Nothing New Under the Sun

The following is an excerpt from Josephus, Antiqities, Book XV Ch. 5 pp. 3. Here, Herod, king of the Jews, delivers a speech to a downtrodden army during a war with the Arabians to rally their spirits once more after a series of unfortunate events (a sneak attack followed by an earthquake) gave the Arabians the upper hand. I chose a section of the speech that I found to be quite remarkable. Of course Herod himself was a thoroughly wicked individual, but his words ring true to this very day! (Keep in mind that Herod lived over 2000 years ago!) Of course, if any Jewish leader (or layman) would utter these words today, he would be arrested by the Israeli government for incitement and sedition. But that is another matter. Here is the quote:

"You are not ignorant certainly of the wickedness of the Arabians, which is to that degree as to appear incredible to all other men, and to include somewhat that shows the grossest barbarity and ignorance of God. The chief things wherein they have affronted us have arisen from covetousness and envy; and they have attacked us in an insidious manner, and on the sudden…. nor is it fit that they… should injure us, and deprive us of what is our due, and this while we have been still not their enemies, but their friends… And whereas observation of covenants takes place among the bitterest enemies, but among friends is absolutely necessary, this is not observed among these men, who think gain to be the best of all things, let it be by any means whatsoever, and that injustice is no harm…

Is it therefore a question with you, whether the unjust are to be punished or not? when God himself hath declared his mind that so it ought to be, and hath commanded that we ever should hate injuries and injustice, which is not only just, but necessary, in wars between several nations; for these Arabians have done what both the Greeks and barbarians own to be an instance of the grossest wickedness, with regard to our ambassadors, which they have beheaded, while the Greeks declare that such ambassadors are sacred and inviolable…

[B]ut perhaps some will say, that what is holy, and what is righteous, is indeed on our side, but that the Arabians are either more courageous or more numerous than we are. Now, as to this, in the first place, it is not fit for us to say so, for with whom is what is righteous, with them is God himself; now where God is, there is both multitude and courage. But to examine our own circumstances a little, we were conquerors in the first battle; and when we fought again, they were not able to oppose us, but ran away, and could not endure our attacks or our courage…

Why are we therefore of less courage, on account of that which ought to inspire us with stronger hopes? and why are we terrified at these, who, when they fight upon the level, are continually beaten, and when they seem to be conquerors, they gain it by wickedness? … Consider these things, and, what is more than all the rest, that you have God at all times for your Protector; and prosecute these men with a just bravery, who, in point of friendship, are unjust, in their battles perfidious, towards ambassadors impious, and always inferior to you in valor."

Caviat: The speech worked, and the Jews whooped the Arabians.

There is Hope for Us All

Just for fun, here is an interesting midrash from the prologue to Tanchuma haKadum (a midrashic work), about G-d's power to unite soulmates:

King Sh'lomoh (Solomon) had an extremely beautiful daughter; none was like her in all the Land of Israel. He looked into the constellations [to see] who was her soulmate and who would marry her and he saw that [her soulmate] was a poor person and there was none in Israel as poor as he. What did [Sh'lomoh] do? He built a tall tower in [the middle of] the sea... He took his daughter and placed her in this tall tower, and he placed with her seventy officers from [among] the elders of Israel, and in this tower he made no opening so that no man could enter, and he placed in it an abundance of provisions. He said, "I shall see the acts of HaShem and His deeds."

Some time later, that poor man who was her soulmate had gone out upon the road and was naked, barefoot, hungry and thirsty and had nowhere to sleep. He saw the carcass of an ox cast in the field. He entered into it between the ribs of the carcass to ease the cold. While he was sleeping, a great bird came and picked up the carcass and carried it up to the roof of the tower above the maiden's chamber and there the bird was eating the flesh of the carcass and sitting on the roof.

Upon the morning light, the maiden left her chamber to walk upon the roof as was her daily custom and she saw this young man. She said to him, "Who are you and who brought you here?" He said to her, "I am a Jew, I am from Ako, however, a bird brought me here." What did she do? She took him and brought him to her chamber and dressed him and washed him and annointed him and he became very handsome until there was none like him in all the borders of Israel and the maiden loved him with her heart and soul and her soul was bound to his soul and the young man was sharp and sophistic and shrewd and scholarly.

