splendor of his throne, where he rests. For I know
that its height mounts up to the heavens, and its head
reaches unto the clouds.' And the man said unto me :
' Come with me, and I shall show thee his joy and
the glory of his resting-place.' So I went after him,
led and supported by him, until he brought me to the
tent of Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, where were
also Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur of the tribe
of Judah, and all the princes of the congregation.
Angels kept on bringing material for the work, and
were making pleasant and beautiful canopies that shone
like the brightness of the firmament, whose covering
was of every precious stone, and whose structure was
of sapphire, and tables, lamps, thrones, and crowns for
the pure souls. We saw there a big ivory throne over-
laid with gold, which gave life to him that finds it,
and health to all his flesh. Crown stones glittered
upon it, and garments of blue and purple and scarlet
were spread over it; they sparkled like burnished
brass, the glory of all lands. Upon the top of the
throne was a crown, the weight of which was a kikkar
of gold, and a precious stone that cannot be obtained
for fine gold, nor can silver be weighed for the price
thereof. A voice was saying :' Proclaim that the
merchandise thereof shall be for them that dwell be-
fore the Lord.' And the man that talked with me said :
192 POST-BIBLICAL HEBREW LITERATURE
* Hast thou seen the crown and the lofty throne where-
upon thy brother Daniel rises as a lion, and lifts himself
up as a lioness? This is his resting-place for ever,
and here shall he dwell, because he hearkened to the
word of the Lord, and there is no sage or thinker like
him in all the earth.' Thereupon I rendered praise
and thanks unto my Lord, because He brought him
to the rest and to the inheritance ; and I said : ' Blessed
be the Lord who is one, and who has no second, because
He has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth
toward my master.'
When we ascended to the higher steps of Eden, we
saw a thing whereat we marvelled ; for there we saw
men who during their life were ravenous beasts, bad
to God and bad to men; they died as wicked men the
death of them that are slain ; their blood was poured
out as water, and their flesh as dung. When I saw
them shine like the brightness of the firmament, their
heig;ht mounting up to the heavens, and their head
reaching unto the clouds, I said in my heart : ' Behold,
the Lord has forgiven the sin of many, and makes
intercession for the transgressors.' I then inquired
of the man that talked with me, that I might know the
reason why these men deserved this lofty rank. And
he said unto me : ' These men sinned, dealt perversely,
and transgressed; for their sin they perished before
their time, and were filled with bitterness ; they were
delivered into the hands of cruel people, and fell
wounded, having been pierced through, into the lions'
dens and upon the mountains of the leopards ; they were
left together unto the fowl of heaven and unto the rav-
enous birds of the mountains. When they approached
the bitterness of death, they recalled the wickedness they
had done, and accepted the bitterness of death with love,
IMM^NUEL B. SOLOMON OF ROME 193
knowing that it came to them as a just retribution.
Death was more pleasant unto them than Hfe, because
they considered that they deserved a greater calamity,
and that through these sufferings they were redeemed
from a severer punishment than death. When at the
point of dying they showed their joy and dehght with
their mouth and heart ; and because they had received
part of their punishment in the corrupt world, wrath
was averted from their souls. Their death having
been cruel and bitter, it was accounted as a crown of
glory and a diadem of beauty upon the head of their
souls. It is, therefore, because of the.r death that they
deserved this glorious rank.'
13
XXXIV. JUDAH B. ASHER
[German Talmudist. He was born in Germany in 1270, and
died in 1349 at Toledo where he was rabbi. He was a son of
the great tahnudic authority Asher b. Jehiel, known as the
Rosh, and brother of Jacob, author of the famous code entitled
Tiirini.]
Ethical and Moral Admonitions*
Take heed that ye belong not to the following four
sects which will not see the Presence of God:
The Sect of Liars. Let no false and deceitful
matter be found in you, but truth and faithfulness
shall be the girdle of your loins. There was a man in
our family, named Rabbi Eliakum, who was in the
house of the governor, and was entrusted with every-
thing. The governor boasted to his own people that
this Eliakum never uttered any falsehood, whether he
derived any benefit, or not. It is narrated that there
was once a wicked man who committed all kinds of
sins. One day he asked a wise man to teach him the
way of repentance in an easy manner, and the latter
said to him : ' Refrain from telling lies.' He went
forth joyful and glad of heart, thinking that the wise
man permitted him to walk in the stubbornness of his
heart as heretofore. When he determined to steal, as
had been his custom, he reflected : ' What am I to
do in case somebody asks me : " Whither art thou
going?" If I tell the truth: "To steal," I shall be
arrested ; if I tell a lie, I shall transgress the command
o'^ the wise man.' In the same manner he reflected
^ Part of the ethical will of Judah b. Asher. Schechter's
edition, pp. 11, seq.
