal sometimes
becomes a deep, recondite, yet generally entertaining assertion
or problem, and bears the name Chida, " riddle, " or " enigma, "
often even merging into the axiom, or oracle of practical wisdom,
Massa, a " burden," a weighty saying. When conveyed in a
brilliant, sparkling style of speaking, it becomes Melitsa, an
entertaining witticism or a pungent reproof. The remaining
 MASHAL. 33

form of the Mashal is the motto (apophthegm), where some moral

counsel is sententiously expressed without the parallelism, as we
see in the mottoes of the Hebrew sages in the book Abot.
The Meshalim of Ben Sira (Proverbs of Joshua Son of Sirach,
Ecclesiasticus) form the only systematical book of proverbs
dating from Soferite times. The Pirke Abot or " Ethics of the
Fathers " are sayings preserved from that period; not, however,
in the systematical order observed in the Book of Ben Sira, but
rather following a chronological order. The treatises of the
Talmud, devote dchiefly to proverbs, as also to those spread over
the leaves of that work, do not reveal any strict system.
Most of these proverbs and aphorisms are brief observations on
matters essential to human happiness, very often blended with
metaphor, comparison, and other poetical attributes. Sometimes
the author of such a Mashal employs sounds or words in such a
manner that, by applying words of similar sound, he gives a cer-
tain beauty to the aphorism and impresses it the better upon the
memory.
The following may serve as examples.
When Hillel saw a skull floating upon the water, he said :-
1. ‫על דאטפת‬ Thou art drowned,
‫אטפוך‬ Because thou hast drowned,
‫וסף מטיפיך‬ Those that drowned thee,
: ‫יטפון‬ willbe drowned in turn. *

2. ‫ " חברך חברא אית ליה‬Thy friend has a friend.

: ‫ וחברא דחכרך חברא אית ליה‬That friend in his turn
(Ketubot 110.) Again a good friend. "

3. : ‫ אסיא מגן במגן מגן שוי‬Aphysician healing for nothing,

(Baba Kama 85. ) Produces a cure good for nothing.

Also words of different significations, but very similar sounds

are used in such aphorisms.

* He who has suffered violence, must have been a wrong doer ; and
they that have done the man violence will themselves come to an
untimely death.
3
34 THE LITURGY .

4. ‫ חברך מית אשר‬If thou art told, thy friend has died ;
: ‫ חברך איתעשר לא תאשר‬Believe it :
(Gittin 30, b.) Thy friend has become rich ;
Believe it not !

5.
: ‫ הבדק לשחון וישחון לך‬Associatewith the prominent,
And people will bow to thee.

6. ‫ בשלשה דברים האדם נכר‬By three things people are found out,
: ‫ בכוסו בכיסו ובכעסו‬By the cup, by the pocket and in anger.
7. ‫ אי ספרא לא סייפא‬Where the book is, no sword is wanted,
: ‫ ואי סייפא לספרא‬Where the sword is, the book is super-
(Abod Sara 18.) fluous. *

8. ‫דדא ביה כולא ביה דלא דא ביה מה ביה‬

: ‫דא קני מה חסר דא לא קני מה קני‬
" In whom this is, there is all : in whom this is not, what is there ?
Has one gotten this, what lacks he ? has he not gotten this, what has he
gotten ? " This aphorism refers to knowledge, or more properly to the
knowledge of the Torah, and appears in connection with another aphor-
ism, " There is none poor but in knowledge. " (Nedarim 41, a. )

A peculiar figure of speech is to be found in a string of sub-

jects with corresponding predicates, either as a simple addition
or in arithmetical progression. As an example of the first, we
have the following saying of Hillel :
More flesh , more worms ; more treasures, more care ; more maid-ser-
vants, more lewdness ; more men-servants, more theft ; more women,
more witchcrafts ; more Torah, more life ; more wisdom, more scholars ;
more righteousness, more peace. (Abot ii. 8.)

As an example of the second class :

" Ten hard things were created in the world. Rock is hard, but iron
cuts it ; fire fuses iron ; water quenches fire ; clouds bear water ; wind

* An honest man has nothing to fear. The book represents the laws,
the sword, punishment. The above aphorism is illustrated by a parable.
" R. Elieser taught, The book and the sword, bound together, were
handed down from heaven. ' If you, God said, ' will live up to the contents
of the book, you may dispense with the sword, otherwise the sword will
rule. " (Vayikra R. 71. )
 HISTORY IN THE APOCRYPHAL WRITINGS . 35

scatters clouds ; the body bears the wind ; fear shatters the body ; wine
dispels fear; sleep dissipates wine ; and death is harder than all of them ,
but righteousness delivers from death (Prov. x. 2 ; Baba Bathra 10, a). *

5. HISTORY.

From the commencement of the Second Jewish State to the

close of Talmudical times, no historical work, except those ad-
mitted into the Canon, were preserved in Hebrew, although it
appears that several histories of current events and fictitious
historical compositions were extant.
Among the apocryphal writings incorporated into the Septua-
gint, the Greek book of Ezra, the Book of Maccabees, the Book
of Judith, and additions to the Book of Esther contain historical
accounts. The first Book of the Maccabees and the Book of

Judith were originally composed in Hebrew, as their peculiar

Greek proves. St. Jerome states that he has seen the first book
of the Maccabees in Hebrew. The Book of Judith as well as the

additions to the Book of Esther are entirely fictitious and of no

historical value.
In the Talmud and Midrash many historical notices are scat-
tered, which were used to great advantage by modern Jewish
historians, such as Rapoport, Jost, Graetz, and others, to correct
the misrepresentations and omissions of the Jewish historian
Flavius Josephus and to illustrate many obscure passages in the
Christian Bible .
The first book of the Maccabees (end) speaks of a chronicle of
the reign of Hyrcanus, and Josephus (Antiq. xv. 6, 3) states
that he gave the account about the history of Hyrcanus in accord-
ance with chronicles of King Herod, with which other historians,
however, do not agree .
From these works only a small fragment is yet preserved in the
Talmud (Kiddushin 66, a), which is the more interesting as it
appears in comparatively pure Hebrew, and is the only lengthy
extract from a lost historical work. It was as follows :

* The above appears in a somewhat different form in Koheleth R.

77 and Yalkut Jes. 345.
36 HISTORY IN THE APOCRYPHAL WRITINGS .

" King John (Hyrcanus) had gone to Kuchlith in the wilder-

ness and conquered sixty cities. On his return there was great
rejoicing, and the king invited the sages of Israel to a feast. At
the entertainment he said, ' Our fathers have eaten the herbs of
the desert (during their poverty), while they built the Second
Temple, we shall also eat them in memory of our ancestors.'
Herbs of the desert were served in golden dishes. There was
among those present a wicked man, his name Eleasar ben Puera.
Now, Eleasar ben Puera said to the king, ' O King John ! the
Pharisees are secretly against thee; try them by clothing thyself
with the priestly head-ornament.' The king followed that ad-
vice, whereupon an old man, Judah ben Gerida, arose and said,
O King John, be satisfied with the kingly crown, and leave the
crown of priesthood to other descendants of Aaron ' (for it was
reported that his mother was a prisoner of war in Modoth).
After an investigation the report was found false, but the king
dismissed the sages in great anger. Eleasar ben Puera said to
the king, O King John, thy case as king and high-priest has
not been treated in any different way than that of any one of the
6

common people.' ' What shall I do? ' the king rejoined. If
thou art inclined to follow my advice, have them killed! ' The
king followed the advice of that Eleasar and killed the sages of
Israel. The world appeared devastated until Simon ben Shetach
restored the law again as of yore."
This fragment is the more remarkable as it still preserved
many peculiarities of the ancient Hebrew style, not to be found
in any composition of a later period. As, for instance, the Vav
conversive is still applied, while it entirely disappeared in other
parts of the Mishna and Talmudical literature, and several ex-
pressions of the ancient forms of style are there applied.
 THE KEYSTONE OF GENUINE MORALITY . 37

CHAPTER IV .

WEDDINGS AND WEDDING-FEASTS .

Married life was considered the keystone of genuine morality,

the cheerful alliance of two kindred souls who voluntarily com-
bine to reciprocal rights and duties; and, therefore, the marriage
ceremonies were celebrated amid customs rendered holy by the
sense of sanctity, and at the same time with the greatest joy and
merriment. From numerous passages in the Talmud upon the
exalted significance of marriage, we quote the following from
Moed Katon (18, b) :
" Behold, how sublime the sanctity of marriage! In the Pen-
tateuch, in the Prophets, and in the Haggiographs it is extolled
as a divine institution. In the Pentateuch, Laban and Bethuel
replied, ' This thing proceeds from the Eternal ' (Gen. xxiv. 50) ;
concerning Samson we read, His father and mother knew not
that the thing had been brought about by the Eternal (Judges 1

xiv. 4) ; and in Proverbs, ' House and riches are inheritance from
ancestors, but a thoughtful wife is God's own gift ' (Prov. xix.
14). " We also find the great significance of the marriage cere-
mony expressed by its very name Kiddushin, “ sanctification,"
and of marriage Hilloola or " song of exultant praise."
Betrothal preceded marriage, which was either brought about
by courtship, or, in some cases, by the mediation of third parties.
Public dances on certain days of the year afforded Jewish maid-
ens an opportunity of being freely sought, and, in due measure,
of freely giving themselves in marriage. Twice in the year, on
the fifteenth day of Ab* and on the day of Atonement, the Jew-

* The fifteenth day of Ab (August) was a feast instituted by the Phari-

sees as a demonstation against the Sadducees, who would not recognize
38 WEDDINGS AND WEDDING- FEASTS .

ish maidens, all clad alike in white garments that the law com-
pelled them to borrow from one another (so that in dress no dis-
tinction should be seen between rich and poor, thus removing a
possible cause of envy) went out in groups to the vineyards, for-
mally invited young men to dance with them, and stated their
different claims to matrimony in songs, of which some were
preserved in Mishna Taanit (iv. 8).
" Around in circle gay the Hebrew maidens see !
From them the happy youths their partners choose ;
Remember beauty soon its charms must lose,
And seek to win a maid of fair degree. "

" When fading grace and beauty low are laid,

Yet her who fears the Lord shall praise await ;
God blessed her handiwork, and in the gate
Her works have followed her, it shall be said."

On the wedding day, the bride was carried through the city in
full dress upon a handsome palanquin, which was borne on the
shoulders of men of the highest social position (Tosephta Sota
c. 15, Sota 49, a, compare 12, a); and it was considered a religious
duty to join the procession and to contribute to its gaiety. Even
the study of the law was interrupted and the disciples encour-
aged to add their numbers to a bridal cortege and to join in the
songs .
A beautiful marriage song we possess in the 45th Psalm; whilst
the Talmud preserved only a small fragment of such an ode in
the following lines :
" Away with all thy purchased aids of beauty,
She needs them not, our sweet, gazelle-eyed girl ! "

In connection with this fragment, it is related that the dis-

ciples of Hillel lavished praise upon the bride, justly remarking
that she certainly is beautiful to the eyes of her betrothed, if not

sacrifices of wood for the altar, which the Pharisees considered praise-
worthy offerings. On that day, people would bring wood for the use of
the altar, while young people celebrated the day by dancing and singing.
 MARRIAGE FESTIVITIES . 39

to the general public, while the more rigid Shamaites objected to

that practice.
At the wedding, dancing and music were indulged in, and all
kinds of instruments, flutes, harps, zithers, castagnets were
played and occasionally varied by cheerful singing. It seems,
however, that at such festivals the young people were too much
inclined to overstep the bounds of modesty, and with genuine
Oriental fire indulged in too boisterous merriment. Then the
more grave men would interrupt them with serious reflections.
Only in such a way can we explain the song given by R. Hamnuna,
the Little, who was once pressed to sing at a marriage banquet.
He broke out with a strain: ‫ווי לן דמייתגן‬ "Woe to us, we must
die, woe to us, we must die. "*
The company responded in chorus " Bless the truth, bless the
law, our guard and protection ! " (Berachot 31, а) .
When R. Judah Hanassi celebrated the marriage of his son
Simon, he invited all learned men, but left out the witty Bar
Kappora, disliking and fearing his sarcastic tongue. Offended
by this slight, Bar Kappora avenged himself by writing on the
wall of the house where the wedding took place, “ 240,000
denars are to be spent on this feast, and Bar Kappora is not in-
vited! If such luxury falls to the lot of sinners, what blessings
will be bestowed upon the pious! " (Nedarim 50, b) . The con-
sequence of this was, that he had an invitation sent and then he
changed the last sentence, “ If the pious have the enjoyments of
such splendors in this life, what glories must be reserved for
them in future life." According to another account the inscrip-
tion ran, " Death follows thy joy, what are thyjoys worth?"
After R. Judah had found out who the writer was, he arranged

* In Herodotus it is related: " Among other songs in Egypt, they had a

song, the Linos of Phœnicia, Cyprus, and other places ; and although it
had different names with different nations, it is the same song sung by
the Hellenes under the name of Linos. " Koehler made the remark :
" The Linos was originally a Phoenician song of complaint about the
shortness of human life, and the name of Linos is from the refrain Ai
Lana (woe to us !). The above song may be an Aramaic translation of
that song.
40 WEDDINGS AND WEDDING - FEASTS .

another feast the following day in honor of Bar Kappora. Hardly

were the meats served, when Bar Kappora commenced to relate
fables and stories, and the guests became so interested in his en-
chanting words that they paid no attention to the rich dishes
which were brought back to the kitchen, untouched. When the
host complained, Bar Kappora said: " I did it because of your
neglecting to invite my colleagues and myself; and to satisfy you
that I did not come for your delicacies. " (Leviticus R. c. 28.)
 MORTUARY CEREMONIES . 41

CHAPTER V.

1. FUNERAL ORATIONS AND ELEGIES.

Burial processions, as well as every act connected with the

funeral, were objects of careful attention, as the Jews considered
it a religious duty to give the last honors to the dead, even
though they were strangers. Pains were taken to have as many
persons as possible to join in the procession. Everybody who met
it on its way to the cemetery was religiously obliged to accompany
it, at least for some distance (Berach. 18, a) ; and even the study
of the law was to be interrupted for that purpose.
The procession consisted of relatives, friends, and strangers ;
the women generally went before the hearse, and the men behind
it. They were accompanied by torch-bearers and by the music
of drums and flutes, and also by dirges of hired mourners skilled
in their art. Besides these songs of grief, which consisted of
solemn appeals to those present to express their sympathy, and
besides lyrical panegyrics of the deceased, funeral orations were
delivered at the grave.
These funeral orations formed an essential part of the last hon-
ors bestowed upon the deceased, and the omission of such ora-
tions, especially in honor of a learned, pious, or prominent man,
was considered a great sin.
Specimens of these compositions, such as were delivered at the
funeral, and such as were held at special memorial services, or
on other occasions, are preserved in the Talmud and Midrash .
Some appear as short sentences, simple utterances of grief,
others are given to some extent ; while some are joined to a Bib-
lical passage, others are illustrated by a simile.
These orations have for their themes : 1. Reflections on human
life, the causes of death, about untimely and sudden death,
42 FUNERAL ORATIONS AND ELEGIES.

the loss to mankind by the demise of the sage, etc. 2.

Remarks about special circumstances connected with the
deceased, in reference to his qualities, experiences in life, merits,
etc.

I. THE CAUSE OF DEATH .

R. Lakish began the funeral discourse over R. Chiya ben-Adda,

son of Bar Kappora's sister, and one of his disciples, with a pas-
sage from the Song of Songs (vi. 2) and the following homily :
“ My lover into his garden descends,
To the bed of spices his path he bends ;
Within the garden he wanders along,
And plucks the roses, fragrant and strong."

The lover is the Lord, Almighty God-

The garden where th' Eternal goes abroad ,
That is the large, wide world, hence to the sky
Great Israel sends its perfume up on high,
Like some small bed of aromatic flowers,
Fenced round by peace, most glorious in its powers ;
Israel, where firmly-founded piety
And learning flourish in luxuriancy;
And these bring forth their leaves so vast and rife
That they are shelters from the heat of life.
It is this bed which the Almighty chooses,
And whence he plucks the garden queens, the roses ;
These are the great disciples of the law,
Who from belief their chief enjoyment draw.
(Jer. Berachot ii. 8; Shir Hash . R. , 6, 3.)

II . UNTIMELY AND SUDDEN DEATH .

R. Chanina died on the day when his first child was born,
after he had hoped for a long time for an offspring, and the ora-
tor at Chanina's grave uttered over him :
How fallible all earthy plans and hopes !
How vainly man for bliss in darkness gropes !
The Voice, that could command the world and light,
May, with a breath, his petty pleasures blight!
 UNTIMELY AND SUDDEN DEATH . 43

A sentence-and bright joy was changed to pain,

Where bliss had entered, grief was doomed to reign-
For, in the moment of his hope fulfilled,
The joyful beating of that heart was stilled !

A bridegroom died suddenly on the day of his nuptials. He

had left the assembled company, and when his father, observing
his absence, was looking for him, he found him a corpse. The
father returned to the hall, and addressed the company : “ Dear
friends , you appear to a festive occasion, but the house has been
turned to a house of mourning. You will not lead my son into
the bridal chamber, but you will give him the last honors." R.
Sakka, of Chabalon, gave expression to the feelings of the com-
pany. He quoted the words of Koheleth (Eccl. ii. 2) : " I say
to laughter, it is mad ; and of mirth, what benefits it ? " (Midr.
Koheleth ii. 2) .
R. Isaac ben Elasar short and impressively said at the funeral
of R. Yochanan : " This day is as momentous to Israel as the
day of which the prophet spoke, that the Eternal God will cause
the sun to go down at noon" (Moed Katon 25, a) .
A longer funeral oration was uttered by R. Seira over the
earthly remains of R. Abin bar Chia, who died at the age of
twenty-eight years :
" The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much. "
-(Eccl. v. 11).

In applying this passage to the deceased, he related the para-

ble : " A king had ordered several workmen to perform for him
a certain work. Among them was one surpassing all in artistic
accomplishments and quickness. The king, noticing his merits,
paid him special attention, and delighted in conversing with
him while the others were at work. When the workmen received
their wages, they noticed that they all were paid equal shares.
They objected that the man who was only engaged during two
hours a day should have equal payment with those who worked
the whole day. But the king rejoined : ' He has accomplished
more in two hours than you during a whole day. ' The same
44 FUNERAL ORATIONS AND ELEGIES .

is the case with our lamented friend Abin. He has accomplished

in his twenty-eighth year what others hardly achieve in a hun-
dred years " (Jer. Berachot ii. 8) .
III. REFLECTIONS UPON THE SIGNIFICATION OF DEATH .

At the grave of Samuel Hakaton, who died childless, R. Gama-

liel, the elder, thus spoke : " Here is one for whom we ought
indeed to shed tears, and for whom we may grieve. Kings trans-
mit their crowns to their successors, the wealthy leave their
treasures to their children, but Samuel has gone to his last home,
and taken with him all his glorious possessions " (Semachot c. 8).
At the funeral of R. Abina, Bar Kipup* said :
" How can the lowly hyssop still survive,
When with devouring flames the cedars strive ?
Should Leviathan be the angler's prey,
What have the fishes of the pond to say ?
If in deep torrents drop the fisher's hook,
How fares it with the waters of the brook ? ”

IV. THE IRREPARABLE LOSS TO MANKIND.

When R. Simon ben Zebid went to his last home, R. Levi

lamented :

" Earthly possessions, when they are taken from us, may be
replaced; for there is a vein for the silver, a stratum whence the
gold is brought to the light, iron is taken out of the earth, and
the metals of bronze obtained from their stones (Job xxviii. 1, 2) .
But when a wise man is torn away from the world, what shall
balance his loss ! For where is wisdom to be found, and where
is the place of understanding ? Verily they disclose themselves
not to the eye of living men. The brothers of Joseph were
startled when they unexpectedly found valuables ; how much
more must we be stricken with terror when we lose an inestima

* The two persons named as professional orators at funerals, Bar Kipuр

and Bar Abua—such seem the more correct reading in preference to Bar
Kipok and Bar Abin (Comp. Yebamot 103, a)-have, according to an
ingenious remark of Rapoport, names appropriate to their profession,
namely : Bar Kipup, “ owl-man ; " and Bar Abua, “ conjurer of the dead."
 COMMISERATION OF THE PEOPLE . 45

ble treasure in one who departs from us in death ? " (Jer. Ber.
ii. , Bereshit R. c, 15).

V. COMMISERATION OF THE PEOPLE.

When a son of R. Akiba died, an enormous crowd flocked to

the funeral ; R. Akiba ascended the rostrum, and addressed the
people :
" Brothers in Israel, listen to my words ! It is not because of
any merit or station of mine that ye appeared here ; for assur-
edly there are my superiors in this city. Oh, your reward will be
great ; ye have done homage to the law ! Your presence would
suffice to console me, even if I had buried seven children,
although the grief would be great. But it is a consolation that
my son has become a child of future bliss, since his death has
caused a multitude to perform such an act of piety."
At the funeral of R. Abina, Bar Abua, a professional orator,
pronounced the following eulogy :

" Spend not the sighs, which tender Pity pays,

On him, whom Death relieves from life's dark maze ;
'Tis but the mourners need the tear of love,
The holy calm of comfort from above.
The dead has reached the bright and silent shore,
Where pain and sorrow waste the soul no more.”

VI . SPECIAL REFERENCES .

In Talmud Moed Katon (25, a), the story is related when

Rabba bar Huna and R. Hamnuna had died in Babylon, their
bodies were brought on camels to Palestine. Arrived at a narrow
bridge, where the two camels could not pass at once, both remained
standing. An Ishmaelitish merchant present, surprised at the
interruption of the journey, asked for the reason, and was told
that each of the deceased wishes to give the other the preference
of the way. * " If I were allowed to give my view of the matter,"

* The dead person, it was fancied as a popular belief, is in a sort of

half-sleep until the coffin-lid is nailed down over him, or until mortifica-
tion sets in.
46 FUNERAL ORATIONS AND ELEGIES .

the Arab said, " I should decide in favor of Rabba bar Huna, as
he was known to me as a venerable man. " The Arab had hardly
concluded his remarks, when the camel bearing Rabba passed the
bridge. At the funeral of Rabba, one of his disciples declaimed:
" A learned scion of an ancient race,
Upward to sacred Palestina draws ;
And bears unto illimitable space
The code of Battles,* the great Book of Laws.
The cormorant and hedgehog nightly gloat
Upon destruction spreading far and wide ;
For God His wrath upon the earth has hurled,
And from our midst recalls our pious learned.
Th' Omnipotent delights, when from the sinful world
An innocent bright soul has Home returned. "

At the funeral of R. Abina, the following eulogy was also

pronounced :

" Bend, ye majestic palms, in grief sincere,

O'er one who, like a palm, had flourished here ! †
Nor cease your mourning when the moon's soft ray,
Change to shadowy night the brilliant day ;
For noon's broad glare had oft to midnight waned,
Ere slumber o'er his studious eyelids reigned. "

At the funeral of R. Seira, born in Babylon, but who became

one of the most prominent sages in Palestine, a poet intoned the
following elegy :
" In Babylon this noble sage was born ;
In Palestine he was adorned and cherished.
' Woe unto me,' doth Reketh‡ sadly mourn,
For my most precious jewel now has perished."

