The Folklore Of The Jews

Angelo S. Rappoport

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781136218729
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Jewish Theology

First published in 2007. This classic work draws together the whole rich field of Jewish Folklore- the popular beliefs, practices, superstitions and traditional wisdom relating to all aspects of life. Dr. Rappaport has organised the book around four main themes: nature, the heavenly bodies and mythological an cosmological motifs; fauna and flora; human life including birth, marriage, illness and death, omens and portents; and supernatural and natural powers including demons and spirits, witchcraft, charms and spells. There are chapters on folk medicine, demonology, customs and practices, as well as a selection of Jewish legends and folktales, and a collection of Hebrew and Yiddish proverbs and popular sayings.

Chapter XII

A COLLECTION OF FOLKTALES

The Pious Cow

THERE was once a pious man who possessed a cow that ploughed his land. Having, however, lost all his money and property and become poor, he sold his cow to a Gentile. For six days the animal worked and obeyed the new master, but when the latter tried to lead the cow into the field on the Sabbath, she suddenly stood still and refused to do any work. In vain did the astonished owner beat her, for she obstinately refused to budge from her place. Greatly irritated, the Gentile betook himself to the former master of the cow and thus he spoke:

‘Take back the cow thou hast sold me, for she refuses to do any further work. For six days she gave me satisfaction, but to-day I cannot make her plough the ground and all my blows have proved futile and of no avail. It was a bad bargain that I made.’

The pious man at once understood the reason why the cow refused to work; she had grown accustomed to rest on the seventh day, the Sabbath, and instinctively refused to work on the day of rest.

‘Come with me’, said the former owner of the cow, ‘and I will make her work to-day.’ He thereupon approached the animal and whispered into its ear.

‘Cow,’ he said, ‘when thou wert my property, thou wert accustomed to rest on the Sabbath, but now, alas, I have become poor on account of my sins and have been compelled to sell thee to a Gentile who knows not the sacredness of the Sabbath. Thou must now obey thy new master and work.’

And immediately the cow rose up and did her work.

Greatly astonished, the Gentile said: ‘Thou shalt not leave me without telling me thy secret. What didst thou whisper into the ear of this animal? Hast thou perchance bewitched it?’

The pious man faithfully related to the new master of the cow what he had done. When the Gentile heard his words, he was both moved and frightened. ‘This animal’, he said in his heart, ‘is not endowed with the power of speech nor does it possess reason and understanding, and yet its instinct taught it to acknowledge the Creator of the Universe and to rest on the Sabbath, and shall I who have been created in the image of God ignore His commandments?’ He converted himself, embraced Judaism, studied the Law and became known as Rabbi Jochanan of Bartotha.

(Midrash Decalogue, IV, 5; Pesikta Rabbati, Ch. XIV; Tendlau, Das Buch der Sagen und Legenden, No.6; Gaster, The Exempla of the Rabbis, No. 312, pp. 115 and 237; Bin Gorion, Der Born Judas, Vol. II.)

The Most Precious Thing in the World

There was once a woman in Sidon who had been married to her husband for ten years but remained childless. He decided accordingly to be divorced, and went to consult Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai.

In vain did the Rabbi dissuade the man from divorcing his wife whom he professed to love, and at last he thus addressed him:

‘You made a feast when you got married, and it is my advice that you should also separate after a banquet and part good friends.’

The couple followed the Rabbi’s advice and caused a feast to be prepared at which the wife made her husband drink much wine.

‘My dear,’ he said to his spouse whom he was about to leave, ‘take the most precious things out of my house with thee before leaving.’

Now what did the woman do? When her husband was fast asleep she ordered her servants to carry him with his bed to the house of her father, and when the man awoke in the middle of the night and found himself in strange surroundings, he asked in some surprise: ‘Where am I?’ To which his wife replied: ‘Thou art in the house of my father.’

‘And what have I to do in thy father’s house? And how how am I come thither?’ asked the man in astonishment.

‘I have acted upon thy own instructions’, sweetly replied the young wife. ‘Last evening thou didst tell me to take away with me the most precious thing in the house, but there is nothing more precious to me in the world than thyself.’

The husband was greatly moved and in the morning the couple went again to consult Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai, and the pious Rabbi prayed on their behalf to God and they had a son.

(Midrash Song of Songs; Germania, 1881.)

The Story of the Grateful Dead

Once upon a time there lived a very wealthy man in the city of Jerusalem to whom a son was born in his old age. When the boy had attained the age of six and was old enough to grasp the meaning of things and to distinguish between good and evil, his fond father, noticing his gifts, decided to keep him away from the idle ways of the world, from frivolous things, dreams and illusions, and to bring him up in the study of the Divine Law which alone vouchsafes happiness to the pious, both in this world and in the next. My offspring, thought the fond and god-fearing father, shall be the joy and honour of my old age. Thereupon the old man locked up the boy in a special apartment which he shared with a famous and learned master whom he had engaged as a teacher to his only son. Day and night master and pupil studied the Holy Law. And in order to prevent the boy from being attracted by the world outside, all the splendours of the world were gathered in the sumptuous apartment to gladden the youngster’s heart. Nor was the master forgotten, for all his wishes were promptly fulfilled. And thus master and pupil remained in seclusion for ten years, studying all the time the Holy Law, in which the pupil made rapid progress. He soon acquired vast knowledge and knew all the books of Scripture by heart.