One day she said to him, "Do you want to betroth me?" He said to her, "Were it possible!" What did he do? He drew [his own] blood and wrote for her a k'thubah (marriage document) and a dowry with his blood and betrothed her and said, "G-d is witness today, and [the angels] Micha'el and Gavri'el are witnesses." He consumated the relationship and she became pregnant from him.

When the elders saw that she was pregnant they said to her, "It seems to us that you are pregnant." She said to them, "Indeed." They said to her, "And from whom have you become pregnant?" She said to them, "Why do you need to know?" The faces of the elders fell, for they feared the king Sh'lomoh, lest he place a libel upon them, so they sent to him to speak with them. Sh'lomoh embarked upon a boat and came to them and they said to him, "Our lord the king, this is what happened, and please, may our lord not place iniquity upon his servants." When he heard, he called to his daughter and asked her about the matter. She said to him, "The Holy One, Blessed is He, brought me a certain young man, handsome and learned and scholarly, and he betrothed me." She called to the young man and he came before the king and he showed him the k'thubah he had made for his daughter. The king asked him about his father and mother and his family and from which city he came and [the king] understood from his words that [this man] was the one whom he had seen in the constellations and [the king] greatly rejoiced and said: "Blessed is the Omnipresent One, for he gives a woman to a man."

Sins, Not Sinners

"Zecher tzadik livrachah, v'shem r'sha'im yirkav -- The mention of the righteous is for a blessing, but the name of the wicked shall rot."
-Mishley (Proverbs) 10:7

The traditional understanding of this verse is that upon mention of a righteous person, one should immediately append a term of blessing to his/her name, and upon the mention of the name of a wicked person or persons, one should append a term of derision. Practically speaking, people say when mentioning the name of a deceased tzadik (saintly individual), "Rabbi So-and-So, zecher tzadik livrachah (the memory of the righteous is for a blessing)," i.e. a direct quote from this verse is used as the blessing appended to the tzadik's name. Upon mention of a wicked person, however, the common practice is to say, "Mr. So-and-So, y'mach sh'mo (may his name be erased)."

The source for this practice is explained in the Talmud, Yoma 38B:

Ravina said to one of the sages that was arranging agadata before him: "What is the source for this matter that the sages said: 'The mention of the righteous is for a blessing' (Mishley 10:7)?" (I.e. What is the source for the practice of blessing a righteous person upon mention of his name?)

He answered: "It is written: 'The mention of the righteous is for a blessing (ibid.)'!"

Ravina: "What it its source in the Torah?"

Sage: "As it is written, 'Shall I conceal from Avraham (Abraham) that which I am doing?' (B'reshith/Genesis 18:17) and it is written, 'And Avraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation' (ibid. 18:18)."

Ravina: "What is the source for this matter that the sages said: 'and the name of the wicked should rot' (Mishley 10:7)?" (I.e. What is the source for the practice of insulting a wicked person upon mention of his name?)

The sage responded: "It is written: 'and the name of the wicked should rot' (ibid.)!"

Ravina: "What it its source in the Torah?"

Sage: “As it is written, 'He pitched his tent until S'dom (Sodom)' (B'reshith 13:12), and it is written, 'And the people of S'dom were evil-doers and sinners toward HaShem (G-d) exceedingly' (ibid. 13:13).”

In other words, we find in the Torah that right after Avraham's name was mentioned, the next verse speaks his praises, and upon mention of the wicked city of S'dom, the following verse speaks of its wickedness. Here we find an application in the Torah of the principle derived from the verse in Mishley.

