&YIM. SCHAUSS
THE
Cifetime of a Jevo
MAI. _ DEC
is PUBLISHED
FROM THE PROCEEDS OF
THE LUDWIG VOGELSTEIN
MEMORIAL FUND
lifetime of
THROUGHOUT THE AGES OF JEWISH HISTORY
BY
HAYYIM SCHAUSS
&i
AUTHOR OF The Jewish Festivals
ork UNION OF AMERICAN HEBREW
CONGREGATIONS- mcml
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
COPYRIGHT, 1950, BY
UNION OF AMERICAN HEBREW CONGREGATIONS
PRINTED IN U.S. OF AMERICA
the mcrnorg of
MY BROTHER AND TWO SISTERS
AND THE MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILIES
WHO WERE MURDERED BY THE GERMANS
Editor's Introduction
The present work on The Lifetime of a Je*w discusses the
significant aspects in the life of the individual Jew from birth
to death. The treatment followed in this book is the same so
successfully achieved by the author in his previous volume on
The Jewish Festivals.
To the best of our knowledge this is the first book in which
a writer not only gives the historical and ceremonial signifi-
cance of each of the great events of birth, bar mitsvo, educa-
tion, marriage, and death, but also traces the observances con-
nected with these events through the centuries and in various
lands. The book therefore is a unique contribution to the story
of Jewish life.
The author who is steeped in Jewish life and lore ap-
proaches his subject critically, yet with warmth, sympathy,
and enthusiasm. This twofold treatment is indeed a significant
achievement. As a result, the book will serve as a popular
reader for young people and adults, as well as a book of study
for all those who are interested in the subject.
A word should be said concerning the plan of transliteration
followed in this book. Usually schemes of transliteration fol-
low the S'fardic pronunciation. In view of the fact that the
Jews in America use mainly the Ashk'nazic pronunciation,
many of the Hebrew terms when transliterated in accordance
with S'fardic practice strike them as strange, even when these
terms are familiar to them in the form commonly employed in
conversation among Jews. The plan we have followed is there-
fore largely popular and phonetic and in accordance with the
Ashk'nazic pronunciation with very few exceptions. Where
words and phrases have become familiar in the S'fardic form,
we have retained them. We hope therefore that the average
vii
viii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
layman interested in the subject will find the book more read-
able.
Mention should be made concerning the notes presented by
the author in the back of the book. They will be of special in-
terest to students of the subject. They contain important
source material, references to scientific literature, comments,
and explanations. These should be helpful, as should also the
bibliography and glossary there appended.
We trust that an intelligent and sympathetic understanding
of the ceremonies connected with the great events in the life
of the individual Jew will help our people to appreciate the
spiritual ideals that constitute the central thread of that life.
EMANUEL GAMORAN
preface
This book was written as a companion volume to The Jewish
Festivals, first published in 1938, following its general style
and pattern.
The study of the lifetime of a Jew throughout the ages is
based on original research into primary sources. The descrip-
tion, however, of the joyous occasions and celebrations of
Jewish family life in Eastern Europe is, with few exceptions,
derived from the personal observation of the author as a child
in his native town in Lithuania which, together with all other
Jewish communities in that land of deeply rooted Jewish life
and learning, was destroyed and wiped off the earth by the
Germans in 1941. Barring some minor details the description
in this book holds true of every Jewish community in Eastern
Europe a generation ago.
The author desires to express his acknowledgment and
thanks to all who were helpful to him in preparing the book:
to Professor Louis Ginzberg of the Jewish Theological Semi-
nary, New York City, for many scholarly remarks on some of
the topics treated; to Dr. William G. Braude, Rabbi Leon
Fram, and Dr. Solomon B. Freehof of the Commission on Jew-
ish Education for reading the manuscript and making many
valuable suggestions; to Mr. M. Myer Singer for the splendid
typography and physical make-up of the book; to Dr. Franz
Landsberger, Curator of the Museum, and Mr. Isaac Goldberg,
Administrative Secretary of the Library, of the Hebrew
Union College; and to Mrs. Philip Dreifus and Mrs. M. Myer
Singer for many important changes in language and style and
for their help in preparing the manuscript for the printer. His
boundless gratitude is due to Dr. Emanuel Gamoran who
worked hard and painstakingly in editing the book and with-
ix
X PREFACE
out whose extended friendship the book would not have been
written.
The writer mentions with deep sorrow the late Rabbi Louis
Feinberg who read the manuscript in its final revision and
made a number of helpful suggestions. He is also grateful to
the librarians of the Jewish division of the New York Public
Library and of the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary
of America for help rendered in the course of his writing.
He regrets that limits of space made it necessary for him to
be selective in his references to sources and to scientific litera-
ture.
H. S.
Contents
EDITOR S INTRODUCTION Vli
PREFACE IX
INTRODUCTION 3
PART ONE
A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
I. IN ANCIENT TIMES 1 1
II. IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 20
III. IN THE MIDDLE AGES 3 I
IV. IN MODERN TIMES 51
V. BELIEFS CONCERNING BIRTH 63
PART TWO
THE CHILD GROWS
VI. BEGINNINGS 79
VII. THE BELIEF IN THE EVIL EYE 85
VIII. THE CHILD IN HOME AND SYNAGOGUE 9 1
IX. GOING TO SCHOOL 95
X. BAR MITSVO 112
PART THREE
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
XI. IN BIBLICAL TIMES 125
XII. IN LATE BIBLICAL AND POST-BIBLICAL TIMES 138
XIIL IN THE FIRST CENTURIES OF THE COMMON ERA 146
XIV. IN THE MIDDLE AGES 158
xi
Xll CONTENTS
XV. IN MODERN TIMES 179
XVI. MARRIAGE AMONG THE s'FARDIM IN PALESTINE 198
XVII. BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH MARRIAGE 2O6
PART FOUR
DEATH, FUNERAL, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
XVIII. IN BIBLICAL TIMES 223
XIX. IN THE FIRST CENTURIES OF THE COMMON ERA 229
XX. IN THE MIDDLE AGES 2 50
XXI. IN MODERN TIMES 258
XXII. BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 273
CONCLUSION 301
NOTES 305
GLOSSARY 323
INDEX 327
Illustrations
Between pages 144 and 145
Palestinian Lamps
Coin of the Second Revolt
Circumcision Knives
Chair of Elijah
Paper Amulet to Ward Off Evil Spirits at Childbirth
Platter for the Redemption of the First-Born
Amulets
Spice-Boxes
Kiddush Cup
~Bimo of the Wooden Synagogue at G t wod%iec i z
"A Difficult Passage" by Isidor Kaufmann
"Examination in Hebrew" by Moritz Oppenheim
Silver M*zu<zo
Wedding Rings
Silver T'filin Cases
"Carrying the Law" by William Rothenstein
"Wedding under the Chupo" by Moritz Oppenheim
Fragment from the Book of Sira
K'subo (Marriage Contract)
Tombs in the Kidron Valley near Jerusalem
The Get (Bill of Divorcement)
Sefer Ha-Chasidim (Title Page)
5T111
illustrations FOR THIS VOLUME
WERE FURNISHED IN GREATER PART
BY THE JEWISH MUSEUM, HEBREW
UNION COLLEGE, CINCINNATI
tte lifetime of a
Introduction
A Panorama of Jewish Life ... In these pages we shall pre-
sent a panorama of Jewish life throughout the ages of Jewish
history. It is not the life of the Jewish people as a whole that
will be depicted, but the life of the individual Jew, of the aver-
age individual within the circle of his family and of the com-
munity in which he lived, commencing with his birth and
concluding with the memorial services and prayers for him
after his death. Between birth and death, we shall be concerned
with the solemn moments which mark the milestones in his
life. All these occasions in man's career on earth are marked
by symbolic rites and religious ceremonies. They have, since
ancient times, been surrounded by popular customs intended
to bring good luck to the individual and to safeguard his wel-
fare. These rites and ceremonies, customs and beliefs, which
lend form and color to the Jewish way of life, will be traced
through tHe various epochs of Jewish history, and in the light
of the non-Jewish environment in which the Jews lived.
Popular Customs and Beliefs . . . The customs which we
shall discuss are not all of one kind, nor of the same origin.
A great many of them are just details of the Jewish ritual.
They grew out of Jewish religious life, and need no special
introduction to the reader. They were, from the very outset,
part and parcel of the Jewish ritual. But there were some
spurious customs in Jewish life which Jews had observed in
common with other peoples, and which, in the course of cen-
turies, had been spiritualized and Judaized. Originally they
were charms and safeguards based on ancient, primitive be-
liefs. They stemmed from pre-historic times, when the fore-
bears of the Jews were still worshipping many gods; or they
3
4 INTRODUCTION
came to the Jews later by way of the heathen peoples among
whom they lived, beginning with the Canaanites, the pre-
Israelitic inhabitants of Palestine.
But the Jews evolved a religious faith based on ethical mono-
theism, on the belief in a universe ruled by one supreme ethical
being. This religious faith demanded that its adherents lead a
sanctified life. It was in sharp contrast to the nature worship
and the way of life of all other polytheistic nations. It made of
the Jews "a people that shall dwell alone and shall not be
reckoned among the nations" (Num. 23:9).
A monotheistic religion, in which the one and only God is
the sole cause of all phenomena in nature as well as in human
life, is bound to be hostile to heathen superstition, and to frown
upon all usages based on the belief in evil spirits and witch-
craft. The teachers and preachers of the Jewish monotheistic
religion were, therefore, battling vehemently against the cus-
toms which the Jews had in common with their heathen neigh-
bors. The Mosaic Law exhorts the people against defilement
by the ways of the heathens. "After the doings of the land of
Egypt, where ye dwelt, shall ye not do; and after the doings
of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do;
neither shall ye walk in their statutes . . . And ye shall not
walk in the customs of the nation, which I am casting out be-
fore you; for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred
them . . . Turn ye not unto the ghosts, nor unto familiar
spirits; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord
your God" (Lev. 18:3; 19:31; 20:23).
But people seldom recognize the inconsistencies of their be-
liefs and religious practices. The masses of the Jewish people,
notwithstanding their adherence to the God of Israel, clung
tenaciously to the spurious customs so rooted in their life.
This led to a struggle between the laws of the official Jewish
religion and the customs of the people. In the long run the folk
prevailed. The rabbis continued to yield to them, and to give
sanction to customs which were originally not at all in the
spirit of the Jewish monotheistic faith. However, this struggle
INTRODUCTION $
became a historic process of mutual adaptation. The question-
able customs were reinterpreted by the teachers of the Torah,
and filled with Jewish content, so that they fitted into the
colorful picture of Jewish life.
The attitude of the rabbis toward popular beliefs was not
stable nor uniform. Some of the rabbis were more, some less
amenable to them. Apparently the attitude of each rabbi de-
pended in great measure upon the environment in which he
had grown up, whether it was among the learned classes or
among superstitious peasant folk. The attitude varied also in
the different periods of Jewish history. In Biblical times the
Jewish monotheistic religion was in danger of being submerged
by the polytheistic and idolatrous nature cults of the heathen
nations. The Jewish religious leaders in those times were there-
fore adamant in their refusal to accept anything that savored
of heathenism. The Mosaic Law is replete with interdictions
against the practicing of customs used in foreign cults. In post-
Biblical times, however, the situation changed. The Jewish
monotheistic faith had become strongly entrenched among all
classes of the Jewish people and Jewish leaders were no longer
so fearful of foreign usages. In those days many customs of
heathen origin gained admittance among Jews, and were ap-
proved by the religious leaders. However, even then the gates
were not wide open to all popular customs and beliefs. In the
Talmud and the Midrash we have, on the one hand, lists of ap-
proved customs and, on the other, of forbidden customs which
are designated by the special term for all heathen practices,
midarchei ho-Emori (of the ways of the Amorites). 1
The Arnorites were not the only ones from whom the
Jews had taken over numerous observances. A great many
popular beliefs and folkways were derived from various other
peoples in whose midst they lived: the Greco-Romans, the
Babylonians, the Germans, and the Slavs. In the following
chapters we shall meet with copious instances of these customs.
Many Jewish customs were, in time, incorporated into the
Jewish ritual code, some as ritual laws obligatory on all Jews,
INTRODUCTION
and others not as binding laws, but merely as current usages.
A great many customs were not even recorded in the ritual
code. Certain superstitious practices and beliefs spread pro-
fusely among Jews in the Middle Ages under the impact of
the superstitious non- Jewish environment. Many religious
authorities protested against the practicing of certain customs
as darchei ho-Emori. But the protests of the rabbis were in
vain. The folk would not discard any customs that appealed to
the popular mind. In time the origin of these spurious customs
faded from memory. People forgot that they were based on
superstition. Not from magic powers but from the One and
Only God in heaven did the Jew now expect aid and support
in the critical moments of his life. So many ordinary customs,
not religious in origin, were reinterpreted and elevated to serve
spiritual ends. To the mind of the pious Jew all these customs
were practiced "for the sake of heaven."
Epochs in Jewish Life ... A few words must be said here
regarding the epochs in Jewish history into which the chapters
of this book are subdivided.
We begin in each case with Biblical times, referring fre-
quently to various passages in Biblical books. The Bible is an
extensive literature, reflecting all phases of Jewish life for
nearly a thousand years. It is the source not only of Jewish
religious ideals and Biblical history; but it is also our main
source book for Jewish life in ancient days. Many of the cus-
toms and traditions, many of the rites and folk-beliefs which
regulate the life of the individual, from birth to death, may be
studied in the Bible.
On leaving Biblical times we enter the epoch of the Second
Temple, by which is meant the last 200-250 years of that
epoch in Jewish history. Although the Second Temple was
finished in the year 516 B.C.E. and was destroyed by the Ro-
mans in the year 70 C.E., we know little of Jewish life in this
era until the year 166 B.C.E., which marked the beginning of
the Maccabean revolt. In these last two centuries of the Second
INTRODUCTION 7
Temple many changes took place in Jewish life, owing to the
contact with the Greco-Roman world. In this period, too, the
foundations of the Talmud were laid, and it may therefore also
be called the Early Talmudic period.
When we reach the beginning of the Common Era, the
picture of Jewish life becomes more vivid and colorful, owing
to the rich material available in the Talmud and kindred litera-
ture. From the third century on, the center of Jewish life was
shifted from Palestine to Babylonia, and we have to deal, in
that period, with Jewish life in two different environments.
The Balylonian Talmud was concluded at the end of the fifth
century. The post-Talmudic time, until the eleventh century,
is called G'onic, after the religious authorities who ruled Jew-
ish life in that epoch of Jewish history. The two heads of the
two Talmudic academies in Babylonia, in Sura and in Pumbe-
ditha, who were then recognized by all Jewish communities as
the supreme judges and religious leaders, bore the title Gaon
(pride, alluding probably to "the pride of Jacob" in Psalm
45=5)-
From the eleventh century onward the hegemony of Jewish
life was shifted from the Orient to the European continent.
In the course of the following centuries, centers of Jewish life
developed in many European lands. The dispersion of the Jews
became more wide-spread in the Middle Ages, and local cus-
toms in the Jewish communities more varied. There was a
great discrepancy in custom between the Ashk'nazim (Ger-
man and Polish Jews) and the S'fardim (Spanish and Portu-
guese Jews). But there were numerous differences in rites and
customs also within the communities of the Ashk'nazim.
In recent centuries the main center of Jewish life had shifted
from Western to Eastern Europe. Until the Second World
War, Eastern Europe continued to be the reservoir of Jewish
life, Jewish traditions, Jewish learning, and all Jewish creative
activities. It was there that the Jewish way of life with all its
peculiarities, with all its rites, customs, and folkways, had
reached its fullest growth. Owing to the extensive area of
8 INTRODUCTION
Eastern Europe, Jewish customs and modes of life in its com-
ponent parts were not identical. But the account in this book
of Jewish life in Eastern Europe is, in general, descriptive of
all the Jewish communities there.
These communities, alas, are gone. The Germans, with sav-
age cruelty, exterminated the Jews of Eastern Europe in
World War II. The Jewish life in an East European com-
munity, which the author describes from memories of child-
hood, is no more. It belongs to the past, to history.
PART ONE
Jetoisii Child Is JBorn
I
In Ancient Times
In the various books of the Bible there are many passages re-
ferring to the birth of a Jewish child. They give us the follow-
ing picture.
The Birth of a Child . . . The woman in travail was probably
placed on a birth-stool in a half-sitting, half-lying posture. 2
A few women, relatives and neighbors, stood near her. There
was also a midwife present. Jewish women had a reputation
for natural strength and vitality. For the most part they were
delivered easily and quickly, like the Bedouin women, often
"ere the midwife came unto them." 3
However, the life of the woman was endangered, especially
when her first child was delivered. At times, however, the de-
livery ^vas so painful that the woman died in labor. The mid-
wife and the other women tried to calm and encourage her
by holding out the prospect of a son. 4 People believed that the
pain of the delivery of a child was a curse from God. He had
punished Eve by his decree that woman would bring forth
children in pain.
As soon as the woman was delivered of a son, someone was
sent quickly to bring the good tidings to the father: "A man-
child is born unto you!" 5 The heart of the father was filled
with joy, for "a heritage of the Lord are sons." It was a great
misfortune not to have a son who could "raise his name upon
his inheritance." But a woman was not happy with only one
son. Even when she had borne four sons and she "left off bear-
ing," she was unhappy. This unhappiness is described in the
story of Leah. A large family was the greatest blessing. The
ii
12 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
ideal life was one in which "one eats the labor of his hands, his
wife is a fruitful vine, and his children are like olive plants
round about his table." 6
The new-born babe was immediately bathed in warm water,
rubbed with salt and wrapped in swaddling clothes. 7 It was
then given to the mother to be nursed. Immediately, the news
spread through the entire neighborhood. The women of the
town carried the news from one to another, and soon a num-
ber of them gathered at the house of the confined woman to
bless her in the name of God. 8
Naming the Child . . . The child was given a name as soon
as it was born. Sometimes the father chose the name, some-
times the mother; often a name was suggested by relatives and
friends. 9
The present accepted custom of naming children after de-
ceased relatives, especially grandparents, did not exist among
Jews prior to the Babylonian exile. There is no record of the
same name repeated in the genealogy of a family, as in later
epochs of Jewish history. In pre-Exilic times we have the
genealogy of the dynasty of King David, with the names of
twenty-one kings of Judah, none of whom bears the name of
an ancestor. None is named after David, the founder of the
dynasty. There is not the slightest suggestion of such a cus-
tom anywhere in the Biblical records of pre-Exilic days. Every
Jew ardently desired to have his name remembered and firmly
fixed in regard to his children and his property. The greatest
curse was to have one's name "blotted out of Israel." But this
did not imply that a man's descendants should be named after
him. It only meant that he had to have a son who would inherit
his property. In a levirate marriage, when a man died without
issue and the brother had to marry the widow, the first-born
of this marriage was recognized as the son of the deceased, but
did not bear his name. 10
In those days a child's name expressed a definite idea, as in
Gen. 4:25, "And Adam . . . called his name Seth: 'for God
IN ANCIENT TIMES 13
hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel.' " Or it might
have expressed a hope aroused by the birth of the child, as in
Gen. 30:24, "And she called his name Joseph, saying: The
Lord add to me another son/ " Sometimes the name was chosen
because of an important event or a certain condition that pre-
vailed at the time of birth, as in Gen. 10:25, "the name of the
one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided." Often
the name expressed devotion to God, and was compounded
with E1 9 the general name for God, as in Bezalel and Ezekiel;
or with Jah, the name of the God of Israel, as in Isaiah and
Jeremiah. Children were named also after animals and plants
(Rachel ewe, Jonah dove, Shaphan cony, Deborah bee,
Tamar palm-tree). Whatever the origin of these names, in
historical times it apparently expressed love for animals and
plants or a desire that the child should have characteristics
similar to those of the respective animal or plant such as
strength, nimbleness or grace.
Circumcision ... If the baby was a boy, he was circumcised
on the eighth day after his birth. Usually the father performed
the operation, but in an exigency it was also done by tKe
mother. The operation was performed with a sharp knife of
polished stone. 11
Circumcision is not an exclusively Jewish rite. It was, and
still is practiced also among peoples and tribes all over the
world in Asia, Africa, Australia, the islands of the Pacific
Ocean, and, sporadically, among the Indian tribes of North,
Central, and South America. Today, many European and
American Christians practice circumcision for reasons of
health. Roughly estimated, between two hundred and three
hundred million people, one-seventh of the world's population,
are practicing circumcision at present. In ancient times the
Jews practiced it in common with many of their neighbors
the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Ammonites, the Moabites,
the Edomites, and the Arabs. (The Philistines, the Syrians,
and the Canaanites of Palestine were not circumcised.) How-
14 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
ever, it was only among Jews that circumcision became a
wholly religious rite, a sign of a covenant between God and
man.
The origin of circumcision, like the origins of many rites
and customs, is obscure. A great many theories, widely diver-
gent but all well grounded, have been advanced by scholars.
Some have explained the custom on hygienic grounds. These
scholars follow the Greek historian Herodotus (fifth century
B.C.E.), according to whom the Egyptians practiced circum-
cision for reasons of health. In the time of Herodotus it might
have been only the opinion of the Egyptians, for by that time
the origin of the rite must have been completely forgotten.
Present scientific authorities believe it unlikely that the sani-
tary motive played an important part in the origin of ancient
rites which date back to the pre-historic period of the race.
Much more at present in favor in the scientific world are
the theories that connect the origin of circumcision with cer-
tain religious ideas of primitive man. They are considered re-
ligious because, in primitive times, almost all ideas, including
medicine and science, were in the domain of religion. One of
these theories explains the origin of circumcision as a rite of
initiation in the tribe. According to another theory, it was
originally a rite observed at puberty as a preliminary to mar-
riage. All of the theories cannot be enumerated and discussed
here because they are not in the scope of this chapter, which
deals with the history of circumcision as a Jewish rite. We
may only say that the origin of circumcision among the various
peoples and tribes must not be attributed exclusively to any
single motive. Besides, it is not so much the origin of a rite or
custom that concerns us, as the significance which it attained
and the role which it played in life long after its origin had
been forgotten. 12
As a Jewish rite, circumcision dates back to the pre-historic
period of Jewish life. The Jews began to settle in Palestine at
the beginning of the Iron Age, but circumcision goes back to
the Stone Age. This explains the fact that much later, in his-
IN ANCIENT TIMES 15
toric times, Jews performed the operation with a knife of
stone. People are very conservative in performing religious
rites and ceremonies. They are reluctant to change and to
adopt the innovations of technical progress. In various cere-
monies dim candles are still used in place of the brilliant elec-
tric bulb. The Sacred Scriptures and all passages of the Scrip-
tures used in religious services must still be written on
parchment with a quill or a reed. In the same manner, the
knife of polished stone was employed in the rite of circum-
cision even in the Iron Age; and only in the course of time
did the iron knife eventually replace one of stone.
Even as far back as the ancient days of the independent
Jewish kingdom, the origin of circumcision as a Jewish rite
had been forgotten, and legendary tales were told about it.
One story connects it with Moses and his Midianite wife,
Zipporah. It is a short story, fragmentary, obscure, and puz^
zling to modern readers. Here is the full text:
And it came to pass on the way at the lodging-place, that the
Lord met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a flint
and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she
said: "Surely, a bridegroom of blood art thou to me." So He let
him alone. Then she said: "A bridegroom of blood in regard of the
circumcision." EXOD. 4:24-26.
Many Biblical scholars interpret this story as ascribing the in-
troduction of circumcision among the Jews to Zipporah, the
Midianite. It was she who first performed the rite, in order to
assuage the wrath of God. Other scholars interpret this story
to mean that originally the Jews, like many other peoples, per-
formed the rite of circumcision as a preliminary to marriage.
Only later was the rite transferred to the early childhood, and
this story attributes the transfer to Zipporah. Although these
interpretations are plausible, they are mere hypotheses. 13
Another legendary story in the Bible ascribes to Joshua the
circumcising of all the children of Israel with knives of flint in
order to "roll away the reproach of Egypt from off them"
16 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
(chap. 5). That spot, according to this story, was therefore
called "the hill of foreskins." The story implies that the Egyp-
tians reproached and shamed those who were not circumcised.
There is little support given to the theory of some scholars
that the Jews adopted circumcision under the Egyptian in-
fluence. However, from the name, "hill of the foreskins," we
may assume that it was highly probable that there was a time
in ancient Jewish history when all the children of one approxi-
mate age were circumcised together at a certain spot. Later,
however (in which period of ancient Jewish history we do not
know) , the eighth day after birth was fixed as the date for cir-
cumcising each male child, individually. 14
At any rate, these older traditions, which link the beginning
of circumcision among the Jews with the names of Moses and
Joshua, clearly show the obscurity of the origin of this rite in
the minds of the Jews, even in the ancient Biblical times when
these stories were told.
In the Ten Commandments, as well as in the other codes of
law in the Pentateuch, circumcision is not enjoined. Probably
it was taken for granted as an ancient rite which must not be
abandoned. It was the first prerequisite for inclusion in the
community of Israel, as it is evident from the Biblical story of
Dinah and Shechem. To be uncircumcised was synonymous
with being unclean. The Israelites disdainfully called the Phi-
listines "the uncircumcised." 15
The four great prophets of the Assyrian epoch (Amos,
Hosea, Isaiah, Micah) never mentioned circumcision. Jeremiah
was the first great prophet to mention it. He saw a symbolical
significance in circumcision, for to him the rite signified re-
moving the coarseness of the heart. He, therefore, exhorts the
people: "Circumcise yourself to the Lord and take away the
foreskins of your heart." According to Jeremiah, a man with
a rude heart retained, so to say, the foreskin of his heart, even
though he was circumcised. Thus he said briefly and point-
edly: "All the nations are uncircumcised, but all of the house
of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart." We find this same
IN ANCIENT TIMES IJ
idea in some other places in the Bible, and therefore we cannot
be sure whether or not Jeremiah originated it. 16
This first phase of circumcision as a Jewish rite ended with
the Babylonian exile. In Palestine, where the Jews practiced
circumcision in common with several neighboring peoples, the
practice could not attain any great significance as 'a particular
Jewish rite. This situation changed during the Babylonian ex-
ile. The inhabitants of Mesopotamia did not know circum-
cision. Therefore it became there a mark that distinguished the
Jews from their heathen neighbors. Ezekiel, the prophet who
lived among the Babylonian exiles, spoke scornfully of the
uncircumcised. According to Ezekiel, the distinction between
circumcised and uncircumcised is continued even after death,
In the description given by Ezekiel, there is no Valhalla (the
abode of the dead) reserved in the nether world for heroes of
war, but there are two separate divisions, one for the circum-
cised and one for the uncircumcised. 17
Circumcision attained its greatest importance in the Priestly
Writing which, according to modern critical study of the Bi-
ble, was one of the various sources or documents from which
the Pentateuch was composed. The Priestly Writing is recog-
nizable by its chronological precision, uniformity of style, and
omission of all folk-tales and popular conceptions. It divides
the history of the world into four periods: from Adam to
Noah; from Noah to Abraham; from Abraham to Moses; and
from Moses to the end of the world. In the first period, there
was no covenant between God and man; therefore God de-
stroyed the world in a flood. The second period was inaugu-
rated by a covenant between God and Noah, the token of
which was the rainbow in the sky. The third period was in-
augurated by a covenant between God and Abraham, the
token of which was the circumcision of all males. The fourth
period was inaugurated by a covenant with Israel through
Moses at Mount Sinai, the token of which was the observance
of the Sabbath. 18
Thus circumcision was declared to be the outward sign, in
l8 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
the flesh, of a covenant which bound Abraham and his children
to "walk before God Almighty and be whole-hearted." The
circumcision of a child or a proselyte meant his reception into
the community of the nation which separated itself from its
heathen neighbors and consecrated itself to the one true God.
This implied the observance of the divine commandments
which were binding upon all the members of the community.
As the sign of the covenant of Abraham, circumcision as-
sumed a deep spiritual meaning, and still is the outward mark
of belonging to the Jewish community.
The Hebrew word for covenant is Vris. Hence, circum-
cision is called, by Jews, tfris milo (the covenant of circum-
cision) or, for short, b'ris.
We do not read anywhere in the Bible of anyone having
celebrated the birth or the circumcision of a child. In Biblical
times, it was neither the birth nor the circumcision, but the
weaning of the child that was marked by a joyous feast. 19
Pidyon ha-ben (Redemption of the First-Born) ... If the
boy was the first-born child of his mother, he had to be re-
deemed from the kohen (priest) for five shekels of silver. After
he had become at least a month old and had thus proved his
vitality, he was brought to the sanctuary, and there he was
redeemed. 20
An old Mosaic Law decreed that the first-born of the mother
belonged to God, and the father must therefore redeem him. 21
But it must not be assumed that originally pidyon ha-ben had
to do with human sacrifices. The sacredness of the first-born
son of the mother never implied, among Jews, that he be of-
fered to the deity on the altar, but that he had a priestly char-
acter and was to be a servant in the sanctuary. Hence he had
to be redeemed from the priest in order that he might be re-
lieved of priestly duties and lead an ordinary life. 22
Rising -from Childbed . . . The Mosaic Law prescribes that
for seven days after giving birth to a son, the mother is ritually
IN ANCIENT TIMES 19
unclean, and for thirty-three days, excluded from the sanctu-
ary. If the child is a daughter, the time of her defilement is
double (fourteen and sixty-six days). Only after these days
had passed and the mother of the new-born child had offered
a burnt offering and a sin offering in the sanctuary, is she de-
clared ritually clean, and allowed to participate in all sacred
ceremonies. 23
The notion that giving birth to a child defiles the mother
was common to all nations of antiquity, and is prevalent today
among many peoples and tribes. In certain regions it is still
customary to completely isolate a woman in childbed for a
certain number of days in a separate house or hut, in the belief
that everything with which she comes in contact becomes un-
clean. The distinction made in the Pentateuchal law, which
regulates the number of days that the mother is defiled accord-
ing to the sex of the child, is also common to many peoples.
It is the opinion of modern scholars that this notion had its
origin in the primitive conception that a woman, in giving
birth to a child, is under the influence of certain demons, and
must therefore be kept away from everything that is sacred.
However, we shall see later how the demonic origin of the
idea that a woman was defiled by childbed was forgotten in
later times and new interpretations given to it. 2 *
ii
In the First Centuries C.E.
The picture of the birth of a Jewish child becomes more de-
tailed and colorful when, leaving behind Biblical times and
proceeding onward in Jewish history, we arrive at the be-
ginning of the common era, the age of the Tannaim, as the
Talmudic sages of the first two centuries of the common era
were called. The main source for the study of Jewish life in
this period is the Talmud and cognate literature. In Talmudic
literature , we find, in connection with the birth of a child,
many interesting facts of which we have no Biblical record.
Some of these facts originated at this time because of the more
advanced stage of Jewish civilization and the further develop-
ment of religious and social institutions among Jews. Some
may have been old customs and modes of life which have not
been recorded in the writings of previous ages.
The Birth of a Child ... In the period a.t which we have now
arrived, we have definite knowledge that the woman in labor
was placed on a birth-stool which was probably the property
of the midwife. The latter was called Chayo (the one that
brings life a name which was applied also to a woman in
childbed) and also chachomo (the wise or skillful one). She
was paid for assisting in the delivery, for her skill had become
a vocation transmitted usually from mother to daughter or to
daughter-in-law. If no midwife was available in the locality,
one of the many women who were present in the house made
herself helpful. A physician was sent for in an emergency. 25
As soon as the child was born, even before it was bathed, the
women who were standing about seized it and held it in their
20
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 21
arms, and hugged and kissed it, especially when the child was
a boy. Then the midwife cleansed the babe, rubbed it with
salt, and bathed it in warm water. Next, she anointed the child
with warm oil and powdered it with powder made of pulver-
ized leaves of myrtle. She then straightened the limbs of the
babe and swaddled it from belly to feet. In regions infested
by mosquitoes a mixture of unripened grapes was prepared
and applied on the skull of the child in order to keep away
gnats and mosquitoes. 26
In this period the Jews, like their neighboring nations, sur-
rounded the bed of the mother with various safeguards and
charms to protect her and the child from evil spirits and witch-
craft. The rabbis of the Talmud were hostile to these magic
folk-practices. However, they had to accede to the popular
demand and sanction some of them. 27
A new feature in this period was the cradle. Among the
poorer classes the kneading trough was used as a cradle. The
same word, arisoh, is used for both. Among the richer classes,
the cradle was an adorned carriage on wheels, with bells at-
tached to it. The ringing of the bells lulled the child to sleep,
and also acted as a charm to keep away evil spirits. 28
Planting a Tree ... As in Biblical times, the birth of a child
was not celebrated with a feast. Among the Palestinian Jews,
however, it was customary to plant a tree in the garden to
commemorate the birth. For a son, a cedar was planted; for a
daughter, a pine. At the wedding, the bridal chamber was
built from the wood of the pine and the cedar trees which the
parents had planted.
Planting of a tree at the birth of a child was believed to act
as a charm to insure that he would grow and thrive like the
tree. In the popular belief, there was a mysterious relation be-
tween the life of a person and the growth of a tree. The cus-
tom of planting a tree to celebrate the birth of a child was not
original with the Jews, but was adopted from the Romans and
other foreign nations, among whom they lived. 29
22 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
The Jeiv among the Uncircumcised . . . When in the last
centuries of the Second Temple, Antiochus Epiphanes pro-
hibited circumcision under penalty of death, the rite gained in
importance among Jews. They became martyrs for circum-
cising their new-born males, Mothers were executed with their
circumcised children. To the Jews, the blood of the martyrs
enhanced the religious importance of the "emblem in the flesh"
carried by the children of Abraham. 30
Soon the political situation changed, and when it did, the
significance of circumcision underwent a temporary change.
Antiochus' persecution incited the Jews to revolt against the
Syrian oppression. The leaders of the rebellion, the Macca-
beans or Hasmoneans, were victorious in their protracted
struggle, and ultimately succeeded in founding a new, inde-
pendent Jewish kingdom which comprised nearly the whole
of Palestine. The Hasmonean princes conquered many non-
Jewish regions of the land and Judaized their inhabitants. In
that period, circumcision became the physical means of Juda-
izing the new non-Jewish subjects of the Jewish theocratic
state. It became an outer mark of the subjection to the rule of
the Hasmoneans.
But Judaization as a means of political expansion did not last
long. Rome soon conquered Judea, and the independent state
of the Hasmoneans came to an end. However, the end of the
Jewish state did not halt the wide-spread diffusion of Judaism
in the pagan world. The problem of circumcision loomed
large in the religious propaganda of the Jews.
In that period of early imperial Rome, the Jews were dis-
persed over almost the entire civilized world, and they carried
on extensive propaganda for their faith, and made countless
proselytes. Hundreds of thousands in higher circles of pagan
society cherished a strong admiration for the Jewish religion
and the Jewish way of life.
However, it was no easy task for a pagan to completely em-
brace Judaism, This entailed the severance of all intimate re-
lations with friends and relatives. For men especially, circum-
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 23
cision was a great obstacle to the adoption of the Jewish
religion. There were, therefore, proselytes of various grades.
Many were satisfied with only a minimum of Jewishness. They
visited the synagogue occasionally on the Sabbath or on a
Jewish festival, and observed this or that bit of Jewish religious
life, but persisted in most of their pagan practices. On the other
hand, some underwent circumcision, and became full-fledged
Jews. Between these two extremes there were, of course, many
intermediate stages of conversion to Judaism. 81
In those days, not all Jewish missionaries who made prose-
lytes insisted upon circumcision in every case. The following
story is told by Josephus Flavius concerning the conversion
to Judaism of the royal house of Adiabene, a kingdom in
northern Mesopotamia.
A certain Jew by the name of Ananias succeeded in convert-
ing to the Jewish faith many women of the highest rank in the
royal court, among them the queen, Helena. She became an
ardent Jewess. The king, Monobazus, showed much sympathy
for the Jewish religion, but he did not embrace it. But their
son, Izates, heir to the throne, completely adopted the Jewish
religion, with the exception of circumcision. This he was
dissuaded from doing lest he estrange himself from his sub-
jects, most of whom regarded the Jewish religion as peculiar.
But when Izates ascended the throne, he resolved to complete
his conversion by being circumcised. Ananias argued with
Izates that he could be a Jew and worship God even though
he omitted circumcision. But when another learned Galilean
Jew convinced the king that one who is uncircumcised breaks
the laws of Moses, the king carried out his determination to
complete his conversion, and his act was emulated by many of
the princes of the royal family. 82
In Conflict 'with the Outside World ... In the Greco-
Roman world, circumcision was mistakenly regarded as an
exclusively Jewish rite, and the Jews were ridiculed for being
circumcised. The Greco-Roman writers had little understand-
24 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
ing of the Jewish way of life, as glaringly shown by the fact
that they derided the Jewish observance of the Sabbath. The
Greco-Roman slave-holders regarded the institution of a
weekly day of rest for all toilers as a manifestation of laziness
on the part of the Jews. 33
Circumcision separated the Jews from the Greco-Roman
world and, later, from the Christians too, after the latter had
repudiated the rite together with the entire ceremonial law
of the Pentateuch.
But the sneers of the Greco-Roman world and the casuistic
arguments of the Christian church against circumcision only
intensified in the Jews their zeal for the "indelible covenant in
the flesh" of the children of Abraham. This feeling was
strengthened by the persecution of Hadrian, the Roman Em-
peror, who, like Antiochus, three hundred years before, pro-
hibited circumcision as one of the fundamental practices of
Judaism, under penalty of death. In those years of religious
persecution, circumcision was performed secretly. It was not
divulged in the neighborhood. Indirectly one discovered that
a circumcision ceremony would take place the following day
when, on the preceding evening, he noticed the preparations
for the feast.
This persecution did not last long. Antoninus Pius, Hadrian's
successor, rescinded the decrees against Judaism. Circumcision
was again permitted, but only for born Jews, not for prose-
lytes. Because the Jews had suffered for circumcision, it grew
in importance. A generation after the persecution, Judah the
Patriarch declared that circumcision was more important than
all other precepts of the Jewish religion put together, possibly
reflecting the thought that the unity of a people in exile must
be maintained and strengthened- 84
The Circumcision Ceremony . . . Circumcision had thus be-
come a religious ceremony of great significance. It was at-
tended by benedictions, and celebrated with joy and feasting.
On the eve of the occasion, the house was full of activity oil
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 25
lamps were burning, the handmill was clattering, grinding
wheat into flour, in preparation for the important and joyous
ceremony. On the next day a large company gathered to wit-
ness the rite.
The operation was no longer performed by the father, but
by a special mohel (one who performs the circumcision opera-
tion) who used an iron knife. The stone knife of Biblical times
had been discarded. The version of the benedictions recited at
the ceremony had already been fixed by this period. The
mohel said: "Blessed be Thou, O Lord, our God, King of the
Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and
enjoined upon us the circumcision." The father followed with:
"Blessed be Thou, O Lord, our God, King of the Universe,
who sanctified us with His commandments and enjoined upon
us to initiate our sons into the covenant of our father Abra-
ham." The assembled people responded: "As he has entered
the covenant, so shall he also enter into the study of the Torah,
into the chupo and into good deeds." 35
A Circumcision Feast in Jerusalem ... In a Midrashic tale
we have a vivid description of a circumcision feast in Jerusalem
shortly before the second destruction of that city. The father
of the child in this tale was Avuyo, one of the wealthy nobles
of the Holy City. A son was born to him, who was named
Elisha. All the celebrities of Jerusalem were invited to the
joyous ceremony, among them the famous sages, Rabbi Eliezer
and Rabbi Joshua, the two great disciples of Rabbon Jochanan
ben Zakkai.
A description of the festive occasion in the house of this
wealthy dignitary in Jerusalem follows:
First the circumcision is performed, followed by a sumptu-
ous feast. There is eating and drinking in profusion. After the
banquet, the guests amuse themselves in joy and merriment. In
one room the people of high rank are gathering. They clap
their hands and dance; they sing psalms and recite Greek
acrostics. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua sit in another room,
26 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
surrounded by pious and learned people, whose festive joy is
more spiritual in character. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua
begin to discourse on the Torah. They start with the Penta-
teuch and proceed to the Prophets; from the Prophets they
proceed to the Writings. The words of the Torah are spoken
by them with such clarity and brilliance that to the people
listening it seems that not words but a stream of light fills the
room. The father, Avuyo, stands nearby and listens. He notices
the tremendous effect of their words on the listeners, and
Avuyo makes a solemn vow that when little Elisha grows up
he will devote his life to the study of the Torah. 36
Avuyo fulfilled his vow. Elisha became one of the great
Jewish sages of that epoch. Later, however, he deviated from
the path of Jewish Orthodoxy, and was shunned by his col-
leagues and condemned by them as a heretic.
In general, the circumcision of a child in Jerusalem was a
great festive occasion in which many people participated.
Whether the father of the child was rich or poor, a large com-
pany assembled at the home whenever a circumcision cere-
mony was to take place. In Jerusalem there were special
brotherhoods for the purpose of attending to important reli-
gious duties. There was a brotherhood to participate in cir-
cumcision ceremonies; a brotherhood to attend weddings; and
a brotherhood to console mourners. 37
A Circumcision Feast in Galilee ... In another Midrashic
tale we have a description of a circumcision feast which took
place more than a hundred years later than the one just de-
scribed. Catastrophic and far-reaching changes in Jewish life
had occurred during these 150 years. Jerusalem and the Tem-
ple had been destoyed, and sixty-five years after that disaster
came the revolt of Bar Kochba. In the bloody suppression
of that revolt, Judea, the southern part of Palestine, had been
entirely devastated, and the center of Jewish life and Jewish
learning had shifted to Galilee, the northern part of the land.
The greatest city in Galilee, and the center of the administra-
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 27
tion of the Jewish community, was Sepphoris. Here the lead-
ers and representatives of the Jewish community resided, and
it was in the house of one of the wealthy leaders of Sepphoris
that the circumcision ceremony took place.
The father invited many people from neighboring towns
and villages. Some guests came from En-Teenah, a small town
near by. Among them was the famous Tanna, Rabbi Simeon
ben Chalaphta, an older contemporary of Rabbi Judah the
Patriarch, the compiler of the Mishnah. The wealthy father
treated his guests with seven-year-old wine, and at the feast
he said: "I pray the Lord in Heaven that I may give you from
this same wine at the wedding of my son." After the father
had spoken, the throng in the house responded in unison: "As
you have initiated him into the covenant so you shall initiate
him into the study of the Torah and into the chupo." We are
told in the Midrashic tale that the feasting and banqueting
lasted until midnight. 38
Naming the Child . . . A girl was still named soon after birth,
but the naming of a boy occurred at the circumcision cere-
mony. 39
After the Babylonian exile, a great change took place in the
naming of children. The custom of naming a son after his
grandfather, which prevailed among the ancient Egyptians
and Greeks, was now adopted by the Jews. We first hear of it
in the fifth century (B.C.E.) among the Jews of Elephantine
and Assuan, on the southern border of Egypt. The existence
of a community of Jewish soldier colonists there, hundreds
of years before the conquests of Alexander, is a newly dis-
covered chapter in the history of the Jewish dispersion (see
pp. 1 39-41 ) . The archives of this Jewish community were un-
earthed at the threshold of our century. They contained many
papyri written in Aramaic, among which we find the first
records of Jewish children named after grandparents.
Later we find this custom also prevalent among the Pales-
tinian Jews. In the high-priestly family we find the names of
28 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
Onias and Simon succeeding one another. In the Hasmonean
dynasty, Hyrcanus 11 bears the name of his grandfather John
Hyrcanus. Still later we find the genealogy of the famous
Hillel with only a few names in it, mostly those of the grand-
father.
Children were also named after the brothers of their father.
Two sons of Simon the Hasmonean, Judah and John, bore the
names of their father's brothers, apparently after the decease
of the latter. Occasionally the child was named in honor of the
living. A child might be named for his father or grandfather
who was still alive. 40
A more striking innovation was the use of foreign names,
first found in the later books of the Bible. According to mod-
ern scholars, Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel, Belteshazzar, Shenazzar,
Mordecai, and Esther are Babylonian names. In Daniel-Belte-
shazzar and in Esther-Hadassah we have the first use of two
names for one person, one Jewish and the other non-Jewish.
This tendency became more pronounced in the Greek pe-
riod, when Greek or Grecianized names were favored. We
find Greek names in the aristocratic circles sympathetic to
Greek culture (the high priests and the Maccabean and Hero-
dian princes and princesses). Great religious teachers of the
Pharisees, the spiritual leaders of the people, bore the names
Antigonus, Symachus, and Tarphon (Tryphon). Latin names
also came into vogue. Jews called their children Marcus or
Justus, and did not even hesitate to name them Titus. Double
names, one Jewish and the other Grecian, became popular, as
Judah-Aristobul, Salome-Alexandra, Simon-Peter, Saul-Paul.
The purists among Palestinian Jews in the centuries following
the second destruction of Jerusalem considered it meritorious
to bear a genuinely Hebrew name. But outside of Palestine
names were mostly non-Jewish. 41
This was not the only innovation regarding names in the
days of the Second Temple. The common pre-Exilic custom
of compounding names with that of God was abandoned al-
together, or so shortened that only one letter remained of His
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 29
name. Thus Jehoiadah became Jaddua; Hananiah became
Honi; and Mattathiah became Mattai.
The Biblical names, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, and David,
were avoided in Talmudic times. Only in the post-Talmudic
era did they become popular among all Jewish groups. Biblical
names, unheard of in the days of the Second Temple and in
subsequent Talmudic times, became popular in G'onic times.
We find Jehiel, Joel, Jehoram, Enoch, Obadiah, and many
others.
The first record of a form of prayer for naming a boy is
found in G'onic times. It was written in Aramaic. This was
later changed to Hebrew among European Jews, who did not
speak Aramaic; and the Hebrew version is still used today. 42
Pidyonha-ben . . . At this period the original meaning of the
redemption of the first-born had been almost forgotten, and
it was observed merely as a symbol of devotion to God. Many
kohanim, especially if they were rich, returned the money to
the father. Such instances are mentioned as early as the end of
the first century (C.E.). This practice of returning the five
shekels became still more popular in later times. 43
The observance of pidyon ha-ben had also begun to be
marked in Talmudic times by the reciting of benedictions and
by a feast. The father recited two benedictions: one "over the
redemption of the first-born" and the other, the benediction
"Shehecheyonu" ("Who has kept us in life and preserved us
and permitted us to reach this season" a benediction on the
arrival of a new season or of any joyous event in one's life). 44
Rising from Childbed . . . The belief that a woman was de-
filed by childbirth because she was under the influence of
demons was forgotten, and new interpretations were given. It
was explained that on arising from childbed, she must bring a
sin-offering because she then breaks the vow made in labor,
under the spontaneous reaction of pain, to be forever sepa-
rated from her husband. Explanations were also given for the
30 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
belief that a woman was unclean twice as long after the birth
of a girl as in the case of a boy. One explanation refers to the
story of creation, and says it is because Adam was brought by
the angels into the Garden of Eden forty days after he was
created, whereas Eve was brought eighty days after her crea-
tion. 45
Arising from childbed was observed in Temple days by the
offering of two sacrifices. The mother was not obliged to
appear personally in the Temple. There was a special chest in
the Second Temple for receiving money for these offerings,
and it was arranged that the money for the two offerings be
placed in this chest on a particular day. The two sacrifices
were then offered on the altar, and the woman, wherever she
lived, was ritually clean by evening. 46
fr +
HI
In the Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages more and more of the festival occasions in
the family were exalted by religious rites, mostly performed
at the synagogue, with the participation of the whole com-
munity. Thus the Jew, with his religious devotion, created
for himself in his community and his synagogue a haven of
refuge in a surging sea of hatred and persecution. The abun-
dance of his religious life compensated him for the meager-
ness and deficiency of material conditions in the ghetto. That
this life was a powerful influence may be seen from the fact
that it was able to overcome to some extent the superstitions of
medieval days, and to modify them to the point where the
Jew felt he was in the domain of religion.
Watching Mother and Child . . . From the moment of birth
until the circumcision ceremony was over, mother and child
were surrounded by various charms and talismans. They were
to guard against Lilith, the female demon who, in the belief
of the folk, sought to kill the child as well as the mother in
childbed. On the walls of the room where the mother lay,
there were amulets inscribed with conjurations against Lilith
and her whole clique. It was a general custom in the Middle
Ages, as it still is among the Jews of the Caucasus and Mo-
rocco, to close the windows of the room at night. The magic
circle was also employed. As soon as the woman was delivered
of the child, a circle was drawn with chalk or charcoal on
the floor of the room. The circle was circumscribed with such
weighty names as Lilith, Adam, and Eve, and three tongue-
twisting names of angels who, in the popular belief, were
3 1
32 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
feared and shunned by Lilith. The woman in childbed was
prohibited from leaving the house before the fourth Sabbath
after the birth of the child. 47
The most efficacious means of exorcising demons was, of
course, to recite the monotheistic credo of the Jewish religion,
"Sh'ma Yisroel." The "reading of Sh'ma" (Hear, O Israel:
The Lord Our God, the Lord is One), therefore, took place
in the room of a woman in childbed every night, particularly
on the eve of the b'ris. This was called "Watch Night"
(Wachnacht) by the German Jews. Relatives and friends
gathered in the house and studied Torah all night so that the
child might not be "benumen" (bewitched), as the German
Jews called it*
Watch Night . . . The observance of the eve of the b'ris was
already mentioned by Jewish writers in the twelfth century.
Scholars are of the opinion that its origin is not Jewish. It
sprang up under foreign influences, and later adapted itself to
the Jewish way of life. In the popular belief of the Jews, the
b'ris ended the power of the evil spirits, and therefore the eve
of circumcision was regarded as the most dangerous time of
all, when the demons exerted themselves to the utmost to seize
their last chance to injure the mother and the child. We find
an exact duplication of this belief in the folk ideas of the
Germans, except that, according to the German belief, it was
baptism which ended the power of the evil spirits.
In the popular belief, evil spirits shunned the light. In the
dark and gruesome hours of the night they spread their terror;
hence the extremely dangerous character of the night pre-
ceding the b'ris, and the various magic precautions taken for
the safety of the mother and the child: the numerous lighted
candles, the iron knife which the mohel placed under the
pillow of the mother, and the many other safeguards and
charms employed.
The main feature of the night, from which its name was
derived, was the vigil kept by the mother and the people who
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 33
gathered in the house. To a person who might possibly be the
prey of evil spirits, sleeping was regarded as very dangerous,
because in the primitive belief, the soul remained outside of
the body during sleep, and could easily be seized. In some
parts of Germany it was customary among the Jews to keep
vigil the whole night preceding circumcision. 48
In the course of time, the observance of the eve of the b'ris
was, to a great extent, divested of its original magic character,
and invested with a Jewish religious garb. It was declared to
be merely a prelude to the circumcision ceremony. For this
purpose it was hermeneutically linked with certain passages
of the Bible. Thus the joyous observance of this night of vigil
was declared to be the joy of a mitsvo, of fulfilling a religious
precept, and it was regarded as a religious act to partake of
the feast. The main feature of the observance had become the
reciting of a prayer, and the reading of certain portions of
the Bible and the Talmud and Midrashim that dealt with the
precept of circumcision. With its magic background nearly
forgotten, the Watch Night or Night of Vigil persisted to
our own day as a prelude to the b'ris. 49
Circumcision ... In following the circumcision ceremony
through the ages, we notice that it continually gained in im-
portance and, from a family affair, became a festival for the
whole community. This process had already begun in the days
of the Second Temple. However, it was not until the G'onic
period (from the seventh to the eleventh centuries) that the
b'ris became a festival for the community in the full sense of
the word. It was then (about the ninth century) that the
celebration of the ceremony was transferred from the home
to the synagogue.
Long before that time it had been customary to perform the
ceremony early in the morning, for a mitsvo, a religious act,
must not be delayed. When the ceremony was transferred to
the synagogue, it was performed immediately after the morn-
ing prayers. The entire congregation remained in the syna-
34 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
gogue in order that each one might attain the religious merit
attached to his presence at the ceremony.
As long as the circumcision ceremony was performed at
home it had no connection with the services of the synagogue.
Performance in the synagogue associated it with the services,
and all the people assembled in the synagogue felt that it was a
joyous day a festival. Certain passages in the services, which
are not recited at festival or semi-festival days, were also
omitted on that day. On the other hand, certain passages in
the morning prayers were recited with a special chant. In
addition, the worshippers in the synagogue recited and chanted
special poetic insertions which the Faitonim the liturgical
poets of the Middle Ages had composed for the joyous oc-
casion of a b'ris. At the meal of a b'ris, also, z'mros (liturgical
table songs) appropriate to the occasion were sung. These
z'miros described the Jews as surrounded with God's pre-
cepts as by a fortress. On their heads and arms they wore
phylacteries. On the door-posts they placed m'zuzos. Their
garments were hung with tsitsis (fringes), and their bodies
bore the sign of the covenant. 50
Other new features were added, which embellished and
enriched the ceremony of the b'ris.
The Chair of Elijah . . . The most important feature added
to the ceremonial of the b'ris in post-Talmudic times was the
custom of placing a chair for the prophet Elijah. In the ninth
century, when the b'ris was transferred from the home to the
synagogue, the chair of Elijah is mentioned not as an innova-
tion but as a well-established custom.
In order to explain the meaning of this custom, it was linked
with certain passages of the Bible. In the First Book of Kings,
it is related that Elijah complained to God that "the children
of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant" (19:10, 14) . The Jew-
ish homiletical interpreters of the Scriptures in the Middle
Ages explained this to mean that Elijah complained that the
children of Israel had discarded circumcision. Therefore God
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 35
said to Elijah: "Because of excessive zeal for Me you have
brought charges against Israel that they have forsaken My
covenant, therefore you shall have to be present at every cir-
cumcision ceremony." In addition, "the messenger of the
covenant," who is spoken of in the Book of Malachi (3:1),
was identified with the prophet Elijah, and it was only proper
that this angel of the covenant should be present whenever a
Jewish child entered the covenant of Abraham. 51
As in all similar cases, the custom did not grow out of these
citations. The citations were quoted later in order to explain
an established custom. For this reason we must seek the origin
of a custom, not in the interpretation and meaning later read
into it, after the origin itself had been almost forgotten, but in
the character of the rite, in the practice itself. We must com-
pare it with similar rites and practices among Jews and also
among other peoples.
The essential feature in the custom of using Elijah's chair
was the placing of a seat of honor, a throne, for a guardian
angel who was believed to guard and protect the child. First
there was the belief in a guardian angel for the new-born
child. It was only later that this guardian angel came to be
identified with the prophet Elijah. We thus have to trace the
origin and development of this belief.
As long ago as in Biblical times it was a popular Jewish
custom to set up in the home a table, bedecked with food and
drink, and dedicated to Gad and M*ni, two ancient Ca-
naanitic deities of fortune, originally a god and a goddess. The
prophet denounces those "that prepare a table for Gad and
that offer mingled wine in fuU measure unto M'ni" (Isa.
65:11). We hear a great deal more of Gad in post-Biblical
times. In the Talmud, "the bed of Gad" was a familiar piece of
furniture in the Jewish household. It was called in Aramaic
arso cTgado. No one was allowed to sleep or sit on this bed or
in this chair. Some even invoked this deity of fate with the
formula: "Be lucky, my Gad, and cease not!" The rabbis of
the Talmud forbade this invocation as a heathenish practice.
36 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
They also prohibited the custom of leaving crumbs on the
table after each meal as an offering to Gad. But notwithstand-
ing the prohibition of the rabbis, leaving crumbs on the table
for good luck was still a popular custom as late as the six-
teenth century. 52
In Talmudic times, the "table for Gad," originally meant
for the luck of the household, had been brought into close
relation to the birth of a child. As far back as the second
century C.E., it was a popular custom among the Jews in
Palestine to set a table with food before a woman in child-
bed. The sages of the Talmud considered it a heathenish prac-
tice. Yet it persisted in a certain form until modern times. In
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we hear of a table or
bed set, on the eve of the b'ris, with all kinds of foods for the
mazol (good luck) of the new-born child. For the origin of
this particular custom we must look in another direction.
Among the Romans it was customary at the birth of a child,
to set a meal in the court of the house, dedicating it to the
deity who was believed to protect children from sickness.
Jews apparently accepted this belief that there was a guardian
deity of the home and the child, for whom a table should be
set with food. Among Jews, however, the belief was com-
pletely changed. The guardian deity was superseded by the
prophet Elijah who, already in Talmudic times, was regarded
as the guardian angel of the Jews. It was only natural to iden-
tify him as the guardian angel of the Jewish child. The story
in the Bible which tells how Elijah revived the child of the
widow may have been a factor. We also meet Elijah as the
protector of the child in the legend inscribed on the amulets
against Lilith which will be dealt with in a subsequent chap-
ter. 53
Since the role of the non- Jewish guardian deity of the child
was given to the prophet Elijah, the bedecked table, too,
should have been dedicated to him. In fact, there were Jews
here and there in the Orient, even as late as the eighteenth
century, who, on the eve of the b'ris, dedicated to Elijah a
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 37
table with food. However, this custom had not become wide-
spread. Among the Jews of Europe a table or bed was set
with food on the eve of the b'ris for the mazol of the child,
without associating it with the prophet Elijah. But this, too,
smacked of "preparing a table to Gad," and the rabbis inter-
dicted it. 54
Eventually the custom lost all of its ancient heathen char-
acter. The table was decked with food on the Watch Night,
not for the good luck of the child, but for the invited guests
as a prelude to the feast of the b'ris. As for the prophet Elijah,
only a chair on which he might sit, without any offering of
food, was set apart for him at the b'ris. Thus the chair of
Elijah proves the spiritual vitality of the Jewish religion in fill-
ing an originally non- Jewish rite with genuine Jewish con-
tent and transforming it into a highly religious symbol the
prophet Elijah as the "messenger of the covenant" and the
guardian of the Jewish child.
In the later Middle Ages Elijah was thought of as omni-
present, and it was believed he attended such occasions in
person. Legends were current about saintly rabbis who, hold-
ing the child on their knees, saw Elijah sitting on the chair
dedicated to him. It was told of Rabbi Judah the Pious, the
famous Jewish mystic who flourished at Regensburg in the
twelfth century, that once, when he officiated as sandek, he
delayed the circumcision because he did not see Elijah come
in and sit on the chair which had been prepared for him.
When people in the synagogue asked him the reason for the
delay, he told them that Elijah stayed away because he fore-
saw that the child, in his maturity, would be inclined to
abandon the faith of his ancestors. 55
The Sandek . . . During the period when the b'ris was trans-
ferred to the synagogue, a new leading personage was intro-
duced into the ceremonial. Before, there had been only two,
the father and the mohel. Now a third was added the assist-
ant of the mohel, who held the child on his knees during the
38 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
operation. He was named sandek, a title derived from a Greek
word meaning godfather.
The people of the Orient use their knees as we use a table,
and holding the child on the knees during the operation was
taken as a matter of course, without any special religious sig-
nificance. It was not until the ninth or tenth century that this
assistance became a religious function. Since the name is de-
rived from Greek, scholars attribute to a Byzantine influence
the importance given to the sandek.
Great religious merit was attached to the function of the
sandek. To begin with, the sandek had a share in causing a
child to enter into the covenant of Abraham. In addition, the
sandek had his seat right near the chair of Elijah, implying, in
the belief and imagination of the people, that he sat by the
side of the great prophet. The sandek, therefore, had to be a
pious, God-fearing man, worthy to sit near the prophet
Elijah. The sandek also shared, with the father and the mohel,
the privilege of being called to the bimo, the central platform
of the synagogue, to recite the benediction over the reading of
the Torah, if the b'ris fell on a day on which the Torah was
read. Moreover, the sandek was preferred to the mohel, and
preceded him in being called up to the reading of the Torah.
Besides, officiating as sandek was believed by the people to
bring good fortune and wealth. Small wonder then that, in ap-
preciation of the privilege accorded to him, it became the
general custom for the sandek to defray the expenses of the
feast.
Soon the function of assisting the mohel was divided be-
tween a man and a woman. It was usually the sandek's wife
who brought the child from the mother's room to the entrance
of the synagogue. Still later, the sandek was given two assist-
ants, usually a man and wife, brother and sister, and so forth.
In our own day, among East European Jews, these assistants
of the sandek were called kvater and kvaterin, the equivalent
of a medieval German word which, in modern German, is
Gevatter (godfather).
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 39
In the Middle Ages it was customary among German Jews
not to let the same sandek perform his duties for two brothers.
Though various explanations were given for it, this custom
has not persisted. In Eastern Europe the reverse became the
accepted usage. Usually one man, the rabbi of the community,
officiated as sandek at every circumcision ceremony. An ex-
planation was even evolved that children grow to resemble
the sandek, and of course all parents wish their sons to bear
an intellectual and moral resemblance to the rabbi. 66
A B'ris in Rome ... It is Rome in the thirteenth century. A
boy has been born into a Jewish family and on the eighth day
the b'ris is announced in all the synagogues of the Jewish
community. A box of spices is carried from synagogue to
synagogue. When worshippers at the morning services recog-
nize the odor, they know that in one of the synagogues a child
is to enter the Covenant of Abraham. The synagogue where
the circumcision takes place is brightly illuminated with many
candles, one of which is extraordinarily large. A ribbon is
hung on the door of the synagogue. Two richly adorned,
covered chairs are placed near the door, one for the prophet
Elijah and one for the sandek. A festive feeling pervades the
worshippers during the morning services. They recite the
prayers up to Qlenu. Then the b'ris ceremony begins, and
at its conclusion Olenu is recited.
Meanwhile the little boy has been bathed in warm water
and dressed in a linen shirt and tunic, and a pretty little cap,
and adorned like a bridegroom going to his wedding.
When the baby is carried with great pomp into the syna-
gogue, the father calls loudly, "Blessed be they who are sit-
ting here!" And the congregation responds, "Blessed be he
who is coming here!" With his right hand the father delivers
the child to the sandek. The sandek receives the child with his
right hand and places him on his lap. The mohel stands near
the father to indicate that he has been appointed his deputy to
circumcise his son. All the people in the synagogue rise when
40 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
the father hands the child to the sandek and remain standing
during the ceremony.
After the operation, the mohel takes the child from the
sandek and hands him to the father. The father in turn hands
the baby to another man who assists the sandek by holding
the child on his lap while the benedictions are recited antipho-
nally. The blesser says "So and so, the little fellow" and the
assembled answer "may he grow big." The blesser says "May
the child live" and the assembled answer "to bring joy to his
father and mother." The blesser says "May he be a brother to
seven" and the assembled answer "and father of eight." The
blesser says "As he entered unto the covenant, so may he enter
unto Torah, chupo and good deeds." 57
A B'ra at Mayence - . . Marching on in time from the thir-
teenth to the fifteenth century, and traveling a little north-
ward from Rome to the Rhineland, we arrive at Mayence.
Mayence was worth visiting at that period, just to meet the
greatest religious authority of his time, the famous Rabbi Jacob
ben Moshe Halevi, known universally by his abbreviated
name, MahariL He was the rabbi of the community and also
head of the y'shivo, the Talmudic academy at Mayence. Mak-
ing a living from matchmaking, this great rabbi contributed
his income from the rabbinate to the maintenance of the
y'shivo.
Maharil himself did not write any books. However, an ad-
mirer and disciple of his, R. Zalrnon of St. Goar, a small town
on the Rhine, wrote a "Maharil Book" which consists mostly
of ritual customs and ceremonial regulations according to the
decisions and ritual practice of Maharil. But here and there
R. Zalmon interrupts the ritual regulations and pious homilies
of his great master to describe minutely and vividly a cere-
mony at which the latter officiated a b'ris, a pidyon ha-ben,
or a wedding. For us today the book is a veritable historic
treasure, as it furnishes us a faithful picture of the life of the
German Jews in the fifteenth century. We shall draw exten-
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 41
sively upon this abundant source of information on Jewish
life in the Middle Ages, and shall become acquainted with
Maharil in his role as rabbi at various functions, beginning
with the ceremonial of a b'ris.
When a b'ris occurred in Mayence, Maharil himself often
served as the sandek. He prepared for this ceremony by first
immersing himself in a mlkve (ritual pool of purification).
In the synagogue where the b'ris took place, twelve candles
were lighted to signify the twelve tribes of Israel. In addition,
one large candle burned. A large chair, draped with a rich
cover, was provided for the prophet Elijah. After the morning
prayers had been recited as far as Olenu, the sandek's wife
took the child from his mother and carried him as far as the
door of the synagogue. She did not enter the men's section of
the synagogue where the ceremony took place, for a woman
might not mingle with men in a synagogue. Sometimes the
sandek himself went to the mother's house to receive the child.
Maharil frowned upon this. It was regarded as much a mis-
demeanor for a man to walk amidst women as for a woman to
intrude among men.
In this source book we have a description of a b'ris for twin
brothers in the synagogue of Mayence. There was only one
ceremony but everything was done in duplicate. Instead of
twelve smaller candles and one large candle, twenty-four
smaller candles and two large ones illuminated the synagogue.
The twin boys were carried into the synagogue together and
two mohalim, assisted by two sandeks, performed the opera-
tions simultaneously. But the benedictions were recited only
once. One mohel recited the benediction before the operation,
and the second mohel responded "Amen" and performed the
operation. The benediction which followed was recited by the
second mohel and the Hebrew word "ha-yeled" (the child)
was changed to "ha-y'lodim" (the children).
A B'ris in Worms . . . We proceed to another Jewish com-
munity in the Rhineland. It is the ghetto of Worms in the
42 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
seventeenth century, two hundred years after the time of
Maharil. We "are again fortunate in having a rich source upon
which to draw. It is a book about the customs of the Jews of
Worms written by Juspa Shamosh, the secretary of the com-
munity and the shamos (sexton) of the synagogue at Worms.
In some respects Juspa Shamosh is even superior as a writer to
R. Zalrnon, as he depicts life in general, the folkways of the
people, as well as the hustle and bustle preceding and following
religious ceremonies.
There were several mohalim in Worms, and as soon as a
woman gave birth to a boy, one mohel after another paid a
visit to the parents, offering his services. The wives of the
mohalim also visited the mother, in order to have this honor
accorded to their husbands. As they were not remunerated for
their services, they competed for the privilege of performing
a mitsvo.
On the Friday night following the birth of a boy, relatives
and friends visited the parents, and were served with fruit and
wine. This celebration was called ben zochor (a male child, a
phrase from Jer. 20: 15).
Three days before the b'ris, the beadle of the synagogue
would stride through the streets of the ghetto, crying aloud:
"Zu der yiddish kertz!" (to the circumcision candle, "kertz"
for candle and "yiddish" for Yiddishen, i.e., to Judaize by
circumcision) . Thereupon the women gathered at the house
of the parents to make the one large and the twelve small
candles which were to burn in the synagogue at the b'ris.
During the days immediately before the b'ris, women
friends visited the mother. They helped her bathe the child
and before departing they left coins for the woman who took
care of the mother during her childbed.
The b'ris took place at the synagogue if the weather per-
mitted. The sandek's wife, accompanied by the most eminent
women of the community, brought the child into the women's
section of the synagogue. There was a special door there,
made for the occasion of a b'ris. It was called "Yiddish Tir"
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 43
(circumcision door) . At the threshold of this door the sandek's
wife delivered the child to her husband. After the b'ris the
father invited all the people who witnessed the ceremony to
partake of a festive meal at his house. On this occasion z'miros
(table songs) were sung and a discourse on Torah was de-
livered. The wine for the meal was provided by the sandek.