Years passed; the father had reached an advanced age, whilst the son had become a mature youth. And one day the old man said to himself:

‘My end is near and soon the day will come when I shall be called upon to return to my Maker the pledge that I have received; what shall I do with all my possessions that will be left after my demise? Should all the toil of my hands be lost? My only son is quite ignorant of the ways of the world and unacquainted with the intricacies of commerce, of mart and exchange of goods. Should my wealth be lost and one day my dear son be driven to the necessity of stretching out his hands, begging for alms and living on charity?’

These thoughts greatly troubled the old man, and he now began to enlighten his son on worldly affairs, told him the exact amount of his possessions and acquainted him with the ways of commerce. Accompanied by his son, the father visited places of business and markets and initiated his heir into the knowledge of commerce, so as to enable him to take care of his possessions.

‘Be circumspect, my son,’ said the father, ‘and thus thou wilt gladden my heart. Abandon not, however, the Law of God, for happy is he who is able to combine the ways of life with the ways of the Law.’ Thus spoke the father, and the boy proved a receptive pupil, intelligent and docile even in these things. Shortly afterwards the rich man died and went the way of all flesh.

As soon as the days of mourning were over, the son collected all the treasures and money which his father had left and went forth to see the world. Many cities and countries did he visit where he gathered knowledge and experience, until he finally reached the capital of Turkey. One day, when he was walking through the streets and market places of the capital, he suddenly found himself in an open square and was surprised to behold an iron coffin suspended from an iron chain between two pillars and guarded by a soldier. The traveller’s curiosity was aroused and he tried to elicit some information from the guard, but the latter only told him to mind his own business.

‘Get hence’, he shouted, ‘and do not meddle with forbidden things that do not concern thee.’

The youth, however, was not to be shaken off so easily and by bribing the soldier with a handful of silver, he at last succeeded in obtaining the explanation he desired.

‘This coffin’, said the now friendly guard, ‘contains the body of a Jew who in his lifetime was the financial adviser of the Sultan and manager of his treasury. The Sultan trusted and respected him highly, but one day the enemies of the Jew, and they were many who were envious of his success, calumniated him and finally convinced the ruler that his financial adviser had been guilty of maladministration and malversation. They said the Jew had robbed his royal employer of vast sums and thus enriched himself, and the slanderers succeeded in poisoning the mind of the Sultan, who had lent a willing ear to their words. Summoning the Jew into his presence, he commanded him to produce a detailed account of all the sums that had passed through his hands in the course of the twenty years that he had been in his master’s service.

‘A great fright now seized the Jewish banker, for how could he remember all the sums that had passed through his hands in the course of two decades? In vain did he assure the Sultan of his honesty, in vain did he plead innocence, the irate ruler would not listen to his words, his prayers and supplications. Convinced that the Jewish banker had robbed him of vast sums, the Sultan condemned his former adviser to death and decreed that the body of the culprit should be embalmed, placed in an iron coffin and deprived of decent burial until his co-religionists should have paid the sum of which the unhappy banker had defrauded and robbed him.

‘And thus’, concluded the soldier, ‘this coffin remains here in the square until such time as the Jews shall have collected the money due from the executed man—only then will the Sultan permit the body of his former banker to be buried according to their custom and ritual.’

The youth was greatly affected by this story and learning from the soldier the amount of money the Sultan was claiming, he betook himself to the royal palace where he craved an audience from the ruler on a very urgent matter. Admitted to the presence of the Sultan, he acquainted him with his request in humble words which greatly pleased the potentate.

‘I have come from a distant land,’ he said, ‘and if it please your Majesty I am ready to pay the sum claimed as ransom for the body of the poor banker so that his body may be set free and buried according to the custom of the Jews.’

Well pleased with the words of the stranger and glad, too, to receive the money, the Sultan at once set the body free and gave instructions that it should be buried. But the generous youth was not yet content and asked for a further favour from the well-disposed Sultan.

‘If it please your Majesty,’ he pleaded, ‘may it be decreed that all the inhabitants of the city, old and young, be present at the funeral of your former treasurer.’ The Sultan graciously granted the request and issued such a decree, and thus a great concourse of people accompanied the body of the unhappy banker to his last resting-place.