194
JUDAH B. ASHER i95
on all other sins, and repented with a perfect repent-
ance.
The Sect of Scoffers. Be ye not scoffers, lest
your bands be made strong,' and lest a fire consume
your spirit. Guard yourselves against mockery and
derision, for it is forbidden that a man should fill his
mouth with laughter in this world. Be not merry on
account of money, for this is likewise the way of
robbers.
The Sect of Flatterers. Take heed that ye flat-
ter not any man, and respect no person in judgment.
The Sect of Those that Talk Scandal. Be very
much on your guard against this thing, for it leads to
many sins ; most men stumble over it. Our teachers of
blessed memory said in tractate Baba Batra: * Most
men are prone to robbery, few of them to incest, and
all of them to slander.' ' The last part is explained as
referring to something which resembles slander. Our
teachers of blessed memory also said : ' Let no man
talk of his friend's merits, if he may thereby be led
to blame him.' * To all such cases refers the saying :
' I have not found for the body anything better than
silence.' * A man should always think before speak-
ing: if there is any profit in his speech, he should
speak, otherwise he should be silent ; how much more
should he abstain from speaking, if there is harm in
his speech!
Guard yourselves against pride, for every one that is
proud is the abomination of the Lord. Pride is God's
garment, and he who makes use of the crown shall
perish. A wise man has said : ' How can a man be
' Comp. Isaiah 28. 22.
' Baba Batra 1653.
* "Arakin i6a.
° Pirke Abot i. 17.
196 POST-BIBLICAL HEBREW LITERATURE
proud, having passed twice through the womb ? '
Chng' to humility, for it is the best of ail qualities, and
it is for this virtue that Moses our teacher, peace be
upon him, was praised, as it is written: ' And the man
Moses was very meek.' * And our teachers of blessed
memory said: 'Be exceeding humble of spirit.''
Our teachers of blessed memory also said : ' That
which wisdom made a crown for its head did humility
make a sandal for its heel.' *
Take care to honor every man, that 3^e may thereby
be honored, as it is written : ' For them that honor Me
I will honor.' ^ Some people asked a wise man :
' How is it that we always see thee honor every man ? '
He replied : ' I have not seen a man in whom I do not
discover an advantage over me for which I should
honor him. If he is old, I say: " This man performed
more good deeds than I." If he is rich, I say: " This
man gave more alms than I." If he is young, I say :
" Lcommitted more sins than he." If he is poor, I say:
"This man suffered pain." If he is wiser than I, I
honor him for his wisdom. If he is not wiser than I,
I say : " His punishment is lighter than mine." ' Hear
this, and know it for yourselves.
Be also careful to love and respect him who reproves
you. We thus read in the tractate "Arakin, in the
chapter There Are Estimations : Rabbi Johanan says :
' I call heaven and earth to testify against me that
A.kiba was beaten several times on account of me, be-
cause I used to complain against him to Rabban
Gamaliel ; and yet he loved me all the more for that,
' Numbers 12. 3.
' Pirke Abot 4. 4.
^ Yerushalmi Shabbat 3c, in commenting on Psalm iii. 10
and Proverbs 22. 4.
" I Samuel 2. 30.
JUDAH B. ASHER 197
in order to fulfil that which is written : " Reprove a
wise man, and he v/ill love thee. ' ' '" A wise man
has said : ' Love him who reproves thee, and hate him
who lauds thee ; for he who reproves thee benefits thee,
while he who lauds thee harms thee.'
Consider also that man is a sojourner on earth, his
days are counted and he knows not their number ; nor
does he know when he will be summoned before the
King of kings to render account and reckoning of all
that he has done. He should therefore perform all the
good deeds he can ; and let no commandment be too
small in his sight, for there is no limit to its reward.