On the third day following the b'ris, when the child could
again be bathed, there was a little celebration in the home. It
was a kind of a sequel to the b'ris, and in this the mother, too,
participated. 58
Naming the Child ... A boy was named during the cere-
mony of the b'ris in the synagogue. A girl was named in the
synagogue on the fourth Sabbath after birth, when the
mother, rising from childbed, visited the synagogue. On this
Sabbath, the father was called to the bimo to witness the read-
ing from the scroll of the Torah. After the father had finished
the benediction over the Torah, the chazan (cantor) named
the girl in accordance with the prescribed Hebrew formula.
In southern France, in some parts of Hungary, and in Belgium,
it was customary to bring the baby girl into the synagogue on
this occasion. 59
In the later Middle Ages, the custom of naming children
after their deceased ancestors gained in importance, and was
observed with religious reverence. It was considered a prime
duty toward the deceased. On the other hand, in that period,
naming a child after a parent or grandparent who was still
alive was prohibited, regarded as un-Jewish, and surrounded
by superstitious fear. 60
However, this notion prevailed only among the Ashk'nazim.
The S'fardic Jews continued to name children after living
grandparents. In rare cases, even the son and the father had
the same name. Today, even among the Ashk'nazim, the cus-
tom of not naming a child after a living ancestor prevails only
among Orthodox Jews. Among Reform Jews, the son often
bears the father's name with the addition of junior, as among
44 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
the Christians. Among the Jews of Yemen, in families where
children had met untimely deaths, long life for the new-born
child is supposedly safeguarded by calling him by the father's
name. 61
The tendency to give children names of non-Jewish neigh-
bors, which began as far back as the time of the Babylonian
exile, has continued through the Middle Ages to the present
day. We have referred above to Jews bearing Babylonian and
Greco-Roman names. Later they were called by Aramaic,
Persian, and Arabic names; the Jews in Europe bearing Ger-
manic, Romanic, and Slavic names. Hebrew names were ab-
sorbed into other languages (Baruch, the blessed, became
Benedict) , and foreign names were sometimes translated into
Hebrew or Aramaic (Fabius-Phoebus was translated to
Shrago, which is Aramaic and means light, and in Yiddish
it became Feive or Feivel). But of all languages Jews have
spoken, none has produced so many adaptations and transfor-
mations of Hebrew names as Yiddish.
Dual Names and Holekreisoh (also pronounced Holkrasch
and Cholkreisch) . . . Jews in the Orient were content with
one name. They used a non-Jewish name even in religious
ceremonials. Among European Jews, however, a child was
given a second Hebrew name. For all religious affairs and
Hebrew documents one had a special Jewish name of Biblical-
Talmudic origin, which was given to the boy at the b'ris. The
non-Jewish name, adopted from non-Jewish neighbors, was
for civic life. This dualism in names among European Jews
can be traced as far back as the thirteenth century and pre-
vails to this day also in America. One's civic name, for in-
stance, is Morris or Max, but he is called up to the reading of
the Torah with the name Moshe or Mordecai; or his civic
name is George, but he is called up to the reading of the Torah
by the name Gedaliah.
Parents were not so interested in giving a daughter an addi-
tional Hebrew name, since a girl participated very little in
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 45
religious ceremonies where a genuine Jewish name was more
appropriate.
Among the German Jews, and partly also among the Polish
Jews, a child was named twice. The Hebrew name was be-
stowed at the b'ris in the synagogue, and the ordinary name
was given on the fourth Sabbath after birth, at the home of
the parents. This giving of the civic name was marked by a
strange ceremony which the German Jews called Holekreisch.
On this Sabbath there was a family festival. The mother,
arising from childbed, visited the synagogue to attend the
morning services. She was dressed in her best attire and was
accompanied by the rebitsin (the wife of the rabbi) and a
group of eminent women of the community. The father was
called to witness the reading of the Torah. While he was
standing on the bimo, a wrapper for the Torah scroll, with
the name of the child embroidered on it, was handed to him.
It was sent to him by the mother. He placed it on the table of
the bimo near the Torah scroll, as the first gift of the child to
the synagogue. The wrapper had been used as a swaddle at the
b'ris, and was provided by the sandek. After the services, in-
vited guests gathered in the home for the ceremony of Hole-
kreisch. In Worms, in the seventeenth century, the ceremony
took place after the noon meal, the beadle of the synagogue
first striding through the narrow streets of the ghetto and
calling loudly: "Zu der Holekreisch!"
First the guests were treated with delicacies. Thereupon
they were arrayed in a circle around the cradle in which the
child was lying. In the case of a boy, a Pentateuch and a
praying-shawl were put in the cradle. The principal part was
played by boys of pre-bar mitsvo age in the case of a boy,
and by girls in the case of a girl. The children lifted the cradle
containing the child three times, calling out loudly each time:
Holekreisch, Holekreisch,
Wie soil das Kindchen heissen?
(What shall the little child be called?)
46 AJEWISHCHILDISBORN
Each time they answered with the non-Jewish name which
had been given to the child. Thus the ordinary name given to
the child while lying in the cradle was called "the cradle name"
(shem ho-ariso).
The origin of the custom of Holekreisch is very obscure.
The etymology of its name had been lost as far back as the
fourteenth century. The second half of the term, Kreisch,
was easily recognized as the German word Kreischen, mean-
ing to shriek or scream. Difficulty in derivation lay with the
first half of the name, Hole, which became distorted into
Chole. Some famous rabbis in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries tried to trace it to the Hebrew word Choi, which
means profane, not sacred. Consequently they interpreted
Holekreisch to mean loudly calling out the every-day name of
the child.
Modern Jewish scholars have discarded this far-fetched ex-
planation of the term Holekreisch as untenable. They identify
Hole with the old Teutonic goddess, Dame Holle or Holda
who, in German mythology, played the roles of both Lilith
and Venus. Accordingly, this strange ceremony of the Jews
in medieval Germany might be traced to an ancient pre-
Christian Teutonic custom. In pagan times, when naming a
child, the Germans apparently performed the ceremony with
shouting and noise to drive away Dame Lilith-Holle. This
heathen practice was doomed to extinction among the Ger-
mans in Christian times, when the child was baptized in the
church. Among Jews, this custom, derived from German
neighbors in the early Middle Ages, was preserved through-
out the ages because giving the child a secular name was not
a religious observance associated with the synagogue, but
merely a home celebration.
In time, Holekreisch assumed a Jewish significance when
the chazan recited verses of the Bible before the cradle was
lifted. In some communities the chazan, not the children lift-
ed the cradle. In Worms, the children themselves, before
lifting the cradle, recited in a chorus the verses of the Bible.
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 47
Holekreisch was not a generally accepted custom among the
Jews of Germany and Poland. Regarding boys, the Hole-
kreisch ceremony was confined to South Germany, where it
still prevailed as late as the second half of the nineteenth cen-
tury. In Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, and Poland, Holekreisch
was not performed for boys at all, and rarely for girls. 62
Double Names . . . The dualism in names was not the only
reason for giving a child two names. In the late Middle Ages,
it became customary to give a child two genuinely Jewish
names. We first hear of this custom in the fifteenth century,
but as late as the seventeenth century it was still rare to give
two Jewish names to a child at the circumcision ceremonial.
Later, the custom spread, and in modern times probably more
double names than single names are given to Jewish children. 63
The chief motive in giving children double names was the
desire of the parents to do reverence to two deceased relatives,
particularly when these relatives belonged to the two different
lines of the families of both parents.
This desire of the father and mother to name the child after
his or after her deceased relative quite often caused family
quarrels, though a belief prevailed that quarreling over the
name endangered the life of the child. In time, certain regula-
tions settled the quarrels over the name. The name of the first
child belonged to the father, that of the second child to the
mother. Another compromise stipulated that one parent be
permitted to give the child the sacred name, and the other
parent the ordinary name. If this was not satisfactory, the
child was called by two Jewish names derived from the two
families. In this case, it was usually agreed that the name which
belonged to the father came first. 64
There was another reason for giving a child two Jewish
names. If a child died, the next born to the family was named
after him. But it was considered inauspicious to bear the name
of a departed brother or sister unless it was preceded by an-
other name. This added name was usually Chayim (life or the
48 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
living ones, male plural) for a boy, and Chayo (the living one,
female singular) for a girl.
There were also many cases in which a child was given a
single name at the outset, and a second name later, as a charm
against sickness. The added name was usually Chayim or
Chayo. Another method of selecting a second name in the
case of sickness was to open a Scroll of the Torah, and bestow
the name of the first Biblical character that caught the eye.
All these reasons for giving a child a double name were
needed only for one time. Once a double name appeared, the
descendants perpetuated it in its entirety.
The Mutual Conversion of Male and Female Names ... In
naming children after dead relatives, great difficulties arose
(and still do) when the dead relative, whose name was to be
perpetuated, was a male, and the new-born child a female, or
vice versa. In such cases the name had to be converted, if pos-
sible, from male into female, or from female into male. Often
the change was made with little difficulty. There are certain
names common to both sexes, like Simchoh or Sishe. Some
names have two forms for male and female, as Chayirn-Chayo,
Moshe-Mashe. Others can easily be converted because of simi-
larity in sound, like Dinah-Dan. When the situation arose,
many devices were thought of to change the gender of a name.
In a great many cases, ingenuity failed, making it impossible
to do justice to the names of certain deceased relatives. 65
Pidyon ha-ben ... In the G'onic period, when new features
were added to the ceremonial of the b'ris, the ceremony of
pidyon ha-ben was made more impressive by the introduction
of a dialogue between the father and the kohen. This is used
to this day. The father presents his son to the kohen and intro-
duces him as the first-born of the mother. The kohen asks the
father whether he wishes to give him his son, or whether he
prefers to redeem him for five shekels. The father replies that
he chooses to redeem him and hands the money to the kohen.
INTHEMIDDLEAGES 49
The latter receives the money, and returns the child to the
father who then recites the two benedictions mentioned previ-
ously: "over pidyon ha-ben" and "shehecheyonu" (see p. 29).
The kohen thereupon bestows his blessing upon the father and
the child. 66
In instances where the father died or for any other reason
neglected the duty of redeeming his son, it was customary, in
the Middle Ages, to hang a medallion with the Hebrew letter
H (which stands for five) around the son's neck. This was a
reminder that it was incumbent upon him to redeem himself
when he reached maturity. Later this proved to be imprac-
ticable, because, quite often, the medallion was lost. So the
device of the medallion was discarded, and some relative or
the community as a whole redeemed the child. 67
In the late Middle Ages there were religious authorities who
decreed that the kohanim return the money, because it was no
longer possible for any kohen to prove his priestly descent
from the children of Aaron.
As time passed, the valuation of the five Biblical shekels
proved a complication for religious authorities. Usually the
equivalent monetary unit of the country concerned was sub-
stituted for the shekel. Thus in Russia, the sum of five rubles;
in Germany, five thalers, and in America, five dollars was
given to the kohen. But nowadays it is taken for granted that
the kohen will return the money. However, the father, ac-
cording to the ritual law, has not fulfilled his duty if he has in
mind that he will get the money back.
In the above mentioned "Maharil Book" we have a descrip-
tion of a celebration of a pidyon ha-ben in Mayence in the
fifteenth century, which took place in the absence of the
child. The father of the child was a resident of Erfurt. A
month after the birth of his son he happened to be in Mayence.
He performed the ceremony of pidyon ha-ben in the house
of Maharil with his participation, and according to his instruc-
tions.
First of all, the father placed money in a silver dish and
50 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
asked Maharil if this really amounted to five shekels. Maharil
told the father that according to his calculation more money
must be added. The father did this, and then all guests seated
themselves at the table.
All tasted a slice of bread, reciting the benediction over it.
Thereupon the ceremony of pidyon ha-ben was performed
by reciting the dialogue between the father and the kohen.
After the ceremony was over, the kohen took a goblet of wine
in his hand, blessing the "One who creates die fruit of the
vine," drank a little from the cup, and passed it to the father to
drink.
Then the people who had gathered in the house ate and
drank and made merry.
Rising from Childbed . , After the destruction of the Sec-
ond Temple no substitute was advanced for the mother's offer-
ings at the end of her defilement, and arising from childbed
was not observed by any ritual. Only as late as the fifteenth
century did the custom originate in which the mother visited
the synagogue on the Sabbath after arising from childbed, and
the father witnessed the reading of the Torah on the binio on
that Sabbath. This custom, mentioned previously in connec-
tion with the naming of a girl, still prevailed until recent days
(see p. 43).
It is the opinion of modern scholars that this custom of the
mother's visit to the synagogue after she arose from childbed
sprang up in the fifteenth century under the influence of the
Christian custom which decreed that the mother visit the
church on this occasion. The Christian custom, however, de-
veloped under the influence of the Mosaic Law, as a substitute
for the offerings in the Temple.
Thus, we have a custom that came from the Jews to the
Christians, and reverted from the Christians to the Jews. 68
to
In Modern Times
Circumcision . . . Since the Babylonian exile, both circum-
cision and the Sabbath attained high significance as the two
fundamentals of Judaism, representing the symbols of worship
of the one and true God, and the acceptance of the Jewish
faith. But while the strict observance of the Sabbath declined
with the development of the new economic and cultural life
of the Jews in nineteenth century Western Europe and Amer-
ica, the circumcision rite has remained fixed to our own day.
Controversy raged over the custom among Reform Jews in
Western Europe and America, but it weathered the storm.
Among the Reform Jews in Western Europe, circumcision is
universal. Among Reform Jews in America circumcision has
been retained for the born Jew and discarded only for the
proselyte.
Today even Jews who are indifferent to all religious rites
practice circumcision without the traditional ceremony. At
times the operation is performed by a surgeon and the blessings
are recited by a rabbi.
The custom of performing the b'ris at the synagogue was
still practiced here and there in the first half of the previous
century. However, it was on the wane. The circumcision cere-
mony reverted then to its original quarters, the home. An ex-
ception was made when the b'ris came on Yom Kippur. In
that case, the ceremony took place at the synagogue even as
late as a generation ago.
Naming the Child ... In later periods Jews were not always
named after deceased relatives. Even in very recent times Jews
52 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
occasionally named children for a special occasion occurring
at the time of birth. When a boy was born on a Sabbath, or
the circumcision fell on that day, he was sometimes called
Shabbatai. If it occurred on a holiday, he was named Yomtov
(Hebrew for holiday) ; if it happened on the ninth day of the
Jewish month of Ov, the day of mourning over the destruc-
tion of the Temple and Jerusalem, he was called Menachem
(comforter), one of the alleged names of the Messiah. Oc-
casionally a girl born on Purim was named Esther. A boy
born on Purim was called Mordecai. If born on Pesach, he was
called Pesach. Sometimes a name was taken from the portion
of the Pentateuch read during that week.
Among the Chasidim, the sect that arose in eighteenth cen-
tury Poland and included nearly half of the Jewish people a
century ago, it was customary to name the boy after a deceased
tsadik, a Chasidic rabbi.
As to the date of naming a girl, it has become customary in
recent times to do it on the first Sabbath after birth, or sooner;
if possible on the Monday or Thursday following birth. On
these two week-days a portion of the Pentateuch is read in
the synagogue before the congregation, giving the father a
chance to witness the reading of the Torah on the bimo, and
to have the child named by the chazan or sexton.
After Biblical times, the creation of new Hebrew names had
ceased. Only a limited number of the names recorded in the
Bible were in vogue. In recent years, with the spread of the
Zionist movement, the list of Biblical names has increased, and
in the new State of Israel new Hebrew names are constantly
devised; to mention only a few: Yigdal, Arnon, Raanan,
Sharon, Amikam, for men; Aviva, Zahava, Sharona, Galila, for
women.
There were times when Jews did not enjoy the right to
choose names for their children. Some governments in Chris-
tian countries forbade them the use of non-Jewish names in
every-day life, and forced them to bear Jewish names exclu-
sively. In Prussia and Bohemia such restrictive measures were
IN MODERN TIMES 53
still in force in the first half of the previous century. In Russia
a law to that effect was issued in the year 1893.
This medieval restriction in regard to Jewish names was re-
vived by the Nazi Government in Germany together with
the other medieval laws restricting and persecuting the Jews,
In Eastern Europe . . . We visit now a Jewish community in
Eastern Europe in the last decades of the nineteenth century,
at approximately the period when the mass emigration to
America began.
A Jewish woman is in labor. The husband goes to call the
midwife. If it is night, he does not go alone; an elderly woman
usually accompanies him. Only the midwife and several eld-
erly women are present at the delivery. The few who know
that the woman is in labor keep the fact secret, for it is believed
that the more the people who knew of the confinement, the
harder the delivery.
As the pangs become severe, various charms are employed
to ease the delivery. The woman is led around the table three
rimes, making three complete encirclings. She may also be led
over the threshold of her room three times. All chests, closets,
and doors in' the house are opened. All knots, ties, and buttons
in the garments of the woman are undone. It is also a popu-
lar practice to chant before the woman, using the melody of
the Haftoro, the first chapter of the First Book of Samuel.
This chapter tells the story of Hannah, who had been barren
for a long time until God hearkened to her prayer and gave
her a son, and is read on the first day of Rosh Ha-shono. It is
believed to be more effective for the woman in labor if the
chapter is chanted by the man who was called up to witness the
reading of this Haftoro on the preceding Rosh Ha-shono.
If these customs and charms are without effect, many more
are practiced. The key of the synagogue is fetched and placed
in the hand of the woman. She may be girded with the band
of a Torah Scroll brought from the synagogue. Sometimes
female relatives run to the synagogue where they put their
54 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
heads in the Holy Ark where the Scrolls of the Torah are kept,
wailing and praying for the suffering woman. Women rela-
tives hurry to the cemetery to pray at the graves of pious dead
of the family that they intercede in heaven on behalf of the
expectant mother and her innocent child. Sometimes these
women relatives "measure the field," which means spanning
the ground of the cemetery with a ball of thread which they
unroll. This thread is then taken to the candle-maker, who
uses it for candle wicks which are donated to the synagogue.
The shofor may be blown or the magic practice of kaporos
performed in the room where the woman is in labor. If it is
available, she is given a piece left over from the afikomon (the
half matso hidden at the start of the seder on Pesach night and
eaten at the end of it), or the blossom-end (pitum) of the
esrog. She may chew, but not swallow this.
Mazol Tov! (good luck). The woman is over it! There is
great joy over the increase in the family, particularly when it
is a boy. No one wants a small family. "May God guard against
having one child and one undershirt" is a proverb of the peo-
ple; another, "One more child one more loaf of bread" (i.e.,
the expense will be increased only by the cost of another loaf) .
The babe is bathed soon after birth. The father and other
relatives throw coins in the tub, as an omen that the child will
be rich. This money, however, goes to the midwife. The tub
must be an old one, usually a borrowed one in which children
were bathed who grew up strong and healthy. The baby's
first swaddles are made of an old shirt. It is not considered
lucky for an expectant mother to prepare anything for the
baby in advance. Some use swaddles made from old shirts for
a whole year, as a charm to prevent the child from developing
into a tearer of clothes.
If it is night, the midwife must not return home alone. The
father of the child accompanies her, taking someone with him
so that he will not have to return alone. Not only the mother
and the child, but also the father and the midwife are guarded
at night against evil spirits.
IN MODERN TIMES 55
Let us look into the home on the next day.
The dwelling usually consists of two rooms. In the inner-
most corner of the back room the mother lies in a tent-bed,
which resembles a canopy. Four poles at the corners support a
spread over the top. Curtains are hung around the bed to iso-
late the mother and child as protection against evil spirits.
The mother, with a pale and contented face, lies dressed in a
white bed-jacket and cap. At her feet lies the baby, swathed
so tightly that it looks like a little living mummy.
The caretaker, a Jewish woman, hired to care for the mother
during the weeks of her confinement and to do all the work in
the house, moves about the room, pampering the woman in
confinement. She continually gives her preserves, egg-nogs,
and many other delicacies, but most of all, soup and meat of
chicken. The bones of the chickens are put in a sieve, and
kept. For it is believed that until the sieve is filled with bones,
the woman in childbed has not recuperated.
The mother and the child are guarded against evil spirits by
various charms and amulets. On the wall above the head of
the bed, under the head pillow, over the door and windows,
and over all the walls, printed amulets are pasted or hung on
every available vacant space. The first and most important line
of the amulet reads: "Adam and Eve barring Lilith." Written
on it are the names of the three angels, Sannui, Sansannui and
Samangaluf, whom Lilith dreads. There is also a legend on the
amulet that tells how the prophet Elijah once met Lilith and
her clique, how she told him that she was going to kill a woman
in childbed and her new-born child. Elijah, wishing to trans-
form her into stone on the spot, desisted only after she revealed
to him the means by which she and her clique could be kept
away from a woman in childbed: by hanging a sheet of paper
on the wall on which all her seventeen names are enumerated.
These various names of Lilith follow on the amulet, and at the
very end there is the Song of Ascents, Psalm 121. These amu-
lets are thus called Shir Hamaalos (Song of Ascents) .
If the baby is a boy, a m'lamed (teacher in a primary Jewish
56 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
school) with a quorum of ten pupils comes to the mother every
evening to recite the Sh'ma (the declaration of the unity of
God). This is a safeguard to keep demons from the room.
After the recitation is over, the pupils receive raisins, nuts,
apples, and cake. The m'lamed receives some money for his
trouble when the week is over.
The first celebration of the birth of a boy takes place on the
following Friday night. It is called ben zochor (see p. 42).
At the synagogue the sexton stands on the bimo and, in behalf
of the new father, invites the people to the ben zochor. After
the Friday night meal, relatives and friends gather in the house
to offer Mazol Tov (good luck) to the parents. The guests are
treated to cider, beer, apples, cooked beans and peas.
Among the visitors is also the chazan, who leads in the singing
of z'miros.
There is another celebration on the next day, after the morn-
ing services. Relatives and friends again gather in the home of
the parents to visit the new-born boy. B'rocho (benediction)
is recited over wine and brandy, and various delicacies are
served. This celebration is called sholom zochor (peace of
the male child, an allusion to the Talmud which says that with
the birth of a male child peace comes to the world 89 ).
Watch Night is a festive occasion. Many candles glow
throughout the house, and a great number of people partici-
pate in the ceremony. After a festive meal, prayers are recited
and the Torah studied until after midnight. Among the guests
is the mohel who leaves his circumcision knife under the
mother's pillow over night. Before departing, all recite aloud
K'rias Sh'ma near the mother.
The name for the child has already been decided upon, usu-
ally not one name, but two. The father has many deceased
relatives in his family, and the mother has many in hers, and
they desire to name their child for all of the deceased. A com-
promise is reached in most cases. The child is given two names,
one for a deceased relative in the father's family and one for
the mother's family.
IN MODERN TIMES 57
The b'ris takes place in the parents' home immediately after
the morning services. Preparations for bathing the child begin
very early in the morning. Many elderly women take part in
bathing the child. It is regarded as a mitsvo, a religious act, to
help prepare the child for the b'ris. Every one of the women
pours two handfuls of water on the child and everyone leaves
a silver coin in the tub for the midwife.
At the synagogue, the people are still reciting the morning
prayers, chanting in a special way certain parts of the prayers,
and omitting certain prayers that are left out on semi-festival
days. There is a general atmosphere of semi-festivity.
Between nine and ten the services are over, and people
gather at the house. In the front room, where the b'ris takes
place, two huge candles burn in silver or brass candlesticks.
Numerous smaller candles light the room. On a special table
are laid the ceremonial necessities for circumcision: a bottle of
wine, a goblet, a plate of sand, a box of old, pulverized wood.
Two large chairs are placed nearby, one for the sandek and
another, covered with a white sheet, for the prophet Elijah.
The honor of sandek is usually awarded to the rabbi of the
town.
When all have gathered, the ceremonial begins. The mohel
issues the order for wrapping the child, and this is done accord-
ing to a fixed method, on the mother's bed. With a little cap
on his head, the boy lies covered on a pillow, while the mother
looks on with concern.
The midwife takes the boy from the mother and hands him
to the oldest woman standing near the bed. She fondles and
rocks him for a minute, then gives him over to the next
woman, who does the same and then presents him to another
woman.
The boy thus passes from hand to hand until he ultimately
reaches the kvaterin (godmother) who carries him as far as
the threshold of the front room. As soon as the child appears,
the guests call out loudly: Boruch habo! (Blessed be the one
who comes!) The kvater (godfather) takes the child and
58 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
hands him to the mohel, who recites certain verses from the
Bible. He or a member of the family who is honored thereby
then places the child on Elijah's chair, announcing "This is the
chair of the prophet Elijah, be he remembered for good!" and
recites a prayer directed partly to God, partly to Elijah.
Now the actual circumcision begins. All people in the audi-
ence stand except the sandek. Wrapped in a large prayer-
shawl, he sits in an armchair, with a footstool under his feet.
The mohel stands near Elijah's chair with the father close
behind him. The mohel or another who is assigned the honor
of standing near the sandek (Yad ha-Sandek) then takes the
child from Elijah's chair and places him on the knees of the
sandek. The mohel then recites the benediction that precedes
the operation. After the operation, the father recites the bene-
diction over the "bringing the child into the covenant of Abra-
ham, our father." The audience responds, "As he has entered
into the covenant, so may he enter into the study of the Torah,
into the chupo and into good deeds."
During a long benediction over a goblet of wine, the mohel
names the child and moistens the boy's lips with the wine.
Meanwhile, men and women in the room hold and rock the
whimpering child on the pillow. The child becomes a little
calmer when the mohel wets his lips with the wine.
When the benedictions and prayers are over, all who have
attended the ceremony wash their hands and seat themselves at
the table to eat. Between courses, the chazan, in a sonorous
voice, addresses greetings to the mother and the child on behalf
of the guests, particularly the relatives. It is the conventional
greeting in religious ceremonies, called after its first two
words, MiSheberach (The o$e who blessed, etc.). Time after
time the chazan repeats the Mi Sheberach. For each Mi She-
berach the sexton helps the chazan by whispering the name of
one of the relatives in his ear. As a matter of course, each one
gives the chazan a coin.
After the meal grace is recited, interspersed with special
liturgical poems for a b'ris.
IN MODERN TIMES 59
Then the sexton announces: "The Ba-al-Wris (master of the
circumcision, the father) begs the guests not to be displeased
if the meal was not satisfactory. With God's will, at the bar
mitsvo (or at the wedding) it will be greatly improved."
As the guests leave, they bless the father and from afar, the
mother with the wish that they may bring up the child "to
the study of the Torah, to the chupo and to good deeds."
After the b'ris, when the child has been circumcised and
carries in his flesh the sign of the Holy Covenant, the amulets
are removed from the room of childbed, for there is no longer
any fear of Lilith and her demons.
When a girl is born, there are no ceremonials or feasts. On
the first Sabbath the father is called to the bimo in the
synagogue to witness the reading of a portion of the Penta-
teuch, and to pronounce the benediction over it. Following
this, the chazan, or the sexton, pronounces the Mi Sheberach
on behalf of the father, and names the girl.
The same afternoon, female relatives, neighbors, and friends
visit the mother to wish her "Mazol Tov." They are served
with cake, wine, and preserves. This is called "gehn oif
kichlech" (to go and partake of cakes) .
In the case of a girl, it is believed that there is no limit to the
time during which Lilith and the evil spirits threaten mother
and child. Accordingly, the amulets remain on the walls much
longer, usually for about four weeks, until the mother has
arisen from childbed.
On the Sabbath on which the mother arises from childbed,
there is festivity in the house, whether the child is a boy or a
girl. Women relatives and the midwife escort the mother from
the home to the synagogue. Before leaving, the women are
served with cake, pastries, and preserves. In the women's sec-
tion of the synagogue all offer "Mazol Tov" to the mother,
and in the men's section, the father is called to the bimo to
witness the reading of a portion of the Torah. The chazan or
the sexton, at the father's behest, pronounces the Mi Sheberach,
blessing mother and child.
60 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
Among the Oriental Jews . . . The Karaites, the Jewish sect
which came into existence in the eighth century, and gained
new adherents through the eighth and ninth centuries, adopted
the custom of performing the b'ris at the synagogue. As to the
operation of circumcision it is forbidden among the Karaites to
perform it with any type of knife, but to use instead a pair of
scissors. They took literally the expression "knives of flint"
(knives in plural) found in the Book of Joshua (chap. 5:2).
The Karaites abolished the ceremony of pidyon ha-ben
altogether. They regarded it as one of the rewards accorded
to the kohanim for their service in the Temple. Hence, after
the destruction of the Temple, the kohanim were not entitled
to it.
In Palestine, among S'fardim as well as among Ashk'nazim,
circumcision, up to the present day, is performed in the syna-
gogue or in the House of Study (Beis ha-Midrosh). Among
the S'fardim in Palestine it is customary to distribute fragrant
herbs among the assembled people, at the close of the circum-
cision ceremony. When the guests leave the synagogue with
the child, the sexton sprinkles them with rose-water from a
vessel pierced with little holes, made especially for this oc-
casion.
The S'fardim also make the eve of the b'ris a special oc-
casion. Unlike the Ashk'nazim, the S'fardim do not call it by
the magic name "Watch Night," but by a genuinely Jewish
name, Midrash (study) . Guests are invited, and the following
communal functionaries gather in the house: the chacham
(rabbi) , the Hebrew teacher, the cantor, and the sexton of the
synagogue. The close relatives of the sandek bring an oil-
burning menorah to the house where the woman is in child-
bed. The menorah is wreathed with flowers and fragrant
leaves. Beating a drum, and singing joyously, the guests carry
the menorah through the streets of the town until they reach
the house. When all are present, the father calls on the cha-
cham to deliver a discourse on the portion of the Pentateuch
read that week. After the lecture, the chazan recites Kaddish
IN MODERN TIMES 6l
and the guests are served with a preserve made of poppy-seed
and honey, and small cups of coffee. The chacham receives
money gifts from the guests at their departure.
Among the S'fardic Jews in the Orient, a girl is named only
in the home. The parents invite guests to a meal and announce
the name of their daughter.
The Jews of the Caucasus still perform the b'ris in the
synagogue, but they do not observe the eve of the b'ris. This
proves that in the early Middle Ages, when the ancestors of
the present day Caucasian Jews adopted the Jewish faith,
Watch Night was not yet observed.
The Oriental Jews of Asia and North Africa generally per-
form the circumcision rite in the synagogue. This is done in
the morning, but the joyous feast is not held until evening.
In the meantime, in the home of the parents, the women dance
and sing to the accompaniment of musical instruments. 70
In America . . . Many Jewish customs and folkways, insep-
arable from Jewish Mfe through long epochs of Jewish history,
assumed new forms, disintegrated, or were completely dis-
carded by the Jews in America. The observances and practices
in connection with the birth of a child which, for the most
part, had been an integral part of the home atmosphere, fell
prey to the new environment. Only in rare cases is a woman
now confined in her home. As a rule she has the care of a
modern physician and goes to a maternity hospital, provided
with the latest medical equipment. Under such conditions,
there is no opportunity to apply magic means to ease the de-
livery of the child, nor is the maternity hospital a fitting place
to employ Lilith amulets to insure safety after the babe is born,
The terror of Lilith, which withstood the vicissitudes of so
many ages, has completely vanished in modern American life.
The observance of the Watch Night has also been discarded
because the mother and the babe are no longer in the home.
Here and there the ben zochor is still observed on the first
Friday night, but only in rare cases.
62 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
The b'ris now performed in a special room in the hospital,
reserved for the ceremony, lacks the home atmosphere of
previous times. On the other hand, the pidyon ha-ben, ob-
served in the home where both mother and child are, is quite
a popular celebration, with all the atmosphere of a joyous
family party. At the observance of this ceremony, the kohen
receives five dollars which, as a rule, he either returns to the
father or donates to charity.
Among Orthodox Jews in this country, if the child is a girl,
it is still customary for the father to be called to the reading
of the Torah on the first Sabbath when the chazan or sexton
names the child.
The observance of arising from childbed has been discarded
in America.
Beliefs Concerning Birth
Belief in Prenatal Existence ... In Talmudic times (the first
centuries of the Common Era) the belief was current among
Jews that man's soul was independent of his body, existing
eternally in the past and in the future. Only for a short, limited
time is it placed in the body of a certain human being. All the
souls of the world preexist in heaven in a kind of a spiritual
reservoir, and at first have no desire to enter the human bodies
on earth. They do it only by force. God decrees that a certain
soul shall enter a certain body, and God also decrees the mo-
ment when the soul shall leave the body.
In this realm of belief, the vanishing mortal body plays an in-
significant role in comparison with the pure and eternal soul.
Accordingly, man attains the highest stage in his spiritual life
not after the full growth of his body, but before he is projected
in the form of a human being into the light of the world. In
his prenatal existence in his mother's womb, a light burns over
his head, and he sees from one end of the world to the other.
He sees there much more than a human being is capable of
seeing during the course of his entire life.
According to this belief, a special angel is appointed to
supervise the souls. He receives an order from God to place a
certain soul in a certain child at the time of its conception. At
first the pure soul recoils from entering the foul body. It yields
only to the force of God's decree. The angel brings the soul
into the womb and joins it with the embryo. He places it un-
der the good care of two angels who place the burning light
over his head.
The next morning the supervising angel pays a visit to the
64 AJEWISHCHILDISBORN
soul and takes it for a promenade through Paradise. There he
shows it the saints in their full glory seated on golden thrones
with crowns on their heads. He asks it: "Do you know to
whom that soul belonged?" The soul answers, "No," and the
angel says, "The saint whom you see in such glory was also
created, like you, in his mother's womb. This is true of all the
other saints whom you see here. They were pious and kept the
commandments of God. If you will do the same, after your
death you will share in this great glory. Otherwise, after death,
you will descend to a place which I shall show you later."
In the evening, the angel takes the soul for a visit into the
Gehenna to show it how the angels of destruction torment the
wicked souls and flog them with whips of fire. The wicked
ones groan and cry, "Ah!" and "Woe!" but no one sympa-
thizes with them. The angel says to the soul: "Do you know
that these were created like you, in their mothers' wombs, and
came forth afterwards into the world? But they did not ob-
serve God's commandments. Therefore this terrible shame has
come upon them. And now you should know, my son, that
you are also destined to come forth into the world and to die
afterward. Be not wicked, therefore, but righteous and you
will have a share in the world to come."
Thus the prenatal man goes about under the guardianship
and tutelage of the angel. In the morning he visits Paradise, in
the evening, Gehenna, and in between, the angel shows him
every nook and corner that his foot will tread, every place
where he will dwell, the place where he will die, and the place
where he will be buried. In the evening he brings him back
into his mother's womb.
When the moment arrives for the child to leave the mother's
womb, that same angel comes and tells him: "The time has
arrived for you to emerge." But the child is not willing to go
out into the world. He does it under compulsion, and starts to
cry. In the moment of coming forth from the womb, the angel
strikes the child on the upper lip just under the nose, making
a dent on that spot. Thereby the angel extinguishes the light
BELIEFS CONCERNING BIRTH 65
and causes the child to forget all that he has seen and learned in
the womb of his mother. That which the child learns there-
after is merely a recollection of the knowledge acquired dur-
ing his prenatal life. 71
Some scholars think that this Jewish belief is an echo of the
Platonic idea of man's soul knowing everything before birth.
Others assume that both the Jewish belief and the Platonic
ideas of the preexistence of man's soul are derived from a
common source the mythology of ancient Egypt. Another
group thinks that the common source of the belief in the pre-
existence of the soul is to be found in the religion of the an-
cient Persians. 72
Magic Means to Ease Delivery . . . Primitive man attributed
every illness, every physical and mental disorder, to witchcraft
and demons. He did not ascribe the difficulty of the delivery
of a child to anatomic factors, but to the spell of sorcerers and
the working of evil spirits. When a woman in labor suffered
unbearable anguish and her life was imperiled, the explanation
given was that she was bewitched by sorcerers or beset by
demons. 73 Since very ancient times, Jews as well as other peo-
ples employed various means and charms to ease the delivery.
There were three kinds of safeguards and charms which
primitive people employed in the grave moments when it was
considered imperative to combat the evil spirits. First, pre-
cautions were taken to shut them out, so that they could not
harm anyone. Second, there were numerous means by which
the demons could be frightened and put to flight. Third, the
devils could be bribed by certain gifts, or be confounded by
certain devices -and tricks which induced them to leave vol-
untarily.
It is impossible to enumerate the huge variety of these prac-
tices, which were popularly supposed to have a magic effect.
Nor do they lend themselves to a historical treatment which
would follow their evolution from age to age. A great many of
them are confined only to one land or to one period of Jewish
66 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
history, and we know of them merely from books. Many of
them were in vogue in various lands where Jews lived, and a
considerable number of them persist, even to our own day.
One of the most popular means employed to keep the devils
away was the circle, which is still known as the "magic ring."
People believed the devil feared a closed circle, for if he en-
tered a ring, he became entirely helpless. A magician, when he
wanted to prove his power over the evil spirits, first drew a
circle about himself and sat in it. Inside the magic ring, he was
as safe as in a fortress, because the spirits could not reach him,
and he could do with them as he pleased. This explains the cus-
tom of leading the woman in labor around a table. It also ex-
plains the practice of kaporos, swinging a hen in circles around
the head of the woman. There were two additional motives for
this latter practice. The hen was sacrificed in expiation of the
sins of the suffering woman. Besides, a rooster or a hen was
believed not only to placate the evil spirits, but also to frighten
them. According to the popular belief, evil spirits shunned the
light, and the rooster frightened them away when he crowed
in the morning to announce the first light of day. As the
rooster had magic power, this was also, as a matter of course,
transferred to the hen.
In like manner, and in spite of the later interpretations at-
tached to the custom, the shofor, the ritual horn of the ram,
was blown in the room of the woman in labor. The primitive
idea of frightening away demons with a loud noise gave the
origin to this custom. 7 *
Among a great number of peoples in olden times, the thresh-
old, like the door-posts, was a sacred spot in the home. Many
curious beliefs centered around it, both in ancient and in mod-
ern times. No wonder, therefore, that the woman in labor was
led to and fro over the threshold as a means to ease delivery. 75
Sympathetic or imitative magic has played a great role in
these practices, for in the primitive belief every activity called
forth its counterpart. Everything that opened was a magic
means of easing the delivery of the child. We meet this wide-
BELIEFS CONCERNING BIRTH 67
spread practice among the Jews of Eastern Europe as well as
among the Jews of the Caucasus. In Lithuania, one who en-
tered a house and found the chests and drawers open, would
usually ask jestingly, "Is anyone in labor here?" 76
A great many of these ancient magic practices persisted
throughout the ages. They adapted themselves more or less to
the higher religious beliefs, and then new means and practices
of a different aspect associated with the higher spheres of re-
ligion evolved in the course of time, and mingled with them.
Certain psalms were recited, and the Holy Ark with its Scroll
of the Torah was drawn into this domain. A custom arose at
which the Scroll itself was brought to the woman in labor.
This practice was frowned upon by the rabbis, and did not
become popular. Usually, only the band which girded the
Scroll was brought to the woman and was bound about her.
It was also customary to spin a long thread from the Holy Ark
in the synagogue to the bed of the woman. In like manner, a
mysterious power was believed to reside in the key of the
synagogue, because the key was an opener, and suggested the
opening of the womb and the easing of the delivery. The key
also opened a sacred place, the synagogue, and that, the people
believed, enhanced its efficacy. In accordance with the Tal-
mud, there is a "key of birth" which is held in the hands of the
Almighty Himself.
The custom of chanting aloud passages from the Holy
Scriptures about a barren woman whom God remembered and
gave a child was also colored with religious meaning.
Also associated with the realm of religion was the custom
of giving the woman a piece left over from the afikomon and
the blossom-end of the esrog to chew. In this, as in the above
mentioned practices connected with the synagogue, it is ob-
viously the direct touch with things essential in religious cere-
monials which was expected to arouse divine assistance.
In Terror of Lilith ... In the folk-belief, the woman in
childbed and her new-born babe, even more than the woman
68 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
in labor, were exposed to the dangers of witchcraft and evil
spirits. Primitive man saw countless young mothers die of fever
in childbed. He heard babies crying bitterly without any ob-
vious reason, saw them wasting away and dying an untimely
death. People stood helpless against this vast destruction of
human life. They explained it according to their outlook on
the world and on nature, regarding it as the work of sorcerers
and demons. They imagined hosts of evil spirits prowling
around in their effort to destroy the mother and the child.
Primitive man personified all forces of nature, the good as
well as the evil, and he personified this destructive force, about
which he created a horrible myth. In his vivid imagination he
saw a particular female demon whose function was to steal,
to bewitch, to change into freaks, and to kill the child as well
as the mother in childbed. This most dangerous and most
popular of all demons was called Lilith. She is known among
many nations under various names. She is known among Jews
under different names, but for the most part by the name of
Lilith. For several thousand years mankind has lived in fear
of Lilith, and the fear has not yet vanished. Here is the best
example of a primitive superstition persisting in our own days.
Origin of the Lilitb Myth . . . The Lilith myth is not of
Jewish origin, but originated in ancient Babylonia. Long be-
fore Lilith entered the realm of Jewish folk-belief, she played
a prominent role among the demons of Babylonia and Assyria.
Excavations in southern Mesopotamia prove that the Jews of
Mesopotamia, the homeland of the Lilith myth, were devout
worshippers of Lilith as late as the Middle Ages.
The religion of ancient Babylonia developed into triads of
gods, and Lilith also became one of a triad of demons. In the
popular beliefs of the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians is
found a male demon named Lilu, a female demon Lilith, and
also a maid Ardat LilL However, it was one Lilith, one female
demon who, in the frightened imagination of the people, per-
sonified horror for all times.
BELIEFS CONCERNING BIRTH 69
It is certain that the belief in Lilith came down to the Jews
from the ancient Babylonians. We are not certain about the
original etymology of the name Lilith. Many great authorities
on this subject assert that Lilith had originally no relation to
the word layil, night. Originally, it is maintained by these
scholars, Lilith signified the demon of the storm, and only
later, through a false etymology of the people (who derived
it from layil) , the name was interpreted and conceived as mean-
ing the demon of the night. It would appear that the Lilith
myth was a fusion of three different motifs. At first Lilith
personified the storm, the hot wind that blows over the desert
and brings heat and drought in its wake. As such, it also per-
sonified the internal heat of the body, a fever that kills
women in childbed. Subsequently, when Lilith was thought of
as the night demon, she became, in addition, the personification
of the nightmare, the ghostly paramour of unmarried men,
who aroused their passions without gratifying them. As a de-
mon who killed women in childbed and exasperated men in
their sleep, Lilith, as a matter of course, could not help hating
children. It was only natural then to identify her with La-
bartu, a female demon of the Babylonians and Assyrians,
whose special function was the killing of children.
The Lilith myth, which passed through these three phases
before it reached the folk-belief of the Jews, had become a
threefold monster in the morbid phantasy of the people: the
personification of the cause of fever; the nightmare; and the
untimely death of children.
Among the ancient nations of the East, Lilith played the
role counterpart to Ishtar (called by the ancient Canaanites
Astarte, in the Bible: Ashtoroth and Ashtoreth). The ancient
Babylonians and many other peoples of the ancient East orig-
inally had two goddesses in their mythology, who counter-
acted one another one good and benign, the other evil and
malicious. The good goddess was Ishtar and the malicious and
destructive goddess was Lilith, who in time was degraded to
a demon. Ishtar was the goddess of love and fertility and, in
70 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
the belief of the people, she protected and assisted women in
labor and childbed. Lilith, on the contrary, sought to kill the
mothers and their new-born babes. In the mythology of the
Ancient East, Ishtar, the Great Mother, the Queen of Heaven,
represented the good woman, who is a good wife and a good
mother. Lilith typified the neurotic woman, without a hus-
band, who detests men and hates the offspring of human wed-
lock. 77
It may be worth while to remark that ultimately Ishtar
suffered the same fate as Lilith degradation to a demon. After
she was identified for thousands of years with the Venus
Planet and worshipped as the Great Mother and Great God-
dess, she was, in the Christian belief of the Middle Ages,
finally degraded to the status of a demon and witch who
dwelt in the hill of Venus and seduced pious knights. The
well-known Teutonic legend of Tannhauser tells this tale.
Lilith in Jewish Folklore ... In the Bible, Lilith is men-
tioned only once (Isaiah 34). She is described as a demon
who, like all the evil spirits, is found in desolate and unclean
places. There she dwells in the company of the S'irim, the
satyrs, demons in the shape of goats. Azazel, to whom the
scapegoat, loaded with all the sins of the children of Israel, was
sent on the Day of Atonement, obviously belonged to this
company. We do not know the Jewish concept of Lilith in
Biblical times.
We hear a great deal more about Lilith in post-Biblical
times. In Talmudic literature she is represented in the likeness
of a woman with long hair and wings. This is quite under-
standable, for as the nightmare, the ghostly paramour of men,
she should have the likeness of a pretty woman, and as a de-
mon of the wind she was furnished with wings. When a man
slept alone in a house, he was in danger of being seized by
LiUth. According to the Jewish folk-belief in those times a
woman could even bear a child in the likeness of Lilith. The
Jews in Babylonia lived under Persian domination, and the
BELIEFS CONCERNING BIRTH Jl
Lilith myth took on some additional traits of the Persian re-
ligion. Lilith was thought of as the mother of Ahriman, who,
in the religion of the ancient Persians, was the chief of the
devils, the king of evil, darkness, and death. Lilith was thus
regarded as the queen of the female demons, just as Ashmedai
was regarded as the king of the male demons. 78
In medieval Jewish lore the Lilith myth spread far and wide.
It was interwoven with the Biblical tale of Adam and Eve,
and Lilith became, in the fantastic folklore, the demoniac
first wife of Adam. She was called the First Eve, a name which
she still retains on the amulets of the present day.
The Lilith myth fitted in very nicely with the story of
Adam and Eve. Since Lilith sought to kill Eve's daughters
and their human offspring, it was proper to explain that her
desire was motivated by jealousy and rivalry. Lilith hated the
daughters of Eve because she hated Eve, and she hated Eve
as the woman who superseded her as Adam's wife. Besides,
from the point of view of Biblical interpretation, the Lilith
myth was a good supplement to the story of Adam and Eve.
How God created the first man and wife is told twice and in
two divergent versions in the Bible. The first chapter of
Genesis tells how God created a male and a female simultane-
ously. In the second chapter God first created man, and later
created woman from man's rib. Therefore, this could be in-
terpreted to mean that God created a wife for Adam twice,
because the first one was a failure. It substantiated and ampli-
fied the exclamation of Adam, in the second chapter of Gene-
sis, that here at last was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh.
This passage invited the amplification that Adam formerly had
a first Eve who was not a good mate.
This motif of rivalry and hatred between Lilith and Eve
was elaborated in various versions. The most popular of them
is the following:
When God created Adam, he also created a wife for him out
of the earth. This first woman was Lilith. However, they
were not a happy couple. Because they were both of the same
72 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
origin, she considered herself his equal and refused to obey
him. They quarreled with one another until in a moment of
rage, with the help of the ineffable name of God which she
uttered, she flew away from Adam and vanished into the air.
Adam complained to God that the wife He had given him
had deserted him. God sent three angels to bring her back.
The angels found her in the Red Sea, in the spot where the
Jews later passed in the Exodus from Egypt. They tried to
make her return by holding over her the dire threat that
if she would not return, hundreds of her demon children
would die daily. Lilith preferred this punishment to return-
ing to Adam. They then threatened to drown her in the sea.
She implored them to spare her, and in return she granted
them a concession. She told fhem that she was made for the
purpose of injuring babies, boys until the eighth day, and girls
until the twentieth day, and she swore that wherever she saw
the names of these three angels written in a home, she would
keep away from the child and the mother, and would not in-
jure them.
The story ends with the three angels releasing Lilith after
she had taken that oath. For this reason the names of these
three angels are written on amulets and hung upon the walls
of the room where a woman lies in childbed.
According to another version, the prophet Elijah encount-
ered Lilith, and she swore that she would keep away from
every woman in childbed if a sheet of paper was hung on the
wall with all her seventeen names written on it (see p. 55) .
In Mohammedan lore, Lilith bears the name Karina, and the
role of the three angels or the prophet Elijah who struggle
with her is played by King Solomon. In the European-
Christian legends, the role of the benevolent actor is played
by the Holy Mother Mary, by the archangel Michael, or by
a certain saint whose name is similar to the names of the three
dreaded angels in Jewish legends.
The Lilith myth grew and spread in Jewish lore through-
out the ages, assuming its greatest proportion in the later Mid-
BELIEFS CONCERNING BIRTH 73
die Ages. Its growth was partly an amplification of older
traditions and beliefs, and partly due to the general spread of
the belief in demons and witchcraft in Europe at that time.
Superstitious beliefs pass from generation to generation, from
race to race, and from land to land. In the Jewish popular be-
lief of those times, Lilith, the Queen of Sheba, Venus in her
degraded state as a seductive witch, and the German goddess
Dame Holle, in her dark and dreaded aspect as an ugly old
woman, were all fused together. 79
Charms against Lilitb . . . The fear of Lilith and her de-
moniac troop was very old among Jews, but the application
of inscribed amulets as a protection against Lilith appeared
later. In general, written amulets represent a later develop-
ment than oral conjurations. First the words were uttered,
and later these words were written down. First the conjuror
orally narrated the story of the encounter between the three
dreaded angels and Lilith, or between the prophet Elijah and
Lilith, and it was believed that this spoken account drove
away the evil spirits. Later, the spoken recital was put into
writing, and became an amulet. People evidently considered
the written amulet just as effective as the spoken words of the
conjuror. 80 Authoritative knowledge of the use of written
amulets against Lilith goes back only as far as post-Talmudic
times. But we may assume that oral conjurations against de-
moniac powers in the room of a woman in childbed were em-
ployed in much earlier times.
The amulet was not the only safeguard employed against
Lilith. There were many more, e.g., the magic circle and the
shutting of the windows which have already been described.
Two more of these safeguards need special explanations. On
the eve of the b'ris, the mohePs knife was placed under the
mother's head-pillow. Among many peoples, iron was a popu-
lar and wide-spread safeguard against demons. The belief in
demons stems from the Stone Age, which explains why the
new metal was hateful to them, and kept them out. At the
74 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
celebration of the ben zochor on the Friday night preceding
the b'ris and also on the Watch Night, cooked beans and peas
were eaten. Legumes were considered by Jews as weU as by
many other peoples as a sort of an offering to appease the
demons. 81
The Magic Power of Names ... In the primitive stage of
culture, names played an important part in the magic beliefs
and practices of the people. A name, according to popular be-
lief, could be used as a charm. It could be used as a remedy in
the case of sickness or as a safeguard to ward off illness and
death.
To begin with, it was believed that there was a charm in
keeping the name secret for some time. It was a popular prac-
tice, even in recent times, not to disclose the name of a boy
before the b'ris. As we have previously pointed out, people
believed that the days preceding the b'ris were critical, be-
cause the danger of Lilith and her clique of evil spirits hovered
over the child. If they could not identify the babe by name,
they might be defeated in their purpose.
It was not unusual to permanently conceal the name of the
child, and to call it instead by a special charm-name. This was
a popular practice in families which had lost children by un-
timely death. The parents, worried lest the same fate overtake
the new-born child, gave it a charm-name to ward off the
Angel of Death. Calling a child by a special name was believed
to confound and delude the ministering angels as well as the
evil spirits.
The simplest way was not to name the child at all or to keep
the name completely secret. But it was not easy to rear a child
without calling him by a given name. A scheme was devised
whereby the true name given to the child was not pronounced
by anyone. Instead, the child was called by a substitute name
throughout his life. There was a certain trick even in regard
to the substitute name. The child was nicknamed Alter, or if
a girl, the feminine, Alte (old one). A boy was called Zeidl
BELIEFS CONCERNING BIRTH 75
(Little Grandfather) and a girl Eabke or Eabtche (Little
Grandmother). The Angel of Death, receiving a decree in
heaven to take the life of a child with this or that (real)
name, would be entirely confused and unable to identify his
would-be victim.
However, there are some genuine names which served as
a safeguard to insure the life of a child. One is the name men-
tioned heretofore, Chayim or Chayo, a name which means
life. Another safeguard against death is the name Ben-Zion.
It is the only Hebrew name that begins with ben as a separate
word. (In Benjamin, ben is merely a syllable, not a word.)
Ben means son in Hebrew. The Angel of Death, who sup-
posedly takes names literally, is thus confused in identifying
the child. To him Ben-Zion was not the name of the child,
merely implying that the name of the father was 'Lion, and
the child was the son of Zion.
In case it might have been the sin of the mother that caused
her children's death, another stratagem was devised which
could be used only if there was a grandmother in the house.
The grandmother was called "Mama" and the mother by her
given name. This, however, did not take into consideration
the father. Perhaps the sins of both parents caused the death
of their children. In that case, more drastic measures were
taken. A mock sale was staged in which the child was formally
sold to other parents. Sometimes the child was not sold but
given away as a gift. Of course, the new parents who were
selected were chosen because they had reared many healthy
children.
All these practices were safeguards to forestall sickness and
death. Sometimes a name was used as a therapeutic measure. In
the case of a severe illness a new special name was added to the
old one. This custom has previously been described (p. 48).
A more drastic measure was to discard the old name altogether.
This practice of changing the name of a person as a charm
against demoniac powers was wide-spread among all peoples,
and in the Middle Ages it became popular among Jews also.
76 A JEWISH CHILD IS BORN
The instances in the Bible where a person's name is changed
have no relation to the belief in the magic power of names.
This kind of change is based on the ancient belief in the
identity of the person with the name he bears. When a change
took place in the fortune of an individual, and his name no
longer suited his new station, the name had to be changed.
In Talmudic times a custom prevailed among Palestinian
Jews for husband and wife to exchange their names at night,
he calling himself by her name and she by his name. It was
considered an effective protection against demons. The rabbis
of the Talmud forbade it as a heathenish practice. On the
other hand, the belief gained favor among Jews in those times
that a change in name, like a change in place, rendered void
the evil decree issued in heaven against a person. 82 However, it
is not recorded in the Talmud that this theoretical belief was
ever put into practice in a case of sickness. In post-Talmudic
times, this practice of changing the name as a remedy in the
case of a sickness became popular among the Franco-German
Jews and, in time, became a universal Jewish custom. Even a
special ritual was evolved for effecting the change of the name.
A ritual quorum of ten assembled in the synagogue or the
house of study. The Holy Ark, containing the Scrolls of the
Torah, was opened. One man, who sometimes held in his hand
a Scroll of the Torah, recited a special prayer in which he
emphatically notified the heavenly authorities of the change
in the name of the person who was ill and requested them to no
longer identify the person bearing the old name with the per-
son bearing the new name. Everyone present gave something
to charity in behalf of the sick person because "charity de-
livereth from death." 83
PART TWO
Itte UH 6rotos
Beginnings
In the Jewish family every stage in the child's life was an ii,
portant event and observed as a joyous occasion with symbolic
rites and religious ceremonies.
*D
"Cradling" the Child . . . After the b'ris, the first event in
the life of the child was the occasion on which he was placed
in the cradle for the first time. Mention of the cradle is first
made in Talmudic sources (see p. 21). We hear more about
it in the Middle Ages.
In that period, the first "cradling" of a boy after the b'ris
was a religious ceremony attended by a ritual quorum of ten
men. The little boy was placed in the cradle, dressed in the
fine clothes he wore on the day of his circumcision. Then a
copy of the Five Books of Moses was placed on him, and the
people standing about said: "May this child fulfill what is
written in this book! " In addition, the quill of a goose, used as a
pen, and an ink bottle, were placed in his hand as an omen that
when he grew up he should be worthy of being a scribe and
writing a Scroll of God's Torah with his own hand. The peo-
ple who were gathered in the house then recited certain ex-
cerpts from the Bible, beginning with "So God give thee of the
dew of heaven, and of the fat places of the earth, and plenty
of corn and wine" (Gen. ly-.zS). 84
This attractive observance has been discontinued, and to*
day there remain only some magic practices connected with
"cradling" a child. In Eastern Europe, it was customary to
throw dainties sugar, raisins, cake, and also coins into the
cradle before the child was placed in it, as omens for a sweet
79
8o THE CHILD GROWS
and abundant life. This practice is still observed in America.
Sometimes a living creature was rocked in the cradle before
the child was placed in it. In the case of a boy, a little rooster
was rocked; in the case of a girl, a little hen. Occasionally, a
cat or a dog also served this purpose. It was believed that if the
cradle held any mishap for the child, the danger would be
transferred to the animal or fowl.
Jews as well as other peoples believed that a cradle should
not be rocked when empty. 85
Lullabies ... No Jewish cradle songs of ancient or medieval
times have been preserved, nor are they quoted in the Jewish
literature of those periods. In the Middle Ages, some religious
authorities disapproved of lulling a Jewish child to sleep with
non-Jewish lullabies. 86 But this does not prove that genuinely
Jewish lullabies did not exist in those times. Recently, many
of them, popular in Eastern Europe, have been published in
Yiddish. The motif of the most popular Jewish cradle song was
Jewish piety and the love of the Torah. The song told of a
little white kid who stood behind the cradle. The little goat
went out to trade in raisins and almonds, but the child would
go forth to learn Torah and would be a faithful and pious
Jew throughout his entire life. 87
Weighing the Child . . . In Talmudic times there was a very
interesting Jewish custom in connection with the growth of a
child. Jewish mothers weighed their children and donated the
equivalent in money of the increase in weight to charity. Men-
tion is made in the Talmud of a certain mother who weighed
her only son every day and donated gold proportionate to the
increase in weight to the Temple. 88
This custom prevailed until recent days in certain forms. In
some regions of Eastern Europe, it was customary to weigh
the child every year on his birthday, and give the equivalent
of his weight in bread to the poor. There was also a custom
(to be described in detail in a subsequent chapter) of giving
BEGINNINGS 8l
the equivalent of the weight of the child's hair to the poor.
When a child was sick, one of the popular remedies was giving
the equivalent of his weight in bread to the poor. After the
birth of a child, some Jewish mothers vowed to give an extra
loaf of the white Sabbath bread to the poor; and every Friday
morning when the Sabbath loaves were taken from the oven,
the promised loaf was sent to a poor family. In the case of a
boy, the vow was kept until his bar-mitsvo; in the case of a
girl, until her wedding.
Weaning the Child ... In Biblical and Talmudic times, the
child was nursed at the breast for from two to three years, and
this practice still persists among the Arab peasants of Pales-
tine. 89
In Biblical times, though the circumcision was not marked
by a feast, weaning the child was the occasion for a joyous
feasting. Later, however, this was reversed, and the celebration
of weaning the child was discarded. 90
Among the Jews in Eastern Europe, weaning a child was
marked by certain symbolic acts. The first food that the child
received after weaning was not the mother's, but was usually
procured from a neighbor. When the child took the food from
the other woman, the mother announced that it would be the
last time that the boy or girl would be supported by others. A
second parallel custom placed a tiny bag around the child's
neck, into which coins might be dropped. This also signified
that the child had received donations for the last time in his or
her life.
The First Steps . . . Among the Jews in Eastern Europe,
there were some curious customs and beliefs connected with
aiding a child to walk. The child was placed on the threshold
and a knife was drawn three times under the soles of his feet.
The knife was supposed to cut the fetter which prevented the
child from walking. Some made a cut with the knife on the
spot where the child stood.
82 THE CHILD GROWS
If the child stumbled and fell, water was immediately poured
on that spot and the spot was perforated with a knife. Believing
that the earth drew the child toward itself, certain means were
employed to counteract that effect. There was a saying among
women that if children fall and are not hurt, they fall on
invisible pillows that angels place under them.
The First Hair-Cut . . . Primitive people believed that the
hair of a man was permeated with a living force, containing
his strength and vitality. Small wonder, therefore, that the first
hair-cut of a child was linked with many primitive notions,
and was an occasion for impressive ceremonies among various
peoples all over the world. 91
It was not permitted to cut the hair of the child before he
reached a certain age, because his health would be impaired if
he lost the living force which the hair was believed to contain.
The age differed among various peoples. The Jews of Eastern
Europe did not cut the hair of a child until the child was able
to speak; otherwise he might remain dumb. The Jews shared
this notion with the Poles from whom they apparently learned
it.
Among the Jews of Eastern Europe, usually a boy was three
years old before he had his hair cut for the first time. In some
regions, guests were invited to a feast on this occasion. The
honor of cutting off the first lock was awarded to the oldest
guest. The ceremony was enhanced if this oldest guest hap-
pened to be a kohen. The hair was weighed, and its equivalent
given in metal coins to the poor.
Even more impressive is the observance of the first hair-
cutting among the Jews in Israel. The ceremonial is per-
formed when the boy is four years old, usually taking place
on the day of Lag Bo-omer, the semi-festival on the eighteenth
day of Ivor. On Lag Bo-omer the Jews of Saf ed and Tiberias
perform the ceremony of the first hair-cutting in the court-
yard around the grave of Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai (second
century C.E.), at the nearby village of Meron. This famous
BEGINNINGS 83
Jewish sage, a disciple of Rabbi Akiba, became the legendary-
father of Jewish mysticism, and on Lag Bo-omer a fire cele*
bration (hadlakah) is held annually in his honor at Meron.
It is a strange festival of tumultuous joy and religious fervor.
The court of the sacred grave is packed with thousands of
people, old and young, men, women and children, coming
from all parts of Palestine and Syria to the grave of the holy
disciple of Rabbi Akiba. They dance sacred dances and, in
religious songs, they hail the Son of Yochai and work them-
selves up to the highest pitch of exaltation.
The ecstatic crowd is surrounded by the intense light of a
huge blazing flame continuously fed by rags and oil. An old
S'fardic Jew, with an iron rod in his hand, is busy feeding the
flames with the fuel handed to him by the pilgrims. One pil-
grim hands him a coat, the other a dress, the third a kerchief.
One woman gives him a white silk dress for fuel and the other
hands him a bottle full of oil.
In the midst of this ecstatic throng, carrying flags, sword*
and Scrolls of the Torah, and playing flutes and harps and beat-
ing drums, many fathers assemble, carrying their little sons in
their arms. The three-year-old boys are dressed in their best
clothes. On their heads they wear round caps adorned with
gilded brims. From under each cap a thatch of unkempt hair
and ear-locks protrude. The parents distribute wine and deli-
cacies to all who pass by. One of the gabo-im (men in charge) ,
with a pair of scissors in his hand, approaches a boy and, speak-
ing conciliatory words, begins shearing off the ends of the
ear-locks. The little boy, astonished and frightened, bursts out
crying, but the hair of his ear-locks is already scattered on the
ground.
The performance goes on, ear-lock after ear-lock dropping
to the ground. The regular barber, who finishes the hair-
cutting afterwards, blesses each father, expressing the hope
that God may help his son to grow up a worthy and God-
fearing Jew.
Only the Jews of Saf ed and Tiberias perform the ceremony
84 THE CHILD GROWS
of the first hair-cutting at the grave of Rabbi Simeon ben
Yochai. In other parts of the land on Lag Bo-omer, the cere-
mony is performed in the home of the parents. Relatives and
friends are invited and each receives the honor of snipping off
a few hairs until all of the hair except the ear-locks is cut. The
ear-locks, they are forbidden to cut. 92 The guests then partake
of a light meal. Many S'fardic Jews in Palestine perform the
ceremony of the first hair-cutting at the synagogue during the
semi-festival days of Pesach (Passover) . It is considered more
meritorious to have the hair cut by a poor Jewish barber. In
the synagogue this observance is accompanied by great joy
and merriment. 93
tiff
The Belief in the Evil Eye
In primitive days, men regarded death and sickness as un-
natural, believing that they were caused by supernatural hos-
tile forces. In a later, higher stage of culture and religion, the
wrath of God or the gods was believed to be the cause of all
calamities. But in pre-historic times, before men evolved the
belief in individual gods, they attributed death and sickness to
witchcraft and evil spirits. This primitive belief in magic per-
sists today even among peoples in the most advanced stage of
culture.
According to the primitive belief in magic there were two
ways of bewitching, one deliberate, the other unintentional.
People believed in the existence of sorcerers and witches who
had both the power and malice to do harm by means of their
witchcraft. Thfcy also believed that certain persons were en-
dowed with an evil eye, which enabled them to injure another
merely by looking at him with envy or admiration. A person
endowed with this evil power unconsciously could harm or
bewitch another. Everything was subject to the evil eye
people, animals, plants, fruits, and even lifeless objects. But
more than all these, children were in great danger of being in-
jured by the evil eye, because they were frail and often suf-
fered from sickness or accident. When a naked child slum-
bered in a cradle, he was in most imminent danger. A boy was
believed to be more vulnerable to the evil eye than a girl.
There were two ways to bewitch unintentionally with the
evil eye by a tacit glance, or by a look coupled with a word
in praise of beauty, health, strength or any other deskable
quality. This type of bewitchment was called "spellbound by
85
86 THE CHILD GROWS
being called" (barufn) or "spellbound by being shouted at"
(baschrien) .
Since ancient times, belief in the evil eye has existed among
almost all of the peoples of the world, persisting to the present
day. It was, and still is, particularly prevalent in the Orient,
the ancient home of all magic. 94
The Evil Eye among Jews . . . The evil eye, in its magic
sense, is not mentioned in the Bible. The term was used in Bib-
lical reference to signify envy or covetousness and did not re-
fer to the magic power; for example, in the Book of Proverbs:
"He that hath an evil eye hasteneth after riches, and knoweth
not that want shall come upon him" (28:22). Nor is the magic
belief in the evil eye mentioned in the Mishnah, which is a
product of the second century (C.E.). We may assume that the
Palestinian Jews who had the hegemony in Jewish life to the
third century frowned upon this magic belief, which they
regarded as incompatible with the Jewish religion. They
shunned all references to it.
From the third century on, especially in Babylonia, the be-
lief in the magic power of the eye played an important part in
Jewish literature. Rab (Abba Aricha) who died about the mid-
dle of the third century (C.E.), one of the greatest religious
authorities among the Babylonian Jews, asserted that ninety-
nine deaths out of a hundred were caused by an evil eye. 95
The spread of the belief in the evil eye might have been due
to the influence of the environment, for at that time the center
of Jewish life shifted to Babylonia, a land of magic and super-
stition.
In the Middle Ages, the center of Jewish life shifted to the
European countries where witchcraft, credulity, and crass
superstition held sway. There the belief in the evil eye in-
creased among the Jews, and with it there was an increase in
the variety of magic safeguards against it. Among the Jews of
Eastern Europe, and even more among the Jews of the Orient,
the belief in the evil eye still prevails. 96
THE BELIEF IN THE EVIL EYE 87
Safeguards against an Evil Eye . . . Since ancient times,
among Jews as well as among other peoples, two kinds of
magic were used as a protection against an evil eye. One con-
sisted of preventives, the other of cures. According to popular
belief there were numerous ways of preventing the evil eye
from doing harm and there were also numerous forms of magic
to cure the harm already inflicted.
Here are a few of the preventives:
In Talmudic times, a child was not taken to weddings and
feasts in order to escape exposure to an evil eye. 97
In the Middle Ages, in the time of Rashi, parents called a
comely child "blackie." 98
In Eastern Europe, parents were reluctant to show their
handsome children to a person who had never before seen
them.
In Eastern Europe one who saw a good-looking child for
the first time exclaimed: "Without an evil eye" or "An evil
eye shall not injure him" (or her) or "umbarufn" or "um-
baschrien." Some even regarded the utterance of the words
"an evil eye" as dangerous. They said instead "a good eye
shall not injure him" (or her). In addition, the person who
spoke expectorated three times.
The Use of Amulets . . . Among the preventives against an
evil eye the amulet played the most prominent part.
Amulets were in vogue among Jews even in Biblical times.
A great number of amulets dating back to those times was
excavated recently in the mounds of Palestine. Small perfo-
rated pieces of stone, blue pearls, small hands made of silver,
and many more ornaments were extracted from the ancient
mounds in the Holy Land. Scholars have agreed that these
ornaments were amulets worn as a protection against the evil
eye. Ornaments in general were originally a protection against
an evil eye because their glitter attracted the gaze of the on-
looker and distracted it from the person who wore them. The
Orientals who were addicted to the belief in the evil eye were
88 THE CHILD GROWS
therefore extravagant in their use of glittering ornaments.