On the following day the Sultan summoned the stranger into his presence and offered to return his money in exchange for the celestial reward awaiting him in the next world for his noble deed. But the young Jew refused the bargain and thus he spoke:

‘My lord and master, I am your slave and owe you obedience, but this I cannot do. What is man and what good to him were his life upon earth if he did not use all his endeavours to fulfil the commandments of the Lord? All my life I have been craving for an opportunity when I should be allowed to perform such a deed, and shall I now bargain away the reward that is awaiting me in the world to come?’

The Sultan admitted that the stranger was right, and having shown him all his treasures he let him go in peace. The young man left the capital of Turkey and after visiting many foreign cities, he finally boarded a ship that was to bring him back to his home. But lo! as soon as the vessel had reached the open sea a terrific storm arose and sunk the ship so that all the passengers were thrown into the sea and drowned with the exception of the young man, who was the only survivor. Perceiving a plank, he seized it and was safely carried to the shore. Here he sat down and burst into tears, for deprived of all his possessions, poor, destitute, and far away from his home, he despaired of ever reaching it.

Suddenly a white eagle swooped down from on high and seemed to address the traveller in the language of the birds. The poor boy, although he could not understand the eagle’s instructions, guessed that the bird was a messenger sent by God to save him, and as the eagle had spread out its wings, he mounted on its back. It brought him to Jerusalem in the twinkling of an eye—and disappeared. In the darkness of the night the returned traveller, beholding a man wrapt in a white shroud, was greatly frightened, but the apparition spoke in the language of man and told him to be comforted.

‘Fear not,’ said the man in the white shroud, ‘I am the dead banker for whom thou didst perform a noble and generous deed. It was I who appeared to thee as a plank and as an eagle and saved thee from certain death. And now be of good cheer, for thou wilt be happy in this world and a glorious reward awaits thee in the next.’

And indeed the honest boy was happy until the end of his days; he never gave up or neglected the study of the Law of Moses and performed good actions all his days.

(Reischer, Shaare Jerushalayim, 1880, No. IV, pp. 86–9; Sepher Hamaassiyot, Ch. XC; see Pesikta, 164a; Cosquin, Contes de Lorraine, vol. I, p. 214; Gerould, The Grateful Dead, Folklore, 1908; Gaster, Germania, 1880, pp. 200–2; Archiv für die neueren Sprachen, LXXXI, pp. 141–83.)

The Testimony of the Dead

In the days of Rabbi Kalonymos a wonderful incident occurred in the holy city of Jerusalem. The enemies of Israel were constantly planning and devising ways and means how to hurt and destroy the Jews. Daily did they invent new lies and raise accusations against the community. The governor of the city, however, paid but little heed to their calumnies and falsehoods and refused to harm the Jews. One night the miscreants foregathered and discussed how they could convince the governor of the city of Jewish wickedness and induce him to destroy the hateful community. They decided to kidnap the son of the governor and kill him and then accuse the Jews of the murder. Having seized the boy, they murdered him, drained his blood into a vessel and carried the corpse into the synagogue, pouring out the blood in the vestibule.

The governor of the city, greatly distressed at the disappearance of his beloved son, issued a proclamation and called upon the inhabitants to bring him any information they might have been able to gather concerning his child. The city was in a state of great excitement, but no trace of the missing boy could be found. In the meantime the servants of the governor discovered the body of the murdered boy in the synagogue and brought it to the sorrowing father. ‘The Jews’, they triumphantly exclaimed, ‘have murdered thy child and we have found his mutilated body in their place of worship.’

When the governor of the city saw the mutilated body of his beloved son and heard the words of his servants, his wrath knew no bounds and he cursed the Jews to whom he had shown so many favours but who had returned evil for good. The elders of the community were immediately summoned into his presence and the governor of the city thus addressed them:

‘I command you to deliver into my power the monster who has committed the atrocious deed so that I may wreak vengeance on him. Should you refuse to obey my command, I swear to you that I will destroy the whole Jewish community in this city.’

When the elders of the community heard these words, they were terribly frightened and unable to utter a word of protest against the atrocious accusation.

‘Grant us a short time’, they stammered at last, ‘that we may search for the culprit.’ Thereupon they called together all the members of the community and fasted and prayed to God to save the children of Israel. When Rabbi Kalonymos heard of the terrible danger...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• I. Nature and Sources of Jewish Folklore
• II. Characteristics of Jewish Folklore
• III. Nature and Creation
• IV. Fauna and Flora
• V. Demonology
• VI. Magic, Astrology, Augury, Omens and Dreams
• VII. Man and the Parts of His Body
• VIII. Birth, Marriage and Death
• IX. Folk-Medicine
• X. Customs and Practices
• XI. Jewish Folktales and their Origin
• XII. A Collection of Folktales
• XIII. Wonder-Tales, Legends and Moral Tales
• XIV. Variants and Parallels in the Folklore of Other Nations
• XV. Proverbs and Maxims
• XVI. Influence of Jewish Folklore on the Jewish Religion
• Bibliography
• Index