In the world to come, when the Lord, who is blessed,
pays the righteous their reward, the righteous man
will ask : ' Why do I get such a reward ? ' and it will
be said unto him : ' Because thou performedst such and
such a good deed on such and such a day.' Whereupon
he will sigh, saying : ' For such a small thing I get
such a great reward ! Woe to the days that I wasted, in
which I did not occupy myself with good deeds.'
The wise man should therefore take heed not to waste
au hour ot his life, but should occupy himself with
good deeds, and continually meditate in the fear of the
Lord and in His service.
'Arakin 16b.
XXXV. KALONYMOS B.
KALONYMOS B. MEIR
[Satirical writer and philosopher. He was born at Aries in
1286, and died in the first half of the fourteenth century. He
lived for some time in Rome, and acquired fame as an original
writer and translator. His best known works are Eben Bohan
(Stone of Investigation) and Masseket Purini. The former,
written in rhymed prose, and modelled to some extent after
Jedaiah ha-Bedersi's Behinat 'Olam, is a sharp criticism of the
author himself and of his contemporaries, while the latter is
an extremely clever parody of the Talmud. He also trans-
lated scientific books into Hebrew.]
Admonitions To His Heart ^
O my heart, draw nigh, I pray thee ; keep silence,
and hearken ; consider my meditation ; know and dis-
cern the coming out of my words ; give ear to my
sayings. Shalt thou never observe the covenant ? shalt
thou be like an adamant harder than flint? and shalt
thou not take the flint of the testimony to cut off thy
foreskin and to remove thy reproach ? ^ If in the days
of delight and in the time of good will thy ways are
unstable, what will happen when the end is come upon
thee? The days of evil shall rise against thee to de-
stroy thee; thou shalt be driven forth from the midst
of men ; in solitude shalt thou dwell, deserted and for-
saken. What will become of thy dreams? Thou wilt
be grieved for the former days that were better, and
wilt groan at thy latter end.
O my heart, consider, hearken unto this. Knowest
thou not that youth lasts not forever, and that the end
^ Part of Eben Bohan, Venice edition, p. sgd.
^ Cornp. Exodus 4. 25 and Isaiah 8. 16.
KALONYMOS B. KALONYMOS B. MEIR I99
of man is to die? A brother cannot redeem, none has
power, and the riches of the gold of Sheba and the
heights of the mountains profit not. Even if I ascend
up into the heaven, and make my bed in Sheol, I shall
never be able to redeem my life from destruction. Be-
hold, a day is coming, a day of vengeance and a year
of recompense, in which He will fill me with bitterness.
There is no escape, for the snares of death will over-
take me within the straits. As for Him who tries the
hearts. His eyelids will on that day try the open and
secret deeds of the children of men.
O my heart, turn round, and seek thy God within
thee. It is enough for thee to reveal thyself as one
of the vain fellows. Turn behind thee, for there is
still hope now. Thou shalt again dwell in tents as in the
days of the solemn feast, settled in a pleasant place.
Fear God, and keep His commandments which are en-
joined upon thee. If thou seekest Him, God will be
gracious unto thee ; it is from Him that thy fruit is
found, the fruit which He gives according to thy deeds.
Perform good deeds while thy mind is at ease, thy
body fresh, and thy constitution, not lacking the right
proportion, abides under the shadow of good health.
It is within thy power to lift up the curtain, so that
the cloud may be consvmied. Look upon thy weapons
wherewith thou doest thy work, thy quiver and thy
bow; the strength and the blood of the body are thy
rod and thy staflf; in them lies the stability of thy
fortune ; thou shalt find them when thou seekest them ;
none among them is perverse or crooked.
O my heart, be strong and of good courage while
the freshness of youth yet lasts : the tree of knowledge
is yet in its greenness, its leaves are not scattered, and
the twin-leaf is not divided; before old age strips me
200 POST-BIBLICAL HEBREW LITERATURE
of the coat of youth, and sets me naked and bare :
before ' the one that departeth and cometh not back ' ^
will be taken away from me ; while the cord that fell
unto me in pleasantness is not yet loosed, and before
the golden bowl is broken ; before the pure pieces of
gold are changed, and before the wheel which turns
about in the world by the command of the Almighty
on high is broken. Then shall follow days of terror,
during which the half-dead and feeble will not die for
a month or for some years. But it shall happen one
day that we shall awake and see that we were like
unto them that dream.
