DIM M©M©IRY OF. 
 
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. 
 
 Steam Press of 
 H. O. A. Industrial School, 
 76th St.. near Third Ave. 
 
V5 
 
 - 
 
 HA! a/ 
 
 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, bnt 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 encyclopaedic 
 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 archaeology, 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. 
 
 Daring 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 lias 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, Delitzscb, Dukes, and Hamburger for the assistance 
 their works have afforded him. Nor can be 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 Deatb 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 
 
Ylll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Valedictories. 
 
 PAGE 
 51 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Fables in the Talmud. 
 
 1. The Lion and the Ibis, . 
 
 2. The Fox and the Fishes, 
 
 3. The Fox and the Lion, . 
 
 4. The Fox and the Wolf, 
 
 5. The Iron and the Trees, 
 
 6. The Rivers and the Euphrates, 
 
 7. The Euphrates and the Tigris, 
 
 8. The Forest-Trees and the Fruit-Trees, 
 
 9. The Straw, the Chaff, and the Stubble, 
 
 1 0. The Fox as a Singer, 
 
 11. The Serpent, .... 
 
 12. Two Dogs, .... 
 
 13. The Rooster and the Owl, 
 
 14. The Mule, the Donkey, and the Pig, 
 
 15. The Fox in the Vineyard, 
 
 16. The Tail as Leader, 
 
 17. Lie and Vice, .... 
 
 18. The Power of the Tongue, 
 
 Lost Fables, ..... 
 
 57 
 
 59 
 
 60 
 
 61 
 
 61 
 
 62 
 
 63 
 
 63 
 
 64 
 
 64 
 
 64 
 
 66 
 
 66 
 
 67 
 
 67" 
 
 67 
 
 68 
 
 69 
 
 69 
 
 71 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Proverbs of Ben Sira, 
 
 1. Joshua ben Sirach, .... 
 
 2. Contents of the Proverbs, . 
 
 3. Proverbs of Ben Sira in Talmud and Midrash, 
 
 4. Alphabet of Ben Sira, 
 
 74 
 
 74 
 75 
 78 
 84 
 
 Riddles in the Talmud, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 87 
 
 Miscellaneous, . 
 
 1. A Rabbi Poet, 
 
 2. Messianic Predictions, 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 97 
 97 
 
CONTEXTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Hyperbole of the Talmud, . . .101 
 
 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. . . . . . Ill 
 
 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 powerf ul 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 Phoenician 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 Torali 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 
 Maad), 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 Sanhedrim 
 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 HISTOEY 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 (Kosli 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 K. Yochanan ben Sakkai, and gave him leave to ask a favor, 
 the Eoman general must have derisively smiled when the Kabbi 
 modestly begged to be permitted to open a school at Jabne ; 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 Avith 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 Hdlacliali and Agadah. 
 
 The Halacliali, 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 Agaddh (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 Halacliali 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 clown 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 POETKY. 
 
 (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, E. 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 cle 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 MIDRASII WORKS. 13 
 
 Of the different Agadie 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 Chaclnimim, 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 evcry-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 appears like 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 Talmud s 
 and Midrash give some examples of metric forms, and some with 
 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 Kabbinism. 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. Eclia 
 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 
 A ram if, were spokem* 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 Glialdaic, 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. Yose rejoined, " Why is 
 the Aramaic the vernacular of the Jews of Babylon ? Why do they not 
 use either the holy language or Persian V " 
 2 
 
18 FOEMS 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 Tenia 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 Beclwrotli 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; Nell. 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 4-boda 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. 21). 
 
 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 conrposed 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 11-3-118, called the Great Hallel, were, according to 
 the Talmud (Pessachimll 1 ?), 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. Eor instance, " Save now, we beseech 
 thee, Lord: 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 Eeast of Weeks. The exclamation, " Awake, 
 why sleepest thou, 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 Sliecharitli or morning prayers; the 
 portions which accompany the confession of the Divine Unity, 
 called Shema (from the initial words Shema Israel, "Hear, 
 Israel!"' (Dent. 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 Be- 
 deemer. 
 
 2. The other part bears the usual name of the Tefilla or also 
 Shemonah Ezreli, 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; 
 A hot, Geburot, Keduslia, Aboda, Hoda'a and BirJcat-Kohanim 
 (Bosh 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 NTOm "l13Jn ^HJn ^n 
 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 clown 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 Sbferite 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 tbree 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 E. 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'dh, the 
 musical expression Selali, 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 She ma 
 should not be recited with special veneration in distinction of 
 other prayers, nor that the Modim, "We adore thee'' in She- 
 monah Ezreli should be repeated, that it may not appear as if the 
 Jews worship two deities. 
 
 The Shemonali Ezreli 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 tknes. 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, \tfff\rh m (Is. Ixiii. 2), D^DIJ "JOID (Ps. cxlv. 14). mo 
 D^DK (Ps. cxlvi. 7), nay ^jjm (Dan. xii. 2); nyw rr»SO (Is. xlv. 8). 
 
