Subjoined is a List of selected
Authorities on the Subject of the
Chassidim.—Historical and Bibliographical
Works: Graetz (xi. including the polemical literature
quoted in the Appendix), Jost, Peter Beer, M. Bodek (סדר הרורות
הנרש, Lemberg, 1865), A. Walden (שמ תגרוליב הנדש, Warschau, 1864),
Finn (קרוה נאמנה, Wilna, 1860), D. Kahana (אצן אוסל in the
periodical השחר, iv.), Zederbaum (כחר כדונה, Odessa, 1868).
Essays
and Satires: T. Erter (הצפה, Wien, 1858), S. Szantó
(Jahrbuch
für Israeliten, p. 108-178, 1867), A. Gottlober (in
his periodical הברקר אור, iii.), L. Löw (Ben Chananjah, ii.),
Rudermann (השחר, vi.), Rapoport (נחלת יחודה, Lemberg, 1873, p. 10),
Fröhlich (המדרין, Warschau, 1876, p. 63 seq.),
S. Maimon (Autobiographie, Berlin, 1792).
Compare also the Hebrew novels by P. Smolensky, L. Gordon, M.
Brandstätter, A. Gottlober and B. Horowitz (German). Occasional
references to the liturgy or the system of the
Chassidim in the “Responses” of R.
Ezechiel Landau, Moses Sopher, E. Flekeles and T. Steinhart, and in
the works of Israel Samostsch, Salomon Chelma and Chayim Walosin.
Compare also Zunz (Gottesdienstliche Vorträge, p.
477) and L. Löw (Mannheimer Album, Wien, 1874),
Senior Sachs (התחיה, i. 61) and B. L. Zeitlin (הות קשה, Paris,
1846). The best book on the whole subject is E. Zweifel's work שלום
צל ישראל (Zitomyr 1868, three parts), which I strongly recommend to
students. The books written by the Chassidim would amount to more
than 200. They are catalogued by Bodek and Walden. I shall only
draw the attention of the student to the works of Beer, Salomon
Ladier, and Mendel Witipsker on one side, who developed the theory
of the Immanence, and those of Nachman Braslaw and Melech
Liezensker, who, on the other hand, carried the theory of Zaddikism
to its utmost consequences. The student will find a fair collection
of sayings and sentences arranged according to theological subjects
in the books ררך המידים and לשן חכמים (Anon., Lemberg, 1876).
חסידים, “pious
ones” (Ps. xxxvii. 28, lxx. 2, etc.). The reader is probably
acquainted with the term from the Maccabean history (1 Macc. ii.
42, vii. 13), in which the strict party, opposed to all Hellenistic
influence, are called “Assideans”
[R.V. “Hasidaeans”], Gr.
Ἁσιδαῖοι.
בעל שם, “The
Master of the Name,” a term usually applied to exorcists,
who cast out devils and performed other miracles through adjuration
by the name of God (or angels). The unbelieving Rabbis maintained
indeed that in his exorcisms Baalshem employed “impure names” (of devils), whilst the
Chassidim, on the other hand, declared that their Master never used
“names” at all, his miracles being
performed by the divine in Baalshem to which all nature owes
obedience. Occasionally the Chassidim call him בעל שם תוב (The Man
of Good Name), in allusion to Eccles. vii. 1, shortened by some
into Besht.
A Jewish sect, so called after their
founder Jacob Leibovicz Frank, who was himself one of the apostles
of the pseudo-Messiah Shabbethai Tsebi of Smyrna in Turkey. Among
his other doctrines he taught also a sort of Trinity, consisting of
the Holy Ancient One, the Holy King or the Messiah, and a feminine
person in the Godhead, in which he, like his master, represented
the Second Person. The sect ultimately abolished the Law, and,
after many controversies with the Rabbinic Jews, went over to
Catholicism, the dominant religion in Poland, by which they were
soon absorbed. Eybeschütz, chief Rabbi of Prague and Hamburg, was
suspected by Emden to be a secret adherent of Shabbethai Tsebi,
which was tantamount to apostasy from Judaism. Eybeschütz
protested. The litigants excommunicated each other, and the Rabbis
divided into two camps, taking sides either with Emden or with his
antagonist.
The works of Maimonides or Moses b.
Maimon (1135-1204) are too many to be enumerated here. The most
important are the Guide of the Perplexed (מורה
נבוכום) and his Compendium of the Law (משנה
הורה). Judah Hallevi or Abul Hassan flourished in the first half of
the twelfth century. He is well known as a poet by his Divan
and as a deep religious thinker by his Cusari.