Jewish children wore amulets in Talmudic times, and
throughout the Middle Ages. They still wore them in recent
days in some locales in Eastern Europe and even more often
in the Orient. The amulets served as a "safeguard" not only
against an evil eye, but against witchcraft and demons in gen-
eral.
Jewish children wore various types of amulets. In Talmudic
times they wore little bells and threads with knots. In Egypt
in the twelfth century, they wore around their necks little
tablets of silver and gold, containing certain inscriptions.
Among the German Jews in the Middle Ages, they wore
red or blue beads and pearls. In Eastern Europe and the
Orient, Jewish children wore a little "hand" made of gold
or silver, or a red ribbon or a string of red beads as amulets
against witchcraft. They also wore a piece of quicksilver, or
amber, or a piece of garlic or a little bag containing salt. Garlic
was the most popular of all these safeguards. A mother, wor-
ried about the welfare of her handsome or distinguished child,
placed a piece of garlic in his pocket. Sometimes a piece of the
afikomon was placed there, too, or in a pocket of the ritual
four-cornered garment to which the show-fringes are attached
(Eastern Europe.) "
Treatment for an Evil Eye . . . There were very many symp-
toms of injury by an evil eye, e.g., pallor, fever, emaciation,
and excessive yawning. If a child yawned more than usual
when there was no other indication of any ailment, he or she
had evidently been stricken by an evil eye. The first aid given
was fumigation. A piece of the garment of the person sus-
pected of having employed witchcraft was put on glowing
coals with a piece of incense or devil's dung and a little dirt
gathered from the four corners of the room. This was placed
under the cradle around which a large sheet was hung so that
the smoke blew into the child's face.
This charm, popular among Jews in Eastern Europe a gen-
THE BELIEF IN THE EVIL EYE 89
eration ago, is easily understood in the light of the belief in
magic of the peoples of the world. From ancient times, fumi-
gation had been employed as a magic means for the expulsion
of evil spirits because demons were supposed to be unable to
stand the smoke of acrid incense. In order to choke the demons
with the smoke, they had to be caught, and they could best be
reached in the heaps of dirt gathered in the corners of the
room. According to the popular belief, dirt-heaps were favor-
ite abodes of the evil spirits. Fumigating with the dirt of the
room mixed with incense and a piece of the garment of the
one suspected of bewitching the child was thus regarded as an
effective charm against the harm caused by an evil eye.
The most efficacious remedy for injuries caused by an evil
eye was the whispered charm. A generation ago, in every
Jewish community in Eastern Europe, there was one man or
woman or several who knew how to "whisper off an evil eye."
When a child was not feeling well and was believed "eaten
up by an evil eye," someone in the house took a small kerchief
or a baby cap to the conjuror who whispered the conjuration
on the kerchief or the cap, holding it close to his or her mouth.
The kerchief was then wrapped around the neck of the child
or the cap placed on its head. In carrying the kerchief from
the conjuror to the child, the messenger had to keep his mouth
tightly closed and not utter a word to anyone until the ker-
chief was placed on the child's neck; otherwise, the whispered
charm lost its power. This practice was repeated three times
on three successive days.
Perils to the Child . . . The evil eye was not the only danger
to which a child was exposed. In Eastern Europe there were
many other perils, of which we shall mention only a few.
Before an infant cut his first tooth, he or she could not be
exposed to moonlight. Even the swaddles drying in the out-
side air were brought back into the house before the moon
was visible. Many people believed the moon was the cause of
illness. 100
90 THE CHILD GROWS
Nor could a child be carried through a window without
danger. If this was done by mistake, the child had to be carried
back through the same window; otherwise he would not grow.
To step over a child was dangerous, and if anyone did it, the
same person had to step back in the opposite direction (if he
stepped from east to west, he had to step from west to east) .
Remedies of Jewish Popular Medicine ... As antidote to the
superstitious belief in certain dangers to the child, we find the
cures and remedies of Jewish popular medicine. A few East
European examples will be given here.
At the time of an epidemic, children wore red ribbons on
the wrist or neck.
At the end of every month, mothers gave their children
worm-herbs or worm-cakes, because every child's illness was
believed to be caused by worms, if not symptomatic of an
evil eye.
Various remedies in Jewish popular medicine were em-
ployed for a child who had been frightened, most popular of
which was the whispering charm. The "fright" was "whis-
pered off."
When a child was seriously ill, he or she was measured with
a thread. The thread was taken to the candle-maker who used
it in making wicks for candles which were donated to the
synagogue.
The number of years of the age of the sick child was multi-
plied by eighteen and given in money to charity (eighteen is
the numerical value of the two Hebrew letters Ches and Yud
which together form a word meaning "living").
Some customs practiced in the case of a sickness have al-
ready been described the custom of weighing a sick child
and giving the equivalent of the weight in bread or money to
the poor; the custom of selling the sick child in a mock sale
to other parents, and the custom of adding one more special
name or of discarding the old name altogether (see pp. 74-76
and 81).
* ***
ton
The Child in Home and Synagogue
Throughout the ages of Jewish history, the home has always
been the main citadel of Jewish faith and piety. There, in the
intimate atmosphere of Jewish family life, the child received
his first impressions of the Jewish way of life.
The child sensed the flavor of the sacred Sabbath rest and
the festive spirit of the Jewish holidays even before he realized
their real significance. Together with the mother and the other
adults in the house, he listened with pious attention when the
father recited kiddush and kavdolo on the Sabbath and festi-
vals, and ardently responded with "Amen." He looked won-
deringly at the candles burning in the Chanuko lamp, he
observed the seder, the ceremony on Pesach night, and little
by little he absorbed the spirit of piety permeating the home.
Nor were these impressions confined for long to the home.
Soon he began to visit the synagogue and a new horizon
opened for him.
Even before the child began to attend the cheder (elemen-
tary Hebrew school) he was taken by his father to the syna-
gogue. Although he was not yet able to read in the siddur,
nevertheless he enjoyed carrying father's siddur from the
home to the synagogue or the beis ha-midrosh.
In the Middle Ages, among the S'fardim, it was customary
for the father who took his son for the first time to the syna-
gogue, to bring a waxen candle as a donation to the syna-
gogue. 101
Among the German Jews, the custom of bringing a boy to
the synagogue on the Sabbath at the end of the first year of
his life prevailed until our own day. In his hands he held a
92 THE CHILD GROWS
wimpel, a new girdle for the Scroll of the Torah, with his
name and date of birth on it. His father was called up as the
last of the seven to witness the reading of the Torah. Then he
guided the hands of his little son in placing the new girdle on
the Scroll of the Torah. The chazan or sexton recited the Mi
Sheberach, blessing the child to enter into the study of the
Torah, into the chupo and into good deeds. This custom pre-
vailed only among German Jews. In other regions the child
was not brought to the synagogue until he was a few years old
and could walk to the holy dwelling with his father.
In the synagogue, the little boy learned to respond with a
loud and fervent "Amen" to the benedictions pronounced by
the precentor. When the precentor carried the Scroll of the
Torah from his praying desk near the Holy Ark to the bimo,
the reading-dais in the center of the synagogue, the father
lifted up his little son to give him the same opportunity as the
adults have to kiss the Scroll of the Torah. On the eve of
the Sabbath and the holidays, and on their departure, when
the precentor recited, respectively, kiddush and havdolo
over a cup of wine, the little boys gathered around him and
each one was treated with a sip of wine, a custom prevailing
to this day. At the conclusion of the services they received the
blessing of the rabbi of the congregation.
There were many ceremonies in the synagogue in which
the little boy participated, although he could not yet recite
the prayers. On Purim during the public reading of the Book
of Esther, he joined the big lads in "beating" Haman when-
ever his name was mentioned. On Simchas Torah, the last day
of the Sukos festival, he took part in the procession in which
the Torah Scrolls were carried seven times around the bimo.
Mounted on the shoulder of his father or his older brother, he
marched around the bimo, carrying a flag with a Hebrew in-
scription in his hand, amidst the exuberant joy and merriment
of the whole assemblage. He also ascended the bimo on Sim-
chas Torah morning to witness the reading of the Torah when
"all the lads" were called up.
THE CHILD IN HOME AND SYNAGOGUE 93
Visiting the synagogue at this tender age was a great asset to
the religious upbringing of children, but from the point of
view of silence and order during the services, children were a
great liability and embarrassment. The Jews in Spain solved
this problem by segregating the youngsters in a separate cor-
ner, where they were sternly restrained and silenced by an
overseer especially appointed for this purpose. 102
Beginning Torab in the Home . , . In his tender childhood,
before school age, the Jewish child received in the home not
only his first impressions of Jewish religious life but also his
first lessons in Jewish lore. As far back as early Talmudic
times, the child began to be taught as soon as he could speak.
His father taught him to recite the Sh'ma, the declaration of
his faith; also the Biblical verse, "Moses commanded us a law,
an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob" (Deut. 33:4),
and other verses of this type. The child learned to sing some
of the sacred songs sung not only in the temple, but also in
the synagogues and in the homes. He was told Biblical stories,
and learned of the lives of the great Jews of olden times in
vivid and colorful tales. He was surrounded by various re-
ligious symbols and sacred rites. He noticed the three most
important outward signs of adherence to the precepts of the
Torah; the nfzuzo on the door-post, the phylacteries on the
head and the arm, and the tsitsis on the corners of the garment.
He was curious to know why one thread of the tsitsis was blue
(as it was in olden times) and his father explained that it was
a sign to remember the commandments of God in order that
one should not go stray "after his own heart and after his own
eyes" (Num. 15: 3 9 ). 103
This intensely religious atmosphere of the Jewish home
persisted to our own days in Eastern Europe, in certain parts
of Central Europe, in the Orient, and even here and there in
America.
As soon as the little boy was able to speak, at approximately
the age of three, his mother made the ritual four-cornered
94 THE CHILD GROWS
garment with "show-fringes" for him. He was taught to recite
the benediction over the fringes, to kiss them immediately
after the benediction. He wore the four-cornered garment and
also peos, ear-locks of his hair on the temples. He already knew
that these two adornments were religious commandments and
that they applied only to boys.
The child was taught that as soon as he opened his eyes in
the morning, he should recite from memory the short prayer:
"I thank Thee, O Living and eternal King, that Thou hast
graciously restored my soul to me; great is Thy faithfulness."
Then the added words: "Moses commanded us a law, an in-
heritance of the congregation of Jacob." These verses were
carefully chosen so as not to include divine names, because
they were recited with hands unwashed.
After he arose, he poured water alternately three times over
his hands. If he was unable to do this for himself, he held out
his hands and someone else poured the water over them. He
washed his face, too, but this was done voluntarily, whereas
washing the hands in the morning was a precept, called
"finger-nails water." Many beliefs involved the hair and the
nails, the extraneous parts of the human body. According to
popular belief, the evil spirits, who held their natural sway at
night, clung to the nails even in the light of the morning, and
did not depart until water was applied to them. Jews, as well
as many other peoples, regarded water as a charm for pro-
tection against evil spirits. 104
These morning precepts which the child learned applied to
girls as well as to boys.
At this tender age the child was also taught to recite from
memory the several benedictions prescribed for various kinds
of foods and beverages. Of course, the little boy or girl did
not yet know which benediction applied to this or that food.
An adult usually recited slowly the Hebrew words of the
benediction, and the child repeated them, word for word.
ft
Going to School
The Elementary Jewish School ... In the Bible, no mention
is made of schools. The father was commanded diligently to
teach the words of the Torah to his own children. From all
that we know of life and letters in Israel in Biblical times, we
gather that, even prior to the Babylonian exile, there were some
schools for children. In the Biblical writings stemming from
the days of the kings and prophets, we hear of men who could
read and even write. There flourished in ancient Israel a writ-
ten literature of which the books of the Bible are a mere rem-
nant. Certainly not all the writers and readers of vhis literature
learned to read and to write from their fathers' home instruc-
tion. 105
However, those schools were not the concern of the com-
munity and did not deal with popular education. Apparently
they were the concern only of certain individuals. Probably
these schools were attached to the large sanctuaries, and the
priests were the teachers, for in ancient days the priests were
the learned men and spiritual leaders of the community.
In the centuries following the Babylonian exile and the re-
building of the new community in Jerusalem under the leader-
ship of Ezra, Nehemiah and their associates, this situation
changed. The Torah, the will of God embodied in the Five
Books of Moses, then became the main content of Jewish re-
ligious life. Piety expressed itself primarily in observing, in all
minute details, the precepts of the Torah. Since a knowledge
of the Torah was the first prerequisite, popular education be-
came an urgent necessity. It was the beginning of the age of
the scribes, the rabbis, the learned men, the teachers of the
95
96 THE CHILD GROWS
Torah, who superseded the kings and the prophets as the
leaders and guides of the people.
To meet the needs of the time, new institutions developed,
whose purpose it was to spread the knowledge and under-
standing of the Torah among the people.
The first new religious institution we find in this period was
the synagogue (beis ha-kneses, house of assembly or of the
community), which probably sprang up in the Babylonian
exile. Originally it was not so much a house of worship as a
house where the people assembled on certain days, especially
on the Sabbath and the festivals, to receive religious instruc-
tion, to hear the Torah and the Prophets read and expounded.
Somewhat later, we find a second institution for fostering the
knowledge of the Torah: the beis ha-midrosh (house of study,
of interpretation), the higher academy of Jewish learning.
Both institutions were for adults, the beis ha-kneses for the
masses of the people and the beis ha-midrash for the circles of
higher learning; but neither provided adequately for popular
education. The small children depended exclusively on the
instruction of their fathers in the home. Hence the beis ha-
midrash was later followed by the establishment of the beis
ha-sefer (the house of the Book), as the elementary Jewish
school has been called. 106
According to Talmudic tradition of the third century (C.E.) ,
the spread of popular education among Jews was a long proc-
ess which passed through many stages. In ancient days every
Jewish father taught his own son. The fatherless child or the
child of an ignorant father received no instruction. Later,
schools were established in Jerusalem to which boys were
sent from all over the country. When these proved inade-
quate, schools for youths of sixteen or seventeen were opened
in the largest town of every district. Because it proved diffi-
cult to discipline these adolescent youths, schools were finally
established in every community for children of six or seven.
These schools were called botei sefer where children learned
the Sacred Writings. 107
GOING TO SCHOOL 97
In the last years preceding, and in the first few centuries
following the destruction of the Second Temple, the network
of elementary Jewish schools for male children spread until it
became universal in Palestine as well as in Babylonia. No Jew-
ish community, however small, was without a primary school
for children. The community cared for its upkeep. All the
fathers in the locale who sent their children to the school con-
tributed to the maintenance of the teacher. Even bachelors
generously contributed to the upkeep of the school. Not all
schools were communal institutions. There were also many
private schools, and some well-to-do families engaged private
teachers in their homes. 108
Thus, by sheer moral force without any state authority, the
Jews succeeded in establishing a system of universal popular
education in the early centuries of the Common Era. In ancient
times Jews could not conceive of a Jewish child growing up
without learning Torah. According to the Talmud, God him-
self taught Torah to children who died before reaching school
age. 109
The Early Jewish Primary School , . . The child began to
go to the beis ha-sefer at the age of six. Some attended at the
age of five. The school was usually attached to the synagogue.
If a special teacher was not available, the chazan taught the
children. In that period, the chazan was the sexton of the
synagogue, not the cantor, as the term is used today. There
were also many private schools held at the residence of private
teachers.
The Jews, like the Greeks, did not send girls to school.
Schools were for boys only, and all teachers were married
men. An unmarried man was not allowed to teach in a primary
school. One teacher was Allowed only twenty-five students in
his class. If the number exceeded twenty-five, he was obliged
to keep an assistant. If the number of the children reached
fifty, they were divided into two separate classes under two
teachers. 110
98 THE CHILD GROWS
Let us make a tour of a few primary schools in Palestine in
that period and observe their appearance and methods.
As soon as we approach the school, even before we enter,
we are met by a chorus of resounding children's voices repeat-
ing and rehearsing the words and passages of the Bible which
the teacher recites to them. The teacher makes the children
repeat everything at the top of their voices. The advantage of
learning aloud was valued highly, first, because it was advan-
tageous for the memory, and secondly, a kind of mystic power
was ascribed to the words of the Torah distinctly pronounced
by the mouths of the innocent children. The verse of the Bible,
"The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands
of Esau," was interpreted to mean that as long as Jewish chil-
dren learned to loudly recite Torah, the hands of the enemies
of the Jews would not have power over them. The noise
emanating from a schoolroom was not an asset for the neigh-
borhood. Sometimes neighbors sought judicial means to keep
a teacher from establishing himself in their vicinity. 111
Some schools were completely unfurnished. The school-
room was almost empty and the walls were bare. The pupils
put their coats on the floor and sat on them. In some schools,
the children sat on a matting of reeds which covered the floor;
some were furnished with benches arranged in rows. The
benches had bases provided with holes to hold the feet. The
teacher's seat depended upon the furnishings of the school.
In schools provided with good seats for the pupils, the teacher
might be seated on a soft armchair. The schools were provided
with a writing tablet on which the teacher wrote the letters
of the alphabet, which the children learned to copy. A copy
of the Torah was a requisite of all schools. 112
The pupils were seated in rows, apparently in a semi-circle,
looking straight into the teacher's face. The teacher empha-
sized the fact that his pupils must remember correctly every
word, and even every letter of the Torah. In order to accom-
plish this feat, the children repeated and rehearsed countless
times.
GOING TO SCHOOL 99
The beginners' curriculum consisted of only one subject,
learning to read and write Hebrew, the language of the Holy
Writings. This was not easy, for Hebrew was still an un-
vocalized language, consisting exclusively of consonants. Nor
was Hebrew the spoken language of most of the pupils. The
broad masses of the people spoke Aramaic. Hebrew as a spoken
language was confined only to the higher circles of learned
men, making it difficult for the children to learn to read an
unvocalized Hebrew Bible.
In teaching the children to write, certain pedagogical de-
vices were applied. First, they learned to write the simple let-
ters, the yud and the vov (the tenth and sixth letters of the
alphabet); afterwards, the more difficult letters. The teacher
drew the letter on a tablet of wax or a piece of papyrus. The
pupil then retraced it, the teacher holding the pupil's hand and
guiding it over the tablet or the papyrus. The requisites needed
for writing were on sale in the market among all other mer-
chandise and the children brought them from their homes
to the schoolroom. Among the school requisites were small
parchment rolls for the special use of children. These "read-
ers" contained only certain portions of the Holy Writings
which were studied by the children, as the Sh'ma, the Hallel
Psalms, and the Ten Commandments. 113
The teacher, in order to keep his attention, pointed with a
stylus to the copy which the child read. In the beginning, the
teacher cared little whether the pupil was capable of grasping
the subject matter. First, the pupil had to be "fed" with the
lesson to know it exactly. Only later, when the pupil had
memorized the text, did the teacher try to explain it. The
teacher was eager to provoke the pupils to ask questions.
Clever pupils asked clever questions. If a pupil was dull and
did not know how to ask questions, the teacher "opened his
mouth," i.e., he put the question in his mouth.
The pupils were rated according to their abilities, and were
thus divided into four categories: those who were quick to
understand and quick to forget, those who were slow to un-
100 THE CHILD GROWS
derstand and slow to forget, those who were quick to under-
stand and slow to forget, and those who were slow to under-
stand and quick to forget.
Teaching the Holy Writings began with Leviticus, the
third of the Five Books of the Torah. In the course of the
years, the children learned all the books of the Bible. The main
subject which engrossed their attention was the Pentateuch,
the first section of the Bible, containing the laws of the
Torah. 114
The children went to school very early in the morning.
With great love and care the mother washed her child and
dressed him neatly. Sometimes a father led his son to school
before he (the father) had breakfasted or even before he had
finished his toilet. In the hot summer months, the children
began their schooling at six o'clock in the morning, and at ten,
they returned home. In the other seasons of the year, the
school hours were longer. In the evening, the children re-
turned to school for two hours of study. No occasion was
considered sufficiently important to disturb the child's learning
of the Torah. The school season lasted throughout the entire
year. Even on Friday night the children went to school to
review the lessons which they learned during the week. Only
on holidays, on the days preceding the holidays, and on fast
days, no school was held.
The teacher stood in very high esteem. He ranked higher
than the father. If the pupil had tasks to do for both of them
and could not do these tasks simultaneously, he attended first
to the demands of his teacher and afterwards to his father's,
because it was said: his father brought him merely into the
physical life of this world whereas his teacher brought him
into the eternal life of the world to come.
The teacher was forbidden to hit a child with a rod. He
punished bad children with a leather strap. There were
naughty children who were punished with the strap nearly
every day. 116
The pupil usually attended the beis sefer, the Bible School,
GOING TO SCHOOL 101
until he was thirteen years of age and had reached the age of
majority. When he left the beis sefer, he had an adequate
knowledge of the religion, the history, the sacred language
and the literary heritage of his people. At that age the boy
began to undertake practical work and become a farmer, a
craftsman, or a merchant. 116
But not all boys were content with the knowledge of the
Sacred Writings which they acquired in the primary school.
After finishing the beis sefer many of them continued study-
ing. They went to the beis midrosh where they delved into
Jewish traditional learning and became versed in its various
branches. Some of these boys attained a high proficiency in
Jewish lore, and in their later years belonged to the chacho-
mim, wise and learned men, the masters in the knowledge
of the Torah, the legitimate leaders of the Jewish people.
In the Middle Ages ... In the Middle Ages, the elementary
Jewish school was an old established institution behind which
was a history and tradition of over a thousand years. Every
boy began school at the age of five or a little later, depending
on the health of the child. Among the Franco-German Jews,
the day on which the boy began school was celebrated as a
great event in his life.
The little boy was washed and dressed in his best clothes.
Three eggs were cooked for him, and three honey cakes were
baked, the dough kneaded by an innocent virgin. Apples and
other fruits were brought to him. In some communities school
began on the New Moon of the month of Nison. In other
communities this great event took place on Shovuos.
The festival of the giving of the Torah was selected as the
day when the child should begin his study of the Torah.
At daybreak, the child was taken to the synagogue or to the
house of the nflctmed, the teacher, by a pious and learned man
of the community, who hid him under the skirts of his coat in
order that an evil eye should not injure him. The teacher who
was in charge of his instruction handed him a slate on which
102 THE CHILD GROWS
the Hebrew alphabet was written forward, from aleph to tov,
and backward from tov to aleph. The following verses were
also written on the slate: "The law which Moses commanded
us is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob." "The
Torah will be my occupation." "And the Lord called unto
Moses and spoke unto him out of the tent of meeting, saying."
As the teacher read the words and letters on the slate, the little
pupil repeated them after him. Then a little honey was spread
on the slate, which the child licked off. The custom was based
upon the verse in Ezekiel in which the prophet states he felt
God's words in his mouth "as honey for sweetness." Next, a
honey cake was brought, on which were inscribed several sen-
tences of the Prophets and the Psalms, the import of which
was the praise of God's words and His precepts. The teacher
read, and the little boy repeated after him each word of these
verses. Following the cake, a cooked egg was brought, on the
shell of which was inscribed the verses: "From all my teachers
have I learned wisdom," and "How sweet are Thy words unto
my palate! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" 117 These
verses were also read by the teacher and repeated by the child.
The lesson was now finished and the child was given the
cake, the egg and the fruit to eat. Then he was led back home
again, concealed under the skirts of the coat of an adult.
That night, at home, the parents of the boy entertained
many guests at a festive meal in honor of the occasion. 118 It
was the custom for everyone participating in the celebration
to bless the child with the words "May God enlighten thine
eyes with His Torah."
In the earlier Middle Ages, names of angels were inscribed
upon the honey cakes, and amulets attached to them, but this
custom was later discarded. 119
The Cheder in Eastern Europe ... A generation or two ago,
there was little modern secularism in the Jewish life of the
small towns in Eastern Europe. The cheder remained a con-
tinuation of the cheder of the Middle Ages, and was not a
GOING TO SCHOOL 103
special house used only as a school. A special house, called
Talmud Torah y a communal free Hebrew school, was attended
only by the poorest children of the community. The cheder
was a private school in the home of the m'lamed, the Hebrew
teacher. There were several schools of this kind in every
community, and there was strong competition among the
m'lamdim, especially at the beginning of the term, in spring
and in autumn.
The little house of the m'lamed which accommodated the
cheder usually consisted of two or three rooms. One or two
rooms constituted the private residence of the m'lamed and
his family, where the rebitsin, the m'lamed's wife, was in
charge. (The m'lamed was addressed by the title rebe [rabbi]
and his wife was called rebitsin. These were the same terms
that applied to the rabbi of the community and his wife.) The
school consisted of one room, usually the front room, which
was equipped with one or two tables with a long bench on
each side of the table. The only other school equipment was
the taitl, the pointer, used by the m'lamed to point to the letter
or the passage in the siddur where a beginner was reading.
There was no blackboard in the room because writing was not
a part of the cheder curriculum. For writing there was a spe-
cial teacher in town, who was an expert in penmanship. To
him children went for an hour or two each day, a few days a
week, for two or three years, to learn writing and arithmetic.
Without exception all children attended cheder, but not all of
them went to the teacher to learn writing. One could do with-
out writing, for someone else could be asked to read or write a
letter if the exigency arose.
The children in the cheder were divided into groups, called
by the Talmudic term, kitos. There was a kito for reading in
the prayer book, the siddur. The next higher kito was for the
Chumosh, the Five Books of Moses. Still higher was the kito
that studied the books of the Bible which follow the Penta-
teuch. The highest kito studied the Talmud. Each of these
kitos was divided into grades or sub-kitos. At the same time
104 THE CHILD GROWS
that the m'lamed taught a higher kito at one table, the behelfer,
the assistant, taught the little boys "reading" at the other table.
When all of the children recited aloud some passage in the
siddur or in the Bible, there was general tumult and confusion.
There were communities in which children of the afore-
mentioned various grades did not attend one and the same
cheder but a special cheder for each grade. A certain m'lamed
held a cheder for beginners in reading only. When a child
graduated from that cheder, he was promoted to a cheder of
Chumosh (Pentateuch) and then to the cheder of Talmud.
The behelfer, usually a young unmarried lad, was a well-
known figure in the life of the Jewish communities in Poland.
He called for the little children, the beginners, at their homes,
and brought them back home after cheder was over. The little
boys, who had just begun to attend cheder, he carried to and
from school on his back, sometimes several of them at one
time. During the lunch hour, he procured a basket of lunch
from each mother for her child. This was a complicated task,
because the behelfer had to see to it that each child received
the particular snack which his mother provided. One of the
duties of the behelfer was to provide the children with enter-
tainment and recreation. He carved bows and arrows for Lag
Bo-omer, wooden swords for Tisho B'Ov, manufactured flags
for Simchas Torah, tops for Chanuko and noise-makers for
Purim. The behelfer was paid by the m'lamed, who was paid
by the parents of the children.
The children spent the whole day in the cheder, from early
morning until sunset. In the short winter days, the children
went back to the cheder after ma-ariv (evening services).
With lanterns in their hands, the little ones, accompanied by
the behelfer, made their way to the cheder for another two or
three hours of study. Even on the Sabbath, the children went
to the cheder for one or two hours to review the lessons of
the week, or to learn some special Sabbath lesson. This was
done, not on Friday night, as in Talmudic times, but on Satur-
day afternoon. Saturday was also the time when the father
GOING TO SCHOOL 105
tested the son to see how much he knew of the lessons he had
learned during the week. In some locales it was customary to
test the son on the Sabbath in the presence of the m 'lamed,
who went to the homes of the parents for this purpose. If the
father was a man of learning, he did the testing himself. Other-
wise, he brought the child to an uncle or to one of his friends
who was well versed in the Torah. Only on holidays and the
days preceding the holidays was the cheder closed. On many
semi-holidays, the children attended cheder for only half a
day. On Friday, too, the cheder was open for only half of the
day, and most of the time was devoted to chanting the section
of the Pentateuch and the portion of the Prophets for that
Sabbath.
The children did not study their lessons all day long. There
were many intermissions. When the m'lamed was teaching one
kito, the children of the other kitos played games in the yard.
On cold and rainy days they played their games in the rebe's
private room where their freedom of action depended largely
upon the good will and forbearance of the rebitsin. There
were many games which engaged the children's leisure in
cheder. Among the most popular were those played with
buttons. Almost the whole year round there was heavy traffic
in buttons. Mischievous boys, in their enthusiasm for the
game, tore good buttons from their clothes, and were pun-
ished by their sharp-eyed mothers. There was also some sea-
sonal trading in the cheder. A couple of weeks before Tisho
B'Ov, the children traded the "burrs" which they threw at
each other in the synagogue. In the weeks preceding Pesach,
nuts were the popular merchandise bartered in the cheder.
For centuries the cheder was the home of the Jewish child.
Here he spent most of his time, from the age of five or six
until several years after his bar mitsvo. It was in the cheder
that every Jew spent the days of his childhood and his adoles-
cence; there he acquired his knowledge of the world as con-
ceived by the child of the ghetto; there his intellect developed
and his phantasy unfolded.
106 THE CHILD GROWS
The rebe, as the m'lamed was called, was not content with
translating the Bible. The literal meaning of the words was
not of major importance. The rebe had to amplify and in-
terpret the words according to the explanations of the Agada
of the Talmud and the Midrashim. He discussed with the chil-
dren the legendary and historical figures of the Bible as if he
had known them personally. He described in minute detail
every incident of the Biblical narratives as if he were recount-
ing his personal recollections.
Occasionally, the rebe told the children various stories and
fabulous tales not directly connected with the Bible and the
Talmud. Many a rebe was a veritable treasure trove of stories
about saints and miracle men, of fables about ghosts and de-
mons, goblins and evil spirits. He depicted Gan Eden (Para-
dise), where the saints, seated on golden thrones, enjoyed the
Divine Glory. He also depicted the blazing fire of Gehenna,
and the frightful tortures which afflicted the sinful for the
transgressions they had committed during their earthly lives.
The rebe was not the only story-teller in the cheder. Some-
times during hours when the children were at leisure, the
rebitsin also told them stories of ghosts and goblins which she
had heard from her mother, who had heard them from her
grandmother, and so on. Some of the children of the higher
grades were proficient in telling wonderful stories which they
had heard from their fathers and older brothers, stories of the
prophet Elijah, of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, of Alex-
ander the Great, of Napoleon, and others.
Every subject studied in the cheder was recited with its
peculiar melody. There was a particular tune for reading in
the prayer book, another tune for reading the Pentateuch and
the Early Prophets, another for reading the Later Prophets, a
special chant for the M'gilos (Scrolls), and still another tune
for the Talmud. The peculiar melodies, the fantastic tales, and
the age-old curriculum blended into a special harmony which
remained a part of the child of the ghetto throughout the days
of his life.
GOING TO SCHOOL IOJ
All of this applied to boys only. Girls were taught by a
special m'lamed, a man or a woman. Usually, the m'lamed for
the girls went to their homes to teach them for a little while
every day. There was a special curriculum for the girls. They
all learned to read in the siddur, but few of them were taught
to translate the Bible. Instead, they read religious books in
Yiddish. A rich religious ethical literature in Yiddish, intended
for women, and for the less learned folk in general, flourished
in the later Middle Ages. This literature was still very popular
among mothers of the present generation of East European
Jews, and almost every girl was taught to read it.
Beginning Chumosh . . . The beautiful ceremonial that was
observed in the Middle Ages on the day the child entered the
cheder has been discarded. Only some features still persisted a
generation ago. In some regions of Eastern Europe, it was cus-
tomary, when bringing the child to the cheder for the first
time, to wrap him in a praying-shawl. The father carried the
child and the mother accompanied them, carrying cake and
brandy. In some communities a honey cake was still given to
the child on this occasion. When the child entered the cheder,
the rebe usually stretched his arm high above the child's head,
dropping a penny on the table and saying, "Here, the angel
threw down a penny for you for learning well."
Until a short time ago, an elaborate family celebration was
held on the occasion of beginning the study of the Chumosh,
which was characterized by a ceremony studied and rehearsed
by two actors. One actor was the boy who was to begin to
study the Chumosh, and who had to answer a long series of
questions on this occasion, the other was a boy of the higher
grades, selected to play the role of the questioner. For several
weeks in advance, the rebe rehearsed the two boys in their
parts. In some communities, the rebe himself questioned the
boy. In others, instead of one older boy who acted as ques-
tioner, three boys were selected as "blessers." Each boy blessed
the child with a different blessing, all three of them being un-
I08 THE CHILD GROWS
der the cover of one praying-shawl, which was spread over
their heads.
The great celebration took place on a Sabbath in the home
of the parents. The rebe sat at a table set with cake, nuts,
brandy, and various other delicacies. The father sat on his
right side, and the guests were seated around the table. The
women and the mother of the lad stood a little apart from the
men, glowing with inner contentment and joy.
On a table or a chair in the midst of all the people stood the
hero of the day, dressed in his best holiday clothes and adorned
with a golden watch and chain, and other pieces of jewelry
borrowed for the occasion. He was ready to perform his role,
which consisted of answering questions and, in some com-
munities, of delivering a discourse on a topic of the Torah.
Here are some specimens of the Midrashic discourse deliv-
ered by a Chumosh candidate:
"Why does the Torah begin with a beis (B'reshis), the sec-
ond letter of the alphabet, and not with aleph, the first letter? "
"Because God blessed the world when He created it and beis
is the first letter of the word boruch (blessed), whereas aleph
is the first letter of the word orur (cursed)."
"Why did God give the Torah to Moses and not to Abra-
ham?" "Because if God had given the Torah to Abraham, the
Jews would have forgotten it during the time they were slaves
in Egypt."
The following is one version of a dialogue that took place
between the questioner and the boy.
"What is your name, nice child?"
"I am not a child any more. I am a big boy who, in a lucky
hour, is going to begin to study Chumosh."
"What does Chumosh mean?"
"Five."
"Five buns for a penny?"
"No, the Five Books of the Torah which God gave to
Moses."
"What are their names?"
GOING TO SCHOOL 109
"B'reshis is one, SWmos is two, Vayikro is three, Eamidbor
is four, D'vorim is five."
"And which of these will you now begin to learn?"
"I will begin with the third book, Vayikro"
"What does Vayikro mean?"
"And he called."
"Who called? The beadle into the synagogue?"
"No, God called Moses, and told him the laws concerning
sacrifices."
"And why do you have to learn the laws of the sacrifices?"
"Because the sacrifices were pure, and I am a pure Jewish
child."
"And why is the aleph in the word Vayikro small?"
"Because the translation of aleph is 'to learn,' and one who
is learned must consider himself small and not pride himself on
his learning."
"So why are you proud? "
"Oh, no, I am not proud."
"Then why are you standing on the table?"
"I'll obey you and come down."
The boy would then climb off the table, and read and trans-
late, word for word, the first verses of Leviticus, repeating
each word after the "rebe." Then he received gifts from his
parents and relatives, and all the people in the house ate and
drank with great joy and merriment.
It was to observe an old custom that the boy learned from
the book of Leviticus that day. On the following day he
joined the Chumosh-class and learned the weekly portion of
the Pentateuch. Each week he studied another section. At first,
he learned only to translate each word separately. Later, he
was promoted to a higher kito where he learned Chumosh
with the amplifications and interpretations of the Midrash,
found, for the most part, in the popular commentary, Rashi. 120
The Cheder in Recent Years . . . The cheder, with its age-
old curriculum, its characteristic atmosphere, and its numer-
110 THE CHILD GROWS
ous physical and pedagogical shortcomings, remained almost
unchanged in Eastern Europe to the very threshold of this
century. The Haskalab, the movement of enlightenment,
which did not bring emancipation to the East European Jews,
touched only the upper circles, influencing very slightly the
masses of the people. The cheder withstood all the attacks
made upon it by the spokesman of the Haskalah who, in an
exaggerated manner, repeatedly exposed its unpleasant fea-
tures.
Only with the growth of the new nationalistic movement
among Jews at the end of the past century did modernization
and secularization of the elementary Jewish school begin to
make progress. In many communities the cheder, under the
new name Cheder M'sukon (improved cheder), became mod-
ernized and secularized in many respects. The emphasis on
Jewish subjects shifted from teaching of the Talmud to teach-
ing of the Bible, Jewish history, Hebrew as a spoken language,
and modern Hebrew literature. Amidst the working class,
which followed the socialist movement, the process of secular-
izing the Jewish primary school reached its extreme. A new
type of Jewish elementary school was established, completely
secular in character, with Yiddish and modern Yiddish litera-
ture as its main subjects.
In Western Europe and America ... In Western Europe,
where the Haskalah movement went hand in hand with a
gradual emancipation of the Jews, the old forms of Jewish life
were shaken to their very foundations. With the advent of
the nineteenth century, the cheder was gradually discontin-
ued. Modern Jewish schools began to be established here and
there. When the German school became universal and com-
pulsory, the results were disastrous for Jewish education.
Here in America, where Jewish education is merely sup-
plementary to the public school, its status is nevertheless better
than in Western Europe. On the whole, because of the new
adjustment of immigrants to a new environment and new con-
GOING TO SCHOOL III
ditions of life, Jewish education in this country is still in a
state of flux. Several types of Jewish schools have assumed
definite tendencies. There are Orthodox, Reform, and Con-
servative schools where emphasis is laid upon the religious
aspect of Jewish education. There are schools of the Zionist
circles where the main emphasis is laid upon teaching of He-
brew as a living language. There are also a few types of secular
Yiddish schools, where the Yiddish language and literature are
taught as the main subjects in national Jewish culture. There
are week-day schools where the children are taught in the
afternoon hours, as well as Sabbath and Sunday schools, con-
gregational and non-congregational schools. East European
immigrants have established private Hebrew schools, and nu-
merous private teachers teach the children in their homes.
There are also some Jewish parochial schools. But many Jew-
ish children in this country do not even have a smattering of
Jewish education, a thing unheard of since the days when the
Jewish primary school became universal.
Bar Mitsvo
The Name . . . Bar Mitsvo (son of commandment, man of
duty) is a Hebrew- Aramaic term, signifying a person who is
obliged to observe the precepts of the Jewish religion. In this
general sense bar mitsvo is an old term in Jewish literature. We
find it in the Talmud where a minor and a non-Jewish slave in
the household of a Jew were described as not being bar mitsvo,
since they were not obliged to fulfill the commandments of the
Torah. 121
In its present application to the attainment of religious ma-
jority at the age of thirteen, the term "bar rnitsvo" has been
used only since the late Middle Ages. Previously, other desig-
nations were applied to a boy's coming of age. He was called
godol (big, adult, of age) or bar onshin (punishable, respon-
sible), but he was not called bar mitsvo. In present day Jewish
life bar mitsvo has a twofold meaning. It is used to designate
both the boy, who reaching the age of thirteen, has attained his
religious majority, and the ceremony marking that occasion.
In its present sense, the term "bar mitsvo" is only about
seven hundred years old. The observances marking the occa-
sion when a boy becomes bar mitsvo are more recent. How-
ever, the age of thirteen as the actual age of majority is an old
institution in Jewish life which we shall follow from its very
inception.
In Ancient Times ... In the Bible, a man attained his ma-
jority at the age of twenty. In Biblical times, from twenty
years and upward, one was able "to go out to war in Israel,"
and at the same age, every man was obliged to pay an annual
tax of half a shekel for the sanctuary. 122
112
BAR MITSVO 113
At about the beginning of the Common Era, attainment of
majority was fixed at thirteen years for a boy, and twelve for
a girl. 123 We must not assume that the outside influences of the
post-Biblical period were responsible for the transfer of ma-
jority from the age of manhood to the age of adolescence. On
the contrary, in primitive society, a child attained his social
majority immediately upon reaching adolescence. This en-
abled him to participate in the ritual and social activities of
the group, but in a more advanced society, with a mature legal
system, the child was considered a minor until he reached
manhood.
The age of twenty, stated in the Bible as the age of majority
in military and financial matters, apparently represents a later
development, when a more advanced legal system was in force
among the Jews. This advanced stage was presumably pre-
ceded by an older and more primitive stage of social life in
which a boy was initiated into his social and religious duties at
the age of transition from childhood to adolescence, between
twelve and fourteen years. The initiation into the tribe at this
age was, and still is, celebrated among primitive peoples with
an elaborate ceremonial which sometimes exceeds in pomp and
grandeur the celebration of a wedding. Among Jews, too, in
the ancient past, a celebration of this kind probably took place
when a boy was initiated into the tribe at the age of thirteen.
Apparently the age of thirteen was fixed for the attainment of
majority because thirteen was a sacred number among the
Jews in ancient times. 124
In Talmudic and Early Medieval Times . . . The age of thir-
teen years for the attainment of religious majority was thus
not an innovation of post-Biblical times, but the preservation
or revival of an old social custom. In the highly developed
religious life of the Jews in post-Biblical times, the custom was
entirely divested of its primitive character, and invested with a
religious and moral significance. The boy was now initiated
into a religious community which was animated by sublime
THE CHILD GROWS
religious ideas and a lofty moral standard. The attainment of
majority had become a religious experience.
We have stated in a previous chapter that a great educa-
tional movement was developing in the Jewish life of those
days. At five years of age, the normal child began to read the
Bible, at ten years he was expected to begin the study of the
oral laws and traditions; and "at thirteen years, he was bound
to the commandments" and became a responsible member of
the community. 125 Until he reached the age of thirteen, his
father was under obligation to personally teach him Torah, or
to send him to the beis sefer, the primary school. After thir-
teen years, his father was no longer responsible for his re-
ligious education. He could, of his own volition, continue his
studies at the beis midrash, the higher academy. The father,
on the occasion of his son's attainment of religious majority,
pronounced a benediction in which he praised God for re-
lieving him of responsibility for his son's conduct. 126
In the Jewish literature of that time we do not read of any
celebration marking the attainment of religious majority.
However, it seems that on this day the boy was presented to
the oldest men of the community who blessed him and prayed
that he should acquire the merit of learning Torah and doing
good deeds. 127
No ceremonial to celebrate the attainment of majority could
have evolved in Talmudic and early medieval times because,
according to the Talmud, a minor was permitted to partici-
pate in all religious observances as soon as he was considered
mentally fit. He was called up to witness the reading of the
Torah on the bimo and was supposed to wear t'filin, phylac-
teries. The minor was even inured to fast on Yom Kippur.
Two years before he attained his majority, a child fasted until
noon, and a year before his majority, he fasted the whole
day. 128 The distinction between a minor and one who had
obtained his majority was theoretical. The latter did as a re-
ligious duty what a minor did optionally. The majority was
not distinguished by additional religious duties and privileges,
BAR MITSVO 115
and therefore the attainment of majority could not be marked
by any special observances. Until late in the Middle Ages, the
attainment of majority was an uneventful date in the life of
the Jew.
At the Threshold of Modern Times . . . Gradually, during
the later Middle Ages, this situation underwent a change. The
religious rights which the Talmud accorded to the minor were
now restricted. He was deprived of the right to be "called up"
to the reading of the Torah. He was no longer permitted to
wear t'filin. The attainment of majority gained new impor-
tance as an attainment of new religious rights and the ground
was prepared for a ceremonial around the bar mitsvo, as a boy
thirteen years old was beginning to be called.
A demand to restrict the right of minors to don t'filin was
made by one religious authority as far back as the twelfth
century, but it did not meet with approval In the fourteenth
century, notwithstanding the objections of some religious au-
thorities, a minor was still usually taught by his father to put
on t'filin as soon as he knew how to take care of them. How-
ever, the objections grew, and in the sixteenth century, among
the Jews of Germany and Poland, it was the accepted custom
that a boy could not begin to wear t'filin before the day fol-
lowing his thirteenth birthday. This custom was modified in
the seventeenth century. The boy began wearing t'filin two
or three months before he became bar mitsvo, so that by the
time he reached his majority he was well acquainted with the
practice and rules of laying t'filin. 129
The right of a minor to be called up to the bimo for the
reading of the Torah underwent a similar development among
the Ashk'nazim (German and Polish Jews). As far back as
the thirteenth century, among the Franco-German Jews, the
privilege of being called up for the reading of the Torah was
withdrawn from minors. Only on Simchas Torah, the last day
of the Sukos festival, could minors enjoy this right. The attain-
ment of religious majority signified the attainment of the right
Il6 THE CHILD GROWS
to witness the reading of the Torah on the bimo and to recite
the benedictions over it.
These two religious rights, laying t'filin and being called up
to the Torah, became the most essential features of the bar
mitsvo observance. In the sixteenth century it was obligatory
to call up the bar mitsvo lad to the reading of the Torah on the
Sabbath coinciding with or following his thirteenth birthday.
In very cautious, pious circles the elders watched lest the bar
mitsvo lad be called up to the reading of the Torah before he
had attained the full age of thirteen years. This might be the
case if the boy's thirteenth birthday fell on the Sabbath. 130 For
safety's sake, the custom arose which still prevails today, that
even on the bar mitsvo Sabbath, the boy was not among the
seven men called on every Sabbath to the reading of the Torah,
but after them. He was called to the reading of the last para-
graph of the portion of the Pentateuch read on the Sabbath,
and of the Haftoro, the portion of the Prophets which is read
after the week's portion of the Pentateuch. In regard to the
Haftoro, the right of the minor was never restricted except on
a few special Sabbaths.
The bar mitsvo ceremonial was not confined to the syna-
gogue. New features were added which shifted the center of
the celebration from the synagogue to the home of the parents,
such as the bar mitsvo feast and the bar mitsvo drosho (dis-
course). The party held on the bar mitsvo Sabbath was re-
garded as a religious feast. The religious aspect of the bar
mitsvo feast was enhanced in Poland where the drosho was
introduced. In Poland, the center of Talmudic learning in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there were precocious
and highly gifted boys of bar mitsvo age, who were capable
of delivering an original casuistic discourse in Talmudic law.
Naturally, these boys were the exceptions, but there were
many others who could with the assistance of their teacher
accomplish this feat of learning. It was a test and display of
Talmudic knowledge. In many cases, the teacher prepared the
drosho and the boy learned it by rote, and then delivered it. 181
BAR MITSVO Iiy
In Germany as well as in Poland, the bar mitsvo was cele-
brated with great pomp, both at the synagogue and in the
home. Source material gives many interesting details about bar
mitsvo celebrations in the seventeenth century among the Ger-
man Jews in Worms.
The lad was dressed in new clothes bought especially for
this occasion. On the Sabbath of his bar mitsvo he chanted the
entire portion of the Pentateuch from the Scroll of the Torah
at the synagogue. If he happened to have a pleasant voice, he
also recited all the prayers before the congregation. Some lads
who were not so well versed in Hebrew recited only one of
the prayers the evening prayer, the morning prayer, or the
additional Sabbath prayer (Musof). There were boys who
were not able to recite even the week's portion of the Penta-
teuch, but every bar mitsvo boy was called up to the reading
of the Torah, and vowed to give a pound of wax for candles
to illuminate the synagogue.
The bar mitsvo feast was served in the afternoon, as the
third meal of the Sabbath. An hour before Mincho (afternoon
prayer), the bar mitsvo lad, dressed in his new clothes, went
to the homes of the guests to invite them to the third meal. At
the meal, the lad delivered a drosho on the customs of bar
mitsvo, and acted as the leader in reciting the grace after the
meal 132
The bar mitsvo celebration never succeeded in deeply root-
ing itself in Jewish life as a synagogue observance or as a home
festival. The institution was of too recent origin and was not
surrounded by an atmosphere of religious reverence. The bar
mitsvo feast never attained the religious significance of the
circumcision feast. The drosho certainly did not contribute
to the earnest solemnity of the occasion, but proved rather a
detriment to the bar mitsvo celebration.
At the Present Time . . . There is, in modern times, no uni-
formity in the bar mitsvo celebration. There are communities
in the Orient, and there were some in recent days in Germany,
THE CHILD GROWS
where the boy reads the entire week's portion of the Penta-
teuch from the Scroll of the Torah. In some communities, the
boy chants only the last paragraph of the portion of the Torah
and concludes with the chanting of the Haftoro. In Eastern
Europe, the bar mitsvo boy chanted only the Haftoro, and
even this was not obligatory. Some boys, especially those who
were proficient in Talmudic learning and capable of deliver-
ing a discourse with casuistic involvements on a Talmudic
topic, did not chant at all They merely recited the benedic-
tions over the Torah and the Prophets. There is also a diver-
gence in the custom regarding the tails, or prayer-shawl. In
some communities a boy donned a talis on the Sabbath of his
bar mitsvo; in others, he did not put it on until he was married.
The Ashk'nazic Jews always present gifts to the boy in honor
of his "bar rnitsvo."
In America, the bar mitsvo celebration plays an important
role in Jewish life. When a boy becomes bar mitsvo, his family
usually celebrates the great event with a sumptuous banquet
in the parents' home, or in a large rented hall. The American
bar mitsvo celebration has lost almost all of its original con-
tent. Contrary to the original idea that the father was obliged
to provide for his son's religious education until he reached
religious majority and then relieved thereof, many parents hire
a Hebrew teacher only a short time before the thirteenth
birthday of their son, in order to prepare him for the bar
mitsvo celebration. The lad chants the Haftoro to the great
delight of his parents and his relatives who gather at the syna-
gogue to witness the performance. After the services the peo-
ple attending the synagogue are served with cake and wine or
brandy. On Saturday night or Sunday, the bar mitsvo feast
takes place. The lad then delivers his "speech" and receives
gifts from the invited guests.
Bar Mitsvo among the Jews in the Orient . . . Unlike the
Ashk'nazim, the S'fardim do not restrict the rights of the
minor. The S'fardim still adhere to the Talmudic law, which
BAR MITSVO 119
allowed a minor to put on t'filin and to be called up to the
reading of the Torah, and they celebrate bar mitsvo in their
own peculiar way.
Primarily, the S'fardim celebrate the first laying of t'filin
which takes place exactly a year before attaining majority. If
the boy is an orphan, it takes place two years before attaining
majority. (Among the Ashk'nazim, too, an orphan begins lay-
ing t'filin a year earlier than a boy whose parents are living.)
On that day, the parents hold a sumptuous feast for all their
relatives and friends, and the boy, if capable, delivers a drosho
on a topic pertaining to the occasion. Only the rich hold a
second celebration a year later, when the boy reaches his
majority. 133
Among the Jews of Morocco, too, the main emphasis in the
bar mitsvo celebration is placed upon the first laying of t'filin.
This takes place on the Thursday after the twelfth birthday.
The feast is held at the home of the parents on the preceding
day, Wednesday. On Thursday, the morning services are held
in the home of the boy where all the worshippers gather and
take part in the ceremony. The rabbi of the community binds
the phylactery upon his head. A choir accompanies the cere-
mony with a hymn. The boy is then called up to the reading
of the Torah as the third participant after the Kohen and the
Levite (on Thursday and Monday only a small portion of the
Torah is read, for which only three are called) .
At the end of the services the boy delivers his discourse.
Then he proceeds with his t'filin bag among the men and the
women present, and everyone throws silver coins into the bag.
The boy presents this gift money to the teacher. The guests
partake of a breakfast and, in the evening, they again gather in
the house.
On the following Sabbath, the boy is called up to the read-
ing of the Haftoro. This is accompanied by a piyut, a liturgical
poem, composed for this occasion. The Jews of Morocco alone
produced synagogual poetry as recently as modern times, when
the bar mitsvo celebration came into vogue. 184
I2O THE CHILD GROWS
Confirmation ... In the nineteenth century, when Reform
Judaism in Western Europe and America discarded as obso-
lete many of the religious ceremonies and forms of synagogue
worship, hardly anything remained to mark the bar mitsvo
celebration. The t'filin, the talis, and the calling up to the
reading of the Torah were discarded. The Talmud, which
comprised the subject matter for the bar mitsvo drosho, was
eliminated from the curriculum of the elementary Jewish
school. All the bar mitsvo observances were thus discontinued,
and the bar mitsvo ceremonial was superseded by confirma-
tion, which was then introduced into Jewish life.
The word confirmation, as well as some of its outward
forms were taken over from the Lutheran Protestant Church.
These borrowed forms were adapted to Jewish life and filled
with Jewish content.
Germany was the cradle of confirmation as a Jewish institu-
tion. Its beginnings in the first decades of the nineteenth cen-
tury coincided in general with the beginnings of Reform
Judaism.
Instituting confirmation as a Jewish ceremonial was a slow
and gradual process. At first, confirmation took place in the
Jewish religious school for boys only. Later, it was extended
to girls, and transferred to the synagogue. At first, it had no
fixed date, and was performed on a special Sabbath, such as
the Sabbath of Pesach week or the Sabbath of Chanuko week.
Gradually, Shovuos became the day of confirmation. The
festival of the giving of the Torah, which was the day of
beginning school for Jewish children in the Middle Ages, was
suitably selected as the day for initiating the child into the
Jewish faith.
The age of confirmation was advanced a year or more be-
yond the traditional bar mitsvo age. The children are con-
firmed in a group after they have finished their course in the
religious school, and have passed an' examination in the main
principles of the Jewish faith. At the confirmation ceremony,
which is accompanied by impressive music, the children, with
BAR MITSVO 121
awe and devotion, in an atmosphere of earnest solemnity, re-
ceive the priestly blessing from the rabbi, and obligate them-
selves to remain faithful to Judaism. This newly instituted
ceremonial of confirmation is not yet uniform, and its details
vary in different congregations.
In America, confirmation was first introduced in Temple
Emanu-El, New York, in the year 1847, and has become an
integral part of the synagogue services in Reform congrega-
tions.
Confirmation had many opponents, but became popular be-
cause of its solemn character and its impressiveness. Proof of
this fact is the adoption of its chief features by the Conserva-
tive (Progressive Orthodox) and even by Orthodox congrega-
tions, who restrict it to girls only.
The bar mitsvo ceremonial, as it was and still is performed
in various countries by various groups of Jews, constitutes an
interesting chapter in the history of Jewish life and folkways
in recent centuries.
PART THREE
Courtship anil llarriage
li
In Biblical Times
Negotiating a Match ... In Biblical times it was the prime
duty of parents to marry off their children. Their most cher-
ished hope was to see their children's children, especially the
sons of their sons, according to the words of the Psalmist
and the sayings of Proverbs. People were married in early
youth, and marriages were usually contracted within the nar-
row circle of the clan and the family.* It 'was undesirable to
marry a woman from a foreign clan, lest she introduce
foreign beliefs and practices. Abraham was content only after
his servant swore to him that he would take a wife for Isaac
from among Abraham's own kindred. The most popular mar-
riages were those of cousins, as described in the stories of
Genesis. 135
In those days, girls in the Palestinian towns enjoyed no social
life. Most of their leisure hours were spent with their mothers
in the house. "I would lead thee and bring thee into my moth-
er's house," says the girl to her beloved in the Song of Songs.
Women appeared in the streets and squares only when some-
thing extraordinary happened, such as an important parade, or
a great panic. When a hero returned in triumph from war, the
women, singing and dancing and playing timbrels and stringed
instruments, led the parade to greet him. In a panic in Jeru-
salem just before the uprising of the Maccabees, "the women,"
we are told, "thronged the streets and the virgins that were
kept inward ran together, some to the gates, others to the
walls, and some looked out through the windows." 136
Notwithstanding woman's retirement in ancient Israel, there
was not the separation of sexes found in the Mohammedan
125
126 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
East. There were many opportunities for young people to
meet and to see one another. Sometimes a young man met a
shepherdess as she led her flock to the well. Sometimes he met
her at dusk as, her pitcher on her shoulder, she walked to a
nearby well to draw water. Often these strong youths offered
assistance to the girls who were watering their flocks; and the
help was gladly accepted. Boys and girls at work in the fields
met and chatted with one another, especially in the seasons of
the year when the grain was harvested and the fruit of the
trees was gathered. They sang and danced in the fields and
vineyards, and were merry and happy.
However, these chance meetings and casual acquaintances
seldom resulted in marriage. As a rule the parents, or more pre-
cisely, the fathers, arranged the match. The girl was consulted,
but the "calling of the damsel and inquiring at her mouth"
after the conclusion of all negotiations was merely a matter of
formality. The girl certainly could not help giving her consent
after her father and her whole family had agreed to the match
(Gen. 24).
As already remarked in a previous chapter, Jews as well as
all peoples in Biblical times welcomed the birth of a son far
more than that of a daughter. Yet in those days a father was
more concerned about the marriage of his sons than about the
marriage of his daughters. No expense was involved in marry-
ing off a daughter. The father received a dowry for his daugh-
ter whereas he had to give a dowry to the prospective father-
in-law of his son when marrying him off. This ancient Biblical
custom still prevails among the Jews of Yemen and in the Arab
villages of Palestine. 137
The price paid by the father of the groom to the father of
the bride was called mohar, and is still so called by the Arab
peasants. Scholars disagree on the etymology of this word.
The English Bible translates it "dowry." For the sake of ac-
curacy we prefer not to translate the word. In the stories of
Genesis, Shechem said to Dinah's father and her brothers: "Let
me find favor in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I
IN BIBLICAL TIMES 127
will give. Ask me never so much mohar and matton, and I will
give according as ye shall say unto me; but give me the damsel
to wife." Here "matton" was the counterpart of "mohar," the
Hebrew word for the gifts given by the groom to the bride,
besides the price paid by his father to her father. From this
story, we infer that the father sometimes set an extraordinarily
high mohar for his daughter in order to discourage the groom.
The ordinary mohar seems to have been fifty shekels of sil-
ver. 138
The mohar was not always paid in cash. Sometimes it was
paid in kind, or in service. The book of Genesis relates the
story of the servant of Abraham, who, after his request for
Rebekah was granted, "brought forth jewels of silver, and
jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah; he
gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things."
The servant thus gave matton to Rebekah, and mohar to her
brother and mother. He paid the mohar with precious things
to her brother and mother, because according to the original
version of the story, Rebekah had no father but only a brother
and a mother. Jacob, as a poor wanderer who possessed noth-
ing but the staff with which he had passed over the Jordan,
could pay the mohar to Laban only by rendering service. King
Saul scorned to receive money as mohar for his daughter,
Michal. Instead of money, Saul demanded valiant deeds from
David in an attack on the king's enemies, the Philistines. A
similar case is told in the story of Caleb and Othniel, the son
of Kenaz. Othniel received Caleb's daughter Achsah for his
wife in reward for smiting and conquering Kiriath-Sepher. 139
The Bible does not specify what was to be done with the
mohar in case the marriage agreement was broken by either
of the two parties. The Code of Hammurabi made provision
for it. Hammurabi was the great king and lawgiver of ancient
Babylon, called in the Bible "Amraphel king of Shinar" (Gen.
14:1). He lived many centuries before Moses. And his code
of laws, which was discovered by excavators at the very be-
ginning of the twentieth century, provided as follows: If the
128 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
groom changed his mind, the mohar and the matton were both
forfeited. If the girl's father broke the agreement, he returned
double of everything given by the groom to him and to his
daughter. 140 Very likely these laws of Hammurabi concerning
the mohar and the matton prevailed among all the peoples of
the ancient East, including the Jews.
Mohar as Purchase and Gift . . . The mohar was originally
the purchase price of the bride, and it is therefore understand-
able why it was paid by the father of the groom to the father
of the bride. In ancient days, marriage was not an agreement
between two individuals, but between two families. The
newly married man usually did not found a new home for
himself, but occupied a nook in his father's house. The family
of the groom gained, and the family of the bride lost, a valu-
able member who helped tend the flock, draw water from the
well, grind flour, bake bread, and assist with all the household
tasks. It was reasonable, therefore, that the father of the groom
should pay the father of the bride the equivalent of her value
as a useful member of the family.
Yet in the course of time the mohar lost its original meaning
as a purchase price paid to the father for his daughter, and
assumed the significance of a gift to the near relatives of the
bride. As far back as in early Biblical times, it was customary
for a good father to give the whole of the mohar or at least a
large part of it to his daughter. A father who appropriated the
whole mohar for himself was considered unkind and harsh,
and the daughter long remembered how badly he had treated
her. This situation is clearly described in Genesis, in the stories
of Jacob and Laban. Rachel and Leah tell Jacob concerning
their father: a ls there yet any portion or inheritance for us in
our father's house? Are we not accounted by him strangers,
for he hath sold us and had also quite devoured our price."
The portion of the mohar which the bride received from her
father, and the matton, the gifts which the groom presented to
her, were not the only possessions she brought to matrimony.
IN BIBLICAL TIMES 129
A rich father sometimes gave his daughter a field or other
landed property, as we are told in the story of Job, and in the
previously mentioned story of Achsah, the daughter of Caleb.
We hear also of maids, female slaves, which the daughter re-
ceived from her father as a personal possession. She received
also her share in the estate of the family, "an inheritance among
her brethren," as it is called in the Bible (Job 42: 15).
Notwithstanding the outward form of paying a purchase
price for the bride, even in ancient Biblical times, the Jewish
woman enjoyed the right of possessing private property of
which she alone could dispose.
The transformation of the mohar from a purchase price to
a gift was the first phase in its evolution. An account of its
later development will be given in subsequent chapters,
Betrothal . . . Nowadays there is only one ceremony in
connection with marriage the wedding. Until the wedding
is performed, either the bride or the groom may have a change
of heart. Until late in the Middle Ages, marriage consisted of
two ceremonies which were marked by celebrations at two
separate times, with an interval between. First came the be-
trothal; then, later, the wedding. At the betrothal the
woman was legally married, although she still remained in
her father's house. She could not belong to another man un-
less she was divorced from her betrothed. The wedding
meant only that the betrothed woman, accompanied by a
colorful procession, was brought from her father's house to
the house of her groom, and the legal tie with him was con-
summated. 141
This division of marriage into two separate events origi-
nated in very ancient times, when marriage was a purchase,
both in its outward form and in its inner meaning. Woman
was not recognized as a person but was bought in marriage,
like a chattel. The process of purchase consisted of two acts.
First the price was paid and an agreement reached on the con-
ditions of sale. Sometime later the purchaser took possession
I3O COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
of the object. The same procedure was followed in marrying
a woman. The mohar was paid and a detailed agreement
reached between the families of the bride and groom. This
betrothal was followed by the wedding, when the bride was
brought into the home of the groom, who took actual posses-
sion of her.
In those days the betrothal was the more important of
these two events and maintained its importance as long as
marriage was actually based upon a purchase. But as women
assumed more importance as individuals, and marriage ceased
to be a purchase, and attained moral significance, the actual
wedding became more important than the betrothal. Finally,
in the Middle Ages, the betrothal was entirely absorbed by
the wedding, and became identical with it, as will be described
later.
There is no information concerning the procedure of a
betrothal celebration. From various passages in the Bible, we
find that, besides the payment of the mohar, a solemn agree-
ment was made between the groom and the bride. We are told
that "he swore unto her, and entered into a covenant with her
and spread the skirt of his garment over her" (Ezek. 16: 8) . In
time this agreement apparently was expressed in a fixed for-
mula. In the presence of the assembled guests, the groom de-
clared to the father: "I came to thy house for thee to give me
thy daughter So-and-so to wife; she is my wife and I am her
husband from this day and forever." The assembled people
apparently responded with a blessing in the name of God. 142
Among the Arab peasants in Palestine today, as also among
the Jews of Yemen, betrothed couples are not permitted un-
der any circumstances to see one another from the moment of
betrothal, even if they are cousins, live in close proximity and
have been playing with one another since their early child-
hood. Apparently this custom prevailed also among the Jews
in Biblical times. In the stories of Genesis, Rebekah took her
veil and covered herself when she met Isaac in the field, be-
cause she was then only betrothed and not yet married to
IN BIBLICAL TIMES 13!
him. According to modern anthropologists, the original motive
of this inhibition was not delicacy or shyness, but the primitive
belief that the bride and the groom had an evil eye for one
another. 143
The Wedding . . . The wedding days were a time of great
joy among the ancient Jews. A wedding lasted not less than
seven days and was celebrated by dancing, singing and the
playing of various games always accompanied by tumultuous
merriment and unconfined joy.
Usually weddings took place in the beautiful month of
Ador, when "the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the
flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing is come, and
the voice of the turtle is heard in our land" (Song of Songs
2: 11-12). Weddings occurred in autumn also, when the corn
and fruit were gathered on threshing floors and in the wine
presses, and the work of the year was over. In the warm nights,
by the light of the moon, the mountains of Judah and Ephraim
echoed with sounds of wedding merriment. To the prophet
Jeremiah, the most distinct feature of desolation in the land
was the absence of "the voice of mirth and the voice of glad-
ness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride"
(7:34; 25:10;^ 33:11).
Many relatives and friends, and often a whole village or
town, were invited to the wedding. At Laban's daughter's
wedding, he gathered all the men of the place for a feast. The
groom, or rather his father, provided for the wedding. Only
in exceptional cases, as for example, Jacob, who was far away
from his native land, did the wedding take place at the home
of the bride's parents. Another exceptional case is found in the
story of Samson and the Philistine woman of Timnah. Mar-
riages between sons of Israel and daughters of the Philistines, as
with women of other foreign nations, were interdicted and did
not constitute .a legal marriage. The Philistine woman of Tim-
nah was not Samson's legal wife, but merely his concubine,
and was supposed to remain with her father. 144 Barring excep-
132 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
tional situations, if the bride lived in another village, the groom
did not go to the bride, but she came to him. The whole sig-
nificance of the wedding then consisted in the bride's passing
from the domain of her father to that of her husband.
Among the Arab peasants today, when the bride is from
another village, it is customary for her to arrive in the groom's
village accompanied only by women relatives and friends.
They are invited as guests into the first house which they
approach. When the bride has arrived safely at a place in the
bridegroom's village, messengers are sent for her father, male
relatives and friends. Possibly, the same custom also prevailed
in ancient Israel.
Bride and groom were arrayed in their most festive attire,
the bride heavily veiled until after she emerged from the
chupo, the bridal canopy (or pavilion). Both wore crowns on
their heads. The Prophets often used the attire of bride and
bridegroom as a basis for comparison of a worthy example.
"Zion will adorn herself with her newly returned children, as
a bride with her ornaments," says the great anonymous prophet
in the second part of Isaiah (49: 18; 61: 10). "Can a maid forget
her ornaments or a bride her attire? Yet My people have
forgotten Me days without number," says Jeremiah (2:32).
The groom was surrounded by a group of young men. The
main role was played by the groom's most intimate friend who
supervised all the arrangements for the wedding. The bride's
relatives and intimate friends hovered about her. 145
In reconstructing a Jewish wedding in Biblical times, we
glean from the Song of Songs. As far back as the beginning of
the second century the Song of Songs was no longer taken
literally, but was interpreted allegorically as a dialogue be-
tween God and Israel. The Fathers of the Church followed
suit, and interpreted the Song of Songs as extolling the love of
Jesus for the Church. In recent centuries the allegorical in-
terpretation has been abandoned and the beauty of the book as
secular poetry recognized and appreciated. As to the literary
form, for some time the theory prevailed that the Song of
IN BIBLICAL TIMES 133
Songs is a drama with King Solomon and the shepherdess,
Shulammite, as its main characters. Towards the end of the
nineteenth century the dramatic interpretation was discarded.
Most scholars now agree that the Song of Songs is not a
homogeneous composition, but a collection of odes sung at
Jewish weddings in ancient times. This became unmistakably
clear when scholars closely observed the wedding customs of
the Arab peasants in Palestine and Syria. Scholars have long
since recognized a similarity in many customs and modes of
life between the Arab peasants of today, who are still un-
touched by Western influences, and the Jews of Biblical times.