21 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, Lord our God, and the Clod 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, 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, J~iopD pt?n 
 njSDH J1W2 "the 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, 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. 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 f (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 mafn m pKt? na-Q $o 
 mil nr« rvotal D&rn "Any prayer wherein the name a and 
 dominion of God are not mentioned, is not to be considered a 
 benediction." 
 
 * Inclination -\^ is generally accompanied by 2113 "good" or jnn 
 •• evil." The jnn "W the evil inclinations in man are his passions. They 
 are also sometimes designated by Satan. 
 
 f 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 lxxii., 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 lxxxix. : 
 
 " 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. 2? 
 
 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, 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 Shernonah 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 LITUKGY. 
 
 As these appear in connection with descriptions of snch 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, h. 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, 
 lie 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). 
 
 1). Festooning the Altar. 
 From Motsdh (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 : 
 
 ' ' 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 : 
 
 N3 njp{j>in wni ^n 
 
 " I Am and God, save us now, we beseech Thee."* 
 On leaving the Temple the people exclaimed : 
 rcto ~p 'sv ,n:»o "\h w 
 
 " 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 >3K "I Ain" and xin "He 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 occa- 
 sion, the Talmud (Succah 53, a) has preserved the following- 
 fragments : 
 
 The pious and renoivned 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."* (Suceah 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. Suceah 5, 9-12.) 
 
 This feast was called "rejoicing of the feast of torch-lights,*' f 
 mxiB»n rV3 nno^ of which it is stated, "He who did not witness 
 the rejoicing of the feast of torch-lights, does not know a genuine 
 rejoicing" (Suceah 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 Ave 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 *3tf as 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 \jn as referring to Israel, and pan 
 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. 
 
 f According to Geiger's ingenious explanation of n3KB> as flames of 
 torches. 
 
O/J 
 
 2 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 Mashed 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 Maslial, 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 Maslial 
 takes a mathematical cast, and the doctrines or principles arc 
 laid down after a certain arithmetical proportion or canon (at a 
 later period designated by the name of Mid da). 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 
 
MASIIAL. 33 
 
 form of the MasJialis 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, 
 Ecclesiastic us) form the only systematical book of proverbs 
 dating from Soferite times. The Pirke Abot or "Ethics of the 
 Fathers" arc 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 beaut}- 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. D22KT bv Thou art drowned, 
 
 "|1QON Because thou hast drowned, 
 ya'DD ?|D1 Those that drowned thee, 
 : patV Will be drowned in turn.* 
 
 2. rp$> JVN N"l3n "|~Qn " Thy friend has a friend. 
 : rpjj JVX N12n "pam N"Om That friend in his turn 
 
 (Ketubot 110.) Again a good friend." 
 
 3. : MB> {JO pm po N"DX A physician 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. -ib>n rVB "pan If thou art told, thy friend has died ; 
 : I^NJl X^> 1KWX "pan Believe it : 
 
 (Gittin 30, b.) Thy friend has become rich ; 
 
 Believe it not ! 
 
 5. :-|^> pitt^l pn^ plan Associate with the prominent. 
 
 And people will bow to thee. 
 
 6. 133 mxn D ,- I3T ntJ^EQ By three things people are found out, 
 
 : 1DV331 'D'33 1D133 By the cup, by the pocket and in anger. 
 
 7. XET'D X^> XTQD ""N Where the book is, no sword is wanted, 
 
 : XTDdS XQ^D ""Xl Where the sword is, the book is super- 
 (Abod Sara 18.) fluous.* 
 
 8. rra no ma an x^n ira &6ia rva kyi 
 
 :yp no yp xi> xn -idpi no »jp xn 
 
 "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 APOCRVPHAL WHITINGS. 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 Bapoport, Jost, Graetz, and others, to correct 
 the misrepresentations and omissions of the Jewish historian 
 Flavins Josephus and to illustrate many obscure passages in the 
 Clmstian 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 6G, 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 HISTOKY IN THE APOCRYPHAL WRITINGS. 
 
 "King John (Hyrcanus) had gone to Knchlith 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, ' 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, 
 ' 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, ' King John, thy case as king and high-priest has 
 not been treated in any different way than that of any one of the 
 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 
 MoedKaton (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 
 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 KiddusMn, " 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 denionstation 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 gii-1 ! " 
 
 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 lire 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 E. Hamnuna. 
 the Little, who was once pressed to sing at a marriage banquet. 
 He broke out with a strain: pn^m p "ni "Woe to us, we must 
 die, Avoe to us, we must die."* 
 
 The company responded in chorus "Bless the truth, bless the 
 law, our guard and protection! " (Berachot 31, a). 
 
 When B. Judah Hanassi celebrated the marriage of his son 
 Simon, he invited all learned men, but left out the witt} 7 Bar 
 Kappora, disliking and fearing his sarcastic tongue. Offended 
 by this slight, Bar Kapjoora 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 thy joys worth?" 
 After B. 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 Phoenicia, 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.) 
 