* " The Code of Battles " of the text has been differently explained.
Some take it as expressing " the great Book of Laws," i. e. , the deceased
observed all the laws of the Torah very strictly. Others suppose
that the author wished to express that the Rabbi struggled against
the passions, and became victor. " The cormorant and hedge-hog
nightly gloat," is similar to Isaiah (xxxiv. 11).
↑ " One who, like a palm, had flourished here " is formed in accordance
with Psalms (xcii. 14) : “ The righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree. "
Reketh is, according to the Talmud, the later Tiberias. Some, how--
ever, identify it with Sepphoris.
 SHESHACH AND REKETH . 47

When the death of the patriarch R. Judah was approaching,

many people from the neighboring cities had assembled at Sep-
phoris, to show their sympathy for him. As if his death were
utterly impossible, the assembled crowds threatened to kill any-
one who should announce the mornful fact. The suspense and
excitement were so great that really a violent outburst of grief
by the agitated multitude was feared. But Bar Kappora, the
celebrated poet and orator, thus addressed the people :
" Mortals and angels long had striven,
The tables of the covenant to gain ;
Our champions, to defeat now driven,
Weep for the treasures that no more remain. " *

Besides the funeral orations and elegies, a few formulas are

preserved which were used on special occasions, especially at
funerals of persons whose bodies were carried from Babylon to
Palestine . Of these formulas we possess two. The first runs as
follows :

" He was great in Sheshach, † and renowned in Reketh. "

The second formula was a request to the people of Tiberias to

participate in the procession.
" Ye friends of the pious, denizens of Reketh,
Come to receive the corpse from the plain. "

At the house of the mourners, professional orators used to

express their sympathy in poetical effusions, or to compose pray-

* We give in the appendix two Hebrew versions, one from the Baby-
lonian, the other from the Jerusalem Talmud.
+ The word Sheshach appears in Jeremiah (xxv. 26), and the Targum
translates this name by Babylon, a translation accepted by Rashi and
Kimchi. The reason or origin of that term, whether such was a real
name of Babylon or merely an attribute, we do not know. The Talmud
explains this name as originated by an interchange of the letters of the
alphabet , where the last letters of the alphabet are taken backwards in
the place of the letters in regular order, in such a manner that, instead
of Aleph, Tav ; instead of Beth, Shin ; instead of Gimmel, Resh are
taken, etc. The Talmudists called this kind of interchange Atbash, and
very probably used it originally as a kind of secret writing. At a later
time such interchanges were attempted for expounding Biblical passages;
these, however, can only be considered as displays of wit.
48 FUNERAL ORATIONS AND ELEGIES .

ers for the occasion. It is related that during a visit of such an

orator, he was requested to say something in praise of God, and
he commenced the following address :
“ O God , who art great in thy greatness !
Mighty and powerful in thy magnitude !
Who revivest the dead by Thy word.
Thou causest inexpressible wonders,
Miracles without number ;
Blest art Thou, O Lord, who revivest the dead. "

He was then requested to say something in reference to the

mourners, and he said :

“ Brethren, crushed and overwhelmed by grief !

Turn your mind one thing to understand :
From the world's beginning to the end of days it stands ;
Many have tasted it-many will yet taste it.
Like the lot of the former, will be the lot of ours ;
May the Great Consoler comfort you."

In response to the request to say something about the visitors

present, he declaimed :
" Beneficent brethren of a beneficent stock,
Who imitate the deeds of our patriarch Abraham,
May the Great Requiter reward you ! "

2. STANZAS BY WOMEN .

Besides the funeral orations and funeral songs which were

delivered either by scholars or by professional orators, the Tal-
mud has also preserved a few aphorisms or stanzas which were
applied by women of Shechanzib at interments. The people of
Shechanzib were rather notorious for their jesting ways, but the
women referred to in the Talmud were wailers by profession, em-
ployed at funerals to lament over the deceased-a custom already
existing in prophetic times.
These stanzas, seven in number, are reported by Raba, a great
authority in the Talmud, and therefore deserve attention. They
appear, however, to represent the peculiar dialect of the locality
of Shechanzib, and hence some of them are almost unintelligible
 STANZAS BY WOMEN. 49

at this distant time, and offer a wide field for suggestions and ex-
planations.
In connection with the statement of the Mishna (Moed Katon
3, 8) that female professional wailers were employed at funerals,
the Talmud states, in the name of Rab, that these exclaimed as a
general formula :
.1 ‫ " ווי לאזלא ווי לחבלא‬Woe to him who went away,
Woe to those who are left behind . "*

Raba, however, states that these wailers did not always use
the same exclamations, but changed them for others, appropriate
to the former life of the deceased. While generally they used the
above formula, they would on some occasions utter :
2. ‫גוד גרמא מככא‬

: ‫ומטי מיא לאנטיכי‬

This stanza is one of the most obscure, and called forth differ-
ent attempts to explain it, none of which are satisfactory. Rev.
H. Gersoni suggests, " The pitcher has strayed away from the
tent, and we must take water in the bowl;" the natural support
of the house having died, the household must help itself as best
‫دو‬
it can. He reads ‫ " כוכא‬tent," ‫ " גוד‬pitcher." Another transla-
tion, " Cut the tooth from the bone, and let the water run into
the bowl ."

3. ‫שיול אצטלא דמלתא‬

: ‫לבר חרי דשלימא זודיה‬

" The grave is like a Melotian (silken) raiment for the pious
man, who comes fully provided with provision; " the pious man
can look upon the future life without fear, because he comes to
the other world well prepared. Mr. Ehrlich translates, “ A sil-

* This conception would give the most appropriate sense, and was sug-
gested by my friend, Mr. A. B. Ehrlich. It is known that Lamed and
Resh sometimes interchange (compare English colonel, pronounced cor-
nel), and it seems probable that ‫ " חברא‬society " became in the mouth of
these wailers ‫ חבל‬. Translations of ‫ חבלא‬as " pledge " or " burden, " the
dead body as a burden to the hearse, are far-fetched and very unsatisfac-
tory.
4
50 FUNERAL ORATIONS AND ELEGIES .

ken raiment is the grave to the free man, whose means of living
were exhausted." It would then refer to a person who lived for-
merly in wealth, but had been reduced to poverty and to whom
death was welcome.

4. ‫עטף וכסו טורין‬

: ‫דבר רברבין ובר רמין הוא‬

" Overspread and cover yourselves (with darkness), ye moun-

tains, for he was the descendant of great men. " This calls for a
general mourning, in which even nature shall participate, for the
loss of a great man.
5. ‫אחנא תגרי‬

: ‫אזבזגי מבדקין‬

" Our brethren, the merchants are searched at the toll-gate. "
i. e. , the grave. Another translation : " Our brethren, the mer-
chants; their deeds are investigated at the funeral service; " tak-
ing ‫ זבזני‬for funeral service.
6. ‫רהיט ונפיל אמעברא‬
: ‫ויזופתא יזיף‬

" He ran and fell, and now at the ferry, he must borrow the
passage-money." He experienced difficulties all his lifetime, and
at last he had to be provided by others with a shroud. This must
not necessarily refer to a poor man, as the shroud, which is given
to the dead, was considered a loan made by the living, never to be
returned. The ferry is used here for the grave.
7. ‫מותא כמותא‬

: ‫ומרעה חיבוליא‬

" His death was like the death of others ; his sufferings were a
heavy burden. " This was uttered at a funeral of a man who
died after a lingering illness.
 VALEDICTORIES . 51

CHAPTER VI .

VALEDICTORIES .
4

The separation from friends, dear to our heart, carries always

with it feelings of sadness and depression. How much more
affecting must have been the parting scenes in Talmudical times,
when travelling was accompanied by many dangers, and life
was insecure under the arbitrary government of the Romans and
Persians .
The valedictories preserved in the Talmud, some of which are
of high poetical value, do not, however, reveal any such sombre
feelings. On the contrary, they are generally words of encour-
agement, tinted with moral and religious lessons, which, as the
last words before parting, were the more impressive upon the
mind.

It was even asserted as a principle that the parting words be-

tween learned friends should always turn upon some religious
theme (Berachot 31).
Taking leave from a host, after having enjoyed his hospitali-
ties, was generally accompanied by a blessing, mostly in very
simple words, sometimes enigmatical.
Two scholars, on a visit to their teacher, Simon ben Yochai,
were requested at their departure to bless the son of the Rabbi.
They used the following enigmatical expressions :-
" May God grant, that thou sowest and never reapest,
Bring in and never carry out,
Bring out never to return,
That thy house may be disturbed,
And thou livest therein as a guest,
Thy meals be disturbed
And thy life never renewed ! "
52 VALEDICTORIES .

The solution to these words we bring under " Riddles in the

Talmud."

In a more simple, but also enigmatical form, Rab clothed his

blessing of the son of R. Simon ben Chalephta, when he took
leave from his host. He said " Mayest thou not put to shame,
and be put to shame ! " The father explained this to his son,
" Such is the blessing God bestowed upon Israel, and my people
shall never be ashamed " (Joel ii. 26; Moed Katon 9, b) .
A beautiful parable R. Isaac applied in taking leave from his
earned friend R. Nachman.
" A traveller, once journeying through a desert, when weary,
hungry and thirsty, was rejoiced by the sight of an oasis. He
found there a wide-branched, fruitful tree, at the foot of which
gushed a spring of clear, cool water. The traveller ate of the
fruit, enjoyed and rested in the grateful shade, and quenched his
thirst with the sparkling water of the spring. Parting from this
beautiful place, which had offered him revival of his exhausted
strength, he addressed the tree, ' O gracious tree, how shall I
express my gratitude and how can I bless thee ? I cannot wish
thee good fruit, for it is already thine, and the benignant shade
thrown by thy beauteous branches God has already granted thee,
for my benefit and the benefit of those who travel by this way.
Let me then pray to God, that thy offspring may, like thee, be
blessed by the Eternal. ' So it is with thee, my friend. How
shall I bless thee ? Thou art perfect in the law, eminent in sta-
tion, respected, and blessed with wealth. May God grant that
all thy offspring may be blessed like thee ! "
The sessions of the college were generally closed with a few
words of admonition, sometimes with verses of the Bible.
When Titus Aurelius Antoninus, surnamed Pius, repealed the
Hadrian decrees prohibiting the exercise of Jewish rites, seven
disciples of R. Akiba, the only remaining custodians of the
intellectual inheritance of the past, who had mostly emigrated
to Babylon, returned to Palestine. They assembled in Oosha,
the home of R. Judah, and called upon all the teachers of Galilee
to attend. Very many obeyed the call, and the inhabitants of
 REPEAL OF THE HADRIAN DECREES . 53

Oosha endeavored to provide for their guests in the most cordial

manner. After having sat in Oosha some time, the leaders
adjourned the assembly with solemn addresses. *
R. Judah thanked those from abroad for the trouble they had
taken, in travelling a distance of many miles in order to take
part in the deliberations. He opened his address, " Moses took
his tent and pitched it without the camp " (Ex. xxxiii. 7), and
concluded, " When the Israelites, who had only to go a short
distance of three miles to pay a visit to Moses, were honored for
such insignificant trouble with the title, ' all those who sought
the Lord, ' how much more honor do these sages deserve who,
under the greatest difficulties and perils, go from land to land in
order to study the law."
The other members of the executive council thanked the

inhabitants of Oosha for the hospitality shown to the guests. R.

Nehemiah selected the text, "And Saul said to the Kenites, Go
depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy
you with them: for ye show kindness to the children of Israel,
when they came up out of Egypt " (1 Sam. xv. 6); and con-
cluded, " Jethro honored Moses, in order to honor himself, and
found ample reward for his friendship in securing such a son-in-
law. Still, his descendants and nation were in later generations
rewarded for the merits of their patriarch. How much greater
will be the reward of those hospitable citizens who harbored the
sages in their tribulations ! " R. José took the text, " Thou
shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wert a stranger in his
land " (Deut. xxiii. 7), and concluded, " The Egyptians merely
allowed the Israelites to settle in the land for the benefit of the
Egyptians, for it is stated : ' Pharaoh said to Joseph, If thou
knowest any men of activity among them (the brothers), then
make them rulers over my cattle.' Still it was enjoined upon
the Israelites for all generations to entertain friendly feelings
towards the Egyptians, how much more towards the disinterested
citizens of this city, who maintained the sages ! "

* See Graetz , History of the Jews, Vol. IV . , 135 (Am. ed.).

54 VALEDICTORIES .

R. Elieser, son of R. José, from Galilee, spoke about the text,

" And the ark of the Lord continued in the home of Obed- edom,
the Gittite, three months : and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and
all his household " (2 Sam. vi. 11). He concluded his address :
" When this man, who merely kept the ark in his house and had
no care for its support by nourishment, was so richly blessed by
the Lord, how much more will the Lord bestow His gracious
blessings upon our hosts ! "
The valedictory of the sages who left the college of R. Ami is
preserved in the Talmud ( Berachot 16, b) : " Mayest thou enjoy
thy world in this life, but thy aim be for the world to come, thy
hope from generation to generation. May thy heart meditate
wisdom, thy mouth utter knowledge, thy tongue overflow of
songs, thine eyelids look right on before thee (Prov. iv. 25) . May
thine eyes shine in the light of the law, thy countenance shed
light like the brightness of the sky (Dan. xii. 3); may thy lips
proclaim understanding; thy soul exult in righteousness, and
thy steps be directed to hear the words of God. " (Dan. vii. 9) .
Deeply touching and impressing the highest moral principles
were the valedictories of dying teachers from their mourning dis-
ciples and colleagues.
The Talmud (Berachot 28, b) gives us the death-bed scene of
R. Yochanan ben Sakkai, the preserver of Judaism after the de-
struction of the Temple.
His colleagues and disciples surrounded his bed, when the
time arrived that he should appear before the throne of the
Most High to receive the rewards for his pilgrimage on earth.
His eyes were filled with tears. Astonished they asked, " O
beloved teacher, light of Israel, steadfast pillar of the Law, what
can cause thee to weep? " He replied, " If I had to appear before
a mortal king, who is to-day powerful, but to-morrow in his grave,
whose anger is passing by, whose punishments are only for the
moment, would I not tremble ? And even if I am put to death by
him, it is merely a separation from this world. And still I could
hope to pacify him by eloquent words, or bribe him with trea-
sures .
But I am now about to appear before the awful majesty
 DEATH - BED SCENE OF R. YOCHANAN BEN SAKKAΙ. 55

of the King of Kings; before the Holy and Blessed One, who is
and who liveth forever, whose just anger may be eternal, and
who may doom me to everlasting punishment. Should He con-
demn me, it will be to death without further hope or appeal.
Nor can I pacify Him with words, nor bribe Him with riches.
There are two roads before me, one leading to Paradise, the other
to hell, and I know not by which of these I go." His disciples
requested him to bless them; and he prayed, " that the fear of
Heaven may be upon them as the fear of flesh and blood : the
transgressor has a real fear of detection by his fellow-men,
would that he could equally realize the truth, that he is seen
by God! " *
When R. Elieser was dangerously sick, his four colleagues, R.
Akiba, R. Tarphon, R. Joshua, and R. Eleasar paid him a
visit. The sick Rabbi complained, " An intense heat of the sun

* At the close of this narrative, R Yochanan is represented as directing

his assembled disciples to prepare a seat for Hezekiah, who was coming.
It is generally supposed that by Hezekiah, the King of Judah of that
name is referred to, according to the statement of the Talmud. No suffi-
cient reason could be given why the sage should have referred to that man
in preference of any other. Geiger (Jüdische Zeitschrift, Vol. 8) has
shown with great probability that an Hezekiah nearer to the time of R.
Yochanan is referred to. A brave man, named Hezekiah, was one of the
first who revolted in Galilee against the government of the Romans, and
as it appears, even by the partial account of Josephus (the only source
for the events of that time), he revolted with considerable success. Al-
though Josephus (Antiquities xiv. 9, 2), in his partiality for the Romans,
calls Hezekiah a captain of robbers, who with a great troop of men
overran the neighboring parts of Syria, such must not mislead us about
the character of Hezekiah, as Josephus considered every prominent lea-
der of the Jewish forces against Roman tyranny a captain of robbers ,
while the Roman generals were not only heroes, but also inspired by the
most humane feelings in crucifying and slaughtering the Jews. If par-
tial history neglected to report anything about his heroic deeds, he
nevertheless lived in the memory of the people as a hero and a savior.
His efforts, however, were unhappily checked by Herod, and by Heze-
kiah's death the hopes for a restoration of the independence of the Jew-
ish state, as in the time of the Maccabees, whose warfare he imitated,
were again destroyed. It seems that also the obscure assertion of R.
Hillel (Sanh . 98, b), “ Israel has not to expect a future Messiah, he has
been eaten up in the time of Hezekiah," is a reference to that unsuccess-
ful chieftain, whose untimely end blasted the hopes of an early es-
cape from the hands of the Romans.
56 VALEDICTORIES .

prevails over the world. " While the visitors, with the exception
of R. Akiba, were deeply moved, R. Akiba appeared cheerful.
" Why dost thou differ from us in thy feelings, and dost
not seem to observe the great suffering of our colleague ? ” “ I
saw him always live in abundance and wealth, successful in his
earthly affairs, and I was afraid that he reap already in this world
the rewards for his good deeds, and that he may suffer for his
sins in the other world. But now that I observe him suffering
I am satisfied about his future bliss . " " But," the sick Rabbi
asked, " didst thou see me commit any sin? " " Thy own teach-
ing, " replied Akiba : " there lives no man that does not com-
mit sin. " Thereupon the other sages tried to comfort the
patient. " Thou wert to Israel more blissful than rain, for thou
promotedst our welfare for this and the future world," remarked
R. Tarphon. " Thy light was more pleasing than sunlights,
illuminating the road to a happier life," R. Joshua said. “ Thy
instruction was to be preferred to that of parents, leading to
eternal life, " R. Eleasar comforted. Then R. Akiba spoke
about the purifying influence of suffering and pains.
 THE OLDEST FABLES . 57

CHAPTER VII .

FABLES IN THE TALMUD.

Fables, or that kind of compositions wherein animals or other

natural, sometimes even supernatural beings are introduced as
speaking and acting like human beings, and in such a manner
that by these discourses and actions a moral or practical idea is
impressed, formed a part of the compositions called Mashal.
The origin of fables was undoubtedly in the Orient; and as the
oldest known fables belong to Hebrew literature, we may claim
with almost certainty that the Hebrews were the inventors of
these compositions. *
Living at first as nomadic shepherds, they were in constant
intercourse with the animal world, and had occasion to observe
the instincts and customs of the different kinds of beasts. The

Hebrews soon noticed their peculiar qualities, and with the vivid
imagination of the Orientals, were led to invest them with the
power of language, in order to introduce them as preachers of
moral or practical reflections.

* It is generally acceeded now that the Hindoo fables Hitopadesa are

of a much later period than the collection of fables known under the
name Pantsha Tantra, which, according to the French scholar Lance-
reau, was composed in the fifth century after the Christian era. The fa-
bles of Bidpai have been proved to be identical with those of the Hito-
padesa. The Greek fables of Æsop are to be credited to Babrios (about
206 в. с.), who asserted in his work, " The fable, O son of King Alexan-
der, is an old invention of the Syrians, who formerly lived in the time
of Ninus and Belus. They were related to the descendants of the Hel-
lenes by the wise Æsop, and to the Libyrians by Kybisses. " By the
expression " Syrians " Babrios might have understood the Hebrews, as
the Greeks very often called them by that name; and this appears in
Herodotus ii. , 104, and several other passages. Even if we admit the
identity of Æsop (which is much doubted), he would have lived about
560 B. c. , and his fables would still be of a later date than those in the
Bible.
58 FABLES IN THE TALMUD .

The oldest fables extant are Jotham's fable of the trees (Judges
ix. 8), and the one related by King Jehoash (2 Kings xiv. 9).
In the first Book of Kings (v. 13, Hebrew version) we read
about Solomon : " And he spake three thousand parables (Mashal)
and his songs were one thousand and five (or more correct, ac-
cording to the Greek version: ' five thousand '). And he spake
of trees, from the cedar-tree that is in Lebanan, even unto the
hyssop that springeth out of the wall; he spake also of beasts,
and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. " The Biblical
author could not have suspected Solomon of possessing physical
knowledge about all these beings, but rather in connection with
the foregoing verse wished to express that his parables and fables
extended over the vegetable and animal kingdoms.
Fables and parables were much cultivated and highly esteemed
by the Rabbis of the Mishna and Talmud. In the introduction
to the Midrash of Shir Hashirim, it is beautifully expressed,
" Do not think slightly of this parable, for, through the parable,
man is better enabled to appreciate the importance of the laws."
This assertion is again supported by numerous similes, from
which we select the following: " A king has lost gold and pre-
cious stones in his palace; but by the assistance of a candle which
is not worth more than a penny, he discovers the treasure."
About Rabbi Yochanan ben Sakkai (Succah 28, a; Baba Batra
134, a) the Talmud says that, besides other sciences, he was well
versed in fables about the foxes ‫) משלות שועלים‬a generic name for
fables about animals) and in fables of fullers ‫ משלוח כוסבים‬. *
These fables very likely already existed as a collection, recorded
at an early date, but have been lost as such, and were partly pre-
served in the memory of the learned. Fables which were applied

* The expression ‫ כוסבים‬has been differently explained, but the above

translation seems the most probable. It appears by 2 Kings (xviii. 17)
and Isaiah (vii. 3) that the fullers, whose occupation was to cleanse and
scour all kinds of materials, had a special quarter, at a distance from the
populated part of the city, assigned to them for their business. These
men, referred to as an ignorant class, very likely improved the oppor-
tunity, when working together at the pond, to exhibit their natural wits
and to relate all kinds of stories.
 THE LION AND THE IBIS . 59

at a later time and on different occasions for the edification of the

people, might have been taken from that collection. It appears
improbable that they should have been entirely lost from the
memory of the disciples, but rather that they were transmitted by
tradition .

Among the disciples of R. Yochanan it seems that R. Joshua

ben Chananya paid especial attention to this branch, and applied
it sometimes in his public lectures. In Bereshit Rabba (c. 64)
R. Joshua is described as a popular lecturer, renowned for his
witty remarks.
When the Roman Emperor Hadrian, after having permitted
the Jews to restore their Temple, curtailed and cunningly mis-
represented his promises, so that the Jews were disappointed in
their ardent hopes and again prevented to rebuild their Temple,
the Jews took up arms, an insurrection was impending, and a
bitter war seemed unavoidable. Then R. Joshua, in order to
pacify the people, addressed them with the following fable and
restrained them from an immediate uprising. He said :

1. THE LION AND THE IBIS .

"A lion once devoured his prey, but a bone of his victim
remained stuck in his throat. In his agony he promised a large
reward to any one who would extract the bone. An ibis with a
long beak thereupon offered his services, successfully performed
the operation, and relying upon the promise of the lion, demanded
the reward. But the lion sneeringly remarked, ' Thou mayest
congratulate thyself on having withdrawn thy head from the
lion's jaws without coming to harm. ' ' Precisely so, ' added
Joshua, ' should we congratulate ourselves on having escaped
uninjured from the Roman's hand, and should not thus vehe-
mently insist upon the keeping of his promise. "*
From R. Joshua ben Chananya the knowledge of fables seems

* This fable appears also in the Greek collection of fables by Babrios,

wherein the lion and the ibis changed roles with a wolf and a crane. The
Hebrew seems to be the more natural and therefore the older.
60 FABLES IN THE TALMUD .

to have been transmitted to his disciple R. Akiba, who appears

in the following narrative as applying a beautiful fable.
Adecree was promulgated in Judea by the Roman Emperor
Hadrian imposing the most vigorous penalties upon all who
observed the Sabbath and circumcision, or who occupied them-
selves with the study and instruction of the Jewish law. Respect-
ing the compulsory omission of the religious duties, the teachers
set the example to yield for the time being, and not to expose
themselves to death ; but regarding the preservation of the Law,
they, on the other hand, almost coveted martyrdom. On this
point they saw the holiest interests of Judaism involved, and life
was to be sacrificed rather than abandon these principles. One
of the martyrs for this holy cause was R. Akiba. Pappus ben
Judah, a friend of Akiba, counselled submission at any cost,
and warned him to discontinue his meetings with his disciples.
Akiba demonstrated to him, in a fable, that the fear of death was
idle as well as sinful .