Among the Arab peasants, various ceremonies are performed
with great pomp on the day before the wedding. The most
important are the sword dance of the bride, and the feast. The
wedding celebration takes place not indoors, but under the
open sky, on the threshing floor of the village, which, in
March, is overgrown with flowers and suitable for the oc-
casion. To the threshing floor, in a solemn procession, come
the groom, his intimates and guests. In the evening the bride
arrives, with great pomp, to perform the sword dance.
The Arabs call the seven days of the wedding the "royal
week." Bride and groom play the part of king and queen, and
are treated as such by the wedding guests. Among the Jews
of ancient times, as clearly seen in the Song of Songs, bride
and groom were also treated like a king and queen and, for
that reason, wore crowns. But the Jews did not designate the
couple king and queen, but named the groom after the most
magnificent Jewish king, Solomon, and the bride, Shulammite,
or Shunammite, after the beautiful Abishag, the Shunammite,
beloved by Solomon's brother, Adonijah, for whom he for-
feited his life.
Apparently the Jews in Biblical times also celebrated the
wedding under the open sky. The Jewish daughters of Judah
and Ephraim would dance on the threshing floor of the village
with sword in hand "on the day of the gladness of their heart."
Some of the songs sung on these occasions are preserved in the
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
Song of Songs. One song gives this vivid picture of the great
procession in which the bride is led, either to the threshing
floor, or to the groom's house.
Night is falling. In the distance is seen a long, merry proces-
sion of men, women and children, all in festive array. Leading
them are the torch bearers who illuminate the way. After the
torch bearers come the men, then the women, and finally the
bride, veiled, and with a sword bound to her side. According
to the Oriental custom, the bride is lavishly perfumed. With
great pomp she is borne in a litter resplendent with exquisite
draperies. The groom has sent her this beautiful litter called,
"The litter of Solomon." Surrounding the bride is a military
escort, young men equipped with weapons of war. From afar
the procession looks like a caravan emerging from the desert,
winding its way toward distant lands. Occasionally the proces-
sion stops. Young and old leap, dance, and sing:
Who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness
like pillars of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all powders of the merchant?
Behold, it is the litter of Solomon;
Threescore mighty men are about it.
Of mighty men of Israel.
They all handle the sword,
And are expert in war;
Every man hath his sword upon his thigh,
Because of dread in the night, etc. 146
Everyone respected a wedding procession and stood aside
while it passed. Even King Agrippa laid aside his royal dignity
and allowed a wedding procession to overtake him and then
precede him. 147 It is doubtful, however, whether this was done
by the Jewish kings in Biblical times.
Arriving at the threshing floor, the assemblage at an Arab
wedding forms a circle about the bride, consisting of one half
men and the other half women. The bride stands in the center,
brandishes her sword and dances according to the rhythm of
IN BIBLICAL TIMES 135
an ode sung by a leader. The ode extols her rich attire and
physical charms. Those surrounding the bride accompany her
motions by swaying the upper part of their bodies and softly
clapping their hands. The whole scene is illumined by flaming
torches.
In the Song of Songs we have an ode on the sword dance.
The bride, designated queen, bears the name of the beautiful
Shunammite. The ode begins:
Turn around, turn around, Shulammite!
Turn around, turn around, that we may look upon thee.
What will ye see in the Shulammite?
As it were a dance of two companies. 7: i.
An ode in praise of the bride follows, as among the Arabs to-
day.
When the sword dance is over and all are tired and hungry,
the great feast follows. The guests eat, drink and make merry
(5=0.
The Chupo . . . Nowadays the dance, feast, giving of pres-
ents, and many other features of the wedding take place after
the chupo. In ancient times, as among the Arabs of today, the
chupo was the final phase of the wedding. When the bride was
led into the chupo-chamber, the most important feature of the
wedding ended. In the course of the procession to the chupo-
chamber, the relatives of the bride blessed her:
Our sister, be thou the mother
Of thousands of ten thousands,
And thy seed possess the gate
Of those that hate them. Gen. 24: 60.
The chupo in those times was entirely different from the
chupo as we have it today. Then, the chupo was a wedding
tent or chamber, especially arranged and decorated by the
groom. By entering the chupo-chamber the bride passed from
her father's authority to that of her husband.
In the Bible, the chupo is mentioned only twice. The Psalm-
136 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
ist pictures the sun rising in the morning "as a bridegroom
coming out of his chupo" (19:6). The prophet Joel describes
a general fast when all gather to pray in the Temple; even "the
bridegroom goes forth from his chamber and the bride out of
her chupo " (2:16).
The "Seven Days of the Feast" . . . The merrymaking of
the wedding lasted through the following week. These days
of merriment were called "the seven days of the feast," a name
which still clings to the week following the wedding in present
day Jewish life. 148
The Arabian wedding night is followed by the "royal
week," when bride and groom are royally treated by all. It is
the most joyful week of their lives. The groom is the king; his
intimate attendant is a grand vizier. On the day after the wed-
ding night when the bride and groom awake, they array them-
selves in the same garments worn on the previous day, and re-
ceive the grand vizier who brings in breakfast. Shortly after,
the groom's friends arrive and as soon as they learn that the
grand vizier has been received with favor by his Majesty the
King, they proceed immediately to prepare the throne of the
royal pair. As chairs and sofas are not available in the village,
they resort to a peasant's device the threshing-board.
The threshing-board is a communal piece of furniture which
serves various purposes: for threshing grain; as a funeral bier;
and as a throne for the bride and groom at the wedding
festivities. A scaffold about two yards high is set upon the
threshing floor, on which is placed the threshing-board, and
over the board, a large varicolored carpet. Two pillows em-
broidered with golden thread and stuffed with ostrich feathers
are placed upon the carpet, completing the magnificent throne
for the royal pair.
Bride and groom sit on the throne. The merriment begins
with a dance in honor of the young pair. The newly wedded
pair are the theme of the ode then sung. The main content of
the ode concerns their physical perfections and their attire,
IN BIBLICAL TIMES 137
but it praises the queen in more restrained terms than those
used on the previous day at the Sword dance. Since she is now
a married woman, her overt rather than her covert charms are
lauded. The guests play games which last a whole week. On
the first day they start in the morning; on the following days
they begin shortly before noon and continue late into the
night. Only on the last day before sunset does the merriment
end. The king and queen on their throne are for the most part
mere spectators. Sometimes they descend from the throne to
participate in the games. Originally, the odes sung on this oc-
casion were improvisations, but in the course of time, their
text became fixed.
Among the Jews in Biblical times, festivities were carried on
in a similar manner during the "seven days of the feast." Many
of the odes in the Song of Songs were composed to honor and
entertain the bride and groom who sat on their royal throne.
Riddles were also a part of the wedding entertainment. One
riddle often used on this occasion is preserved in the Bible:
"What is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a
lion?" The answer was well known "Love." 149
We cannot tell whether Jews in ancient times used the
threshing-board as a throne in "the seven days of the feast."
Probably in the days of the kings and the prophets, the bride
and groom sat on a sofa, or chairs, pieces of furniture which
belonged to the households of well-to-do peasants. 150
m
In Late Biblical and Post-Biblical Times
A New Attitude towards Women . . . During Biblical times,
even before the Babylonian exile, Jewish life was not station-
ary, but evolved and changed in manifold aspects, including
the attitude toward women. In the course of time, women
came to be regarded as endowed with personalities just as were
men.
Even as far back as early Biblical times, we find traces of a
new moral attitude towards women. True, a man was legally
allowed to marry more than one wife but, barring kings and
princes, very few used this right. As a rule, the ordinary Jew
lived in monogamous marriage. "A man leaves his father and
mother and cleaves unto his wife, and they become one flesh"
(Gen. 2:24). In the concept of married life, the woman was
not regarded as a purchased object. Husband and wife be-
longed to one another. Man was not whole until a woman was
constantly with him to aid him (Gen. 2:18). Such a wife was
not a mere purchase. The mohar paid to her father was a gift
rather than a purchase price.
This new moral attitude towards women becomes still more
conspicuous when we compare the various codes of law in the
Pentateuch which originated in different periods of Biblical
history. In the oldest Biblical code, the so-called Book of the
Covenant (Exod. 21-23), only the man-servant was freed
after six years of service, not the maid-servant who had been
sold by her father into servitude. She -was not free because she
had never been free. She belonged either to her father, to her
husband or to the master to whom she was sold. However, ac-
cording to the Deuteronomic code, which reflects a later phase
138
BIBLICAL AND P OS T- B I B L I C A L TIMES 139
of Jewish civilization, the maid-servant like the man-servant
was freed in the seventh year. A new attitude was evolved to-
wards the daughter, who was now regarded as a personality. 151
We shall soon see how, with the new attitude towards
women, marriage among Jews (the mohar, betrothal, and wed-
ding) assumed new forms.
An Ancient Marriage Record ... At the beginning of this
century, an actual marriage record of a Jewish family during
the period of the return from the Babylonian exile was dis-
covered giving real names and facts, the oldest marriage con-
tract in Jewish history.
The marriage did not take place in Palestine or among the
exiles in Babylon, but among the Jews of Elephantine and
Assuan, at the southern border of Egypt, by the first cataract
of the Nile (see p. 27) .
Jews came to that remote part of Egypt as soldiers hired into
foreign service. They were organized as a military colony
among mercenaries of many other nations. Most of the soldiers
in the garrison apparently were Jews. It seems that they were
originally hired and brought over by the Egyptian kings from
poor homes in Palestine in the latter days of the First Temple,
when Egypt had regained her independence. Later, when
Egypt was conquered by the Persian Empire, these Jewish
mercenaries continued in military service under the Persian
government. All of the records unearthed at Elephantine and
Assuan belong to the time of the Persian domination. They are
papyri inscribed in Aramaic, the universal language of the
Persian Empire west of the Euphrates.
The Jews of Elephantine and Assuan were professional
soldiers, obliged to go to war to defend the southern frontier
of Egypt. This vocation was transmitted from father to son.
They were soldiers and also colonists who owned property.
They married, had families and had ample leisure for peaceful
occupations. Some soldiers even engaged in trade with the peo-
ple with whom they lived.
140 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
As soldiers, the Jews of Elephantine and Assuan were an
integral part of the military organization. They were called
officially "Jewish army" and were divided into groups, each
of which had a flag of its own. As Jews, they had autonomy,
their own religious community, their own Jewish court, and a
temple in which sacrifices were offered to the God of Israel.
Most of the business documents which were unearthed in
Elephantine and Assuan belonged to the family of a well-to-do
Jewish soldier named Machseiah, the son of Yedaniah. In the
documents, his daughter, Mibtachiah, married and received
a valuable piece of property as dowry from her father. Her
first husband died and she remarried, this time a non-Jew, an
Egyptian by the name of As-Hor, who was called "the archi-
tect of the king." In the documents of his sons, As-Hor bears
the Jewish name Nathan. Apparently he became a proselyte
to the Jewish faith, and his sons bore Jewish names.
We are concerned with the marriage contract of Mibtachiah
and As-Hor. It began with a declaration of marriage by As-
Hor to Mibtachiah's father. "I came to thy house for thee to
give me thy daughter, Mibtachiah, to wife; she is my wife and
I am her husband from this day and forever" (see p. 130).
Following this declaration of betrothal, all terms of the mar-
riage contract were written in detail. As-Hor paid Machseiah,
the father, five shekels, Persian standard, as a mohar for his
daughter. Besides, Mibtachiah received a gift of 65 1 / 2 shekels
from As-Hor. From this we gather that the mohar which
fathers received for their daughters was then merely a nominal
payment, the formality of a lingering custom of olden times.
Of the 65 1 / 2 shekels that Mibtachiah received from As-Hor,
twelve shekels were in cash, the remainder in clothing and
utensils. A complete list of the gifts Mibtachiah received is
given and fully described, in regard to quality, size, and value:
one garment of wool, dyed new, embroidered, on both sides,
8 by 5 cubits; one closely woven shawl, new, 7 by 5; another
garment of spun wool, 6 by 3; one mirror, one tray, two cups,
and one bowl, all of bronze. Each one of these items is also
BIBLICAL AND P OST- B I BLI C AL TIMES 141
appraised in cash. According to the marriage contract, Mibta-
chiah had equal rights with her husband. She had her own
property which she could bequeath as she pleased, and she had
the right to pronounce a sentence of divorce against As-Hor,
even as he had the right to pronounce it against her. All she
had to do was to appear before the court of the community
and declare that she had developed an aversion to As-Hor. We
do not know to what degree the equality of rights enjoyed by
Jewish women of Elephantine was due to Jewish or to Persian-
Babylonian law.
Mibtachiah impresses us as a very active woman. She was
energetic and enterprising, had property of her own and was
on an equal footing with her husband. She was also very par-
ticular about the cosmetics with which she beautified herself.
Among the articles which she received from her father was
mentioned a new ivory cosmetic box.
At the conclusion of Mibtachiah's marriage contract, the
name of the scribe appeared. He was Nathan, the son of
Ananiah, who had written the deed at the dictation of As-Hor.
The names of three witnesses appeared on this remarkable
document, which was written about the time Nehemiah was
rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
The betrothal of Mibtachiah to the Egyptian architect As-
Hor presumably took place at the house of Machseiah, son of
Yedaniah. Imagine the house crowded with Jews as well as
Egyptians, the relatives and friends of both the Jewish bride,
Mibtachiah, and the Egyptian groom, As-Hor. After paying
the mohar and delivering the gifts to Mibtachiah, the robust
and simple folk of this military colony partook of a festive
meal amid boisterous joy and merriment. 152
The Ksubo . . . This newly disinterred papyrus of a mar-
riage deed or k'subo, as it has been called in Aramaic since the
days of the Second Temple, is the first document of its kind
found in Jewish history. In many points of content and form,
Mibtachiah's marriage contract resembles the version of the
142 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
k'subo, still in vogue in modern Jewish life. Yet we must not
assume that the k'subo originated at that time (5th century
B.C.E.). It was rather a well-established institution in the Per-
sian period of Jewish history. In any references to marriage
throughout the Bible, the mohar was paid and gifts presented,
but a written contract was never mentioned. However, the
Book of Deuteronomy specifically states that if a man dislikes
his wife, "he writes her a bill of divorcement and gives it in
her hand" (24: 3) . Modern critics of the Bible have agreed that
on the whole, the Deuteronomic law is a product of the cen-
tury preceding the Babylonian exile. If a written document
was employed at that period in dissolving a marriage, we have
to assume that it was also employed in contracting a mar-
riage. In purchasing realty, written contracts were employed
in Judah in the years preceding the first destruction of Jerusa-
lem. 153 Scholars assume that the written contract was intro-
duced into Jewish life in the Assyro-Babylonian period, under
Assyro-Babylonian influences. Most tablets unearthed from
the ancient mounds of Babylonia and Assyria were contract
tablets. In Babylonia, marriage contracts were mentioned in
the ancient Code of Hammurabi. 154 - At the time when the
Elephantine papyri were written, the marriage deed in Jewish
life was an established institution of at least two hundred
years' standing.
A Divorce Penalty . . . But it was the change in the main
provision of the marriage contract, the paying of the mohar,
rather than the introducing of the written marriage contract,
that altered the character of marriage among Jews. The mohar
institution was entirely transformed during late-Biblical and
post-Biblical times. From a bridal price it finally became a lien
to be paid by the husband in case of divorce, or by his heirs in
case of his death.
The change in the mohar institution was a direct result of
the basic changes which took place in the material conditions
of life. In the simple conditions of early Biblical days, all sons
BIBLICAL- AND POST-BIBLICAL TIMES 143
and daughters married young. No one stayed single. We hear
of only one exceptional case shortly before the first destruction
of Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah remained a celibate, ex-
plaining his unique position as a divine command. In a pro-
phetic vision he heard the command of God that he should not
take a wife nor have sons or daughters, because a devastating
catastrophe would soon overtake the commonwealth of Judah,
and the sons and daughters born in that place would die
grievous deaths, together with their mothers and fathers, with-
out being lamented or buried (Jer. 16).
The Book of Proverbs, the oldest in the wisdom literature
of the Jews, contains no exhortations regarding the advisability
of marrying at an early age, nor the evils of unmarried life.
There was no need of exhorting people on that score. The
Book of Proverbs states that not all men are happy in their
matrimonial life. A man married a prudent woman, a woman
of valour, and was happy; another married an evil and con-
tentious woman and was very unhappy. 155 Obviously no one
was deterred from marriage on that account.
The situation changes, however, when we turn from Prov-
erbs to the wisdom book of Ben-Sira (Ecclesiasticus) . The
author, Joshua Ben-Sira (Jesus the son of Sirach), flourished
in Jerusalem not long before the uprising of the Maccabees.
In his wise sayings he admonishes the young men of his days
against the evils of remaining single:
Without a hedge a vineyard is laid waste,
And without a wife a man is a wanderer and homeless.
Apparently bachelorship, common among Jews in Talmudic
times, had its beginnings in pre-Maccabean days. Economic
conditions were such that men hesitated to shoulder the re-
sponsibility of matrimony. It was not unusual for women to
support the men they married. Ben-Sira rebuked these men
who married women solely for a rich dowry:
j j
Hard slavery and a disgrace it is,
If a wife support her husband.
144 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
Ben-Sira also admonished the fathers not to let their sons re-
main single too long but to let them marry when young:
If thou hast sons, correct them,
And give them wives in their youth.
No wonder, therefore, that in the days of Ben-Ska, parents
looked with concern at their marriageable daughters, and
Ben-Sira exhorted the fathers:
Get thy daughter married, and worry will vanish,
But bestow her on a sensible man. 156
Under these conditions there was no place for the old mohar
institution. Fathers no longer expected any material gain from
their daughters' marriages. On the contrary, fathers often gave
rich dowries to daughters as an inducement to marriageable
men.
Yet the mohar institution did not pass out of existence. It
was reformed intermittently in the course of this period, adapt-
ing itself to new circumstances. The first stage in this process
was to make the bride's father a mere trustee of the mohar.
The money was then inherited ultimately either by the hus-
band or by his children. This reform availed little, so the hus-
band himself was made the trustee of the money, which was
employed to buy household articles. This is the phase in the
evolution of the mohar which we meet in the papyri of Ele-
phantine. The money which As-Hor gave to Mibtachiah was
spent mostly for clothing and household utensils. The last
step in the reform of the mohar institution was made by
Simeon ben Shatach, head of the Pharisees, who were the rul-
ing party in the state during the reign of the Maccabean queen,
Salome Alexandra (76-67 B.C.E.). Simeon ben Shatach de-
clared that the mohar, which was ordinarily two hundred sil-
ver dinars (fifty shekels) for a girl, and one hundred for a
widow, should merely be written in the k'subo, the marriage
deed, as a lien of the wife on the estate of her husband, to be
paid to her only if he divorced her, or at his death. 157
i. PALESTINIAN CLAY LAMP, Roman Period
2. PALESTINIAN BRONZE LAMP, Roman Period
3. COIN of the Second Revolt Under Simon Bar Kochba
LEFT: Vase. INSCRIPTION: First Year of the Redemption of Israel
RIGHT: Wreath. INSCRIPTION: Simon Nassi Israel
CIRCUMCISION KNIVES /feArff^; 7/on College Museum, Cincinnati
CHAIR OF ELIJAH used at Circumcision Ceremony
PAPER AMULET to Ward Off Evil Spirits at Childbirth
PLATTER for the Redemption of the First-Born
i. SILVER FILIGREE AMULET 2. SILVER AMULET with Cover
Hebrew Union College Museum, Cincinnati
3- AMULET in the Form of a Hand in the Synagogue Eliyahu Ha-Navi
4. SILVER AMULET
i and 2. SPICE-BOXES The Jewish Museum y New York
3. KIDDUSH CUP Hebrew Union College Museum, Cincinnati
BIMO of the Wooden Synagogue at Gwodziecz
A DIFFICULT PASSAGE by Isidor Kaufmann.
This painting shows clearly the talis koton.
EXAMINATION IN HEBREW by Moritz Oppenheim
i. SILVER M'zuzo The Jewish Museum., New IOTK
x, 3, and 4. WEDDING RINGS
5. SILVER T'FILIN GASES The Jewish Museum^ New York
CARRYING THE LAW by William Rothenstein
Johannesburg, South Africa, Art Gallery
THE WEDDING under the Chupo by Morirz Oppenheim
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FRAGMENT FROM THE BOOK OF SIRA
discovered in the Genizah by the late Solomon Sehechtei
K'SUBO (Marriage Contract)
Hebrew Union College Museum, Cincinnati
TOMBS in the Kidron Valley near Jerusalem
>)*ina'n<:*iii.J<T> *
THE GET (Bill of Divorcement) is torn across by the rabbi
and retained by him so that it may not be used again.
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SEFER HA-CHASIDIM (Title Page), Printed in Basle, 1580
BIBLICAL AND P O S T - B I B L I C AL TIMES 145
This reform served two humane purposes. It made marriage
easier, and divorce more difficult. A man did not need two
hundred dinars in cash in order to marry a girl, but he needed
this amount if he wanted to divorce her. The k'subo thus
protected the woman from being arbitrarily divorced by her
husband.
***
l\\\
In the First Centuries of the Common Era
Wedlock and Bachelorhood . . . The conditions of life
which militated against matrimony as far back as the Greek
and Maccabean periods of Jewish history became more
strained in the first centuries of the Common Era. The Tal-
mud and Midrash, the Jewish literature of that period, contain
many references to wedlock and bachelorhood. It "was an
epoch of bachelorhood in the Roman world at large, and also
among Jews. Bachelors were common. One of the greatest
Jewish sages, Simeon ben Azzai, who lived in the first half of
the second century, died a celibate. Although bachelors were
excluded from teaching in primary schools, there were gener-
ous bachelors who contributed to the maintenance of those
schools. They were highly commended for supporting an in-
stitution in which they could not be directly interested. 158
No wonder, therefore, that the Talmud and Midrash con-
tain many exhortations to marry at an early age, and admoni-
tions against staying single. For example:
"Any man who has not a wife is not a proper man (an
Adam)."
"Any man who has no wife lives without joy, without
blessing, and without happiness."
"Until the age of twenty, the Holy One, blessed be He, sits
and waits: 'when will he take a wife?' But as soon as one at-
tains the age of twenty and is not yet married, He exclaims:
'Blasted be his bones! '"
"Whilst your hand is yet upon your son's neck, marry him
off, viz., between sixteen and twenty-two. Others state, 'Be-
tween eighteen and twenty-four.' "
146
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 147
There is an anecdote in the Babylonian Talmud about the
three famous Amoraim, Rav Huna, Rav Chisda, and Rav
Hamnuna, who lived in Babylonia in the second half of the
third century (C.E.) . Rav Huna was then the head of the great
academy at Sura and Rav Chisda was his pupil and colleague.
Once, in conversation with Rav Huna, Rav Chisda praised
Rav Hamnuna as a great man. So Rav Huna said to Rav
Chisda, "When Rav Hamnuna visits you, bring him to me."
When Rav Hamnuna arrived, Rav Huna saw that he was not
wearing the head-covering or turban customary for married
men. "Why have you no headdress?" asked Rav Huna. "Be-
cause I am not married," was the reply. Thereupon Rav Huna
turned his face away from him, saying, "See to it that you do
not appear before me again until you are married." 159
Bachelorship was disapproved severely as detrimental in
every way. The bachelor was ridiculed. As long as he was
young, he considered no woman was good enough to marry,
but it did occur to him to marry at an age "when his nose is
nipped, his ears are heavy, his eyes are dim, and no woman can
be found that would marry him." 16
There is no record of women celibates among Jews in that
period, but we do hear of unmarried women who waited a
long time to get married because the marriageable men were
reluctant to wed. 161
The main cause of this state of affairs were the political and
economic conditions of the times. There was a difference be-
tween Palestine and Babylonia in this respect. Conditions in
Babylonia, which was a part of the Persian kingdom, were
much more favorable for the Jews than in Palestine, which be-
longed to the Roman Empire. Matrimony was a simpler mat-
ter for the Babylonian Jews than for their brethren in Pales-
tine. In Babylonia in the third century, the religious teachers
decreed that a man should marry first and study the Torah
afterwards, whereas in Palestine, they said: "Can a man in-
dulge in the study of the Torah with a millstone on his neck?"
In that century of civil war and social chaos in the Roman
148 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
Empire, it was quite usual for men in Palestine to marry be-
tween the ages of thirty and forty. 162
Marriage of Minors . . . A man's correct matrimonial age was
from eighteen to about twenty-four. A girl was supposed to
marry much earlier, at the age of twelve or thirteen. Fathers
were reproved if they permitted their daughters to pass that
age without giving them in marriage.
Theoretically, the son and the daughter had the decisive
voice in choosing and concluding a match, but this theory was
not always followed. There were inconsiderate fathers who
betrothed their children, especially daughters, when they were
still children. Among the Romans, girls often were married
at the age of nine and ten, and this practice spread among
Jews. From the third century on, loud voices of protest were
raised against this inconsiderate attitude. Some religious teach-
ers of Babylonia prohibited it, but the practice was not dis-
continued.
However, the betrothal of minor girls was the exception
rather than the rule. A girl betrothed when still a minor had
the right to make a declaration of refusal when she came of
age. She could say that she disliked the man and did not wish to
marry him; and then the betrothal was annulled. 1 ""
I 163
Making a Choice . . . Jewish girls of that period enjoyed
much personal freedom. As in ancient Biblical days, they
gathered at the wells and conversed as they drew their jugs
of water. They also went to market, sold wares in the stores,
and in general, occupied themselves in various ways. They
were apt to meet and become acquainted with marriageable
young men, and often chose their own mates. 164
However, it was the parents rather than the children who
had the deciding voice in making the choice, and who ar-
ranged the match.
There were many aspects to be considered in choosing a
mate. First, there was the physical aspect, and, as in Biblical
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 149
days, the main emphasis was laid upon the girl's eyes. As long
as a girl had beautiful eyes, she passed as a beautiful bride. For
the sake of the progeny, the physical characteristics of bride
and groom were taken into consideration. It was inadvisable
for a very tall man to marry a very tall woman, lest their off-
spring be tall "as the mast of a ship"; for a very short man to
marry a very short woman, lest their offspring be dwarfs; for
a very white man to marry a very white woman, lest their
offspring be albinos; for a very dark man to marry a very
dark woman, lest their offspring be pitch black. The char-
acter of the prospective bride's brothers was looked into, be-
cause of the current belief that most children take after their
mothers' brothers. 165
More important than the physical qualities and the progeny
was the social rank of the prospective bride and groom and the
nature of the groom's vocation. A distinction was made be-
tween a clean and a dirty occupation. As to the social rank,
emphasis was laid upon culture. A man of learning should not
marry the daughter of an illiterate under any circumstances.
Nor should a man of learning give his daughter in marriage
to an illiterate. A daughter of a kohen, a descendant of the
priestly caste, was supposed to marry a kohen only. The mar-
riage of a daughter of a kohen and an ordinary Jew was dis-
couraged. The Talmud says: "If a man marries a wife who is
fit for him, the prophet Elijah kisses him and the Holy One,
blessed be He, loves him; but he who marries a wife who is
not fit for him, Elijah binds him and the Holy One, Blessed
be He, flagellates him." 166
There were many degrees in the social scale even within the
cultured and learned classes. Says the Talmud: "A man should
sell all he possesses in order to marry the daughter of a scholar.
If he cannot get the daughter of a scholar, let him marry
the daughter of a prominent man of his day; if he cannot
get the daughter of a prominent man of his day, let him
marry the daughter of the head of a synagogue; if he cannot
get the daughter of the head of a synagogue, let him marry the
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
daughter of a director of charity; if he cannot get the
daughter of a director of charity, let him marry the daughter
of a teacher in a primary school, but he should never marry
the daughter of an illiterate." 167
Among Jews, nobility of culture and aristocracy of learning
took precedence over nobility of blood or wealth, and the
aristocratic families made every possible effort to separate
themselves from the ignorant and illiterate masses.
Ktsotso . . . Not all men conformed with the social rules.
Occasionally, a defiant young man married beneath his social
rank, to the great embarrassment of his family. Sometimes the
family was shocked into disinheriting the defiant member and
severing all connection with him. This act of disinheriting a
young man was marked by a ceremony called k'tsotso, which
means severing, cutting off .
In the Talmud there is a description of this queer ceremony,
performed in the following manner:
The members of the family came together, bringing a cask
full of fruits. In the presence of the children, the open middle
space in the cask was broken and the children picked up the
fruit and called out, "Brethren of the House of Israel, hear!
Our brother So-and-so has married a woman who is not
worthy of him and we are afraid lest his descendants will be
united with our descendants. Come and take a warning for
future generations, that his descendants shall not be united
with our descendants." 16S
Severance of all relations with the disinherited member was
thus publicly proclaimed and impressed upon the memory of
both the older and younger generation who participated in
the k'tsotso ceremony.
Negotiating a Match . . . After the choice was mutually
made, negotiations began between the two parents, usually
through an intermediary. If the bride was of age, she carried
on the negotiations personally. If she had not attained her
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 15!
majority, her father did this for her. The arrangement of mar-
riage negotiations was permitted even on the Sabbath. 169
There were various conditions and stipulations to be agreed
upon, beginning with the dowry which the girl's father gave
to his daughter and his prospective son-in-law. In this era of
bachelorhood, fathers promised large dowries in order to at-
tract suitors, often out of proportion to their means. As far
back as the days preceding the second destruction of Jerusa-
lem, it was not unusual for a father-in-law to promise a large
cash dowry to his prospective son-in-law and refuse to carry
out his promise after the betrothal. Cases came before the
courts in Jerusalem in which the groom refused to wed the
girl without the promised dowry and she remained betrothed
but unmarried for life. Usually she could force the groom
either to wed or divorce her. 170
In those days, even more than in the days of Ben-Sira, a
number of men married rich women merely for the sake of
large dowries. This practice was sternly discouraged. "He
who takes a wife for the sake of money will have unworthy
children/' says the Talmud. 171
Not every man gave his daughter a dowry in cash, but each
father was obliged to furnish a wedding outfit valued at fifty
zuz (silver dinar) , which was the minimum. Even an orphaned
girl received that from the charity fund. Among the poor, the
wedding outfit consisted of the barest necessities: clothes,
house utensils, and furniture. Among the rich, slaves and real
estate were included in the marriage gift. The daughter some-
times received a share of the parents' wealth as her own prop-
erty. Her husband merely had the right to use and derive bene-
fit from the property with her consent during her lifetime.
Paramount in the negotiations was the amount of money on
which the wife received a lien in the marriage contract, the
k'subo, in the case of her husband's death or in the event that
he divorced her. If the groom had no property as security,
someone else guaranteed it for him. The minimum amount was
two hundred silver dinars for a girl and a hundred for a widow.
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
In priestly families and in some aristocratic lay families, four
hundred dinars were the minimum to be entered in the k'subo.
This primary amount of the k'subo was not a matter for
negotiations. Every groom was obliged to grant it to his pro-
spective wife, without regard to wealth, social rank, or dowry.
It was the "additional k'subo" which came up for negotiations.
The primary k'subo was the ancient mohar transformed into
a promise, a lien clause in the marriage contract. The additional
k'subo was the ancient matton transformed into a lien and
varied according to circumstances. There was no limit to the
amount of money to which the groom could increase the
"additional k'subo" in accordance with his wealth and social
position. The larger the additional k'subo, the more important
the groom appeared. If the bride turned out to be a bad wife,
the husband deeply regretted his generosity at the betrothal.
It was embarrassing for a man to be wedded to an unworthy
wife who had an enormous k'subo. On the other hand, a large
k'subo protected the wife from any arbitrary attitude on the
part of her husband, and kept him from divorcing her.
Negotiations revolved around various other provisions, mu-
tual duties and rights. Many of these provisions were neces-
sary only when the bride came from a different locality. If
both lived in the same place, the many details of these mutual
rights and obligations followed the local custom. 172
Betrothal . . . After the terms of the marriage were settled,
the betrothal was celebrated at the house of the bride's father.
It was a highly festive occasion. In the Talmud we have a brief
and vivid description of a betrothal celebration. There was
much hustle and bustle in the house. The rooms were brightly
illumined. In the room where the guests were received were
beautifully upholstered sofas, upon which the guests might
recline, as was the custom of the times. The women were
meanwhile doing their handiwork. Drawing the thread from
the distaff, they joyfully announced the name of the happy
bride: "So-and-so is being betrothed today." 1TS
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 153
At the betrothal, the groom gave the bride an object valued
at no less than a p'ruto and declared orally in the presence of
two witnesses: "Be thou consecrated to me, be thou betrothed
to me, be thou my wife." She was also legally betrothed if he
gave her this declaration in writing signed by two witnesses,
without handing her anything of value. In late Talmudic
times, the bride could be legally betrothed without receiving
anything at all from the groom, if he just did some favor for
her. 174 Thus, betrothal among Jews was no longer a com-
mercial transaction, as among the Greeks and Romans. Even
formerly it was merely the symbol of a purchase.
In Talmudic times, betrothal had assumed high religious
significance. A new term for betrothing, Kadesh, came into
vogue. Whatever this word may originally have meant, there
was implicit in it, in this connection, the sense of sanctifica-
tion. 175 In the Mosaic Law the prohibition of incest and licen-
tiousness was promulgated as a prerequisite for "sanctifying
oneself and being holy" (Lev. 20). This was the starting-
point for spiritualizing the matrimonial union and for declar-
ing it as preliminary to the sanctification of man's life. Thus
the betrothal celebration was accompanied by a benediction
proclaiming the purity of married life as a divinely ordained
institution and concluding with praise to God "who sanctifies
His people Israel through chupo and Kidushin." 176
It was customary for the groom to send gifts to the bride
shortly after the betrothal. Then the groom was entertained
with a second betrothal feast by the bride's father. 177
The betrothal continued to be a binding contract which
only a formal divorce could dissolve. This was the practice
among the Jews of Palestine and Babylonia. But among the
Alexandrian Jews, apparently under the Greco-Egyptian in-
fluence, a betrothed woman was not regarded as married. The
declaration of betrothal in Alexandria was conditional: "Be
thou my wife when thou wilt go with me into the chupo."
Betrothal among the Egyptian Jews could be dissolved with-
out divorce/ 78
154 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
In regard to the interval between the betrothal and the wed-
ding, there was a variation in local custom even in Palestine.
In Galilee, bride and groom were kept strictly apart. In south-
ern Palestine, Judea proper, the groom was permitted to visit
the bride at the home of her father during the time between
the betrothal and the wedding. 179
The Wedding ... As in Biblical times so also in the period
with which we are now concerned, the wedding consisted of
escorting the betrothed to the home of the husband. We know
more about the wedding and wedding customs in this period
than in the preceding era, but the customs practiced in this
later era were not entirely new. Some of them dated back to
Biblical days.
The maiden was allowed a year's time to prepare her trous-
seau for the wedding. A widow was allowed only thirty days.
Girls were usually married on Wednesday, and widows on
Thursday. With the exception of the Sabbath, festivals and
fast days, other days of the week were not ruled out. 180
On the Sabbath preceding the wedding, festivities took place
at the home of the bride's father. This was called "the first
Sabbath of the wedding." 181
Participation in the celebration of the wedding and con-
tributing in any way to the joy of the bride and groom was
regarded as a mitsvo (a religious act). It was a mitsvo to take
part in the wedding procession and also, if the bride was poor,
to provide her with festive raiment and adornment. 182
The bride was seated in a beautifully decorated chair while
her female friends or older relatives helped dress her. They
washed her, heavily perfumed her and sumptuously adorned
her with twenty-four ornaments. Her hair was braided and
garlanded. The bride and the groom both wore crowns before
the disastrous days of the Jewish wars against Rome, when this
practice was abolished. 183 However, only the crown of the
groom was definitely abolished. The garland of the bride was
resumed in the Middle Ages and is still in vogue today.
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 155
Before the bride left her parents 7 home, a feast was arranged
for the guests. When it was over, the father bestowed his
blessing upon the bride, and the bridal procession set forth
into the streets of the town.
The bride sat in a litter carried by the most eminent of the
guests. The townspeople fell in at the end of the procession.
Even elderly men and women followed the sound of the drum.
They were prompted by curiosity as well as by the desire to
attain the great religious merit of participating in the joy of
a wedding. Even distinguished rabbis interrupted their dis-
courses on the Torah, and, with their pupils, joined the wed-
ding procession.
While the bride was being prepared for the great event, the
groom was attended by his friends, especially his most intimate
friend and best man. His friends prepared the chupo. This was
a pavilion hung with precious tapestries in the house of the
groom or his father. These hangings were usually of white
linen, embroidered in gold and purple. Fruits and sweetmeats
were suspended from the chupo. In some localities the chupo
was constructed from the lumber of trees which had been
planted at the birth of the bride and groom (p. 21).
The groom, in festive array, accompanied by his friends,
went to meet the bride. His most intimate friend, carrying a
myrtle branch, played the chief role. They were met by ten
maidens, friends of the bride, who carried torches or lamps.
The maidens marching ahead of the bridegroom introduced
him to the bridal party.
Joined by the groom and his retinue, the throng moved on,
singing and dancing, shouting and clapping, playing harps,
flutes and zithers, and beating timbrels. Wine and aromatic oil
emitting sweet odors flowed in profusion from large vessels.
In honor of the bride and groom a cask of wine was carried be-
fore them. In some places a cock and a hen were carried as a
symbol of fertility. Nuts, parched corn, and other sweetmeats
were scattered in their path. 184
Even high dignitaries, myrtle branch in hand, danced and
156 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
sang in honor of the bride, praising her. In the Talmud, a
fragment of a wedding song is preserved, "No paint, no pow-
der, no beautification and yet a graceful gazelle."
But not all who participated in the procession sang the
praise of the bride. Sometimes ridicule and jeers were directed
at the pair. For instance, if the groom happened to be hand-
some and the bride ugly, scoffers derided him, saying: "This
nice young man is ruined by this basket" (the litter in which
the bride was carried), and vice versa. 185
The joyous throng continued the merrymaking until it
reached the house of the groom or his father. The gaiety was
then transferred from the street to the house, reaching its
highest point at the wedding feast. The house was illumined
by countless oil lamps. At the head of the room sat the groom.
Food and wine were served lavishly. Songs were sung and
merry tales and fables were told. Some even made ribald jokes
about the bride and the chupo. This was sternly condemned
by the religious leaders. In the first half of the second century
(C.E.), religious leaders protested vehemently against singing
the odes of the Song of Songs at wedding feasts, 186 and in time
this custom was discarded. By that time the Song of Songs
was included among the Sacred Writings and was not inter-
preted literally but allegorically, as a dialogue between God
and Israel (see p. 132).
Notwithstanding the wine and the jests, the wedding feast
now assumed a religious character. A special wedding bene-
diction, still in use today, was recited over a cup of wine, ex-
pressing a lofty religious view of the institution of marriage
and the joy of the wedding. If learned men were present, dis-
courses on the Torah were given. Religious merit was attached
to the participation in a wedding feast. In Jerusalem there was
a special brotherhood for the purpose of attending betrothal
and wedding feasts, just as there was a special brotherhood to
attend circumcision feasts (see p. 26 and p. 240).
The banquet lasted until past midnight. As in ancient Bibli-
cal times, the merriment continued for seven days. On each
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 157
day the wedding benediction was repeated for new visitors
who had not previously attended the wedding festivities. On
the Sabbath it was repeated even without visitors; the Sabbath
and holidays were regarded as visitors. If the bride was a
widow, the merriment lasted only three days; sometimes only
one day.
As a counterpart of the feast on the Sabbath preceding the
wedding, a post-wedding feast took place on the Sabbath fol-
lowing the wedding, "the second Sabbath of the wedding." 18T
xto
In the Middle Ages
So far the history of Jewish marriage has been traced through
ancient times, from Biblical days to the early centuries of the
Common Era. Within that time the Jewish marriage institution
passed through various changes in regard to human relations
as well as outward form. Notwithstanding those modifications,
the procedure and celebration of marriage remained essentially
the same throughout the epoch. Later, in post-Talmudic times
and in the Middle Ages, the ancient betrothal and chupo gave
way to a new mode of marriage celebration.
Matches and Matchmakers ... In the Middle Ages, the sexes
were kept strictly apart, and romance was almost unknown.
The time for love between husbands and wives was after mar-
riage. Before marriage the couple hardly knew one another.
Jewish religious authorities prided themselves on the modesty
and obedience of Jewish daughters, who, even after twenty,
relied entirely upon their fathers to arrange a match for them,
and in no way interfered or expressed themselves upon the
matter.
If occasionally a girl expressed herself, she was considered
bold and arrogant. Parents therefore had no scruples in select-
ing a mate for their daughter while she was still under age.
The marriage of minors, especially of minor girls, was wide-
spread among the Jews in the Middle Ages, in spite of the
Talmudic prohibition (see p. 148). The reasons were mainly
economic and political. A religious authority of the age of the
crusaders said explicitly: "The custom that now prevails of
marrying off our daughters when they are still minors is a
158
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 159
result of the persecutions which increase daily, for though
today a man may be able to afford a dowry for his daughter,
he may by tomorrow be unable to give her anything, and she
might consequently remain unmarried." 18S
Dowries for daughters were a matter of course. A man
seldom married even a cousin "by the hair of her head," the
current expression for marrying a woman without a dowry.
However, in arranging a match, the amount of the dowry was
less essential than the genealogical record and the social posi-
tion of the family. In the Middle Ages, as in Talmudic times,
stress was laid not only upon the conduct and moral qualities
of the bride, but also upon those of her brothers.
Since boys and girls had no opportunity to meet and become
acquainted with one another, and matches were arranged en-
tirely by the respective fathers, the matchmaker naturally
played a significant role in effecting a marriage. We met the
matchmaker in the Talmudic era. We cannot ascertain
whether matchmaking was then a vocation or merely an act
of kindness on the part of some friend or relative. In the Mid-
dle Ages, matchmaking became a well-paid profession, and
Jewish law fully recognized the matchmaker and the remu-
neration which he received for his service. The amount paid
to the shadcbon (the Talmudic term used for the matchmaker)
varied in different localities from one to three per cent of the
dowry. There was also a difference in various localities in re-
gard to the time when the shadchon was to be paid. In some
localities he was paid after the wedding; in others, he received
his compensation soon after the match was arranged. 189
The shadchon was, as a rule, a very dignified person, held in
high esteem. Even renowned rabbis occupied themselves with
matchmaking. The most famous was Maharil, the great rabbi
and head of the y'shivo in Mayence in the first half of the
fifteenth century, to whom we have already referred in an
earlier chapter (see p. 40). Although Maharil was the rabbi
of Mayence, he made a living from matchmaking. He gave
the money derived from his congregational services for the
l6o COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
support of the students in the y'shivo. Maharil was not the
only rabbi engaged in matchmaking; rabbis apparently were
best fitted for this occupation. In the Middle Ages, parents
sought a gifted y'shivo student for their daughter, and no one
was better able to make the right selection than a great rabbi
of a Talmudic academy.
Not all matchmakers were as conscientious as the famous
Maharil. Many of them were unscrupulous persons who did
not hesitate to use dubious tactics and gross exaggerations.
There are numerous stories, proverbs, anecdotes, and jokes
in Jewish folklore about this degraded type of shadchon, who
resorted to any available means to attain his ends. He has been
the perennial target of Jewish jesters and humorists.
The Decline of the Betrothal . . . We have already noticed
in the history of Jewish marriage a continuous breaking away
from the outward forms of purchase. This entailed a gradual
diminution in the importance of betrothal. In later Talmudic
times the betrothed woman was no longer regarded as actually
married. She belonged to the household of her father. The
writing of the final terms of the k'subo was accordingly shifted
from the betrothal to the wedding. 190
The betrothal was thus on the decline at the beginning of
the Middle Ages. However, as in the case of many social and
religious institutions and practices which persisted long after
they had lost their original significance, the betrothal celebra-
tion might have continued had it not been gradually absorbed
by the wedding. Both ceremonies were ultimately united in
one celebration to comprise the new, transformed wedding
ceremony that emerged in the later Middle Ages.
There were many reasons for the breakdown of the inde-
pendent betrothal ceremony. Based originally on the concep-
tion of marriage as a purchase, the betrothal became outdated
and antiquated in the Middle Ages. Besides, for the poorer
classes two separate celebrations and feasts were too costly. It
was embarrassing, too, to keep the couple apart after they were
IN THE MIDDLE AGES l6l
nearly married. Then too, in times of persecutions, especially
if the bride and the groom came from different localities, the
betrothal of a daughter who might be unable to join her hus-
band was too precarious.
In about the eleventh and twelfth centuries there was a
period of transition when the betrothal and the wedding were
performed on the same day, with an intermission of a few
hours the betrothal in the morning and the wedding toward
evening. But this arrangement was burdensome, because the
feasting lasted the whole day and was quite a financial burden
on the bridegroom and his family. Finally, in the following
centuries, the betrothal and wedding were performed simul-
taneously as a single event. 191
The Marriage Ring ... In the same period which saw the
collapse of the betrothal, the ring, as a new symbol in the mar-
riage ceremonial, appeared. As far back as the seventh or
eighth centuries, among the Jews of the Orient, the ring began
to supersede the coin as a symbol of marriage. Apparently the
custom of using a ring spread westward. In about the twelfth
century, among the Franco-German Jews, the betrothal ring
contained no precious stone. In the following centuries, the
coin was finally dislodged, its place definitely taken by the
ring which became the symbol of conjugal love and fidelity. 192
When the use of the coin was abandoned, the last vestige of
the outward forms of purchase disappeared from Jewish mar-
riage.
To the Synagogue ... In Talmudic times, marriage had al-
ready assumed a religious character. Nevertheless, it was still
exclusively a ceremony performed in the home, not in the
synagogue. True, the betrothal and wedding feasts were both
marked by special benedictions, recited in the presence of a
religious quorum of ten; but these were recited at the home of
the bridegroom or his parents. Only in post-Talmudic times,
in the eighth or ninth centuries, did the wedding celebration
162 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
become a community affair associated with the life of the
synagogue. Then the entire congregation shared the joy of
the bridegroom, paying its respects to him at the synagogue
services.
On the Sabbath following the wedding, the newly married
man was honored by the congregation. In the morning the
groom was escorted to the synagogue by a solemn procession.
Religious hymns were sung. The services on this Sabbath were
amplified by special piyutim (liturgical poems added to the
regular prayers for festivals and outstanding Sabbaths). When
the week's portion of the Pentateuch was read, the precentor,
chanting Hebrew hymns, called the groom to witness the
reading of the Torah and to recite the benedictions over it.
A special portion of the Pentateuch, the story of the wooing
of Rebekah, was chanted in his honor. The cantor also chanted
on this Sabbath a special Haftoro (Isaiah 61:5, which con-
tains allusions to the festive bridal attire and the rejoicing of
the bridegroom and the bride) . This custom of reading a spe-
cial portion of the Pentateuch and a special Haftoro in honor
of the bridegroom was discontinued by European Jewry, al-
though the custom still prevails among Oriental Jews.
The actual marriage ceremony, however, was still performed
at home. The rabbi did not officiate at the ceremony, and the
Benedictions were recited or chanted by several people, each
benediction by another man. Not until the beginning of the
.fifteenth century do we first hear of a marriage ceremony
performed by a rabbi in the synagogue. 193
By that time the marriage ceremony had been entirely trans-
formed. The betrothal, the wedding, and the chupo were
united into one ceremony.
The Transformation of the Chupo . . . Not only did the an-
cient form of betrothal disappear in the Middle Ages, but
likewise the chupo, as a bridal chamber. In the later Middle
Ages, the ancient custom of leading the bride into a chamber
or tent, where she remained in strict privacy with the groom,
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 163
became repugnant to the European Jews. Besides, among the
Jews in Western lands it was the groom who went from his
father's house to the house of the bride's father. The old wed-
ding procession at the conclusion of which the bride entered
the chupo thus became devoid of meaning, for entering the
chupo had signified that the bride passed from her father's
house to that of her husband, whereas now in actual life, the
groom went from his father's house to the home of his father-
in-law.
However, the chupo idea did not entirely pass out of exist-
ence. Many symbolical substitutes for the ancient bridal cham-
ber arose. In one region, the veil with which the bride covered
her face when she left her father's house was called chupo. In
another, both the heads of the groom and the bride were cov-
ered by one kerchief which was called chupo. In Germany,
the name chupo was applied to the custom of wrapping the
bride and groom in a tails (prayer-shawl).
Even as late as the sixteenth century, religious authorities
could not determine the signification of chupo. Among the
Jews of the Orient, chupo still signified the strict privacy into
which the couple was inducted immediately after the marriage
ceremony. In Poland, which was the main center of Jewish
life and learning in that period, as well as in the West European
countries, various symbolic substitutes for the original chupo
were used among Jews. The most popular symbolic substitute
was the portable canopy. The canopy was a combination of
a curtain, spread over the heads of the bride and groom, and
a tent. This symbolic chupo was almost universally accepted
by the European Jews. We hear of communities in Ger-
many in the ifth century, where, early on Friday morning,
the bridal pair were seated under a canopy in the courtyard of
the synagogue. This ceremony will be described later. At a
somewhat later date the b'rocho (benediction), as the mar-
riage ceremony was then called, took place inside the syna-
gogue, without a canopy.
In Poland, in the 1 6th century, the marriage ceremony was
164 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
performed under a canopy, and this latter form of the chupo
became universal. The bride and groom were led not into the
chupo, as in the olden times, but under the chupo. With great
pomp, with lighted torches and music, the groom, followed
by the bride, was led under the canopy which was placed in-
side the synagogue, or outside at the entrance. There the
groom betrothed the bride with a ring, and the benedictions
over the betrothal and the wedding were chanted solemnly by
the rabbi of the community in the presence of the guests who
had gathered to witness the ceremony. 194
Thus at the threshold of modern times, the entire character
of the Jewish wedding was changed. The wedding was now
characterized by a procession which led the bride and groom
into the synagogue instead of into the bridal chamber.
Synagogue and Courtyard . . . Originally the marriage cere-
mony was transferred to the synagogue. It was performed
within the edifice, and there the canopy was erected. In order
to secure better accommodations for a large company, some
people preferred to have the ceremony in the courtyard, in
front of the entrance to the synagogue. In the sixteenth cen-
tury, Jews in Poland were still divided on that subject. Some
were in favor of the synagogue, and others in favor of the
courtyard. Ultimately the courtyard became more popular
through a new symbolic interpretation of the chupo under
the open sky. A marriage ceremony performed in the open
air, under the shining stars, was a good omen that the progeny
of the couple would be as numerous as the stars in heaven. 105
In the course of time, performing the marriage ceremony at
the entrance of the courtyard of the synagogue became the
accepted practice, and when, in the nineteenth century, Re-
form Jews shifted the marriage ceremony back to the syna-
gogue, they were opposed by Orthodox Jewry. In America,
where synagogues seldom have spacious courtyards, Orthodox
Jews tacitly acquiesced in this innovation and even more
sweeping innovations. Often the marriage ceremony does not
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 165
take place even in a synagogue, but at the private residence of
the rabbi or at a hall where the dance and the feast are held.
The Knas Mahl ... In the same manner in which the ancient
chupo had been superseded by the canopy, the betrothal cere-
mony of the Middle Ages was superseded by a new kind of
engagement which the Jews in Germany called knas mahl.
Knas is a Hebrew-Talmudic word meaning penalty; mahl, a
German word meaning meal or feast. The German Jews com-
pounded a hybrid name for the engagement party, calling it
knas mahl, penalty meal; i.e., a feast at which the penalty to be
paid by the person who broke the engagement was stipulated.
At this feast all the conditions of the match were set down in
a written contract.
The knas mahl was provided by the groom and marked by
much feasting and merrymaking. As an outstanding feature
of the celebration a piece of crockery was dashed to the
ground and broken, as a reminder of the destruction of Jeru-
salem. It was customary for the guests to take the fragments
of the broken dish with them.
As in Biblical and Talmudic times between the betrothal
and the wedding, so also in the Middle Ages between the
knas mahl and the wedding, the groom was not supposed to
visit his bride, nor even to see her. The origin of this custom
had long been forgotten. The motive for it had been the pro-
motion of chastity. Occasionally, ordinances were issued by
rabbinical synods against laxity in this custom. We are unable
to tell how strictly these customs and ordinances were adhered
to in actual life. 196
Wedding Preliminaries . . . The favorite day for weddings
was Friday for a maiden, and Thursday for a widow. In some
small communities, Wednesday was the wedding day for girls
as in Talmudic times, because the out-of-town guests who
attended the wedding needed several days in which to travel
home before the Sabbath. In larger communities, accommoda-
l66 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
dons were provided for out-of-town guests, and they could
remain for the Sabbath. The larger communities had a com-
munal guest house, and a communal dance hall for weddings.
The wedding celebration began on Friday and lasted until
Sunday morning. By means of this arrangement the expense
of an extra celebration on the Sabbath following the wedding
was saved.
Only the actual wedding began on Friday. The prelimi-
naries began on the Sabbath preceding the wedding. As far
back as in the first centuries of the Common Era, this Sabbath
was marked by festivities (see p. 154). Among the German
Jews this celebration was called Spinhob, a medieval Ger-
man term, the meaning of which cannot be ascertained. The
usual explanation is that "Spinholz" refers to the distaff of the
spinner, an important article in the trousseau of every German
bride in the Middle Ages. We would then have to assume that
among the German Jews the Sabbath before the wedding was
the day when the bride received the spinner's distaff as a gift.
But this is merely a theory. In earlier times, the two preceding
Sabbaths were celebrated, the first called "Little Spinholz"
and the second "Great Spinholz." Later the "Little Spinholz"
was discarded and only the Sabbath immediately preceding
the wedding was marked by a celebration. 197
On the Thursday before the wedding the bride received
presents from the groom. These were not brought by the
groom, but by the rabbi or some other dignified member of
the community, who gave them to the bride in the name of
the groom. The presentation of the gifts was accompanied by
the following words: "Listen to me, pretty bride. Through me
your groom is sending you these presents, but you should re-
gard them as your property only after the chupo." As be-
trothal could legally be effected by proxy, this stipulation was
necessary in order that the presentation of the gift should not
constitute a legal betrothal the day before the wedding.
At that moment, the bashful bride, too shy to accept the
presents with her own hands, usually asked one of her female
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 167
relatives to receive them for her. The gifts consisted, as a rule,
of a girdle inlaid with gold, a veil, and similar articles. Usually,
the bride gave the groom a ring and shoes, to which the bride's
mother added a girdle inlaid with silver. Since clothing in the
Middle Ages was without buttons, the girdle was an indis-
pensable article and among persons of distinction it was made
of the costliest material, sometimes even wrought with gold
and adorned with gems.
At every wedding, music was provided by Jewish musicians
called klezmer or klezmorim. Klezmer is a distortion of the
two Hebrew words klei zemer meaning musical instruments.
In the course of time, klezmer became the name for those who
played the musical instruments. It was, and still is, used both
in the singular and in the plural. The special plural form,
klezmorim, was more frequently used. As Jewish law forbade
the playing of musical instruments on the Sabbath, it was cus-
tomary among the German Jews to engage Christian musicians
to play on the day after the marriage ceremony. Engaging a
non-Jew to work on Saturday was not considered a violation
of the Sabbath rest, for, although it was forbidden by the
rabbis as a minor transgression, it was permitted in cases of
emergency. Among the German Jews, instrumental music was
indispensable to the celebration of a wedding and to the ob-
servance of the religious precept the mitsvo of gladdening
the bridegroom and the bride. Therefore, German rabbis re-
laxed the rigidness of the Sabbath rest and permitted non-
Jewish musicians to be engaged for the Sabbath following the
wedding ceremony. In the Orient, however, conditions were
entirely different. The Oriental Jews did not consider instru-
mental music indispensable to the joy of a wedding. The rabbis
objected to and actually suppressed the practice of engaging
non-Jewish musicians on the Sabbath. The Jews of the Orient
satisfied themselves with vocal music on the Sabbath following
the wedding. 198
In the later Middle Ages, the professional jester and merry-
maker performed with the klezmorim. As far back as the thir-
l68 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
teenth and fourteenth centuries, the professional jester was
mentioned by his Hebrew name, letson (scoffer, jester). Later,
he was called marshalik (from a German word for a buffoon
or droll fellow at a feast), or badchon (a Hebrew-Yiddish
name for a public merrymaker and entertainer) . The badchon
was a folk-poet and a preacher, a jester and an exhorter, a
singer and an improvisator, as well as a rhymster and a learned
man. A badchon had to have learning because his jests and
witticisms were based upon and interwoven with verses from
the Bible and passages from the Talmud. Weddings were not
the only occasion on which the badchon entertained the pub-
lic, for he was employed also on other occasions. There were
some great rabbis who sternly frowned upon the unrestrained
drolleries of the badchon, believing them incompatible with
religious life. But the antagonism of these rabbis was of no
avail, and, until recent times, the popularity of the badchon
persisted in Eastern Europe.
In the midst of the tumultuous joy and of the hustle and
bustle of the wedding, many tricks were played upon the
groom and his friends by the practical jokers of the town.
The ordinary procedure was for the bridegroom to bribe the
wild lads not to play these pranks. In order to keep the sum
demanded by the mischief makers within limits, the rabbis de-
creed that it should not exceed six florin. 199
Cutting the Bride's Hair . . * Throughout the Middle Ages
and until very recent times, Jewish women cut off their hair
immediately before they were married, and thenceforward
always wore a covering on their heads.
In Biblical times, this custom did not prevail among Jews.
But at the beginning of the Common Era, Jewish married
women covered their hair when they went out into the streets.
It was considered unchaste for a married woman to go out
bareheaded, as did girls. Some extremely pious and chaste
women never showed their hair even within the four walls of
their homes. Later, under the influence of the Greco- Roman
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 169
world, this practice spread among the Jews and became the
universal rule among Jewish women. Among the Greeks and
the Romans, elderly women wore caps on their heads, and
some cut off their hair. Boys and girls too cut off theii hair
just before they were married, and offered their tresses as a
sacrifice to the gods. This Greco-Roman custom suited the
modest, chaste character of Jewish women, and was univer-
sally adopted by them as a rigid rule. 200
In the sixteenth century, the wig, for both men and women,
was introduced among the Christian peoples of Europe. Soon
the Jewish women, too, adopted the fashion of wearing a wig.
But the rabbis could not agree upon the propriety of this cus-
tom. Some of them protested against women wearing wigs
which resembled their own hair. Other more liberal rabbis
claimed that the rule did not apply, as long as the hair was
false. Notwithstanding their protests, the wig became popular
among Jewish women. Only the ultra-conservative women
rejected the innovation, clinging tenaciously to the hair-cap
or the kerchief on top of the head.
One or two generations ago in Eastern Europe, cutting off
the bride's hair was a feature of the wedding. But this custom
was discarded. At present, even among Orthodox Jews, mar-
ried women do not observe any more the custom of cutting off
their hair and wearing wigs.
The K'subo ... In the foregoing chapters we have followed
the origin of the k'subo, through its development in Talmudic
times. We shall now consider the k'subo in post-Talmudic
times.
The wording of the k'subo was not fixed, but varied in the
periods of Jewish history, not only in the various lands where
Jews lived, but also among the different sections and groups
into which Jews were divided.
For instance, the k'subo had been consistently written in
Aramaic, but there were even some exceptions to that. The
Samaritans and Karaites wrote it in Hebrew. The S'fardim
170 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
never recognized the validity of the ban of Rabbenu Gershom
against polygamy as strictly as did the Ashk'nazim. Even in
our own day, they insert a special clause in the k'subo, stating
that the future husband cannot marry a second wife without
the first wife's permission. The k'subo of the S'fardim also
contains a clause in which the future husband cannot sell or
give as a pledge any of his wife's possessions, nor can he make
a journey beyond certain specified limits, nor any voyage by
water unless, before starting out, he gives his wife a condi-
tional get (bill of divorcement) and sufficient means for her
sustenance.
There were other special clauses consistent with the time
and the place. In a recently discovered k'subo of the eleventh
century, the bridegroom, a Jew, pledged his bride, the daugh-
ter of a Karaite, that he would not compel her to have a light
in the house on Friday night, a practice which the laws of the
Karaites forbade. The bride, on the other hand, pledged ob-
servance of the festivals with him according to the calendar
of the Rabbanite Jews, without profaning her own Karaite
holidays. 201
Tithes of the Dowry . . . One additional custom of bygone
days should be mentioned, that of giving a tenth part of the
dowry to charity, which was an obligation that was enforced.
At the end of the eighteenth century, this laudable custom still
prevailed in some communities, but it has since been discon-
tinued. 202
A Wedding in Mayence ... In a previous chapter we wit-
nessed the ceremonials of a b'ris and a pidyon ha-ben in May-
ence in the fifteenth century. It was the famous rabbi of May-
ence, Maharil, who officiated as sandek at the b'ris and who
also conducted the ceremonial of the pidyon ha-ben (see pp.
41, 49) . We are going now to witness the ceremonial of a wed-
ding in Mayence at which this same great rabbi officiated.
The wedding we shall witness differs in many respects from
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 171
the well-known traditional Jewish wedding of later times. To
begin with, the marriage ceremony takes place in the early
morning, and is not performed in the courtyard of the syna-
gogue, but on the central platform in the interior of the build-
ing. Nor is the marriage ceremony performed under a canopy.
But instead of checking on all the differences, let us carefully
watch the entire procedure of the marriage ceremonial at
Mayence.
After the preliminaries on the preceding day, the actual
wedding celebration begins on Friday morning. At dawn,
when the beadle of the community, in his daily round from
house to house, knocks on the doors with his wooden mallet
to awaken the people for morning services, he invites them to
the wedding celebration. The entire community gathers to
witness the wedding and share in the joy of the occasion,
Maharil and a few notables of the community go to the
home of the bridegroom to bring him to the courtyard of
the synagogue. The bridegroom leads the way, followed by
Maharil and the notables. The musicians, playing their instru-
ments, and a large group of the townsfolk, carrying lighted
torches, follow. After the bridegroom is escorted into the
courtyard, the crowd and the musicians go to the home of
the bride to escort her and her retinue to the wedding. As soon
as the bride arrives at the entrance of the courtyard of the
synagogue, Maharil and the group of notables bring the bride-
groom forward to meet and greet her. He and his bride stand
with hands clasped, while the assembled guests toss grains of
wheat over their heads, three times pronouncing the Biblical
blessing, "Be fruitful and multiply!" Coins for the poor to
pick up are mixed with the grains of wheat. The couple then
walk together as far as the door of the synagogue where they
remain seated for a time. Then the bride is taken back to her
home, where she places a sargonas, a white shroud, over her
attire, and covers her face with a veil. The white shroud is a
reminder of the burial shroud, and serves the purpose of re-
straining the bride from being over-joyous. Instead of the
172 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
usual cloak, she places over the white shroud the wide mantle
with tight sleeves which married women wear on festive occa-
sions. The mantle has a fur lining and is lavishly embroidered
in silk. Meanwhile the bridegroom is led into a room in the
synagogue building where he dons Sabbath clothes over which
he throws a cowled cape, the cowl covering his head. This
hood is worn by both Jews and non-Jews on various solemn
occasions.
The bridegroom is now seated by the Holy Ark, in the
northeast side of the synagogue, and the congregation is chant-
ing the morning prayers, omitting the penitential prayer, for
this is a joyous occasion. While this is taking place in the syna-
gogue, the friends of the bride are busy with her at her home,
braiding her hair and presenting her with rings as gifts.
The morning services are over, and soon the marriage cere-
mony begins. The synagogue is crowded. All relatives and
friends of the bride and groom wear their Sabbath attire.
Maharil, who officiates at the wedding, wears his Sabbath
clothes; but his talis is the one which he wears on week-days.
Only at the wedding of his own daughter did he don his Sab-
bath talis.
Now to the strains of music the bride is conducted from her
home to the door of the synagogue. She pauses while Maharil
leads the bridegroom to the platform in the center of the syna-
gogue. There, lifting the cowl, Maharil strews ashes on the
head of the groom, in the place where the phylacteries are
laid. This is in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem. Then
Maharil, followed by the notables of the community, proceeds
to the door to receive the bride. The rabbi, taking her by her
robe, leads her to a place at the right of the groom because it
says in the Psalms, "At thy right hand doth stand the queen"
(Ps. 45: i o). The bridal pair stand with their faces turned to-
ward the south. Their mothers stand on the platform near the
bride. The corner of the bridegroom's cowl is stretched over
the head of the bride as a chupo. At the wedding of his own
daughter, Maharil took the end of her veil and threw it over
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 173
the couple as a chupo. Maharil claimed that using the veil as a
chupo was the older custom.
Two wine glasses are held in readiness, one for the benedic-
tion of the betrothal and the other for the benediction of the
wedding. The two glasses differ in shape, depending upon
whether the bride is a maiden or a widow. At the wedding of
a widow or a widower, the marriage ceremony takes place on
Thursday, not inside of the synagogue, but in the courtyard
at its entrance.
After Maharil chants the benediction of the betrothal, he
calls forward two witnesses, showing them the marriage ring
and asking: "You see this ring; do you think it has some
value?" They answer in the affirmative. He then bids the wit-
nesses to listen closely to see whether the bridegroom recites
the correct formula for betrothing the bride. The groom
places the ring on the forefinger of the right hand of the
bride. Maharil calls two additional witnesses to testify to the
k'subo and to the marriage stipulations drawn up at the knas
mahl. He does not read the k'subo and the stipulations pub-
licly, only assuring himself that the witnesses give it proper
attention.
Maharil, his face turned to the east, chants the wedding
benedictions. Then he holds the glass of wine, first to the lips
of the groom and then to those of the bride. After they have
each sipped the wine, he gives the glass to the bridegroom
who turns northward and then dashes the glass against the
wall, shattering it. Immediately, the bridegroom is rushed
home by his companions who hilariously escort him to the
house of the wedding, trying to arrive before the bride.
After arriving there, the married couple eat an egg and a
hen. In former times it was customary for them to eat in a
separate room with only one person, a female relative, in at-
tendance; and only after a while did the joyous relatives and
guests enter the room. Our historical record informs us that
this custom has been forgotten and that all immediately flock
into the room where the couple partake of their repast.
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
Maharil always insisted upon music at every wedding. On
Friday night following the wedding ceremony the bridal pair
did not go to the synagogue. Instead, the younger men gath-
ered at the home of the couple for the evening services.
On the following Sabbath morning, the services at the syna-
gogue had special features in honor of the bridegroom, as was
already previously described (p. i62). 203
A Wedding in Worms . . . The historical record of the wed-
ding in Mayence just given is limited in its scope. Intent on
describing religious ceremonies and ritual, the author gives
minute and tiresome details of the wedding ceremony only,
paying little attention to the joy and hilarity, the hustle and
bustle before and after the wedding ceremony. In this respect
we are fortunate to have a good complement in the historical
record, describing a wedding in the ghetto of Worms in the
seventeenth century. In the description which follows we have
a vivid picture of life in a German ghetto three hundred years
ago.
Worms is very near to Mayence. Yet, in many respects the
Jews of Worms differed in their customs from the Jews of
Mayence. They had age-old customs of their own and con-
sistently observed them.
In Worms, even as late as the seventeenth century, the mar-
riage ceremony, performed by the rabbi of the community,
did not take place in the synagogue, but in the communal
dancing house. A wedding was not merely a family affair.
The whole town was astir with it. The day for weddings was
Wednesday. It was only in unusual cases that a wedding was
performed on Friday.
The wedding festivities covered a period of ten days, be-
ginning a week before, and ending three days after the wed-
ding day. During these joyous days many festive meals were
served by the bride and the groom, and the communal dancing
hall resounded with music, dancing, and singing. A favorite
song was Yigdal, the hymn of the morning services which
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 175
elaborates poetically in thirteen verses the thirteen articles of
the Jewish faith laid down by Maimonides.
There were many wedding festivities but few clocks in
those days. Besides, what clocks there were, were very in-
accurate and unreliable. So someone had to announce to the
people that the time had arrived for this or that ceremony or
festivity. This task fell to the beadle of the synagogue.