 1 
 
MORTUARY CEREMOXIES. 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. 
 Eemarks about special circumstances connected with the 
 deceased, in reference to his qualities, experiences in life, merits, 
 etc. 
 
 I. The Cause of Death. 
 
 E. 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 nourish 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. 
 
 E. 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. Abin a, 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, maybe 
 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 Kipup 
 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. 
 
40 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 Eabba 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, V* 
 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 Torali 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). 
 
 f " One tolio, like a palm, had flourished here" is formed in accordance 
 with Psalms (xcii. 14) : " The righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree." 
 
 1 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 mornfnl 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,f 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. 
 
 f The word Sheshach appears in Jeremiah (xxv. 26), and the Targuni 
 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 occasiou. 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. N*?3I"6 Ml vhft/h "IT " Woe to him who went away, 
 
 Woe to those who are left behind.'** 
 
 Eaba, 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. N33D ND1J -m 
 
 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 
 it can. He reads X3D "tent," -pj "pitcher." Another transla- 
 tion, "Cat the tooth from the bone, and let the water run into 
 the bowl." 
 
 : mir no^bh nn -a 1 * 
 
 " 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, "Asil- 
 
 * 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 X"l3n " society*' became in the mouth of 
 these wailers N^on. Translations of N^3n as " pledge'* or " burden," the 
 dead body as a burden to the hearse, are far-fetched and very unsatisfac- 
 torv. 
 
 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. pita 1D21 fpv 
 
 : Nin pbn -iai paian nan 
 
 " 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. nan fcunx 
 : ppiao ynw 
 
 " 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 "X2l f° r funeral service. 
 
 6. siay»K ^qji \ti 
 
 "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. Nnina Nnin 
 : K^iTn njnoi 
 
 "His death was like the death of others; his sufferings were a 
 heavy burden." This was uttered at a funeral of a man avIio 
 died after a lingering illness. 
 
VALEDICTORIES. 51 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 VALEDICTORIES. 
 
 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 so west 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, ' 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.* 
 
 E. 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. K. 
 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!" E. Jose took the text, "Thou 
 shalt no^ 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 VALEDICTOKIES. 
 
 E. Elieser, son of K. Jose, 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 
 E. 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, "0 
 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. YOCHAXAN BEN SAKKAI. 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, E. 
 Akiba, K. Tarphon, B, Joshua, and E. Eleasar paid him a 
 visit. The sick Eabbi 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 (Jiidische 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 
 lam 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 
 
 CHAPTEE 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 Maslial. 
 
 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 acceedecl 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 ^Esop are to be credited to Babrios (about 
 206 b. c.), 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 ^Esop, 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 ^Esop (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. 0). 
 
 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 Babbis 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 Babbi 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 Q^yitr Tvbwo (a generic name for 
 fables about animals) and in fables of fullers q^did rv6^E-* 
 
 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 Q^Dia has 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 aud 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. 
 
 i 
 
 "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. 
 
 A decree was promulgated in Jadea 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 discijdes. 
 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 maybe 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. 01 
 
 the Talmud and Midrasli 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: E. Hai Gaon (969- 
 10)38) and Rashi (in the eleventh century). The first relates the 
 fable referring to the verse of Ezekiel. 
 
 'o 
 
 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." f 
 
 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. f Sefer Shaare Teshuba by E. 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 my 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 K. Meir is quoted (Sanh. 39, b) the popular 
 
 proverb: sn: mi brb tas m rvro 
 
 "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.* E. 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. 
 B. c. 5). 
 
 This fable may, therefore, he 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: 
 
 G. The Kivers 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. B. 
 c. 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 p " — " We are forced to call the attention of men to our exist- 
 ence" (Bereshit E. c. 16). 
 
 In Shir Hashirim Eabba (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 Eabba (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), Eabbi 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 Hainan: He, who 
 granted us the sight of Bigthan and Theresh, those placed on 
 high, may let us behold Hainan 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. Eabbi 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. 
 
 Eesh 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 Eesh 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 forme. 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 Avill 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 caUed 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 X21J N^""l inn 
 ^"tX The body 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 sanie 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 Hani 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 KaXba (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, " K. 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 
 on both occasions fetch a tongue? ' the Eabbi 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 
 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 E.) 
 
 * 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 ill 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.' 1 
 
 What can the great accomplish, when the mob oppose them! 
 Short, but full of meaning! 
 
74 PROVEEBS 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 b. c. 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 (D'ZnriD). 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) -pTJ?X Q'Dr "Oiryn DV> "If 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 Siracb/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 
 accpiainted 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 SIR A. 
 
 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 bashf ulness 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 accpiired views 
 and vices forms the theme of many passages in the book of 
 
THEIR MORAL .VXD 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 reallv most natural that a Jesus ben Sirach should not feel svm- 
 
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 tbe Proverbs of Siraclu 
 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 tbe 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, 
 (Pi-ot. 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 cpioted in Shemot B. 
 