2. THE FOX AND THE FISHES.

" A fox was walking by the river side. He sees the fishes
clustering from place to place, and asks them from what they are
fleeing. They answer, ' From the nets which men are bringing
upon us. ' He asks, ' Is it your pleasure to come up on the land,
that you and I may dwell together, as your fathers dwelt with my
fathers ? ' They said to him, ' Most foolish of beasts, if we are
afraid in the place of our life, how much more must we fear the
place of our death! ' So Israel may be distressed even in their
native element, the Torah, ' which is thy life and the length
of thy days; ' but to leave it, is certain death. ”
The three Rabbis just mentioned, lived during the first cen-
tury.
It is reported, that R. Meir, who lived in the second century,
possessed no less than three hundred fables about foxes, * of which

* Bar Kappora is also stated to be the author of three hundred fables

about foxes. This round number appears as an allusion to the three hun-
dred foxes which Samson caught, and fastening a fire-brand to every
 THE FOX AND THE LION. 61

the Talmud and Midrash report that three referred to the three
biblical verses :
" The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth
are set on edge " (Ez. xviii. 2) . " Just balances, just weights
(shall ye have) " (Lev. xix. 36), and lastly, " The righteous is de-
livered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead "
(Prov. xi. 8. )* The fables themselves are not given, but they
were known by tradition to later Rabbis: R. Hai Gaon (969-
1038) and Rashi (in the eleventh century). The first relates the
fable referring to the verse of Ezekiel.

3. THE FOX AND THE LION.

A fox, about to become the prey of a lion, addressed him,

" Behold, I am not large enough to satisfy thy hunger, but I will
show thee a fleshy, fat man, who will fully satisfy thee. The lion
consented and was led by the fox to a pit covered with bushes,
while on the opposite side sat a man, who could only be reached
by a jump over the pit. The lion hesitated and said, looking at
the man, " I fear his prayers, he will hurt me." The fox encour-
aged him, " Thy sins will be visited upon thy children and upon
the children's children " (Ex. xix. 5) . The lion, deluded by these
words, jumped, but fell into the pit. The fox looked down into
the pit, satisfied at being out of danger. The lion reproached
him, " Didst thou not say the punishment will only come upon
my children ? " " So it will happen," replied the fox, " but thy
grandfather sinned already, and thou hast to suffer for that. "
The lion thereon complained, " The fathers have eaten sour
grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. " ↑
Rashi has another fable :

4. THE FOX AND THE WOLF.

" A fox induced a wolf to accompany him into a kitchen,

pair of them, let loose upon the fields of the Philistines. So these authors
sent three hundred fables about the foxes among men, to punish arro-
gance and other vices .
* Sanh . 38, b . † Sefer Shaare Teshuba by R. Hai Gaon .
 62 FABLES IN THE TALMUD .

where preparations for the Sabbath were made, and where they
could help and then partake of the meals. The wolf had hardly
entered when he was captured and maltreated. Angry thereat
he determined to tear the fox to pieces, under the pretext that
the forefathers of the fox had once stolen his food . Astonished
the fox asked, " For the sins of iny ancestors shall I be punished ? "
But the wolf replied, " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and
the children's teeth are set on edge." " Nay," said the fox,
" come with me, I shall bring thee to another place, where we
shall find plenty to eat and drink. " The fox brought now the
wolf to a well, where two buckets were fastened together by a
rope like a balance. The fox jumped into one of the buckets,
which, of course, went down with him to the bottom of the well.
" What dost thou find down there ? " anxiously the wolf inquired.
Whereupon the sly fox replied, “ Why, I have here meat and cheese
in abundance," and showed the wolf the reflection of the moon in
water which appeared like a big piece of cheese. The hungry
wolf thought best to imitate the fox, and jumped into the empty
bucket, which brought him down, but the fox jumped up again.
" How shall I come up ? " the wolf anxiously asked, but the fox
replied, " The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the
wicked cometh in his stead. ”
In the name of R. Meir is quoted (Sanh. 39, b) the popular
proverb: ‫מיניה ובי אבא ליזל ביה נרגא‬
" From his midst and from his father's house cometh the ax
on him. " He applied this proverb to the prophecies of the pro-
phet Obadiah against Edom, who, according to Talmudical tradi-
tion, was a proselyte and a descendant of Edom. * R. Meir un-
doubtedly referred thereby to a fable which in its most simple
form runs as follows :

5. THE IRON AND THE TREES .

When the iron was created, the trees commenced to tremble.

The iron, however, said to them : " What are you trembling at ;

* R. Simon ben Yochai applies the same proverb to David, who

defeated Moab, and was a descendant of Ruth, a Moabite .
 THE EUPHRATES AND THE TIGRIS . 63

if none of your wood will join me, I will remain harmless " (Ber.
R. c. 5) .
This fable may, therefore, be considered as one of the oldest
extant, as, indeed, the almost pure Hebrew, in which it is com-
posed, would of itself testify.
The next is another fable which appears anonymously ; but its
concise language and comparatively pure Hebrew point it also
out as one of the oldest extant. It is as follows :

6. THE RIVERS AND THE EUPHRATES.

All the other rivers said to the Euphrates : " Why do thy waters
run so smoothly that thy voice is not heard at a distance, like
ours ? " The Euphrates replied : " My deeds speak for me; any-
thing sown at my shores will sprout in three days; every plant in
my vicinity stands in full bloom after thirty days' planting. Yea,
even the Bible speaks in my praise: ' the great river, the river
Euphrates " (Sifri Debarim, Piska 6) .
The moral of this fable is apparent, and need not be expressly
stated. Very likely, already during the first exile, when the
Jews had occasion for the first time to observe the smooth cur-
rent of the Euphrates, this fable was suggested.
This fable was not only several times repeated and somewhat
extended by later writers, but farther developed to a twin fable,
comprising the two twin rivers Euphrates and Tigris.

7. THE EUPHRATES AND THE TIGRIS.

All the other rivers said to the Euphrates : " Why is the cur-
rent of thy water not heard at a distance ? " The Euphrates
replied : " My deeds testify for me. Anything sown by men at
my shores will be in full bloom within thirty days. " The rivers
then addressed the Tigris : " Why is the current of thy water
heard at a distance ? " " I must direct the attention of the people
to me by my tumultuous rapidity," the Tigris replied (Ber. R.
с. 16) .
The moral idea underlying the original fable about the
Euphrates appears more forcibly expressed by this latter fable
64 FABLES IN THE TALMUD .

about the two rivers. The less the merits of a person are, the
more he will feel urged to proclaim them to the public.
A close imitation of the foregoing fable was formed as a dis-
course between the different trees.

8. THE FOREST- TREES AND THE FRUIT- TREES.

The forest-trees once asked the fruit-trees : " Why is the rus-
tling of your leaves not heard at a distance ? " The fruit-trees
replied : " We can dispense with the rustling to manifest our
presence, our fruits testify for us. " The fruit-trees then inquired
of the forest-trees : " Why do your leaves rustle almost continu-
ally ? " " We are forced to call the attention of men to our exist-
ence " (Bereshit R. c. 16).
In Shir Hashirim Rabba (c. 6), the following fable appears,
which may also be considered as old.

9. THE STRAW, THE CHAFF, AND THE STUBBLE.

" The straw, the chaff, and the stubble were disputing on
whose account the field is worked with great care. The wheat,
listening to the dispute, said: ' Just wait until the harvest, and
the dispute will be settled.' After harvesting, the farmer sep-
arated the different parts, the chaff was left to the wind, the
straw thrown to the ground, the stubble burnt, and the wheat
brought to the barn for future use, and every one who saw it,
admired it ."
This fable is applied to the indestructibility of Israel, and
appears also in later Midrash works.
A beautiful fable is " the fox as a singer," which appears in
Esther Rabba (c. 7) and Yalkut Esther (section 1053), but
whose original form seems to be preserved in Midrash Abba-Go-
rion, published for the first time by Dr. Jellinek, in 1853.
In connection with the passage "And both were hung on the
gallows " (Esther ii. 23), Rabbi Pinchas relates :
10. THE FOX AS A SINGER.

" The lion arranged a feast for all the beasts of the forest, and
had for that purpose a large tent erected, covered with skins
 THE FOX AS A SINGER . 65

of lions. The beasts fully enjoyed the feast, and having done
honor to the delicacies offered, expressed the wish to have the
occasion enlivened by a song, looking encouragingly upon the
fox. The sly animal, flattered by the general request, expressed
his willingness to sing, and asked them to join him in chorus.
With his eyes raised up to the ceiling, he sang : ' He, who
granted us the pleasure to see those above (the skins of the lions
above), may let us also see those below ' (the skins of the lions
below). Israel also said at the time of Haman : He, who
granted us the sight of Bigthan and Theresh, those placed on
high, may let us behold Haman in the same position. Who
punished the crimes of the first ones, may also punish the
other. "

The sense and moral of this fable are: the fall of one enemy
does not justify great rejoicing as long as another powerful foe
may yet use his force for our destruction. The fox preached
this moral to the short-sighted animals, who forgot the presence
of their mighty foe.
This fable appears to have a historical signification, since it
seems to be connected with the death of the two Roman emperors
Constantius and Gallus under the names of Bigthan and Theresh
-from whom Judea had much to suffer ; and it also has refer-
ence to the assuming of the government by the emperor Julian,
of whom the Jews hoped the approach of a happier time and
the restoration of the temple. Rabbi Pinchas, the author of
that fable, less hopeful than his contemporaries, warned them :
" Do not rejoice too early, Rome remains Rome, even under a
Julian ! No matter what changes take place on the throne of
Rome, almost every monarch proves an enemy of the Jews. "
The serpent is the hero of a fable which has its origin in the
Bible, and winds through the different books of Talmudical lit-
erature, more or less enlarged. It is the application and exten-
sion of the words of Koheleth (Eccl. x. 11). " Surely, if the
serpent has bitten, enchantment cannot cure, and an idle talker
is no better."
The most simple and, therefore, very probably the original
5
66 FABLES IN THE TALMUD .

form of the fable appears in the Talmud (Taanit 8, a; Erachin

15, b).
11. THE SERPENT.

Resh Lakish asserted : " It is written, if the serpent has bit-

ten, enchantment cannot cure. ' At a future time, all the beasts
of the forest will address the serpent: ' Behold, if the lion
tears a wolf, he eats him up and enjoys his prey; what advan-
tage hast thou when thou bitest ? ' The serpent will answer :
' Pray, what advantage has the idle talker of his slanders ? "
This fable, and still more its extended form in Jer. Pea i.;
Tanchuma, Chukkath, and especially Debarim Rabba c. 5,
seems to have been directed against those defamers who, at the
time of Resh Lakish and at a later date, brought distress upon
the teachers and leaders of the Jews, when espionage and accu-
sations flourished under the Roman government.
The following is a fable to illustrate the union between Midian
and Moab : When the children of Israel approached the boun-
daries of Moab, the king of Moab (which formed a monarchy)
sent messengers to the elders of Moab (a kind of republic) to
combine with them against Israel. About this unnatural union,
a monarchy with a republic, the Talmud (Sanh. 105, a) remarks
that Midian and Moab were all the time in war with one
another ( Gen. xxxvi. 35), but united against Israel; and applies
to them the story of
12. Two Dogs.

" Two dogs fighting all the time, saw one day a wolf coming from
the forest, with the desire of attacking one of them. The other
dog said : ' If I neglect to assist the dog now, to-morrow my turn
will come to be torn by the wolf.' Thereupon both with united
force killed the wolf.”
To this union between Midian and Moab, the Talmud also
applies the popular proverb : " The field-mouse and the cat made
a common feast of an unfortunate beast " (ibid. ).
To the passage in Amos (v. 18), " Woe unto you that desire
 THE MULE, THE DONKEY, AND THE PIG . 67

the day of the Lord ! To what end is it for you ? The day of
the Lord is darkness and not light," the Talmud (Sanh. 98, b)
gives the fable :
13. THE ROOSTER AND THE OWL.

" A rooster and an owl were waiting together for the rising of
the sun. ' The light,' said the rooster, ' is for me. I can use
it, but, pray, what advantage wilt thou derive from it ? ' "
To illustrate the passage in Esther : " After these things,
did King Ahasuerus promote Haman, the son of Hammedatha,
the Agagite, and advanced him, and set him above all princes
that were with him. " The fate of Haman was compared with
that of a pig in the fable :

14. THE MULE , THE DONKEY, AND THE PIG .

" A man had a mule, a donkey, and a pig. While the pig
received an abundance of food, the mule and donkey were kept
on short allowance. The mule, envious of the pig, complained
to the donkey: ' How foolishly does our master treat us. We,
who have to do all his work, are very stingily fed, while the lazy
pig receives a large quantity of food. ' But the older and more
experienced donkey replied : ' Wait patiently for a few days, and
you will become aware that the abundance now will lead to the
misfortune of the pig.' And so it came to pass. On the next
coming holiday the pig was killed. " *
To the passage in Koheleth (v. 14), “ As he came forth from
his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and
shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his
hand; " the following fable is related in the Midrash on this pas-
sage.
15. THE FOX IN THE VINEYARD.

" A fox once came near a vineyard, but a high wall stood be

* As Jews were not allowed to raise pigs, the owner of that animal was
necessarily introduced as a Roman heathen, and, therefore, the holiday
is called calendus in the text, designating the first day of each month
celebrated by the Romans.
68 FABLES IN THE TALMUD.

tween him and the tempting fruits inside. He went about in

search of an entrance and at last found an opening in the wall;
but it was too small for his big body. He fasted three days, un-
til at last sufficiently reduced to crawl through the small aperture.
Having effected an entrance, he glutted his appetite, and when
fully satisfied, he attempted to get out, but found to his great
consternation that he could not pass the entrance in his present
state, and had again to submit to a fasting of three days. When
outside of the garden, he exclaimed, ' Vineyard! vineyard! thou
art indeed charming and delightful, thy fruits are delicious,
everything about thee is beautiful! But of what benefit art thou
to me? ' It is even so with man. Naked comes he into the world,
naked must he go out of it.”
Besides proper fables, like the foregoing, wherein trees and
animals are introduced as speaking or acting, there also exist a
number of other beautiful fables, wherein other natural beings or
properties are the actors or speakers. We will give a few ex-
amples .

16. THE TAIL AS LEADER.

" The serpent's tail had a long time followed the direction of
the head with the best results. One day the tail began, " Thou
appearest always foremost, but I must remain in the back-ground.
Why should I not also sometimes lead ? " " Well," replied the
head, " thou shalt have thy will for once ! " The tail, rejoiced,
accordingly took the lead. Its first exploit was to drag the body
into a miry ditch. Hardly escaped from that unpleasant situation,
it marched on to creep into a fiery furnace. And when relieved
from there, it continued its walk to get entangled amongst briars
and thorns. What caused all these misfortunes ? Because the
head submitted to be guided by the tail! When the lower classes
are guided by the higher, all goes well, but if the higher orders
suffer themselves to be swayed by popular prejudices, they all
suffer together. "* (Debarim R. i. 71. )

* The Talmud has an appropriate proverb on this fable ‫בתר רישא גופא‬
‫ אזיל‬Thebody moves guided by the head.
 THE POWER OF THE TONGUE . 69

On the passage in Psalms (vii. 14), “ Behold, he travaileth

with iniquity, and has conceived mischief, and brought forth
falsehood, " the Midrash has a very interesting parable, as follows :

17. LIE AND VICE.

" When the flood came over the earth, and everything was
threatened with destruction, and every kind of beast came in
pairs to Noah, the Lie, too, asked for admittance into the ark.
Noah, however, refused to let her in, " Only in pairs I can admit
thee. " The Lie was searching for a long time for a suitable com-
panion, at last it happened to meet Vice. It invited Vice to ac-
company it to the ark, but Vice had to make first its conditions .
" I am willing to keep company with thee, but only if thou prom-
ise all the profit thou makest to give to me. " The Lie even agreed
to that, and they were both admitted by Noah into the ark. After
they left the ark, the Lie was sorry of the promise given, wished
to dissolve partnership with Vice, but it was too late to repent,
and the agreement remained forever : ' what is earned by the lie,
is consumed by vice ! ' " *
On the passage in Psalms (xxxix. 1), " I said, I will take
heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue," in connection
with Proverbs (xviii. 21), " Death and life are in the power of
the tongue," the Midrash (to Ps.) has the following parable.

18. THE POWER OF THE TONGUE .

A king, who was dangerously sick, was recommended to

drink the milk of a lioness (Hebr. Lebia) . The king offered a
high price for it, and a man tendered his service to procure it.
After many dangerous exploits the man succeeded in procuring

* This parable is at the same time an ingenious Agadic exposition to

Genesis (ix. 18), " And the sons of Noah that went forth of the ark were,
Shem , and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is the father of Canaan." The
last addition to the verse appears entirely superfluous in this place, as in
the following chapter the complete genealogy of the sons of Noah is
given. The Midrash (Genesis R. c. 36) explains " the father of Canaan,
by " the father of vice," Ham, the spiritual as well as corporal father of
Canaan, representing vice, entered also the ark.
70 FABLES IN THE TALMUD .

it, and hastened to bring the milk to the court. While on his
journey, he stopped at a tavern; the different members of his
body indulged in a lively dispute. The feet commenced to assert,
" If we had not carried the other members, you had never suc-
ceeded in procuring the milk ! " " What an arrogance ! " the
hands exclaimed, " if we had not milked the lioness, your run-
ning had been of little benefit." The eyes said, " Had we not
shown you the way, and the lioness, what had you been without
me ? " The heart (the seat of the mind among the ancients) said,
" It was my advice and my counsel that secured the success ! " At
last the tongue participated in the dispute, " What would all your
actions amount to, without me ? " The other members merely
laughed derisively at the claims of the tongue, which, angry at
such treatment, said, " You shall find it out to your sorrow."
When the man arrived at the court and offered the milk, the
tongue called out, " That is milk from a Kalba (bitch)." The king
became very wroth and ordered the man to be hung. Now all
the members trembled, while the tongue laughed. " Did I not
tell you that you are given into my power ? But I will save you
again. " " Bring me back before the king ! " the tongue asked,
and when again in the presence of the king, the tongue said, " It
is the milk of a lioness, what I brought ; Lebia (lioness) is also
called in Arabic Kalba. * The milk was investigated and found
correct. The man was richly rewarded, and the tongue proudly
exclaimed, " Life and death are given into my power ! "
The power of the tongue was a favorite theme with the Jewish
sages. In Vayikra R. (153) is related, " R. Gamaliel ordered his
servant Tobi to bring something good from the market, and he
brought a tongue. At another time he told him to bring some-
thing bad, and he also returned with a tongue. ' Why did you
6
on both occasions fetch a tongue? ' the Rabbi asked. It is the
source of good and evil; if it is good, there is nothing better, if
it is bad, there is nothing worse,' the wise servant replied."

* The Arabic Kalbon is used for dog and lion.

 R. KOHANA AT THE COLLEGE OF RESH LAKISH . 71

2. LOST FABLES .

Several of the Talmudical proverbs prove themselves as traces

of fables, which do not appear in Talmudical literature, but may
be found preserved in the literature of foreign nations.
About the camel, the Talmud in its concise manner says :
" The camel asked for horns and was deprived of his ears."

The Greek fable relates, " the camel envied the steer for his
horns, and prayed to Jupiter to be also ornamented with horns.
That request, however, excited the ire of the god, and to punish
his envy, he had his ears shortened. " Very likely a similar fable
existed among the Jews, to which that saying referred.
R. Kohana (about 430), when he had finished his studies at
Babylon, where then Jewish sciences flourished, visited Palestine,
which at that time presented the sombre picture of decay in its
colleges. At the college of Resh Lakish, Kohana displayed such
profound knowledge that Resh Lakish informed his brother-in-
law, R. Yochanan bar Napcha, " that a lion has come up from
Babylon," and he may prepare himself carefully for his reception.
R. Kohana, however, for some reasons not distinctly stated, re-
mained very reserved during his first visit at the college, and R.
Yochanan said to Resh Lakish :

" The lion thou spokest of, turned a fox (Baba Kama 117, a).

Here is again a reference to a lost fable, which must have been

similar to the Greek fable, wherein an ass covered himself with
the skin of a lion. At first he frightened man and beast, but an
unfriendly wind deprived him of his cover, and soon the animal
was driven back with sticks into his stable.
In Midrash (Bereshit R. 58) , in reference to the failure of a
speculation, the proverb is applied :
" The raven who brought fire into his nest. "

The commentator adds " that the raven brought fire into the
nest to warm himself and the fire consumed the nest. " A similar
72 FABLES IN THE TALMUD .

fable appears in the Greek collection. " An eagle stole a piece

of meat from an altar for his young ones, but a burning coal at-
tached to the meat set the nest on fire, and he and his young ones
were burned. "

Two proverbs :
“ What benefit is it to the head if the body is taken? "
“ When the head is gone, what benefit is it to the body ? " (Bereshit R.
88 and Yalkut Vayichi 162.)

remind of the known fable of Menenius Agrippa (of which a sim-

ilar fable appears in the Armenian collection), " The belly and
6

the feet disputed together. We carry the whole body, ' the
feet asserted, to which the belly replied, ' If I should refuse food
you could not carry me! '"
Some proverbs in the most concise language paint ideas to the
eye which may be worked out into interesting fables. Take for
instance :

" Behold the goose, how she stirs about, casting her eyes on all sides."

This proverb is sarcastically applied to the words of Abigail,

" When the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then re-
member thine handmaid " (1 Sam. xxv. 31). In her petition for
her husband, she did not neglect to recommend herself to the
good-will of David. *
Another such proverb :
" Say to the wasp, ' Neither thy honey, nor thy sting. " (Shemot R.)

* We may notice here that the goose is set up as a picture of fore-

sight, for the Persians and Jews considered the goose the symbol of wis-
dom. " If any person sees a goose in his dream, " the Talmud (Berachot
،

57, a) stated, " he may hope for wisdom, for it is written, Wisdom
crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets ' (Prov. i. 20)." In
support of the wisdom of the geese, as presumed by this passage, Rapo-
port, in Erech Millin, quotes a passage from Amian Marcellus (xviii. 83),
that the wild geese which leave the Southern countries during the hot
season pass the Taurus on their journey, and, as eagles abound in these
regions, which could hear their cackling, the geese take stones into their
beaks and accelerate their flight. After passing the Taurus, they let fall
these stones.
 REFERENCE TO LOST FABLES . 73

gives in forcible language the advice to keep from certain danger-

ous persons, even if we expect some advantage from them.
A fable expressed in four words appears in Talmud (Sanh. 95 a) .
" By two dogs the lion was killed."

What can the great accomplish, when the mob oppose them !
Short, but full of meaning !
74 PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA .

CHAPTER VIII .

PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA .

1. JOSHUA BEN SIRACH.

Joshua ben Sirach-called in the Talmud Ben Sira a priest

of Jerusalem, wrote about 200 в. с. a collection of proverbs in
the Hebrew language, but this collection has been lost. A great
gap was thus created in the history of the Hebrew language, as
we possess no other work of that period. Comparatively only a
few fragments are preserved in the Talmud, but we cannot with
certainty know how correctly they were reported. A grandson
of the author translated the Proverbs into Greek, and the transla-
tion was handed down to us. In the Talmud and Midrash pro-
verbs are often quoted in the name of Ben Sira, and even some
of these proverbs are quoted with the notice that they are con-
tained in the Scriptures )‫( כתובים‬. Sometimes sentences contained
in the Proverbs appear in the Talmud without being expressly
credited to Ben Sira.
The most curious fact about these quotations is, that while the
Talmud cites the passages for their intrinsic value, the book
itself, together with others, as for instance, Ben Tagla, Ben
Lana, and Megillath Chasidim, * which are lost, was forbidden
at a later time for general reading, and such prohibition caused
its loss in the original language.
Besides the passages quoted, a great concurrence between
Talmud and the Proverbs of Sirach may be observed, which
would prove that many spiritual relations existed between them,

* From Megillath Chasidim only one sentence was preserved in the

Talmud (Jer. Berachot,end( ‫ " יום תעזבני יומים אעזבך‬If thou forsakest
me (the Law) one day, I will forsake thee two days. " This sentence
would make it probable that the book was written in pure Hebrew.
 THEIR PHILOSOPHICAL TENDENCY . 75

but while Sirach's sentences have a more philosophical tendency,

in the Talmud the theological spirit is predominant.

2. CONTENTS OF THE PROVERBS .

The contents of these proverbs, like those of Solomon's, which

formed the prototype of Ben Sira, extend over the whole sphere of
moral and practical life, and are the reflex of the period in which
the author lived. That period was a very sad one in the history
of the Jews, and gave rise to most serious reflections.
About seventy years before the outbreak of the wars of the
Maccabees, Judea was tributary to Egypt. King Ptolomy farmed
out the taxes of Judea, Samaria, Celesyria, and Phoenicia to
Joseph, son of Tobias, grandson of Simon the Just. Joseph for
twenty-two years collected the taxes from those countries with
an iron hand, and as a matter of course, he together with his
officers and satellites became very rich.
The Jews had lived up to that time mostly as farmers and
mechanics, now a new class of citizens, a moneyed aristocracy,
was added to the population, something entirely new and demora-
lizing, This new class, which generally acquired its wealth by
the most contemptible means, soon abandoned the national
virtues for Greek manners and vices. Its members also became

acquainted with the Greek literature and philosophy which they

soon learned to admire, and accordingly they substituted these
for their own as the more fashionable. After the death of Joseph,
a feud arose between his sons, which in the end caused the down-
fall of Judea through Antiochus Epiphanes, and brought untold
sufferings upon the Jews.
Joshuah ben Sirach was a witness of these feuds and of the
bitter antagonism between the rich who lived upon the fat of the
land as collectors of taxes, and the impoverished farmers crushed
down by the heavy exactions. Only from this standpoint his
asperity toward the rich, who are at the same time the wicked
and nefarious, can be explained.
"Every beast associates with its kind, but man only with his equal.
What can combine the wolf with the sheep ? So is the impious with the
76 PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA .

poor. Would the hyena associate with the dog ? So the wealthy with
the poor. The wild ass is torn to pieces by the lion, so the poor becomes
the prey of the rich " ( Sir. xiii. 18-21).

The same feelings he also expressed in the following passage :

" Who loves money cannot be righteous, and who hastens after pos-
sessions is led away from the right path. Happy the rich whose hands
are clean, and who do not cling to possessions. Is there such a man ?
We will praise him as happy. For he has done much for his people.
Who has been tried by it and found unblemished ? We will exalt him.
Who had the opportunity to deceive and did it not ? Who the means
to act unjustly and did not do it ? " (Sir. xxxi. 10–16.)

Like the upstarts of all ages, these opulent Jews, in their inter-
course with foreigners, wished to conceal their origin and national
manners . Against such vices the moralist preached :
" There is a bashfulness which is praiseworthy and another which is
to be condemned. Let the judge be ashamed to decide unjustly, the
counsellor to give wrong advice. Let the friend be ashamed of faith-
lessness, and the neighbor to trespass upon the boundaries. But of

the following be not ashamed, notwithstanding the presence of any person.

To obey the laws of God and of His covenant, be never ashamed ! "
(Sir. xli . 8.)

With the Greek literature and philosophy, epicurism, the

doctrine of Epicurus, the freest indulgence in gross pleasures, was
carried into Palestine. Its adherents asserted, " God has put
inclinations and affections into the human heart. If by these
we are led to sin, God becomes the creator of the sin. " Against
these principles Sirach taught :
" Do not say, from God comes the sin and the crime. Say not, He has
caused me to fall, for He takes no pleasure in a sinful man. He hates
every wickedness and abomination, and He has not given them to those
that fear Him. He has created man from the beginning and left him to
his free will. Fire and water have been put before thee, and thou
mayest stretch out thy hand. Life and death are given to the choice of
man, select the life and shun the death " (xv. 11).

The strongest opposition against these newly acquired views

and vices forms the theme of many passages in the book of
 THEIR MORAL AND POLITICAL TENDENCY . 77

Sirach, and with a knowledge of the state of affairs in his days,

these passages gain in clearness and force.
Besides the highly moral tendency of the Proverbs of Sirach,
there appears an aim in the last seven chapters of the book of a
more political nature. The sons of Joseph divided the nation
into two hostile parties, of which the one, having acquired the
supremacy, was opposed to the existing high-priest Onias, a
descendant of Simon the Just. This party wished to replace him
by one who was no direct descendant of Aaron. Ben Sira devoted
several chapters, proving by the history of the great men of the
past, from Enoch and Noah down to Nehemiah, or as the Greek
version calls it, by the " Song of praise of the Fathers," that
obedience to the law is the highest virtue, and that by this law
the direct descendants of Aaron were exclusively consecrated to
the service of God and entitled to have the high-priests in the
Temple selected from their midst. " God made with Aaron an
everlasting covenant and gave him the priesthood forever. "
In accordance with this design, Ben Sira extolled the merits of
Simon the Just, the most renowned high-priest of the Second
Temple, whose memory was still cherished by the people, while
some of his descendants were persecuted by the ruling party.
There is no necessity for supposing (as many commentators did)
that the author gave this lively description of the activity of
Simon by personal observance and must have been a contemporary
of that high-priest. At the time of Simon I., to whom the
magnificent eulogy towards the end of the Book of Sirach refers,
no such state of affairs as is there depicted, namely, an incongru-
ous feeling between the rich and the poor, could have existed.
It has been suggested plausibly enough that the Book of Sirach
approaches the standpoint of the primitive Sadducees, as regards
its theology, its sacerdotalism, and its want of sympathy with the
modern Soferim. The name of Ezra is significantly omitted from
its catalogue of men of worth. " It remains singular," remarks
Kuenen, " that the man whom a later generation compared, nay
made almost equal, to Moses, is passed over in silence. Is it
not really most natural that a Jesus ben Sirach should not feel sym
78 PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA .

pathy enough for the first of the Scribes to give him a place of
honor in the series of Israel's great men ? " We may also notice
that the resurrection, a dogma very strongly pronounced in the
Talmud, is in no way mentioned by Ben Sira, but only the
immortality of the soul.
The still extant Syriac translation of the Proverbs of Sirach,
compared with the Greek, appears much interpolated and changed,
and evinces the fact that the translator has taken great liberties
with the original text ; but he undoubtedly had the Hebrew
version before him, as appears from a comparison with the Greek.
The Syriac may be of great service in correcting numerous
mistakes of the Greek version, where the Alexandrian translator
misunderstood the Hebrew text, and revealed a very limited
knowledge of the Hebrew language.

3. PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA IN TALMUD AND MIDRASH.

In Talmud and Midrash there are more than forty verses

either anonymously or expressly quoted from Ben Sira, which
proves that the ancient Rabbis were very familiar with the con-
tents of the work.
A large number of them appear in the Greek or Syriac transla-
tion, or in both; while some, as distinctly quoted from Ben Sira,
have entirely disappeared from the translations.
(1.) In Talmud Sanhedrin (100, b; compare Yebamoth 63, a)
the following sentences, as selected from the Proverbs of Ben
Sira, are quoted as examples of good moral principles. The last
two verses are not to be found in any translation, and the closing
words are partly taken from Jeremiah (v. 27) :
(xxvi.) A good mate is a gift through life
To him that fears th' Eternal One ;
Like leprous plague the wicked wife
Compels her spouse his home to shun.

A beauteous wife, her lord's delight

Prolongs his days to twofold length.
From beauty strange, guard well thy sight,
Her nets may snare thee, 'spite thy strength.
 THEIR PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS . 79

(ix. 8.) Do not the social beaker quaff

With him whose spouse's charm thou know'st,
(Prov. vii . 26.) Though strong men at temptation laugh,
To shame does beauty put their boast.

Those that to sell her trinkets came,

Have been by beauty brought to wrong ;
From smallest spark can spring a flame,
And guiles encaged all houses throng.

(2. ) The recommendation to apply in sickness to a physician

is a peculiar characteristic of the Book of Sirach, as no similar
idea appears in the Bible; but, on the contrary, a passage in the
Second Book of Chronicles (xvi. 12) would seem to express
opposition to the employment of a physician. Nevertheless, the
Talmud indorsed the advice, and gave as authority the Biblical
passage, " he shall cause him to be thoroughly healed " (Ex.
xxi . 19) .
The following lines from Ben Sira are quoted in Shemot R.
(106, b).
" Thy doctor honor long before
Necessity calls him to thy door. "

(3.) Among the passages quoted in Talmud Sanhedrin (100, b)

the following also appears :
" Do not worry for to-morrow,
As thou dost not know the sorrow

Which to-day bears in its train.

Likely fate may come behind thee,
And to-morrow will not find thee-
Then thy worry was in vain ! "

(4. ) Closely connected with the advice to employ a physician

is the following (Bereshit R. 8, a) :
" God causes the remedial herbs to grow up from the ground ;
they become a healing cause in the hands of the physicians, and
from them the druggist prepares the remedies."

(5.) Somewhat different from the following Talmudical quota-

tion which, however, appears anonymously, is the Syriac text :
" The following three I hate; they are loathsome to my soul: a
80 PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA .

proud poor man; a rich man full of deceit, and a gray-headed.

man, ignorant and thoughtless " (xxv. 3, 4). (Pesachim 113. )
" Four things are inconsistent with reason : a poor man who is
proud ; a rich man who hides his wealth (and lives poorly); an adult-
erous grayhaired man ; and a president of a community, who vainly
raises himself " (who in time of need cannot help the community).

(6.) The quotation next in order is of the highest import.

Ben Sira directed these verses, and those following them in the
chapter from which they are quoted, against the tendencies of
the Greek philosophy which misled many Jews. The Talmud
quotes them as a warning to those who engage in speculations
concerning celestial affairs (Chagiga 16, a; Beresh. R. 6, b) :
" What is too great for thee, try not to penetrate,
What seems too strong, that do not seek,
About the mystical, do not interrogate,
And of hidden things, thou may'st not speak.
On secrets never let thy mind be bent,
Consider that, to which thou hast consent.

(7. ) A proverb quoted as uttered by Ben Sira (Tanchuma,

Vayishlach) :
‫وو‬

" Before thou vowest, consider well the significance of thy vow
(xviii. 23).

(8. ) The primitive Christians despised riches, and lived in

poverty and humility. It seems that against their teachings and
examples Rab quoted the following passage (Erubin 54).
" My son ! If thou hast wealth, enjoy it :
There is no pleasure in the grave ;
And sudden comes the deadly wave.
Shouldst thou say : I'll leave it to my heirs,
Who doth tell thee of the grave's affairs ?-
As the herbs of the field, some wither, some bloom,
So some men in joy exist, others in gloom. "

(9.) A warning not to pray, when our mind is distracted, is

the following (Erubin 65, a) :
(vii. 10). " When in distress, pray not."
 A GLOOMY PICTURE . 81

(10.) In the following, the possession of a daughter is depicted

in rather gloomy colors. We do not meet with similar views in
the Bible. It appears that, in the peculiar state of affairs at the
time of Ben Sira, when with Greek manners dissolute habits
became predominant, and the national regard for chastity declined,
the author expressed these views in a gloomy mood.-The last
sentence, " When she is old, she might indulge in sorcery," does
not appear in Sirach. Sorcery was a vice which, in spite of the
deep moral sense which prevailed at the time of the first century
before the Christian era, had made great headway amongst the
lower classes of the Jews. R. Simon ben Yochai complained :
" In former times, the daughters of Israel shunned sorcery; but
now they are addicted to it " (Erubin 64, a). A later teacher, R.
Josa, even complained " that the great majority of the daughters
of Israel are addicted to sorcery " (Berachot 53). But if we
remember that sorcery and augury were the moral pests of all
antiquity, and even reigned supreme in the philosophical schools
of Alexandria, we will not be surprised to find it prevailing also
in Judea:

" A daughter is a treasure vain

To the father's feeling heart ;
Care for her disturbs his brain,
Breaks his sleep with anxious start.
Is she young, she may be led astray ;
If grown, she may be by misfortune pressed ;
And if full grown, she may unmarried rest.
When married , she may childless be ;
If old, engage in sorcery. "

(11. ) In the following, high regard for exterior appearance is

taught. In several other passages of the Talmud, special care
for outward appearance is recommended (Sabbath 113, b; Chulin
84, b) .
" The glory of God is man,
The glory of man, his attire. "

(12. ) The following is a beautiful parable against quarrelling;

6
82 PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA .

this practice generally has a feeble beginning, but by indulgence

it grows to be a flame :
“ If on a burning coal thou blow,
It will all the better glow ;
If thou dost upon it spit,
Thou wilt sure extinguish it."

(13. ) The following corresponds with the Syriac version (xxix.

30) :
" All I weighed on scales, but found nothing lighter than bran,
lighter than bran, however, is a son-in-law living in his father-in-
law's house ; lighter still, a guest introduced by another guest, and
still lighter, he who answers before he has heard the question. "

(14. ) A practical observation is the following :

" A person dependent on the table of another has the world dark-
ened."

(15.) A passage in the Proverbs of Solomon, " Evil to the poor

are the days he must endure " (Prov. xv. 16) is further extended
and quoted as taken from Ben Sira. The whole passage is, how-
ever, wanting in the Greek and Syriac versions.
" Evil to the poor
Are the days he must endure !
Also his nights !
On his roof-the lowest of all,
The rain from all the others fall ;
His vineyard's on the heights,
And its ground does flow
Down to the ones below."

(16. ) A wicked wife is a misfortune in every age, and was

often referred to in the Talmud, just as a happy family life was
considered the keystone of genuine morality.
No pain like the pain of the mind,
No evil like a wife unkind.

(17. ) In a conversation quoted in Baba Kama (92, b) Raba

asked Raba bar Marah for the origin of the popular proverb, " A
 RECALL OF SIMON BEN SHETACH . 83

poor palm-tree generally grows among the forest-trees," to which

the latter replied, " It is founded on passages in the Torah, in
the Prophets, and in the Scriptures. In the Torah is reported,
'Esau went unto Ismael ' (Gen. xxxviii. 9); in the Prophets,
' Jephtha combined with vain men,' and in the Scriptures, Every
bird abides with its kind, and man also seeks his equal. " It is
remarkable that this sage enumerates the Book of Sirach as a
part of the Scriptures.
" As each bird doth seek its kind,
So should man his equal find. "*

(18. ) In Bereshit R. (64, b) .

The heart of man doth change his face,
For good as well as for disgrace.

(19.) In Talmud Sanhedrin (100, b). It is very similar

to Micah ( vii. 5) : " Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence
in a guide ; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth on
thy bosom. " The last part is quoted by the Talmud in connec-
tion with the above passage .
" Out of thy house keep many away;
Bring not every one into thy house,
Though thousands do thy friendship seek.
To none but one thy secret speak.
Even from her that lieth at thy bosom,
Keep shut the doors of thy mouth. "

(20.) King Alexander Janai, third son of John Hyrcanus, and

successor of his brother Aristobul I. (105-79 в. с. ) recalled
Simon ben Shetach from exile, and had him placed between
himself, the king, and the queen (supposed to have been the
sister of Simon). On that occasion, referring to his knowledge
of the Law, Simon said ( Berachot 48, a) :
" Prize it highly, it will raise thee,
Thou shalt be ' mid princes set. "

(21. ) There is no corresponding passage in our Book of Sirach

* Similar to the English proverb : Birds of a feather flock together.
84 PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA .

to the following, in the form in which it appeared in the Talmud

(Bezah 32, b).
" The lives of three cannot be called real living: those that rely for
their meals upon others; those who are ruled by their wives ; and
those who are subjected to continual bodily sufferings .

(22. ) The following appears in a somewhat more extended

form in the Talmud (Nidah 16, b), and is quoted as a saying
from Ben Sira, but does not appear in the versions.
" The following three kinds of men I hate ; a prince, spending his
time in taverns; one who takes his seat upon the heights of the city
(a proud man) ; and one who suddenly enters the house of his neigh-
bor (without knocking at the door)."

(23. ) The following also appears as taken from Ben Sira.

" Listen, sir, to my words, and give ear to my utterances. Keep
from strifes with thy neighbor, and if thou seest that thy friend
does anything wrong, guard thy tongue from gossip. "

(24. ) Nissim ben Jacob (born at Kairvan in Tunis before 1000,

died about 1040), has in his work Chibur yaphe ( 25, 2) preserved
a Hebrew fragment of the Book of Sirach, which appears in the
fifth chapter (v. 5) .
" Do not rely upon forgiveness when adding sin upon sin, saying,
His mercy is great and He will pardon me. His mercy is great, but
also His anger, and He punished the wicked by His power."

4. ALPHABET OF BEN SIRA.

A small collection of proverbs ‫אלפא ביתא דבן סירא‬ Alphabet

of Ben Sira," contains a twofold series of ethical sentences, Ara-
maic and Hebrew arranged in the order of the alphabet. Some
of them may have been written by Ben Sira, as they are quoted
in the Talmud, others are so insignificant and meaningless that
the author of the Book of Sirach could not have composed them.
These proverbs are accompanied by an introduction and a com-
mentary. The introduction is fictitious and of little value. The
commentary is probably also the work of the compiler of the
proverbs, and contains for their explanation different passages
 THE MAN AND THE LION. 85

of the Talmud and some short stories. Judged by the language

used in the commentary, the work was written soon after the
close of the Talmud.
We selected from this collection the following sentences, as of
some ethical value.

α. Let not thy heart with cares be filled,

For care has many a victim killed.
b. Gold must be beaten,
A boy needs chastisement.
C. Do no favors to the wicked,
Only evil comes therefrom .

This passage is very often quoted in the Midrashim, in connec-

tion with the following fable, which originally seems to have
referred to an actual event.

THE MAN AND THE LION.

" Once a man journeyed from Palestine to Babylon. While

at his meal, he noticed a fierce strife between two birds, which
ended in the apparent death of one. When the other, however,
noticed that its companion was dead, it hastened to search for a
special kind of herbs, which it brought and laid on the beak of
the corpse, and soon thereafter, the dead bird revived. The
traveller saw this with astonishment and procured a sample of the
herb . On journeying farther, he met with a dead lion, and con-
cluded to make experiments upon him. He succeeded in
reviving the lion. But no sooner had the latter regained his for-
mer strength than he tore his benefactor to pieces. " A passage
similar to the above appears also in the Greek version (xii. 5 ) .
Here are examples of some further sentences :
d. For the wise a wink,
For the fool a kick .
e. Who does honor to his scorner,
Is to be esteemed an ass !

f. A burning candle may destroy many blooming

fields (Accusation produces many misfortunes).
g. An old man in the house is a good omen.
86 PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA ,

(A contrary view is expressed in the Talmud, “ An old man is

a terror in the house, an old woman a pearl for the family."
(Erachin 19. )
h. With the goods near by, the owner derives profit
from them, with them at great distance, they con-
sume the owner.
i. An old friend do not deny.

A similar passage appears in the Book of Sirach (ix. 14).

k. Thou mayest listen to sixty consellors,
But be guided by thine own conviction.
 RIDDLES AS A DISPLAY OF INGENUITY . 87

CHAPTER IX .

RIDDLES IN THE TALMUD.

If by riddles we are to understand something proposed for

conjecture, or that is to be solved by conjecture, as defined by
Webster, then a large part of the Talmud would come under that
heading. But we shall limit its meaning for our purpose to such
comparative trifles which, when the mind was relaxed from
graver pursuits, were indulged in simply for the display of
ingenuity. The oldest post-biblical production in that line is
the following :
" What animal has one voice while it lives, and seven voices after its
death ? "

We would be very likely at a loss to solve this question; but

happily the solution is given by the answer: " It is an ibex.
His two horns give two cornets, his two legs two pipes, his skin
is used for the drum, his large intestines as strings for the lute,
while the smaller ones are utilized for the harp."
This riddle is given in Treatise Kinim of the Mishnah (at the
end), where several very improbable hypothetical questions for
the mere display of dialectics are given .
Another riddle of the time of the Tanaim is especially remark-
able for its Hebrew rejuvenated form and original purity and
force. At a festive gathering, Bar Kappora, a disciple of R.
Judah, prompted Bar Elaza, the rich but ignorant son-in-law of
the patriarch, to propound the following question :
High from heav'n her eye looks down,
Constant strife excites her frown,
Winged beings shun her sight,
She puts the youth to instant flight.
88 RIDDLES IN THE TALMUD .

The aged, too, her looks do scout ;

Oh ! Oh ! the fugitive cries out.
And by her snares whoe'er is lured,
Can never more from sin be cured.
(Jer. Moed Katon 3, 1.)

Many solutions have been offered to this riddle, one by Rapo-

port, who supposed that Venus was meant. Graetz applied it to
Rabbi's principal bond-woman and housekeeper )‫(אמתא דבי רבי‬,
who exercised tyranny over young and old, and the disciples in
particular. *
Another solution is the following: Some time previously, after
the destruction of the Second Temple, the Jewish authorities,
deprived of the privilege to punish those that acted against their
edicts, introduced excommunication; and all those who refused
obedience to the decrees and ordinances of the constituted eccle-
siastical authorities were subjected to the iron ban. This punish-
ment was at first extended even to very prominent men, so that
at a later period, before the time of R. Judah, a limit to the
exercise of that power was instituted, and no member of the high
counsel (Saken) could be excommunicated. R. Judah repeatedly
made use of this power, and was at one time inclined to direct it
against R. Meir, second Vice-President (Chacham) of the Syn-
hedrin ( Megillah 18, b), and it was only by the protest of Bar
Kappora that the punishment was not carried into effect (Jer.
Moed Katon 3, 1). The above riddle, which might be taken as
a fine satire on that power, is supposed to express his opposition
to excommunication. The old ( Sakenim) were exempted ; it was
only for the young men who, to escape such punishment, would
sometimes even leave Judaism .
In Midrash Echa, among other witticisms and remarks related
from the former social life at Jerusalem, the following riddle is
proposed :

" Nine go out, eight come in ; two pour out, one drinks ; and four and
twenty wait upon him."

* Graetz's History of the Jews, iv. , p. 158 (American ed.) .

 THE QUEEN OF SHEBA AND SOLOMON . 89

The solution to that riddle : " The nine that go out embrace
the period of man's embryo life; the eight which come in, the
eighth day of circumcision ; the two that pour out, are the two
living fountains which God has provided for the nourishment of
infants; the one that drinks, is the child that sucks ; the twenty-
four waiters are the four and twenty months allowed for between
its birth and its weaning."
According to Biblical account (1 Kings x. 1), the queen of
Sheba, who had heard of the fame of Solomon, came to Jerusalem
to propound to him difficult questions. The Targum Sheni, to
the Book of Esther, contains some riddles which are put into
the mouth of that queen ; and, at the time of composition of
that Targum, must have been considered as the most difficult
extant.

The queen addressed Solomon: “ May I lay three riddles before

thee? By their solution I will know that thou art a man of
wisdom and knowledge ; if thou art unable to solve them, thou
art not wiser than others " :

" A wooden well you oft have seen,

An iron bucket is sunk therein
To draw a stone out of the well ;
The stone in water is soaked therein."