The former contains also many songs of a secular nature. Isaac
Alfasi (died 1103) is best known by his Compendium of the Talmud,
which was so greatly admired by his contemporaries that they
declared it could never have been composed “without the aid of the Holy Spirit.” R. Solomon
b. Isaac, also called by his initials Rashi (1040-1105), is well
known by his commentaries on the Bible and the Talmud.
The Hebrew word is פלפול, meaning
subtle discussion and sharp distinction. The word is closely
related to פלפל or פלפלא, which means “pepper” or “seasoning.”
המוראים—תנאים, “The Repeaters,” and “The Interpreters.” The sayings and statements
of the former are embodied in the Mishnah, a work compiled by R.
Judah the Saint about 220 a.c., and covering a
period of about 250 years (30 b.c.-220 a.c.). The latter occupied
themselves mainly with the interpretation of the Mishnah, and their
discussions and controversies are incorporated in the Talmud of
Jerusalem and that of Babylon, and extend over the period from
220-500 a.c. The Talmud of
Jerusalem is mostly the product of the schools of Palestine. The
Talmud of Babylon is a growth of that country. The authorities of
this latter Talmud being far away from the place where the first
great Rabbis lived and laboured, their traditions are naturally not
so historically reliable as those of the Talmud of Jerusalem. The
authorities of Palestine were also simpler in their method of
interpretation. These again are followed by the Babylonian schools
of new interpreters (of the Talmud).
R. Johanan b. Zaccai was a
contemporary of the Apostles, and died about 110 a.d. He belonged to the
peace party in opposition to the Zealots, and obtained permission
from the Roman government to establish the school of Jamnia, which,
after the destruction of the Temple, became the centre of Jewish
religious life. See also p. 188.
R. Saadiah Gaon was born in Egypt in
892, and died as the head of the school of Sura in Babylon in 942.
He is known by his translations of and commentaries on the Bible,
and many other works, especially his philosophical treatise
Creeds
and Opinions. He was also a great controversialist.
Most of his polemical writings are directed against the Caraites
(קראים) or “Scripturalists,” a
Jewish sect founded by Anan in the eighth century. They protested
against the Oral Law, and denied Tradition. On the title
“Gaon,” see note 1 to Elijah
Wilna.
R. Abraham Ibn Ezra, who spent some
time in London, died about 1161. He is best known by his
commentaries on the Bible. He was the first writer who doubted the
unity of the book of Isaiah.
בכורים, dealing with the laws relating
to the firstfruits which were brought to the temple (Ex. xxiii.
19). The processions formed by the pilgrims are very vividly
described after the said tractate by Delitzsch in his Iris,
p. 190 sq. (English ed.). See also by
the same author, Jüdisches Handwerkerleben zur Zeit
Jesu, p. 66 seq.
סדר נזיקין, “Order of Damages,” treating of the civil law of
the Jews, the procedure of courts of justice, and kindred subjects.
This Order also includes the tractate אבות, Aboth
or “Sayings of the Fathers,” which
is very important for the study of Rabbinic doctrine and
ethics.
ספרא (or הורת כהנים), ספרי, מכילתא.
These three works form the oldest Rabbinic commentary on Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The authorities cited in these
commentaries all belong to the period of the Tannaim. See above,
note 12 to the Chassidim. Constituting as they do, to a certain
extent, one of the sources used by the Gemara,
they are naturally indispensable for a scientific study of the
Talmud.
הצפה, “Hatsophe,” a spirited
satire against the orthodox and especially against the then
prevailing belief in the transmigration of souls taught by the
mystical schools. The book is written in the purest biblical
Hebrew.
מדרש, pl. מדרשים (Midrashim), “Research,”“Researches,” a name usually applied to the
homiletical part of the Rabbinic literature. The most important
collection of this kind is the Midrash
Rabbah to the Pentateuch. The usual way of quoting it
is Genesis Rabbah, Exodus
Rabbah, and so on.
הגדה or אגדה—הלכה, “rule,”“method,”—“narrative.” The former deals with the legal
side of the Scriptures, and is thus more of a juristic nature; the
latter represents a collection of homilies having mostly as their
text the historical and exhortatory parts of the Bible, and is thus
more of an edifying character. The theological side of Judaism, as
well as its ideal aspirations and Messianic hopes, find their
expression in the Agadah. The two words are also used as
adjectives, as Halachic
(legalistic, juristic, and obligatory) and Agadic (poetic, edifying, and
hyperbolic).
Menahem Azariah de Rossi, an Italian
Jew who flourished in the first half of the sixteenth century. His
great work, מאור עינים, Meor Enayim, “Light of the Eyes,” is the first attempt made
by a Jew to submit the statements of the Talmud to a critical
examination, and to question the value of tradition in its
historical records.