 (106, b). 
 
 ' ' Thy doctor honor long before 
 
 Necessity calls him to thy door/' 
 
 (3.) Among the passages cpioted 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 K. 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 prepai'es the remedies." 
 
 (5.) Somewhat different from the following Talmuclical quota- 
 tion which, however, appears anonymously, is the Syriac text: 
 "The following three I hate; they are loathsome to my soul: a 
 
80 PKOVERBS 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. K. 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): 
 
 "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 05, a): 
 
 (vii. 10). " When in distress, pray not." 
 
A GLOOM \ PICTURE. 81 
 
 (10.) In the following, the possession of a daughter is depicted 
 m 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, Iv. 
 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 PKOVEKBS OF BEN SIEA. 
 
 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) Baba 
 asked Baba bar Marah for the origin of the popular proverb, "A 
 
EECALL 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 notconfldence 
 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 b. c.) recalled 
 Simon ben Shetach from exile, and had him placed between 
 himself, the king, and the queen (supj)osed 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 PEOVERBS 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 (Mdah 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 ktd pi nit 3 ash a "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. 
 
 a. Let not thy heart with cares be rilled, 
 For care has many a victim killed. 
 
 b. Gold must be beaten, 
 
 A boy needs chastisement, 
 e. 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! 
 
 /. A burning candle may destroy many blooming 
 
 fields (Accusation produces many misfortunes). 
 g. An old man in thn 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 skiu 
 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 I1ST 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 Eapo- 
 port, who supposed that Venus was meant. Graetz applied it to 
 Eabbi's principal bond-woman and housekeeper (pn m NnOK), 
 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 E. Judah, a limit to the 
 exercise of that power was instituted, and no member of the high 
 counsel (Saken) could be excommunicated. E. Judah repeatedly 
 made use of this power, and was at one time inclined to direct it 
 against E. Meir, second Vice-President (Cbacham) 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 " : 
 
 'VA 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 KIDDLES 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." 
 
 Eiddles of another class are practical observations or moral 
 aphorisms, clothed in enigmatical language: 
 
 : nvin vb*, vbiai mb 11 r6no "nn paa 
 
 "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 jn-oposed 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 
 Boeotia 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? " 
 
 CEdipus 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). He 
 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: — D'TINI! Dn'INO Dnn^b jn^l TIN IOC 
 
 "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. 1). 
 
 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: 
 " the mighty waves of the sea" (Ps. xciii. 4). 
 
 Another of his impromptus: 
 
 :ff"T«T 13 nDDJTl TT f>B> lp^TD TT^ TT n»*l TT ]2 TT N3 S 
 ' ' 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 KIDDLES IN THE TALMUD. 
 
 The beloved who came is Solomon, as it is written, "Nathan 
 the prophet gave to Solomon the name Jedidiali, beloved of Jali 
 (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, 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 : 
 
 D'mt^ sitae y\2 ^op"n mtt kt 
 
 •'The virtuous came and received the excellent gift from the Supreme 
 Good One for the virtuous people." f 
 
 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. civ. 10). 
 
 The virtuous people, the Israelites, as it is written: "Do 
 good, 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. 
 
 1 21L2 is 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 
 
 : II DJ& HTQ HNT i>3p*l HI KIT 
 " 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 ns 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, E. Simon ben Yochai, two scholars, 
 E. Jonathan ben Echmani and E. Judah ben Gherim, were re- 
 quested at their departure to bless the son of the Eabbi, which 
 they did in the following words: 
 
 "May God grant that thou so west 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 nh feminine nxf. 
 while "\f sometimes expressing this is common to both genders. 
 
94 RIDDLES IK THE TALMUD. 
 
 There also appear in the Talmud sportive compositions called 
 iiKon ]1B>S ( we U to distinguish from d^SH p&>6) of a peculiar enig- 
 matical character, in which the speaker conceals his real views 
 under a poetical or quaint cover, which would he in most cases 
 entirely enigmatical, if the solution did not also appear. The 
 following belong to this class : 
 
 .ttok rvby Tiers* n^inn rvbaN Ttnta rvpDx "mriKs ms x~io 
 
 " 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). pDO "1^3 t3Q^»3 TltT "6 WJ) 
 
 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 forme ^mra pin " scallion 
 [Allium Ascalonicum, allied to garlic and onion, growing in Pales- 
 tine] with mustard." 
 Another, 
 
 pons!?- ljrnrw 
 
 .n^ya too "b lB'jn 
 
 " Give the coals an orange color; 
 
 Like the expanse of heaven 
 
 Let the glimrner 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 E. Abahuh, 
 
 pB5f ^yba 13-1 pTi ujiasn 
 
 " Eeveal to us where E. Alai keeps himself hidden." He re- 
 plied : 
 
akiba's inexplicable hilarity. 95 
 
 invj?:m mvy minx n^inx mjm ]^>y 
 
 "He associates with a maiden, a daughter of Aaron, lately married, 
 who keeps him awake and dispels the sleep; " 
 
 i. c, he is studying clay 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 lias been taken 
 literally and quoted as nonsense and immoral. 
 