" A paint-box " (used for painting the eyes), Solomon the Wise
said.
And Sheba's queen commenced anew :
" Dost thou know what from earthly dust does come, and earthly dust
as food does take ? Like water is it poured out, and penetrates the
house ?"

" It is naphtha," the wise king quickly replied.

And Sheba's queen anew commenced :
" When there arises a furious gale,
What is it which raises a pitiful wail,
And then like the bulrushes bends down its head ?
As a gift it is given to honor the dead,
Even those who by it to dishonor were led ;
90 RIDDLES IN THE TALMUD.

It smothers the sinner, the rich it begirds ;

Gives death to the fishes, but joy to the birds."

" It is the flax," said Solomon the Wise.

The queen spoke then: " I believed not the things I heard of
thee, until I came and beheld with mine own eyes."
Riddles of another class are practical observations or moral
aphorisms, clothed in enigmatical language :
: ‫טבין תרי כתלת ווי לחד דאזלא ולא אתיא‬
" Two are better than three, alas ! For the one disappears, never to
return ! " (Sabbat 152).

The solution of this sentence is : Youth, when man walks on

two legs, is to be preferred to old age, when he needs a staff for
support. That which never returns, is Youth.
This riddle is similar to the one proposed by the Sphinx of
Greek mythology. It was said that this fabled monster was sent
into the neighborhood of Thebes by Juno, who wished to punish
the family of Cadmus. It was stated that he laid this part of
Bœotia under continual alarms, by proposing enigmas, and
devouring the inhabitants, if unable to explain them.
At last Creon promised his crown and Iocasta to him who
succeeded in explaining a certain enigma. The enigma proposed
was this :

" What animal in the morning walks on four feet, at noon on two,
and in the evening on three ? "

Edipus solved the enigma; on which the monster dashed his

head against the rock, and perished.
The paradoxical proposition, " two are better than three, " seems
to have been a proverbial expression; as, in general, the ancient
sages liked to refer to old age in enigmatical language.
An emperor (Hadrian) asked Joshua ben Chananya why he
did not appear at Be Abedan;* to which he replied :

*According to Rashi and Aruch, it was a building where learned

debates and gymnastic exhibitions were held (compare Sabbath 116, a).
 THE READY WIT OF RABBI AZARIAH . 91

" The mountain is capped by snow (my head turned white), the sur-
roundings are bald, the dogs bark not (the voice became weak), the
millers grind no more (the teeth refuse their service). " (Sabbath 152, a. )

When R. Simon ben Chalafta neglected to call upon Rabbi, as

he was wont to do, and the latter complained about it, R. Simon
excused himself :

" The rocks became high (I became old), those that were near are at a
distance (the eyes have grown dim), two turned unto three (I need a
staff to walk), and the mediator of peace (manly energy) is destroyed ! "
(Sabbath 152, Vayikra R. 139. )

As a witty improvisator of enigmatical aphorisms, a Rabbi

Azariah is introduced in the Talmud (Menachot 52, a). Не
is reported as a tenth descendant of R. Elieser ben Azariah, who,
in his turn, is said to have been a tenth descendant of Ezra, the
Scribe.

R. Azariah asserted:‫א‬
‫ב באדירים‬
‫יים מאדירים‬
‫ויפרע לאדיר‬-
‫אדיר‬
" The illustrious came, and led the illustrious from the illustrious to
the illustrious."

The illustrious who came is God, " illustrious on high is the

Lord " ( Ps. xciii. 4) .
The illustrious who were led, are the Israelites : " and the illus-
trious in whom is all my pleasure " (Ps. xvi. 3) .
The illustrious from whom the Israelites were brought forward
were the Egyptians : " They sank as lead in the waters, the illus-
trious " * (Ex. xv. 10) .
The illustrious to which the Israelites were led was the sea :
‫دو‬

" the mighty waves of the sea (Ps. xciii. 4).

Another of his impromptus :
: ‫יבא ידיד בן ידיד ויבנה ידיד לידיד בחלקו של ידיד ויתכפרו בו ידיוים‬
" The beloved son of the beloved came and built a lovely structure to
the beloved in the portion of the beloved, to atone for the beloved."

* This peculiar conception of the passage in question is in full accord-

ance with the Agadic manner to translate a verse, in order to illustrate
certain assertions. It may be noticed that the Massoretic accents would
even favor that translation.
92 RIDDLES IN THE TALMUD.

The beloved who came is Solomon, as it is written, " Nathan

the prophet gave to Solomon the name Jedidiah, beloved of Jah
(2 Sam. xii. 25).
A descendant of the beloved, Abraham, of whom it is said:
" What does my beloved wish in my house ? " * (Jer. xi. 15).
The lovely structure is the Temple, " How amiable are thy
tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! " ( Ps. lxxxiv. 2).
The beloved in whose honor it was built, is God, " I will sing
to my well beloved ! " (Is. v. 1).
In the portion of the beloved, in the portion of Benjamin,
" And of Benjamin he said, the beloved of the Lord " (Deut.
xxxiii. 12).
And those atoned for in the Temple, are the Israelites, as it is
said: " I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand
of her enemies " ( Jer. xii. 7) .
Another impromptu :
‫יבא טוב ויקבל טיב מטוב לטובים‬
" The virtuous came and received the excellent gift from the Supreme
Good One for the virtuous people. " †

The virtuous who came is Moses, " She saw him and he was
goodly " (Ex. ii. 2) .
He received the excellent gift, the Law, of which it is written,
" for I give you a good doctrine, forsake ye not my law " ( Prov.
iv. 2).
From the Supreme Good One, " the Lord is good to all ”
(Ps. clv. 10).
The virtuous people, the Israelites, as it is written: “ Do
good, O Lord, unto those who be good " (the Israelites) (Ps.
cxxv. 4).
A fourth impromptu :

* These words were, according to the Agadah (Menachot 53, b) ad-

dressed by God to Abraham, who appeared before his throne to plead
against the destruction of the Temple.
‫ טוב‬is good in the widest sense, and therefore, expresses not only
fine, fair, pleasant, fertile, etc., but also cheerful, virtuous, prosperous,
etc.
 JONATHAN BEN ECHMANI AND JUDAH BEN GHERIM. 93

: ‫יבא זה ויקבל זאת מזה לעם זו‬

" That one came and received this from this one for that nation (as a
gift)." *
The one who came, Moses, is referred to : " for this Moses, the
man that brought us up " (Ex. xxxii. 1).
He received this, the law, referred to : " This is the law, which
Moses put before the children of Israel. "
This is also used in reference to God: " This is my God and
him I glorify " ( Ex. xv. 2) .
In reference to Israel, " This people have I found for myself,
they shall show forth my praise " (Is. xliii. 21).
The next is an enigmatical sentence, expressed on taking leave
from a friend.
On a visit to their teacher, R. Simon ben Yochai, two scholars,
R. Jonathan ben Echmani and R. Judah ben Gherim, were re-
quested at their departure to bless the son of the Rabbi, which
they did in the following words :
" May God grant that thou sowest and never reapest,
Bring in and never carry out,
Bring out never to return ;
That thy house may be disturbed,
And that thou livest therein as a guest ;
Thy meals be disturbed and thy life never renewed ! "

The son, under the impression that he heard maledictions,

hastened to his father, who pacified him and said, " Thou art bless-
ed, not cursed, my son! Understand well the words of the wise.
The first expresses the wish that thou mayest raise children and
not bury them; the second, that the wives of thy sons may en-
large the family circle, never to return to their former homes ;
the third, that thy married daughters may never come back as
widows or divorced wives, to live with thee again; the fourth, that
thou mayest consider this life as an antechamber to the next; the
fifth is a picture of a blessed home, where children frolic and the
husband clings to the wife of his first love " (Moed Katon 9, b) .
* The demonstrative pronoun this is in masculine ‫ זה‬feminine ‫זאת‬
while sometimes expressing this is common to both genders.
94 RIDDLES IN THE TALMUD.

There also appear in the Talmud sportive compositions called

‫) לשון חכמה‬well to distinguish from ‫ ( לשון חכמים‬of a peculiar enig-
matical character, in which the speaker conceals his real views
under a poetical or quaint cover, which would be in most cases
entirely enigmatical, if the solution did not also appear. The
following belong to this class :

. ‫כורא טויה באחוהי אסקיה באבוהי אכליה בכויה אשתי עליח אבוהי‬
" Stew fish with its brother, bring it to its father, eat it with its son,.
and drink after it its father [Moed Katon 11, a]. [The father of the fish
is water; its brother, salt; its son, the juice of the fish. ]

Another enigmatical sentence which finds its solution by

translating it from Hebrew into Aramaic, is the following,
(Erubin 53, b). ‫עשו לי שור במשפט בטיר מסכן‬
which, translated into our vernacular, literally means : "Make
for me a steer as usual with a mountain of the poor," but trans-
lated into Aramaic, it gives: Prepare for me ‫ " תרדין בהרדל‬scallion
[Allium Ascalonicum, allied to garlic and onion, growing in Pales-
tine] with mustard."
Another,
‫אתריגו לפחמין‬
‫ארקיעי לזהבין‬
. ‫ועשו לי מגידי בעלטה‬
" Give the coals an orange color;
Like the expanse of heaven
Let the glimmer of gold appear,
And prepare me two heralds of the darkness. " (Erubin 53, b. )

The plain meaning of this is, " Blow the coal to a red heat,
spread these gold-colored coals upon the grate like the stars of
heaven, and roast for me two roosters, which recall the night
watchers . "

Once the rabbis addressed R. Abahuh,

‫הצפיננו חיכן רבי אלעאי צפון‬

" Reveal to us where R. Alai keeps himself hidden. " He re-
plied:
 AKIBA'S INEXPLICABLE HILARITY. 95

‫עלץ בנערה אהרנית אחרנית עירנית והנעירחו‬

" He associates with a maiden, a daughter of Aaron, lately married,
who keeps him awake and dispels the sleep; "

i. e. , he is studying day and night the treatise Tohoroth of the

Mishnah, which discourses about the purification of the priests,
and by its profound and difficult problems dispels sleep [ibid.] .
Still more enigmatical and obscure is the following story from
the Talmud (Aboda Sarah 20, b). This story has been taken
literally and quoted as nonsense and immoral.
" Rab said, ' It is forbidden to admire strange beauty, as to exclaim,
How lovely is this strange female . ' It is , however, related, that R. Simon
ben Gamaliel, while standing upon the hill of the Temple, noticed an ex-
ceedingly lovely strange female and exclaimed, ‘ How numerous are thy
works , O God ! ' R. Akiba, too, beholding the wife of the wicked Turnus
Rufus, spit out, wept, and laughed. He spit out, as she originated ‫מטיפה‬
‫ סרוחה‬he wept, because she was destined to become dust again, and he
laughed, because in the future he would convert her and take her as his
wife."

If we were to take this story in its literal sense, there would re-
main many improbabilities which prove the inconsistency of the
whole statement. If by R. Simon ben Gamaliel, the first of that
name, who lived during the destruction of Jerusalem, and
perished in his efforts to save the people from the vortex of de-
struction, is understood, how did a strange female, a foreigner,
approach the Temple in his time? During the time of the sec-
ond Simon ben Gamaliel, Jerusalem had become a Gentile city,
and no Jew was now permitted to come within sight of it. Aki-
ba's actions are the strangest ever related of a man of sound mind,
and the reason given for his hilarity is certainly inexplicable.
But if we know that by ‫נכרית‬, which we translated " a strange
female, " Greek philosophy is referred to, and notice that this
more general expression is used in the place of ‫אשה נכרית‬, the
story will be divested of its hidden meaning.
Rab opposed the strange philosophy in toto. R. Simon ben
Gamaliel II. , although standing on the height of Jewish lore, still
admired Greek philosophy and was proficient in Gentile litera
96 RIDDLES IN THE TALMUD.

ture. He praised the Lord for imparting wisdom to the human

mind, even to men outside of the Jewish faith.
In the account of the actions of R. Akiba, we see the different
steps in the study of the Greek philosophy, taken by him.
R. Akiba saw " the wife of the wicked Turnus Rufus, " i. e. , the
Greek philosophy. When at first, out of mere curiosity, he ac-
quainted himself with it, " he first spit upon it, on account of its
impure origin. " He approached the foreign literature, not ex-
pecting that it would contain anything valuable. Still as he be
came more familiar with it, and in it discovered unexpected beau-
ties and deep thoughts, he expressed his sorrow that the sublime
thoughts, intermixed with fables, should perish, as he felt con-
vinced they must, with the extinction of heathenism.
After further reflections, he concluded to make these thoughts
available in the service of God, and applied them to his religion,
and thereby raised them from the profane state to holy use. *

* See Maaseh Rikmah (Commentary on Proverbs) by I. H. Kuttner,

Rabbi of Lissa.
 A RABBI POET. 97

CHAPTER X.

MISCELLANEOUS .

1. A RABBІ РОЕТ.

Among the Palestine sages of the fourth century, R. Isaac

Naphcha excelled as a man of ready wit ; and several small poetical
pieces, composed by him in pure Hebrew and preserved in the
Talmud, show him a poet of great ability.
The high esteem in which he was held is proved by a visit paid
him by two prominent Rabbis, Ami and Assi (B. Kama 60, b) .
The first invited him to tell him some Halachah (about jurispru-
dence), while the latter requested him to treat them with some
Agadah (Biblical exposition). The witty Rabbi related them the
anecdote of the man who married a young and an old wife.
While the young wife deprived the man of his white hair, that he
may still appear young, the old wife, for a contrary reason, tore out
every black hair of his head. The result was that he became bald.
The Rabbi applied this anecdote to the opposite requests of his
friends ; explained, however, a verse of the Bible according to
both branches of the Talmud in order to satisfy both.
A Biblical passage in Jeremiah (xi. 15) he explained allegori-
cally:
When the glorious Temple was destroyed,
Abraham, the patriarch, departed
From his abode celestial, to appear
Before the sublime throne of the Almighty.
" What bringeth thee, my beloved, to my presence ? ' ”
Most graciously the heavenly Ruler asked.
" In my children's interest I appear." --
But God said, " Thy descendants, they have sinned '"-
" Perhaps they sinned unintentionally "
" They sinned, and yet they were fully aware
7
98 MISCELLANEOUS READINGS.

That their acts were loathsome in mine eyes. "

" Perhaps the offender's number was not great ? "-
" " Nay, it was the greater part that sinned. ' "
" O Lord, even if they buried in oblivion
The many obligations due to thee,
Remember that they still the covenant
Observe, which thou so graciously hast made
With me. " “ “ The holy flesh is passed from them. "
" Why, O Most Gracious," Abraham implored ,
" O God! why dost thou not endure with them,
According to thy great and wonted mercy?"
They still may from their evil ways return ! ”
" When they do evil, then do they rejoice. " "
On hearing this, the patriarch broke forth
In lamentations wild and as sincere :
" Is for my offspring not a single hope
Kept back ? " When thus a heavenly voice was heard :
“ A verdant olive-tree of goodly fruit
And fair, the Almighty called thy name.'
Just as the olive-tree endureth on

For many years, and though it looks

Now barren, bears luxuriant fruits when in
Its age, so likewise shall my people Israel. " (Menachot 53, b.)

R. Isaac visited Babylonia several times and generally stayed

there with R. Nachman ben Jacob, a renowned Babylonian sage,
to whom he communicated several expositions of Biblical passages
(Taanit 5, a) . Once, when he left R. Nachman, he pronounced
the beautiful parable about the fruitful tree, which we brought
under Valedictories ( p. 51) .
His most beautiful composition, however, which evinces his
great poetical talent, he uttered on the following occasion.
In the account of the sending off the ark of covenant by the
Philistines ( 1 Sam. vi. 12), the expression is used ‫וישרנה הפרות בדרך‬
(and the cows took the straight way), which according to Agadic
interpretation means, " and the cows sang on the way. " The
next question would then be, What did they sing? Different
passages from the Scriptures are suggested, as appropriate songs
of the cows. Among them R. Isaac introduces a song of his own
composition, as follows :
 MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS. 99

" Sing, O Ark, in beauty shining!

Thou adorned with chains of gold,
Ever close the Word enshrining,
Glittering with gems untold. " (Abodah Sarah 22, b. )

This neat poem is not only composed in pure Hebrew, but is

also written according to the parallelism used in Biblical poetry,
and observes an equality of syllables in its lines. The first two
lines have six syllables, while the last three have each eight sylla-
bles.
2. MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS.

The promise of Messianic times, clearly and distinctly intimated

with fiery eloquence by the prophets of old, largely contributed
to hold the Jews together through centuries of dispersion, perse-
cution, and contempt. When dark, heavy clouds obscured the
horizon, when every vestige of hope seemed to have faded away,
the pious Jew did not despair, nay, the very sufferings of to-day
were looked upon as precursors of that blissful time, when " The
mountain of the Lord's house shall be exalted above the hills,
and all the nations shall flow unto it. And many nations shall
go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountains of the
Lord " (Isaiah ii. 2, 3).
The belief that the coming of Messiah was to be preceded by
distress and misfortunes, founded in Biblical prophecies of a day
of judgment (Isaiah i. 1-20, x. , xiii. , xv. ), was the more im-
pressed upon the people by the sages in times of misfortune, as
in that belief they found consolation and strength. " When
thou seest Israel continually decrease, thou mayest expect the
advent of Messiah, for thus it is written, ' And the afflicted peo-
‫دو و‬
ple thou wilt save (2 Sam. xxii. 28). Such was taught by R.
Yochanan of the third century. Another teacher asserted,
" Whenever great afflictions come torrent-like upon Israel, expect
the Messiah, for thus it is said, ' When the enemy shall come in
like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against
him, and the Redeemer shall come to Zion " (Isaiah lix. 19, 20).
The sayings of different Rabbis, as enumerated in the Talmud,
about the sufferings and misfortunes, and the low state of society
100 MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS .

which will precede the coming of happier times, are summed up

in the Mishna (Sota, end) .
When from a low'ring sky the awful thunder rolls,
And tempest-nurtured strife the warring elements controls,
'Tis but a harbinger of sweet-breathed peace,
When storms and clouds their clashing contest cease .
E'en thus ' twill be before the sinful earth
Shall hail with joy the Messianic birth :

" Crime shall increase, distracting times prevail,

Vines bear abounding fruit to no avail,
When oft-repeated feasts their wealth assail.
In vain the government dictate commands,
No admonition long respected stands.
The halls of learning changed to dens of shame;
Bright Gabalene become an empty name,
And Galilea hurled from pride and fame.
Homeless, from town to town, the settlers go,
And none be found to mitigate their woe.
The wisdom of the sage will be in bad repute,
God-fearing men despised, great justice mute,
And golden-winged truth lie prostitute.
The wrinkled cheek of age with shame will burn,
When from its counsels wise the youth shall turn .
Before the minors the aged rise,
The son his father both degrade, despise,
The daughter her own mother tyrannize,
Domestic discord reign supreme, and all
Upon the master of the house shall fall !
To barefaced sin the people fall a prey,
And world-worn parents note their sons' decay.
In whom is now our hope, in whom our trust ?
In the Almighty ! in the Great and Just ! "
 1

METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE IN HEBREW LITERATURE. 101

CHAPTER XI .

THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD.

Among all the works of antiquity there was none subjected to

a greater diversity of criticism than the Talmud.
While this work is quoted by its apologists to prove its divine
philosophy, its incomparable ethics ; its detractors always find
quotations in its pages to prejudice the public mind against it.
How are such diverging results possible ?
Some expressions and passages in the Talmud, taken literally,
are glaringly opposed to common sense, or repugnant to our
ideas of right and justice ; and without reflection or reference to
the influences under which they originated, they appear to have
been the product of a gross and superficial intellect.
Such passages have been repeatedly quoted by the accusers of
the Talmud. They have been trumpeted through the world,
and many-not non-Israelites alone-have taken from such
sources their knowledge, and formed their judgment about a
work which, in spite of all vehement and oft-repeated attacks,
has outlived its assailants, and still forms one of the imperishable
pillars of Judaism.
Many of such passages, however, will upon closer investigation
appear radiant and beautiful, when the clouds of misinterpreta-
tion and misunderstanding are dispersed.
It is a well-known fact that every nation possesses a peculiar
genius and character, and that the application of its genius is
also influenced by external circumstances. A diversity of climate
and manner of living will produce a variety of thoughts and
ideas, and will give peculiar character to the style and color of
the compositions. We must, therefore, distrust and defer our
judgment until after a closer examination of works that were
102 THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD .

written, not only hundreds of years ago, under a climate entirely

different from ours, and, therefore, under a diverse mode of
living, but also written in a language which, even in prose,
abounds in metaphors, forcible and picturesque, and of which
words and phrases yet wait for a master's hand to remove the
veil by which they are obscured.
The employment of metaphors prevails throughout Hebrew
literature. Imagination is most vigorous and predominant in
its pages, and even where we should expect philosophical pre-
cision, the fire of enthusiasm breaks forth in figurative and pic-
turesque language, as well as in exaggeration and hyperbole.
It is, therefore, with the appreciation of the highly tinted
metaphorical language prevailing throughout its pages, that we
have to judge of moral and intellectual ideas, and of the most
abstract conceptions clothed in figures of speech , though even
then some will remain unintelligible.
We shall endeavor to investigate some hyperbolical and seem-
ingly unintelligible expressions, as also the tales of the Talmud,
especially such as were misconstrued by the detractors from
Judaism .

1. HYPERBOLIC APHORISMS .

There appears a whole class of sentences about the importance

of different laws and virtues which, by their apparent inconsis-
tency with similar sentences, even if from different teachers,
show their hyperbolic nature. While we find in one part of the
Talmud " The sages said, ' The study of the Law exceeds every-
thing " (Pea i. 1), there is another passage entirely inconsistent
with this, asserting, " Whosoever engages in the study of the
Law, and does not practise benevolence, is to be compared to a
man who has no God " (Abodah Sarah 17, b).
Such inconsistences can only be accounted for from the pecu-
liar inclination of our ancestors for using hyperbolic expressions
to indicate the importance of the assertion. They use the super-
lative, to exalt their conceptions of the consequences of the truth.
Sentences of this nature are the following :
" The importance of the law about circumcision exceeds that
 HYPERBOLIC APHORISMS . 103

of all other laws of the Torah " (Nedarim 44, a). " The law about
the ritual cords exceeds in importance all other laws united "
(Menach. 99, b ). " Spending alms and practising benevolence
exceed in importance all the other laws of the Torah" (Abodah
Sarah 17, b) .
At the time when these principles were uttered, the disciples
correctly appreciated these hyperbolical expressions, and those
who make the Talmud the study of their life are fully aware of
the necessary limitations in cases of collision between the differ-
ent religious duties. The anxiety of the Rabbis to impress upon
the people the sad consequences of the disregard of certain laws,
or the happy influence arising from the observance of others,
causes them to describe such consequences in the superlative, and
their utterances take a still higher flight.
" Whoever engages in the study of the Law, practises benevo-
lence, and attends public worship, is looked upon as having done
favors unto the Most High " (Berachot 8, a) . " The visiting of
the sick saves from the pangs of hell, as expressed in the Psalms,
' Blessed is he that wisely considereth the poor, the Lord will
deliver him in time of trouble ' " (Ps. xli. 2). " Whoever trans-
gresses one of the precepts of the sages, deserves to be put to
death " (Berach. 4, a).
The last sentence finds its full solution in the explanation given
by Rashi : " This warning is asserted, because common people
will pay little regard to Rabbinical laws, and therefore stronger
language was required." Nevertheless, this sentence was very
often quoted to prove the arrogance of the sages. Stated separ-
ately, without any knowledge and appreciation of the spirit of
the Agadah, it really sounds harsh and arrogant. But if we are
aware that for many minor offences, as for instance, to make a
person blush, the authors of the Agadah would declare the of-
fender " deserving to be put to death, " or " worthy to be deprived
of his future bliss," we would find the figure of speech very strong,
but let us take it for no more than it was intended. These very
men, so ready to declare a minor offence deserving to be punished
by death, were very slow to condemn a real culprit, and subjected
104 THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD.

witnesses in criminal trials to such a rigid examination, that in

most cases an actual conviction became impossible !
To this class also belongs a large series of sentences in chapter
eleven of Talmud Sanhedrin, using the expression, " He will not
participate in the future life." There the Rabbis expressed their
antipathy to certain men of the past, and their aversion for cer-
tain heretics; but that this expression is nothing more than hy-
perbole appears distinctly from the Talmud itself, and is repeat-
edly asserted (see Sanh. 100, a; 102, a).
Religious enthusiasm intensified their conception of the conse-
quences of trespassing, and of the sad future of the sinner.
2. CONCEPTIONS OF GOD .