Italian Jews of the fifteenth and
seventeenth centuries. The one, Elijah Delmedigo, wrote an
Examination of Religion, whilst his grandson, Joseph Solomon
Delmedigo, wrote various pamphlets of a deeply sceptical character.
See Geiger's Introduction to his Melo
Chofnayim (Berlin, 1840).
גאון, “The
Great One.” The authorities of the Babylonian schools after
the sixth century were also called the Gaonim (גאונים),
“[their] Eminences.” The title was
also given afterwards to great Rabbis distinguished for their
learning.
R. Joseph Caro (1488-1575) lived in
Safed. The title of his code is שלחן ערוך, Prepared
Table. This is a code of the Oral Law compiled from
the Rabbinic literature.
גמרה, “Perfection or Supplementary Explanations.” By
this is understood the interpretation given to the Mishnah by the
schools in Palestine and Babylon. See above, note 12 to the Chassidim. [Transcriber's
Note: Footnote on the Tannaim and Amoraim.]
These “Minor
Tractates” include, among others, treatises on proselytes,
on the laws concerning funerals, the writing of the Law, and the
like. Others are more of an edifying nature, treating of good
manners, conduct, etc.
שמונה עשרה, “Eighteen.” They are recited thrice a day, and
form the original germ of the prayers, from which a very rich
liturgy developed in the course of time.
The titles of the old authorities from
70 b.c. to 500 a.c. See above, note 12 to the Chassidim.
[Transcriber's Note: Footnote on the Tannaim and Amoraim.]
Levi b. Gershom (1286-1344) is
generally regarded as the greatest successor of Maimonides. Besides
his rationalistic commentaries on the Bible, he wrote various
treatises on metaphysics, mathematics, astronomy, medicine,
etc.
In Steinschneider's Catalogue of the
Bodleian Library, under the name of Moses
Nachmanides, pp. 1947-1965, all the works which are ascribed to
this author are put together, and also discussed as to their
authenticity. There are only to be added the new edition of the
Derasha by Jellinek (Vienna,
1872), in which the variants from Schorr's MS. (החלוץ, viii. 162)
are already incorporated; a new edition of the זיכות, and the
commentary to Is. lii.-liii. by Steinschneider (Berlin, 1860); a
Sermon for the New Year, ed. by
H. Berliner (Libanon, v. 564); and another
Sermon at a wedding (?), ed. by Schorr (Hechalus, xii. 3). For the
literature on Nachmanides, besides the references given by
Steinschneider, in his Catalogue, and the Addenda, p.
cxviii. (cf. also the pedigree in the Catalogue 2305), see also
Graetz, Geschichte, vii., pp. 112-143,
and p. 147 seq.; Michael, אור החיים, No.
1125, and Weiss, דור דור ודערקיו, v. 4 seq.;
Perles' Monatsschrift, 1860, p. 175;
Zomber, ibid. 421; and Z. Frankel,
ibid. 1868, p. 449, and
The
Jewish Quarterly Review, iv. 245 seq.
For Nachmanides' disputation we have to add M. Loeb in the
Révue des
Études Juives, xv. 1 seq.,
and xviii. 52 (about Abner), and Dr. Neubauer's Essay on Jewish
Controversy in the Expositor, vol. vii. (third
series), p. 98 seq., with the references given
there. See also his article on the Bahir and the Zohar in
The
Jewish Quarterly Review, iv. 357. With regard to
Nachmanides' mystical system see the references to S. Sachs (whose
remarks are most suggestive), Krochmal, and Jellinek in
Steinschneider, col. 1949 and 1964, Perles' Monatsschrift, 1858, p. 83
seq., and Steinschneider in the
Heb. Bibliographie, i. 34. See also
Professor Kaufmann's Die Geschichte der
Attributenlehre, and the references given in the
index under this name. The Novellæ by his son R. Nachman,
alluded to in the text, are in the University Library, Cambridge
(Add. 1187, 2). The פץ הנאולה is extant in the British Museum, MS.
Add. 26,894, and the passage quoted by De Rossi is to be found on
p. 163b, but a few words are erased by
the censor. As to the poem given at the end of this paper, see
Zunz, Synagogale Poesie, p. 478;
Landshut, Amude ha-Abodahs.v.,
the references in Sachs' Religiöse Poesie der Juden, and
Luzzatto in the Ozar Nechmad, ii. 27. Compare
also Professor Cheyne's The Origin of the Psalter, p.
421.
Chiefly known through his
controversial writings against the adherents of the pseudo-Messiah
Shabbethai Tsebi. He was for some time the Rabbi of the Portuguese
congregation in London.