 "Bab 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 riQ^OD 
 nnilD: he 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 tbat 
 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 w\2), which we translated "a strange 
 female," Greek philosophy is referred to, and notice that this 
 more general expression is used in the place of n""iDJ ntrN> 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 K. Akiba, we see the different 
 steps in the study of the Greek philosophy, taken by him. 
 
 E. Akiba saw "the wife of the wicked Tnrnns Eufus," 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 Rabbi Poet. 
 
 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 GO, 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 Avho 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.) 
 
 E. 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, Xachman, 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 -\-m nnsn nnc v i 
 (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. 09 
 
 "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- 
 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 SjDirit 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 WEITIKGS. 
 
 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 ! " 
 
METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE IN" HEBREW LITERATURE. 101 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 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 HYPEKBOLE 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. Hypekbolic 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 Tonih " (Nedarim 44, a). " The law about 
 the ritual cords exceeds in importance all other laws united" 
 (Menach. 99, h). '"'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 and 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 
 
 f 
 
 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 Talmudiststo 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 q-jn *j2 jiB^a rrrn "narr 
 "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, hut 
 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 Dianas? am 
 Drn:6 "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 Tom Kippur is set aside, when the physician declares 
 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 Avithin 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: 
 
 Jnn D"U3L M 31B " The best among the heathen deserve to be 
 killed." 
 
 We must remark that our editions have DnjfD "Egyptians" 
 in the place of D^J " Heathen" 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 E. 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. 
 
 Eesh 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 
 
HYPEKBOLIC LEGENDS. 100 
 
 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 Abbe 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- 
 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 Eabbis teach: yuri nn *>vap mnp3 $>B>2n tib 
 "Do not cook in a pot wherein another has already cooked" 
 (Pesachim 112), it is the figurative exj^ression for the same idea 
 expressed in Luke (xvi. 18). An apparently meaningless rule, 
 -inN om rry jm nr diss din nnw bx " Do 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, M. 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 " lT'BOn nnnpn l^'Stf and undoubtedly used this expression 
 in a euphemistical sense, in accordance with the above sayings, 
 although later commentators took it literally. 
 
METAPHYSICAL HYPERBOLES. Ill 
 
 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. 0) noi DTPN ya meaning literally 
 to "bless the Lord,"' is translated " Curse God and die." (See 
 also 1 Kings xxi. 10). IDn "'kindness" is taken in Leviticus 
 (xx. 17) and Proverbs (xiv. 34) for reproach, disgrace; there are 
 several similar instances. So the Kabbis used DCS*."" "pao for 
 ' ' blasphemy. " 
 
 6. Metaphysical 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 K. 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 Aramaean (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 Ghana. 
 
 Among the Babylonian sages, it was especially E. 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 K. 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 HYPEKBOLE OF THE TALMUD. 
 
 after I have sworn, who will break my oath?" Hereupon the 
 Arab showed Eabba the* very spot where Korah and his band had 
 been swallowed up by the earth, and from the depths there issued 
 a yoice: " 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 Eabba, 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 Avilderness 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." 
 
 Kabba'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 ido "» "njn^JCy lBOJfl TjnC'JK' "6 ""IN 
 ^ the 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 
 HCm NrniK the 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 E. 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 Clod, 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 HYPEKBOLE 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 "I1N3 W nniND nam "the light contains several 
 kinds of colors" (Beracb. 52, a) was unintelligible until, in 
 recent times, the nature of light became better understood. 
 
 The Talmud (Moed Katon vi. 2) mentions a mole (ni^K) with- 
 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 (Cliu- 
 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. 
 iElian relates that in Thebais, after the rain, mice became visi- 
 ble, which partly consist of flesh and partly of slime (Compare 
 Plinins 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 AGADAH. 
 
 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 numerous 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 ' 
 (Mai. 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 religions, 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 E. 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. E. Judah asserted that his task would only con- 
 sist in restoring the expelled families. E. 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 
 Eoman 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 STEBN 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 
 straw, when a beggar knocked at the door, exclaiming, ' 0, 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 AGADAH. 
 
 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 E. 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. 10G, 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. 10G, 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 B. Joshua ben Levi up to that 
 blissful place to point out to him his future seat there (Sanh. 98, 
 a). After the death of E. Joshua, Elijah introduced him to his 
 colleagues residing in that abode (Ketubot 77, b). 
 