A week before the wedding, the bride invited all her friends
for a meal. "Soup-meal," it was called. From that day on until
the wedding the bride did not leave the house.
The Sabbath preceding the wedding, called Spinholz by the
German Jews (see p. 166), was a great day in Worms. On the
Friday night preceding that Sabbath, the bridegroom in his
best clothes attended the evening services in the synagogue,
where special honor was paid to him. The chazan sang certain
liturgical poems with a special tune called "Spinholz melody."
After the evening meal, the beadle strode through the streets
of the ghetto, calling aloud, "Zu der Spinholz! " (to the Spin-
holz celebration), and relatives and friends soon gathered, first
in the house of the groom and afterward in the house of the
bride. The next morning, the bridegroom was again the hero
of the day at the services in the synagogue and the friends of
the bride and groom again gathered in their respective houses
for refreshments. After the midday meal, the beadle again
went through the streets calling, "Zu der Spinholz!" The
bride and the groom, in separate processions, were then led
to the dancing house where the afternoon hours were spent
in dancing, singing and merrymaking. But soon the hour of
Mincho arrived and all left the dancing hall, the bridegroom
going to the synagogue to attend the afternoon services. After
Mincho, the voice of the beadle was again heard in the streets
calling, "Zu der Spinholz!" But now only boys and girls went
back to the dance house.
On the following Monday a special meal was served for
relatives only. On Tuesday, the bride and groom each sepa-
rately invited their friends to a dairy dinner. The eve of the
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
wedding was dedicated to the delivery by the rabbi of the
mutual gifts of the bride and the groom to one another, a
ceremony already described (see p. 1 66) . The gifts were called
by the Talmudic term sivlonos, and the festive meal served on
this evening "sivlonos meal"
On Wednesday, early in the morning, after unlocking the
doors of the synagogue and the dancing house, the beadle
unlike the beadle of Mayence who called the people to the
wedding when he knocked on the doors with his wooden
mallet to awaken them for morning services walked through
the streets, calling loudly, "Zu der Maien!" (to the wedding
celebration) . A large throng, led by musicians and torch bear-
ers, escorted the bridegroom to the dancing house. The bride
followed, to be met and greeted there by the bridegroom and
his entourage. The main feature of this ceremony on the morn-
ing of the wedding was the throwing of grains of wheat over
the bride and groom and the calling out of the blessing, "Be
fruitful and multiply!" In Mayence it was performed in the
courtyard of the synagogue; in Worms in the dance house.
From the dance house the bridegroom was escorted to the
synagogue for the morning services. In an earlier chapter it
was related that the synagogue of Worms was provided with
a special door to carry in the child for the b'ris. It also had a
special small side entrance for a bridegroom. But the latter was
often saved the trouble of walking in. He was pushed in by
the mischievous lads of the town. In the synagogue a special
honorary place was reserved for him. On the book-rest in
front of him twelve braided candles were kindled.
After the services the crowd went back to the dance house.
For dinner the young men were invited to the bridegroom's
house and the girls to the house of the bride. After dinner both
fathers went to the rabbi for the payment of the dowry. It was
a precaution in case of any conflict between the two parties.
The dowry was then sealed and deposited with the rabbi.
Then the beadle again strode through the streets, calling
aloud: "Di kalo flechten gehen!" (going to braid the bride's
IK THE MIDDLE AGES 177
hair), and the notable women of the community, led by the
rabbi's wife, thereupon went to the home of the bride. While
the women braided her hair she held a large bowl in her lap
into which relatives and friends threw gifts: silver rings,
spoons, veils and also coins. These presents were called "Ein-
wurf " (throwing in) .
Now, again the loud voice of the beadle was heard in the
streets calling, "Zu der b'rocho!" (to the benediction of the
wedding). A large crowd gathered at the dance hall where
the ceremony was to be performed. The chupo still consisted
of a corner of the bridegroom's cowl which the rabbi pulled
over the head of the bride, as in Mayence in the time of
Maharil.
The high point of the wedding feast was the drosho, the
discourse on Torah, delivered by the bridegroom. Jewish
learning was apparently wide-spread in Worms in the seven-
teenth century, as every groom was expected to deliver a
drosho at his wedding. Before the drosho, a collection was
made, the proceeds of which were given to the bridegroom to
distribute among the poor. After the drosho, gifts were given
to the bridegroom, usually rings. Then grace was recited and
again there was dancing and singing. The bride and groom,
exhausted with fasting and excitement, wanted to leave the
wedding company. But they had to redeem themselves with
"sugar" (sweet candy). It was only after they had distributed
the candy that they were escorted home, to the music of Yig-
dal.
But the wedding festivities were not yet over. The next
day, Thursday evening, a festive meal was served for the rela-
tives. On Friday evening a festive meal was served for the
entire community. The next morning great honor was paid to
the bridegroom at the services in the synagogue as has already
previously been described (see p. 162). On this Sabbath fol-
lowing the wedding, it was customary in Worms to send wine
or brandy as a present to the bride and groom. On the de-
parture of the Sabbath the newly married man himself had to
178 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
recite the benediction of havdolo (the prayer over wine, mark-
ing the distinction of the sacred day of the Sabbath from the
profane days of the week). He then served a meal of fish.
From the meal the gathering proceeded again to the dance
house to dance and sing. With this the wedding festivities
were officially ended. 20 *
In Modern Times
Getting Married in an East European Community . . . We
shall now leave the German-Jewish communities of the later
Middle Ages. Proceeding swiftly through the latter centuries
of Jewish history to the last decades of the nineteenth cen-
tury, we visit a Jewish community in Eastern Europe.
The Age of Marriage . . . Old folks often tell quaint stories
about bygone years when boys and girls still in their child-
hood were married. Married couples, so the story went, played
in the sand and indulged in childish games. In those days simul-
taneous celebration of the bar mitsvo and the wedding was
regarded as meritorious.
All that is a thing of the past. During the period which we
now describe, a girl was at least fifteen or sixteen years old,
and a boy seventeen or eighteen when they married. A girl
who was still unmarried at the age of twenty-five was con-
sidered an old maid. Very few men or women remained single.
For the poor and unattractive girl, no longer young, some eld-
erly, pious women could always be found, who considered it
their sacred duty to collect a fund for her dowry. Sooner or
later they married her off to some ne'er-do-well or to an eld-
erly widower who could not afford a younger or more beauti-
ful wife. As long as she was married to someone, all was well.
The Shadchon . . . Falling in love was considered an extraor-
dinary and abnormal phenomenon, a sort of mental disease
occurring once in a great while among the very wealthy or
the very poor the only groups who dared to flout the con-
179
l8o COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
ventions of social decency. As a rule, matches were arranged
by parents with the tacit consent of the children. The shad-
chon, therefore, was still an important figure in effecting a
marriage. Sometimes a relative or friend of the family of the
boy or the girl acted as the go-between. For the most part, the
intermediary was a professional shadchon, paid for his en-
deavors.
There were very few matchmakers exclusively employed
in arranging marriages. Usually the shadchon had some addi-
tional vocation. A rabbi rarely occupied himself with match-
making, but a m'lamed sometimes practiced it as a sort of
side-line. Often the shadchon held some office in the syna-
gogue. He may have been the sexton, the precentor, the reader
from the Scroll of the Torah, etc. Now and then a woman was
the go-between in arranging a match, although there were no
women among the professional matchmakers.
Matchmaking required a special aptitude. A professional
shadchon had to have an air of importance and dignity in
order to arouse confidence. He usually wore good clothes and
carried a cane. He led up to the subject very cautiously and
made every proposal in a tortuous and indirect manner. He
was skilled in hiding and distorting facts, especially when the
bride and groom were from two different localities. His most
arduous task was to forestall slander by malicious foes of the
family of the bride or the groom. A match could easily be
ruined, and the shadchon was on guard from the very outset.
"Even a cat can spoil a match," is a Yiddish saying.
Sometimes two matchmakers arranged one match one for
the family of the lad, and the other for the family of the girl.
Each tried to outwit the other; both would exaggerate the
qualities of the young people to their future in-laws. Occa-
sionally, there was a whole group of shadchonirn who tried to
arrange one match, particularly where a large dowry was in-
volved. Everyone who in any way helped effect the match
pretended to be a co-matchmaker in order to claim a share of
the reward accruing to the shadchon.
IN MODERN TIMES l8l
The amount of the dowry which the girl's parents expected
to give their prospective son-in-law was one of the main points
in negotiating a match. Next in importance was the kest, the
pension which the girl's parents often obligated themselves to
give to the couple after their marriage. When the groom was
a good student of the Talmud, this was given for periods as
long as one to ten, and sometimes even twenty-five years.
There were even cases, though very rare ones, where a particu-
larly brilliant student was given "eibige kest," a life pension.
However, the dowry and the pension were not of paramount
importance. As in Talmudic and medieval times, it was the
pedigree, the social rank of the respective bride and groom
that counted most. The age-old Jewish love and respect for
learning still asserted itself. Families and descendants of famous
rabbis were of the highest social rank. The very greatest dis-
credit to a family was to have among its members, no matter
how remote, an apostate from the Jewish faith. When a mem-
ber of an impoverished family of high social rank was forced
to take a mate from a family of low social standing, it was
considered a great personal tragedy.
Parents of a grown-up son, distinguished in the y'shivo, the
Talmudic academy, were besieged by matchmakers. Parents
of such a son refused even to bargain. They would not con-
sider the girl unless her parents promised a dowry of a thou-
sand kerblech (Yiddish slang for rubles) and ten years' pen-
sion. The physical attributes of the bochur (youth, lad)
evoked small consideration as long as he was a distinguished
student of the Talmud. Nor was the physical appearance of
the girl of great importance. The young lad had never looked
closely at young women and no matter what the girl's appear-
ance, she was a graceful and charming bride for him. Her
moral qualities were what really counted. Ordinarily her edu-
cation consisted of being able to read the siddur (Hebrew
prayer book), to write a letter in Yiddish, and to calculate
according to the fundamentals of arithmetic. It was also re-
garded as advantageous if she could speak the language of the
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
country, for if her groom was a student of the y'shivo, she
would have to conduct some business in order to provide for
the family, while he spent most of his time in the beis ha-
midrosh (the house of study).
If the bride and groom were from different localities, they
were put to a test. The girl's father would send a Talmudic
scholar to test the Talmudic knowledge of the bochur. The
examiner had ready a number of difficult and intricate pas-
sages in the Talmud which tested the versatility and the
casuistic acumen of the bochur. On the other hand, the girl
was tested for patience and skill by the women of the groom's
family. She was given a tangled skein of thread which she was
expected to unravel, or told to prepare a large sheet of dough
and to cut it patiently into fine, thin noodles.
The negotiations were often protracted for a long time.
There was a great deal of haggling, a long series of making
up and changing of minds. More than once the negotiations
were on the verge of being broken off altogether, and the
shadchon had to exert all his tact in order to save the situation.
Tno-lm ... At last the negotiations were brought to a con-
clusion and the date set for celebrating the knas mahl^ also
called t'no-im (conditions) because of its main feature, the
setting down in writing of all the agreed stipulations.
T'no-im was usually celebrated on a Sabbath night, or dur-
ing the week-days on a semi-holiday, as Lag Bo-omer or one
of the two Chamisho Osors. Only the close relatives were in-
vited. Since it was not marked by any religious ceremonial,
the presence of the rabbi was unnecessary. The precentor, or
sexton of the synagogue wrote the t'no-im in medieval, cor-
rupt Hebrew. The written agreement was corroborated and
made more binding by the ceremony of symbolic affirmation.
This ceremony was performed by one who, for a moment,
held a kerchief jointly with the two parties of the contract. 205
The precentor read the t'no-im aloud in the presence of all the
guests, and when he had finished, the shadchon jumped up,
IN MODERN TIMES 183
shouting, "Mazol Tov!" and dashed a piece of crockery to the
ground. At that moment all the guests threw on the floor
plates, platters and bowls which they had brought from their
homes. Ordinarily, every woman brought some broken earth-
enware dish with her. Now and then a more pretentious aunt
or cousin, in order to demonstrate her importance in the fam-
ily, brought to the t'no-im a large new platter or bowl. The
loud crash of the shattered dishes filled the air, and the mass
of shattered fragments covered the entire floor. This custom
was regarded as a reminder of the destruction of Jerusalem.
Within a short while the shattered crockery was removed
from the room, and delicious foods and drinks were served.
After the feast, the bride and groom received their first gifts
from each other. The bride received a ring, and the groom a
watch and chain.
One of the stipulations of the t'no-im was the amount of
money to be paid as a penalty by the party who broke the
engagement. Sometimes the stipulated amount was half of the
dowry. However, it was regarded as a misdemeanor to break
the t'no-im.
If the prospective bride and groom were from different lo-
calities, one traveled to see the other on a visit for the holidays.
They also wrote letters to one another. These letters were dis-
tinctive in character, consisting of high-sounding, stereotyped
phrases. In most cases, the betrothed couple did not write
their own letters, but delegated the task to a man in the town
who had a beautiful handwriting and the ability to use pom-
pous language. He used the same phraseology and the identical
expressions in most of the letters which he wrote for betrothed
couples, and he did it either as a favor, or for remuneration.
If the pair lived in the same town, they paid one another
official and infrequent visits.
Preliminaries to the Wedding . . . Sometimes after the t'no-im,
the date was set for the wedding and the dowry was deposited
with the rabbi or one of the leading members of the com-
184 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
munity. A last attempt was made at bargaining for a lesser
sum than the dowry originally agreed upon. If the groom lived
in another town, both the father and the mother of the bride
traveled there to deposit the dowry.
Friday was the wedding day for a maiden; Tuesday or
Thursday for a widow or divorcee. Weddings occasionally
took place on Sunday, too, but never on Monday or Wednes-
day, which were regarded as unlucky days.
The favorite Fridays for weddings were the Friday follow-
ing Tisho B'Ov and preceding Sabbath Nachamu, the one
following Shovuos, and the one between Yom Kippur and
Sukos.
Sometimes, when the bride and groom were from different
towns, the wedding was performed in a roadside inn some-
where between the two towns. Such a wedding was naturally
less pretentious, and took place on Tuesday or Thursday in
order that the guests who attended might be able to return
home for the Sabbath. In most cases the bridegroom and his
entourage traveled in large wagons to the town of the bride,
to remain there from Friday until Sunday, housed by the
bride's family.
As soon as the date was set for the wedding, both families,
particularly the family of the bride, prepared for the great
occasion. The bride's parents arranged the wedding and bore
all costs. The bride herself was the busiest person, occupied
with the preparation of her trousseau, particularly with her
chupo dress. If her parents were rich, the dressmaker came to
her house to work on her dresses; otherwise she went to the
dressmaker's.
The celebration on the Sabbath before the wedding was
called Aufruf (calling up), because its main feature was the
calling up of the bridegroom at the synagogue to Twrf tir (the
reading of a portion of the Prophets at the conclusion of
the reading from the Torah). The chazan or sexton called
up the bridegroom to the bimo with a louder and more sono-
rous voice than he used in calling up the others. As soon as the
IN MODERN TIMES 185
bridegroom ascended the bimo, a shower of raisins, almonds
and nuts descended upon his head from the women's section
in the synagogue. The children, with noisy joy, rushed for the
fruits. After the services, a crowd of relatives and friends ac-
companied the bridegroom to his home "where they were
served with cake, brandy, and various delicacies.
The preparations reached their highest point in the last few
days before the wedding. There was a constant hustle and
bustle, and continuous cooking and baking at the home of the
bride. Every family in the community invited to the wedding
sent a lekach (plain cake) or a tort (a rich cake) to the bride
or the groom. But these cakes were not sufficient, and were
supplemented by the many lekachs and torts that were being
baked at home. Other confections to be served required pro-
fessional skill and so a cook was engaged to prepare them. In
addition, the family hired a sarver (waiter) who served the
foods and drinks and acted as general handyman. Both re-
ceived a stipulated sum from the bride's parents and additional
tips from close relatives.
Well-to-do families arranged a feast for the paupers of the
community a day or two before the wedding. On this occa-
sion, the poor folks were served with a meal abounding in
fish, meat, beer, and in some instances, even mead and wine.
The bride and groom were seated at the head of the table
with the paupers who were waited on by the parents and some
of the distinguished relatives of the bride and groom. After
the meal, the bride and groom danced with the poor folk, and
distributed coins among them.
On Thursday, the wedding atmosphere pervaded in every
nook and cranny of the house. Even the air was saturated with
the pleasant odors of freshly prepared foods and sweetmeats.
The door of the house kept opening every few moments to
receive a cake sent by some relative or friend. A child or a
poor woman carried the cake to the celebrants. The child
received a piece of cake and the poor woman a coin. The same
poor woman ran many errands bringing cake after cake, and
l86 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
each time she was given a coin by the bride or her mother,
who took the cake from her. The same message was sent every
time a cake was delivered, "Tell your father and mother," or
"Tell So-and-so not to be late for the wedding."
The relatives and friends of the bridegroom sent their wed-
ding cakes to his home, although the wedding was held in the
home of the bride.
On Thursday evening there was a quiet celebration at the
home of the bride, for on that evening the bride was led to
the ritual pool. Only girls were invited, friends of the bride
and the girls from the bridegroom's family. They came to bid
farewell to the bride on her passing from the unmarried to the
married state. The celebration was merely a preliminary to
the wedding, and the bride wore some of her festive clothes.
Sweetmeats were served and the girls danced. They knew that
they must depart early in order that the bride might go on her
way to the pool.
One or two generations previously, the bride had been led
to the ritual pool accompanied by klezmorim. In the period
which we now describe, the procedure was more private. The
bride's only escort to the bath-house were the two mothers
and the bath-house attendant. A man was engaged to stay in
wait near the bath-house so that he should be the first to meet
her eyes on her way home. If she cast her first glance on an
unclean animal, a dog or a cat, she had to return to reimmerse
herself in the pool.
The Klezmorim and the Badchon . . . Klezmorim were the
indispensable concomitant of a wedding, particularly the wed-
ding of a maiden. "A wedding without klezmorim" is an ex-
pression in Yiddish, characterizing any social arrangement
devoid of color and beauty. The minimum number of musi-
cians in a band of klezmorim was three: one played a fiddle,
one bass, and a third, usually a young chap, accompanied the
two, beating on a small drum with two little sticks. Barring
exceptional cases, the klezmer was an amateur musician, with
IN MODERN TIMES 187
very little theoretical knowledge of music. He had only a very
limited repertoire of tunes which he always played by ear, as
he was unable to read musical notes.
There was neither room nor need for music in the ordinary,
dull life of the people. Barring weddings, there were only two
other occasions on which klezmorim were employed: on the
very rare occasions when a Sefer Torah was donated to the
synagogue or when the Talmud Study Circle celebrated the
"Grand Completion" of the entire Babylonian Talmud which
occurred once in about seven years. The long intervals of idle-
ness between festivities made it necessary for the klezmorim
to engage in some other trade. A band of klezmorim could be
found only here and there in some of the larger towns, from
which they occasionally traveled to the smaller communities
when they were engaged to play at a wedding. They received
a stipulated sum sometimes augmented by tips from the guests.
At this period the badchon was not as indispensable as the
klezmorim. However, the role he played was still an impor-
tant and integral part of the wedding celebration, particularly
in Poland and the Ukraine. He, too, had to be imported from
a large town. In wealthy families two badchonim were en-
gaged as entertainers at a wedding. The badchon had a double
task: to evoke laughter from the guests and tears from the
bride and groom.
The "Unterfuerers" . . . Two married couples, one for the
bride and one for the groom, were honored by being selected
in advance as the "unterfuerers," a new name for an old in-
stitution. In the Biblical story of Samson, mention is made of
the groom's best friend. In Talmudic times we also hear of the
best friend or two best friends, one for the bride and one for
the bridegroom. At the period with which we are now occu-
pied, these particular people were privileged to lead the bridal
pair to the chupo. They were always four in number, two
couples who had been married only once, If the bridegroom
had brothers and sisters who were married for the first time,
l88 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
they had precedence over all others. If there were no brothers
or sisters eligible for this privilege, other relatives were ap-
pointed. The unterfuerers were expected to give more costly-
wedding gifts than any of the other guests. They also had to
pay for the honor with enormous tips to the cook and the
sarver, and especially to the klezmorim and the badchon.
The Wedding . . . Before noon on Friday, the whole town
is astir. "There is a wedding today, a wedding today!" Young
and old, aware of the great occasion, look forward to it with
keen interest and inner joy.
About nine or ten o'clock, the klezmorim start on their
round to the houses of the close relatives and friends of the
bride and groom. If a badchon has been engaged, he goes with
the klezmorim, A list with the names of the wedding guests
to be visited is handed to them. A few lads join them in the
street, for curiosity's sake, showing them the way to each
house. After they have played, a silver coin is given to them,
and they depart for the house of another relative. Now and
then one of the relatives is accidentally omitted from the list.
A few hours later the rumor has spread that Uncle So-and-so
and Auntie So-and-so are terribly offended because the klez-
morim have not been sent to their home, and that they are not
coming to the wedding. Immediately the bride's or bride-
groom's parents, depending upon which side the offended rela-
tives belong, depart on an appeasement mission and finally con-
vince the uncle and the aunt that the omission is all the fault
of the klezmorim. Who, they plead, can rely upon people who
drink whisky before reciting the morning prayers, and who
stare at strange women at weddings?
Now it is noon, and the bridegroom is from another town.
A number of relatives and close friends of the bride ride to
meet him and his entourage. This ride to meet the bridegroom
is an important feature of the wedding and is carried out with
much commotion and spectacular splendor. The best available
coaches with bells attached to the splendid harness of each
IN MODERN TIMES 189
horse are hired or borrowed for the parade. The participants
are already dressed for the wedding. Usually, the coaches de-
part with great speed to meet the wagons of the bridegroom
and his entourage on the outskirts of the town. Hilariously the
two parties meet, greeting each other with exclamations of
"Mazol Tov!" After partaking of cake and brandy, the bride's
party, with the bridegroom now in its midst, hurry back to
the town with the wagons of the bridegroom's entourage lag-
ging a little behind. The coaches roll quickly through the
town, the horses gallop, the jingling bells reverberate and the
occupants of the coaches, all in their best attire, beam with joy.
Immediately, the news spreads from house to house and from
street to street, "The bridegroom is coming! The bridegroom
is coming!" Almost the entire populace, men and women,
old people and children, rush to the street, to the windows,
to the doors, and to the open porches to watch the procession
of the bridegroom and the wedding guests. The coaches stop
at the house where the bridegroom is lodged for the period of
the wedding celebration.
Most of the houses were small and unfit for a wedding cele-
bration. There were only a few with sufficient space to ac-
commodate a large gathering. The owners of these houses,
usually as an act of kindness, accommodated the rest of the
people, for it was regarded as an act of great religious merit to
contribute to the joy of the bridegroom and the bride. Two
such spacious homes were needed, because the celebration
before the chupo, and the festivity and dance on Saturday
night were engaged in separately by the men and women.
Often the two homes in which these parties were held were
located at opposite ends of the town.
Let us watch the changing scene, first catching a glimpse of
the bridegroom and the male guests in the house where they
are lodged.
The bridegroom in his best attire and with serious face is
seated at the head of a table, surrounded by the guests, with
the rabbi of the community, who officiates at all marriage cere-
190 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
monies, in a place of honor. On the table, covered with a fine
tablecloth, are placed bottles of brandy and wine, platters of
cakes and abundant cigarettes, which the bridegroom offers
liberally to everyone. There is little solemnity, as this party is
just a kabolas ponim (a reception) for the bridegroom. Even
people who are not invited to the wedding drop in for a little
while at the kabolas ponim to greet the bridegroom with
"Mazol Tov!" and to partake of the cake and the brandy.
Let us now leave the bridegroom and his party and betake
ourselves to the bride around whom an elaborate ceremonial
centers in these solemn hours before the chupo.
About noontime the girl friends of the bride come to her
home to help her dress for the wedding. After a while the girls
are joined by the married women, and all accompany the
bride to the house where she will be lodged for the period of
the celebration.
The first ceremony performed here is called bazetsens (seat-
ing the bride). One or two generations before the time of
which we write it was customary to seat the bride in the cen-
ter of the room on a kneading bowl stuff ed with pillows. This
custom was later discarded. The bride of whom we speak is
seated on a chair, covered with a white sheet and decorated
with flowers, particularly with myrtle. On her head over the
veil which hangs almost to the floor the bride wears a garland
of myrtle. The richer and more aristocratic the bride, the
longer the veil which she wears. On each side of the chair
stands a row of girls, each holding a candle in one hand and a
handful of raisins or hops in the other. A generation previ-
ously, the hair of the bride was shorn at the ceremony of ba-
zetsens, but as previously mentioned, this custom was dis-
carded. Married women did not crop their hair but they wore
wigs covering and matching the color of their own hair.
The seating of the bride is accompanied by the music of the
klezmorim who play melancholy tunes which stir the hearts of
the women. The klezmorim are followed by the badchon who,
in grotesque rhymes and a peculiar singsong, exhorts the bride,
IN MODERN TIMES
reminding her of the solemnity of this day which, for her, is
similar to Yom Kippur. He then turns abruptly to the humor-
ous and ludicrous, concluding with burlesque. When he ends,
the klezmorim immediately begin to play a gay tune, while the
women with tears still on their cheeks, dance about in jovial
mood. All are merry now except the bride who, sitting on the
bridal chair in the center of the room, weeps copiously on this
day of her destiny.
The next ceremony after bazetsens is badekens (covering
the bride's face) . A group of women of the bride's party, pre-
ceded by the klezmorim and the badchon now pay a visit to
the bridegroom, inviting him to badekens. The women are
treated to delicacies, the klezmorim play a tune, the badchon
exhorts the bridegroom, and then all return to the bride, pre-
ceded by the klezmorim and the badchon.
In the street, children call loudly, "Here comes the bride-
groom, here comes the bridegroom!" and the rows of maidens
beside the bride's chair immediately light their candles.
The bridegroom, escorted by his father and the rabbi, walks
between the two rows of girls holding the lighted candles until
he approaches the bride's chair. The two mothers stand in
front of the chair holding a plate of raisins or hops covered
with a silk kerchief. The rabbi and the bridegroom seize the
kerchief by two corners, lift it hastily, and cover the bride's
face. At this moment a mass of raisins and hops is showered
upon both bride and groom.
Then the bridegroom and all the males return to the house
where they are lodged. Only the klezmorim and the badchon
remain for the third ceremony, called "mazol-tov-dance" or
"kosher dance." The badchon calls aloud the name of each
woman present, who then embraces the bride and completes a
circle with her. The wedding guests are amused by this dance,
but it is a great strain on the bride. Weakened by fasting the
entire day, she grows dizzy with the continuous whirling to
which she is subjected.
If the bride is an orphan, the chazan now recites the prayer
192 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
for the dead, "Merciful God, etc.," chanting it in the accepted
mournful tone. The klezmorim after each sentence reply an-
tiphonally in the same tone, accompanied by floods of tears
and the loud sobbing of the women, especially the bride.
The klezmorim then depart for the house in which the
bridegroom is lodged. If the bridegroom is an orphan, the
above ceremony is repeated except for the sobs and tears.
The pre-chupo ceremonies are now completed, and in the
two separate houses, the bride and bridegroom prepare them-
selves for the high and solemn moment of their lives. Both fast
and recite mincho (afternoon prayers) with the addition of
the long confession of the Yom Kippur prayers. The bride-
groom, for the first time in his life, wears the talis which he
has received as a gift from the bride. He also wears a kittel, a
white robe, under the talis. In some regions before the chupo,
it was customary to untie all knots in the garments of the
groom and the bride so that no one could "bewitch" them by
means of the knots.
Meanwhile the sexton of the synagogue places the portable
canopy close to the entrance of the courtyard of the syna-
gogue. The canopy, a piece of communal property, always
stands folded in the anteroom of the synagogue. As soon as the
sexton takes it out into the courtyard, a number of lads are on
hand to hold the four poles. As there are more lads available
than the chupo has poles, two or three of them hold each one
of the poles.
Leading the Couple to the Chupo . . . Every person who can
spare a little time in the late Friday afternoon now rushes to
the courtyard of the synagogue as if by appointment. The
entire courtyard, particularly around the entrance to the syna-
gogue, is soon crowded with people.
Soft, sad music is heard in the distance. Soon the procession
of the bridegroom and his entourage becomes visible, emerging
from one of the side streets which leads to the synagogue.
Preceded by the klezmorim, the bridegroom is led to the chupo
IN MODERN TIMES 193
by his unterfuerers and his parents, followed by the male
guests at the wedding. The solemn procession moves slowly.
As the bridegroom approaches the chupo, the chazan or sexton
calls loudly, "Boruch habo!" (blessed be he who comes). The
bridegroom is then led under the canopy, and the klezmorim
depart in haste to bring the bride's party.
Meanwhile the bridegroom, dressed in his best attire, stands
motionless under the chupo, shy and awkward, exposed to the
piercing gaze of the large crowd. The mischief makers of the
town seize this opportunity to play all sorts of tricks on the
bridegroom and the wedding guests. In winter, they throw
hard snowballs, and in summer they toss burrs which cling to
the clothes and even to the hair of the wedding guests.
However, this interval until the arrival of the bride's pro-
cession does not last long. Soon melancholy strains of music
again fill the air, and the more imposing procession of the bride
and her entourage enter the courtyard of the synagogue, pre-
ceded by the klezmorim, whose music accentuates the stern
solemnity of the moment. There is a hushed silence about this
procession, too. As the bride approaches the chupo, the sexton
calls loudly, "Hachnosas kalo! " (induction of the bride) and
the chazan chants a short greeting to the bridal pair, beginning
with "Mi adir al ha-kol" (Who is mighty over all?). The par-
ents and the unterfuerers, followed by a few of the close rela-
tives, carrying candles, now lead the bride seven times around
the groom. A restrained silence prevails. The rabbi then
chants the benediction of the betrothal over a glass of wine,
passing the wine first to the groom and then to the bride. The
rabbi lifts the veil from the bride's face for a moment to allow
the groom a glimpse of the bride before betrothing her, a
vestige of earlier days when the groom never saw the bride
until after the chupo. The Talmud declares that a man must
not marry a woman unless he has seen her. So this custom was
introduced to afford the groom an opportunity to see his bride.
The bridegroom immediately betroths the bride by placing a
ring upon the index finger of her right hand, reciting slowly,
194 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
word for word, the ancient formula of betrothal. This is fol-
lowed by the ceremony of breaking a glass. The rabbi hands
the bridegroom the glass over which the benediction of be-
trothal is recited, or sometimes a very thin glass brought for
this purpose, which the bridegroom dashes to the ground. If it
does not break, he tramples upon it with the heel of his shoe.
If the glass still remains unbroken, some of the wedding guests
come to the assistance of the bridegroom. Some exclaim
"Mazol Tov!" when the crash of the glass is heard, but in a
quiet manner, because it is in the midst of the marriage cere-
mony. The rabbi reads the k'subo in its old Aramaic version
and, in addition, performs the ceremony of corroborating the
marriage contract by holding a kerchief jointly for a moment
with the bridegroom (see p. 182). Then he chants the wed-
ding benedictions over the second glass of wine, passing the
wine first to the bridegroom and then to the bride.
At this moment, the whole atmosphere abruptly changes as
if a blanket of gloom and fear had been lifted. The silence is
broken by loud cries of "Mazol Tov" on all sides. The bride
uncovers her face, the klezmorim strike up their liveliest and
gayest tune, and lead the procession, which now moves quickly
back to the bride's home. All are merry and hilarious. The two
mothers, behind the klezmorim, sway and dance and clap their
hands. The dancing mothers are followed by the bridal pair
walking side by side. The two separate parries mingle in one
happy crowd. Approaching the home of the bride, the mother
or some other close relative comes out to meet the couple
with a large, white, braided loaf lifted high in her arms.
Turning and swaying in a dance, she hoists the loaf higher
and higher, joyously shouting repeatedly, "Mazol Tov!" The
bride's entourage sees to it that the bride crosses the threshold
of the house before the bridegroom, believing this to be an
omen of her mastery over him.
After the Chupo . . . The bridal pair who sit alone at a table
now break their fast with a light repast.
IN MODERN TIMES 195
As in Mayence in the time of Maharil, on this Friday eve-
ning the bridegroom does not go to the synagogue. The male
guests gather around the bridegroom at the bride's home, re-
cite the Friday evening services with a religious quorum of
ten, the "minyon." After the services, the sarver serves the
"chupo supper" on two separate tables, one for men and one
for women, the bridegroom eating with the men and the bride
with the women. A conspicuous feature of the meal is the
soup eaten by the bridal pair called "The Golden Soup."
The hilarity and excitement of the wedding are entirely sus-
pended during the Sabbath. There is no music nor dancing
until nightfall. The only ceremony which marks the Sabbath
following the wedding is connected with the morning services
at the synagogue. In the Middle Ages the bridegroom was led
in a solemn procession to the synagogue on Sabbath morning;
now, the bride enjoys this honor. The bridegroom quietly goes
to the synagogue early in the morning escorted only by both
fathers and both male unterfuerers. The bride is led to the
synagogue a little later, at the time of the reading from the
Torah. The reading lasts a long time because almost every one
of the male wedding guests is called up to the Torah. The
portion of the Pentateuch read on the Sabbath is not divided
into seven sections, as on all ordinary Sabbaths, but into very
small passages, each one consisting of not less than three verses.
There is ample time during the reading to allow for the cere-
mony of leading the newly married woman to the synagogue.
As soon as the reading from the Torah begins in the men's
section, the bride's mother in the women's section calls loudly,
"Who is going to lead the newly married woman into the
synagogue?" Almost all the women present answer the call
One of them, the rebitsin (the rabbi's wife), is obliged to go.
At the home of the bride, the women usually partake of re-
freshments set out on a table. In a quiet procession the bride
is then led to the synagogue where she is seated by the side of
the rebitsin. She sits silent during the services, reciting no
prayers. The motive of this custom is not to shame an illiterate
196 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
bride. When the bridegroom is called up to the Torah, all the
women approach the bride and greet her with "Mazol Tov!"
After the services most of the men go from the synagogue to
the home of the bride for b'rocho (the Kiddush recited before
the morning meal) . A grear number of men who did not at-
tend the wedding celebration proper go to the b'rocho. Again
a table is set with refreshments this time for the men.
At the end of each of the Sabbath meals, beans or peas,
cooked and salted, are served. After the meals, Grace is re-
cited with special amplifications in honor of the wedding, and
after Grace, the wedding benedictions are again recited over
a cup of wine.
At the departure of the Sabbath, after the reciting of Hav-
dolo, the wedding celebration is resumed, and again men and
women celebrate in two separate houses and in different man-
ner. The men are entertained by the badchon and the chazan
who sing chants, droll tunes, Yiddish folk-songs and liturgical
melodies. Among the women there is continuous dancing to
the accompaniment of the klezmorim. The mischief-makers are
busy, playing tricks on the wedding guests. They are generally
bought off with large slices of cake and other delicacies.
Sunday, the day following the wedding, is called the Rum-
pel (from a German word meaning tumult) and is marked by
specific entertainments. A festive farewell meal is served in
the afternoon after which the wedding gifts are publicly an-
nounced. The badchon or the sarver call loudly the name of
the giver and the nature of the gift. At the close of the Rumpel,
there is a specific farewell dance. The wedding gifts are called
d'rosho geshank (the gift for the discourse) although it is no
longer customary for the bridegroom to deliver a discourse at
the wedding feast (see p. 177).
The Rumpel is the day on which the klezmorim, the bad-
chon, the sarver, and the cook receive their pay and their
tips.
The "seven days of the feast" are not celebrated. The newly
married man, however, does not go to work during the week
IN MODERN TIMES 197
following the wedding, and in the morning services at the
synagogue, in which he participates, the whole congregation
omits the "penitential prayer" on his account.
The wedding of a widow or divorcee took place on Thurs-
day. The chupo was not put up in the courtyard of the syna-
gogue, but inside the house, and klezmorim were not present.
It was not designated a wedding and people did not say, "So-
and-so is celebrating her wedding today," but "So-and-so is
setting up chupo today."
jail
Marriage among the S'fardim in Palestine
The history of Jewish marriage in the Middle Ages as out-
lined in the preceding chapters applies only to the Ashk'nazim
(German and East European Jews). The S'fardim (Spanish-
Portuguese Jews) shared the first stages of this long develop-
ment and stopped in the middle of the way. They linked the
wedding with the synagogue only in regard to the morning
services on the following Sabbath. Their marriage ceremony
proper still remains a home celebration as it was among the
Ashk'nazim in the early Middle Ages. The chupo did not fully
develop among the S'fardim, remaining a combination of both
the canopy and the talis. For many centuries, the S'fardim
lived in an Oriental environment which affected their mode of
life. We can easily understand why the procedure of marriage
among the S'fardim in Palestine differs in so many points from
the traditional procedure of the Ashk'nazim.
Arranging the Match . . . The S'fardim in Palestine do not
employ the name or the ceremonial of t'no-im described above.
In arranging the match, the fathers merely jot down the main
points of the agreement. This is called kiriyamm (agreements)
and is not marked by any festivity.
A few weeks after the kin'yanim the bridegroom and the
bride send gifts to one another and the day when the presents
are delivered is marked by a joyous celebration. On the Sab-
bath following this day, the bridegroom is called up to the
Torah in the synagogue and the relatives and friends visit the
bridegroom and the bride. This celebration is called siman (a
sign, that the girl is engaged) .
198
MARRIAGE AMONG THE S ? FARDIM 199
Preliminaries . . . There are many preliminary wedding fes-
tivities. Two weeks before the wedding, the bridegroom sends
a shoemaker to the bride to make shoes for her, as a sign that
the wedding date is set.
Eight days before the wedding, there is a celebration at
the bride's home called Ashugar, a Spanish word for the trous-
seau. The bride's entire outfit is arranged and displayed as if on
an exhibition. Many men and women attend this celebration.
Expert appraisers estimate the value of each article and the
scribe jots the figure down on paper. The figures are then
added and the sum total doubled. To this, the sum of the
dowry is added. To this total, something is added in honor of
the bride's parents and something in honor of the family. This
whole sum becomes the amount set down in the k'subo (ex-
cept that they pronounce it k'tuba). Care is taken to add to
the sum as much as was needed to make the last four digits
fives, because it is believed that an evil eye has no power over
the number five. (Arab villagers in Palestine also celebrate the
purchasing, delivering and viewing of the bride's outfit. The
women of the village gather in the bride's house to survey the
entire trousseau, celebrating the occasion with song, dance and
refreshments.)
On the Sabbath preceding the wedding, the bridegroom,
accompanied by his friends, visits the rabbis of the town. He
kisses their hands and receives their blessings. The bride, es-
corted by her mother and mother-in-law, pays a visit to the
wives of the rabbis and she also kisses their hands and receives
their blessings. She does not do this until two weeks after the
wedding and, in Jerusalem, her visit is preceded by a visit to
the Wailing Wall.
On Wednesday evening preceding the wedding, there is a
gathering of girls in the bride's house. The bride, wrapped in
a long veil, sits on a chair as motionless as a marble statue,
while her friends, seated on benches around the wall of the
room, merely play all sorts of silly games.
The following day, Thursday, is the day of bathing. The
200 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
bride in a beautiful dress is spectacularly led to the bath-house
in the midst of a long line of married women and girls. The
women are followed by men carrying lighted torches in their
hands. In the rear of this procession there is instrumental music,
singing and dancing. All women who participate in the pro-
cession bathe at the expense of the bride.
About an hour later, the bride returns home, and again a
line of women is formed to the accompaniment of singing and
dancing. All the doors of the houses which the procession
passes are opened and the mistresses of the houses stand with
trays of sweetmeats and glasses of lemon water in their hands.
In passing, the bride and her entourage taste the refresh-
ments offered them. This queer custom was taken over by the
S'fardim in Palestine in its entirety from their Arab neighbors.
On the eve of the wedding day, Thursday night, a queer
celebration takes place at the bridegroom's home. In the pres-
ence of relatives and friends, a Jewish barber cuts the hair of
the bridegroom and receives a tip from each person present.
The haircut is followed by singing and joyful entertainment
which lasts late into the night.
The Chupo . . . The marriage ceremony takes place on Fri-
day, early in the afternoon, and, as already noted, has no link
with the synagogue. Two canopies are set up for the wedding,
one in the house of the bridegroom and the other in the house
of the bride. Both canopies are improvised from the curtains
of the Holy Ark of a synagogue. The marriage ceremony is
performed under the canopy at the bride's home. The canopy
is set up against the wall. The part of the wall enclosed is cov-
ered with the silken curtain of a Holy Ark.
If the bridegroom is a learned man, he delivers a discourse
on Torah before the marriage ceremonial is performed.
The chupo, as already remarked, is a combination of both
the talis (prayer garment) and the canopy. First the bridal
pair wrap themselves in a new talis provided with tsitsis (ritual
show-fringes) and the bridegroom recites the benediction' over
MARRIAGE AMONG THE S FARDIM 2OI
the talis and the tsitsis and the benediction Shehecheyonu (see
p. 29) . The canopy is spread over their heads and in spreading
it the wedding guests recite the verse, "So God give thee of
the dew of heaven and of the fat places of the earth, and plenty
of corn and wine" (Gen. 27:28). The chupo ceremony is then
performed in the same manner as among the Ashk'nazim.
Among the S'f ardim more importance is attached to the break-
ing of the glass. The glass is wrapped in a kerchief in order
that no fragment will be lost. When it is broken, the wedding
guests recite two verses of the Psalms, first, "The snare is
broken and we are escaped," and afterwards, "If I forget thee,
O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning" (124:7;
137:5). The splinters of the broken glass wrapped in a ker-
chief are cautiously buried or put in an inaccessible place, for
it is believed that the bridegroom could be bewitched with
these splinters.
After the Chupo . . . When the chupo ceremonial is over,
the bridal pair kiss the hands of their parents and relatives
and of all the wedding guests, and receive their congratu-
lations. Unlike the Ashk'nazim who congratulate with the
words "Mazol Tov," the S'fardim congratulate with the words
"Siman Tov" (a good omen). The relatives of the bridegroom
place gold coins in the hands of the bride, and the relatives of
the bride put gold coins in the hands of the bridegroom.
The bridal pair and their entourage march to the bride-
groom's home. During the "seven days of the feast" the chupo
remains in the bride's house with a candle burning under it.
No one dares to sit there because it is regarded as a sacred
place.
When the bride approaches the house of the bridegroom,
her mother-in-law scatters sweetmeats from a plate, and holds
a loaf of bread and breaks it above the head of her daughter-in-
law, as an omen of good fortune.
At the meal following the chupo ceremonial, the guests sing
piyutim (liturgical poems) in Hebrew and in Arabic com-
202 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
posed especially for this occasion. After the meal, the pair are
seated side by side on chairs in the center of the room, with
lighted torches in their hands. Around them, the guests dance,
sing and make merry, and continually try to put out the light
of the torches. When the light of the torch which the bride-
groom holds in his hand is out, he is compelled to kindle it
with the torch of the bride. Then the guests put out the light
of the torch of the bride, compelling her to kindle it with the
torch of the man whom her parents have chosen as her hus-
band. This game is repeated numerous times.
During the seven days following the wedding, the newly
married couple sit under the chupo in the house of the bride-
groom, who is never left alone. A n.umber of young men, his
best friends, guard him constantly and play various games with
him. The most popular game consists of filching the bride-
groom's kerchief, a ring or any other thing
As the bridegroom does not leave the house during the week
following the wedding, his relatives and acquaintances gather
at his home at the time of prayers in order that he could recite
them with a minyon. Only on Sabbath morning does he visit
the synagogue. On this occasion he enjoys greater honor than
among the Ashk'nazim. On Sabbath morning the bridegroom
Is seated under a beautiful canopy of silk, made and kept espe-
cially for bridegrooms. When he is called to the reading of the
Torah, he goes to the bimo with much pomp. The custom of
reading to him an extra section of the Pentateuch, the story of
the wooing of Rebekah, still prevails. At the same time, the
sexton moves about among the assembled people, sprinkling
rose-water on their hands from a perforated silver vessel.
On the day after the wedding, both mothers and all the
women relatives visit the bride and bring her presents.
Musical instruments are not played at weddings. The Ori-
ental dances are performed to the accompaniment of vocal
music by female voices while the women beat little drums.
Cropping the hair of the bride was discarded by the S'f ardim
also. 206
MARRIAGE AMONG THE S^FARDIM 203
Among the Jeivs of Yemen . . . While the marriage customs
of the S'fardim in Palestine remind us of Jewish life centuries
ago, marriage among the Jews of Yemen remind us of even
more ancient days.
Among the Jews of Yemen, the ancient custom in which the
groom betrothed the bride at the engagement and gave her a
divorce in case the engagement was broken, was discarded
only recently. Among the Persian Jews and among some Jews
of the Caucasus this ancient custom still prevails.
Among the Yemenite Jews, the fathers of the groom and the
bride arrange the match. The children are not even consulted.
Often they are too young to comprehend. The mothers are
not informed of the affair until the match is completely ef-
fected.
The Jews of Yemen follow the ancient Biblical custom
in which the groom, or rather his father, pays a certain
amount of money to the father of the girl. He also gives the
girl many presents, the value of which is recorded in the
k'subo. Her father, however, does not usually keep the money
he receives from the groom, but gives it to his daughter for her
dowry.
As in Talmudic and medieval days, the pedigree of the
family is more important than money. There are families
among the Yemenite Jews who claim that their ancestors had
come to Yemen prior to the destruction of the First Temple.
Such families do not intermarry with families of low rank.
The interval between the engagement and the wedding
lasts not less than a year, and sometimes even two years, par-
ticularly in a case when the bride is too young. During this
time the groom and bride cannot see one another (see p. 130).
Shortly before the wedding, the bridegroom goes with his
parents to buy the presents for the bride. These consist of gar-
ments, ornaments, cosmetics, soap, rose-water, a comb and
many other things needed for the wedding. They also in-
clude waxen candles which are lighted at the wedding.
The bridegroom bears the cost of the wedding, which is a
204 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
heavy burden for him, or rather for his father. In addition to
three or four large feasts which include many guests, he has to
give many smaller parties for the close relatives during the
"seven days of the feast."
In case the bride comes from another town, the bridegroom
has to provide riding animals for all the guests of the bride's
family. Among the poor classes a lad waits until he or his father
have saved the money to cover the expense of marriage. Par-
ents among the Jews of Yemen, therefore, never worry about
marrying off their daughters, but they do worry about marry-
ing off their sons.
For a period of twx> weeks before the wedding, the bride
may not show herself on the street in daylight. If she has to
pay a visit, she does so after dark.
The day for weddings is Wednesday. But the entire week
before the wedding is a time of great joy. Each day has a
special observance and is a joyous occasion.
The last three days before the wedding are the days when
the bridal pair are colored with paint, a custom generally prac-
ticed by the Oriental Jews. Among the Jews of Egypt this
custom was practiced as far back as the time of Maimonides.
The groom is painted only once with henna, but the bride is
painted several times with henna and with other materials. The
paint is daubed on her face, her feet, her arms, and the inside
of her hands and is an occasion of great hilarity. The bride is
seated high on cushions. Many cotton wicks burn in a large
bowl of oil placed before her while the women in the room
sing and dance. Painting the groom's arms and feet is an oc-
casion of still more boisterous joy.
The wedding day is crowded with various ceremonies and
processions. The greatest solemnity and hilarity takes place
before the chupo when the groom's hair is being shaved. Only
his long ear-locks are left. The hair of the bride is cut short on
the front of her head.
The chupo ceremony among the Jews of Yemen is alto-
gether different from the chupo of the Ashk'nazim or the
MARRIAGE AMONG THE s' FAR DIM 205
S'fardim. They do not employ the canopy at all and still call
the room where the bridal pair is left in privacy, chupo. The
wedding ceremony takes place in the house of the bride. Dur-
ing the ceremony the bride sits in a separate room. Where such
a room is not available, she sits in a corner of the same room,
separated by a curtain, with only two women friends or rela-
tives with her. First the k'subo is read aloud and the bride-
groom with two witnesses, who are not members of his family,
sign it. The bridegroom himself recites the benediction of be-
trothal over a cup of wine. The two fathers, followed by lads
carrying candles in their hands, lead the bridegroom into the
room or the corner where the bride sits. The bridegroom re-
cites the betrothal formula, placing a new glittering coin or a
ring in the painted palm of the bride's hand. He also hands her
the cup of wine which she sips under her thick and heavy veil.
The wedding benedictions are then recited and the wedding
ceremony is over. The Jews of Yemen do not break a glass.
After the chupo ceremony, the bridal couple are led into a
separate room and remain there in the company of the best
men and two of the bride's friends. They break their fast with
a repast and the groom presents the bride with a ring. Then
the door is opened and the wedding guests crowd in.
With the coin, with which the groom betrothed the bride,
her mother buys her raisins and almonds which the bride alone
is allowed to eat. She must not let a crumb of these delicacies
drop to the ground.
The wedding feast, accompanied by discourses in Torah, is
served immediately after the chupo ceremony or, in some
regions, on the following day. On each evening of the "seven
days of the feast" a meal accompanied by singing and dancing
is prepared for close relatives and friends. In this week follow-
ing the wedding, the bridegroom stays indoors.
The Jews in Yemen today retain ancient Jewish marriage
customs. Some of their customs are not Jewish in origin, but
were taken over from their Arab neighbors; others are derived
from a common source, the ancient Orient. 207
flrf!
Beliefs Connected with Marriage
Predestination of Marriages . . . The doctrine of the Phari-
sees, that every action of man was foreseen by God, became
in time the common belief of the masses of the Jewish people.
According to the Talmud "a man will not injure his finger
without a decree from heaven/' No wonder, therefore, that
such an important step as the choice of a wife was believed
predestined. According to the Talmud, the match was made
in heaven even before the young man and woman were born.
"Forty days before the creation of the child, it is proclaimed
in heaven: 'This man's daughter shall marry that man.' " 20S
That this belief was wide-spread may be inferred from sev-
eral anecdotes in the Talmud and the Midrashim.
There is a story concerning a Roman lady who somewhat
impishly asked the Tanna Rabbi Jose ben Chalafta whether
God had anything to do after He created the world. Rabbi
Jose answered that He was busy in arranging marriages, "I
could do it as well myself," replied the lady. "I have numerous
slaves and could match them off in no time," "You may think
it is easy, but for the Holy One blessed be He, this is as diffi-
cult as dividing the Red Sea," retorted Rabbi Jose. The lady
then gathered a thousand men-servants and as many maid-
servants, and paired them and declared them married. On the
following day, they appeared before her a sorry lot. One's
head was bruised, the other had a black eye, the third had a
fractured arm, the fourth a broken leg. When she asked what
had happened, they all loudly said that they wished they were
not married. The lady then sent for Rabbi Jose and admitted
that the arrangement of matches was an extremely difficult
task. 209
206
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH MARRIAGE 2OJ
The belief in the predestination of marriage was expressed
in a story about Raba, the famous Amora who lived in Baby-
lonia in the fourth century, C.E. Raba once heard a man pray-
ing that he might win a certain woman in marriage and he
rebuked the man with the words: "If she is destined for you,
she will be yours; and if she is not destined for you, your
prayers flaunt the will of Providence." 21
The most striking illustration of the belief in the predestina-
tion of marriage is found in the Midrashic tale of King Solo-
mon and his beautiful daughter.
King Solomon had a daughter who was the fairest in the
whole land of Israel. Her father once scanned the stars to dis-
cover whom she was destined to marry and he saw that her
future husband would be the poorest man in Israel. He built a
high tower by the sea, and surrounded it on all sides with walls.
Then he placed his daughter in the tower with aged guardians
to watch her. He supplied them with provisions and then
sealed the tower so that none could possibly slip past the
guards. He said, "I shall watch the work of God."
In the course of time, the poor man who was his daughter's
destined husband walked near the tower one night. His gar-
ments were ragged and torn and he was on the verge of faint-
ing from hunger, thirst and fatigue. Looking about for some
shelter he beheld the skeleton of an ox lying on a field close
by. The poor youth crept into the skeleton to shelter himself
from the cold. As he slept, a great bird swooped down and
picked up the carcass in which lay the unconscious youth. The
bird flew with it to the roof of the tower to consume the car-
cass. When the poor youth awoke, he found himself on the
roof and there the princess found him when she came up on
the roof to sun herself. When she had recovered from her
surprise, she asked: "Who are you and who brought you
here?" He answered, "I am a Jew of Acco, and a bird brought
me here." The princess ordered her servants to clothe him and
anoint him with oil, and then she saw that he was the hand-
somest youth in all Israel. He was intelligent too, and learned,
2O8 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
and the princess loved him with her heart and soul. One day
she said to him, "Will you marry me?" and he answered, "I
wish it might be so!" They decided to marry, and as there was
no ink with w r hich to write the k'subo, he used a few drops of
his own blood as ink, and when he recited the marriage b'rocho
he said, "Let God and Michael and Gabriel be my witnesses
today."
When the guardians learned of the marriage, they sum-
moned Solomon. The king came at once in a ship, and calling
his daughter to him, asked her to tell him what had happened.
"The Holy One, blessed be He, sent me a youth, who is hand-
some and learned, and he married me." She then called the lad,
who appeared before the king and showed him the k'subo
which he had written. The king inquired about his father and
mother and the town from which he had come, and from the
young man's replies he realized that this w r as the very man
whom the stars had shown as the destined husband of his
daughter. Solomon then rejoiced greatly and exclaimed,
"Blessed be the Lord who chooses a wife 1 for every man." 211
There is still another illustration of God's design taken from
a Hebrew book of the twelfth century. It concerns a girl who
persistently refused to adorn herself. People said to her, "If
you are not well dressed, no one will notice you or want to
marry you." But she answered firmly, "It is the Holy One,
blessed be He, who arranges marriages; so I need not be con-
cerned." She was properly rewarded for her faith, for she
married a learned and pious man. 212
The belief in the predestination of marriages has persisted
in Jewish life and Jewish lore even to our own day. According
to the popular belief no one must intervene in a marriage and
preventing a predestined match is a sin which entails punish-
ment from Heaven. 213
Unlucky Days and Seasons . . . Various peoples did and
still do believe that some of the days of the week, the periods
of the lunar month, and the seasons of the year are unlucky
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH MARRIAGE 209
or ill-omened, and that it is hazardous to start any new under-
taking during such times. The various peoples did not agree
as to which of the days, periods, and seasons were unlucky.
For instance among the Germans, Friday was considered an
unlucky day, while among Jews, weddings were performed
on Fridays as far back as Talmudic times, and, since the Mid-
dle Ages, Friday became the favorite day for weddings. Ap-
parently, there was an economic reason for this preference, as
the poor were thus spared extra expense by combining the
celebration of the wedding day with the celebration of the
Sabbath following the wedding. In olden times, Wednesday
was regarded as a lucky day, the favorite wedding day for
maidens. In the Middle Ages, apparently through some foreign
influence, Monday and Wednesday were both declared to be
unlucky days, and even today East European Jews do not
perform weddings on those two days. 214
Some peoples believed that the phases of the moon had an
influence over life on the earth. Among the Jews and many
other Oriental peoples, weddings were performed at the New
Moon or at the Full Moon, but never in the period when the
moon was absent. 215
There were two seasons of the year in which weddings were
not performed one between the fast of the seventeenth of
Tamuz and the fast of Tisho B'Ov, and the other between
Pesach and Sho\ r uos. The former was a season of mourning
and needs no explanation. The latter was declared to be a sea-
son of mourning based upon the Talmudic legend which says
that Rabbi Akiba, the great Tanna of the second century
(C.E.), lost thousands of his pupils who were all stricken by a
plague during this season from Pesach to Shovuos. However,
critical scholars have agreed that the connection with the
mortality of Rabbi Akiba's pupils was merely a later and re-
mote interpretation given to an old custom, the origin of which
had been forgotten. Originally, the period between Pesach
and Shovuos was not a time of mourning because of any sad
events in Jewish life, but was merely regarded as an unlucky
210 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
season. According to some scholars, it coincided approximately
with the month of May in which marriages were forbidden
among the Romans. This Roman custom adopted by some
European nations was also adopted by the Jews who later
tried to Judaize it by linking it with the Talmudic legend re-
garding the wholesale death of Rabbi Akiba's pupils. This
later interpretation was not universally accepted. In the Mid-
dle Ages, other less tenable interpretations were also offered
by some rabbis.
In the Middle Ages there was a variety of customs in regard
to the duration of the period. In some Jewish communities,
marriages were forbidden during the period from the New
Moon of lyor until Shovuos. In other communities it was for-
bidden to perform a marriage on any day between Pesach and
Lag Bo-omer (the i8th day of lyor). Again in other com-
munities, the curb on marriages lasted from Pesach until
Shovuos, with the exception of the day of Lag Bo-omer.
Among some East European Jews today, the restriction is in
full force from Pesach until Shovuos, except Lag Bo-omer,
Rosh Chodesh lyor, Rosh Chodesh Sivon, and the three days
preceding Shovuos.
The prohibition also extended to the cutting of hair, and
in some communities women refrained from doing any work
after sunset on those days. 216
Origin of Marriage Czistoms . . . The customs connected
with marriage are very old. While the religious ceremonies
associated with marriage are a product of a higher spiritual
culture, the popular customs stem from primitive times. For
quite a time they were a topic of discussion among scholars of
primitive culture and comparative folklore. Various theories
have been offered to explain their origin. But each theory ex-
plains only some of the customs without necessarily excluding
the other theories. Sometimes a single custom may spring from
different motives and admit of more than one explanation.
In the following we shall briefly touch upon these theories
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH MARRIAGE 211
as far as they are applicable to Jewish marriage customs.
Some of the Jewish marriage customs involve no primitive
beliefs. They are mere symbols of unison and concord be-
tween the bridal pair. Such symbols are the drinking of wine
from the same cup by the bridal pair at the marriage ceremony
and the exchanging of gifts between them. Marriage signi-
fies also the union of two families. This is symbolized by the
wedding feast eaten together after the marriage ceremony.
We have to treat at a little greater length another set of
marriage customs derived from the belief that on the wedding
day the bridal pair was menaced by evil powers. Primitive man
feared evil spirits at every critical moment and every im-
portant step of his life, particularly at the three important
mon ents of his earthly career: birth, marriage, and death. 217
Guarding the Bridegroom . f . The Oriental peoples believed
that male demons desired to marry the daughters of men, and
vice versa, and that the demons were envious of the bridal pair,
especially of the bridegroom, their ostensible rival, whom they
sought to destroy. The bride whose five or seven successive
bridegrooms were killed by a demon on the wedding night
was the theme of many popular tales. We find this theme in
Tobit, one of the books of the Apocrypha. One protagonist
of the story of Tobit is Sara, the pious daughter of Raguel,
who lived in Ecbatana, a city of Media. This pious Jewess had
been married to seven successive men whom the evil spirit
Asmodeus had killed on the wedding night. She was ultimately
married to Tobias, the son of the pious Tobit, who succeeded
in escaping death at the hand of Asmodeus by employing a
charm against him prepared at the direction of the angel
Raphael. The charm consisted of smoke made by the heart
and liver of a fish, burnt on coal and placed on the ashes of
perfume. Asmodeus, smelling this smoke, fled into the furthest
parts of Egypt. 218
Hiding the Bridal Pair ... It was already remarked in a
previous chapter that primitive man devised a varied strategy
212 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
in this warfare against evil spirits. He tried to shut them out
by hiding the threatened person. He tried to deceive them and
to frighten them, and he even tried to appease them with offer-
ings, with gifts. These various strategems employed by primi-
tive man in his warfare against the evil spirits explain the
origin of many marriage customs as well as they explain the
origin of many customs connected with the birth of a child
(see p. 65).
The first precaution taken was to prohibit the bridegroom
and the bride from going out alone during the week preceding
and, in some regions, also during the week following the wed-
ding, especially at night when the demons spread their terror.
Precaution was also taken to keep the bridal pair from sight
on the wedding day. Veiling the face of the bride was a preva-
lent custom, employed among Jews and other Orientals since
ancient days. At the wedding in Mayence previously de-
scribed, the bridegroom also hid his head under the cowl of
his cape during the marriage ceremony, although it was mostly
the face of the bride which had to be concealed from the
jealous eyes of the demons. There may have been another
motive for the use of the veil, as every snarl and knot was re-
garded as a magic safeguard against evil spirits, based on the
popular belief in the magic power of knots. 219
Keeping the bridal pair out of sight may have been
prompted by another motive. It has already been previously
noted that, in the belief of primitive man, the bride and the
groom had an evil eye for one another. Among some peoples,
the bridal pair were not allowed to see one another in day-
light for several days after the wedding. According to this be-
lief, there was in general something sinister about the glances
of the bridal pair which ought therefore to be avoided (see
pp. 130, 131 and 203).
Combating the Evil Spirits . . . Another strategem employed
in combating the evil spirits was to deceive them in such a
manner that they should not recognize that a wedding was
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH MARRIAGE 213
being performed. Various ruses were devised to make the de-
mons believe that this was an occasion of mourning. This pro-
cedure explains why the traditional Jewish wedding of former
days was marked by so many signs of mourning. The bride
did her best to weep as much as possible. Both the bride and
groom wore white shrouds at the marriage ceremony as a re-
minder of the burial shroud. The custom of having the bride-
groom wear a kittel (white shroud) under his talis during the
marriage ceremony was in force until recently among East
European Jews. He also covered his head with ashes. This was
an ancient sign of mourning which became a wedding custom
in Talmudic days and persisted as such in Eastern Europe until
our own time. 220 A few centuries ago, in some Jewish com-
munities, the bridegroom wore a black kerchief on his head
during the marriage ceremony as a sign of mourning.
No traces of joy or gaiety were present in the traditional
Jewish wedding procession until the marriage ceremony was
over. These signs of sadness and mourning were later divested
of their original magic character and new interpretations given
to them. The signs of mourning remained only as a reminder of
the destruction of Jerusalem. The white shroud, a reminder
of death rather than of national disaster, was declared a means
of restraining the bridal pair from excessive joy.
In a special category is the fasting of the bridal pair until
the wedding ceremony is over, as if it were a day of mourning.
Jewish religious authorities in the Middle Ages were not in
agreement as to whether the bride should fast, some believing
the fast incumbent on the bridegroom only. Later this pro-
cedure was universally accepted for both bridegroom and
bride. The fasting of the bridal pair could not be interpreted
as a symbol of national mourning; so other explanations were
offered. Most popular was the explanation that the day of the
wedding is a day of destiny, a day of atonement for the bridal
pair on which they must fast as on Yom Kippur. It was this
explanation which caused the custom to persist, but it may
have originally been based upon two other motives. Besides
214 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
the necessity of making the wedding day appear as a day of
mourning, there was also a popular belief that abstinences of
various kinds practiced by the bridal pair on the wedding day
are a means of averting evil from them. Among some peoples
it was the custom for the bridal pair not to speak on the wed-
ding day or at least not to speak aloud. 221
One additional ruse employed to deceive the evil spirits at
weddings must be mentioned People believed that disguises
confounded the evil spirits so that they did not know who was
who. This explains the custom of painting the faces of the
bridal pair, still prevalent among Oriental Jews. The bride
and groom were painted in order that the evil spirits should
not recognize them. At weddings, the bridegroom and the
bride even interchanged clothes. Although the interchange of
garments between sexes was forbidden by the Mosaic Law, it
was still in vogue among the Jews of Egypt at the time of
Maimonides (twelfth century). Apparently, under the influ-
ence of the non- Jewish environment, among the Egyptian
Jews the bride was dressed like a man and the bridegroom like
a woman. Maimonides abolished this practice. However, in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mention is again made
of an ordinance, among the Jews of Italy, against masquerad-
ing at weddings and at circumcision celebrations. Apparently
this practice was due to the influence of non-Jewish surround-
ings. However, in the interchange of clothes between the bride
and groom one more motive may have been involved. It may
have symbolized the complete union of the bridal pair. 222
But even these means of concealment, supplemented by
tricks of deception, were not deemed adequate protection from
the evil spirits. Primitive men used numerous talismans and
charms to frighten the demons and put them to flight in case
they dared appear. We have cited the story from the Book of
Tobit in which the demon Asmodeus was driven away by the
smell of the smoke made by burning the heart and liver of a
fish. The smell of smoke was generally believed efficacious in
dispelling evil spirits. Smoke was a protection against injury
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH MARRIAGE 215
from an evil eye, and among some peoples it was customary
before the wedding to fumigate the bridegroom and bride. A
similar custom was the bathing of the bride before the wed-
ding, for, according to primitive man, spirits recoiled before
water, because they could not cross it. The Caucasian Jews
led both the bride and the groom to the bath before the
chupo. 223 However, among the Chasidim in Eastern Europe
immersion before the chupo is part of the physical and mental
preparation for marriage as a sacred rite.
There are additional charms already mentioned, which we
note again in connection with weddings. Light was a popular
charm. The demons, who held sway only in darkness, shunned
the light. This explains the lighted torches and candles at wed-
dings used from ancient times to the present day. The closed
circle was a popular charm, explaining the encirclings around
the bride under the chupo. This magic circle may also have
motivated the marriage ring, not excluding other motives.
Iron, salt, legumes and weapons were regarded as charms
against evil spirits. This explains many marriage customs
among Jews. Among the Jews in some parts of Germany in
the Middle Ages, a piece of iron was placed in the bride-
groom's pocket before he was led to the marriage ceremony.
In olden times, salt was put in the garlands of the bride and
the bridegroom. In Biblical times, weapons were brandished in
the wedding procession. Among the Jews of Egypt, in the
time of Maimonides, the bride, dressed like a man, danced with
a sword brandished in her hand. At the weddings of the East
European Jews, it was customary as late as a generation ago
to serve cooked and salted beans and peas just as it was done
at the birth of a child.
Plants with a strong odor, i.e., garlic and myrtle, were
among the magic means employed against evil spirits and
witchcraft. The amuletic character of the myrtle was en-
hanced by its unwithering leaves. This accounts for the plant's
popularity at weddings as a bridal garland, and also as an
adornment of the wedding guests, 224
2l6 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
Frightening away demons with loud noise may have been
the original motivation for breaking of the glass at the mar-
riage ceremony, a custom mentioned as far back as the twelfth
century. In the sixteenth century, the custom arose among the
Jews of Germany to break dishes at the knas mahl also. This
custom was apparently due to the non-Jewish environment,
for in southern Germany the Germans broke dishes at the
engagement, whereas in other parts of Germany, the tumultu-
ous breaking of dishes took place on the evening preceding
the wedding, which was called Palter Abend (evening of
noise and clattering). In recent times, the order of this ob-
servance within the chupo ceremony was changed. In most
communities instead of breaking the glass after the wedding
benedictions at the very end of the marriage ceremonial, the
bridegroom broke it in the midst of the ceremony, after he had
recited the betrothal formula. This custom of breaking a glass
at the marriage ceremony, and earthen dishes at the knas
mahl, was later interpreted as a reminder of the destruction of
Jerusalem, an explanation which seems forced and untenable
when we remember that breaking dishes was accompanied by
a loud and joyful "Mazol Tov" from all present. The magic
origin of this custom explains why the S'fardim in Jerusalem
hide every splinter of the broken glass, and why the breaking
of the glass is accompanied by the recitation of the verse of
the Psalms, "The snare is broken and we are escaped" (see
p. 201).