The main objections of the opponents
of Maimonides were directed against his rationalistic notions of
Revelation, and his allegorising interpretation of the Scriptures,
which amounted in some places to a denial of miracles. He was also
suspected of having denied bodily resurrection. A history of Jewish
rationalism is still a desideratum. I am certain that it would
prove at least as interesting as Reuter's Geschichte der
religiösen Aufklärung im Mittelalter (Berlin,
1845-60).
By Zobah,
or Aram
Zobah, the Jews of the Middle Ages usually understood
Aleppo. See Benjamin of Tudela's Itinerary, i. 88, ii. 124
(London and Berlin, 1840-41).
R. Simlai flourished in Palestine in
the third century. He is best known as an Agadic teacher and a
great controversialist. According to him, 613 commandments were
given to Moses on Mount Sinai, of which 365 are prohibitive laws,
whilst the remaining 248 are positive injunctions.
According to a Jewish tradition (the
date of which is uncertain) the advent of the Messiah, the Son of
David, will be preceded by that of the Messiah, the Son of Joseph.
The latter will perish in the battle against Gog and Magog (the
Antichrist of Jewish literature), but will soon be brought back to
life on the appearance of the former. Cf. G. H. Dalman's
Der
leidende und der sterbende Messias der Synagoge
(Berlin, 1881).
Chagigah 14b. The
activity of these four Rabbis falls chiefly in the second century.
R. Akiba died as a martyr in the Hadrianic persecution (about 130).
Elisha b. Abuyah, the apostate, was usually called אחר,
Acher, “the other one.”
Bachya wrote in the eleventh century a
famous book called חובות חלבבות, The Duties of the
Heart. For the others see above, p. 13 and note,
p. 49 and note,
p. 102 and note,
p. 97 and note,
p. 71 and note.
They all belong to the rationalistic school.
ספר המשקל. See above, p. 18. R. Moses Cordovora, the author
of the סררם, lived in Safed in the sixteenth century. For R. Isaac
Loria, the author of the עץ החיים, see above, note 5 to Elijah Wilna.
מנהג, pl. מנהגים (Minhagim), applied usually to
those ritual customs and ceremonies for which there is no distinct
authority in the Scriptures or even in the Talmud.
Jerusalem, in Mendelssohn's
Sämmtliche Werke (Vienna, 1838),
especially from p. 264 onwards, and a letter by him published in
Frankel-Graetz's Monatsschrift, 1859, p. 173. For
Mendelssohn's position, see Graetz's Geschichte, xi. 86 seq.,
especially p. 88 and note 1; Kayserling, Leben und
Werke of M., 2d ed., p. 394; Steinheim, Moses
Mendelssohn (Hamburg, 1840), p. 30 seq.;
Holdheim, Moses Mendelssohn (Berlin,
1859), p. 18 seq.; Leopold Löw's pamphlet,
Jüdische
Dogmen (Pesth, 1871).
See Mishnah, Sanhedrin, x. e, § 1, and
Talmud, ibid. 90a and
b, and Rabbinowicz's
Variae
Lectiones, ix. p. 247 notes. Besides the ordinary
commentaries on the Talmud, account must also be taken of the
remarks of Crescas, Duran, Albo, and Abarbanel on the subject. Cf.
also Kämpf in the Monatsschrift (1863), p. 144
seq.; Oppenheim, ibid.
(1864), p. 144; Friedmann in the Beth
Talmud, i. p. 210 seq.
See also Talmudical Dictionaries, s.v.
אפיקורום. The explanation I have adopted agrees partly with
Friedmann's and partly with Oppenheim's views.
See אדרת אליהו (Jovslow, 1835), p. 48.
In my exposition of the dogmas of the Caraites I have mainly
followed the late Dr. Frankl's article “Karaiten” in Ersch u. Gruber's Encyclopädie (sec. ii. vol.
xxxvi. pp. 12-18). See also his Ein mutazilitischer
Kalam and his Beiträge zur Literaturgeschichte der
Karäer (Berlin, 1887) on Bashazi. Cf. also Jost's
Geschichte, ii. c. 13.
See, however, Professor D. Kaufmann's
note in the Jewish Quarterly Review, i. p.
441. From this it would seem that the creed of R. Judah Hallevi may
be formulated in the following articles:—The conviction of the
existence of God, of His eternity, of His guidance of our fathers,
of the Divine Origin of the Law, and of the proof of all this, the
pledge or token of its truth, the exodus from Egypt.