 The prophet Elijah appeared once to E. Baroka in the turmoil 
 
124 ELIJAH IN THE AGADAH. 
 
 of the market. "Tell me, man of the Lord, E. 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, K. 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. E. 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 Danaides who, in punishment for 
 their crimes, were condemned in the lower world to draw water 
 continually with perforated vessels. This story is used by E. 
 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 E. 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 E. 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 (Choi)." The Midrash Yalkut 
 explains this passage, "All animals partook of the forbidden 
 fruit which Eve distributed among them except the Clwl (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 Phoenicians, 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 Phoenicia 
 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 BABYLONTC 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 he 
 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 up wards 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 
 (nriDD'x) applied 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 FOEEIGN MYTHS. 
 
 among the stars, and formed the constellation named Pleiades. 
 This Mala, too, like her sisters, is persecuted by the passionate 
 loye 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 v^-io aop (bitter 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 Argils, 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 am m 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), ^Eschylus 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 (d>o ^ nana) to 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 JOSEPHS SARCOPHAGI'S. 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 ' ' Guedernann s My thenmischung in der 
 Hagada." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
PEAYEES. 137 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LITURGY. 
 
 1. Peayeks (Page 24). 
 
 irtfDK rbw irn^ ^ yiebn pan tt i. 
 
 rmtfon jbpdi yn pra yn nan£ j?n n'^o yn 
 pi ma p wn» pa n&p pi bya£i nzrp pno 
 
 : ma p lrae? 
 
 uaina pffnp irrfe« •* yxbn pm %t 2. 
 DntAna ubiaa nanni mjni ohm roron nana 
 :py pn upbn D^m mpm rmna ubid rrhsm 
 
 nwj& iiivw "pje& ym n^ Dtobwn pan 3. % 
 nrate nny^i no^ai^ niNP aayc ^di -plan 
 *>pn rwyb awji an*£ uV^np -paste pan w 
 
 : ate aa^a -pian 
 
 -jmina "utenritf v^n ^ -paste pan tpi 4. 
 ■h^ *6i not n^? *6 "wan bw Tmaoa ^pam 
 n^ ria pjiai jna n^ *6i p*-oi h^ «9i pi? 
 vjpam yn nan^i yn Dnwa ^pmi -)b nayn^.nb 
 dv ^aai am ^:m -pb'iya aies nanai z:icd nra 
 : wn te n ryai -p rya D^enn^i non^i jn^ 
 
 ma 1 ? n« bi£i -pann nynb ijv&k ^ uran b. 
 lraiseDD upnm a^ifco rov6 iA ntem *]n«n^ 
 yapn nan^D lrrnmwi "jana m*oa u:ehi 
 -pT rpn a^nn byi nascr -pjn ^y a^yinm 
 nmiaaai -jtevi ppTiai -p^y p^aa ny-ia "inoeH 
 anco -jn^D ^ p^ n: nanyai -nay nr6 pp 
 
 : royn nn«i *wa 
 
138 appendix. 
 
 3. Songs and Hymns. 
 
 c. Illuminating and Torch Dances. 
 
 (Our Fathers, etc.) 
 
 ♦ ^ by*n bx Drp-iiriN • run Dipoa v»n» tinman 
 uki • dbe^ "Dip D'nnnro niam • ranp d.tjdi 
 
 (The Pious, etc.) 
 
 — : npjID 'SWfcO D'TDrt 
 
 : irnupT nx ner^a *6sr unrfr new 
 : irnn^ na meat? irhupt n»K 
 
 : 1^ ^nD , 1 aiBT 1 NOW "'Dl «(Dn fc6ltf 'E "HEW 
 
 (Hillel's Song.) 
 
 ,}«a hzn jaa "uk ok 
 
 ? JfcO ''D |*C UK p« DK1 
 
 ♦ tiik no^io ^n • am^ ukp wipnb 
 
 ♦ now na'pn p)W 
 
 ♦ -jrva^ Kiaa • *rvab wan nnN qk 
 
 :-prva ^n aiaa *6 uk ♦ wa ba «an *6 nna dm 
 
HISTORY. 139 
 
 5. History 
 
 (King John, etc.) 
 
 •oioatf rvbrnab m pno -jten wa hewd 
 nnn^ nc£> n^n lmtnai owa dw dp woi 
 on!? ion • bxiBn ^rn bab tnpi nb^ * rfcru 
 crpira vn» pn a^nfe D^baia v>n irniaK 
 nn a^nte ba&j uk r)N empDn rva p:m 
 am be? nunbip by a^nfe lbum $ lrniaab 
 bybai m 2b yb et»n nnx din dp rrn : ibaw 
 KTjnB p iwbK iD&m : idp NTyiB p iij^ki 
 • -]^u d'W-is bp nab -jten \^r • -[ten "wb 
 Drib o^pn • fry pap ysa Dnb Dpn • hto pidi 
 kth:i p rmrpi nna jpi dp rr»n : m pap po 
 w • "jten wb kthj p rrnrp nbtn • 122; 
 ijnib ruma nna run mate nna -]b an *jten 
 : mroa rvapj idk d^din rnp : pn« bp 
 •osna b^w -nan ib-ia* 1 ! : nudj &61 nann Dpia* 1 ! 
 "jten w * "jten "wb NTyia p irobR lorn 
 jpoi "]te Kin nnai in wn -]a b*op^ap onn 
 ycip nnN dk • nvyx noi . -jn wn *p bra 
 ntmb p 1'yba *r by njnn ysim : dddd Tiuyb 
 : acinus Dbiun nm b*op^ ^an ba ijn.Ti 
 
140 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1. Funeral Orations and Elegies. 
 