However, the primitive idea of driving away demons by
noise does not fully explain the custom of breaking the glass
at the marriage ceremony. Originally, the bridegroom dashed
the glass against a wall with the wine still in it, spilling the
wine. This displayed a second motive for this custom pro-
pitiating the evil spirits by offering them gifts. Wine and oil
were prominent among the gifts which effected the with-
drawal of the demons. 225
Appeasing evil spirits with gifts may have motivated the
custom prevalent in Talmudic times when wine and oil flowed
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH MARRIAGE 217
in profusion, and nuts, parched corn and other sweetmeats
were thrown before the wedding procession of the bridal pair.
The wine and oil were also used as an expression of honor ac-
corded to men of fame on their entry into a town. The nuts,
parched corn and other sweetmeats thrown before the bride-
groom and the bride may have had an entirely different mean-
ing, for in primitive belief they were considered omens of
fertility and an abundant life. 226
Omens of Fertility . . . Mention has been made of the primi-
tive belief in sympathetic magic, the belief that every activity
called forth its counterpart. If water was poured, rain would
come; if one ate sweet dishes at the beginning of the year,
sweetness was presaged for the entire year; if bread was the
first thing brought into a new dwelling, bread would never be
lacking there. Magic rites of this kind, which presaged fertility
and an abundant life, have always played a prominent role
at weddings among the Jews as well as among other peo-
ples.
The grains of fertile plants were among the omens of fer-
tility. In Talmudic times, a short time before a wedding, seeds
of barley were planted in an earthen pot on behalf of the
bridal pair. When the seeds began to sprout, the pot was
brought to the bridal pair with the words, u As these barley
seeds sprout, so you shall be fruitful and multiply." 227 At the
weddings in Mayence and in Worms described above, grains
of wheat were thrown over the heads of the bridal pair.
Among East European Jews, this rite of sympathetic magic
was practiced at weddings a generation ago where raisins, hops,
rice, nuts, and almonds were used.
The hen played a prominent part in the magic rites of
fertility. As far back as the beginning of the Common Era,
Palestinian Jews carried a hen and a cock before the bridal
pair in the wedding procession, and as late as the fifteenth
century, the Jews of Posen caused a hen and a cock to fly
over the chupo after the marriage ceremony. At the wedding
2l8 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
in Mayence, described above, the bridal pair broke their fast
after the marriage ceremony with an egg and hen. 22S
The fish was also regarded as a symbol of fertility. In the
Middle Ages, the bridal pair ate fish on the day after the wed-
ding. In some Jewish communities of the Orient, the women
bring two fish in a silver vessel to the wedding ceremony and
place the vessel on the earth close to the canopy. 229
Not all the practices of sympathetic magic at weddings per-
tain to omens of fertility. Some of them are omens of general
good luck as the large loaf of white bread with which the
bridal pair were met on their return from the chupo ceremony
and the kneading bowl on which the bride was seated (see
pp. 190 if.)- Among the S'fardim, the gold coins given to the
bride and bridegroom by their relatives after the chupo cere-
mony were omens of good fortune. The custom of mixing
coins with the grains of wheat thrown over the heads of the
bridal pair, practiced among the German Jews in the Middle
Ages, may have been similarly motivated, representing a two-
fold omen in which the grains of wheat presaged fertility, and
the coins, material fortune. The coins, however, were used for
charity, and were picked up by the poor.
"Mazol Tov" and "Simon Tov" ... In previous descriptions
of weddings the readers have noticed the two formulas of
congratulation used among Jews since the Middle Azes: Mazol
Tov among the Ashk'nazim, and Siman Tov among the S'far-
dim. Both formulas can be traced to ancient beliefs cherished
by all peoples in bygone days.
Originally, mazol meant a constellation of the Zodiac and
also a planet, which is the Biblical and Talmudic meaning of
the word. Because of the universal belief that the fate of men
and the success of their enterprises depended upon the position
and aspect of the stars, the word mazol in the Talmud and
Midrash acquired a secondary meaning star of destiny, and
destiny in general. In the Middle Ages among the Franco-
German Jews, "Mazol Tov" became an expression synony-
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH MARRIAGE 219
mous with "good luck," until gradually all traces of its astro-
logical background were forgotten.
In olden times, the fortune of man was read not only in the
stars, but in countless objects and occurrences, especially ex-
traordinary ones, which were interpreted as good or bad
omens. "Siman Tov," good omen, is a current expression in
the Talmud and Midrash. Although the original background,
the belief in good or bad omens, has been lost, the expression
is still retained among the S'fardim as a formula of congratula-
tion. 230
PART FOUR
Beath, Jfuneral, Burial, and Mourning
Xtnii
In Biblical Times
In Biblical times, the Jewish outlook on life and death differed
from that of a later day. In those days the Jew looked for his
salvation and centered his thought not on heaven, but on the
earth with its abundance of fruit, corn, wine and oil. He identi-
fied himself with his kindred in the earthly life which he lived
upon the good land the God of his ancestors had given him.
He dwelt among his own people and was gathered to them
after his death.
When a man felt that he was about to "go the way of all
the earth" and be "gathered unto his people," he called his
children to him and blessed them, charging them to execute
his will, particularly in regard to his burial. The just and God-
fearing man commanded his children to keep the way of the
Lord, to do righteousness and justice after his death. The
leader of the people sometimes delivered an address of great
import when he felt his end was approaching. In the Bible,
Moses and Joshua addressed the people before their death, 231
When death came, all the relatives and friends gave vent to
their grief, aloud. They moaned and smote their breasts. They
sobbed and lamented wherever they were on the flat roofs
of the houses, or in the streets. 232
Gestures of Mourning . . . With the coming of death, many
duties and observances were incumbent upon the mourners.
The first thing to be done was to close the eyes of the deceased,
and to kiss him. Then the mourners rent their outer garments
and attired themselves in coarse sackcloth. They laid aside
their head ornaments, tore their hair and plucked their beards
223
224 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
or made a bald spot in them. They covered their heads, or at
least the upper lip, strewed dust and ashes on their heads, re-
moved their shoes, and sat on the ground in the dust. They
even made incisions in their flesh. 233
The Funeral . . . Among the ancient peoples of the Orient,
including the Jews, a corpse was regarded as the ultimate
defilement.
The burial, therefore, took place on the same day as the
death. In the Bible, the bier on which the corpse was carried
in the funeral procession is called ?mto, the Hebrew word for
bed, apparently the deathbed. The mito was followed by the
mourners who lamented the deceased with loud weeping.
Learned women, who were professional wailers, were hired
to add their voices to the lamentations of the women of the
household. This custom is still prevalent in the Orient. There
were men who were known as accomplished mourners, but
women mourners predominated, apparently superior to men
in their ability to display grief and to bring tears to all eyes.
David, in his elegy over Saul and his son Jonathan, addressed
himself not to the sons but to the daughters of Israel, bidding
them weep (n Sam. 1:24). Jeremiah, sensing impending de-
struction, bade his people call forth the mourning women that
they might "take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run
down with tears and our eyelids gush out with waters" (9: 16-
17). These professional wailers walked before the bier, with
shrilly dramatic lamentations. They sang a dirge (kino) com-
posed according to an established rhythm and beginning with
the word echo (how). One woman led the chanting of the
dirge, and the rest responded in a chorus. The chant was
accompanied by the playing of pipes. Ejaculations were ut-
tered as: "Alas, Alas! Ah, my brother! Ah, my sister! Ah,
Lord! Ah, His glory!" 23 *
Burial . . . The dead were always interred. Cremation was
regarded as an abuse of the dead, and was applied only to
IN BIBLICAL TIMES 225
certain criminals condemned to death, to enhance their pun-
ishment. It was a disgrace and a calamity to remain unburied.
Even a criminal was buried on the same day on which he was
executed. 233
The clothed corpse was laid in the grave uncoffined. The
dead were buried in the clothes they wore in life, which ac-
counted for the prevalent belief that the deceased could be
recognized by their costume in Sheol, the nether world. 236
Embalming was not a Jewish practice. The embalming of
Jacob and Joseph referred to in the Bible was an Egyptian
custom as was the use of a coffin in the Biblical phrase, "Joseph
was put in a coffin in Egypt" (Gen. 50:2, 26).
At the burial of rich people, particularly princes, a great fire
was prepared. Fragrant spices, and apparently the bed and
many other possessions which the deceased used in life, were
burned in the blazing flame. 237
In the ancient graves excavated in Palestine, many empty
clay vessels were found, such as jars, plates, bowls and lamps.
The archaeologists infer from this that the Jews, as well as
their Canaanitic predecessors, placed food in the graves.
In the Bible we hear of giving food for the dead. When a
man "has made an end of tithing all the tithe of his increase,"
he declared in the sanctuary, "I have not eaten thereof in my
mourning, neither have I put away thereof, being unclean,
nor given thereof for the dead" (Deut. 26:12-14). In Tobit,
an Apocryphal book of the time of the Second Temple, we
continue to hear of food offered to the spirits of the dead. Be-
fore his death, it is told, the pious Tobit called his son, Tobias,
and among many other things, commanded him, "Pour out thy
bread on the burial of the just, but give nothing to the wicked"
(Tobit 4: 17) . Food for the dead was not always genuine food.
Fine white sand used as a substitute for flour was found in
excavated graves. 238
Period of Mourning . . . The mourners fasted for the dead,
eating a meal which was called "the bread of mourners" only
226 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
in the evening of the day of burial. According to prescribed
custom, the mourners could not prepare their own food, which
was therefore brought in by the neighbors, who joined in a
common feast. With the food, the neighbors gave the mourn-
ers a cup to drink, called "the cup of consolation." Some-
times the fast lasted for seven days and was only interrupted
in the evenings. 239
The mourning lasted at least a week. During these days ac-
quaintances visited the mourners to comfort them. A father
or a mother, or great and famous men, were mourned for
thirty days with less intensiveness. 240
These marks of mourning and modes of burial, many of
which now appear very strange, were not peculiarly Jewish,
but were common to most of the peoples of the ancient Orient.
The Jews who took them over in their entirety from their
Canaanitish neighbors did not extend and embellish them. Al-
though their origin had long faded from memory, they still
retained a touch of ancestral worship which the Jewish re-
ligion so sternly opposed. Some of these customs of mourning,
i.e., tearing the hair, and making incisions in the flesh, were
rigidly forbidden by the Mosaic Law, but only in the course
of time were these practices actually discarded by the people. 241
Graves . . . When one departed from life, he "lay with his
fathers" or "was gathered unto his people." These phrases of
the Bible may be taken literally, because the dead were usually
buried in a family grave, a burial chamber where all the mem-
bers of the family rested side by side. This grave was "a pos-
session of burying place" on ground which was the property
of the family. There were single graves, but no cemeteries
existed as we know them, as a common field of interment for
1 * 2-42
the entire community.
No one wished to be buried in a strange place. Barzillai, the
Gileadite, refused to go with King David to Jerusalem, be-
cause he was fourscore years old and wished to die in his own
city and be buried in the grave of his father and mother
IN BIBLICAL TIMES 227
(n Sam. 19:36). Those who lived in a strange land charged
their children before dying to carry them to their native land,
and place their bodies in the burying place of their ancestors.
This is illustrated in the Bible, in the stories of Jacob and
Joseph. No matter how long a man lived in a strange land, his
real home remained the place where his forefathers rested in
the family grave. Nearly one and a half centuries after the
destruction of Jerusalem, Nehemiah said to the Persian King
Artaxerxes, "Why should not my countenance be sad, when
the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste?"
(Nehemiah 2:3). To be buried far away from the family
sepulchre was a severe punishment.
Family ties endured even in the grave. The sepulchre was
originally in the immediate neighborhood of the family dwell-
ing place, in the garden or court of the house. In the course
of time the tendency developed to remove the graves from the
dwellings of the living, especially in the cities, where it was im-
possible to have the sepulchre near the house. The kings of
Judah whose sepulchres were in the grounds of their castle
were an exception in this respect. Even the grave outside the
gates of the city remained a family grave, bearing an inscrip-
tion with a warning that no stranger should be interred
within. 243
The numerous natural caves in Palestine were used as the
first family graves. The sepulchral caves were extended as the
need arose. Artificial grottos were dug where natural caves
were unavailable. Later, the Jews adopted from the Phoeni-
cians the custom of hewing graves from the stony slopes of the
mountains. The Palestinian mountains consist of limestone
which is easy to cut and is durable. There, single graves were
hewn out of the mountains' stony ground as well as wide, deep
burial chambers which served as family sepulchres. These
hewn graves were naturally expensive, and used only by the
richer classes. The poor continued to use the caves for burial.
In the burial chamber, the dead were interred in niches, cavities
dug horizontally in the perpendicular wall. There were other
228 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
modes of burial for poor people without "a possession of a
burying place" who humbly laid their dead in a common field
of graves. In the Bible, mention is made of a field of graves
situated near Jerusalem called "the graves of the common peo-
ple" (n Kings 23:6; Jer. 26:23).
In Biblical times, the graves of the Jews, unlike the Egyptian
tombs, were of the utmost simplicity, without ornamentation
and embellishment in or outside the burial chamber. Before
the Greek period, the Jews did not mark each grave with a
stone. That was a Phoenician fashion. In the Bible, King Saul
and Absalom, the son of King David, set up monuments for
themselves while they were still alive, and not as monuments
for their graves. The Bible mentions a "sign" of a grave, but
this was not a monument to commemorate the dead, but a
sign to mark the site of an unnoticeable grave or the grave of
a distinguished person. 24 *
m
In the First Centuries of the Common Era
The rites and customs of burial and mourning, as well as many
other aspects of Jewish life, changed in many respects in the
course of the centuries between ancient Biblical days and the
period with which we are now concerned. The change was
due in part to the influence of Greco-Roman civilization, but
more essentially to the inner development of religious concepts
and beliefs among Jews, particularly those concerning death.
In Biblical times, the rites and customs connected with
death stood entirely apart from the Jewish religion. Jewish
leaders were rather hostile to the customs practiced when
death occurred. Some of the mourning customs were sternly
prohibited by the teachers and spokesmen of the Jewish faith
who considered them primitive and heathen in nature, not
befitting a people holy unto the Lord. Other customs, which
were not considered particularly heathenish or repugnant,
were tolerated as outbursts of grief. Such customs, still re-
membered as originating in the primitive belief in the spirits
of the dead, could not become an integral part of the estab-
lished rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion and retained
their existence only as popular customs.
In the era of which we now speak, this situation was en-
tirely changed. The origin of these customs had been almost
forgotten. The Jewish monotheistic religion, firmly estab-
lished and deeply rooted, was in no danger any more of being
submerged by heathen beliefs and cults. Thus, official sanction
was given now to many popular customs and practices. The
whole outlook on death had been changed by the belief in the
future life in heaven and in the resurrection of the dead with
229
230 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
the coming of the Messiah. The majority of the Jews, the fol-
lowers of the Pharisees, believed that death is not the total
extinction of man's life as it was conceived in ancient Biblical
days (see further on pp. 237 ff.).
The rites, customs, and practices connected with death,
burial, and mourning, assumed a new aspect. They no longer
stood apart from the Jewish religion, but became an integral
part of Jewish religious life, with the rabbis of the Talmud
regulating all minute details.
As Death Drew Near ... At this period written testaments
were already in vogue, although any oral will made by a man
mortally ill was as valid and binding as a written will.
At the end of a man's life, besides testaments in regard to
property, he often charged his offspring to carry on his ideals
and his way of life. We do not find any ethical wills in writ-
ing, but we do hear of many verbally delivered testaments of
this character. In ancient Biblical times, in some rare instances,
leaders had addressed the people before their death. Now re-
ligious and moral exhortations had become popular, especially
among the religious teachers of the people, the rabbis of the
Talmud. Some of them who remained conscious until the mo-
ment of death uttered statements from the Torah, recited
psalms and prayers, and made a confession of their sins. 2 * 5
When Death Came . . . When death came, the eyes and
mouth of the deceased were closed, usually by the oldest son.
The kinsfolk gave the departed a farewell kiss. All who were
present at the deathbed tore their garments. Under foreign
influence, many innovations were introduced in regard to the
treatment of the corpse. It was laid on the floor on sand, or on
a layer of refrigerated salt in order to prevent rapid decay in
the hot climate. Cooling vessels of metal were placed on the
dead body for the same purpose. An oil lamp or a torch
burned at the head of the corpse. In general, great care was
taken not to dishonor the dead.
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 231
The news of a death was announced by the sound of a
crumpet. All the inhabitants of the locality were in duty bound
to refrain from their usual labors, unless there was a burial
brotherhood which took care of the burial. 245
Preparations -for the Funeral . . . There was only a short in-
terval between death and interment, the burial taking place
on the same day as the death, as in Biblical times. Delay of
the burial until the next day was permitted only if the delay
contributed to the honor of the departed one in order to notify
people of the surrounding towns and villages of the funeral;
or if the professional wailing women had to be brought from
another locality; or if the coffin and shrouds could not be pre-
pared on the same day. In Jerusalem, under no circumstances,
was a corpse allowed to remain within the gates overnight.
The corpses were deposited in open graves and carefully in-
spected for several days in order to ascertain that death had
really occurred.
Among the Greeks and Romans, and also among the Jews,
the corpse was washed and anointed with scented oil. The
kinsfolk and friends of the family performed this rite unless
there was a burial brotherhood in the community. In the case
of persons of high rank, and among the well-to-do in general,
the body was anointed with various expensive spices such as
myrrh, aloes and many others. Burning coals laden with spices
were placed before the dead, and vessels with spices were
carried before the bier. Garlands of fragrant myrtle twigs
were also laid on the coffin. 247
Shrouds and Coffins . . . The dead were not buried uncoffined
in the clothes they wore in life, as in Biblical days, but they
were interred in coffins and wore garments especially prepared
for the grave.
It became a popular belief that the dead would rise from
their graves in the same clothes in which they were buried,
and this fact may have played a part in regard to the garments
232 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
of the grave. People provided fine garments for the dead for
that great day of the Messianic Era.
There was extravagant expense and display in dressing the
corpse, which was usually wrapped in three garments made
of byssus. Funerals and burial were such an expense for the
poor classes that at times the burial expense was a greater
calamity to the relatives than the actual death. Many poor
people deserted their dead and disappeared. Following the sec-
ond destruction of Jerusalem, Rabbon Gamaliel, the Patriarch
of Jabneh, sought to lighten the funeral burden of the poor by
disregarding the fashionable custom. In his testament he ex-
pressed the desire to be buried in cheap common linen and his
example was followed by the people. Still people were re-
luctant to reduce the number of burial garments. Judah the
Patriarch, grandson of Rabbon Gamaliel, on his deathbed, ex-
pressed his desire not to be buried in several garments. Even-
tually the corpse was wrapped in a single garment of cheap
linen, and simplicity at funerals became the general rule. In
Babylonia, in the fourth century, people used rough cloth
worth a mere zuz (a quarter of a shekel) for burial shrouds.
The poor and destitute even buried their dead in a mat of
reeds, but this was regarded as a disgrace. According to the
popular belief, the soul of a man who received such a burial
was bound to the tomb, and could not join the company of*
invisible spirits who hovered over the world.
There was no exclusive color for burial shrouds. The preva-
lent color was white. Black was also used and even variegated
colors. Before death, some of the Palestinian Amora-im (the
sages of the Talmud from the third century on) expressed
their desire to be buried in a white garment, while others pre-
ferred variegated colors. The Palestinian Amora, Rabbi Jere-
miah (fourth century), expressed his desire to be wrapped in
a white garment, with shoes on his feet and a staff in his hand,
and to be buried in a roadside grave in order that he might be
completely prepared for the resurrection.
The coffin was of wood, preferably cedar, but sometimes
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 233
of limestone or clay. A cover was spread on the bottom of the
coffin and the corpse, dressed in his shroud, was laid on it, face
upward. In former days there had been a class distinction in
regard to covering the face of the corpse. The faces of the
rich people were uncovered, but the faces of the poor people
were covered, in order to hide the marks of poverty and
hunger. After the disasters following the wars against Rome,
this class distinction was abolished and the faces of both rich
and poor were covered. Only the face of a bridegroom who
died betrothed was uncovered.
Apparently under the influence of neighboring peoples,
various objects which the dead used in life, as keys or a writ-
ing tablet, were placed in or hung on the coffin, especially in
the case of one who died childless. When a man died be-
trothed, his inkstand and writing pen were laid in the coffin
to show that in death he was ready to write the k'subo which
he was not privileged to write in life. A Scroll of the Torah
was placed on the coffins of distinguished scholars, demon-
strating the zeal with which the dead studied and observed all
that was written therein. Later, the Scroll of the Torah was
merely carried in front of the bier. Abba Saul ben Batnith,
one of the Tannaim (the sages of the Talmud in the first two
centuries of the Common Era) who lived immediately after
the destruction of Jerusalem, asked that the blue thread of his
tsitsis be deposited in his coffin. Josephus relates that King
Herod lay in a coffin with a diadem on his head, a crown above
it and a sceptre in his right hand. Jews deposited valuable orna-
ments and treasures in the sepulchres of kings.
The coffin was carried to the grave on a bier. The rich pro-
vided an extravagantly lavish bier consisting of a richly
adorned and highly decorated couch. King Herod was car-
ried to his sepulchre on a golden bier covered with purple
cloth, embroidered with many precious stones. The poor used
a common frame made of reeds. This class distinction was also
abolished in the period following the destruction of Jerusalem
and all coffins were carried on cheap reed biers. 248
234 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
The Funeral . . . The funeral procession went from the
house of the departed to the grave, attended by almost the
entire community, who considered it a religious duty to join
and accompany a funeral procession. Even the study of the
Torah could be interrupted to pay the last honor to the dead.
If one could not join the funeral procession, he at least rose
from his place when it passed.
The bier was carried on the shoulders of pall-bearers who
walked barefooted. Carrying the bier was considered a re-
ligious act. A large number of pall-bearers surrounded the
bier, and when one group was tired they were relieved by
another. The mourners followed, barefooted, directly behind
the bier. Men and women taking part in the funeral procession
were separated. In some localities the men followed the bier
behind the mourners and the women walked before it; in other
localities, the men preceded the bier while the women fol-
lowed the mourners, as was customary among the Greeks.
Hired mourning women were present at every funeral.
Originally, they walked in front of the bier, as among the
Egyptians. In this period, in Judea, the wailing women walked
behind the bier; in Galilee, they walked before it. Musical in-
struments were used; two pipes and one woman who chanted
were the minimum of indispensable vocal and instrumental
music. At some funerals, dirges and lamentations were chanted
by many hired singers. Musicians accompanied the singers
with pipes, horns, and tambourines. Even in broad daylight,
the funeral cortege was accompanied by torch bearers.
In this order the funeral procession, beginning at the house
of mourning, went toward the burial place which was located
at least fifty ells from the boundaries of the town. As the
funeral cortege moved through the streets of the town, new
people joined the procession, for to let a funeral procession
pass without joining it was regarded as sinful.
On the way, many stops were made in order that the bearers
of the bier could be relieved by others who wished to share
in this religious act. At these stops, the bier was placed in the
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 235
street or on the road. In the case of a deceased female no stops
were made, so as to avoid an accident which might make the
corpse visible.
At each stop, the hired mourners chanted their dirges and
lamentations, beating their breasts, expressing grief in rhythmi-
cal movements of the hands and feet, and eulogizing the dead.
If there was only one hired mourner, the women attending
the funeral voluntarily responded in chorus. Some fragments
of the funeral dirges of that period have been preserved in the
Talmud. In Palestine the wailing women called on all who
attended the funeral to join in the song of lament with these
words: "Weep with him, all you of bitter hearts!" In Baby-
lonia, the mourners chanted: "Hide yourselves and cover
yourselves, you mountains, for he was the son of high and
exalted ones," laying stress on the merits of the ancestors of
the deceased. 249
Funeral Orations ... In addition to the songs of grief and
lamentation, funeral discourses were delivered in which the
life and good deeds of the dead were eulogized in the current
style and manner connecting and interweaving those deeds
with verses of the Bible. The significance attached to the
funeral orations varied. Some regarded them as a consolation
to the survivors, but for the most part, the eulogy was a mark
of honor to the departed. The popular belief was that, as long
as the stone was not placed on the burial cave, the dead in a
sort of dream heard the praise uttered in their memory. Before
his death, the famous Babylonian Amora, Abba Arikha or Rav
as he was called for short, urged Rabbi Samuel bar Shelath
to deliver an impassioned oration over his corpse. "For," said
he, "I shall surely be there and hear your words."
Funeral orations were delivered at the stopping stations of
the funeral cortege, or in a special building belonging to the
family of the deceased, used in times of mourning and located
near the burial place. Funeral orations were also delivered in
the synagogue. Rabbi Judah the Patriarch died in Sepphoris,
236 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
but his sepulchre was in Beth-Sh'orirn. On the way from Sep-
poris to Beth-Sh'orim, the funeral cortege made stops at eight-
een synagogues in order to hear the various funeral discourses
delivered at each of them.
The funeral speaker was a rabbi or a relative of the de-
ceased, or a professional funeral speaker hired for this purpose.
Often the eulogies of these professional funeral preachers
aroused the ire of many people. Anecdotes were told about
hired funeral speakers who were given the last savings of the
family to deliver the funeral eulogy. In the case of unimportant
people, only a set formula of commemoration was pronounced.
Embellishing the facts in eulogizing the dead was not uni-
formly the custom. In Judea, exaggerations were generally
allowed; in Jerusalem, people kept strictly to facts.
Some fragments of funeral eulogies delivered at the death
of distinguished rabbis have been preserved in the Talmud.
When Samuel the Little (one of the Tannaim who lived after
the destruction of the Second Temple) died childless, his key
and writing tablet were hung on his coffin and Rabbon Gama-
liel and Rabbi Eliezer pronounced the following eulogy:
"Over this one we ought to shed tears, over this one we have
to grieve. When kings die they transmit their crown to their
children, the wealthy leave their wealth to their children, but
Samuel the Little has taken with him all the precious things of
the world and has gone." In the Talmud are also found some
fragments of funeral orations delivered by professional funeral
orators in Babylonia, couched in pure poetic Hebrew. Here
are two of them:
'When the flame seized the cedars, what shall the hyssop
on the wall do? When Leviathan was caught by the angler's
hook, what shall the fishes of the pond expect? When the fish-
ing line was dropped in the rushing stream, what shall the
stagnant waters do?"
"Weep for those who are mourning and not for the one
whom we lost; for he came to his rest and we remained moan-
ing."
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 237
The Last Funeral Rites . . . When the corpse was interred,
final leave was taken from the departed with the words "Lech
tfsholom" (go in peace) . The funeral rites were not completed
until certain rites were observed after the burial. At some dis-
tance from the grave, the participants in the funeral formed
an aisle and as the mourners passed between, they uttered
words of consolation. In some localities in Galilee, the mourn-
ers stood in the line and the people comforted them, the
mourners standing at the left of the comforters. On the return
from the grave, stops were made at a minimum of seven places.
At these stops, praises of the departed were pronounced, which
consoled the survivors, and speeches were made by the mourn-
ers to the assembled people. A signal was given for stopping
and resuming the march. The formula for stopping was: "Sit
down, worthies, sit down"; for resuming the march: "Rise
up, worthies, rise up!" The signal was given by one of the
worthies of the community or by the head of the burial broth-
erhood where such a brotherhood was in existence.
The rites of mourning lasted for seven days after the
burial 251
The Meal of the Mourners ... As in Biblical times, the
mourners ate food brought to them by relatives and friends.
On the first day, a mourner was not allowed to eat his own
food. In the days preceding the second destruction of Jeru-
salem, the meal eaten after the funeral was a splendid public
feast, the expense of which ruined the poor who strove to
emulate the rich. Josephus relates that Archelaus, the son and
successor of Herod as ruler of Judea, gave a very expensive
funeral feast to the multitude of Jerusalem during the entire
seven days he mourned his father, and apparently he was not
the only man of high rank to display such lavishness. The rich
used valuable dishes on which to serve the funeral meal to the
mourners, and the class distinction in this respect was as
marked as the difference in the shrouds and bier. Among the
rich, the food was brought to the mourners on dishes pf silver
238 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
and gold, and wine was served in cups of rare and expensive
white glass. Among the poor, food was brought in wicker
baskets and the wine was served in cups of inexpensive colored
glass. This class distinction also was eventually abolished, and
both rich and poor brought food in inexpensive wicker baskets
and served the wine in cups of cheap glass. The religious au-
thorities declared that ten cups of wine be served the mourners
in the house of mourning; three before the meal, three during
the meal and four after the meal. Special benedictions and
prayers were recited over the cups of wine poured after the
meal in the presence of a quorum of ten, not including the
mourners. A dish of lentils was prominent among the foods
served to the mourners. The benedictions were recited at the
meal eaten after the funeral, and also during the other seven
days of mourning, if new visitors came to the house. The
benedictions enhanced the religious aspect of the ceremony
and integrated the rites and customs of mourning into the re-
ligious life of the Jews.
The Period of Mourning . . . The rabbis of the Talmud did
not condone excessive grief and mourning for the dead, basing
their exhortation on the words of Jeremiah, "Weep ye not for
the dead, neither bemoan him" (Jer. 22: ro). According to the
Talmud weeping should be limited to three days, lamentation
to seven days, and refraining from calendering the clothes and
cutting the hair to thirty days. Exceeding these limits consti-
tuted a challenge to God, implying that human beings were
more merciful than the Holy One, blessed be He.
The practices of strict mourning during the "seven days"
and the less severe practices during the "thirty days" were
minutely regulated, and many points were disputed among the
religious authorities of the Talmud.
At this period as in Biblical times, many ancient customs of
mourning were still practiced, as rending the garments, re-
moving the shoes, covering the head and sitting on the ground.
Some of the ancient customs had been changed and modified.
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 239
The custom of wearing coarse sackcloth was discontinued.
Instead, sackcloth was hung at the door. The custom of plac-
ing dust on the head became merely a symbol, and instead of
putting the dust on their heads, the mourners picked up some
earth and threw it into the air. The primitive custom of making
a bald spot in the hair was reversed, forbidding the mourner
to cut his hair during the thirty days of mourning, and, in the
case of the death of a father or a mother, until rebuked by his
friends for his uncomeliness.
Among the new customs of mourning was the inversion of
beds, couches and lamps in the house of mourning during the
seven days, with the exception of the Sabbath. The mourners
slept and ate on these inverted beds. 252
The old custom of fasting for the dead was discarded.
Mourners refrained only from meat and wine before the
burial, but were prohibited from bathing and anointing them-
selves. The customs of mourning which had now become re-
ligious precepts regulated in their details by the rabbis of the
Talmud did not allow the mourner to leave the house of
mourning or to pursue his handicraft even inside of the house.
Only in case of dire want was a mourner allowed to pursue
his occupation in privacy after the first three days have passed.
A mourner was not allowed to read the Bible with the excep-
tion of the books of Lamentations, Job, and the sad portions of
Jeremiah, nor could he learn any branch of Talmudic lore,
because it is assumed that the study of Torah brings joy. On
the first three days a mourner might not put on phylacteries.
During the first thirty days, the mourner might inquire for
the peace of others, but others must not inquire for his peace.
One peculiar custom of mourning in that period required
the baring of the shoulder, compulsory only in the case of the
death of a father or a mother. In the case of the death of other
kinsfolk, the mourner's decision regarding the observance of
this manifestation of mourning was voluntary.
Even thirty days was not the maximum time of mourning.
Only after twelve months was the state of mourning com-
240 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
pletely ended. When one met a friend in mourning within
the twelve months, he was supposed to speak words of conso-
lation to him, but not to inquire for his peace. In the case of
the death of a parent, within the twelve months the mourner
could not participate in any joyous feast unless the feast was
of such a nature that participation was considered a religious
act (a mitsvo).
These manifestations of mourning were not confined to
death. They were also practiced on other occasions of dis-
tress and grief, as in the case of excommunication or on fast
days. 253
Comforting the Mourners ... In the seven days of severe
mourning, relatives, friends, acquaintances, and all the people
of the community who were eager to do a pious deed, visited
the house of mourning to console the mourners. If a man died
leaving no survivors to mourn for him, ten men came to sit at
the house where he died. In the first centuries of the Common
Era a mourner did not leave the house of mourning even on
the Sabbath to go to the synagogue. Instead, the people came
to him. In this period, comforting mourners had assumed para-
mount religious importance. The homilists of the Midrashim
believed the comforting of mourners entailed a singular re-
ligious merit which bestow r ed the Holy Spirit and rescued
from Gehenna. In Jerusalem and in other cities and towns in
Palestine, there was a special brotherhood who went to com-
fort mourners, similar to other existing brotherhoods whose
duties entailed religious merit (see p. 26 and p. 156).
No one went to the house of mourning empty-handed. Ev-
eryone carried some food, a cruse of wine, loaves of bread,
vegetables and legumes. Cooked fish and meat were brought
in a pot. If there was a brotherhood which went to houses of
mourning, its members took care of providing the mourners
with food.
In the Talmud, in the second century C.E., we find a one-
word formula for consoling mourners, consisting of the single
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 24!
Hebrew word tisnechomu (be comforted). Anyone could say
this word, but few were able to pronounce the long benedic-
tions and prayers which were recited over cups of wine after
the meal of the mourners, following the funeral, and on the
other seven days of mourning, if new faces appeared in the
house. If a homilist was present, he delivered a homily appro-
priate to the occasion. Here is the version of the benedictions
and prayers recited in a house of mourning by a Palestinian
Amora of the third century C.E.
"Blessed be Thou, God our Lord, King of the world, the
God who is great in the abundance of His greatness, mighty
and strong in the multitude of awe-inspiring deeds, Who re-
viveth the dead with His word, Who doeth great things
that are unsearchable and wondrous works without number.
Blessed Art Thou, O Lord, who revivest the dead."
"Our brethren, who are worn out, who are crushed by this
bereavement, set your heart to consider this. This it is that
standeth forever, it is a path from the six days of creation.
Many have drunk, many will drink; as the drinking of the
first ones, so will be that of the last ones. Our brethren, the
Lord of consolation comfort you. Blessed be He who com-
forteth the mourners."
"Our charitable brethren, bestowers of lovingkindnesses,
who hold fast to the covenant of Abraham, our father, our
brethren, may the Lord of recompense pay you your reward.
Blessed art Thou, who payest the recompense."
"Master of the worlds, redeem and save, deliver and help
Thy people Israel from pestilence, and from the sword, and
from plundering, and from the blast, and from the mildew,
and from all kinds of calamities that may break forth and come
into the world. Before we call, mayest Thou answer. Blessed
art Thou who stayest the plague."
The benedictions praised God, comforted the mourners,
blessed the comforters of the mourners, and ended with a
prayer asking God to save the Jewish people from the calami-
ties which threaten the world.
242 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
We are not sure whether these quoted benedictions were
the accepted version or the composition of an individual
Amora, Whatever the accepted version in the first centuries
of the Common Era, in post-Talmudic times different ver-
sions of the benedictions of mourners were in vogue, the pre-
dominating motif of which was mourning for Zion, longing
for the coming of the Messiah, and the rebuilding of Jeru-
salem. In the course of time this rite of reciting special bene-
dictions in the house of mourning was completely discarded. 254
Bund ... In Rome, cremation was used more than inter-
ment. In Babylonia where the fire-worshippers ruled, inter-
ment and cremation were both interdicted on the ground that
neither the earth nor the fire should be contaminated by a
corpse, which was exposed on an elevated place to be devoured
by birds of prey. Unlike the Romans and the Persians, the
Jews exclusively disposed of the dead by burial Since their
attitude was distinguished from their non-Jewish neighbors,
their interment of the dead assumed among them a religious
aspect. They declared that the earth atoned for the sins of
the dead.
This quality of expiation they attributed particularly to the
soil of the Holy Land, basing the belief on the words of the
Bible, "And doth make expiation for the land of His people"
(Deut. 32:43). A Babylonian Amora expressed it in the sen-
tence, u Being buried in the Land of Israel is like being buried
under the Altar." In addition to this quality, it was believed
that in the Messianic Era it w r ould be advantageous for the
dead to be buried in Palestinian soil. Only in the Land of Israel
would the dead rise from their graves, whereas in the lands of
the dispersion, the dead would have to roll through caverns
under the ground until they reached the Land of Israel. The
dearest wish of every pious Jew was burial in the Holy Land.
The coffins of many Princes of the Exile in Babylonia were
brought for interment to the Land of Israel The Jews of
Babylonia had a special reason for wishing to be buried in
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 243
Palestine. They were not secure in their graves in Babylonia,
for often the fire-worshippers, in their fanatical zeal for the
tenets of their faith, dug up and despoiled Jewish graves.
In those times, people walking in the streets of Palestinian
towns often saw a coffin brought there from abroad. Some-
times a small casket containing only the remaining bones of
the corpse and not the coffin with the corpse was transported
to the Holy Land. It was customary to place a handful of
earth on the coffin as soon as it reached the soil of the Land of
Israel, as an act of expiation for the sin of having lived and
died "in an unclean land." 255
A suicide was buried in silence, without any solemn rites or
public manifestations of grief and mourning. Only the rites
entailing honor to the survivors were observed. There was no
manifestation of mourning for one who was executed by the
Jewish court, but all" rites and honors were accorded to those
who were executed by the Roman government for political
offenses. An apostate was never mourned even by his nearest
kindred. 256
The Second Burial ... In the Greco-Roman period of Jew-
ish history, Jews of Palestine reburied their dead after the
corpse had been reduced to mere bones. The first burial in the
family sepulchre was only temporary. After a lapse of a year
or more, the niche in the cave or burial chamber hewn in a
rocky mountain was opened and the bones were gathered and
reburied in the same burial chamber or transferred to another
burial place. The Talmud calls this second burial likut atsomos
(gathering of bones).
The work of gathering the bones was done by a grave-dig-
ger whose vocation was the building of graves, by a brother-
hood organized especially for this purpose, or by the relatives.
Children were forbidden to gather the bones of their parents.
The gathered bones were wrapped like a mummy with bands
of linen, or placed in baskets or sacks after sprinkling them
with wine or oiL The bones of men were gathered by men,
244 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
the bones of women by women. The bones of two persons
were not to be intermingled.
At the second burial, the bones, placed in a special recepta-
cle, were reburied in a cave or a field, a family possession. The
rites and customs of mourning were partially repeated, but
only until sunset.
The receptacles in which the bones were permanently bur-
ied were chests made of cedar, clay or soft stone. These little
coffins were first unearthed, mostly in the vicinity of Jeru-
salem, in the seventies of the nineteenth century. More re-
cently, hundreds of them were found around Jerusalem.
All were boxes of white limestone, with covers decorated
with rosettes, colonnades, palm branches, and geometric draw-
ings, and often bearing the name of the dead person in Hebrew
or Greek. When these queer chests were first discovered,
archaeologists were not able to explain their original nature
and purpose. Finally, scholars were convinced that these boxes
did not contain hidden valuables, but were ossuaries, recepta-
cles for the bones of the dead.
The second burial was not a universal custom among Jews,
but was confined to Palestine in the Greco-Roman period.
Even within the bounds of Palestine it was not practiced by
all the Jews. The custom was practiced among the Greeks and
the Romans. Some scholars see the influence of the Greco-
Roman civilization in this practice of the Palestinian Jews;
others ascribe it to the fact that the population of Palestine had
increased enormously in the last two centuries of the Second
Temple and there was not enough room in the family graves
for all the dead. The two factors do not exclude one another;
both had some influence in the development of this practice
among the Palestinian Jews. 257
The Burial Brotherhood . . . The burial brotherhood of this
period was the predecessor of the Chevro Kadisbo (Holy
Brotherhood) of our days. Originally, relatives and friends of
the deceased took care of the corpse and the funeral. This
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 245
proved embarrassing for the survivors, and in the Roman
period, influenced apparently by the Roman burial societies,
brotherhoods for burying the dead were founded in the larger
Jewish communities. The burial brotherhood announced the
news of the death, washed, anointed, and dressed the corpse;
appointed pall-bearers, engaged musicians, chanting women
and funeral orators, and in general, took care of the proper
order of the funeral. There was a wfmune^ a supervisor of
funerals, who was the head of the brotherhood.
The burial brotherhood took up a collection of money when
death occurred in a poor family which could not defray the
burial expenses. Sometimes the money collected exceeded the
sum needed for the burial and the Tannaim expressed various
opinions regarding the use to be made of this surplus. One felt
the remainder belonged to the heirs of the deceased; another,
that it should be used for a monument on the grave; a third,
that the money remain unused for an indefinite time ("until
Elijah will come"). In order to forestall the exigency in case
of death in a destitute family, a special communal fund was
established for helping the poor to bury their dead. 258
Graves and Monuments in Palestine ... In Palestine, Jews
of this period had no cemetery, i.e., no common graveyard for
the community, as in Biblical times. The dead were still in-
terred in family sepulchres. Some few common graveyards
existed as an exception to the rule the graveyard for those
executed by the court, the field for the burial of strangers, and
the field of graves for those who died in battle who were to
be buried in the field where they fell.
The dead were interred in sepulchres which were the prop-
erty of the respective family, barring burial of all strangers.
According to the Talmudic law, if one sold his family sepul-
chre, his kinsfolk might bury him in it, for it was a discredit to
the family to bury a member outside.
The graves had to be located at least fifty ells from the
town and not on its western side, in order to forestall the pel-
246 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
luting of the air by the western winds blowing from the Medi-
terranean, which predominate in Palestine, especially in the
summer. 259
The sepulchre, regarded as the house of the dead, resembled
its counterpart, the house of the living. The burial ground was,
and still is, called "house." The Bible terms it "house," "eternal
house," "the house appointed for all living." In the Talmud
and Midrash it is also called "eternal house" but mostly "house
of graves." "Eternal House" (Beis Olam) , the "House of Life"
(Beis Chayim) are the terms by which Jews still designate a
cemetery. 260
The sepulchre was influenced in many ways by the progress
of civilization. In ancient pre-Greek times, Jewish graves were
very simple, devoid of any ornamentation. In the Greco-
Roman period, more stress was laid on the adornment of
graves. The sepulchres of that period discovered near Jeru-
salem show the influence of Greek and Egyptian art, although
even at this period, Jews were far less extravagant than other
nations. Jews built burial chambers of white marble or laid
with marble plates, and the area on and around the burial
ground was planted with trees and roses.
In the Greco-Roman period it became fashionable to put
up monuments on graves. We hear of a magnificent structure
erected by Simon the Maccabee at Modin on the grave of his
parents and his brethren. According to the First Book of Mac-
cabees and Josephus, this structure, built of white, polished
stone, rose to a great height in order to make it visible from
afar. The structure was surrounded by arcades and provided
with great monolithic pillars which could be seen from the
Mediterranean Sea. In addition, Simon erected seven large and
beautiful pyramids to commemorate his parents and brethren.
This monument was still in existence in the fourth century
(C.E.). Josephus also mentions the monument on the grave of
John Hyrcanus, Simon's son, that on the grave of Alexander
Janneus, Simon's grandson, and the three pyramids on the
grave of Queen Helena of Adiabene and her sons. He also tells
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 247
us that King Herod built a monument of white stone on the
ancient grave of King David. There were various kinds of
sepulchral monuments consisting of massive blocks of stone
or monoliths. Some were built in the shape of houses resting
on pillars and were provided with a compartment for the liv-
ing, for the survivors, when they visited the grave, or as a
regular dwelling for a watchman of the grave. Only two of
these grave monuments have been preserved.
These monuments were entirely different from the tomb-
stones of our day and should not be confused with them.
Some of them may have had the name of the dead on them,
but their inscriptions did not describe the qualities of the de-
ceased, give his or her age and the date of death. Nor did they
bear the name matsevo by which the tombstones have been
called since the Middle Ages. A monument on a grave in Tal-
mudic times was called nefesh, the Hebrew word for soul
(plural tf-foshos} ,
These expensive monuments were confined to the wealthy
families. In the period following the second destruction of
Jerusalem, spending great sums for the adornment of graves
was not a popular practice. The rabbis of that period expressed
their opposition to the erection of monuments in the Talmudic
saying, "No monuments should be erected for the righteous,
because their words are their memorial." Displeasure against
the adornment of graves and erection of magnificent monu-
ments may also be found in the statement of the Talmud that
Amon and Moab, hostile neighbors of the Jews, told Nebu-
chadnezzar that Jewish graves were more splendid than his
palace. The rabbis of the Talmud projected the conditions of
their own days into the distant past.
The authorities marked spots in fields which might possibly
contain the bones of dead. Signs were placed at both ends of
these areas warning people not to tread on them and thereby
incur impurity. These signs were whitewashed every year on
the fifteenth of Ador, when the rainy season was over, in order
that the pilgrims going to Jerusalem should avoid these spots. 281
248 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
Graves were frequently visited, a practice still customary in
the Orient, especially on fast days. The rabbis of the Talmud
differed as to the purpose of this custom. One believed it signi-
fied "We are before Thee as dead/' According to another
opinion, visiting graves was permitted in order "that the de-
parted ones should pray for mercy on our behalf," In post-
Talinudic times many people gathered at the graves of scholars
on the anniversary of their death. When a grave was visited,
phylacteries could not be worn, a Scroll of the Torah could
not be carried and the ritual threads (tsitsis) not worn close to
the earth. For to do these things was a mockery of the dead
and a transgression of the saying of Proverbs: "Whosoever
mocketh the poor blasphemeth his Maker" (17:5).
A special benediction was recited when graves were visited.
Graves were visited only in broad daylight. To stay over-
night in a burial ground, the haunt of the ghosts of the dead,
was believed to be extremely dangerous. If a man was coura-
geous enough to brave the danger and stay among graves
overnight, people believed he might overhear conversation
between the spirits of the dead and so procure advance infor-
mation on fateful decisions made in heaven. 262
Graves and Monuments in the Diaspora . . . From Palestine
we turn to Babylonia which had become the seat of Jewish
life and Jewish learning, by the side of the Land of Israel,
Because of the nature of the terrain, which is free from caves
and mountains, the Jews of Babylonia, unlike their Palestinian
brethren, did not bury their dead in subterranean chambers,
but in graves dug in the surface of the ground, with mounds of
earth on top of them. These graves, level with a field, were not
suited for family sepulchres. The burial grounds of the Baby-
Ionian Jews became the common graveyard of the community,
the cemetery, in the present sense of the word. 263
From the East we turn west to Rome, where the settlement
of the Jews dated back to the Maccabean age. The Jews of
Rome retained their native custom of burying the dead in sub-
IN THE FIRST CENTURIES C.E. 249
terranean chambers. Many of these Jewish burial grottos in
Rome were discovered and investigated in recent times. They
were called by the Greek name catacombs. The ancient
Christian catacombs of Rome were discovered first. Later,
older Jewish catacombs were discovered, proving that the an-
cient Christians had copied from the Je\vs the custom of in-
terring the dead in subterranean graves.
The Jews who had emigrated to Rome retained this native
Palestinian custom, although in other respects they did adapt
themselves to their heathen environment. Many Jewish cata-
combs have decorations, picturing scenes from Greco-Roman
mythology. Some of the catacombs were without any pic-
tures, some w^ere decorated with Jewish motifs, as: a seven-
branched candlestick, a Torah shrine, a shofor, an esrog, a
lulov. There were also pictures, half Jewish, half heathen, as:
a seven-branched candlestick in the hands of winged genii.
Among the non-Jewish pictures found in the Jewish cata-
combs was a picture of Fortuna, goddess of fortune and fate.
In the catacombs, the dead were mostly buried uncoffined,
but were equipped with jewelry and many useful objects.
Bracelets inlaid with precious stones, amulets, lamps, gilded
glasses, copper coins, and many other objects have been found.
Giving a coin to the dead was a Greek custom, for the Greeks
placed a coin under the tongue of the dead to pay Charon, the
ferryman of Greek mythology, who ferried the deceased over
the waters of death into the nether w r orld.
In spite of the influence of the Roman environment, the
Jews of Rome remained loyal to their people and their faith.
This loyalty was proved by the sacred symbols of the syna-
gogue which they depicted on their graves. 264
In the Middle Ages
While Jewish marriage was entirely transformed during the
Middle Ages, the customs relating to death did not yield so
much to the changes of time. These rites and usages, precepts
and inhibitions in connection with death, fixed and regulated
by the rabbis of the Talmud, have for the most part persisted
until recent days. They are still being practiced among Ortho-
dox Jews in America. In the long stretch of time separating
the Talmudic era from the late Middle Ages, only a few of
these practices were modified, or even discarded. The pro-
cedure of burial and mourning remained essentially the same.
Whatever changes took place were due more to the change
of environment than to the factor of time. During the Middle
Ages the main scene of Jewish life shifted from the East to
the West. Some of the practices which had been appropriate
to the Oriental scene were out of place among the Franco-
German Jews. The general tendency was to discard the sump-
tuous, extravagant and ostentatious practices of the Orient.
In the following pages we shall outline the most conspicuous
changes made during the Middle Ages.
^n the Deathbed . . . The tsavo-o (command), the last will
eft by the deceased, which in olden times was a verbal charge,
Became a literary product, occasionally an elaborate treatise
>n ritual and morals. The vidui (confession of sins before
leath) gained great importance in late and post-Talmudic
imes. When a Jew was about to die, he was advised by the
riends who visited him to make a full confession of his sins,
he become alarmed at the apparent imminence of death,
250
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 251
they casually told him that many people who recited the con-
fession recovered from their illness, while others passed away
without repenting. 265
Preparations -for the Funeral ... In the Middle Ages, the an-
cient custom of giving the deceased a farewell kiss and anoint-
ing the corpse was discarded. Occasionally, at the beginning
of the fifteenth century, red tachrichim (shrouds) were used,
but in the sixteenth century, white linen became the exclusive
material for the shrouds.
A great change took place regarding the coffin. In Talmudic
rimes it had been regarded as a dishonor to be buried without
a coffin; but in the Middle Ages there was no general rule as
to whether one was buried with or without a coffin. The cus-
tom varied in the various lands and communities. In Spain, the
coffin was not in vogue. Among the French Jews the coffin was
made from the table which had witnessed the hospitality and
generosity of the deceased. In the sixteenth century, under
the influence of the Cabalists, the notion became prevalent
both inside and outside of the Holy Land that it was more
meritorious for the dead to be in direct contact with the earth.
The words of the Bible, "for dust thou art and unto dust shah
thou return," were then literally fulfilled. Among the Chris-
tians in the Middle Ages, the dead were generally interred
uncoffined.
Interment without a coffin became the rule strictly adhered
to by Orthodox Jews in Eastern Europe to the present day. In
America and in Western Europe, Orthodox Jews were forced
by the municipal administration to reintroduce the coffin. 266
The Fzmeral . . . Displaying objects on the coffin symboliz-
ing the life of the deceased and the burning of incense had
fallen into disuse. The flutes and the professional mourners
had been discarded in the lands of the West, although in the
East mention is made of the chanting women as late as on the
threshold of modern times. A peculiar custom prevailed in the
DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
Jewish community of Saragossa, Spain. The mourners at-
tended the services in the synagogue even on the first seven
days of mourning and returned home accompanied by the
whole congregation. On the way, a wailing woman chanted
a dirge, accompanying herself on a tambourine. The other
women responded to the chant vocally and with the clapping
of hands. (This custom is recorded in the fourteenth cen-
tury.) 287
The Mourners' Meal . . . The meal of the mourners had be-
come an ordinary meal brought to the house by strangers, and
was no longer a public feast with ten cups of wine and the
solemn recital of special benedictions. Eggs replaced lentils as
the main dish.
Signs of Mourning . . . The old customs of inverting sofas
and covering the head, provoking ridicule from their non-
Jewish neighbors, were discarded by the European Jews. In
France and Italy, covering the head was discarded in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In the Rhineland, at the time
of Maharil, in order to keep his head covered, the mourner
wore his cowled cape during the first seven days of mourning.
After the first seven days of strict mourning, the mourner
went about with the cowl over his head for twelve months if
he mourned a parent, and for thirty days for other kindred.
In the Rhineland this old Oriental custom was thus retained by
substituting the hood for the turban. In the Orient, as late as
the sixteenth century, a mourner kept his head covered with a
talis or a turban reaching to his mouth during the seven days
of mourning. Only when visitors came to the house of mourn-
ing to bring him comfort did he uncover his head.
In the Middle Ages, no mention is made of baring the
shoulder, a custom obligatory even in Talmudic times only at
the death of a parent. In the East, the gruesome practice of
cutting the flesh as a sign of mourning was not entirely extinct,
even as late as the seventeenth century.
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 253
In some communities the mourners were provided with food
during the entire week of mourning from the chest of the
community or of the Chevro Kadisho (burial fraternity) . The
rich shared alike with the poor in order not to shanie the poor
who were forced to become public charges during this week.
Afterward the rich returned more than had been given them
originally. 288
In the Synagogue ... In Talmudic times, the rites of mourn-
ing, as well as the circumcision ceremonial and the wedding
celebration, were all exclusively home affairs. The mourner
did not leave the house to go to the synagogue even on the
Sabbath of the first week of mourning, nor was any prayer or
doxology recited or chanted in memory of the dead during
that time. In post-Talmudic times, mourning was linked with
the synagogue and the old custom underwent a change. The
congregation no longer went to the mourner, for he attended
the synagogue on the Sabbath, where he stood in an anteroom
behind the door, or in an isolated nook. After the chazan had
finished Musof (the additional prayer on Sabbaths and festive
days), he went to the place in the synagogue where the
mourners stood and pronounced a benediction, and recited
Kaddish. This usage was not uniform. In communities in
Babylonia and Spain the mourner went daily to the syna-
gogue during the first week of mourning, while in other re-
gions he visited the synagogue only on the Sabbath. In the
Rhineland on the Sabbath of the first week of mourning, the
whole congregation accompanied the mourner from the syna-
gogue to his house. Maharil praised this custom as a consola-
tion for the mourner. 269
The rites of mourning became more closely connected with
the prevailing custom whereby an orphan recited Kaddish in
memory of his dead parent. In general, prayers for the dead
became a part of the services in the synagogues. These rites
and customs, which developed prominently in recent times,
will be dealt with at length in a subsequent chapter.
254 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
Graves tend Tombstones . . . Every Jewish community, no
matter how small, had its place of worship, the synagogue, but
only the larger communities owned their fields of graves, and
there, the Jews of the small communities brought their dead
for interment. Transporting a corpse from one town to an-
other was not always an easy matter. A special permit had to
be obtained from the police, and in some places, a high toll
was collected from the cortege for the privilege of entering
the environs; also for passing through the town.
It was apparently under Roman influence that in the early
Middle Ages the custom arose to erect a tombstone with an
inscription, commemorating the name and status of the de-
ceased. This commemorative stone has been termed "matsevo,"
the Biblical name for the sacred stone. For a long time, the use
of the matsevo was not a universal custom, and in the twelfth
century, numerous graves were found without it. In the four-
teenth century, however, the matsevo had become a necessary
supplement of the burial, although even a generation ago, in
Eastern Europe, a grave without a matsevo was not unusual.
Only recently has the matsevo been accepted universally as an
integral part of the grave.
Two different ways of erecting a matsevo evolved in the
Middle Ages. The German Jews placed the stone in an upright
position, while the Jews in southern France and Spain laid it
flat upon the grave. This difference in the position of the
matsevo still prevails among the Ashk'nazim and the S'fardim.
The Hebre\v epitaphs of the early Middle Ages were brief
and simple. Later, they became more detailed and high-sound-
ing. On some of the tombstones in Germany, in the late Mid-
dle Ages, emblems representing the vocation of the dead were
added to the inscriptions a pair of shears for a tailor, a violin
or harp for a musician, etc.
The resting place for the dead was as crowded as the space
for the living in the ghettos. Small wonder, therefore, that two,
and even more graves were placed on top of one another,
and often as many tombstones were foui\d on the same grave.
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 255
The cemetery, called "eternal house" or "house of life," was
usually surrounded by a protective wall which did not always
afford adequate protection. The graves, as well as the houses
of the ghetto, were not secure against desecration. Frequently
Je\vs were driven from a town, their field of graves taken away
and the tombstones used for building purposes. When after a
time, they were readmitted, they had to reacquire their grave-
yard for an enormous price. When a fanatical and incited mob
assaulted the Jewish quarters, the wives and children were
hidden in the graveyard while the men tried to resist the at-
tackers. 270
Visiting Graveyards . . . The Jews of the Middle Ages like
the Christians and Mohammedans often visited graveyards to
pray at the graves of distinguished persons, notwithstanding
the stern protest of the great rabbis who considered this a
transgression of the Mosaic Law which forbade communica-
tion with the dead (Deut. 18:11). How frequently graves
were visited can be best attested by the fact that Judah the
Pious, the famous mystic of Regensburg (died 1217), pro-
hibited the visiting of a grave twice in one day. There were
occasions, as on Tisho B'Ov, when the entire congregation
repaired to the cemetery, encircling it in a procession. This
latter custom was still prevalent in Eastern Europe in our own
day (see p. 270).
Whenever exigencies of sickness or danger arose, people
resorted to the graves of the righteous and pious, invoking aid
from the dead for the living. In Babylonia, as far back as the
third century C.E., dust from the graves of famous rabbis was
applied as a remedy for fever. In the Middle Ages these super-
stitious practices assumed vast proportions. Vows were offered,
torches or tapers lighted, incense burnt, dances performed at
the graves of pious people, and votive offerings were hung on
the trees in cemeteries.
The belief in ghosts accompanied these superstitious prac-
tices. Scores of wild and horrible tales of encounters and con-
256 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
versations with dead souls were told and believed by the peo-
ple. One story told of a ghost who was met on a road on a
moonlit night. Another related how a man had fallen asleep in
the synagogue at night and was locked in by the beadle. At
midnight he awoke and saw the dead souls wrapped in prayer-
shawls, with two men who were still alive standing among
them. These two men died shortly. "The Book of the Pious M
(Sefer Chasidim) is replete with stories of this kind. So deeply
rooted was the belief in ghosts that Judah the Pious enjoined
the people not to accept any gifts from a ghost who appeared
in a dream. These gruesome beliefs and tales persisted to some
extent in Eastern Europe and the Orient even in recent days. 271
Chevro Kadisbo . . . We have already met the burial brother-
hood at the beginning of the Common Era, but we are not
sure of the form of its organization in those times, whether
there was only one fraternity for this purpose in town or the
community was divided into several sections, with a burial
brotherhood in each section. Of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries we have historical records, telling of a single burial
society which served the entire community. It was called
chavuro, the Talmudic name for a society or brotherhood, and
it had its regulations and ordinances, according to which the
family of the deceased paid for the burial in proportion to its
economic standing. Only poor families were served free of
charge. Lots were cast among the members of the brotherhood
to ascertain whose turn it was to dig the grave. If the lot fell
to a poor member, the brotherhood paid him for his day's
work. If a member of the brotherhood died, he was succeeded
by his oldest son, if the latter had attained his majority (thir-
teen years). The brotherhood took care of everything pertain-
ing to the burial as well as the mourners after the funeral, pro-
viding them with meals and with a minyon to recite prayers
in the house of mourning during the first seven days.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the burial society
was called Chevro Kadisho, Holy Society or Brotherhood.
IN THE MIDDLE AGES 257
This title, originally given also to other religious societies, be-
came in the course of time the exclusive title of the burial so-
ciety.
The Chevro Kadisho became the strongest society in the
Jewish communities. Because the brotherhood owned the
cemetery, exacting high prices for the graves from the sur-
vivors, it also became the richest society. With functions
widely ramified, it looked after the orphans and took care of
the sick poor. In the course of time the task of caring for the
sick was vested in a Bikur Cholim (visiting the sick society), a
brotherhood which branched off and became independent of
the Chevro Kadisho. 272
In Modern Times
In Eastern Europe . . . In the previous chapter, we have noted
between the Talmudic era and the late Middle Ages a small
number of changes in the customs relating to death. Still less
was the change between the Middle Ages and recent days. The
following description of the customs observed in Eastern Eu-
rope a generation ago applies as well to the late Middle Ages.
Resuscitating the Sick . . . Even in the face of approaching
death, hope was not lost. After all natural therapeutic means
were exhausted, recourse w T as had to supernatural powers.
Various remedies and means drawn from higher spheres of
religion as well as from the realm of magic and superstition
were applied.
To begin with, prayers for the sick were recited by the
congregation which gathered in the synagogue to recite psalms
and special prayers composed for the occasion. Psalm 119 was
believed to be particularly efficacious, if recited in a certain
order. This psalm is an acrostic of twenty-two stanzas con-
taining the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet in their
order. The stanzas were arranged and recited so that their be-
ginning letters constituted the full name of the sick person
with his or her mother's name.
Charity in the form of bread or money was distributed to
the poor, interpreting literally the sentence of Proverbs,
"righteousness delivereth from death" (Prov. 11:4). In post-
Biblical times, ts'doko, the Hebrew word for righteousness,
was interpreted to mean alms-giving. All the garments worn
by the sick person were distributed to the poor.
258
IN MODERN TIMES 259
Some of the kindred, especially the women folk, ran to the
synagogue with supplications, storming the Holy Ark con-
taining the Scrolls of the Torah. With their heads placed inside
the Holy Ark, the supplicants, weeping hysterically, invoked
the mercy of God for the sick. From the Holy Ark in the
synagogue, the women went to the graves in the cemetery
where, with loud cries and moans of anguish, they urged the
family dead to intercede in heaven for the one hovering be-
tween life and death. After pouring out their hearts at the
graves, the women "measured the field/' a custom described
in a previous section (p. 54) .
Adding a new name was a very popular means of averting
the threat of death, a practice previously described (p. 75).
Chevro Kadisho ... If the condition of the sick became
critical, the Chevro Kadisho were called.
The Chevro Kadisho was the largest and most important of
all the brotherhoods in the community, with a membership
composed of two groups, consisting of a small number of full
members and a considerable number of "assistants" (shamo-
shim), who performed the menial tasks. The full members
were elderly, dignified men, whereas every married man was
qualified to be a shamosh. The head of the shamoshim was a
shamosh rishon (chief assistant), who gave the orders and
supervised their work. After many years of service, an as-
sistant might be promoted to the rank of shamosh rishon and
a shamosh rishon, in his advanced age, might be promoted to
the rank of a full member. Only a man highly distinguished for
his learning and piety could be promoted to the rank of a full
member while he was still young. The entire brotherhood was
under the direction of three gabo-im who were counted among
the most eminent men of the community.
There were also female members and assistants in the Chevro
Kadisho who attended to the burial of women. The men dug
the grave, and the women made the tachrichim.
One day of the year was a Chevro Kadisho day. In some
260 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
communities it was the fifteenth day of the month of Kislev;
in others, the seventh day of Ador, the traditional anniversary
of the death of Moses; and in some it was on Lag Bo-omer.
This day was observed with fasting and penitential prayers by
all who belonged to the brotherhoods, shamoshim as well as
members. They visited the field of graves to ask forgiveness
from the dead for any dishonor that might have been done
them at their death. At dusk, between the Mincho and Ala-ariv
services, the rabbi or some learned layman delivered a dis-
course of moral exhortations at the synagogue. In the evening,
after the Ala-ariv services, a feast was held at which new
"shamoshkrf were admitted to the brotherhood or some of
the shamoshim were promoted to the rank of shamosh rishon
or of a member.
The Chevro Kadisho was the collective owner of the field
of graves and all the implements of burial.
The Ma-avar Yabok . . . Usually a member of the Chevro
Kadisho visited the sick man as soon as his condition was criti-
cal, carrying the Ma-avar Yabok (a book written by the
Cabalist Aaron Berechiah of Modena, in Italy, at the beginning
of the seventeenth century). The name, The Ford of Yabok,
was derived from the story in Genesis which tells how Jacob
took his wives and children and passed over the Ford of Yabok
The author indicated that death was a passage from a lower to
a higher, a heavenly stage of existence. The book contains, in
addition to numerous passages from the Bible and confessions
to be recited on the deathbed, a description of all rites and
usages, also meditations and prayers connected with burial.
It was reprinted in numerous editions during the last three
centuries, and is still the manual among Orthodox Jews in all
matters pertaining to death and burial.
In Anticipation of Death . . . Jews never believed in the re-
mission of sins through an intermediary. Their sins were ex-
piated on Yom Kippur and at their death, if they sincerely
IN MODERN TIMES 26 1
repented. They needed no intermediary. A member of the
Chevro Kadisho recited the confession from the Ma-avar
Yabok, while the dying person repeated the words after him.
The last words which came from the lips of the dying were
the declaration of the Jewish faith in Hebrew, "Hear, O
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." If the dying per-
son was in a coma, the member of the brotherhood recited the
confession for him. (In the case of a dying woman, a woman
member of the Chevro Kadisho recited the confession.)
Chairs were placed around the deathbed in order to prevent
a limb from protruding over the edge of the bed, basing the
custom on the story of Genesis in which Jacob "gathered up
his feet into bed and expired." If a limb emerged, it could not
be moved, because Talmudic law forbade the touching of a
dying person lest it accelerate death. No matter how pro-
tracted and tormenting the death, nor what the circumstances,
nothing could be done to hasten it.
Custom forbade that a dying person be left alone. It was
considered advantageous for the dying to have a ritual quorum
of ten present at the moment of death. If death was protracted,
one of the Chevro Kadisho remained constantly in the room.
To be present at the moment of y'tsias n'shomo (departure
of the soul) was regarded a religious act. When death was im-
minent, numerous people gathered in the house, reciting the
psalms and other passages from the Bible prescribed for the
occasion in the Ma-avar Yabok.
Candles were lit near the dying. The religious authorities
offered various explanations for this custom. Light caused the
demons to flee. A more recent explanation expressed the
thought that the light of the candles was illumination in honor
of the SWchino, the Divine Presence, that comes to meet the
departing soul. According to a third explanation, light was a
symbol of the flickering human soul.
When Death Came . . . To establish death, a feather was
placed against the nostrils to see if the breath of life still re-*
262 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
mained. After death was confirmed, the oldest son closed the
eyes of the dead. The windows were opened immediately and
all the water in the house poured out. The same process of
pouring out the water was carried out in the three adjoining
houses on each side of the house of death. Religious authorities
offered two explanations for this; the first, that the pouring of
water xvas an announcement of the death, and the second, that
the Angel of Death cleansed his dripping knife in water, and
that therefore all water must be poured out in order to prevent
the spread of death.
All present at the moment of death made a rent in their
coats, the mourners on the outer side, and strangers in the lin-
ing. They expressed their resignation to the will of God by
exclaiming, "Blessed be the nrue Judge!"
The dead body, covered with a black cloth, was then laid
on the floor in the garments in which he or she had died, feet
towards the door. A living person, as a matter of custom,
never lay with his feet toward the door.
Behind the head of the corpse one large candle burned.
Under no circumstances was the corpse ever left alone. This
task of staying with the corpse, especially overnight, was
fulfilled by the sharnoshim of the Chevro Kadisho, who took
turns. For people imbued from their earliest childhood with
horrible stories of demons and ghosts, staying alone at night
with a corpse was rather a ghastly task, and well-to-do sha-
moshim did it often through a hired proxy. Certain poor
shamoshim in the brotherhood were satisfied to do this for a
remuneration.
Preparing for the Burial . . . Burial took place as soon after
death as possible. If death occurred on Friday or on the day
preceding a holiday, burial took place the same day. Otherwise
it would have had to be delayed until after the Sabbath or the
festival.
However poor the survivors, they had to make payment
for the grave even if it was only a token payment. The Chevro
IN MODERN TIMES 263
Kadisho exacted larger prices for graves from well-to-do fami-
lies, particularly if the deceased had not contributed suf-
ficiently to charity during his lifetime.
The corpse was prepared for the burial by a process of
purification called taharo prescribed in detail by custom, and
done by the shamoshim of the Chevro Kadisho. The members
of the brotherhood performed this task only in the rare cases
when the deceased was highly distinguished for his learning
and piety.
The tachrichim were made exclusively of stainless white
linen. No knots were permitted anywhere on the garment.