Another class of hyperboles are such Agadoth, wherein God is

represented as possessed of human attributes and affections, so
that it almost appears as if the Talmudists could not have had any
other conception of God than a divine human being, who is
governed by passions, sometimes filled with the deepest sorrow,
at another time in the merriest mood; who presides at a court of
counsellors, and at another time puts on phylacteries and recites
prayers. If we would take such passages as the standard for the
real views of the Talmudists about the attributes of God, we would
come to the conclusion that their conception of the Deity was a
very low one, approaching to a great extent that of the Greeks.
We must admit that, in spite of strenuous efforts of modern
Talmudical scholars to explain several of these Agadoth, there are
many still covered with impenetrable darkness, and which must
be classed among the rubbish which later revisors of the Talmud
incorporated without any due regard for the material they
handled, simply because they found them reported.
To counterbalance these strange-looking Agadoth, which were
also condemned in the very book they are recorded,* we possess
* R. Akiba indulged in mystical Agadoth, and was admonished by R.
Ismael, " How long wilt thou profane the Almighty ? " (Chagiga 14) .
About a book containing Agadoth of that class, R. Chia, although him-
self a friend of the Agadah, said, “ Even if there are useful things con-
tained therein, the hand that wrote it deserves to be cut off " (Baba Ka-
ma 55, b) .
 CONCEPTIONS OF GOD . 105

clear and distinct assertions against anthropomorphisms, the rep-

resentations of God with human attributes and affections .
It is known with what solicitude the ancient translators of the

Bible endeavored to avoid all anthropomorphisms, and the great

mastery which Targum Onkelos evinced in that direction. It is
distinctly stated in the Talmud that this translation was made
under the supervision of two teachers of the Mishna, R. Elieser
ben Hyrcanos and R. Joshua ben Chananya (Megilla 8, a). The
Talmud very warmly indorsed that version, and the precept, to
read it together with the Hebrew text, appears to be founded
upon the fact that by such version every misapprehension of the
Biblical anthropomorphism would be avoided.
About the efforts of the Talmudists to accomplish a correct ap-
preciation of the anthropomorphisms existing in the Bible, Mai-
monides says, " Our sages have issued a general rule, which re-
jects every false conception of the Biblical anthropomorphisms-a
rule which at the same time evidently proves that the authors of
the Talmud could never have intended to attribute corporeity to
God. This general sentence appears in Bereshit Rabba (Ch. 27)
and runs as follow: " It was a hazardous attempt of the pro-
phets to represent God by forms of his creations. "
There is another saying of the Talmud, also very often quoted
by Maimonides, which proves the correct appreciation of such
Biblical expressions as mere figures of speech by the ancient Rab-
bis, namely the often repeated sentence ‫דברי תירה כלשון בני אדם‬
" The Torah uses human language. " *
As a warning against the misuse of esoteric studies the Mishna
Chagiga (ii. 1) asserts, " Every one who despises reverence for
his Creator would better not have been born." This sentence,
as appears from its connection in the Mishna, must have been
originally directed against the misapplication of anthropomorph-
isms, as also another sentence, " Who translates every verse liter-
ally, asserts a lie; who joins something to it, defames " (Kidushin
49, a).
* This sentence seems also to have been used by the apostle Paul in his
epistles to the Romans (iii. 5) : " Is God unrighteous who takes vengeance ?
I speak as a man."
106 THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD .

We could quote many passages which would prove that the

great teachers and leaders of Judaism not only possessed the
most correct conceptions concerning God and His attributes, but
also combated the fallacious ideas which threatened to creep in
from the metaphysical teachings of the Greek schools.
Most of the passages, however, which have a mystical aspect
and appear to be in contradiction to common sense, and to the
otherwise prevailing sublime ideas about the Deity, were some-
times selected by the enemies of the Talmud, to prove its low
character; they made a collection of thorns and thistles, and pur-
posely passed by the beautiful flowers growing in great luxuriance
on every side.
3. HYPERBOLIC SLANDERS.

In Talmud Kidushin (82, a) is cited the proverb ‫טוב שברופאים‬

‫לגהינם‬ "The best of physicians belongs to hell. " This harsh
judgment against a highly respected class is strikingly inconsist-
ent with the estimation expressed by every other passage in which
physicians are mentioned.
" Medicine is a science whose practice is authorized by God
Himself " (Berachot 60, a) . " The strict observance of Sab-
bath and Yom Kippur is set aside, when the physician declares
‫دو‬

such desecration necessary, even against the will of the patient

(Yoma 83, a) . " We ought not to live in a town where no phy-
sician resides " (Sanh. 17, b). The Talmud also quotes several
times the proverb from Sirach, " Honor thy physician even be-
fore thou needest his advice."
These passages, together with numerous historical facts, prov-
ing the great respect physicians enjoyed among the Jews during
all ages, will satisfy the incredulous that the above quoted pas-
sage in reference to physicians must be taken within certain
limits, as a popular proverb, which said more than it meant.
Proverbs of every nation show the physicians subjected to the
sharp satire of popular wit. This was mostly directed against
quackery, but popular proverbs like to generalize, and to leave
the reflecting mind to make the necessary exceptions. In pious
England the physicians enjoyed a bad reputation for neglecting
 HYPERBOLIC SLANDERS . 107

religious duties. They were even attacked for atheism. Chaucer

said :

" Physicians know what is digestible;

But their study is but little in the Bible."

An old Latin proverb says : " Ubi tres medici duo Athei. "
Another passage often quoted by the accusers of Judaism runs
as follows :
‫טוב שבגוים הרוג‬ " The best among the heathen deserve to be
killed."
We must remark that our editions have ‫" מצרים‬Egyptians "
in the place of ‫ " גוים‬Heathen" and that the passage appears in
the following connection :
" When the Lord caused the hail to come down upon Egypt,
he that feared the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his
servants and his cattle flee into the houses; and he that regard-
ed not the word of the Lord, left his servants and his cattle in
the field. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt,
all that was in the field, both man and beast " (Ex. xx. 21) .
When Pharaoh pursued the Israelites, " he took six hundred
chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over
every one of them. "
Upon these passages Rashi remarks, after the Midrash, "As it
appears that, only a short time before, all the beasts of Egypt
were killed, while the Israelites had taken theirs with them, the
beasts used at the pursuit must have come from those Egyptians
who, on the occasion of the hail, had feared the Lord, and made
their cattle flee into the houses. To these may be applied a say-
ing of R. Simon, ' The purest of the Egyptians deserved death ;
the best of the serpents deserves to have its head bruised " (Rashi
on Ex. xiv. 7) .
It seems that, at a later time, this proverb was perverted into
a general formula for all heathens, worshippers of idols ; but
even then only with the same conception and limitation as set
forth for other hyperbolic expressions.
A similar assertion, appearing to express, not only hatred,
108 THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD .

but also blasphemous ideas against Gentiles, when taken from its
connection, is the following (Sanh. 53, b. ); it was also often
brought forth as an accusation against the Talmud.
Resh Lakish taught, " A non-Israelite who rests on Sabbath
deserves death, for it is written, ' And day and night shall (they)
not cease " (Gen. viii. 22). Another teacher asserted, " That
when no express punishment is stated, in reference to non-
Israelites, capital punishment must be understood."
As distinctly appears by the Biblical passage quoted, the
assertion is an ironical reply to those Christians who ridiculed the
Jews for their strict resting on Sabbath, as the elements do not
cease to work on that day. In St. John (v. 17) Jesus is reported
to have said, when the Jews persecuted him for having allowed a
man to carry his bed on Sabbath, " My father worketh hitherto,
and I work. " This argument was undoubtedly often used against
the Jews, to which the passage of the Bible was applied which
may be literally translated " they shall not cease," and be
referred to every creature, hence also to man, and must be taken
as a commandment, if the laws for the Sabbath should have no
binding force. In case of neglecting to work continually, the
Rabbi ironically adds, " you would deserve death," as trespass-
ing the commandment, " And day and night they shall not cease
to work."
4. HYPERBOLIC LEGENDS.

A clear appreciation of the love of the ancients for hyperbolic

language explains some apparent miracles related in the Talmud
and Midrashim.

In Talmud Sabbath (49) is related, " Once the Greek govern-

ment gave a strict order prohibiting the wearing of phylacteries.
R. Elisha, nevertheless, appeared in the street with his phylac-
teries. When caught by a Roman officer, he had them in his
closed hand. Upon being asked what he held in his hand, he
answered, ' wings of a dove,' and when he opened his hand, be-
hold! there appeared therein the wings of a dove. " This occur-
rence certainly looks very miraculous, but if we turn to Psalms
(lxviii. 13), we find there " the wings of the dove covered with
 HYPERBOLIC LEGENDS . 109

silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." There is the solution!
R. Elisha bribed the officer, and it would have been miraculous
if a Roman officer had refused the silver covering of the wings of
the dove. The Rabbi, in stating " there appeared therein the
wings of a dove," gave us the first part of the verse, and left to
the reader to add the other part of the verse, as the true explana-
tion of his escape.
A passage in the Talmud that appears to be of a highly hyper-
bolic nature is the following :
" A disciple addressed his teacher R. Jonathan in a very arro-
gant manner. The Rabbi said, ' Fool! if thou hadst not seen it,
thou wouldst not believe? Thou ridiculest the words of the

sages ? The Rabbi turned his eyes upon the disciple, and he be-
came a heap of stones. " *
Rashi explains this that the disciple died by the sharp look of
the Rabbi, expressed here under a hyperbolical figure. If we ac-
cept the explanation of Rashi, then we have here a curious
incident for physiologists to reflect upon. The Abbé Rousseau
states that he killed four crabs in Egypt by looking sharply at
them. But upon trying the same experiment at Lyons,
France, the crab looked sharply at him and he fainted in conse-
‫دو‬
quence. The " evil eye is even yet a common superstition in
the Orient and the southern countries of Europe, and its imagi-
nary effects upon those who conceive themselves affected, are very
singular. We shall leave it to the reader to connect these facts
with the quoted Talmudical story, and allow him to draw his own
conclusions.

* In connection with this story appears another story. Expounding

the passage in Isaiah (liv. 12), " And I will make thy windows of agates,
and thy gates of carbuncles," R. Jochanan undertook to give the dimen-
sions which such gems would necessarily possess for such a purpose.
One of the disciples ridiculed the exposition of the Rabbi, as the gems
seldom reach the size of the egg of a small bird. Some time after, that
disciple undertook a sea voyage, and saw there heaps upon heaps of pre-
cious stones (icebergs). He asked the angels moving them, " For what
purpose are these made ? " and they replied, “ They are to be used for the
gates of Jerusalem ! " It was now for R. Jochanan to doubt the narra-
tive of his disciple and to take it as a satire on his words.
110 THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD .

5. ENIGMATICAL IN PLACE OF IMPROPER LANGUAGE .

Another class of expressions and sentences, which in most cases

sound enigmatical and sometimes hyperbolical, had its origin in
the endeavor of the ancients to avoid the uttering of anything
profane, obscene, or even disagreeable and improper. Their ideas
in respect to what is to be considered as such, were rather more
refined and delicate than those of our time.
They assert that the Bible already set examples for using only
pure language. In the narrative of the flood we read, " of
beasts that are not clean " (Gen. vii. 2), in order to avoid the ex-
pression " unclean " in reference to living beasts; also in another
passage, " If there be among you any man who is not clean "
(Deut. xxiii. 10), instead of " unclean. "
It is, therefore, laid down as a principle, “ We should always
endeavor to use decent language."
Especially are all references to licentiousness, unchastity, in-
cest, and the like, expressed in such figurative forms that only
an intimate acquaintance with such language discerns its true
meaning. If the Rabbis teach: ‫לא חבשל בקדירח שבשל בה חברך‬
" Do not cook in a pot wherein another has already cooked "
(Pesachim 112), it is the figurative expression for the same idea
expressed in Luke (xvi. 18). An apparently meaningless rule,
‫ " אל ישתה אדם בכוס זה ויתן עיניו בכוס אחר‬Do not drink from a
cup while thine eyes are directed upon another " (Nedarim 20,
b) , receives its true meaning only from the connection in which
it is used, namely referring to marital faithlessness. In close
connection with these quoted sayings is an assertion stated in
the name of the College of Hillel, which has been often mis-
understood. In the last Mishna of Ghittin (Ch. 8, М. 10)
appears a debate between the two schools of Shamai and Hillel,
about the right of the husband to divorce his wife. Hillel as-
serts, he might be permitted to divorce her, " if she spoils his
meals " ‫ אפילו הקדיחה תבשילו‬and undoubtedly used this expression
in a euphemistical sense, in accordance with the above sayings,
although later commentators took it literally.
 ΜΕΤΑΡΗYSICAL HYPERBOLES . 111

With the same feelings for decency, the ancients used certain
words euphemistically to express a meaning opposite to that
which they originally had, a custom already observed in the
Bible .

The passage in Job (ii. 9( ‫ אלהים ומת‬.‫ ברך‬meaning literally

to " bless the Lord, " is translated " Curse God and die. " (See
also 1 Kings xxi. 10(. ‫ " חסד‬kindness " is taken in Leviticus
(xx. 17) and Proverbs (xiv. 34) for reproach, disgrace; there are
several similar instances. So the Rabbis used ‫ מברך השם‬for
" blasphemy."
6. ΜΕΤΑPHYSICAL HYPERBOLES.

The most obscure and therefore the most difficult class of Tal-

mudical hyperboles comprises stories, legends, and similar com-

positions of very diverse nature and signification.
The Oriental philosopher clothed his metaphysical observations
and subtle ideas in the garb of extravagant metaphors and
allegory, so that in many cases they become unintelligible to the
reader of the present day. References to current events by a
trodden down and persecuted race could be intrusted to writing
only enshrined in most obscure figures of speech, comprehensible
to the initiated alone. Then a mixture of superstitious views
and idle tales about witchcraft, magical cures, interpretations of
dreams, etc. , adopted from the Persian surroundings, although
in conflict with the pure spirit of Judaism otherwise prevailing
in its pages, were admitted into the Talmud.
We shall try to illustrate some of this class of hyperboles, so
as to enable the reader to make his own conclusions about similar
others, open to a rational explanation.
As everything in nature, according to the Biblical account of
the creation was formed in its perfect state, so Adam, formed
by the hand of the Creator, the Rabbis concluded, must have
been created in the most perfect state, physically and mentally.
This idea, that man in his perfection was formed to ascend from
nature to nature's God, they expressed hyperbolically, " Adam
reached from earth to heaven. " (Chagiga 12; Sanh. 38. )
112 THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD .

The twofold nature in man, the material and spiritual, they

expressed again, "Adam had two faces ; one turning to the East
the other to the West." (Bereshit R. 9.) That is to say, the
spiritual nature of man is turned towards the East, the source of
light and knowledge, his physical nature is inclined towards the
West, the seat of darkness, the abode of sensuality and debase-
ment.

The cosmopolitan destiny of man, as well as his bodily and

spiritual capacities, are alluded to in the following assertion :
" The body of man, God took from Babylon (the country of
abundance), the head from Palestine (the abode of pure knowl-
edge of God), and the other members from every other country "
(Erubin 23).
7. HISTORICAL NARRATIVES .

Narratives of historical events generally appear in the form

of a legend, or in a kind of secret writing of which we are here
enabled to give an example.
Constantius renewed the Hadrianic edicts against the Jews,
and the exercises of religious rites were rigidly prohibited; Rab-
ba, the academical head of Mahuza, forced to hide his purpose,
sent the following enigmatical message to the Jewish communi-
ties, informing them of the intercalation of a month into the
calendar, " Men from Reketh ( Tiberias) were caught by the eagle
(Romans), for they had in their possession fabrics from Luz
(purple for fringes). But through God's mercy and their worthi-
ness, they fortunately escaped. The descendants of Nachshon,
(the patriarch) desired to appoint a guardian of the month ( an
intercalary month), but the Aramaan ( Romans) would not per-
mit it; they nevertheless met and appointed the month, in which
Aaron died (Ab).
Another historical fact is related in the following story:
" Once upon a time, an egg of Bar-Ioceane fell down, and it
inundated sixty cities, and broke down three hundred cedars."
It was asked, " How came the egg to fall; since it is written, the
wing of the songster is beautified? " To which Rabbi Ashi
replied, " because it was a foul egg. "
 BAR BAR CHANA . 113

As this story refers to an egg, it was concluded, that Bar-Io-

ceane must be a bird of the greatest dimension, while it really
means the offspring of the ocean, and finds its solution in the
following passage from Manava Sastra. " He (the self-existing)
desiring to raise up various creatures, by an emanation from his
own glory, first created the waters, and impressed them with a
power of motion: by that power was produced a Golden Egg,
blazing like a thousand suns, in which was born Brahma, self-
existing, the great parent of all rational beings."
The fable, therefore, alludes to a terrible persecution which
then raged against some Hindoo sects who believed in the
mundane egg.
8. BAR BAR CHANA.

Among the Babylonian sages, it was especially R. Bar Bar

Chana, who became renowned as the author of fantastical and
hyperbolical tales. He lived during the early part of the third
century, and after a long sojourn in Palestine came to Babylonia;
we meet him both at Sura and Pumbeditha.
That he was well versed in the more difficult part of Talmudi-
cal science, the Halachah, appears from the fact that R. Judah,
the founder of the academy at Pumbeditha, used to ask his ad-
vice in difficult cases (Moed Katon 17, a) .
He was also an observing traveller, and visited the wilderness
of Israel's wanderings in company with Arabian caravans.
Of the stories which, under his name, recount either what he
had actually seen or what his fancy grotesquely dictated, the
first class comprises his explanations of localities in the Bible.
In the second class, an Arab generally plays a leading part, and
in many of these, the wilderness of Sinai serves as the scene of
action. An Arab was the guide of the travelling party in this
district, who is reported as familiar with the wilderness in such
a degree that he recognized the vicinity of springs by the smell
of sand (Jebam. 120, b).
This ready Arab once pointed out to him Mount Sinai, and a
heavenly voice was heard, " Woe, that I have sworn, and now
8
114 THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD .

after I have sworn, who will break my oath? " Hereupon the
Arab showed Rabba the very spot where Korah and his band had
been swallowed up by the earth, and from the depths there issued
a voice : " Moses is truth and his law is truth : but we are liars. " *
We would err in supposing that these assertions were credu-
lously accepted by the contemporaries; on the contrary, some
one ironically asked Rabba, when he related about the voice
heard from the Mount Sinai, why he did not offer to release God
from His oath ; while others applied to him the not very compli-
mentary proverb, " Every Abba is a dunce and every Bar Bar
Chana a fool ."
Of another character is the story in which an Arab shows him
the spot where heaven and earth kiss each other. He there
fastened his bread basket and went away; when he returned, the
basket was not to be found. His wise guide told him that,
if he would return after twenty-four hours, he would
find it again. This was evidently an illustration of a leading
point in the Ptolemean theory, that the heavens turn around the
earth in twenty-four hours. The wilderness is just the place
where heaven and earth might touch each other, as there is noth-
ing there to disturb their contact; especially in that wilderness,
where, at the time of the revelation at Mt. Sinai, " the heaven
had inclined itself to the earth. "
Rabba's stories about his sea journeys have the stamp of most
* It is not only elsewhere stated in the Talmud, but it is also a common
belief among the Beduins travelling in the region of Mount Sinai, that
sometimes strange voices are heard from the mount, to which the vivid
Oriental imagination gives words. Ehrenberg, a modern German travel-
ler, who also heard such strange voices, investigated their origin. He
found that the rocks in the vicinity are covered by very fine sand, which
is easily put in motion, even by a small bird alighting. The sand once
in motion increases in bulk and rolling down the rocks, produces in the
stillness of the desert sounds very similar to the wailing of a human
being. From the Rabbi's sentence ‫אוי לי שנשבעתי ועכשו שנשבעתי מי מפר‬
‫ לי‬the sound must have been a succession of hissing sounds, which his
lively imagination translated into the words quoted. Ancient nations
generally heard all kinds of prophecies in the rustling of the forest
trees, the chattering of birds, etc. The spot pointed out where Korah
and his band had been swallowed up by the earth, was one of the vol-
canic rocks to be found in the desert.
 BAR BAR CHANA . 115

descriptions of sea monsters told by a mariner to please his

hearers . He takes the unusual size of some sea-monster as the
starting point of his story, and exaggerates it; but it appears
that these stories were applied to didactic purposes, to express
certain truths or to clothe historical facts in the garb of popular
fables.

During his extended journeys, he very probably met with the

flamingo, a bird distinguished from all others by its peculiar
form. It is of a bright-red color, and although not larger than
a goose, it appears, owing to its long legs and neck as tall as a
man, and often measures six feet from the end of its claws to the
tip of its bill. It lives around the Mediterranean Sea. This
bird suggested the beautiful allegory of the bird which stands
with its feet at the bottom of the fathomless sea, but whose head
reaches the heaven: a picture of man, who although bound by his
body to the earth, occupies his mind with celestial matters.
Also the giraffe seems to be referred to under the name
‫ אורזילא דרימא‬the tallest of animals, being sometimes twenty feet
from the hoofs to the top of the head.
In his narrative about a gigantic frog, which is swallowed by a
serpent, the latter in its turn becoming the victim of a bird, he
very probably refers to different nationalities, of which one
became the prey of the other. He designates them, after the
favorite manner of the ancients, by the names of animals, to
which they were somewhat similar in certain qualities.
Nevertheless, that highly hyperbolical way of expressing histor-
ical facts was not generally admired, and R. Papa, when he heard
the story, sarcastically remarked, " If I had not seen it, I would
not believe it ! "
From his journeys at sea, we have an account of the luminous
appearance of the latter, and in order to express in this connec-
tion the wonders of God, who has enabled man to subdue the
raging of the billows of the sea, by means of a few planks and
sticks, he related the following allegorical tale :
" Those that travel on the sea have told me that, on the head
of the wave which threatens to engulf the ship, there appear
116 THE HYPERBOLE OF THE TALMUD .

sparks of white fire : that the mariners there strike the sea with
a staff, on which is written the name of the Almighty, and it is
subdued."

This narrative has often been applied to illustrate religious

affairs . The sea has been taken for the world-" the world is a
stormy sea "-the voyagers are the men who sail along in the
ship of faith, there rises a foaming wave-empty knowledge with
its din and foam, which threatens the vessel with shipwreck;
but the name of God, the return to a religious life which glides
over the waters, restores the calm, and the travellers sail safely
till they anchor in the harbor of eternal rest.
All the above narratives, not otherwise quoted, appear in
Baba Batra 73 and 74.