 (How fallible, etc.) 
 
 ipni: pri pew rczrA minb nnvv 
 
 (Here is one for whom, etc.) 
 
 b^annb nw n. by rrrab nw m by 
 
 D.T:nb onnra dttjdi D\no D"obD 
 
 brp:nb ~ct dytjidi D^nD crT&yy 
 
 : ib -jbm ablins nHicnrrbD b^j jcopn bwD^ 
 
 (How can the lowly hyssop, etc.) 
 
 rpnbip nbsj dtno dk 
 
 Tpn "DirK lpjr no 
 
 nbyn ram jrvib ox 
 
 ppin ^n to? no 
 
 ran nb=:: p^eto !?ma 
 
 : d'd: ^ wy no 
 
 (Spend not the sighs, etc.) 
 
 : nmab wi nnunb ktip 
 
 (A learned scion, etc.) 
 
 niDnbb nco ioyi bmp nby D'WBr yn 
 H53»d son nn&yi ^toed n i*nb Y?Min -nepi nap 
 
 ropw upo ocm inbiy by pjirp 
 
 : ntcnn nb^D Dm notyi 
 
 : p^ai ■'pj pb* rba soa men ew nnny rn 
 
FUNEJtAL OKATIONS AND ELEGIES. 141 
 
 (Bend ye majestic Palms, etc.) 
 
 (In Babylon, etc.) 
 
 rnVn rnn ny:^ pa 
 
 d'wsw nbij '•as pa 
 
 npn moa nb a: "na 
 
 : nmon "bz mix p 
 
 (Mortals and Angels, etc.) 
 (Mortals and Angels, etc.) 
 
 rvnan ninta picn 
 
 d^«^k ^ p" 1 iron 
 
 : mnibrrnN iccorn 
 
142 APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 4. Pkovekbs of Ben Sika in Talmud. 
 (A good mate, etc., page 78.) 
 
 ♦ jron Drfra im pTD raio runs raio ton 
 NDnn* 1 irrao racnr nbv^ njna njn ton 
 
 ♦ d^bm to* 1 ncoc n^»3 nw nc ton 
 
 * nrrropa "obn p p tond -p^ ovbn 
 
 • -Den p icy *pnb rbn bw con ^ 
 ♦ rronn ^o d^sjii miron d"qi ton -iKna *o 
 
 ♦ nny n^nb D^non b^n ^c rn D^ai 
 D.Tra p ^iy n^d afos nbm tw yi^D 
 
 (Honor thy physician, etc., page 79.) 
 
 : )b -ptD^n *6tf iu "jkdti nN -qd 
 
 (Do not worry, etc., page 79.) 
 
 • uv ih^ no yin n 1 ? ^r ito my nsn ^« 
 ribpirow D^iy ^y -wcd^d n^dji ura nn£ hide? 
 
 (God causes the remedial, etc., page 79.) 
 
 . flND p D'DD Plb»n vfc* 
 
 pmo npnn dhdi pooh n« netid ae-in ana 
 
 : nnpion nN 
 
 (Four things are, etc., page 80.) 
 
 • jrbaiD njnn pt nyma 
 onei pjwd jpn proo tewi ruo H p I 1 ?** 
 
 : -nan bi? n*onD 
 
PKOVERBS OF BEN SIRA. 143 
 
 (What is too great, etc., page 80.) 
 
 ♦ npnn hi "]dd pro tsimn *?a -po ^-ijq 
 : nnnwa pM ^ pro piann mcnnp hdd 
 
 (Before thou vowest, etc., page 80.) 
 (My son, if thou, etc., page 80.) 
 
 • -ft aw ^ en dn "»ja 
 ♦ nononn Rich pw awn ?\wa pn ^a 
 
 ♦ -]*? it ^ !?w&a pin ^ n^ niaan oni 
 Mm p*pna ttn m^n "witf? d?dvi d-in ^a 
 
 ' : p!?au 
 
 (When in distress, pray not, page 80.) 
 
 : mv ^ iaa 
 
 (A daughter is, etc., page 81.) 
 
 ♦ nW?a jet *6 mnto nib hjided ma*6 na 
 
 • ruin ndp nnnjna nnsnn not nnijopa 
 
 - D^a r6 itp *6 not n«Eu Keun *6 not ma 
 
 : tobo ncwn not nrpTn 
 
 (The glory of God, etc., page 81.) 
 