I would like to share with the readership the beautiful comments of the Maharsha on this passage of the Talmud:

"It says regarding the righteous one that mention of him should be for a blessing but does not say regarding the wicked, 'His mention should be for a curse,” since when one praises the righteous, one should bless them, but when deriding the wicked, one should not curse them, rather one should look forward for them to do t'shuvah (return to the proper path), as it says in the first chapter of [Tractate] B'rachoth (10A), it is not written, 'May the sinners be destroyed,' rather, 'May the sins be destroyed' (T'hilim/Psalms 104:35), meaning that the [sinners] should return... This is the meaning of [the verse]: 'and the name of the wicked should rot,' [i.e. it should rot] off of them so that they are no longer called wicked, [that is,] when they do t'shuvah."

(Paranthetically, I think it is worthwhile to quote in full the passage from the Talmud in B'rachoth that the Maharsha cites:)

There were certain vagabonds living in Rabbi Me'ir's neighborhood who would distress him greatly. He prayed for mercy that they should die.

B'ruryah, his wife, said to him: "What are you thinking? Because it is written, 'The chata'im should be destroyed' (T'hilim 104:35)? (The word, "chata'im" in Hebrew can mean either "sins" or "sinners.") Is it written, 'chot'im'? ("Chot'im" can only mean "sinners" in Hebrew.) It is written, 'Chata'im'! (Therefore, read the verse as, "The sins should be destroyed.") Furthermore, look below at the end of the verse: 'Ursha'im od eynam.' (This can either be translated, "and the wicked shall no longer be," i.e. no longer exist, or "and they shall no longer be wicked.") For since 'the sins shall be destroyed,' [then] 'they shall no longer be wicked.' Rather, pray for mercy upon them that they should return in t'shuvah (repentance), 'and they shall no longer be wicked.'"

He prayed for mercy upon them and they returned in t'shuvah.

Quite a wife, eh?

"I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first four hundred people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University."

-William F. Buckley

Lend Me Your Ears

The Roman emperor known to history as Marcus Aurelius is synonymous with that Roman emperor known as Antoninus in the Talmudic literature. This Antoninus was a close friend and student of Rabbi Y'hudah HaNasi (aka "Rebbi"), the temporal and spiritual leader of the Jewish people in the land of Israel at the end of the 2nd century C.E. This relationship between the leaders of these two peoples is unknown to secular historians, as Antoninus had to keep this relationship secret due to the enmity the Romans had for the Jews at this time. In any event, he is considered by Jewish tradition to have been a great, wise and pious man.

I was fascinated, therefore, when I noticed on the bookshelf in a secular bookstore on a recent visit to the United States a book of philosophy entitled Meditations authored by none other than Marcus Aurelius himself! Curious to discover the wisdom of Antoninus and always on the lookout for good bathroom reading, I purchased the volume. What follows, and what I expect will be a regular occurance of posts, are quotes I found to be significant, not only for their inherent wisdom, but also because of their close reflection to ideas found in the Jewish tradition.

"Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse."

-Meditations, Ch. IV, pp. 41

"Just as we must understand when it is said, That Aesculapius prescribed to this man horse-exercise, or bathing in cold water, or going without shoes, so we must understand it when it is said, That the nature of the universe prescribed to this man disease or mutilation or loss or anything else of the kind… Let us then receive these things, as well as those which Aesculapius prescribes."

-Meditations, Ch. V, pp. 8

"Nothing happens to a man which he is not formed by nature to bear."

-Meditations, Ch. V, pp. 18

"We should be thankful to our heads, for they know to bow when we reach 'Modim.'"

-Y'rushalmi B'rachoth 2:4

"Since it is already understood to be true to any wise person the necessity of perfection of service [of G-d] and the obligation of its purification and cleansing (for without these it is certainly not desired at all, rather it is disgusting and abominable, for G-d searches out every heart and discerns the formation of every thought), what will we answer on the Day of Reckoning if we slackened in this analysis and put aside a matter which is so incumbent upon us, that is the essence of what HaShem our G-d asks of us? Is it imaginable that our minds should exert themselves and toil in investigations in which we were not obligated, in dialectic from which we gain nothing, and laws that do not apply to us, and that which we have a great obligation to our Creator we should abandon to habit and leave to rote?"

-R' Mosheh Hayim Luzato (RaMHaL, M'silath Y'sharim, Introduction)