Contrary to the tendency of Talmudic times to reduce the
shroud to a single garment, every corpse was now clothed in
no less than three garments, usually in breeches, shirt, cap,
sargonas (shroud) and a girdle. The talis with one of the
fringes torn from a corner was placed over these garments.
In the case of a woman, an apron took the place of breeches
and the talis was not used. The garments for the grave were
supposed to correspond with the garments worn by the High
Priests in ancient times. Sometimes it was not necessary for
the w^omen of the Chevro Kadisho to prepare the tachrichim,
for they had' been prepared many years before death. Aged
people, particularly women who were scrupulously pious,
spent a great part of their time reciting prayers and psalms,
confessing their sins and preparing the shrouds in which they
would be buried. They prepared tachrichim of genuine w r hite
linen for themselves, aired and washed them from time to
time, and held them in constant readiness. Many men wore a
white kittel during the synagogue services on the Days of Awe
and at the seder on Pesach night. This kittel was used as the
safgonas of the tachrichim, for to clothe the deceased in the
kittel which he had worn when reciting prayers was regarded
as most advantageous.
Funeral . . . Usually the funeral took place after the morn-
ing services on the morning after the day of death. A shamosh
264 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
of the Chevro Kadisho went from house to house, knocking on
windows and calling, u Go to the funeral/' Soon, almost the
entire community was gathered in front of the house.
In the house numerous candles burnt. The recitations of
psalms and prayers which accompanied the "'purification" of
the corpse partially drowned out the sobs of the survivors.
The bier, or in some communities a large black casket, was
placed outside of the house, close to the entrance. The corpse
was carried from the house in a sheet and placed on the bier.
Just before that was done all the kinsfolk begged the forgive-
ness of the deceased for any possible offenses they might have
committed against him. The corpse was carried out with his
feet toward the door, and no person was allowed to precede
the corpse through the door, the pall-bearers walking at the
side of it.
Although the cemetery was usually a long distance from
the town, no vehicle was used. The bier was carried the entire
distance on the shoulders of the shamoshim of the Chevro
Kadisho. Many lent a hand and shoulder to these actual pall-
bearers because of the religious merit earned thereby.
The utmost quiet and simplicity characterized the funeral
procedure. The bier was carried in front of the procession,
followed by the men who attended the funeral. The women
brought up the rear. The mourners walked among the crowd.
In some cases, the children of the Talmud Torah (elementary
free school for poor children) marched in front of the bier,
chanting the verse from Psalms, "Righteousness shall go be-
fore Him, and shall make His footsteps a way" (85: 14). Sha-
moshim of the Chevro Kadisho mingled with the throng in
the procession, carrying small tin boxes in their hands, clank-
ing the coins deposited in them, and calling out intermittently,
"Ts'doko tatsil mimoves!" (Charity delivereth from death. Se'e
above, p. 258.) Almost everyone dropped a coin in the charity
box, the proceeds of which went to the Chevro Bikur Cholim.
A funeral discourse eulogizing the deceased was delivered
only at the death of a distinguished person, at the cemetery en
IN MODERN TIMES 265
at the entrance of the synagogue. Only In exceptional cases, at
the death of a famous rabbi, was the bier brought inside the
synagogue or beis ha-midrosh and placed in front of the Holy
Ark while the eulogy w r as delivered. Funeral discourses were
uniform, always citing the same verses of the Bible and the
same passages of the Talmud. The text of the discourse em-
bellished by the preacher was usually Isaiah 57: i. "The right-
eous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and godly men
are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken
away from the evil to come." The preacher inferred that
disasters and evil decrees were impending because of the death
of the righteous man resting on the bier and he reminded the
people that "Repentance, prayer and charity avert the evil
decree."
The funeral procession always chose the longest way, and
proceeded slowly. At a distance of thirty ells from the open
grave, the pall-bearers halted at every four ells, in order to
make seven stops, at each of which Psalm 9 1 was recited. This
psalm refers to the refuge and protection granted by God
against "the terror by night, the pestilence that walketh in
darkness and the destruction that wasteth at noonday," and
was appropriate to the mood of the funeral rites. In the He-
brew original, the eleventh verse (For He will give His angels
charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways) consists of
seven words. At the first stop, the psalm was recited as far as
to include the first word of this verse, at the second stop until
the second word was included and so forth. At the seventh
stop the psalm was recited to the end. Some regions retained
the old custom of making seven encirclings around the bier.
Because the corpse was interred uncoffined, a built-in box
had been made to fit inside the grave by placing boards along
both sides of it. After the body was lowered into the grave
another board was placed over the corpse.
In some rare instances a rabbi left a will instructing that he
should be laid in a box made from the lectern on which he had
spent his days and nights learning Torah in the beis ha-
266 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
midrosh. Occasionally a man expressed the wish that the re-
ceipts for the money he had paid to charity funds be laid in his
grave.
Burial . . . The most ardent desire of every Jew was burial
in the Land of Israel, although few were fortunate enough to
realize this ambition. One had to be satisfied to be buried
among Jews, in accordance with Jewish custom, with a bag
filled with earth from the Holy Land placed in one's grave.
Once in a great while a pious stranger from Jerusalem visited
the town. He told quaint and wonderful tales of sacred graves
and holy sites, and sold bags of white sand from the Holy
Land. Aged men and women seized this opportunity to pro-
vide themselves with earth from Erets Yisroel. The Chevro
Kadisho, too, provided itself with a stock of this burial ac-
cessory.
The corpse was placed in the -grave in the manner pre-
scribed by custom. The act of placing the corpse in the grave
was considered of such great religious merit that a certain
elderly member of the Chevro Kadisho had the option on this
service. On the death of this member his chosen deputy suc-
ceeded him. At the burial of a woman, an elderly female mem-
ber had the option of this privilege.
It was not permitted to close the hands of the dead. The
fingers were bent a little to hold tiny sticks called "little forks,"
which were popularly believed to be the sticks on which the
dead would lean on the day of resurrection, when they must
roll themselves under the ground until they reached the Land
of Israel. Potsherds were placed on the eyes and the mouth.
Some earth, preferably from the Holy Land, was sprinkled
over the body of the corpse and a bag of it placed under the
head. When the member of the burial brotherhood completed
these rites in the customary order, he announced tKat death
had now withdrawn the deceased from all brotherhoods of
which he was a member. All who stood around the grave took
leave of the deceased with the Hebrew words prescribed in
IN MODERN TIMES 267
the Talmud, "Lech 1'sholom" (go in peace). Some added the
last verse of the Book of Daniel "but go thou thy way till
the end be; and thou shalt rest and shalt stand up to thy lot,
at the end of the days."
The first shovels of earth were placed in the grave with the
convex side of the shovel by those who wished to attain the
religious merit which accrued to those who performed this
task. The shamoshim of the Chevro Kadisho hurriedly filled
in the grave, taking great care that no one take the shovel from
the hand of another. Each shamosh placed the shovel on the
ground from which another picked it up.
Before closing the grave, the mourners made a three-inch
rent in their coats and said, "Blessed be the true Judge." They
also took off their shoes. Then, at some distance from the
grave, the prayer tsiduk ha-din (the justice of the judgment)
was recited, expressing the belief that God's ways are right-
eous, and the son (or, in the absence of a son, the daughter of
the deceased, or some other close relative) recited the special
funeral version of the Kaddish. All who were present then
arranged themselves to form two rows. The mourners passed
between them, receiving the comforting words, "The Lord
shall console you among the other mourners of Zion and
Jerusalem."
After the funeral, certain customs were observed before the
return home. On leaving the cemetery, each one plucked some
grass with the earth attached, throwing it behind him and re-
citing the words from Psalms, "And may they blossom out of
the city like grass of the earth," and "He remembereth that we
are dust" (72: 16; 103: 14). After leaving the cemetery every-
one washed his hands and recited the verse from Isaiah:
He will swallow up death forever;
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from
off all faces;
And the reproach of His people will He take
away from off all the earth;
For the Lord hath spoken it. 25:8.
268 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
Returning from a funeral, one did not enter a house before
washing his hands. The water had to be drawn into a vessel.
The vessel was not handed by one person to another, but each
one placed it on the ground, from which the next picked it
up. The custom forbade wiping the hands with a cloth or rag,
unless the latter could then be discarded. Hands were usually
dried in the air. After washing the hands, each man sat down
three or seven times, each time reciting Psalm 91 (including
the last verse of the foregoing psalm).
Suicides and Apostates ... In all Jewish communities sui-
cides were commonly buried near the fence in a secluded part
of the cemetery. Whenever possible, however, an act of
suicide was interpreted as resulting from permanent or tem-
porary aberration, and the victim was given a decent burial.
If an apostate was killed by accident, Kaddish might be re-
cited for him, because his unnatural death atoned for his sins.
The Meal of the Mourners . . . After the funeral, only the
first meal was brought in by strangers, usually by the neigh-
bors. The main food of the meal consisted of hard boiled eggs
and beigel (hard rolls shaped like doughnuts) . The custom of
providing the mourners with food from a communal fund
during the week of mourning was no longer practiced.
In the House of Mourning . . . For seven days a candle
burned in the room where death had occurred. A glass of
water and a towel were placed beside the light, in spite of
the fact that religious authorities denounced the latter custom
as heathenish. The popular explanation offered for this practice
was that the Angel of Death might wash his sword in the
water and wipe it with the towel.
All mirrors were covered or turned to the wall.
All day the mourners sat on low benches or boxes. They
were allowed to read only if the books they read were re-
ligious books with sad content. The book most often read in
IN MODERN TIMES 269
the house of mourning was Job, or the ethical book M'noras
Hamo'or in its Yiddish version.
Almost all the people of the community visited the house
of mourning to offer comfort to the mourners. Bringing food
to the house of mourning was practiced only in some regions.
In America people usually bring cakes, boxes of candy and
baskets of fruits to the house of mourning. On entering, no
greetings were spoken. On leaving, the established formula of
consolation to the mourners was voiced, "The Lord shall con-
sole you among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."
Custom forbade taking anything from the house of mourn-
ing.
During the seven days of mourning, services were held in
the house of the deceased. On these days Psalm 49 and a
prayer for the dead were recited after the services. This psalm
is appropriate for a house of mourning. It speaks of death as
the leveler of all distinctions between the rich and the poor,
and of God who redeems the soul from the power of the
nether world. On the following Sabbath, the mourner visited
the synagogue. At the Friday night services, the mourner
stood in the anteroom of the synagogue until the end of Ucbo
Dodi (Come, my friend, to meet the bride) . Then the sexton
tapped the bimo with his hand calling loudly, "Go to meet the
mourner!" The whole congregation arose and walked toward
the door to meet the mourner, who entered the synagogue at
this moment. In most American synagogues mourners are in
the synagogue for Mincho and the first part of Kabolas Shabos,
but step out just before L'cho Dodi, to reenter at the end of
L'cho Dodi.
Even on the Sabbath a mourner changed his place in the
synagogue during the twelve months of mourning for the
death of a parent, and during thirty days of mourning for the
death of other relatives.
Visiting the Graves ... As in the Middle Ages, the practice
of visiting the graves and praying to the dead during crises was
270 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
observed. Especially were the graves of Chasidic rabbis and
miracle men visited by people in distress, who left slips of
paper on which their wishes were written. Visiting the graves
of parents on the anniversary of their death was a prevailing
custom.
There were also certain days and seasons of the year when
almost the whole community visited the field of graves. On
Tisho B'Ov, after the morning services, the entire congrega-
tion encircled the cemetery. During the month of Elul every-
one visited the graves of his ancestors and kindred. On those
days, the women came more frequently than the men to weep
at the graves of those who had been near and dear to them.
The unveiling of the tombstone also provided an occasion
for a visit to a grave. This took place twelve months after
death, preferably on the first anniversary of the death. Some-
times tombstones were not unveiled for a number of years
after death; and there were even some graves without any
matsevo (see p. 254). In America, however, the unveiling
ceremony has gained in importance and has become an oc-
casion when all relatives and friends of the deceased come
together.
The Ma-ane Loshon . . . Visiting the graves and praying to
the dead became so important in recent times that a special
handbook was written for this purpose, entitled Ma-one
Loshon (the Answer of the Tongue, cited from the sentence
in Proverbs 16:1: "The preparations of the heart are man's
but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord").
The Ma-ane Loshon was, like the Ma-avar Yabok, a prod-
uct of the same period in Jewish history (the beginning of
the seventeenth century) , and in the last three hundred years
was printed in even more numerous editions than the latter,
with a German, a Yiddish, and, in this country, an English
translation.
The Ma-ane Loshon was a kind of sequel to the Ma-avar
Yabok. The latter, a manual of the ritual of death and burial,
IN MODERN TIMES 271
contained at its close only a few prayers to be recited on visit-
ing the cemetery. The former was exclusively for this pur-
pose, containing specific prayers to be recited at the grave of
each relative.
Women recited the prayers of the Ma-ane Loshon at the
cemetery with loud moans and hysterical wailing that could
be heard far and wide.
Tales about the Dead . . . Gruesome tales about the appari-
tions of the dead were wide-spread. People believed the dead
occasionally appeared to the living. If a bride and groom
were orphans, they visited the graves of their dead par-
ents and invited them to the wedding. There was a popular
belief that the dead appeared to the living in dreams, giving
them advice, and warning them of impending dangers. Thus
they believed that a dead father or mother might appear to his
or her children in a dream and choke the child because of
some misconduct. Anyone was thus liable to be choked in his
sleep for dishonoring or disparaging the deceased.
The medieval belief that ghosts of the dead assembled at
night in the synagogue and held services there still prevailed.
The popular belief was that anyone who passed the synagogue
late at night was liable to hear his name called summoning him
to the reading of the Torah, and was sure to die soon. In some
communities it was customary for the sexton, who came to
the synagogue before dawn, to knock on the door three times
before he entered, signaling the ghosts to disappear. Young and
old shunned the vicinity of the synagogue late at night.
Among the Oriental JeWs ... In Jerusalem, the S'fardim
bury their dead without delay, allowing only enough time
between the occurrence of death and the funeral for the puri-
fication of the corpse. They even hold the funeral at night,
adhering to the ancient law that a corpse cannot remain over-
night within the limits of the Holy City (see p. 231).
In the short interval, before the members of the burial
172 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
Drotherhood come into the house to prepare the corpse for the
}urial, the women of the family, seated in a circle, bewail and
eulogize the deceased in the Oriental manner. With shrill
/oices, they lament loudly, beating their heads, foreheads and
Dreasts with their fists. After the corpse is carried from the
house, the women, standing by the windows, continue their
loud lamentations, but they do not attend the funeral.
As the corpse is carried from the house, a member of the
burial brotherhood breaks an earthen vessel on the threshold
and announces that the wife and children of the deceased are
forbidden to follow the bier or leave the house until the mem-
bers of the brotherhood have returned from the cemetery.
The bier, shaped like a ladder, is carried on the shoulders. A
distinguished man's bier is carried lower, near the earth. Two
beadles of the community march on either side of the bier,
each carrying a large black wax candle. After leaving the gate
of the city, the whole throng chants Psalm 91 (see p. 265).
At the cemetery seven encirclings are made around the bier.
The participants clasp each other's hands, forming a closed
:ircle. During each encircling, one of the encirclers recite
Psalm 91 in addition to prayers for the deceased. Seven silver
:oins are placed on the corpse. After each encircling is corn-
Dieted, one man in the circle takes one coin, throwing it far
iway, as he recites the sentence from Genesis 25:6.
The grave in which the uncoffined corpse is laid is plastered
nside with thin, smooth stones. No sargonas is used, and the
:alis is removed when the corpse is placed in the grave.
The relatives and friends bring food for the first meal. After
he meal, the benedictions of mourning of the Talmud quoted
n a previous chapter are recited, and the Kaddish follows
'see p. 241).
In the S'fardic synagogue a special place is reserved for
nourners who attend services on the Sabbath.
The Moroccan Jews still scratch and cut their faces as a
ign of mourning, notwithstanding their rabbis' denunciation
if this flagrant transgression of the Mosaic Law. 278
Beliefs Connected with Death
The Belief in a Future Life ... In order to completely under-
stand the rites and customs observed at the occurrence of
death, it is necessary to have a clear concept of the beliefs de-
veloped among the Jews concerning the soul and its existence
after death. We have hinted at some of these beliefs in previous
chapters; now we shall deal with them at length.
In Biblical times, the Jews, in common with other peoples,
believed that man consisted of two components: flesh (bosor)
and spirit (ruach) or soul, or as we may also term it, principle
of life. Various parts of the body were thought to be the seat
of the soul; e.g., the heart, the liver, the kidneys. A current
concept was "the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Lev. 17:11),
because if the blood flowed from a wound, the vitality de-
creased and sometimes disappeared altogether. The most popu-
lar concept of the soul was that its seat was in the breath, be-
cause when breathing ceased, the body became lifeless. In the
Bible, the principle of life or soul was called synonymously
rwach, ne-fesh and tfshomo, three words designating breath.
(In later times, under the influence of Greek philosophy, the
soul was believed to be of a more compound and complicated
nature. In the Middle Ages Jewish thinkers interpreted the
three Biblical synonyms for the principle of life as distinct
names for the three souls, or substances of the soul, function-
ing in the personality of a human being: the vegetative soul,
nefesh; the animal soul, ruach; and the human, thinking soul,
n'shomo.)
The soul was conceived as a kind of airy substance which
could leave the body either temporarily or permanently. Sleep-
273
274 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
ing was a state of existence in which the soul left the body
for a short while, floating through the world, while its ex-
periences in this state appeared as a dream to the slumberer.
Dreams played an important part in the life and beliefs of the
people in those times. When the soul left the body perma-
nently, the result was death. In the Bible, dying was desig-
nated as the departure of the soul (Gen. 35: 18).
What happened to the soul after its permanent departure
from the body?
There were two ideas among Jews and among various other
ancient peoples regarding the soul after death. According to
the older notion, the tomb was also the abode of the soul. A
current legend related how the mournful voice of Rachel
weeping for her children was heard near her tomb. We find
this story in Jeremiah (31:14). It was later amplified by
the homilists of the Midrash. The Midrash tells how Jacob
purposely buried Rachel on the way to Ephrath, because he
foresaw that the Jews, when exiled to Babylon, would pass by
that spot, and Rachel would be able to invoke the compassion
of God for her children. The belief that the soul lingered in
the grave was also implied in the age-old practice of praying
at the graves, and in many beliefs and customs connected with
the dead.
Beside this older notion, the Jews shared with other ancient
peoples the belief in a common abode where all souls gathered
after death. In the Bible, the abode of the dead was called
"Sheol," a proper noun of unknown derivation, translated
"grave" in the English Bible.
Sheol, which corresponded to the nether world among other
peoples, was believed to be deep underneath the earth, sepa-
rated from the land of the living by an immense body of water.
The Biblical Sheol had gates similar to those of the nether
world of the Babylonians. (The nether world of the Babylon-
ians had seven gates.) In the Bible, Sheol was called the land
of darkness, silence, oblivion and perdition. In the Book of Job,
it is described as "a land of thick darkness as darkness itself, a
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 275
land of the shadow of death without any order, and where the
light is as darkness" (10:22).
In spite of the dissimilarity between the two notions, one of
which claimed that each soul remained in a single grave, and
the other that all the souls assembled in one abode, both were
maintained simultaneously. The belief that the soul lingered
in the grave still persists even today, notwithstanding the firm
belief that the soul ascends to heaven. Otherwise, visiting the
graves to invoke the aid of pious men long deceased would be
inexplicable. In general, we must not look for logical con-
sistency and accuracy in popular beliefs.
Sheol was called "the house appointed for all living/' where
all must go, but from which none returned. "As the cloud is
consumed and vanished away, so he that goeth down to Sheol
shall come up no more," says the author of Job (7:9; 30:23).
God excepted only a few favorites such as Enoch and Elijah,
who were believed to have been rescued from Sheol and taken
to heaven while still alive. The necromancers were also an ex-
ception, for it was believed that they possessed the power to
summon ghosts from Sheol to answer their questions.
Until long after the Babylonian exile, the Jews cherished no
hope of resurrection, nor did they believe in the immortality
of the soul. A gloomy, ghastly existence of shadows awaited
the souls in Sheol, resting in a state of slumber from which
they never awakened. "Till the heavens be no more, they shall
not awake, nor be aroused out of their sleep" (Job 14:12).
They even lacked the consciousness and strength to praise
God. "Sheol cannot praise Thee; Death cannot celebrate Thee;
They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth.
The living, the living, he shall praise Thee," says the Biblical
poet (Isaiah 38: 18-19). "The living know that they shall die;
but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more
a reward. . . . there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge,
nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest," says Koheleth
(9:5, 10).
This conception of the shadowy existence of all souls in the
276 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
dark Sheol was devoid of any ethical element. Retribution,
belief in reward and punishment after death for the deeds done
in life, did not enter into it. Punishments threatened and re-
wards promised in the Bible refer exclusively to life in this
world.
Originally, the concept of Sheol was not an integral part of
the Jewish religion, but belonged to the realm of popular be-
liefs. The religion of the God of Israel was a religion of life,
not concerned with the mysteries of the soul after death. Later,
when the popular conception of Sheol became imbued with
the spirit of the Jewish religion, it assumed a new aspect. The
popular conception of the infinite power of Sheol was in-
compatible with the conception of the omnipotence and the
omnipresence of God. The pious worshipper of the God of
Israel could not bear to believe that his union with God and
his trust in Him ended at the gates of Sheol. The psalmists
therefore expressed the ardent hope that God would not for-
sake them even in Sheol, that "The Lord killeth, and maketh
alive; He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up." 27 *
The idea of the omnipotence of Sheol and the concept of
retribution in this earthly life became untenable in the light
of the belief in a righteous God which the Prophets taught.
This belief in a rule of justice in a world, which, since the
Babylonian exile, had become the orthodox belief of the peo-
ple, was in glaring contradiction to the facts of life. The
orthodox psalmist confidently said, "I have been young and
now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor
his seed begging bread (Ps. 37:25). Many skeptics bluntly
rejected this pious assertion, declaring that the righteous were
actually forsaken and that the wicked prospered. The most
telling blow at the orthodox belief in God's retribution within
man's lifetime was delivered by the author of Job who vehe-
mently protested, "Wherefore do the wicked live, become
old, yea, wax mighty in power?" (21:7). The Book of Job
left this burning question without a satisfactory answer.
The inner development of Jewish religious ideas postulated
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 277
the belief in retribution after death. Many centuries elapsed
before the old popular conception of the dark Sheol was super-
seded by the new belief in "a world to come," to which this
world could be compared as a vestibule at the entrance to the
parlor, the world to come, according to the expression of a
Jewish sage of the second century c.E. 275
Retribution after death was first connected with the belief
in the resurrection of the dead. In the Book of Daniel, a literary
product of the time of the persecutions in the reign of Antio-
chus Epiphanes, belief in a twofold resurrection was clearly
expressed. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the
earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to re-
proaches and everlasting abhorrence" (12:2). This expecta-
tion of the resurrection of the dead in the Messianic Era spread
and took root in certain pious circles, in the absence of a belief
in the next world. It could hardly remove the conflict between
the concept of a God of justice, and the actual injustice pre-
vailing in the world. This problem, found in the Book of Job,
was solved later when the people began to believe in the direct
continuation of the spiritual life of the individual after death,
with the immediate reward for good conduct in Paradise, and
punishment for bad conduct in Hell.
These two beliefs, the belief in the resurrection of the dead,
and the belief that the soul continued its spiritual existence in
the next world, were mutually exclusive. If the soul never died,
there was no need for the dead to rise from their graves. But
this is not the only inconsistency which we meet in the beliefs
concerning the Messianic days and the world to come.
The two beliefs had not been accepted by all the Jews in
the days of the Second Temple. There were certain circles,
like the sect of the Essenes, who accepted the belief in the im-
mortality of the soul but rejected the belief in the resurrection
of the dead. The Sadducees rejected both. The Pharisees ac-
cepted both, and through them these two beliefs have become
an integral part of the doctrine of the Orthodox Judaism of
the present day.
278 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
Gan Eden and Gehinom , . . Although the idea of the im<
mortality of the soul and retribution after death was an inner
postulate of the development of the Jewish religion, the
imagery and the terminology for a place of bliss for the right-
eous and an infernal region for the wicked, though Hebrew,
was apparently influenced by the Persians. The place of bliss
was called Gan Eden, Garden of Eden, after the legendary
garden in the story of Genesis. The inferno was given the
name of Gehinom, the valley of Hinom, a valley in Jerusalem
where in the time of Manasseh, King of Judah, the adherents
of the Moloch cult offered up their children as burnt offerings
to God. In English, the name is distorted into Gehenna. 276
The dark Sheol of the Bible now became synonymous with
Gehenna, and all the passages in the Bible referring to Sheol
were interpreted in the terms and imagery of the new belief
in Gehenna. There was a vast difference between Sheol and
Gehenna. Gehenna was a place for the wicked only, while
Sheol had been the ultimate abode of all souls, righteous and
wicked alike. There was no exit from Sheol, but the tortures
of Gehenna were not everlasting. Only very wicked men,
heretics who spread false doctrines, and tyrants who terrified
the world, were condemned to eternal Gehenna. According
to the predominant view of the Talmudic rabbis, transgressors
were usually kept in Gehenna no longer than twelve months. 277
Since the beginning of the Common Era, the feeble shadows
of the souls of the dead were not supposed to have been locked
up in a dark abode from which there was no return, but were
believed to retain full consciousness, which made them capable
of all the spiritual activities of a human being. According to the
Talmud the dead were exempt from all religious precepts.
Therefore, the ritual fringes of the talis in which the corpse
was dressed were made defective and disqualified. Yet people
believed that the dead earnestly craved ability to fulfill the
precepts of the Torah, and felt hurt when a man wearing
tsitsis or t'filin or carrying a Scroll of the Torah walked close
to their graves. 278
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 279
Notwithstanding the belief that the soul ascended to heaven,
che primitive notion of the soul lingering in or near the grave
persisted. Souls were thus free to hover between heaven and
earth, to converse with one another and even to give advice
and information to the living. For some time after death, it
was believed that the soul longed for the body and lingered
near it. According to various versions, this period lasted three
days, seven days, thirty days, or even twelve months. It was
thought that the soul listened to the funeral discourse and
resented improper manner of burial. Ghosts were said to be
in contact with this world even many years after death. 279
At the Departure of the Soul ... In the first section of this
book, a Midrashic tale is told about the prenatal life of man
under the tutorship and supervision of a special angel. After-
ward this angel delivers to the child the decree of God to go
out into the world. We now continue this story to its end.
When the time arrives for a man to leave this world, the
very angel who guarded his soul in his prenatal existence ap-
pears and asks him, "Do you recognize me?" The man replies,
"Yes, but why do you come to me today when you did not
come to me 'on any other days?" The angel says, "To take you
away from the world." Then the man begins to weep, and the
sound of his voice travels from one end of the world to the
other, yet no creature hears his voice except the cock. Man
argues with the angel, "From two worlds did you take me and
into this world did you bring me." But the angel retorts, "Did
I not tell you that you were formed and born against your
will, and that you would die against your will, and that against
your will you will have to give an account of yourself before
the Holy One, blessed be He?"
This angel quotes a popular sentence of the Mishnah trac-
tate, Sayings of the Fathers (Ovos) . This is not the only angel
whom the dead man sees when his soul departs. Three com-
panies of angels accompany the dead on their departure from
this world, each one quoting an appropriate sentence from the
280 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
Bible. There are two sets of such quotations, one for the right-
eous, the other for the wicked. At the departure of his soul,
man is accorded a glimpse of the Divinity. This is based upon
the passage in the Bible, "Thou canst not see My face, for man
shall not see Me and live" (Exod. 33:20). This passage was
interpreted to imply that the moment life ends man sees the
Divine presence. 280
Death itself, the moment of the departure of life, is personi-
fied in the Angel of Death, who is the subject of many stories
and phantasies.
Angel of Death and Angel Dumo . . . Before the Babylonian
exile, the old Jewish belief in angels as intermediaries between
God and man did not play an important role, for God himself
was believed to intervene in the affairs of human life. Since
the Babylonian exile, God, in the religious concept of the
Jews, became more and more supermundane, aloof from the
earth which "He hath given to the children of men" (Ps. 115:
1 6). Human affairs on earth were believed to be largely in
charge of holy and mighty angels, ministers of God who ful-
filled His word and carried out His desires. 281
Although the great prophet of the Exile proclaimed in the
name of God, "I form the light, and create darkness; I make
peace and create evil, I am the Lord, that doeth all these
things," yet in the belief of the people, the angels in the service
of God were divided into two categories friendly angels,
full of light and goodness, and evil ones, who acted as God's
messengers to bring punishment and calamity to men. "Mes-
sengers of evil," they were called by the Psalmist. The "angels
of death" belonged to this category. 282
In time, the angels of death were reduced to one angel, the
personification of destruction of human life. Later this angel
was identified with Satan or Samael, the prince of the demons,
and also with the Yetser Horo, the personification of the evil
impulse in man. 283
In imagination and fable, the Angel of Death was repre-
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 281
sented as a being, consisting of wide open eyes, standing dur-
ing the last moments of life at the head of the dying person, a
drawn sword in hand. On the point of the sword there was
a drop of gall, at the sight of which the dying person opened
his mouth in terror. The instant he swallowed this drop of
gall, death came. This bitter drop caused the alteration of the
countenance that followed death. 284
In the phantasy of the people the Angel of Death had be-
come so thoroughly personified that fables were told about
conversations which certain illustrious men held with him
while they were still alive. These conversations were given
verbatim in the popular tales of the Talmud. 285
The power of the Angel of Death was not unlimited. He
was merely the messenger of God who carried out His decree.
According to the popular phantasy, God, in ancient Biblical
days, excepted some of His favorites from falling into the
hands of the Angel of Death. Six are mentioned who died by
a kiss from God instead of the sword of the Angel of Death
(the three Patriarchs and Moses, Aaron and Miriam). A large
number of exceptionally meritorious persons did not suffer
the common fate of all men, but were said to have entered
Paradise during their lifetime.
The power of the Angel of Death was further limited by
his inability to approach any man who was entirely absorbed
in the study of the Torah. There are numerous tales in the
Talmud and Midrash about illustrious rabbis whom the Angel
of Death could not approach because they constantly studied
the Torah. The Angel of Death had to devise means to divert
the mind of those rabbis from the Torah in order to take their
souls. There is a fable in the Talmud which tells of an entire
city over which the Angel of Death had no power. When the
aged inhabitants were ready to die they went outside the city.
This fabulous city was Luz, built by the man who sKowed the
entrance to Beth-El to the house of Joseph, according to the
first chapter of the Book of Judges. 286
Even the limited power of the Angel of Death was only
282 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
temporary. In the world to come, after the resurrection of the
dead, the office of the Angel of Death would be abolished, for
there would be no sense in dying after the dead have arisen
from their graves. According to the Jewish belief, God would
then "slaughter the Angel of Death who slaughtered the
slaughterer," and the words of the prophet would come true,
"He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will
wipe away tears from off all faces." 287
In addition to the Angel of Death another angel was promi-
nent in Jewish belief, the Angel Durno, in charge of the souls
of the dead. In the Bible, Dumo, silence, was a synonym for
Sheol. The Angel Dumo (the angel of the world of silence)
thus played the same role as Nergal, the Babylonian god of
the nether world. 288
The "Beating and the Sling" . . . The Cabalists did not con-
sider the torments of Gehenna sufficient punishment for sinful
souls. They added a preliminary torment to Gehenna, called
Chibut ha-Kever, beating of the grave.
Immediately after burial, the Angel of Death (or according
to another version, the Angel Dumo) places himself upon the
grave and strikes the deceased with a fiery chain, asking him
his Hebrew name. If the Hebrew name has slipped his mem-
ory, the angel returns the soul to the body, to be submitted
for judgment. For three successive days the deceased is then
beaten with a chain of fire or a stick of iron.
None were exempt from Chibut ha-Kever. Only two ex-
ceptions were made. They were for those who had lived al-
ways in the Holy Land, and for those who died on Friday
before sunset and were buried at the moment when the Sab-
bath rest was heralded. The Cabalists devised means of pro-
tection from Chibut ha-Kever for those who lived outside the
Land of Israel and for those who were not fortunate enough
to die on Friday before sunset. These means consisted of doing
benevolent works, showing hospitality and reciting prayers
with excessive fervor. Reciting at the end of the Eighteen
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 283
Benedictions a Biblical verse in which the first and last letters
were identical with the first and last letters of the name of the
person for whom it was intended, was a very efficient safe-
guard against the suffering of Chibut ha-Kever. Since the
Eighteen Benedictions were recited three times a day, this
verse was engraved in the memory and regarded as an efficient
means of remembering one's Hebrew name. The Hebrew
prayer book contained a list of Biblical verses corresponding
to the Hebrew names used most frequently. 289
In the Jewish beliefs regarding death, Chibut ha-Kever and
Gehenna did not exhaust the possibilities of torments for the
sinful. One more punishment was mentioned in the Talmud.
The expression of the Bible, "and the souls of thine enemies,
them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling" (i Sam.
25: 29), was factually interpreted. When a wicked person died,
one angel stationed himself at one end of the world and a
second angel at the other end, and they hurled his soul to each
other as a stone is thrown from the hollow of a sling. In the
popular idiom, this torment was called Kaf ha-Kala (hollow
of the sling). 290
Transmigration of Souls ... In addition to these punish-
ments of the sinful souls, another punishment, though an eso-
teric mystery, was conceived of in recent centuries by the
Oriental and the East European Jews. This was the belief in
the transmigration of souls (also called metempsychosis) in
which certain souls passed into another body after death. Jews
called it by the Hebrew term gilgul (cycle, rotation) .
The belief in 'the transmigration of souls, common to primi-
tive tribes, was shared by many ancient peoples and especially
developed in India. Originally a foreign element, an exotic
mystery, mentioned neither in the Bible nor in the Talmud, it
infiltrated into certain circles of Jewish mystics. With the
spread of the Cabala in the later Middle Ages, it spread among
Jews, although the Jewish thinkers attacked it as a heathen
superstition.
284 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
Among the Cabalists of the school of Rabbi Isaac Luria
(died 1572), the belief in gilgul became a basic doctrine of
their teaching, and Rabbi Chayim Vital, the famous disciple
of Rabbi Isaac Luria, wrote a whole book on this theme, Sefer
ha-Gilguli?n (the Book of the Transmigrations of Souls).
According to this belief, one's soul after death passed into
another body, passing from body to body until it ultimately
atoned for the sin for which it had suffered the punishment of
gilgul. The soul might pass into a human body, the body of an
animal, or even into an inanimate substance, depending upon
the degree of sinfulness of the person, and the type of sin he
had committed. The soul of the conceited community leader
passed into the body of a bee; that of one who had been cruel
to the poor passed into the body of a crow; the soul of a
denunciator passed into the body of a barking dog; that of one
who neglected to wash his hands before meals was transferred
to a river, etc.
This doctrine of the Cabalists played a great part in the be-
liefs and phantasies of the people in recent centuries. 291
Good and Bad Omens . . . There were good and bad death
omens. A good death omen was a sign that the deceased was
righteous and would enter Paradise, and vice versa.
The day on which death occurred might be auspicious or
inauspicious. Even in early Talmudic times, to die on Friday
was a good omen, to die after the departure of the Sabbath
was a bad omen. The flaming Gehenna was quiet on the Sab-
bath, so death on that day was auspicious, while death on the
day it reopened was inauspicious. To die at the departure of
Yom Kippur was regarded as a good omen because of the
advantage of dying with all one's sins forgiven. Conversely,
to die on the day preceding Yom Kippur and miss forgiveness
of one's sins, which the Day of Atonement bestowed, was a
bad omen. In recent popular belief, the entire month of Nison
was regarded as an auspicious period for death.
There were many omens attached to the manner in which
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 285
man breathed his last breath. Dying with a smile, face upward
or with his face toward the people, was regarded as auspicious,
and vice versa. Good was portended if one died speaking, espe-
cially when speaking words of the Torah.
According to the Talmud, death itself portended evil for
the entire family. In the first seven days, the sword of the
Angel of Death was still drawn, menacing the family. For
thirty days the sword swung back and forth, returning to its
sheath only after twelve months. However, if a boy was born
in the family, this good omen removed the menace from the
entire family. 292
Origin of the Customs . . . The customs of burial and mourn-
ing observed among Jews, as well as among other peoples, are
divergent as well as mystifying. Originally, these practices
could not have been symbols of mourning, because inherently
most of them do not symbolize affliction and sadness. Walking
barefooted, strewing dust on the head, sitting on the ground,
were not, in themselves, manifestations of grief and mourning.
Nor was the music at the funeral or the festive meal eaten
after the funeral composed of food brought in from another
house. Only in the course of time did they become signs of
mourning because of long association with death. Why and
how did they become so associated?
Obviously, the customs and practices which later became
mere tokens of mourning were originally rites performed for
a certain purpose. What was that purpose?
For quite a time this question was a controversial matter, a
topic of profound discussion among Bible critics and anthro-
pologists. Various scholars offered various theories to answer
this question, but as in the case of the customs of marriage,
each theory explained only some of the practices. Even when
all these theories are applied jointly, some of the practices of
mourning remain unexplained.
Very few of the practices of mourning can be explained as
spontaneous outbursts of grief. There are only two theories
286 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
that adequately explain the origin of most of these customs,
i.e., the theory of ancestral worship, and the theory of fearing
the ghost of the dead. 293
The Theory of Ancestor Worship . . . According to the ex-
ponents of the theory of ancestor worship, these primitive
customs stem from pre-Mosaic times. In those early days, the
Jews did not worship the God of Israel, but like many other
primitive tribes and peoples worshipped the spirits of their
dead ancestors, paying them divine honors and offering sacri-
fices to them. The later religion founded by Moses embodied
belief in the almighty God of Israel, superseding and suppress-
ing the primitive cult of the ancestral spirits. Traces of that
cult persisted in later times, and can be found in the customs
connected with burial and mourning.
This theory explains why, at the outset, the Jewish religion
was so sternly antagonistic to many practices of mourning,
and why a corpse could not be touched without defilement.
The Hebrew word to-me, which the English Bible translates
"unclean" or "defiling," originally did not imply physical un-
cleanliness, but implied that the person or the thing was taboo,
banned, interdicted, ritually unfit. "He that touched any man's
dead body was to-me seven days" (Num. 19:11), because a
dead body was a reminder of a prohibited rival cult. The
priests who were devotees of the cult of the God of Israel,
therefore, avoided any contact with a corpse, with the excep-
tion of that of a very close relative. The High Priest avoided
contact with any corpse, even those of his own father and
mother. The priests were also restricted in regard to the cus-
toms of mourning. Ordinary priests were enjoined "they shall
not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave
off the corners of their beard, nor make any cutting in their
flesh," customs generally prohibited to all Jews. Priests were
particularly enjoined against this practice, lest in so doing,
they profane the name of their God. Ordinary priests were
not forbidden to rend their garments and let their hair grow
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 287
long. Only the High Priests were forbidden these two customs
of mourning. 294
There were two alternatives in regard to the hair cutting
it very short, to the point of baldness or allowing it to grow
long and loose. The latter, more simple alternative, was less
obnoxious 'to the teachers and spokesmen of the Jewish re-
ligion and has been an established custom in Orthodox Jewry
since Tannaitic times. According to the theory of ancestral
worship, cutting the hair was originally a sacrifice to the spirit
of the dead, for sacrificing the hair to a divinity was a current
practice among many ancient peoples. But this theory fails to
explain the alternative custom of allowing the hair to grow
too long. It is also difficult to explain cutting the flesh as a rite
of initiation into the cult of the dead. Nor is it easy to explain
the custom of wearing coarse sackcloth as a sign of submission
to the honored ghost, because sackcloth was worn by slaves.
The theory of ancestral worship explains the festive meal
after burial as an original participation in a sacrificial meal in
honor of the ghost of the dead, but fails to explain why the
food must be brought in from a strange house. A/Iany other
practices of mourning cannot be explained by the theory of
ancestor worship.
The Theory of Fearing Ghosts . . . More of the burial and
mourning customs were explained by the theory of the sur-
vivors' fear of the ghost of the dead. Basically, this theory of
the anthropologists has much in common with the theory of
ancestor worship. Both assumed that the customs of mourning
stemmed from the pre-historic age, when the belief that the
soul of the dead lingered in the grave still prevailed and that
the customs were originally practiced because of the ghost of
the dead. The theory of ancestor worship originally motivated
the customs by affection for the dead, while the theory of fear
of the ghost ascribed the customs to precautions on the part of
the survivors to prevent the unwanted return of the ghost.
When a death occurred, the first thing to be done was to
288 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
bury the corpse. The ghosts of the unburied were regarded as
exceedingly dangerous, especially to their undutiful and dis-
respectful relatives. This additional motive for immediate in-
terment was added to that of defilement.
Burial alone was an insufficient means of guarding against
the return of the ghost. Numerous other precautions and de-
vices were used by primitive man to prevent its return.
The Jews and many other peoples threw sticks and stones
or handfuls of grass with earth attached, on the graves. The
original motive of this practice, which was a Jewish custom as
far back as the early Middle Ages, was to force the ghost to
return to the grave in case he attempted to leave. Grass was
believed a safeguard against evil spirits. Later, the origin of
the custom was forgotten and new meanings were read into
it, interpreting the practices as a symbol of the verses of
Psalms, "And may they blossom out of the city like grass of
the earth," and "He remembereth that we are dust." In addi-
tion, the grass which withered and died, and then sprouted
again with new life, symbolized the resurrection of the dead. 295
The theory of fearing the ghosts of the dead also explained
the rush to fill the grave with earth. An open grave from which
the ghost could easily escape was considered extremely dan-
gerous. The tombstone was originally employed for the same
reason. Among some peoples the custom prevailed of even
piling a mass of heavy stones on the grave. Later the tombstone
became merely a manifestation of affection for the deceased
on the part of the survivors.
Primitive man used numerous devices to outwit the ghost,
making it impossible for him to find his way home. The eyes
of the deceased were closed immediately after death occurred,
for many peoples believed that the ghost might return if this
was not done. Some closed the eyes even before death. Origi-
nally it was a mild form of blindfolding so that the deceased
might not see the direction in which he was carried to the
grave, for according to the primitive belief, a ghost could find
its way back to the house only by the same route by which
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 289
it had left. The original motive was completely forgotten,
and Jews read a new, symbolic meaning into it. They now
believed that as long as the eye gazed on this world it was in-
capable of perceiving the next world. At the moment of death,
man had a glimpse of the Sh'chino, the Divine Presence, and
he ceased to look at this world. In the late Middle Ages (seven-
teenth century) this custom of blindfolding the eyes was done
with potsherds which were placed on the eyes after the corpse
had been laid in the grave. Other nations employed various
methods of blindfolding the eyes of the dead. The Russians
placed coins on the eyes. In Korea, binders made of black silk
and tied with strings at the back of the head were placed over
the eyes of the dead.
For the same reason, the corpse was carried from the house
feet foremost, for if it had been carried head foremost, the
eyes would have been towards the door and his ghost might
find his way back. The Jews apparently adopted this custom
from the Germans in the Middle Ages. This explains also why
a Jewish funeral procession took the longest way to the ceme-
tery, for the longer and more tortuous the way to the grave,
the more difficult for the ghost to return.
These precautions prevented the return of the ghost, but in
addition, the ghost was made to feel as comfortable as possible
in the grave. Foods and various utensils were placed therein to
induce him to stay in the grave.
As in the attempt to control evil spirits on other important
occasions in the life of man, so at death, deceit was employed
to forestall the return of the ghost. Covering the head of the
mourner was a precaution taken to hide from the ghost. The
custom of the mourner's changing his place in the synagogue
might also have been motivated by a desire to hide from the
ghost. The custom was recorded as far back as the fourteenth
century. 296
The survivors also endeavored to disguise themselves in
order that the dead might not recognize them. They mutilated
themselves by making cuts in their flesh, cut their hair too
290 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
short or let it grow too long. They wore sackcloth, the attire
of a beggar, or clothes of an unusual color: black among the
Jews and Romans and white and red among other peoples.
They strewed ashes on their heads, walked barefooted and sat
on the ground. In the house, all beds were inverted. In brief,
ordinary life was reversed to make the survivors and the house
of death unrecognizable to the ghost of the dead.
Primitive man also took precautions in case the ghost was
not deceived. If he reappeared in spite of all means of preven-
tion, a warm conciliatory welcome was given him. After the
burial, a festive meal was served in which he was believed to
participate. The food had to be brought from another house
in order to make sure that the ghost did not cling to it. Appeas-
ing the ghost motivated the custom of keeping a burning can-
dle in the house of death during the seven days of mourning.
A religious authority of the thirteenth century said that this
was done expressedly for the contentment of the soul, which
returned to the house during those seven days. 297
This theory also explained the custom of pouring out all the
water immediately after the occurrence of death. The later
interpretation given above, connecting it with the Angel of
Death, was invented when the origin was no longer known.
This custom was practiced among many peoples, for primi-
tive man believed that spirits could not cross water and there-
fore the ghost was in danger of falling into it. (Cf. above p.
215.) It was therefore removed from the house in order that
it should not annoy the ghost of the dead and hinder its de-
parture.
Guarding the Corpse . . . We have spoken of safeguarding
the survivors against the ghost of the dead. The survivors
feared also that the corpse might be penetrated by evil spirits.
According to the primitive belief, the evil spirits, having no
material body, were anxious to become corporate, and sought
to enter the corpse. The dead body was believed to be beset by
demons, and had to be guarded against them.
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 29!
This explains the queer phenomenon by which the rites of a
funeral so strikingly resembled the rites of a wedding. In both
ceremonials, a procession took place in which music, torches,
encirclings, aromatic odors, and branches of myrtle were
prominent features. Both processions were followed by a fes-
tive meal at which legumes were eaten. The bride and groom,
like the corpse, were never left alone, and in the attire of the
bride and groom, knots were loosened before the wedding
ceremony and knots were also avoided in shrouds. The days
of mourning numbered seven, the same number as the days of
the wedding feast. These similarities are adequately explained
by the common origin of both rites the fear of evil spirits. 298
Guarding the corpse against demons could not play any sig-
nificant role in the customs observed in the seven days of
mourning, but played a great role in the rites and customs
observed from the moment of death until the funeral was con-
cluded. This period was believed the time when the evil spirits
infested the corpse as well as the people who participated in
the burial.
The Gaon Sar Sholom, head of the academy at Sura (about
the middle of the ninth century), explicitly stated that the
seven stops made on the return from the grave were made
because evil spirits clung to those returning from a burial, one
of which hastened away with every halt. Rashi, the greatest
of the commentators on the Bible and the Talmud, repeated
this explanation two centuries later. About five hundred years
after Rashi, this same explanation was again repeated by Rabbi
Moshe Isserles, co-author of the Shulchan Aruch (the ac-
cepted code of civil and religious laws in Orthodox Jewry).
The same explanation also may apply to the stops made by the
funeral procession on the way to the grave. So motivated, the
stops appropriately went with the recitation of Psalm 91.
called in the Talmud, "The Song of Evil Spirits." 2 "
Later Customs . . . On the foregoing pages we have applied
indiscriminately the theories of modern anthropologists con-
292 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
cerning the customs of death in Biblical, Talmudic and post-
Talmudic times. A few explanatory remarks must be added
about these later customs, which arose in medieval and recent
times under the influence of the non-Jewish environment.
The motive of blindfolding the dead is not an adequate ex-
planation of the custom of putting potsherds on the eyes, for
it does not explain the potsherd placed on the mouth. We must
add a second motive, that of closing the openings in the body
of the corpse to forestall penetration by evil spirits.
The custom of covering mirrors or turning them to the wall
was known among many nations, originating in a primitive
belief that man's soul was in his shadow, and also in his reflec-
tion in water, or in a mirror. It was feared that the soul pro-
jected in the mirror might be snatched away by the ghost of
the deceased. 800
The above cited Gaon Sar Sholom declared that the custom
of washing the hands on returning from a funeral was some-
thing new, and not obligatory. In the fourteenth century this
practice was still optional, and only in the long course of time
did it become a universally accepted custom. 301
The candle burning in the house of death during the seven
days of mourning was mentioned as far back as the thirteenth
century. Later, a glass of water and a towel were added. These
customs were practiced also among other nations. The reli-
gious code of Rabbi Abraham Danzig, noted religious author-
ity at the beginning of the nineteenth century, approved of
the lighted candle, but condemned the glass of water and the
towel as non-Jewish. This same authority strongly condemned
the custom of placing little sticks, called little forks, in the
hands of the corpse. In spite of the severe condemnation of this
great religious authority, even in this country, these two latter
customs are still practiced among Eastern European Orthodox
Jews. 302
In conclusion, it must be remarked that the customs related
to death are not homogeneous, but are a product of different
times and different stages of religious thought. The various
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 293
explanations offered for them do not exclude one another, but
should be jointly applied. A single custom may have originated
or have been sustained through the ages by a concurrence of
several motives. However, as already previously remarked, all
the joint explanations do not cover the origin of all the prac-
tices connected with death. Some of them defy explanation.
Originally these practices were rites with definite objec-
tives. Later the origin faded from memory, and the practices
became mere tokens of mourning, manifestations of grief, and
expressions of respect and affection for the departed.
Prayers for the Dead ... As stated in a previous chapter, the
belief in a future life after death, in Gan Eden for the righteous
and Gehenna for the wicked, was universally accepted among
Jews during the early centuries of the Common Era. But there
was yet no unanimity in regard to atonement for the sins of
the dead in order that they might be redeemed from Gehenna.
In the centuries following the second destruction of Jerusalem,
we find two contrasting trends of thought in this regard, and
we are unable to ascertain which predominated. One trend
declared that every man must repent and do good deeds during
his life and that there could be no atonement after death. The
other school of thought believed in atonement for sins of the
dead after death, and the efficacy of prayer to deliver sinful
souls from Gehenna. Numerous passages of the Talmud and
Midrash reflect both tendencies. In the Middle Ages the latter
trend became universally accepted in Jewish religious thought
and practice. 803
The predominance of the belief in atoning for the sins of the
dead caused the evolution of three religious institutions which
at present are most prominent in the ritual of the synagogue:
Kaddish, Yahrzeit (anniversary of the death) and Hazkoras
N'shomos (memorial service) . They will be treated separately.
Kaddish . . . The Kaddish (holy in Aramaic like kodosh in
Hebrew) is popularly thought of as a prayer for the dead,
294 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
although its contents have no link with death or praying for
the dead. This ancient Jewish prayer offers praise and adora-
tion to God. Originally, the nucleus was the doxology recited
by the whole congregation, "May His great name be praised
for all eternity!" We find this doxology in a Hebrew version
(in Psalm 113:2, "Blessed be the name of the Lord from this
time forth and forever") and in an Aramaic version in the
Book of Daniel (2:20, "Blessed be the name of God from ever-
lasting even until everlasting; for wisdom and might are His") .
Another Hebrew version was used as a congregational re-
sponse in the Temple service ("Blessed be the name of His
glorious kingdom forever and ever") . This praise of God, em-
phasizing the sanctity and glory of His name, had its proto-
type in the verse of Ezekiel, "Thus will I magnify Myself and
sanctify Myself, and I will make Myself known in the eyes of
many nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord" (38:
23). In EzekiePs magnificent vision, this universal recognition
of God's glory, which will usher in the era of eternal peace
and bliss, will occur after the miraculous defeat and downfall
of the last heathen world power of Gog, of the land of Magog.
No wonder that the praise of God's name was expanded by
the addition of a prayer for the speedy arrival of God's King-
dom, and later enlarged for liturgical purposes.
In the days of the Second Temple, more than one version of
this hymn, consisting of the doxology and a prayer for the
arrival of the Kingdom of God, was current among Jews.
Thus, the Christian Paternoster, which like Kaddish is a prayer
for the sanctification of God's name and the arrival of His
Kingdom, is not something unique and unparalleled, as Chris-
tians believe, but is merely one among many versions of an
ancient Jewish prayer.
In Talmudic times this holy praise of God was an integral
part of the liturgy. Recited as a conclusion to public readings
of the Holy Writings and religious discourses in the syna-
gogue or house of study, a mystic power was ascribed in cer-
tain circles to the recitation of this prayer, particularly to the
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 295
doxology responded by the congregation. The whole world
was sustained by merit of this holy praise of God's name. He
who recited the prayer was assured of his share in the world to
come, and it was thought the recital had power to annul an evil
decree passed in heaven. In the course of time, the power of
redeeming the dead from Gehenna was also attributed to the
recitation of Kaddish. 304
In the epoch of the G'onim (seventh to eleventh centuries),
we first meet the term Kaddish and two innovations in connec-
tion with its recital. Kaddish was already a part of the services
at the synagogue and linked with the occurrence of death, but
recited by a stranger, not by the son. It was the chazan who
recited it at the synagogue on the first Sabbath of mourning. 305
Since the belief prevailed that the religious merits and pious
deeds of the son could atone for the sins of his deceased par-
ents, only one step was necessary to establish a redeeming
power for the parents through the son's recital of prayers to
which the congregation responded with the sanctification of
God's name. To strengthen this belief, a basis was found for it
in the verses of Isaiah, "Therefore thus saith the Lord, who
redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: 'Jacob
shall not how be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale;
When he seeth his children, the work of My hands, in the
midst of him, That they sanctify My name; Yea, they shall
sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, And shall stand in awe of the
God of Israel' " (29:22-23). In addition, several versions of a
story were told with either Rabbi Akiba or Rabbon Jochanan
ben Zakkai as the main character, accentuating the fact that
the orphan's recital of Kaddish and Bor'chu (the two prayers
to which the congregation responds with praise of God) had
the power to rescue the most wicked man from the tortures of
Gehenna. Here is the story in brief.
Once Akiba (or Rabbon Jochanan ben Zakkai) met a ghost,
in the guise of a man carrying wood. He told Akiba that the
wood was for the fire in Gehenna in which he was burned
daily for his sins committed when he was a tax collector. He
296 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
could be released from his terrible punishment if he had a son
to recite Bor'chu and Kaddish before a congregation of wor-
shippers who would respond with the praise of God's name.
Rabbi Akiba, learning that a son had been born to the man
after his death, cared for the youth and educated him, so that
at last one day he stood in the assembly of worshippers and
recited Bor'chu and Kaddish. The dead man then appeared to
Rabbi Akiba, telling him that he was now released from
Gehenna. 306
The son's recitation of Kaddish after the death of a parent
spread during the Middle Ages, until, in the course of a few
centuries, it was universally accepted in all Jewish communi-
ties. Some religious authorities disliked the idea of relying too
much on the prayers of the sons for redemption from Ge-
henna, but their opposition was overcome. It is the opinion of
scholars that the custom began spreading in Germany during
the time of the wide-spread persecutions against the Jews. A
great many Jews perished as martyrs for Kiddush ha-Shem,
the sanctification of the name of God. It is therefore easy to
understand why the prayer sanctifying the name of God be-
came, more precious among the people.
At first Kaddish was recited for twelve months after death,
corresponding to the period in which wicked people were
kept in Gehenna, according to the predominant view of the
rabbis of the Talmud. Later, the Kaddish period was curtailed
to eleven months, in order that the dead parent should not
appear wicked. 307
At first, only the sons recited Kaddish; later daughters also
were permitted to recite Kaddish if there was no son. Grand-
children were allowed to recite Kaddish for their grandpar-
ents, parents for children, pupils for teachers, and even distant
relatives and complete strangers. This latter custom of reciting
Kaddish for a stranger led to the recent commercialization of
the custom. Many elderly people do not have sons or are not
sure that their sons will be able and willing to go three times
daily to the synagogue to recite Kaddish. They pay a certain
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 297
amount to the study circle at the house of study or to a pious
individual, with the stipulation that Kaddish be recited for
them after their departure. Hiring a stranger to recite Kaddish
has become an ordinary practice.
Yahrzeit ... As far back as Talmudic times, Jews memorial-
ized the anniversary of the day of their parents 7 deaths and also
of great teachers' deaths. Some people fasted on this date. In
the G'onic times, on the anniversary of the death of great
scholars, large throngs gathered at their graves. We may as-
sume that the custom of visiting the graves of parents on the
same occasion was also practiced in those times. 308
Although observing the anniversary of the death of parents
went back to the first centuries C.E., the word Yahrzeit and
most of its concurrent observances are of a late origin.
The word Yahrzeit was not mentioned before the sixteenth
century, and was derived from the German word Jahrzeit
used in the Christian Church to denote the occasion for honor-
ing the memory of the dead. Fasting on the anniversary of
the death of the parent was not obligatory. The above-
mentioned Judah the Pious of Regensburg (died 1217) rec-
ommended this custom. Rabbi Moshe Isserles, a co-author of
the Shulchan Aruch (sixteenth century), also recommended
it for its religious merit. In recent times it became customary
that, if one fasted once on the Yahrzeit day, he was obliged to
fast on that day every year. 309
The word Yahrzeit (as well as the custom of reciting Kad-
dish) originated among the Jews of Germany. Both are men-
tioned in the book of Maharil, the illustrious Rabbi of May-
ence (beginning of the fifteenth century), with whom the
readers of this book are already well acquainted. At first the
Spanish and Oriental Jews were opposed to the recital of
Kaddish on the Yahrzeit day, maintaining that this implied
that the deceased parent had remained in Gehenna more than
a year. Later, the opposition of the S'fardim was overcome
by their acceptance of the explanation given by the great
Cabalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria, who maintained that even the
soul which was already in Gan Eden was elevated every year
to a higher sphere by the recital of Kaddish on the occasion
of the Yahrzeit. Both name and custom were ultimately ac-
cepted by the S'fardim. Even the Persian Jews, who use their
own Judeo-Persian vernacular, call the observance of the anni-
versary of the death by its Yiddish name Yahrzeit. 310
In order to avoid quarrels about the right of precedence, the
practice in which all mourners and observers of Yahrzeit at
the services recite Kaddish together, was introduced among
the S'fardim and, more recently, among some Ashk'nazim. 811
The liturgical part of Yahrzeit is not confined to the recital
of the Kaddish. If the person observing the Yahrzeit has the
opportunity, he also reads the prayers before the congrega-
tion, and if he is a learned man, he recites a chapter in Mishnah
or a section of some other standard religious work, concluding
it with the longer version of Kaddish recited after a religious
discourse (Kaddish Urabbonon, Kaddish of the Scholars).
Everyone who observes Yahrzeit is called up to the reading of
the Torah on the Sabbath on which the Yahrzeit falls or on
the preceding Sabbath. Since a reading from the Scroll of the
Torah also takes place on Monday and Thursday, the mourner
may be called on either of these two days, although the Sab-
bath is preferable. The prayer for the dead on the occasion of
Yahrzeit will be discussed in the following topic.
In the seventeenth century, burning a "Yahrzeit light" for
twenty-four hours was still considered a strange custom. Jew-
ish scholars ascribe it to the influence of the Christian Church.
But the custom soon became Judaized, because Jews saw in the
burning light a symbol of man's soul. 312
Besides the Yahrzeit of the individual, there were national
traditional anniversaries of famous men in Jewish history. Most
popular was the seventh day of the month of Ador, the tradi-
tional anniversary of the death of Moses. This anniversary
dates back to the time of the G'onim and is still observed as a
fast day in many Jewish communities. 318
BELIEFS CONNECTED WITH DEATH 299
Among the Chasidim, the observance of Yahrzeit was trans-
formed from an occasion of mourning to an occasion of joy.
Chasidism arose in Poland in the eighteenth century and, about
a century ago, the Chasidim constituted nearly half the Jewish
people. They preached piety through joy, and celebrated
the Yahrzeit of their respective rabbis with hymns, religious
dances and general rejoicing. Their individual Yahrzeit was
an occasion of joy on which the person observing the Yahrzeit
passed brandy and cakes among the worshippers in the house
of study. This custom spread in America among Misnagdim
(opponents of Chasidim). In Eastern Europe among Mis-
nagdim, there were regions where the observer of Yahrzeit
provided himself with a box of snuff which he passed among
the people assembled for the services.
Among the S'fardim, the observer of Yahrzeit invites rela-
tives and acquaintances to his house, foremost among them the
chacham (rabbi) and the communal functionaries of the syna-
gogues, who honor the memory of the departed by studying
Torah. This performance is called "limud" (study). The
invited guests study Mishnah and Zohar and the chacham de-
livers a discourse on Torah. The only refreshment served is
coffee. 314
Yahrzeit is the anniversary of the day of death, not of burial,
and it is observed according to the Jewish calendar. People
believe the day of Yahrzeit is an unlucky day for any enter-
prise.
Hazkoras N'shomos . . . The custom of performing a me-
morial service for the dead developed among the Jews in Ger-
many in the time of the Crusades, when thousands of Jews
were massacred by mobs. Originally, a communal service was
performed once in a year, on Yom Kippur, when lists were
read of men and women, who during persecutions had become
martyrs to the "Sanctification of the Name of God." These
lists were called "memor books" (from the Latin memoria)
and the German Jews called the performance of this service
300 DEATH, BURIAL, AND MOURNING
"memern." The earliest "memor book" extant is that of Nu-
remberg, containing the names of the martyrs who died be-
tween 1096 and 1349 (from the First Crusade until the Black
Death). The communal service of Hazkoras N'shomos gradu-
ally has become an individual service in which each individual
remembers his dead parents and prays for their souls, 815
In recent times it has become customary to have memorial
services on the three festivals. For individuals the services
are held on any Sabbath, Monday or Thursday, on which
the Yahrzeit falls, or on the Sabbath preceding the Yahr-
zeit. At the services of the synagogue, this latter occasion is
marked by the chazan or sexton's chant of the prayer El mole
rachamlm (O God, who is full of compassion, etc.), a prayer
for the dead, mentioning the name of the deceased, which
came into vogue in the seventeenth century. Recently, this
prayer has become as popular as Kaddish, and since it was
chanted by a hired stranger, it has also been commercialized.
During the month of Elul, especially on the Sundays, when
everyone visits the graves of his or her parents and other kin-
dred, the Jewish cemeteries in this country resound with the
prayer El mole rachamim, chanted by someone who is compe-
tent to do so, for the benefit of those who do not know He-
brew and cannot recite the prayers themselves. He chants the
prayer on behalf of every individual of the family who visits
the grave, receiving a coin from each. This prayer is also
recited at the unveiling of a tombstone.
Among the S'fardim, the memorial service is called Hash-
kabah (praying for the repose and peace of the dead).
Conclusion
Through several hundred pages, the panorama of the life of
the individual Jew has unfolded through long stretches of time
and through many lands and climes. We have seen how much
Jewish life has changed under the impact of new environments
and new civilizations, and how much it remained unchanged
throughout the ages. Moving swiftly through three thousand
years of Jewish history, we have come to a Jewish cemetery
here in America. The cycle of the life of the individual Jew
has thus come to an end. But the way of life of the Jewish
people, based on the Jewish monotheistic faith, will not perish
from the earth, though it may undergo many more transfor-
mations.
301
Botes
(Blossarg
Botes
The sources as well as the scientific literature referred to in the
following notes are merely selective.
All Talmudic tractates mentioned below refer to the Baby-
lonian Talmud, unless preceded by a Y. This symbol is used to
indicate Yerushalmi.
The books and treatises in the following list which are re-
ferred to repeatedly throughout the notes are given there un-
der the name of the author only;
Benzinger, Hebraeische Archaeologie, 3rd ed.
Berliner, Aus dent Leben der deutschen Jitdcn im Mittelalter*
Frazer, The Golden Boz^gh > one volume ed.
Guedemann, Geschichte des Erziehzmgsivesens und der Kultur
der abendlaendischen Juden 'waehrend dcs Mittelalters und der
neueren Zeit.
Krauss, Talmudlsche Arcbaeologie*
Loew, Die ~Lebensalter in der juedischen Literatur.
Mann, Jacob, "Rabbinic Studies in the Synoptic Gospels," He*
brew Union College Annual, 1924.
Samter, Geburt> Hochzeit und Tod.
Scheftelowitz, Isidor, Alt-Pal. Alt-Palaestinensischer Bauern-
glaube.
Scheftelowitz, Isidor, altper. Die altpersische Religion und das
Judentum.
Smith, W. Robertson, Lectures on the Religion of the Semites,
3rd ed.
Wuttke, Der Deutsche V oiks aber glaube der Gegentuart? 3rd ed.
J.E. Jewish Encyclopedia.
1 See Tosefto Shabos 6-7; Shabos
^ 2 We are not sure whether the birth-stool was already in use in Biblical
times, because we cannot be sure about the original meaning of the Hebrew
word mashber in the Bible (Isa. 37:3; Hos. 13:3). The fact that in Talmud
(Shabos 1293; Mishnah Nido 10:5) mashber is used for a birth-stool does
not prove that it had this meaning also in Biblical times. Neither are we sure
a 05
306 NOTES
about the meaning of the Hebrew word ovnoyim (Exod. 1:16; Jer. 18:3).
See Loew, p. 74, Krauss II, p. 6 and note 53, p. 426. See also the hypotheses of
Sarsowski in Hakedem I, p. 23 and Spiegelberg in Zeitschrift fuer Assyrio-
logie XIV, p. 269.
3 Exod. 1:19.
4 Gen. 35:16-18; I Sam. 4:20; see also B'reshis Rabo 82:9.
5 Jer. 20:15. It is evident from this that in the days of Jeremiah it was
customary for the father to be absent from the place where his wife was in
labor. Among many other peoples the custom prevailed to place the child
at birth on the knees of his father, who thereby acknowledged it as rus. We
do not have any conclusive proof that, barring cases of adoption, this custom
had ever prevailed among Jews. The expression "that she may bear upon
my knees" (Gen. 30:3) refers to the adoption of Bilhah's children by Rachel.
A case of adoption may also be implied in the expression "the children also
of Machir the son of Manasseh were born upon Joseph's knees'* (Gen.
50:23). It may imply the adoption of Machir's sons by Joseph. See The
International Critical Commentary, and Gunkel, Genesis, on these two pas-
sages. The expression "Why did the knees receive me?" in Job 3:12, being a
later source than the time of Jeremiah, does not refer to the knees of the
father but rather to the knees of the midwife or some other woman. See
Stade in Zeitschrift fuer die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft VI, pp. 143 flf.
and Benzinger, p. 123.
6 Pss. 127:3; 128:3; Ruth 4:10.
7 Ezek. 16:5. This custom of rubbing the new-born babe with salt was
still practiced among Jews in Talmudic times (Shabos i29b) and it is still
in vogue at the present time among the Arab peasants in Palestine who con-
tinue this practice for weeks in succession. They believe that the salt in-v
vigorates the child. See Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palestina Vereins, IV,
p. 63. The origin of this custom is the primitive belief that salt, as well a&
garlic, is a safeguard against demons and the evil eye. See Immanuel Loew,
"Das Salz," in Jewish Studies in Memory of G. A. Kohut; Ploss, Das Kind fc>
I, pp. 227 ff.; Samter, pp. 151-161; I. Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal., pp. 78-79. Cf.
Wuttke, p. 281.
8 Ruth 4:14-15; Luke 1:58.
9 The father chooses the name: Gen. 4:26; 5:3, 29; 21:3; 41: 51-52; Exod.
2:22; II Sam. 12:24; Hos. 1:4, 6, 9. The mother chooses the name: Gen.
4:25; 29:32-30:24; 38:4-5; Judg. 13:24; I Sam. 1:20; Isa. 7:14. Relatives and
friends suggest a name: Ruth 4:17.
10 Deut. 25:6; Ruth 4:10. Boaz married Ruth in a levirate marriage "to raise
up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be
not cut off from among his brethren." But the son born of this marriage was
not named Mahlon but Obed.
11 The father performed the operation: Gen. 17:23, the mother, Exod: 4:25.
About a knife of stone, see also Josh. 5:2-3.