9. SCIENTIFIC AXIOMS.

There exist numerous sentences containing physical, geogra-

phical, or medicinal axioms, which were considered as hyperboles,
as long as the truth contained in them was not proved by modern
science, and some of them, which appear at present as fabulous,
might, in the course of time, prove to be irrefutable facts.
A passage like ‫ " הרבה מאורות יש באור‬the light contains several
kinds of colors " (Berach. 52, a) was unintelligible until, in
recent times, the nature of light became better understood.
The Talmud ( Moed Katon vi. 2) mentions a mole )‫ (אשות‬with-
out eyes. Naturalists laughed at the credulity of the ancients;
but R. Joseph Schwartz, who added to his acquaintance with
Hebrew lore a knowledge of modern sciences, and resided six-
teen years in the Holy Land, re-affirms, in his " Descriptive
Geography of Palestine, " the statement of the Talmudists. This
peculiar animal looks like a new-born cat; has a large thick,
round head, two small ears, but no eyes. He sent a specimen to
Munich.

Another curious zoological fact is stated in the Talmud (Chu-

lin 126, a) about a kind of mouse, of which part of the body is
alive, while the other is yet slime. This has been contradicted
by modern naturalists. Maimonides, however, represented this
 SCIENTIFIC AXIOMS . 117

as a phenomenon generally known and confirmed by many eye-

witnesses, and Greek and Roman writers assert the same fact.
Ælian relates that in Thebais, after the rain, mice became visi-
ble, which partly consist of flesh and partly of slime (Compare
Plinius 9 , 58, 84, Plutarch, Vol. II. , p. 637).
Another curious fact is related in Talmud (Sabbath 53, b)
about a man who was provided with breasts of a female and en-
abled to nurse an infant. Similar cases are known by recent
observations about inferior animals, as reported in the latest
scientific works by Buchner. A she-cat died and left several
young kittens. The he-cat took care of them, and after a few
days it was observed, satisfied the thirst of the young ones from
his teats. Under the congenial sun of the Orient, a stronger
development of certain organs of the human body is possible, and
therefore nothing in the above statement need appear at all in-
credible.
118 ELIJAH IN THE AGADAН .

CHAPTER XII .

ELIJAH IN THE AGADAH .

The history of events in the life of persons, whose name lived

in the memory of the people as benefactors of mankind, were
generally embellished, in the course of time, by numerons legends ;
and many deeds or events, either real or fictitious, clustered
around their names. Such persons sometimes thereby became
the heroes of mysterious and mythical folklore.
In accordance with the character of Talmudical poetry and the
religious feelings of the people, a name, typifying the hero of
mythical and fantastical Jewish folklore, had to be selected from
the Bible. Where could they find a more suitable name than
that of prophet Elijah, the commencement and end of whose
eventful life is enwrapped in mystery?
Without further introduction, Elijah appears as prophet, ad-
monishing Ahab, and after having been mysteriously fed, and
favored with the most remarkable displays of divine power in his
behalf, he was transposed to heaven in a miraculous manner.
These legends, undoubtedly extended and embellished by oral
traditions in the mouth of the people, made the memory of this
prophet so highly cherished that, at a later period, another pro-
phet (Malachi) designates him as the forerunner of the Messiah,
" before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord "
(Mal. iii. 23 Hebrew text; iv. 6 author. version) .
Although all prominent names in the Bible became subjects
of the Agadah and the centre of some legends, they experienced
an entirely different treatment from that of Elijah.
That which most of the characters of the Bible suffered at the

hands of the Agadists is described by Dr. M. Sachs.

" The love with which all concerning the hallowed past and its
 ELIJAH AS A HERO OF ANTIQUITY . 119

heroes was seized, made these latter appear as conspicuous models

for every time. The present could only be understood by means
of the past, which gave an answer to every problem of the present,
and foretold what was to be expected for the most remote future.
The distinct predictions of prophetic foresight illuminated the
darkest sky with flashes of light, for even behind the obscurest
clouds the sun of hope and belief had not yet set. That love
brought the distinct types of the gray past so near to the mind of
the people that they communicated with them in an animated
and confiding manner. They saw the endeared friend brought
into immediate proximity, clad in novel beauty, and from the
meagre reports of real history, they discovered new features, not
noticed before, to enhance his excellence and to increase their
love for him. And how easy was it, where a spot blotted the
halo, or where unyielding truthfulness found blame even in the
illustrious, to mitigate, if not to entirely obliterate the blemish.
They would even derive from the apparent stain a new beauty
for the precious type. For what situation in life, for what en-
tanglements of the mind or heart, for what sufferings and mis-
ery could they not find a parallel and example in the events and
experiences of the pious and illustrious of past ages! In such a
manner, a considerable part of important spiritual material, moral
precepts, and religious truths was gained from the exposition and
application of Biblical stories, interwoven and entwined with
these fantastical conceptions. "*
While the Biblical narrative concerning the prophet Elijah was
also embellished with legends, as of a hero of antiquity, there was
for him created, in contradistinction to the other Biblical heroes,
an entirely new history in which he appears as the " Wandering
Jew," still active and interfering with the affairs of the present.
We would err in supposing that the Agadist, who introduces
Elijah in the narrative as acting or speaking, always, or even in
most cases, thought of his actual appearance, or wished to impress
such conception upon the reader. Generally his name is nothing

* Sachs: " Stimmen vom Jordan und Euphrat."

120 ELIJAH IN THE AGADAH .

more than the representative of a religious, ethical, or metaphy-

sical idea, clothed, according to Oriental taste, in the garb of a
parable, fable, or legend. That such was even the popular con-
ception of his repeated appearances is curiously confirmed by the
fact that, to this day, the Jews who still live in the atmosphere
of Talmudical studies, are accustomed to use the expression, “ I
met the prophet Elijah to-day," in order to express some unex-
pected success in their business.
The re-appearance of Elijah, foretold by Malachi, was confi-
dently looked forward to by the people, and his task as the fore-
runner of the Messiah is even more distinctly described by the
later Ben Sirach than by the prophet.
" He will come again before the day of the Lord,
To turn the hearts of the children to their fathers,
And to bring salvation to the tribes of Jacob. "
(xlix. 10 Syriac version.)

In the Mishna, his appearance is almost identified with the

appearance of the Messiah. His expected activity as the fore
runner of Messianic times is expressed in the Mishna Edoyot (vii.
end).
R. Joshua asserted as traditional that Elijah, the Tishbite, at
his re-appearance, would not decide about questions of pedigrees-
which was at the time of R. Joshua an agitated question-but
would remove such families as were forcibly introduced into the
community, and restore to their rights those that had been for-
cibly expelled. R. Judah asserted that his task would only con-
sist in restoring the expelled families. R. Simon taught that the
main purpose of his re-appearance would be to settle disputes and
strifes. Other sages taught that his only task would consist in re-
storing peace to the world.
About the commencement of the Christian era, the political
situation of the Jewish state became almost unendurable. The
Roman government proceeded with the greatest arrogance, the
Jewish aristocracy was cowardly and treacherous, and political
quarrels divided the nation. Then the coming of Elijah was
longingly expected. It was on this account that both John the
 AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF STERN MORALITY . 121

Baptist and the founder of the Christian religion were taken for
Elijah by their respective adherents ( Mark vi. 15; viii. 28).
When the Agadah was largely cultivated and extended, during
the first century of the Christian era, Elijah also assumes a more
poetical character, and is introduced as present in all places, and
as the protector of suffering mankind, especially of the pious.
No country is outside of his influence, nothing too difficult for
his saving arm. Wherever the innocent are oppressed, he ap-
pears as the protecting angel. In order to accomplish his pur-
poses he assumes manifold forms. He now appeared in the sim-
ple garb of a man (Berachot 58, a), then as an Arab (ibid. 6, b),
at other times mounted on a horse (Sabbath 109, b), or as a Ro-
man officer (Abodah Sarah 17, b).
From the numerous legends about his interference for the suf-
fering, we will select the following :
" R. Akiba married Rachel, the daughter of the wealthy Kalba
Sabua, despite the displeasure of her father. Kalba ejected his
daughter from his house and the young couple lived in the drea-
riest want. After great exertion Akiba procured some straw for
himself and wife to lie on. They were hardly ready to enjoy the
6

straw, when a beggar knocked at the door, exclaiming, O, give

me a little straw, my wife was just confined of a boy, and I have
not even straw for her to lie upon. ' Akiba comforted his wife
with the thought that there existed still greater misery than theirs,
and Elijah, as the beggar, had accomplished his purpose " (Ne-
darim 50, a) .
Elijah is also the representative of stern morality, and appears
sometimes to rebuke the sages for a neglect in the exercise of
justice, or for trespassing a moral or religious law, and even exe-
cutes justice himself.
Ulla ben Kishar, persecuted on account of a political offence,
had fled into Lydda under the protection of R. Joshua ben Levi.
A troop of soldiers surrounded Lydda and threatened to destroy
the city, in case the fugitive should not be surrendered. In this
painful alternative, R. Joshua induced the accused to surrender
of his own accord. He based his action upon a Mishnaic law,
122 ELIJAH IN THE AGADAН.

which permits the surrender of a man specially designated as the

accused, in case the lives of many should be endangered by his
detention. (Now the legend comes in.) The prophet Elijah, the
ideal of pure zeal for Judaism, appeared to R. Joshua and re-
buked him for his action. He should not merely have relied
upon the legal Mishnah, but should have remembered the
" Mishnah of the Pious, " which expands the view beyond the
horizon of prescribed duty" (Jer. Terumot viii. and Genesis R.
94 end).
Elijah entertained familiar intercourse with different pious
men, but was very particular in his choice of company. Of two
pious men, one used to give meals to his servants from the first
course only, while from the other courses they received simply
what was left. The other allowed his servants to partake of
every round of the meal. The latter man enjoyed the visits of
the Tishbite, while the less hospitable one never had the honor
of a visit (Ketubot 61, a) .
A pious man had been favored by frequent visits of the Tish-
bite. Once this man built an extension to his house, which pre-
vented the voice of beggars from being heard inside, and conse-
quently Elijah never called again (Baba Batra 7, b).
A man brought R. Anan a present of some small fish. "What
can I do for you ? " asked the Rabbi. " I have a law suit I wish
you to decide. " The Rabbi would have nothing to do with the
lawsuit, as even an offer of a present precluded a Rabbi from
acting as judge in a case in which the party that offered the pres-
ent was interested. The man insisted that he should accept the
present as a free-will offering without any consideration. R.
Anan advised him to bring his lawsuit before R. Nachman, which
the man did with the statement that R. Anan could not be judge
in that case. R. Nachman, in consequence of this statement,
was under the impression that the man was a relative of R. Anan,
as in cases of relatives nobody was allowed to act as judge. When,
therefore, the case came before him, he treated the man with
greater attention than he otherwise would have done, to the pre-
judice of the opposite party. Elijah, as friend and teacher of
 ELIJAH HELD IN HIGH VENERATION . 123

R. Anan, used to pay him repeated visits, but in consequence of

this event, he did not appear any more (Ketub. 105, b) .
During his visits to the pious, he sometimes participated in
their legal debates, explaining to them some laws, or allowing
them to explain complicated problems to him (Jebam. 63, a; Jer.
Berachot ix. , and other passages). In the colleges of some sages he
appeared as a regular student (Ketub. 106, a; Baba Mezia 85, b) .
He would sometimes propound questions, and with great atten-
tion listen to the advice given by his friends (Berachot 3, a; 29,
b; Ketub. 106, a). But although we notice therefrom that the
name of Elijah was held in high veneration, we must always
remember that the Talmudists still remained sober enough not
to allow this Agadic type to overstep its boundary; to allow it
the least influence upon judicial or ritual questions of doubtful
character, or to take Elijah as an authority for practice. He
remained with them a poetical type, and the high flight of their
imaginations, which introduces him on so many occasions that
we are almost induced to believe that they looked upon him as a
real, acting person, still moving on earth, could never mislead
them so far as to give any legal authority or binding effect to
assertions put into his mouth.
With the farther development of the Agadah in the latter part
of the Talmudical times, when from the Persian surroundings
many foreign elements were adopted, the field of the activity of
Elijah , also, was farther extended, and he assumed a more super-
natural character. The sober principles of former sages, which
led them to abstain from fantastic speculations about the hidden
future, were more and more disregarded, and the Agadah assumes
a more enigmatical form. Then, also, Elijah becomes the medi-
ator between terrestrial and celestial affairs, who sometimes lets
his friends participate, while yet alive, in the pleasures of Para-
dise. The Tishbite once took R. Joshua ben Levi up to that
blissful place to point out to him his future seat there (Sanh. 98,
a). After the death of R. Joshua, Elijah introduced him to his
colleagues residing in that abode (Ketubot 77, b) .
The prophet Elijah appeared once to R. Baroka in the turmoil
124 ELIJAH IN THE AGADAH .

of the market. " Tell me, O man of the Lord, R. Baroka said,
who amongst this busy crowd will enjoy salvation in future life ? "
" The man whom thou seest walking yonder in black sandals,
like a heathen and without the ritual fringes," said the prophet.
The Rabbi looked amazed that a man openly neglecting the reli-
gious rites should still have such a claim. He approached the
person, and inquired what the man's business was. " I am the
keeper of the prison, and as such I maintain special guard to pre-
vent the intercourse between male and female prisoners. Re-
cently I saved a Jewish girl from the attacks of male prisoners."
The Rabbi further inquired why he neglected religious rites.
The man excused this with the weighty reason that, on account
of such neglect, he was looked upon as a heathen, and thereby
became acquainted with the evil designs of the enemies of the
Jews. Whenever an opportunity offered, he informed the lead-
ers of the Jewish community about such designs. Two other
men pointed out by the Tishbite as candidates for Paradise
excited still greater surprise in the pious student-two harle-
quins ! The Rabbi, from a conversation with them, learned that
they are merry people, and whenever they saw men covered with
mourning or tortured by mental pains, they endeavored to rouse
them by merry sayings, and to quiet them. Often by humorous
stories they had re-established peace and harmony between con-
tending parties " (Taanit 22, a). The important truism " Out-
ward appearance is often very deceitful " is most beautifully
exemplified by this legend.
After the close of the Talmud, and especially with that class
of later scholars whose minds became enveloped in mystical
extravagances, the foregoing characteristics of Elijah were fur-
ther spun out, and still more enlarged in legends. The Islamit-
ish and Christian legendaries also took hold of him, and while
following the Agadah as the prototype, extended it considerably.
They also invented for him a pedigree, unknown to the Agadic
literature. Many stories about his miraculous birth were in-
vented. He became the founder of a Capuchin order (Carmelites),
and at last a saint of the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic
Church.
 GREEK MYTHS IN THE TALMUD . 125

CHAPTER XIII .

FOREIGN MYTHS .

1. GREEK MYTHS IN THE TALMUD.

The numerous legends and myths preserved in the Talmud

and Midrash form one of the most interesting features of Agadic
literature, and many of them possess a highly historical interest
as relics of ancient culture. But while some reflect the national

spirit and everything actively moving and engaging it, others

evince the foreign influence which no nationality can successfully
escape.
The ethical or psychological vein which underlies many legends
and myths, as beautiful representations of captivating ideas,
secure for them a willing ear among every nation, and especially
among the Jews, who were always open to foreign influences. At
every closer approach and intercourse such legends and myths
were transferred and interchanged from one nation to the other,
and generally also transformed and embellished according to the
views and tastes of the respective people.
As a prominent instance we may cite the Alexander legends in
Talmud and Midrash, of which some parts were brought over
from abroad, and exist also in the Greek literature, while we may
regard it as very probable that, as with most other nations sub-
jected to the great Macedonian, the Jews also spun around his
person legends originating with themselves.
More remarkable is the fact that mythical stories, closely con-
nected with Greek mythology, were sometimes quoted by the
Rabbis in their lectures, and, although they appear modified to
illustrate an ethical religious thought, they still retain enough of
their original stamp to demonstrate their Hellenic character.
In Koheleth Rabbah (i. 14), R. Abba bar Kahana applies the
126 FOREIGN MYTHS.

legend of Hercules at the crossway to the Biblical passage, “ And

thou shalt choose the life " (Deut. xxx. 19).
" A man sat at a crossway, where one road began in a blooming
plain, but led into a stony road, abounding in thorns and thistles;
while the other had a very discouraging beginning among thorns
and stones, but led into a fertile land. The man at the crossway
advised the inexperienced youth to choose the latter road. "
It has been already noticed by the ancients that by illustrations
from practical life, in the forms of proverbs, the divine laws
become better impressed upon the mind of common people than
they would have been in their abstract form. Solomon, in com-
posing such proverbs, was especially praised, and among other
similes illustrating his great merits, R. Nachman relates about a
great palace with many entrances and windings, which rendered
it difficult to find the way from its interior to the entrance. A
wise man fixed a clew of thread to the entrance, which enabled
every one to penetrate the windings of the palace and to find his
way out again" (Shir Hash. R. beginning). We have here a
clear application of the story of the labyrinth and of the legend
of Ariadne, providing Theseus from Crete with a clew of thread
to enable him to enter the labyrinth where lay the Minotaur that
he slew.

Greek legends speak of the Danaïdes who, in punishment for

their crimes, were condemned in the lower world to draw water
continually with perforated vessels. This story is used by R.
Levi as follows :
" A person hired laborers to fill a perforated kettle with water.
The simpletons were amazed at the useless work and said, ' Why
should we undertake such vain labor ? If we put the water in
one side it immediately leaks out at the other. ' The more intel.
ligent said, ' We shall receive our reward for every emptied
bucket. ' Such is the case with the study of the Torah. The
silly persons do not even try to begin, in fear lest they will forget
what they have learned, while the more intelligent hope for
heavenly reward " (Vayikra R. c. 19).
Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, is put up by the Greek legendary
 THE GREEK LEGENDARY MODEL OF VIRTUE. 127

as a model of conjugal and domestic virtue. Twenty years had

passed away since Ulysses left for the seat of the Trojan war.
Meanwhile the palace at Ithaca, where she resided, was crowded
with numerous and importunate suitors, aspiring to the hand of
the queen. Her relations also urged her to abandon all thoughts
of the probability of her husband's return. Penelope exerted
every resource which her ingenuity could invent to postpone the
date of her decision, and at last her heart was gladdened by the
return of her beloved husband.

This beautiful legend, although somewhat changed for the sake

of its homiletic purposes, was made use of by R. Yochanan in the
following manner :
That Rabbi said in reference to lamentations (iii. 21), " This I
recall to my mind, therefore have I hope."
" A king married a woman and made her magnificent promises.
Soon after he was obliged to leave her and to undertake a pro-
tracted journey. He stayed away for a long time, and the
neglected wife was repeatedly offended by her neighbors, who
said, ' The king has left thee, he will never return. ' The poor
woman wept and lamented, but always regained comfort in the
expectation of the fulfilment of her husband's magnificent pro-
mises. After a long time the king at last returned, and exclaimed,
' My beloved wife, I am really astonished at thy faithful perseve-
rance during so many years.' ' My lord and king,' she rejoined,
' if thy promises had not sustained me, I had long ago succumbed
to the advice of my neighbors.' This woman, such is the beau-
tiful application, represents Israel, who, in spite of all tempta-
tions and enticements made by other nations, faithfully bears the
long separation from his God, hoping for the fulfilment of the
glorious promises contained in the Holy Scriptures " (Echa rab-
bah to iii. 21).
The Phenix, a bird fabled among the Greeks as existing single,
and as rising again from its own ashes, appears, according to the
Septuagint * and the Talmud and Midrash, already in Job (xxix.
* According to Delitzsch's emendation, who proved that an interpolator
changed by mistake the phenix into palm-branch.
128 FOREIGN MYTHS .

18), " Then, I thought, I shall dissolve in my nest, and I shall

renew my days like the phenix ( Chol)." The Midrash Yalkut.
explains this passage, " All animals partook of the forbidden
fruit which Eve distributed among them except the Chol (phenix),
who refused to eat it, and thereby preserved his immortality, and
renews his life now at every millennium. "
Both, however, the Jews and the Greeks, received their con-
ception of that mythical bird from the Phœnicians, whose national
god he appears to have been. Dr. K. Kohler finds a description
of the phenix in the following address of Ezekiel (xxviii. 11):
" Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus,
and say unto him, Thus said the Eternal God : Thou perfection
in form, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been
in Eden, the garden of God: every precious stone was thy cover-
ing, carnelian, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and
the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald and the carbuncle, and gold
the workmanship of thy fans and thy wings. In the day that
thou wast created, they were fastened, thou cherub with long
stretched wings, and I have set thee upon the holy mountain of
God, and thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the
stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that
thou wast created till iniquity was found in thee. There-

fore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall
devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the
sight of all of them that behold thee. All they that know thee
among the people shall be astonished at thee. Thou shalt become
a terror without being any more immortal. " Here Phœnicia
appears under the figure of phenix, as the other nations are often
represented under the figure of some animal.
While in the foregoing examples of the use of Greek myths we
find them applied to illustrate some ethical religious thought, in
the following statement concerning the relation between the sons
of Elohim, who married the daughters of men and Azazel, a
compilation of various myths appears, evincing only a very high
flight of imagination.
" When the corrupt diluvian generation began to flourish, two.
 ISTAHER, THE BABYLONIC VENUS. 129

angels named Shamchazi and Azazel stepped before God and said,
' Why didst thou create the world and place man so high ? ' The
Lord answered, ' Should you, accusers, dwell upon earth and be
possessed of the propensity of evil, you would commit still greater
outrages than the children of man.' The angels thereon begged
for permission to take up their residence among men, in order to
prove their immovable holiness to the glory of the divine name.
But they had scarcely alighted upon the earth when they were
captivated by the beautiful daughters of man, and were incapable
of overcoming their evil inclinations. Shamchazi conceived an
ardent passion for a maiden by the name of Istaher. To elude
his insidious snares, the maiden endeavored to elicit from her
persecutor the secret of the divine name, the enunciation of which
would enable him to re-ascend into heaven. He complied with
her request, whereupon she pronounced the sacred name and
flew, pure and immaculate, towards heaven. In reward for this
sublime constancy the Most High assigned the virtuous maiden
to a place in the constellation of Bimah (i. e. , the pleiades). "
After stating different adventures of these angels and their sons,
the Midrash closes, " Shamchazi at last did penance and sus-
pended himself, as self-punishment, between heaven and earth, in
such a way that his feet were turned upwards and his head down-
wards, in which position he is constantly kept. Azazel, on the
contrary, remained a prey of corruption, and still continues, in
order to ensnare mankind, to provide the women with all kinds
of enticing cosmetics. He is the Azazel on whose shoulders, apart
from the expiatory sacrifice dedicated to God, the sins of Israel
were put as an additional burden on the day of atonement."
Thus far our Midrash. Let us first consider the name Istaher
)‫ (איסטהר‬applied to the maiden who withstood the temptings of the
fallen angel, and in reward therefor was transferred to the plei-
ades. Istaher is the Babylonic Venus, about whom Dr. A. Schrader
recently discovered a very interesting epic poem from the so-called
" Sardanapalus Library. " This name is here employed to designate
Maia (the splendid), who, according to Grecian mythology, was
one of the seven daughters of Atlas that were placed by Jupiter
9
130 FOREIGN MYTHS .

among the stars, and formed the constellation named Pleiades.