O my heart, if not now, when shall I seek rest for
me? Shall I do it in the days of hoary hair, when the
strength fails? The branch of all mortals shall wither ;
even the tender and delicate shall be dried up and
wither when they grow old ; their skin shall shrivel.
Will God create a new thing in me, that I may have
youth after I have grown old? Behold, I was formed
out of clay; nature fashioned me small in my dimen-
sions; I have the face of a man, not the face of an
eagle that renews its youth at the time of old age.
Moreover, I am of contrite spirit ; to my disadvantage,
I was different from the young men my companions.
In my youth, without old age and without mature years,
I almost grew old and became grey. ^ My strength was
enfeebled as that of a woman. My senses grew weak,
my thoughts became deranged, and yet I was not ad-
vanced in years. My face was wrinkled before my
time, and my skin was dried up, so that it became like
furrows. My head which, while in its freshness, was
as the most fine gold, and upon which brown hair
was grown, has white branches now, because hoariness,
"That is, Youth. Comp. Shabbat 152a.
KALONYMOS B. KALONYMOS B. MEIR 201
snowing in its midst, is scattered over it. In the prime
of my life, while still in its full strength, my hair was
plucked and torn out, and was moved out of its place.
Shall my stature, which was like a palm-tree, and my
back, which was straighter than a hedge, now be bowed
down as a rush, so that none can raise it? My locks,
which were curly and intertwined, fall out and are
scattered. The tresses of my head, which were de-
sirable as gold, and the hair thereof which was like
purple, has become scanty, and through its departure
has left breaches. What shall I do when God arises
to seek my iniquity; for behold, my sins shall surely
be found.
XXXVI. LEVI B. GERSHON
[Philosopher, biblical commentator, mathematician, and phy-
sician. He is commonly called Gersonides, and is also known
as Leon of Bagnols. He was born at Bagnols in 1288, and
died in 1344. He was exceedingly versatile, and displayed keen
originality in all branches. His best known works are his com-
mentaries and his philosophic book Milhamot ha-Shem
(Battles of the Lord).]
The Difficulties in Investigating the Problem
Whether the Universe Is Created or Eternal'
It behooves us first of all to point out the great
difficulty of this investigation, as this will lead us to
some extent to make the investigation into this problen>
more complete. For by being aware of the difficulty
of a problem, we are guided to the way which leads us
to the attainment of the truth thereof.
The fact that the philosophers who have hitherto
investigated it greatly differ from one another in their
opinions concerning it points to its difficulty ; for this
proves that arguments may be derived from the nature
of existing things, wherewith each of the conflicting
views can be either established or refuted. And it is
very difficult to investigate a problem with such a
peculiarity.
What undoubtedly points to the great difficulty in-
herent in this enquiry is the fact that we have to inves-
tigate whether all existing things were created by
God, who is blessed, after a period of non-existence,
or were never created at all. Now it is manifest that
if we desire to fathom one of the attributes of an
^Milhamot ha-Shem, part VI, chapters i and 2.
202
LEVI B. GERSHON 203
object, by the way of speculative investigation, whether
that object possesses that attribute or not, it is first of
all necessary that we should know the essence of the
object and its attributes. For it is only through them
that we may attain to that which we seek to know.
It is thus evident that one who desires to investigate
this problem thoroughly must first of all know the
essence and attributes of the thing under examina-
tion as far as it is possible for man to perceive. This
would necessitate that a man desirous of thoroughly
investigating this subject should know the nature and
the attributes of all existing things, so that he may be
able to explain whether there is among them a thing
or an attribute which would lead us to the conclusion
that the universe was not created ; or whether there is
among them a thing or an attribute which would lead
us to the conclusion that the universe was created ; or
whether there is not among them a thing or an attribute
from which it could be concluded either that the uni-
verse was created, or that it was not created. The
matter being so, a man, to whom the knowledge of one
of the existing things or of the attributes thereof, so
far as a human being can possibly know, is inaccessible,
is unable to make as thorough an investigation of this
problem as is humanly possible. Now it is evident that
to obtain as thorough a knowledge of all existing things
and of their attributes as is humanly possible is ex-
tremely difficult.