For the various translations of the
Thirteen Articles which were originally composed in Arabic, see
Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1887. Cf. Rosin, Ethik des
Maimonides, p. 30; Weiss, Beth
Talmud, i. p. 330, and Ben
Chananjah, 1863, p. 942, and 1864, pp. 648 and 697,
and Landshut, עמודי העבודה, p. 231.
See אור ה (ed. Johannisburg), preface,
and pp. 20a, 44b,
59b, and elsewhere. The style of
this author is very obscure. Cf. Joel's pamphlet on this author
(Breslau, 1874).
See Ikkarim, i. c. 23, and
Maimonides' Commentary on the Mishnah (end
of tractate Maccoth). On Albo compare Schlesinger's Introduction
and notes to the Ikkarim, Joel's pamphlet, p. 82;
Paulus, Monatsschrift, 1874, p. 463, and
Brüll's Jahrb. iv. p. 52.
That is, vows of an ascetic nature
(not vows or oaths enforced by a court of justice), which the
tribunal could annul when there was sufficient reason for it.
The ten Rabbis who are named as the
bearers of tradition during the period between 170 and 30
b.c. The “pair” in each case is supposed to have
consisted of the president and the vice-president of the Sanhedrin
for the time being. See, however, Kuenen, Gesammelte
Schriften, p. 49 seq.
הלכות למשה מסיני. They amount, in the
whole of Rabbinic literature, to about forty, of which more than
ten concern the preparation of the phylacteries, whilst others
relate to the libations of water at the Feast of Tabernacles and
similar subjects.
בית דין, lit. “Court of Justice,” as above, note 16 to Elijah
Wilna, but it means also a sort of permanent Synod, in which of
course justice was also administered as a part of religion.
עדיות, “Evidences given by Witnesses.” The tractate
consists mostly of a number of laws attested by various Rabbis as
having come down to them as old traditions.
The family of Hillel, which was
supposed to be descended from the house of David, supplied the Jews
with patriarchs for many generations. Gamaliel II. flourished about
120 a.c., whilst Simon b.
Gamaliel's activity as Patriarch falls about 160 a.c.
The Rabbinic Jews of the dispersion
add one day to each festival, and thus celebrate the Passover eight
days, the Feast of Weeks two days, etc. The custom arose out of the
uncertainty about the first day of the month, the prerogative of
fixing the New Moon resting with the great Beth
Din in Palestine, which had not always the means of
communicating in time the evidence given before them that the New
Moon had been seen by qualified witnesses. The prerogative was
abolished in the fourth century, and the calendar fixed for all
future time, but the additional day is still kept by the Rabbinic
Jews as the “Custom of their
Fathers.”
שיעור קומה, היכלות, “Chambers (of Heaven)” and the “Measure of the Stature,” mystical works in
which occasionally gross anthropomorphisms are to be found. Their
authorship is unknown.
Judaism and Christianity, a Sketch of the
Progress of Thought from Old Testament to New
Testament, by C. H. Toy, Professor in Harvard
University. London, 1890.
מטטרון, the name of an angel, already
found in the Talmud, but playing a more important part in the
Book of
Chambers, where he is identified with Enoch. The
etymology of the word is doubtful, some authors considering it to
be of Persian origin (Mithra); others again deriving
it from the Greek μετὰ τύραννον, or μετὰ θρόνον.
Sabbath, 10b. The
name of the Rabbi is not given, but the fact that R. Simeon b.
Gamaliel (160 a.c.) already refers to
this interpretation makes it clear that its anonymous author must
have lived at least a generation before.
See Midrash
to the Psalms xcii. and Deut. Rabbah iii. The Rabbis
perceived in the words וקראת לשבת עננ (Isa. lviii. 13), a command
to make the Sabbath a day of pleasure, whilst the word הסצף was
understood by them to mean “needs,”“wants,” or “business” (not“pleasure”). Cf. Sabbath, 113a and
b.
The main authorities on the subjects
of this essay are Die Lebensalter, by Dr. Leopold
Löw; The
Jewish Rite of Circumcision, by Dr. Asher; an article
by Dr. Perles in the Graetz Jubelschrift, p. 23 seq.;
Merkwürdigkeiten der Juden, by
Schudt; the מקורי המנהגים and other works on ritual customs;
Güdemann's Geschichte des Erziehungswesens und der Cultur
der Juden; and Das Kind in Brauch und Sitte der
Völker, by Dr. Ploss.
יעמוד. In olden times the weekly
lesson from the Law used to be read by seven members of the
congregation who were “called up”
for this purpose; the Priest and the Levite took precedence of
laymen for this honour. At the present day, the members of the
congregation are still called up, but the actual reading is
performed by an official.