This Maia, too, like her sisters, is persecuted by the passionate
love of Orion, a powerful giant, until Jupiter takes compassion
on her, and places her in the heavens. The two angels, Sham-
chazi and Azazel, are the types of the Dioscuri, the two insepar-
able sons of Jupiter, Castor and Pollux. These two brothers,
ever associated in their exploits, marched forth, according to
legend, for the purpose of conquering wives to themselves. In
one of these expeditions, they became engaged in a contest, in
which Castor lost his life. Upon the death of the beloved bro-
ther, Pollux is plunged in the deepest grief, and is only comforted
when Jupiter grants his request to be permitted to cede to his
slain brother half of his immortality. According to this arrange-
ment, the two brothers alternately abide one day in the Olympos
and the other in Hades. This alternate sojourn in heaven and in
the nether world is symbolically represented by heathen antiquity
by two heads, one of which stands in an upright, and the other
in an inverted position, like a person standing upon his head.
The latter position is the image of Shamchazi, suspended between
heaven and earth, with feet upward and head downward, and
in both instances this peculiar position is attributed to a self-
infliction, arising in one case from fraternal love, in the other
from penitence.
Besides the mythological legends of the Greeks, sometimes,
also, the plastic creations of Grecian imagination were applied in
the Agadic literature. The expression ‫) קטב מרירי‬bitter destruc-
tion : Deut. xxxii. 24) is in the Agadah explained as a demon,
and described by R. Yochanan as a monster covered with scales,
and like Argus, possessing numerous eyes. R. Lakish insisted
that he had only one eye upon the heart, but with the power of
the shield of Medusa, killing all who looked upon it (Echa rab-
bah to i. 3) . This deadly demon is the personification of the
great heat of summer.
The word ‫ רהב‬in Job (xxvi. 12) is taken by some exegetists as
sea-monster, probably crocodile; the Agadists apply it directly
to Oceanus, the Grecian god of the sea (Shemot R. c. , 15).
 EGYPTIAN MYTHS . 131

To the passage " the horse and his rider has he thrown into
the sea " (Exodus xv. 1) the Mechilta remarks : " It is asserted
that the horse was bound to the rider, and the rider bound to
the horse, and went down inseparably to the bottom of the sea."
The author of this explanation very likely had the Centaur in
mind.

We also find peculiar views which undoubtedly passed from

the Greek into the Jewish circle of ideas. The story of the Sun-
pond is largely found in classical antiquity. While Homer made
the sun rise from a pond (Odyss. iii. 1), Æschylus also tells of a
western pond. The Jewish imagination has this extended, and
supposes a pond accompanying the sun on his daily circuit in the
heavens. " The sun is surrounded by a tegument, this again by
a sphere, while below is a water-pond ) ‫ (בריכה של מים‬to abate his
glowing fire. "
2. EGYPTIAN MYTHS.

Did you ever behold a human being in his last agonies, when
life still lingered in his system, ready to depart at one moment,
then again reanimating the sinking form as if loath to depart,
and at last leaving it lifeless clay ? Was not your inmost soul
moved by indescribable emotions and mysterious feelings ? And
if you ever witnessed such a sight, will you wonder that such
emotions in former times, and also among the less enlightened
classes of the present times, open the heart and the mind to all
kinds of superstitions ? It is in connection with the dying and
the dead that most superstitious notions found admittance, and
then were transplanted from one nation to the other.
No nation was more prolific in such superstitious notions than
the Egyptians, and none supplied the other nations with a greater
number of legends about the mysteries of death.
We shall, however, not extend upon this theme, but only cite
a legend about the death of Moses, illustrating the Egyptian
influence upon the Agadah.
The mysterious narrative of the death of Moses formed a theme
for the Agadist to embellish by the most fantastical colors, and
132 FOREIGN MYTHS .

even to admit foreign conceptions into the poetical recital of his

death. From the highly poetical, but still sober conception of
the ancient rabbis, " Moses died by the kiss of the Lord," later
rabbis spun out picturesque descriptions of his death-bed scenes,
of which we select the following ( Midr. Debarim, end) :
" After God had promised Moses to perform in person the
office of Samael, the angel of death, Moses prepared for the
unavoidable event in the manner of Seraphim. The Most High
then came down from the farthest heaven to receive the soul of
His beloved. Three archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Sagsagel
accompanied God on that important descent. Michael prepared
the bed for Moses, Gabriel spread out a cover of Bissus at the
head, and Sagsagel one at the foot. While Michael posted himself
on one side, and Gabriel on the other, the Most High received
the soul of Moses by a divine kiss, and carried it off towards
heaven."
We have in this description a discernible imitation of Egyptian
conceptions of the dying scenes of the pious. " The four genii
of death, Amsath, Huphy, Daumatuf, and Quabasanuph remain
as guardians with the corpse ; over every part of the body of the
deceased a special god is put as guardian and protector. " *
The following myth, about the discovery of Joseph's sarcopha-
gus by Moses, has a similar origin in Egyptian conceptions,
intermixed with Jewish legends in Mechilta (to Exodus xiii. 19) .
" How did Moses discover the burying place of Joseph ? It is
related that Serah, the daughter of Asher, one of the contempo-
raries of Joseph, was still alive, and Moses inquired of her the
place in which to find the sarcophagus of Joseph. She informed
him that the Egyptians had put his body in a leaden coffin and
sunk it into the Nile. Moses went to the river, threw a stone in
it, and exclaimed, ' Joseph, Joseph, the time has arrived for the
fulfilment of the oath, which the Lord has sworn unto Abraham,
to redeem his children. Give honor to the Eternal, the God of

* This myth has also found an imitation in St. John, " And seeth two
angels in white, sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet ""
(xx. 12).
 DISCOVERY OF JOSEPH'S SARCOPHAGUS . 133

Israel, and do not delay our departure. If thou shalt refuse to

appear we shall be free of our oath. ' Thereupon the sarcophagus
appeared upon the surface and Moses carried it off. " (Compare
Sota 13, a. Tos. Sota c. 4. )
Now compare with this narrative the statement of Plutarch
(De Is. et Osir. 22, 3). " Typhon had once induced Osiris, his
brother, to lay down in a chest ; then nailed it up, threw over it
hot lead, and threw the chest into the Nile. Isis, informed
thereof, for a long time sought the corpse, when at last informed
by a child about the direction the swimming coffin had taken,
she discovered and hid it." *

* For a further scientific development of this and similar myths from

one nation to another see " Guedemann's Mythenmischung in der
Hagada."
APPENDIX.
 ‫‪PRAYERS .‬‬ ‫‪137‬‬

‫‪CHAPTER III .‬‬

‫‪LITURGY .‬‬

‫‪1. PRAYERS (Page 24).‬‬

‫‪ .1‬יהי רצון מלפניך יי אלהינו ואלהי אבותינו‬

‫שתצלינו מעזי פנים ומעזות פנים מאדם רע ומפגע‬
‫רע מיצר רע מחבר רע משכן רע ומשטן המשחית‬
‫מדין קשה ומבעל דין קשה בין שהוא בן ברית ובין‬
‫שאינו בן ברית ‪:‬‬
‫‪ .2‬יהי רצון מלפניך יי אלהינו שתשכן בתוכנו‬
‫אהבה ואחוה ושלום ורעות ותרבה גבולנו בתלמידים‬
‫ותצליח סופנו אחרית ותקוה ותשים חלקנו בגן עדן ‪:‬‬
‫‪ .3‬רבון העולמים גלוי וידוע לפניך שרצוננו לעשות‬
‫רצונך ומי מעכב שאור שבעיסה ושעבוד מלכיות‬
‫יהי רצון מלפניך שתצילנו מידם ונשוב לעשות חקי‬
‫רצונך בלבב שלם ‪:‬‬
‫‪ .4‬ויהי רצון מלפניך יי אלהי שתרגילני בתורתך‬
‫ורבקני במצותיך ואל תביאני לא לידי חטא ולא לידי‬
‫עון ולא לידי נסיון ולא לידי בזיון וכוף את יצרי‬
‫להשתעבד לך ורחקני מאדם רע ומחבר רע ודבקני‬
‫ביצר טוב ובחבר טוב בעולמך ותנני היום ובכל יום‬
‫לחן ולחסד ולרחמים בעיניך ובעיני כל רואי ‪:‬‬
‫‪ .5‬הביננו יי אלהינו לדעת דרכיך ומול את לבבנו‬
‫ליראתך ותסלח לנו להיות גאולים ורחקנו ממכאובינו‬
‫ודשננו בנאות ארצך ונפוצותינו מארבה תקבץ‬
‫והתועים על דעתך ישפטו ועל הרשעים תניף ידיך‬
‫וישמחו צדיקים בבניין עירך ובתיקון היכלך ובצמיחת‬
‫קרן לדוד עבדך ובעריכת נר לבן ישי משיחך טרם‬
‫נקרא ואתה תענה ‪:‬‬
‫‪138‬‬ ‫‪APPENDIX .‬‬

‫‪3. SONGS AND HYMNS.‬‬

‫‪c . Illuminating and Torch Dances.‬‬

‫)‪(Our Fathers, etc.‬‬

‫יו ‪.‬‬
‫אבותינו שהיו במקום הזה אחוריהם אל היכל‬
‫ופניהם קדמה • והמה משתחוים קדמה לשמש • ואנו‬
‫ליה עינינו ‪:‬‬
‫) ‪(The Pious, etc.‬‬
‫חסידים ואנשי מעשה ‪-:‬‬

‫אשרי ילדותנו שלא ביישה את זקנותינו ‪:‬‬

‫בעלי תשובה ‪-:‬‬

‫אשרי זקנותינו שכפרה את ילדותינו ‪:‬‬

‫אלו ואלו ‪-:‬‬
‫אשרי מי שלא חטא ומי שחטא ישוב וימחול לו ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(Hillel's Song.‬‬

‫אם אני כאן הכל כאן‬

‫ואם אין אני כאן מי כאן ?‬
‫למקום שאני אוהב • רגלי מוליכות אותי •‬
‫ואף הק"בה אומר •‬
‫אם אתה תבוא לביתי • אבוא לביתך •‬
‫ואם אתה לא תבא אל ביתי ‪ -‬אני לא אבוא אל ביתיך‪:‬‬
 ‫‪HISTORY .‬‬ ‫‪139‬‬

‫‪5. HISTORY‬‬

‫)‪(King John, etc.‬‬

‫מעשה בינאי המלך שהלך לכוחלית שבמדבר‬

‫וכיבש שם ששים כרכים ובחזרתו היה שמח שמחה‬

‫גדולה • שלח וקרא לכל חכמי ישראל • אמר להם‬

‫אבותינו היו אוכלים מלוחים בזמן שהיו עסוקים‬
‫בבניין בית המקדוש אף אנו נאכל מלוחים זכר‬
‫לאבותינו • והעלו מלוחים על שולחנות של זהב‬
‫ואכלו ‪ :‬היה שם אדם אחד איש לץ לב רע ובליעל‬
‫ואלעזר בן פועירא שמו ‪ :‬ויאמר אלעזר בן פועירא‬
‫לינאי המלך ‪ :‬ינאי המלך לבם של פרושים עליך •‬
‫‪:‬‬

‫ומה אעשה • הקם להם בציץ שבין עיניך • הקים להם‬

‫בציץ שבין עיניו ‪ :‬היה שם זקן אחד ויהודה בן גרידא‬
‫שמו ויאמר יהודה בן גרידא לינאי המלך ‪ :‬ינאי‬
‫המלך רב לך כתר מלכות הנח כתר כהונה לזרעו‬
‫של אהרן ‪ :‬שהיו אומרים אמו נשבית במודעות ‪:‬‬
‫ויבוקש הדבר ולא נמצא ‪ :‬ויבדלו חכמי ישראל בזעם•‬
‫ויאמר אלעזר בן פועירא לינאי המלך ‪ :‬ינאי המלך‬
‫הדיוט שבישראל כך הוא דינו ואתה הוא מלך וכהן‬
‫גדול כך חוא דינך ‪ .‬ומה אעשה • אם אתה שומע‬
‫לעצתי רומסם ‪ :‬ותוצץ הרעה על ידי אלעזר בן פועירא‬
‫ויהרגו כל חכמי ישראל והיה העולם משתומם ‪:‬‬
‫‪140‬‬ ‫‪APPENDIX .‬‬

‫‪CHAPTER V.‬‬

‫‪1. FUNERAL ORATIONS AND ELEGIES.‬‬

‫) ‪(How fallible, etc.‬‬

‫שמחה לתוגה נהפכה ששון ויגון נדבקו‬

‫בעת שמחתו נאנח בעת חנינתו אבד חנינו ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(Here is one for whom, etc.‬‬
‫על זה נאה לבכות על זה נאה להתאבל‬
‫מלכים מתים ומניחים כתריהם לבניהם‬
‫עשירים מתים ומניחים עושר לבניהם‬
‫שמואל הקטן נטל כל־החמודות שבעולם והלך לו ‪:‬‬
‫) ‪(How can the lowly hyssop, etc.‬‬
‫אם בארזים נפלה שלהבת‬
‫מה יעשו איזובי הקיר‬
‫אם לויתן בחכה העלה‬
‫מה יעשו דגי הרקק‬
‫בנחל שוטף נפלה חכה‬
‫מה יעשו מי גבים ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(Spend not the sighs, etc.‬‬
‫בכו לאבלים ולא לאבידה‬
‫שהיא למנוחה ואנו לאנחה ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(A learned scion, etc.‬‬
‫גזע ישישים עלה מבבל ועמו ספר מלחמות‬
‫קאת וקפוד הוכפלו לראות בשוד ושבר הבא משנער ‪:‬‬
‫קצף על עולמו וחמס ממנו נפשות‬
‫ושמח בהם ככלה חדשה ‪:‬‬
‫רוכב ערבות שש ושמח בבא אליו נפש נקי וצדיק ‪:‬‬
 ‫‪FUNERAL ORATIONS AND ELEGIES .‬‬ ‫‪141‬‬

‫)‪(Bend ye majestic Palms, etc.‬‬

‫תמרים הניעו ראש על צדיק כתמר‬

‫נשים לילות כימים על שם לילות כימים ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(In Babylon, etc.‬‬

‫ארץ שנער הרה וילדה‬

‫ארץ צבי גדלה שעשועים‬
‫אוי נא לה אמרה רקת‬
‫כי אבדה כלי חמדתה ‪:‬‬
‫) ‪(Mortals and Angels, etc.‬‬

‫אראלים ומצקים אחזו בארון הקדש‬

‫נצחו אראלים את המצקים ונשבה ארון הקדש ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(Mortals and Angels, etc.‬‬

‫מצוקין ואראלים‬
‫תפוסין בלוחות הברית‬
‫וגברה ידן של אראלים‬
‫וחטפו את הלוחות ‪:‬‬
‫‪142‬‬ ‫‪APPENDIX .‬‬

‫‪CHAPTER VIII .‬‬

‫‪4. PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA IN TALMUD.‬‬

‫)‪(A good mate, etc., page 78.‬‬

‫אשה טובה מתנה טובה בחיק ירא אלהים תנתן •‬

‫אשה רעה צרעת לבעלה יגרשנה מביתו יתרפא‬
‫מצרעתו ‪:‬‬
‫אשה יפה אשרי בעלה מספר ימיו בכפלים •‬
‫הלעם עיניך מאשת חן פן תלכד במצודתה •‬
‫אל תט אצל בעלה למסך עמו יין ושכר •‬
‫כי בתאר אשה רבים השחתו ועצמים כל הרוגיה •‬
‫רבים היו פצעי רכל המרגילים לדבר ערוה •‬
‫כניצוץ‪ ,‬מבעיר גחלת ככלוב מלא עוף כן בתיהם‬
‫מלאים מרמה ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(Honor thy physician, etc. , page 79.‬‬

‫כבד את רופאך עד שלא תצטרך לו ‪:‬‬

‫)‪(Do not worry, etc. , page 79.‬‬
‫אל תצר צרת מחר כי לא תדע מה ילד יום •‬
‫שמה מחר איננו ונמצא מצטער על עולם שאינו שלו ‪:‬‬
‫) ‪(God causes the remedial, etc. , page 79.‬‬

‫אלהי העלה סמים מן הארץ ‪.‬‬

‫בהם הרפא מרפא את המכה ומהם הרוקח מרחק‬
‫את המרקחת ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(Four things are, etc. , page 80.‬‬

‫ארבעה אין הדעת סובלתן •‬

‫אלו הן דל גאה ועשיר מכחש וזקן מנאף ופרנס‬
‫מתגאה על הצבר ‪:‬‬
 ‫‪PROVERBS OF BEN SIRA .‬‬ ‫‪143‬‬

‫) ‪(What is too great, etc., page 80.‬‬

‫בגדל ממך בל תדרוש בהזק ממך בל תחקר •‬

‫במופלא ממך בל תדע במכסה ממך אל תשאל •‬
‫במה שהרשית התבונן ואין לך עסק בנסתרות ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(Before thou vowest, etc., page 80.‬‬

‫בטרם תדור הכין נדרך ‪:‬‬

‫)‪(My son, if thou, etc., page 80.‬‬
‫בני אם יש לך הטיב לך‬
‫כי אין בשאול תענוג ואין למות התמהמה •‬
‫ואם תאמר אניח לבני חוק בשאול מי יגיד לך •‬
‫בני אדם דומים לעשבי השרה הללו נוצצין והללו‬
‫נובלין ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(When in distress, pray not, page 80.‬‬
‫בצר אל יורה ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(A daughter is, etc., page 81.‬‬

‫בת לאביה מטמונת שוא מפחדה לא ישן בלילה •‬

‫בקטנותה שמא תתפתה בנערותה שמא תזנה •‬
‫בגרה שמא לא תנשא נשאת שמא לא יהיו לה בנים •‬
‫הזקינה שמא תעשה כשפים ‪:‬‬
‫) ‪(The glory of God, etc., page 81.‬‬

‫הדר אלהים אדם הדר אנשים כסותם ‪.:‬‬

‫)‪(If on a burning, etc., page 82.‬‬

‫היתה לפניו גחלת נפח בה ובערה רקק בה וכבת ‪:‬‬

‫)‪(All I weighed, etc., page 82.‬‬

‫הכל שקלתי בכף מאזנים ולא מצאתי קל מסבין •‬

‫וקל מסבין חתן הדר בבית חמיו •‬
‫וקל מחתן ארח מכניס ארח •‬
‫וקל מארח משיב דבר בטרם ישמע ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(Aperson dependent, etc., page 82.‬‬

‫כל־המצפה על־שלחן חבירו עולם חשך בערו ‪:‬‬

‫‪144‬‬ ‫‪APPENDIX .‬‬

‫) ‪(Evil to the poor, etc. , page 82.‬‬

‫כל־ימי עני רעים אף לילות •‬
‫בשפל גגים גגו במרום הרים כרמו •‬
‫מטר גגים לגגו מעפר כרמו לכרמים ‪.‬‬
‫)‪(No pains like, etc., page 82.‬‬
‫כל־כאב ולא כאב לב כל־רעה ולא אשה רעה ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(As each bird, etc., page 83.‬‬

‫כל־עוף למינו ישכון ובן אדם לדומה לו ‪:‬‬

‫)‪(The heart of man, etc. , page 83.‬‬

‫לב אדם ישנה פניו בין לטוב בין לרע ‪:‬‬

‫)‪(Out of thy house, etc. , page 83.‬‬

‫מנע רבים מתוך ביתך ולא הכל תביא אל־ביתך‬

‫רבים יהיו דרשי שלומך גלה סודך לאחד מאלף ‪.‬‬
‫משוכבת חיקך שמור פתחי פיר ‪:‬‬
‫) ‪(Prize it highly, etc., page 83.‬‬

‫סלסלה ותרוממך ובין נגידים תושיבך ‪:‬‬

‫)‪(The lives of three, etc., page 84.‬‬

‫שלשה חייהן אינן חיים המצפה לשלחן חבירו ‪.‬‬

‫ומי שאשתו מושלת עליו ומי שיסורין מושלין בגופו ‪:‬‬
‫)‪(The following, three, etc., page 84.‬‬
‫שלשה שנאתי שר הנרגל בבתי משתאות‬
‫והמושיב שבת במרומי קרת והנכנס לבית חבירו‬
‫פתאום ‪:‬‬

‫)‪(Listen sir, etc. , page 84.‬‬

‫שמע אדוני אל אמרי והט אזניך אל דברי ‪.‬‬

‫שב לך אדני מעשות מריבה עם שכניך ‪.‬‬
‫ואם ראית בחברך דבר רע אל תוציא דבתו על לשונך ‪:‬‬
 ‫‪RIDDLES IN THE TALMUD .‬‬ ‫‪145‬‬

‫)‪(Do not rely, etc. , page 84.‬‬

‫ובסליחה אל תבטח להוסיף עון על עון‬

‫ותאמר רחמיו רבים לרב עונותי יסלח לי‬
‫ורחמים רבים ואף עמו ועל רשעים ינוח עזו ‪:‬‬
‫‪4. ALPHABET OF BEN SIRA.‬‬

‫אל תתן דאגה בלבך כי רבים הרגה הדאגה ‪.‬‬ ‫‪a.‬‬

‫‪ .b‬דהבא צריך לקמצאה ועלמה לאלקאה •‬

‫‪ .‬טב לבישא לא תעבד ובישא לא מטי לך •‬
‫‪ .d‬לחכימא ברמיזא ולשטיא בכרמיזא •‬
‫‪e.‬‬
‫מוקיר מבסרוהי דמי לחמרא •‬
‫‪ .f‬נור דליק מוקיד גדישין סגיאין •‬
‫סבא בביתא סימנא טבא בביתא •‬
‫‪h.‬‬
‫קריבלאמרהס •חרתא אכלתא למרה ורחיקא אכלא‬
‫‪ ..‬רחימא קדמאה לית את כפר ביה •‬
‫‪ .‬שתין מליכין יהון לך ומליכות נפשך לא תשבוק ‪:‬‬
‫‪CHAPTER IX.‬‬

‫‪RIDDLES .‬‬

‫) ‪(High from heaven, etc., page 87.‬‬

‫משמים נשקפה‬
‫הומיה בירכתי ביתה‬
‫מפחדת כל בעלי כנפים‬
‫ראוה נערים ונחבאו‬
‫וישישים קמו עמדו‬
‫הנס יאמר הוי הוי‬
‫והנלכד נלכד בעונו ‪:‬‬
‫‪146‬‬ ‫‪APPENDIX.‬‬

‫‪CHAPTER X.‬‬

‫‪MISCELLANEOUS .‬‬

‫‪1. A RABBI - РОЕТ.‬‬

‫) ‪(When the glorious temple, etc. , page 97.‬‬

‫בשעה שהחריב הקדוש ברוך הוא בית המקדש‬

‫מצאו הק"בה‬
‫לאברהם עומד בבית המקדש • אמר לו " מה לידידי‬
‫בביתי ? "‬

‫אמד לו • על עסקי בני באתי ‪ :‬אמר לו • בניך חטאו‬

‫וגלו ‪:‬‬
‫אמר לו • שמא בשוגג חטאו ‪ :‬אמר לו • " עשותה‬
‫המזמתה " ‪:‬‬
‫אמר לו • שמא מיעוטם חטאו ‪ :‬אמר לו • " הרבים " ‪:‬‬
‫אמר לו • היה לך לזכור להם ברית מילה ‪ :‬אמר לו •‬
‫" ובשר קדש יעברו מעליך " ‪ :‬א"ל • שמא אם המתנת‬
‫לה' היו חוזרין בתשובה ‪:‬‬
‫א"ל ‪ " .‬כי רעתכי אז תעלוי " ‪ :‬מיד הניח ידו על ראשו‬
‫והיה צועק ובוכה ואמר • שמא חס ושלום אין להם‬
‫תקנה ?‬
‫יצתה בת קול ואמרה לו • " זית רענן יפה פרי תאר‬
‫קרא יי שמך ‪:‬‬
‫לקול חמולה גדולה הצית אש עליה ורעו דליותיו " ‪:‬‬
‫רני רני השטה‪,‬‬

‫התנופפי ברוב הדרך‪.‬‬

‫המחושקה ברקמי זהב‬
‫המהוללה בדבר ארמון‬
‫המפוארה בעדי עדים ‪:‬‬
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HW 5163