What makes this investigation more difficult is the
fact that the investigator must necessarily have
some knowledge of the First Cause as^far as it is pos-
sible. For this enquiry leads him to investigate whether
God, who is blessed, could possibly have existed at first
without this world, which He afterwards brought into
204 POST-BIBLICAL HEBREW LITERATURE
existence and created, or it is necessary that the world
should have always existed with Him. It is, however,
evident from the preceding argument itself that it is
necessary for a man, desirous of making this investiga-
tion as perfect as possible, to know of the essence of
God, who is blessed, all that can be attained, so that
he may be able to decide accurately whether God, who
is blessed, can possibly be active at one time, and cease
to be active at another time, or whether this is im-
possible. This greatly adds to the difficulty of this in-
vestigation, since our knowledge of the essence of the
First Cause is necessarily slight, as has become mani-
fest from the preceding".
Another point which makes this investigation still
more difficult is the circumstance that it is hard to know
from which essences or attributes of existing things it is
possible for us to attain to the truth of this problem.
For it is necessary that a man, desirous of making this
investigation perfect, should know this at the very out-
set, otherwise he can only attain to the truth thereof
by accident.
The statement of the philosopher/ as recorded by the
author of the Guide, points to the difficulty of this in-
vestigation. It is as follows : ' As for the things con-
cerning which we have no argument, and which are
too high for us, our statement about them is, accord-
ing to this, as difficult as our statement whether the
world is eternal or not.' ^ This shows that this ques-
tion was considered extremely difficult by the philoso-
pher, so that he was perplexed and doubtful about it,
despite the numgrous arguments he mentioned to prove
that the universe is eternal. The reason for that is
' That is, Aristotle.
^ Guide of the Perplexed, book II, chapter 15. The quotation
is inaccurate.
LEVI B. GERSHON 205
undoubtedly because the philosopher assumed that
there were numerous arguments likewise to prove
that the universe was created, and that his own argu-
ments did not in any way establish the truth in this
matter; and this is the very truth, as will be explained
further on. Now if this question was considered diffi-
cult by the philosopher, despite his high rank of wisdom,
how much more difficult would it be to other men who
are lower than he on the ladder of knowledge.
And indeed we find that the opinions of the ancients
concerning this investigation are diametrically opposed
to one another. Some maintain that the universe was
created and destroyed an endless number of times.
Others hold that it was created only once ; these are
divided into two opinions : some of them think that
the universe was created out of something, as, for
instance, Plato and the later philosophers who follow
his doctrine ; while others think that the universe
was created out of absolute non-existence, as for
instance the early Mutakallimites, like Yahya the
grammarian, according to what Ibn Rushd recorded
of him in his commentary on the Metaphysics. In
this theory they were followed by the Mutakallimites.
This view was also adopted by the great philosopher,
the author of the Guide, and by many of the sages of
our religion. But there are still others who maintain
that the universe is eternal. This is the theory of the
philosopher and his followers. It is evident that the
cause of their disagreement concerning these doctrines
is the variety of objects from which they derived their
proofs with regards to the nature of existing things,
or because they were compelled by the Torah, or be-
cause of these two causes combined.
XXXVII. PROFIAT DURAN
[Philosopher and grammarian. He is called Maestre Profiat
and Efodi, but his Hebrew name was Isaac b. Moses ha-Levi.
He was born in the second half of the fourteenth century, and
lived for some time in Perpignan. During the persecutions in
1391 he was an ostensible convert to Christianity. He after-
wards wrote an epistle entitled Al Tchi ka-Aboteka (Be not
like thy Fathers) in which he attacked Christianity in such a
manner that the superficial reader may take it as a eulogy on
that religion. His best work is his philosophic-critical Hebrew
grammar entitled Ma'aseh Efod. It is so called because the
letters TQX are the initials of I«"in tOIQnD ""JN .]
The Definition of the Science of Language and
Its Branches *
The science of language is a science comprising
grammar, rhetoric, and poetry. It is therefore fitting
that its definition should be given in a manner that
harmonizes with these three branches, and afterwards
each of them should be differentiated by its specific
characteristic. I say that the science of language is
a science which teaches the general methods that may
be employed in a language, in a manner fitting the
conventionalities of that language. By saying : ' In
a manner fitting ' I wish to convey that the expres-
sion must agree with that which is conceived by the
mind, according to the linguistic axioms. I call the
study of language a science, because the term science '
is indeed more comprehensive than the philosophers
think. For they have defined science as an acquisition
which the mind attains by true beginnings and causes ;