 : anioa d^sm* Tin d*in dt6n nn 
 
 (If on a burning, etc., page 82.) 
 
 : nam na pp-i .-nyai na hdj nbro vxb nnn 
 
 (All I weighed, etc., page 82.) 
 
 ♦ paob bp tinsd *6i d^ird ppa Thpv ban 
 
 ♦ von ttaa inn jnn paoia ^>pi 
 
 ♦ n-iN d^dd m« fnnD bpi 
 
 : yoBF Dnc:a nan a^D nnac bpi 
 
 (A person dependent, etc., page 82.) 
 
 : raa -pn d^iu rran p^-by noron-to 
 
144 APPENDIX. 
 
 (Evil to the poor, etc., page 82.) 
 
 ♦ nib" 1 ? F]N cm ^v wbD 
 ♦ inna onn anna uj d^ bzvi 
 
 . &wh Th2 1C17D inh D"^ ntDD 
 
 (No pains like, etc., page 82.) 
 
 : nyi he/n *6i nirrte ab 3W *6i awte 
 
 (As each bird, etc., page 83.) 
 
 : ib norb d-in pi par 1 irob ppirte 
 
 (The heart of man, etc., page 83.) 
 
 : y^b p m^b p ns rw din 2/ 
 
 (Out of thy house, etc., page 83.) 
 
 . -jrv:H?K wan ten *6i "]rva -pno D^ai md 
 . *6nd -in*6 -|-no nbi -p'frp ^*n ivp can 
 
 : t»d Tins -iidb qpTi naai^ia 
 
 (Prize it highly, etc., page 83.) 
 
 : -p^in d^tjj pi *]DDnm ntete 
 
 (The lives of three, etc., page 84.) 
 
 . rvan jnteb neson o^n jr« jrvn ne^p 
 : idm pteiia' piD 1 ^ "'Di vte nb^iD in»w& w 
 
 (The following, three, etc., page 84.) 
 
 rvan n^ djdjhi nip ■'onoa nat^ a^ioni 
 
 : Diane 
 
 (Listen sir, etc., page 84.) 
 
 . nan !?« -paw Dm now ^n ^hk j?e^ 
 ♦ -pap dv nano hto "uin "jb at? 
 
 :-pie6 te man icain *?« jn nan -pana n\sn dm 
 
RIDDLES IN THE TALMUD. 14.*) 
 
 (Do not rely, etc., page 84.) 
 
 py ^ py ppoir-6 nftDrr 1 ?*! nrrbrai 
 : *iw mr d wn byi id*? f]W d-di CDrni 
 
 4. Alphabet of Ben Sira. 
 
 . nann r^- D^m "o -ja^n nam jnn ■?« a. 
 • nap^6 HD^n n^cpb -p-iir Nam *>• 
 
 • npdim wwbi Kwna KD'onb a- 
 
 ♦ *0£r6 ■ran vinoac TpiD e - 
 
 ♦ p^D pEn: TplD p^n -ru f. 
 
 *6a« NpTni mcb Nr6a« Nmno Nanp h. 
 
 ♦ mo 1 ? 
 
 • rra n^r na rvb nwaip w^rn *• 
 
 : piap n *6 -]^bj ma^Di "|b pn"» pa^te pnc? t 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RIDDLES. 
 (High from heaven, etc., page 87.) 
 
 nepw d^d 
 nrva tot:} rpoin 
 
 o^eaa ^ya ^a ninsD 
 warni anyj min 
 
 HDi; lDp D'WeH 
 
 in ti id^ djh 
 : i:iya na^u la^ni 
 
146 APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 1. A Rabbi-Poet. 
 
 (When the glorious temple, etc., page 97.) 
 
 EHpon rra Kin -pa ernpn annnp njwa 
 
 na"pn was 
 
 nn^ hd" ib idn • anpon rvaa nciy Dnna*6 
 
 "?">rvaa 
 i«esn -pa • ib -idn : ^n^a "ua "pDy by • )h nDN 
 
 nmew " • lb idn : lN&n jj i#a ND&r • lb idn 
 
 : /; own " • *b *idk : inddh DCDiro hep • ib idn 
 ♦ ib -ien : rb^D nnj Dr6 niaib -(? nn • ib -112K 
 runon dn ndp • V'N r^fla nay enp i»ar 
 
 : naicyna pnn rn rb 
 wan by it n^n td j " ^yn tn lanjn 'o " • b"K 
 crib pN nbw\ on nop • *idw nam pyix Tni 
 
 ? ru pn 
 ixn ne nc pin m " * ib n^DKi bip na nnsr 
 
 ♦ -]DD " Nip 
 
 rvrvn'n ijni rrby ew rrsn nbi-u nbisn bipb 
 
 rowi ^1 ti 
 
 ."pnn ana ^DBunn 
 
 ,ani ^opna npEnncn 
 
 ,p-w nana n^inon 
 
 : onj; nm nnwran 
 
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