12 See Richard Andree, "Die Beschneidung," Archiv fuer Anthropologie,
Vol. XIII; Ploss, Das Kind 3 II, pp. 157 ff . For a brief account of the diffusion
of circumcision and of the divergent theories offered by scholars to explain
its origin, see article "Circumcision" in J.E. and in En. of Religion and Ethics.
13 See Gressmann, Mose, pp. 56-61; Ed. Meyer, Die Israeliten, p. 59;
W. Robertson Smith, p. 328.
NOTES 307
14 See Gunkel "Ueber die Beschneidung im alten Testament," Archiv fuer
Papyrusforschung II, pp. 13-21; Kautzsch, Biblische Theologie, pp. 34-35;
Ed. Meyer, Die Israeliten, p. 449.
15 Gen. 34:14 ff-; II Sam. 1:20. The uncircumcised could not belong to the
"congregation of Israel" and was forbidden to eat from the Pesach sacrifice,
Exod. 12:47-48.
16 Jer. 4:4; 9:24 and Deut. 10:16; 30:6. Scholars disagree as to whether this
metaphor is original to Jeremiah or to Deut. In Lev. 19:23, the Hebrew word
for uncircumcised ones, arelim, connoting taboo, is applied to the fruits in
the first three years of newly planted trees. Metaphorically the word orel
is also used for hardness in speech and in hearing, Exod. 6: 12, 30; Jer. 6:10.
17 Ezek. 31:18-32:32.
18 Gen. 9:8-17; 17:1-14; Exod. 31:16-17.
19 Gen. 21:8; I Sam. 1:24.
20 It is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible that the redemption of the
first-born son took place at the sanctuary. The only place where it is men-
tioned is the Gospel of Luke (2:22-23). But Luke was not a Jew and was
liable to err in matters of Jewish usage. He may have used as a pattern for
his account the story of Hannah, who when she had weaned Samuel brought
him into the house of the Lord in Shiloh. However, we have to presume that
in the ancient pre-Josianic days, when the local shrine, the bomo> was near at
hand, the ceremony of redeeming the first-born son of the mother took place
at the local sanctuary. See Jacob Mann.
21 Exod. 13:13-15; 22:28; 34:20; Num. 3:11-13; 8:16-18.
22 The theory that pidyon ha-ben was a substitute for human sacrifices
goes back to German scholars in the nineteenth century. They, in their zeal
to vilify "the religion of the Old Testament," endeavored to "prove" that the
God or Israel was in pre-exilic times a Moloch like Chemos, the God of the
Moabites to whom Mesha, king of Moab, offered his eldest son as a burnt-
offering (II Kings 3). According to these scholars human sacrifices were a
legal part of the cult of the God of Israel. They applied this view to the
interpretation of Exod. 22:28: "The first-born of thy sons shalt thou give
unto Me," and maintained that it was only after the Babylonian exile that
"the religion of the Old Testament" was reformed and the Moloch cult
prohibited (Lev. 20:1-5; Deut. 18:10).
This rather superficial and ill-founded position was properly rejected by
competent authorities. It can hardly be questioned that human sacrifices oc-
curred in the heathen stage through which the ancestors of the Hebrews
passed in pre-historic times. It was a practice which had prevailed through-
out Semitic heathendom. As far as the Bible is concerned, human sacrifices
are not mentioned anywhere as a legal part of the cult of Israel. The moral
of the tale of the sacrificing of Isaac is that the forefathers of the children of
Israel rejected human sacrifices already in pre-Mosaic times. Jephthah, like
Samson and the other Judges, was a hero of the sword, not a religious leader.
It is not at all surprising that this "mighty man of valor, the son of a harlot,"
who had been a leader of a band of marauders in the desert, expressed his
devotion to his God in the manner of the neighboring heathens. The slaying
of Zebah and Zalmunah by Gideon (Judg. 8), of Agag by Samuel (I Sam.
15), and of the children of Saul by the Gibeonites (II Sam. 21) were execu-
tions of war and blood revenge and do not belong to the category of sacri-
308 KOTES
fices. It was only in the Assyro-Babylonian times that the heinous Moloch
cult penetrated to the Jews from Mesopotamia, along with many other
strange heathenish rites of the Assyrians and Babylonians, and was practiced
publicly in Jerusalem in "the valley of the son of Hinom" (II Kings 16:3;
21 :6; Jer. 7:31; 19:5; Ezek. 16:20; 36; 20:26-31; 23:37-39). It seems from
Micah 6:7 that there were in those days many Jews, apparently of the higher
classes, who, under foreign influences, misconstrued the above cited verse
28 in Exod. 22 to mean that the first-born should be sacrificed as burnt-
offerings, exactly as it was misinterpreted by some modern Bible critics. It
was apparently in allusion to these Jewish Molochists and their misinterpre-
tation of Exod. 22:28 that Ezekiel said: "Wherefore I gave them also statutes
that were not good and ordinances whereby they should not live; and I
polluted them in their own gifts in that they set apart all that openeth the
womb, that I might destroy them, to the end that they might know that I
am the I ord" (20:25-26). Ezekiel could not have meant that as a punishment
God commanded his people to sacrifice their first-born sons. This would
have been a flat contradiction of verse 2 in the same chapter where it says
that God gave to Israel His statutes and ordinances in order that the man
who keeps them shall live by them. Ezekiel could only mean to say that as a
funishment God so formulated His law in Exod. 22:28 to give cause to the
ewish Molochists to misinterpret it.
Thus, competent scholars are agreed that the first-born was redeemed from
service in the sanctuary, for the first-born preceded the Levites as the serv-
ants of God in His sanctuary, as it is explicitly stated in Num. 3:41 and
8:16-18. Compare the same expression for the sacredness of the Levites in
Num. 8:16, "given unto Me," and the sacredness of the first-born in Exod.
22:28, "shalt thou give unto Me." See Benzinger, p. 357; Evaritus Mader,
Die Menschenop-fer der Alten Hebraer und der Benachbarten Voelker;
W. Robertson Smith, pp. 464-465 and 688-689. See also Hugo Gressmann,
Die aelteste Geschichtsschreibung und Prophetic Israels, 2te Auflage, p. 256.
23 Lev. 12:1-8.
24 See Frazer, pp. 207-208; Ploss, Das Kind s , pp. 381 ff.; Samter, pp. 22 fT.
25 Shabos 1293; Mishnah Nido 10:5; Mishnah Shabos 18:3; Mishnah Rosh
Hashono 2:5; Bovo Kamo 593; Avodo Zoro 26a; Soto nb; Tosefto Y'vomos
9:4; Tosefto Makos 2:5; Y. K'subos 5, Halocho 6.
26 Vayikro Rabo 27:7; Shabos i29b; B'reshis Rabo 34 at the end.
27 Tosefto Shabos 6.
28 Tosefto Makos 2:4; Tosefto Kelim, Bovo M'tsio, 1-12; 8:4; Tosefto
Kelim, Bovo Basro, 7-12; Shabos 58b. See article "Birth, Jewish" by
M. Gaster in En. of Religion and Ethics.
29 Josephus, Apion II, par. 25; Gitin 573. See Ploss, Das Kind 3 , pp. 61-63;
Scheftelowitz, Ah-PaL, pp. 25-27.
80 II Mace. 6: 10.
31 See Schuerer, Geschichte III, pp. 1641!.
32 Josephus, Ant. XX, chaps. 2-4.
83 See Schuerer, Geschichte III, p. 552.
34 Book of Jubilees, chap. 15; Sanhedrin 32b; Bovo Basro 6ob; N'dorim
3*a. About the expression Stfvuo ha-ben y see Krauss II, pp. 11-12 and Jacob
Mann.
NOTES 309
85 Mishnah Shabos 19:1; M'nochos 42a; Shabos i3ob, i3?b, 1563.
36 Ruth Rabo 6:5; Y. Chagigo 2, Halocho i.
37 Tosefto M'gilo 4:15.
38 Koheleth Rabo 3:4; DVorim Rabo 9:1. See A. Buechler, The Political
and Social Leaders of the Jewish Community of Sipporis.
39 See Krauss II, p. 439, note 123.
40 Book of Jubilees 11:15 (Terah named his son Abram after the name of
his mother's father) ; B'reshis Rabo 37:10 (a discussion between two Tannoim
as to why it had become the custom to name children after their dead an-
cestors instead of naming them according to the events of the time, as they
did in former days). A son named after his father or grandfather who was
still alive: Eruvin 85b-86a; Y. Nozir 4, Halocho 6; Tosefto Nido 5:15; Luke
1:59. See Buchanan Gray, Studies in Hebrew Proper Names; the same author,
"Children Named after Ancestors in the Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine
and Assuan," Studien zur Semitischen Philologie und Religions geschichte,
Julius Wellhausen gewid?net. See Krauss II, p. 13 and Jacob Mann.
41 Vayikro Rabo 32:5 (Israel was delivered from Egypt because they did
not change their names); Gitin rib (most Jews outside of Erets Yisroel
bear heathen names).
42 The Aramaic version is first mentioned in the Sidur of R. Amrom Gaon
and the Sidur of R. Saadiah Gaon (9th and roth centuries), the Hebrew
version is first mentioned in Shibole Haleket (i3th century).
43 B'choros 5ib.
44 P'sochim i2ib; T'rumas Hadeshen, 268.
45 Book of Jubilees 3:9-14; Nido 3ib; B'reshis Rabo 20:17; Mishnah Nido
3:7-
46 Mishnah Sh'kolim 6:5; Mishnah Soto 1:5; Eruvin 3za. See Loew, p. in.
47 Elijah Levita, Tishbi, s.u., Lilith; Isaac Holzer, "Aus dem Leben der
alten Judengemeinde zu Worms," Zeitschrift fuer die Geschichte der Juden
in Deutschland, Jahrgang V.
48 Machzor Vitri by R. Simcho, a pmpil of Rashi, mentions as an established
custom, observing the eve of the b'ris by a joyous feast, but does not call it
Watch Night, See J. Bergmann, Monatsschrift, 1927, pp. 165 fL; Guedemann,
III, pp. 103 fF.; J. Perles, Graetz Jubelschrift, pp. 23 fF.; Filologishe Shriftn
(Yiddish) I (the Watch Night as observed by the Jews of Vienna at the
beginning of the i5th century) ; Wuttke, pp. 386 flf.
49 The words in Genesis 17:9 "and as for thee, thou shalt keep My cove-
nant" were interpreted by the Jewish homilists to mean that watch shall be
kept on the eve of the b'ris (the Hebrew word for "thou shalt keep," tishmor,
has also the meaning of "thou shalt watch"). Also the words of Koheleth
11:2 "Divide a portion into seven, yea, even into eight" were interpreted to
mean that on the seventh day after birth a feast shall be held as on the eighth
day. See R. Jacob Chagiz, Halochos K'tanos, 169; Jacob Glassberg, Zichron
B'm Lorishonmij 65-148.
50 Loew, pp. 8 1 fF.
51 Pirke R. Eliezer 29; Yalkut Shim-oni 71, on Gen. 13:17.
52 Shabos 67b; N'dorim 563 and Rashi, ad loc.; Moed Koton 27a; and Rashi,
ad he.; Sanhedrin 2oa, 923 and Rashi, ad loc.; Shulchan Aruch, Yore Deo
178:3. See Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal., p, 4.
310 NOTES
53 Tosefto 6:4; Shulchan Aruch Yore Deo 179:17 and commentaries
thereon. See Samter, p. 53, and Bergmann, "Der Stuhl und der Kelch des
Elijah," Monatsschrtft, 1927.
54 See Eirke Joseph by H. J. D. Azulai on Shulchan Aruch Yore Deo
179:17. It is evident from this commentator, an Oriental rabbi of the i8th
century, that it was only in the course of a very long time that the table
bedecked with food on the Watch Night and the chair of Elijah were com-
pletely disassociated from one another in the popular mind. See also the
chapter on Elijah's chair in Zichron B'ris Lorishonim by Jacob Glassberg.
A different role in the history of the Jewish ceremonial was played by
Elijah's cup on the Seder night, the counterpart of Elijah's chair at the b'ris.
See The Jewish Festivals by the writer, pp. 80 ff .
55 See Lipman, Sefer Nitsochon, 22 and M. Gaster, Ma'aseh Book, II, pp.
391-392.
56 Loew, p. 83.
57 Shibole Haleket.
68 See Holzer as in note 47.
59 Loew, p. 104.
60 Sefer Chasidim (ed. Wistinetzki), p. 114.
61 The son of Judah Halevi's daughter was called Judah after his grand-
father while the latter was still alive. About the Jews of Yemen see Even
Sapher I, 513.
62 See Guedemann III, pp. 104-105; Holzer as in note 47; A. Landau in
Zeitschrtft des Vereins fuer Volkskunde, 1899; Loew, pp. 104-105; J. Perles
in Graetz Jubelschrift. About the Teutonic goddess, Dame Holle, see
Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, pp. 267 rT. See also 1494 bfcncp* mny "no ,1573
.(p'np Vin) Vinn w n if? ianp'0 oiip ~pr "tV* VSN DHJNH D'-IDINP rrnnn 'pios
63 .n* ,n"D njnip nVm
^Yosef Omets, 361 (i7th century).
65 About naming children in general see Ploss, Das Kind 3 I, pp. 408 fT.
About naming children among Jews see Hershberg, Hatkufo, Vols. XXII,
XXV; Lauterbach, "The Naming of Children," Central Conference of Amer-
ican Rabbis, 1932; Zunz, "Namen der Juden," Ges. Schriften II. See also
Tylor, Pri?mtive Culture II, pp. 4-5, and article "Names" in J.E.
66 T'shuvos Ha-g'onim, Sha-arei T'shuvo, 47.
67 Shulchan Aruch Yore Deo 305:15 and Sifse Kohen } ad loc.
68 Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayyim 282:17 and Mogen Avrohom, ad loc.
See Loew, p. 80 and Ploss, Das Kind 3 I, pp. 396 ff .
69 Nido 3ib; Onon, Sefer Hamitsvos; S. Bernfeld, R'shumos I; Lunts,
Jerusalem I; Almaliach, A,, Hashiloach, 24.
70 Pulner, "Zur Volkskunde der georgischen Juden," Mitteilungen zur
Juedischen Volkskunde , 31 and 32.
71 Tanchumo, P'kude 3 ; " Y'tsiras Havlad," Eisenstein, Otsar Midroshim;
for a detailed bibliography of the sources, with critical remarks, see Ginz-
berg, Legends V, note 20 on Adam.
72 See M. Gaster, "The Chronicles of Jerahmeel," Oriental Translation
Fund, new series IV, p. LXIV; Guedemann, "Mythenmischung in der
NOTES 311
Hagada," Monatsschrift, 1876; K. Kohler, Jewish Theology, pp. 215 and 289;
Scheftelowitz, altper., pp. 157-158.
73 See Sota lib about the sorceress Jochani and Rashi, ad loc.; also Oruch,
s.v., Jochani.
74 About the magic circle, Kaporos and Shofar see The Jewish Festivals by
the writer, pp. 164-167 and 206-207.
75 See Frazer, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament III, pp. 1-18, and Samter,
pp. 136 ff.
76 About sympathetic magic, see Frazer, pp. n ff. About untying knots see
Frazer, pp. 239-240 and Samter, pp. 121 ff.
77 See R. Campbell Thompson, Semitic Magic, pp. 65 ff .; by the same
author, article "Semi-human demons," En. of Religion and Ethics; M. Gaster,
"Two Thousand Years of a Charm Against the Child-Stealing Witch,"
Studies and Texts 11; Max Gruenbaum, Gesammelte Aufsaetze, pp. 94 ff.;
James Montgomery, Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur, pp. 68 ff . and
pp. 75 ff.; F. Perles, Orientalistische Liter aturzeitung XVIII, pp. 170-180;
Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal., pp. 5 ff .
78 Long hair: Eruvin loob; a man alone in a house in danger of being
seized by Lilith: Shabos i5ib; a human being born with wings like a Lilith:
Nido 24b; Ahriman the son of Lilith: Bobo Basro 73a.
79 II Alphabet of Ben-Sira, Eisenstein, Otsar Midroshim. See Bacher,
"Lilith, Koenigin von Smaragd," Monatsschrift, 1870; Ginzberg, Legends V,
note 40 on Adam; G. Sholem, Kirias Sefer X; I. Zoler, Filologishe Shriftn III.
80 For pictures of Hebrew amulets to guard against Lilith, see article
"Amulets" in /..
81 Tosefto Shabos 6; Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal., pp. 39-40, 66-69; Tylor,
Primitive Culture I, p. 140.
82 Cf. Shabos 67b and Rashi, ad loc., and Rosh Hashono i6b.
83 Pr. 10:2. Ts'doko which originally signified righteousness, the right
conduct, was interpreted in post-Biblical times to mean especially almsgiving.
About changing the name as a magic means, see Sefer Chasidim (ed.
Wistinetzki), par. 365; Lauterbach as in note 65; Loew, 107 ff.; Scheftelowitz,
Alt-Pal, pp. 55-57-
84 Machzor Vitri, par. 507. Cf. Rashi, B'reshis Rabo on Gen. 21:8 (on the
day when Isaac was weaned, the day when they put him in a cradle) .
85 See Wuttke, p. 385.
86 Sefer Chasidim, ed. Wistinetzki, p. 106.
87 See the collection of Yiddish folk-songs by Ginsburg and Marek, pp.
59 ff.; the collection of Yiddish folk-songs by J. L, Cahan, II, pp. 97 ff ., and
Jewish Folklore j edited by J. L. Cahan, pp. 51 ff.
88 Yomo 38b.
89 II. Mace. 7:27; Nido 9a; DVorim Rabo 7:12.
90 Gen. 21 :8; I Sam. 1:24. According to DVorim Rabo 1:22 and Pirke R.
Eliezer 29, the great feast of Gen. 21:8 took place on the day of circumci-
sion. Some Jewish homilists in the A4iddle Ages have interpreted hgml (the
Hebrew word for weaned) to mean the eighth day of circumcision. Ac-
cording to these homilists h and g have the numerical value of 8 and ml is
the infinitive of the Hebrew verb for circumcising.
312 NOTES
91 See Frazer, pp. 231 ff. and pp. 68-681 ; Ploss, Das Kind* II, pp. 64 fT;
W. R. Smith, p. 324; Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal., pp. 149-150.
82 The prohibition of rounding the corners of the head, Lev. 19:27, is ex-
plained by modern scholars as forbidding the heathen cult of hair-offering.
See W. R. Smith, pp. 325 fT. and Wellhausen, Rests ArMschen Heidentums 2 ,
pp. 198-199. Cf. Apocryphic Book of Baruch 6:30 (Epistle of Jeremiah).
93 Judah Elzet, "Miminhagei Yisroel," in Rshumos I; I. Goldfarb, "Hilulo
d'rabi Simeon ben Yochai," in Luach Achi-osof, 5664; A. Sh. Hershberg,
"Ha-s'fardim b'erets Yisroel," in Hashiloach, XVIII; Lunts, Jerusalem I.
94 See F. T. Elinorthy, The Evil Eye, and the most comprehensive book on
this subject by S. Seligmann, Die Zauberkraft des Auges und das Berufen.
95 Bovo M'tsio royb
96 See Ludwig Blau, Das altjuedische Zauberwesen, pp. 152 fT,; Almaliach
as in note 69; Regina Lilienthal, "Das Kind bei den Juden," Mitteilungen zur
juedischen Volkskunde, 1908.
9T Vayikro Rabo 26:7; Tanchumo, Buber, Emor 35.
98 See Rashi on Num. 12:1.
"Mishnah Shabos 6:9-10; Kidushin 73b; Rambam, Resp. (ed. Freimann),
p. 5; Berliner, pp. 96 fT.; Guedemann, I, pp. 199 fT.; Almaliach as in note 69.
100 See Schrader, Keilinschrijten und das Alte Testament 3 , p. 364 and
Seligmann as in note 94, p. 410.
101 Beis Yosef, Tur Orach Chayim, 308.
102 See Schechter, "The Child in Jewish Literature," Studies in Judaism I.
103 Josephus, Apion II, par. 18; Suko 423.
104 See Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 4:2 and more at length in Cbaye
Odom 2:1. About nails see The Jewish Festivals by the writer, note 33.
About water as a charm to forestall harm by evil spirits see Scheftelowitz,
AJt-PaL, pp. 71 fF. See also below, p. 215 and p. 290.
105 Deut. 6:7; 11:19; Judg. 8:14; Isa. 8:1; 10:19; 29:12; Hab. 2:2.
106 The term Beis Midrosh is first mentioned in the Hebrew Ben-Sira 51:22.
See R. H. Kennet, Ancient Hebrew Social Life and Custom; Klostermann,
Schulwesen im alten Israel.
107 Bovo Basro 21 a.
108 Midrash Echo, proem 2; K'subos 53; Sanhedrin i7b; Shabos ii9b;
Vayikro Rabo 27:2; 30:1.
109 Avodo Zoro 3b.
110 Bovo Basro 2ia; Mishnah Shabos 1:3; Mishnah Kidushin 4:13.
111 Mishnah Bovo Basro 2:3; B'reshis Rabo 65:16; DVorim Rabo 8:4.
112 M'gilo 2ia; Pirke Ovos 1:4 and Ovos de R. Noson, ad loc.; Bamidbor
Rabo 21:15; Tosefto Kelim, Bovo Basro, 1:11.
113 Shir Hashirim Rabo 1:13; 6:17; Horoyos 12:1; Midrash Echo,broem
30; Sanhedrin 95b; B'reshis Rabo 1:5; D'vorim Rabo 8:3; Gitin 6oa; Tosefto
Yodayim 2:11.
114 Midrash Echo 2:5; K'subos 503; M'chilto on Exod. 13:14; Pirke Ovos
5:15; Vayikro Rabo 7:3 ("Why does one begin to teach the children with
the Priestly Torah and not with B'reshis? Because the children are pure and
NOTES 313
the sacrifices are pure, let the pure ones come and occupy themselves with
the pure ones") . The strange custom of beginning to teach the child Penta-
teuch with the sacrificial laws of Leviticus, which persisted to our day, was
discussed by many scholars. The explanation cited here from Vayikro Rabo
was thought up in later times, and does not explain the origin of the custom.
The most plausible explanation is the one given by Nathan Drazin in his
book, History of Jewish Education, pp. 82-83. According to this theory the
custom sprang up after the destruction of the Second Temple, in order to
make the child aware of the significance of the Temple and the glory that
was lost by its destruction.
115 Yalkut on Deut. 32:24; Kidushin 3oa; Shabos ugb, i29b; Ta-anis 303;
Mishnah Bovo M'tsio 2:11; Toseftb Suko 2:6; Bovo Basro 21 a.
116 Kidushin 29a; B'reshis Rabo 63:14 ("Until the age of thirteen Jacob and
Esau went together to the Beis Sefer; after the age of thirteen one went to
the Beis Midrosh and the other went to the heathen temples"). For more de-
tails and a full bibliography of sources, see N. Drazin as in note 114; L. Ginz-
berg, "The Jewish Primary School," in Students, Scholars and Saints; Krauss
III, pp. 200 ff.; Nathan Morris, The Jewish School.
117 Deut. 33:4; Lev. 1:1; Ezek. 3:3; Pss. 119:99, 103. The translation of
verse 99 as given here is the conventional one according to Rashi. The mod-
ern translation, "I have more understanding than all my teachers," is accord-
ing to the interpretation of Ibn Ezra.
118 The name cheder (room) for the primary school was in use already as
far back as the beginning of the iyth century. See Simcho Osof, M'koros
Utoldos Hachinuch I, p. 78.
119 Machzor Vitri; Sefer Horokeach. See Guedemann, I, pp. 50 ff .; Zunz,
Zur Geschichte und Literatur, pp. 167 if.
120 See Emanuel Gamoran, Changing Conceptions in Jewish Education;
A. M. Lifshitz, "Hacheder" in Hatkufo VII, pp. 294-352; I. Stern, "Baschrei-
bung fun a cheder" in Schriften fur psychologie un pedagogic I; Simcho
Osof as in note 118, Vol. IV.
121 Bovo M'tsio 963.
122 Exod. 30:14; Lev. 27:5; Num. 1:3, 20; 14:29.
123 Mishnah Nido 5:6.
124 See Heinrich Schurtz, Altersklassen und Maennerbuende II, pp. 83 rT.;
article "Age of Majority," in En. of Social Sciences; Schechter, Studies in
Judaism I, p. 307. The verses of the Bible referred to in note 122 belong to
the so-called Priestly Writing of the Pentateuch which is, as a whole, a
product of post-exilic times. Schechter, rejecting the Higher Criticism of the
Bible and maintaining the traditional Mosaic origin of all Pentateuchal laws,
was thus forced to ascribe to a Roman influence the Talmudic law of
attainment of majority at thirteen for a boy, and twelve for a girl. About 13
as a sacred number among the Oriental peoples and an ill-omened number
among Europeans, see Berliner, p. 101, and Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal., pp. 145-
146.
125 Ovos 5:21, See also K'subos 5oa.
126 B'reshis Rabo 63:14.
127 Sofrim 18:5.
128 Suko 42a; M'gilo 233; Yomo 823; Sofrim 18:7.
314 NOTES
129 Cf. Tur Orach Chayim 37 and Schulchan Aruch Orach Chayim,
Kara and Ramo and the commentaries thereon.
130 See Joseph Omets, p. 357.
131 About the Bar Mitsvo feast see Osof, as in note 118, 1, p. 102; Yam Shel
Shlomo on Bovo Kamo 7:37; Zohar Chodosh on Gen. 1:14. About the Bar
Mitsvo celebration in general see Krauss III, p. 222; Loew, pp. 210 rT.;
Yitschok Rivkind, Uos U'lzikoron; article, "Bar Mizwah," in J.E.
132 See Holzer as in note 47; Osof as in note 118, 1, p. 120.
133 Almaliach, Hashiloach, 24; Lunts, Jerusalem I.
134 Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums, 1839, pp. 278-279.
135 Ps. 128:6; Prov. 17:6; Gen. 24:4; 28:2; Num. 26:8-11.
186 Cant. 8:2; I Sarn. 18:6-7; II Mace. 3:19.
137 About the Jews of Yemen see Erich Brauer, Ethnologie der Jemeni-
tischen fuden, pp. i2off.; about marriage conditions and marriage customs
among the Arabs today see Hilma Granqvist, "Marriage Conditions in a
Palestinian Village" (Societas Scientiarum Fennica Comment ationes Hu-
manarum Litterarum III, 8, VI, 8, Helsingfors, 1931, 1935); Elihu Grant, The
Peasantry of Palestine, pp. 53 ff.; John D. Whiting, "Village Life in the Holy
Land," The National Geographic Magazine, March, 1914.
138 See Exod. 22:15-16 and Deut. 22:28-29.
139 1 Sam. 18:25; Josh. 15:16-17; Judg. 1:12-13.
140 Code Hammurabi, par. 159-160.
141 Deut. 20:7; 22:23-29; 28:30. See A. Buechler, "Das juedische Verloebnis"
(Israel Lewy Festschrift).
142 Cf. Mai. 2:14; Prov. 2:17; Tobit 7:12. This betrothal formula is quoted
here from the papyri of the Jews of Elephantine of the fifth century B.C.E.,
which will be fully dealt with in the following chapter. See A. Cowley,
Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century, p. 44. Cf. Hosea 2:4 in which this
betrothal formula is reversed. It is possible that "she is not my wife, neither
am I her husband" was the current formula of divorce in the time of Hosea.
In Gen. 24:51 and Tobit 7:13 we have also a different formula of betrothal
pronounced by the father or brother of the girl. Cf. Kidushin 5b and Tosefto
Kidushin 1:1, where it is declared as not valid if she gives him money or
anything of value and says to him "I am betrothed to you." See Louis M.
Epstein, The Jewish Marriage Contract, pp. 55 ff . In Tobit we have a case
when betrothal and wedding were celebrated together without the inter-
vening of any time between. About such cases see Buechler as in note 141.
143 See Crawley and Besterman, The Mystic Rose II, pp. 25 if.; Wester-
marck, The History of Human Marriage, 5th ed., II, pp. 496 ff.
144 Gideon's Canaanitic concubine also stayed with her folk in Shechem,
Judg. 8:31. See Hugo Gressmann, Die Anfaenge Israels 2 , p. 214 and p. 241.
Cf. W. Robertson Smith, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, p. 176.
145 Judg. 14:20; Ps. 45:15.
146 Cant. 3:6-8 and cf. also I Mace. 9:37-39. The "dread in the night" were
evil spirits believed to have great power over the bride and the groom on the
wedding night. See about this further below.
147 K'subos i7a.
NOTES 315
148 Judg. 14:12, I?'-
149 Judg. 14:18. This answer to Samson's riddle sounds rather like a ques-
tion demanding an answer. See H, Steinthal, "The Legend of Samson" (Ap-
pendix to Mythology Among the Hebrews, by Ignaz Goldziher), pp. 394 ff.
See also Hermann Gunkel, "Simson" (Reden und Aufsaetze).
150 II Kings 4: 10.
151 Cf. Exod. 21:1-11 and Deut. 15:12-17. This same evolution in the atti-
tude towards women can be traced in the two versions of the tenth com-
mandment of the Decalogue. One version, apparently the older one (Exod.
20), says: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox,
nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's." The wife of the neighbor
is set on the same level as the other possessions. Only the house of the neigh-
bor is here in a separate category. One's own house was regarded as too
precious to be put on the same plane as other property. In a second, appar-
ently a later version (Deut. 5), the commandment reads: "Neither shalt thou
covet thy neighbour's wife; neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's house,
his field, or his man-servant or his maid-servant, his ox or his ass, or anything
that is thy neighbour's." In this version, the wife, not the house, is in a sepa-
rate category.
152 See Cowley as in note 142; Aramaic Papyri Discovered at Assuan, edited
by Sayce; Eduard Meyer, Der Papyrusfund von Elephantine.
" 3 Jer. 3*.
154 Par. 128 and 171. Cf. above pp. 127 f.
i5sp rov iQ : i$-i4* 21:9; 31:10-31.
156 Ben-Sira 7:24-26; 25:24-25; 36:24-27.
157 Tosefto K'subos 12:1; K'subos 82b; Y. K'subos 8, Halocho 11. About
the various phases in the history of the mohar see Epstein as in note 142, pp.
19 ff. About the transformation of the bride price among other peoples see
Westermarck, as in note 143, Vol. II.
158 Vayikro Rabo 20:7; 27:2. Cf. above p. 97. About Ben Azzai see
YVomos 6sb; Soto 4b. See S. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the
Jews, I, p. 261 and Botsford and Sihler, Hellenic Civilization, pp. 663-664.
159 YVomos 62b, 63 :a; Kidushin 290-303.
ie Koheleth Rabo 11:14.
161 Vayikro Rabo 20:7.
162 Kidushin 29b; Shir Hashirim Rabo 7:7.
183 Mishnah Ovos 5:21; Kidushin 29b~3oa; 4i:a-b; YVomos 62b; Sanhedrin
76a-b; Mishnah YVomos 13; Tosefto YVomos 13.
164 B'reshis Rabo 49: 10; Mishnah K'subos 9:4. See Krauss II, pp. 24 ff,
165 Mishnah K'subos 7:7-9; Shir Hashirim Rabo 4:3; Ta-anis 24a; B'choros
45b; Bovo Basro noa.
166 Mishnah K'subos 7:10; K'subos 223; P'sochim 4:9a; Derech Erets Rabo
i; Kidushin 7oa-b.
167 P'sochim 49b.
168 K'subos 28b, Ruth Rabo 7:10.
168 Kidushin i2b, 44b; K'subos 5a.
316 NOTES
170 Mishnah K'subos 13:5; K'subos 520-53*; Bovo M'tsio 740-
171 Kidushin ?oa. See also Josephus, Apion II, par. 24.
172 Mishnah K'subos, chaps. 1-7; K'subos i2b; Y'vomos 6sb.
173 Gitin 89a.
174 Kidushin jb, 6ab, 73, 93. On the relation between the oral and rtie writ-
ten declaration of betrothal and the relation of the latter to the K'subo, see
Epstein, as in note 142, pp. 55 #. and cf. Chanoch Albeck, "Ho-eirusin
U-sh'toroseihem," in Kovets mado-i Yzecher Moshe Shur.
175 Kidushin 2b: "The rabbinical term connotes that he interdicts her to
all men as hekdesh" (that which is dedicated to a sacred purpose) . Tosafos,
ad loc., "Originally the meaning of rtfkudeshes li was apparently devoted
to me to a determined end." See A. Geiger, Nachgelassene Schriften III,
p. 324, and Jacob Neubauer, Beitraege zur Geschichte des bibhsch-tdmudi-
schen Eheschliessungsrechts, pp. 195-198-
176 See the benediction of betrothal in the Boraiso K'subos 7b (2nd cen-
tury), which is still in use today.
177 P'sochim 493 and Rashi, ad loc.
17S Bobo M'tsio 1043; Y. K'subos 4, Halocho 8; Tosefto K'subos 4:9. Note
in this K'subo of Hille's time the formula "according to the law of Moses
and Israel," cf. the formula "according to the law of Moses" in the Book of
Tobk 7:13, and see Albeck as in note 174-
179 K'subos 7b, iza.
180 Mishnah K'subos 1:1, 5:2; Gen, 24:55; Mishnah Betso 5:2; K'subos ?a.
181 Y. D'mai 4, Halocho 2; Vayikro Rabo 11:2.
182 K'subos xya; Ovos D'Rabbi Noson 41:13.
183 B'reshis Rabo 18:12; Sh'mos Rabo 41:6; Mishnah K'subos 2:1; Mishnah
Soto 9:14; Mishnah Kelim 23:4; III Mace. 4:6-8; B'rochos 6ia; Eruvim i8a.
184 B'rochos 5ob; Moed Koton pb; Soto 49b; K'subos i7a; Gitin 573; Mat-
thew 25:1; John 3:29.
185 K'subos i7a; Midrash T'hilim 24; Yalkut Shim-oni, Job, 917,
180 B'reshis Rabo 70:17; Vayikro Rabo 28:2; Moed Koton 28b; K'subos
7b-8a; Sanhedrin loia, citing Rabbi Akiba. Eeis Mishteh does not mean a
tavern or a house of a banquet, but a house of a wedding feast, so in Jer.
1 6: 8; Koheleth 7:2; Mishnah B'rochos 1:1; Mishnah Soto 9:11; Mishnah
T'rumo u:ioj Tosefto Bovo M'tsio 8:28, and in many other places.
187 Mishnah D'mai 4:2; Tosefto Bovo M'tsio 8:28. For more detailed dis-
cussions on marriage in Talmudic times, see Buechler, "The Induction of the
Bride and the Bridegroom" (Posnanski Memorial Eook)\ Epstein, as in note
142; A. S. Hershberg, "Minhagei Ho-eirusin V'ha-nisuin" in He-osid, V.
Krauss, II; Jacob Mann; Joseph Perles, "Die juedische Hochzeit in nach-
biblischer Zeit," MonatsMhrift, 1860, pp. 339 flF., in an English translation:
Hebrew Characteristics, New York, 1875.
188 Harkavi, Resp. G'onim, 195; Tosafos on Kidushin 41 a and K'subos 54b.
189 For a bibliography of sources and literature on this subject, see Krauss
II, note 246 on pp. 450-451.
100 K'subos 48b. See Epstein as in note 142, pp. 13-15.
191 Machzor Vitri, pp. 586-588. See Epstein as in note 142, p. 16.
NOTES 317
192 Tosafos on Kidushin 93; Harkavi, Resp. G'onim, 65; Tikune Zohar 5;
Resp. G'onim, Sha'are Tsedek III, 16. It is evident from this latter source
that the custom of using a wedding ring first appeared in post-Talmudic
times among the Jews of the East. This refutes the theory that among the
Jews the custom of using a wedding ring arose in the West under the in-
fluence of the Romans, who used an iron wedding ring.
193 Tractate Sof'rim 19:9. See Loew, pp. 185 ff.
194 Karo and Ramo in Shulchan Aruch Even Ho'ezer 55 and Resp.
Maharam Mints 109.
195 Ramo, Shulchan Aruch Yore Deo 391:3 and Even Ho'ezer 61:1. See
Loew as in note 193 and also Loew, Gesammelte Schriften III.
106 See above p. 130 and p. 154. See Louis Finkelstein, Jewish Self -Govern-
ment in the Middle Ages, pp. 83-84 and pp. 271-272; S. Osof, "L'chayei Ha-
mishpocho" in Jubilee Volume of S. Krauss.
197 See Josef Ometz, par. 657; Mogen Avrohom on Orach Chayim 551:1;
Guedemann III, p. 119; Holzer as in note 47; Krauss II, p. 456, note 302.
198 See Maharil, Eruve Chatseros; Mordechai on Alphas, Betso, chap. 5;
Resp. Radbaz IV, 132.
199 Resp. Maharam Mints, 102. More details about Jewish marriage in the
Middle Ages in Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, chap. IX;
Berliner, pp. 41 fT.; Guedemann III, pp. 119 ff.; Albert Wolf, "Fahrende
Leute bei den Juden," Mitteilungen zur juedischen Folkskunde, 1908-1909;
article "Badhan" in J.E.
200 Mishnah K'subos 2:1; 7:6; Yomo 47a. See Aptowitzer and Krauss in
Monatsschrift, 1923, pp. 67-68 and 186-202; Krauss in Hebrew Union College
Annual, XIX; Schcftelowitz, Alt-Pal., pp. 153-154.
201 See Epstein as in note 142, p. 38; M. Gaster, the Ketubah; Jews' College
Jubilee Volume, pp. 101 fT.; Schcchter, "Geniza Specimens," Jewish Quar-
terly Review, 1901, pp. 218 fT.; article "Ketubah" in }.E,
202 Loew, p. 189.
203 Maharil, Hilchos N'suin.
204 See Holzer as in note 47.
205 This method of confirming a purchase, or any transaction, was known
among Jews under the name of Kinyan Sudor, agreement by a kerchief. See
article "Alienation and Acquisition" in J.E.
206 See Lunts and Almaliach as in note 69 and Hershberg, "Has'fardim
B'erets Yisroel," Hashiloach XVIII.
207 See Erich Brauer, Ethnologie der Jemenitischen Juden, pp. 1 19 ff.;
Tabib, Golas Temon.
208 Chulin 7b; Soto ib; B'reshis Rabo 68:3.
209 B'reshis Rabo 68:4; Vayikro Rabo 8:1.
210 Moed Koton i8b.
211 Tanchumo, Buber, Introduction, p. 136.
212 Sefer Chasidim, ed. Wistinetzki, p. 286. See Abrahams, "Marriages Are
Made in Heaven." The Book of Delight and Other Papers, pp. 172 ff.; Ginz-
berg, Legends V, pp. 75-76.
213 This belief is based on a Midrashlc amplification of the story of the
318 NOTES
wooing of Rebekah. In Gen. 24, verse 50, Bethuel is mentioned as the father
of Rebekah, while in verses 53 and 55, only- a brother and a mother are men-
tioned. The explanation of the Midrash is that Bethuel died suddenly that
same night because at the outset he tried to obstruct the match, B'reshis
Rabo 60:7.
214 See Berliner, p. 46; Loew, pp. 192-193- Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal., pp.
135-138.
215 Tur Yore Deo and Shulchan Aruch Yore Deo 179. See Scheftelowitz as
in previous note.
216 Resp. G'onim, Shaare Tshuvo 278; Shibole Haleket Hasholem 235; Tur
Orach Chayim and Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 493- See Biram, "Lag-
beomer" in Ost und West, 1906, pp. 307 #; Landsberger, "Der Brauch in den
Tagen Zwischen dem Pessach und Schabuothfeste sich der Eheschliessung
zu entziehen" in Juedische Zeitschrift fuer Wiss. und leben, 1869, pp. 81 fL;
The Jewish Festivals by the writer, pp. 276-277 and notes thereon. About
this belief among other peoples see Westermarck as in note 143, pp. 566 flf.
217 "Three persons require guarding, namely, a sick person, a bridegroom,
and a bride. In the Baraitha it was taught: a sick person, a midwife, a bride-
groom and a bride; some add a mourner," B'rochos 54b and see Rashi, ad loc.
218 See a variant of this tale in Tanchumo on Deut. 32:10. About this belief
among other peoples see R. Campbell Thompson, Semitic Magic, pp. 134 ff.
219 Pirke R. Eliezer 16; K'subos i?b and Rashi, ad loc* See Scheftelowitz,
Alt-Pal., p. 80; Thompson as in the foregoing note, p. 171.
220 Bovo Basro 6ob; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 560.
221 See Lauterbach, "The Ceremony of Breaking the Glass at Weddings,"
Hebrew Union College Annual II, and Westermarck as in note 143, pp.
543
222 Kovets T'shuvos Horambam V'igrosov I, 51; S. Osof, M'Koros Utoldos
Hachinuch B'yisroel, Vol. II, 200. See Bergrnann, "Ein Hochzeitsbrauch,"
Monatsschrift, 1927, p. 161; Samter, pp. 90 fF.; Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal, pp.
54-55-
223 Tsharni, Sefer Hamaso-os B'erets Kavkaz, p. 209.
22 *Oruch Com., sub voce -noV; Soto 49b; Tosefto Soto 15:8; Resp. Mai-
monides as in note 222. See Loew; Samter, pp. 1521!.; Scheftelowitz, Alt-
Pal., pp. 39-40, 67, 78-79, 82.
225 See Lauterbach as in note 221; Heinrich Lewy in Archh fuer Re-
ligionswissenschaft, Vol. XXV, pp. 194 ff.; Vol. XXVIII, pp. 241 nv, Vol.
XXXI, p. 123. For another explanation of the custom of breaking earthen-
ware at weddings, see Westermarck, as in note 143-
228 Tosefto Shabos 7:16-17 and cf. Leonard Whibley, A Companion to
Greek Studies^ p. 595.
227 Rashi on K'subos 8a.
228 Gitin 573. See Guedemann III, p. 123.
229 Smochos 8; Shulchan Aruch Yore Deo 391. See Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal.,
p. 87 and cf. above in the wedding in Worms, p. 178.
230 See Zunz, Zur Geschichte und Liter atur, pp. 300-307.
281 Gen. 18:19; 47:29-30; 49:29; Deut. 31 ff.; Josh. 23-24; II Sam. 17:23;
NOTES 319
I Kings 2; 13:31; II Kings 20:1. Cf. also the apocryphal books Testament of
Adam and Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.
232 Isa. 15:2-3; 32:11-12; Jer. 48:38.
233 Gen. 4^:4; 50:1; Lev. 19:28; 21:5; Deut. 14:1; Jer. 6:26; 48:37; Ezek.
24:15-23; Mic. 1:16; Esther 6:12; and many more passages in the Bible.
234 II Sam. 3:31-35; I Kings 13:30; Jer. 22:18; 48:37; Ezek. 32:16; Amos
5:16-17; Koheleth 12:5; Josephus, War III, 9, par. 5.
235 Lev. 20:14; 21:9; Josh. 7:15; Amos 2:1; Deut. 21:23; Jer. 16:4. The text
in I Sam. 31:12 "and burnt them there" is apparently distorted. Cf, II Sam.
21:12-14 and I Chron. 10:12.
236 I Sam. 28:14 (When Saul was told by the witch that the godlike being
that was coming up out of the earth had the appearance of an old man cov-
ered in a robe, he perceived that it was Samuel); Ezek. 32:27 ("The mighty
ones lie in the netherworld with their weapons of war") .
237 Jer. 34:5; II Chron. 16:14; 21:19; Josephus, Ant. XV, 3, par. 4; Tosefto
Shabos 7:18; Avodo Zoro na.
238 See also Ps. 106:28; MacCalister, The Excavations of Gezer I, pp. 392 rT.;
Kittel, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, I, 1923, p. 164.
239 I Sam. 31:13; II Sam. 1:12; 3:35; Jer. 16:7; Ezek. 24:17, 22.
240 Num. 20:29; Deut. 21:13; 34:8; Nahum 3:7; Koheleth 7:2.
241 Lev. 19:27-28; Deut. 14:1.
242 Family graves: Gen. 23:4, 9, 20; II Sam. 21:14. Single graves: Gen. 35:8;
II Kings 13:21.
243 Josh. 24:30; I Sam. 25:1; I Kings 2:34; II Kings 21:18; Ezek. 43:7-9. See
articles "Tombs" and "Tombstones" in J.E.
244 1 Sam. 15:12; II Sarn. 18:18; II Kings 23:17; Ezek. 39:15. The matsevo in
Gen. 35:20 is not a gravestone, but a sacred pillar, an object of worship, con-
nected with an ancestral grave. Cf. Gen. 28:18; 31:45; 35:14.
245 Bovo Basro i5ia; Tosefto Yomo 5; Sh'mos Rabo 52:3; Tanchumo, Bo,
2; see Abrahams, Hebrew Ethical Wills I, pp. 3 rT.
246 Mishnah B'rochos 8:6; Mishnah Shabos 23:4-5; Shabos io5b; Moed
Koton 25a-26b; K'subos 173.
247 Sanhedrin 460-473; S'mochos n; St. John 19:40.
248 B'rochos i8b; Shabos 1143; Moed Koton 27a-b; Y. K'subos 12, Halocho
3; B'reshis Rabo 100:3; Charles, Pseudepigrapha, the Books of Adam and
Eve XLVIII, 4; Josephus, Ant. XVII, 8, par. 3.
249 K'subos i7a; B'rochos i8a t 533; Josephus, Apion II, par. 26; Sanhedrin
2oa; Mishnah K'subos 4:4; Mishnah Moed Koton 3:8-9; Josephus, Wars, III,
9, par. 5; Moed Koton 8a, 28b.
250 Shabos I52b-i53a; Moed Koton 8a, 25ab; Mishnah M'gilo 3:3; Y.
K'subos 12, Halocho 3; B'rochos foa; S'mochos 3, 8, 14.
251 Moed Koton 29a; Sanhedrin i9a; M'gilo 23b; Bovo Basro loob.
252 Moed Koton 27ab; K'subos 8b; Josephus, Wars, II, i t par. i; Bovo Basro
i6b; B'reshis Rabo 63:16. Cf. above pp. 223-226.
258 Mishnah Moed Koton 3:5-9; Moed Koton *4b, i5a-b, 2iab, 22b, 25b,
27b; Ta-anis 3oa; Echo Rabosi 1:1; Psikto R. Kahano 15. See Morris Jastrow,
"Dust, earth and ashes as symbols of mourning among the ancient Hebrews"
320
NOTES
(Journal of the Am. Oriental Society, Vol. XX, pp. 133 #.). About plucking
out the hair as a manifestation of grief in this period, see Echo Rabosi, proem
24. Cf. above p, 224 and further below p. 252.
254 Koheleth 7:2 and Koheleth Rabo, ad he.; Shabos i52a-b; Tosefto M'gilo
4:14; Tosefto Bovo Basro 6: 13; Moed Koton 23a, 22b; K'subos 8b; S'mochos
12; Sofrim 19:9; Vayikro Rabo 23:4; Sidur R. Amrom; Machzor Vitri, no.
248. See A. Buechler, Der galilaeische 'Am-ha-Ares, pp. 210-211.
255 Sanhedrin 46b, 98b; Y. Kil'aim 9, Halocho 4; Moed Koton 2sa-b;
K'subos ma; Y. K'subos 12, Halocho 3.
256 Mishnah Sanhedrin 6:5; S'mochos 2.
257 Mishnah P'sochim 8:8; Mishnah Sanhedrin <5:6; Nido 24b; S'mochos
12-13. Cf. Rhode, Psyche \ I, p. 226; Guhl-Koner, Das- Leben der Griechen
und Roemer 5 , p. 495. See S. Krauss, Die Doppelbestattung bei den Juden;
D. Schuetz, "Die Assuarien in Palestina," Monatsschrift, 1931, pp. 286 fT.;
E, L. Sukenik, "M'oras k'vorim y'hudis b'morad har hazeisim," in Jerusalem,
in memory of Lunts; "Aronos U-k'sovos," in Haskiloach, 42.
258 Mishnah Sh'kolim 2:5; Tosefto M'gilo 4:15; Mishnah Sanhedrin 2:1;
Bovo Basro 8a.
259 Eruvin iya; K'subos 84a; Mishnah Bovo Basro 2:9; Mishnah Sanhedrin
6:5; Matthew 27:7.
260 Isa. 14:18; Job 17:13; 30:23; Koheleth 12:5.
261 Mishnah Sh'kolim 1:1; Mishnah Moed Koton 1:2; Moed Koton 5b;
Eruvin 5fb; Sanhedrin 96b; Horoyos i3b; Mishnah Tohoros 3:7; B'reshis
Rabo 82:11; I Mace. 13:27-30; Josephus, Ant. XIII, 6, par. 6; Wars, V, 6, par.
2; 7, par. 3; Ant. XVI, 7, par. i; XX, 4, par. 3-
262 Tosefto B'rochos 7:6; B'rochos i8b, s8b; Tosefto Trumo 1:3; Ta-anis
i6a; Y'vomos izza, Rashi, ad he., citing T'shuvos Hag'onim; Nido i7a. For
more details about the rites and customs of death and mourning in this
period, see S. Klein, Tod und Begraebnis in Palestina zur Zeit der Tan-
naiten; Krauss, II," pp. 54 ff.
283 B'rochos i8b. See Monatsschrift, 1874, pp. 130 ff. and pp. 183 ff.
284 See Beyer and Lietzman, Die juedische Katakombe der Villa Torlonia
in Rome; H. Gressmann, "Jewish Life in Ancient Rome" (Jewish Studies in
Memory of Israel Abrahams) ; H. J. Leon, "New Material about the Jews of
Ancient Rome," Jewish Quarterly Review, April, 1930.
265 Treatise S'mochos of R. Chiyyo (ed. Higger), chaps. 1-2.
266 Tur Yore Deo, 352, 362; Shulchan Aruch Yore Deo, 352; Chidushe ho-
Ran on Sanhedrin 46a. See Guedemann III, p. 131.
267 Shulchan Aruch Yore Deo 352; Resp. Rivosh, no. 158. See Louis Finkel-
stein, as in note 196, p. 98.
268 Machzor Vitri, p. 243; Shibole Haleket, Hilchos S'mochos 21, 27;
Maharil; Tur Yore Deo 387; cf. Karo and Ramo in Shulchan Aruch Yore
Deo 386; Danzig, Chochmas Odom. About cutting the flesh see Finkelstein
as in the previous note.
269 Mishnah Midos 2:2; S'mochos 6, 10; Sofrim 19:9- Resp. G'onim, Sha'are
Tsedek 4; Maharil.
270 See Abrahams as in note 199, p. 94; Berliner, p. 118; David Philipson,
Old European Jewries, pp. 76 fT.; Zunz, Zur Gescbichte und Literatur, pp.
390 ff.
NOTES 321
271 Sanhedrin 47b; Ta-anis i6a, Tosafos, ad he.; Sefer Chasidim, ed, Wisti-
netzki, 271. See Berliner, p. 119; J. Perles as in note 187. Joshua Trachtenberg,
Jewish Magic and Superstition, pp. 61-68; Wiesner, "Die Leichenbestattung
in thalmudischer und nachthalmudischer Zeit," Ben-Cbananja t 1861, pp.
277 ff. and pp. 405-6.
272 Moed Koton 27b, Rashi, ad loc.; Resp. R. Osher 13:12; Resp. Tashbats
3:13. See Abrahams as in note 199, pp. 357-359; Leopold Loew, Gesammelte
Schriften II, pp. 150 ff.
272 About the S'fardim see Almaliach, Hershberg and Lunts as in notes 70
and 205. About the Moroccan Jews see Jacob Tulidanu, Ner Henna* arov,
p. 215.
274 Cf. Ps. 88 and Job 10:21-22 with Pss. 16:10; 23:4; 49:16; I Sam. 2:6.
276 II Kings 21 :6; Jer. 7:31; 19:5-6. Cf. note 22. For descriptions of Paradise
and Hell in Jewish literature, see M. Gaster in Transactions of the Royal
Asiatic Society, 1893, pp 57 1 ff* and Ginzberg, Legends I, pp. 15-16, 19-23
and note thereon. About Persian influences see Scheftelowitz, altper., pp,
187 ff.
277 Rosh Hashono 172 and see Scheftelowitz as in the preceding note, pp.
184*1".
278 B'rochos i8a; Shabos 3oa; S'mochos 12.
279 B'rochos i$b; Shabos i52b; B'reshis Rabo 100:7. See Scheftelowitz as in
note 7, pp. 177 ff.
280 See Ginzberg, Legends I, pp. 55-59 and notes thereon and V, pp. 95-96.
281 Pss. 89:8; 103:20-21; Job 1:6; 56:7. See Kautzsch, Biblische Theologie
des A. T.j pp. 99 ff.; Stade-Bertholet, Biblische Theologie des A. T. II, pp.
374 ff.; David Neumark, Toldos Ha-philosofia B'Yisroel, 20-21.
282 Isa. 45:7; Ps, 78:49; Prov. 16:14.
283 Bovo Basro i6a; Pirke R. Eliezer XIII.
284 Avodo Zoro 2ob.
285 B'rochos 5ia; Suko 53a.
286 Bovo Basro i7a; P'vorim Rabo, end; Shabos 3ob; Moed Koton 28a;
Bovo M'tsio 86a; Makos ioa; Sanhedrin 973; Sot6 4<5b. See Ginzberg, Leg-
ends IV, p. 30 and p. 175, and VI, Judges, note 28.
287 Isa. 25:8; Mishnah Moed Koton 3:9.
288 Pss. 94:17; 115:17; B'rochos i8b; Shabos i52b; Chagigo 5a; Sanhedrin,
94a; P'sikto Rabosi 23. See Scheftelowitz, altper., p. 157, and Alt-Pal., p. 6.
289 See Ber, Seder Avodas Yisroel, pp. 106-107.
290 Tractate "Chibut Hakever" in Otsor Midroshim (Eisenstein) ; Shabos
i52b; see Bender, Jewish Quarterly Review, 1893-94, pp. 669-670.
291 See article "Transmigration" in En. of Ret, and Ethics, Vol. XII, also
"Transmigration of the Souls" in /.,, Vol. 12.
292 K'subos i03b; Ovos d'R. Noson 25; Y. Moed Koton 3, Halocho 7.
298 See Elhorst, "Die israelitischen Trauerriten" ( Wellhausen Festschrift) ;
Fray, Tod, Seelenglaube und Seelenkult; Frazer, "On Certain Burial Cus*
toms" (Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ire-
land, Vol. XV) ; Grueneisen, Der Ahnenkultus und die Urreligion Israels;
322 NOTES
Hoelscher, Geschichte der tsraelitischen und juedischen Religion, pp. 17-18;
Kautzsch, Bibliscbe Theologk des A, T., pp. 8 ff.; Matthes, "Die israelitischen
Trauergebraeuche" (Vierteljahrschrift fuer Bibelkunde II).
264 Lev. 10:6; 19:27-28; 21:1-6, io~n;Deut. 14:1. See Scheftelowitz, altper,,
pp. 32 ff. (parallels among the Persians).
295 Cf. above p. 267. See Machzor Vitri, hilchos ovel and Marmorstein in
Zion II.
296 Tur Yore Deo 393-
297 Shibole Haleket, Hilchos S'mochos 21.
298 See B'reshis Rabo 100:14; Samter, p. 128; Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal., p. 82.
296 See note 217; Y. Eruvin 10, Halocho n; Bovo Basro loob and Rashi, ad
he.; Sh'vuos isb; Sha'are Tsedek, Resp. G'onim, Shaar IV, par. 19-20.
Shulchan Aruch Yore Deo 376:4. See Marmorstein in Zeitschrift Neutest.
Wisr., 1931, pp. 277 ff.; Scheftelowitz, Alt-Pal, p. 74.
800 See Frazer, p. 102; Samter, pp. 134-135-
301 Sha'are Tsedek as in note 299 and Tur Yore Deo 376.
802 See Shifaole Haleket; Danzig, Chochmas Odom; Berliner, p. 100. See
also Bodenschatz, IV, chap. V, p. 174.
303 No atonement: ZVochim 9b; Koheleth Rabo 1:36. Souls can be de-
livered from Gehinom: B'reshis Rabo 63:2; Sifri on D'vorim 21:8;
Tanchumo, Ha'azinu i.
804 B'rochos 3a, 573; Shabos ii9b; Mishnah Yomo 6:2; Ta-anis i6b; Soto
49a.
305 Sofrim 16:9; 18:10; 19:9; 21:6.
806 See M. Gaster, Ma'aseh Book I, p. 286; L. Ginzberg, Ginze Scbecbter I,
pp. 235 ff.; Krauss in Bitsoron I, no, 2. v
30T Maharil, Hilchos S'mochos; Beis Yosef on Tur Yore Deo 376. See El-
bogen, Der Jnedische Gottesdienst, pp. 92-98; Idelsohn, Jewish Liturgy, pp.
84-88; David De Sola Pool, The Kadish, pp. 100 ff .
s08 N'dorim na; YVomos i22a and Rashi, ad he.; ShVuos 2oa.
309 Sefer Chasidim (ed. Wistinetzki) 68, 290-291; Shulchan Aruch Yore
Deo 376:4; Danzig, Chocbmas Odom 171. See Guedemann II, p, 132.
810 Menasseh Ben Israel, Nishmas Chayim, ma-amar sheni, perek shiv'o
v'esrim; Emanuel Ch. Riki, Mitbnas Charidim, Maseches G'milus Chasodim.
See Bacher, Zeitschrift fuer Heb. Bibliographie, Vol. V, p. 154.
811 Ber, Seder Avodas Yisroel, p. 17.
812 Guedemann III, pp. 128 and 132; Abrahams as in note 199, p. 156. See
above p. 292.
313 See The Jewish Festivals by the writer, p. 278 and note thereon.
su See Bemfeld as in note 69, p. 260.
816 See article "Memor Book," J, Vol. 8,
The following Glossary lists certain non-English terms used in
the book. Those omitted are either explained where they oc-
cur in the text or may be found in the regular English diction-
ary.
AFIKOMON, name for the piece of matso with which the meal of the
Passover night is concluded.
ALEPH, first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
AMOR A (pi., Amora-im), sage of the Talmud, from the third century
C.E. on.
BADCHON (pi., badchonim), public merrymaker and entertainer.
BAR MITSVO, son of commandment; man of duty; boy reaching the
age of religious majority; the ceremony marking that occasion.
BEHELFER, assistant of the m'lamed, q.v.
BEIS, second letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
BEIS MIDROSH, house of study.
BEIS SEFER, elementary Jewish school.
BEN ZOCHOR, male child; celebration on the Friday night following the
birth of a boy.
BIMO, reading dais in the center of the synagogue.
B'RIS, covenant (of circumcision); circumcision ceremony.
CHACHAM, rabbi among the S'fardim, q.v.
CHAMISHO OSOR, fifteen; the fifteenth day of the months of ShVot and
Ov, two minor Jewish festivals.
CHASIDIM, Jewish sect which arose in Eastern Europe in the eighteenth
century.
CHAZAN, cantor or precentor; in olden times the sexton of the syna-
gogue.
CHEDER, elementary Jewish school.
CHES, eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
CHEVRO, society; brotherhood.
CHEVRO BIKUR CHOLIM, society to care for the sick.
CHEVRO KADISHO, holy brotherhood; burial brotherhood.
CHUMASH, Pentateuch.
CHUPO, wedding canopy; bridal chamber; wedding.
DROSHO, discourse on Torah.
ESROG, a citron used with the festive wreath on the Feast of Booths,
GABAI (pi., gabo-im), director, manager,
3*3
324 GLOSSARY
GAN EDEN, Garden of Eden; Paradise.
GET, legal declaration of divorce.
HAFTORO, portion of the Prophets read at the conclusion of the read-
ing from the Pentateuch.
HALLEL, psalms of praise, consisting of Psalms 113-118.
HAVDOLO, division (between sacred and profane); the benediction re-
cited on the exit of the Sabbath or a festival.
HAZKORAS N'SHOMOS, memorial services.
KABOLAS PONIM, reception; welcome; greeting.
KABOLAS SHABOS, greeting of the Sabbath; prayers recited Friday eve-
ning before the evening services.
KADDISH, holy; prayer of praise and adoration to God, popularly
thought of as a prayer for the dead.
KAPOROS, ceremony of atonement practiced with a fowl as scapegoat
before the Day of Atonement.
KIDDUSH, benediction sanctifying the Sabbath or a festival.
KIDDUSH HA-SHEM, sanctification of the name (of God); martyrdom
for the Jewish faith.
KIDUSHIN, betrothal.
KITO (pi., kites), class in the Jewish elementary school.
KLEZMER or KLEZMORIM, musicians.
KNAS MAHL, engagement feast.
KOHELETH, Ecclesiastes.
KOHEN (pi., Kohanim), priest; descendant of the priestly caste.
K'RIAS SH'MA, reading of Sh'ma Yisroel, q.v.
K'SUBO, marriage contract; sum of money written in the contract due
to the wife on her husband's death or on being divorced.
LAG BO-OMER, minor Jewish festival on the eighteenth day of the Jew-
ish month lyor.
MA-ARIV, evening services.
MAFTIR, person called up in the synagogue to read the Haftoro, q.v,
MATTON, gifts given by the bridegroom to the bride.
MAZOL, star of destiny; destiny; luck; with Tov, good luck.
M'GILOS, Scrolls (The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
Esther).
MINCHO, afternoon services.
MITSVO, religious precept; religious act; religious merit.
M'LAMED, teacher in an elementary Jewish school.
M'NORAS HAMO'OR, The Candlestick of the Light, name of an ethical
book.
MOHAR, price paid by the groom or his father to the bride's father.
MOHEL (pi., mohalim), circumciser.
MUSOF, additional morning prayers for the Sabbath and festivals.
M'zuzo, a slip of parchment containing Deut. 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 in a
container which is nailed to the door-post of a Jewish home.
OLENU, prayer in the Jewish liturgy named after its first word,
"Olenu."
GLOSSARY 325
PECS, ear-locks.
PESACH, Passover.
PIYUT (pL, piyutim), poetical additions to the original prayers which
liturgical poets composed in the Middle Ages.
P'RUTO, smallest copper coin.
RASHI, abbreviation of Rabbi Solomon, the son of Isaac, most popular
commentator of the Bible and the Talmud (eleventh century).
REBE, distorted from rabbi; title of the m'lamed, q.v.
REBITSIN, wife of the rabbi or the rebe, q.v.
ROSH CHODESH, New Moon.
SABBATH NACHAMU, the Sabbath following Tisho B'Ov, so called be-
cause on this Sabbath the fortieth chapter of Isaiah is recited as the
Haftoro, beginning with Nachamu, Nachamu Ammi (Comfort ye,
comfort ye My people).
SANDER, he who holds the child on his knees for circumcision.
SARVER, waiter; general handyman.
SEDER, order of service; home ceremony of the Passover night.
SHADCHON (pi., shadchonim), matchmaker.
SHAMOSH (pL, shamoshim), sexton of the synagogue; assistant who did
the menial work of the burial brotherhood.
SH'MA YISROEL, Hear, O Israel; the declaration of the Jewish mono-
theistic faith, see Deuteronomy 6:4.
SHOVUOS, the Feast of Weeks; Pentecost.
SIMCHAS TORAH, rejoicing with the Torah; the last day of the Sukos
festival, q.v.
SIMON Tov, good omen.
SUKOS, Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles.
TACHRICHIM, shrouds of the dead.
TALIS, garment; prayer-shawl.
TALMUD TORAH, communal free Hebrew school.
TANNA (pi, tannaim), sage of the Talmud, in the first two centuries
C.E.
T'FILIN, phylacteries.
TISHO B'Ov, ninth day of the Jewish month, Ov, commemorating the
first and second destructions of the Temple in Jerusalem.
T 7 NO-iM, stipulations; engagement celebration.
Tov, last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
TSADIK, righteous, pious, holy man; Chasidic rabbi.
Vov, sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
YAHRZEIT, anniversary of the day of death.
Y'SHIVO, Talmudic academy.
YUD, tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Zuz, silver coin; one-fourth of a shekel
a
Alexandria, Jews of, 153
America, Jewish life in, 6 if., 80,
iiof., ir8, 121, i64f., 251, 270, 299
Ammonites, 13
Amorites, 5
Amulets, 73, 87f.
Angel of Death, 262, 268, 280-282,
290
Arabs, 13
Arso d 1 gado, 35
Ashk'nazim, 7, 43, 60, 115, 118, 170,
198, 201, 202, 204, 218, 254
b
Babylonia, Jews of, 7, 68, 86, 147,
153, 235, 248, 253, 255
Babylonians, 5, 274
Bachelorhood, 143, 146-148
Badchon, 168, i86ff.
Bar Mitsvo, in America, 118; cele-
bration of, in recent centuries,
n 5 if.; droshos, 116, 117; in Eastern
Europe, 118; in the Ghetto of
Worms, 117; the name, 112; among
Oriental Jews, n8f.; at the present
time, ii7f.; reaching the age of ma-
jority in ancient times, nzf.; in
Talmudic and early medieval times,
113-115; transformed into confir-
mation, i2of.
Belief, in the Angel of Death and
Angel Dumo, 280-2825 in Chibut
ha-Kever and Kaf ha-Kala, 28zf.;
in the evil eye, see Evil eye; in a
future life, 2731!.; in Gan Eden and
Gehinom, 278; in good and bad
death omens, 284^; in the Lilith,
see Lilith; in lucky and unlucky
days and seasons, 208-210; in the
magic power of names, 74-76; in
prenatal existence, 63, 65; in the
predestination of marriage, 206-208;
in the resurrection of the dead, 277;
in Sheol, 2741!.; in the transmigra-
tion of souls, 28jf.
Beliefs, concerning birth, 631!.; con-
cerning marriage, 2o6/f.; connected
with death, 273fF.
Ben Zochor, 42, 56, 61, 74
Benediction, benedictions, 24f,, 30-
41, 50, 56, 58f., 92, 94, 114, 116, 118,
153, I56f., i6if., 177, i93f- 2oof,, 238,
24if., 253, 272, 283
Betrothal, benediction of the, 153,
161, 193; in Biblical times, 129^;
declaration of, 130, 140, 153; among
the Jews of Persia and the Caucasus,
203; among the Jews of Yemen,
130, 203; in the Middle Ages, 130,
io*of.; performed simultaneously
with the wedding, 161; superseded
by the knas rnahl, 165; in Talmudic
times, i52f,
Bikur Cholim, 257, 264
Birth of a child, in America, 6if.; in
Biblical times, iiff.; in Eastern
Europe, 53$.; in the first centuries
CJE., 2ofT.; in the Middle Ages,
3 iff.; in modern times, 5 iff.; plant-
ing of a tree at, 21; its relation to
the table for Gad, 36
Bor'chu, see Kaddish
Bridal chamber, 162
B'ris, see Circumcision
Brotherhoods, 26, 156, 240, 244f., 257,
see also Chevro Kadisho
Burial, in Biblical times, 224f.; broth-
erhood, see Chevro Kadisho; in
Eastern Europe, 266f.; in the first
centuries C.E., 231-233; in the Mid-
dle Ages, 251; the second, 24jf.;
among the S'fardirn in Jerusalem,
Canaanites, 4f., 13,
Caucasus, Jews of the, 31, 61, 67, 203,
3*7
328 INDEX
Cemetery, see Graves
Chair of Elijah, see Elijah
Chamisho Osor, 182
Chanuko, 104, 120
Charity, 76, 80, 82, 170, 258, 264
Charms and Talismans, 3, 21, 31, 53f.,
55, 59, 65*?., 878., 94, zioff.
Chasidim, 52, 215, 270, 299
Cheder, see School
Chevro Kadisho, 244, 253, 256f., 259,
261, 2621"., 27 if.
Chibut ha-Kever, 22f.
ChupOj 27, 40, 58, 132, i35f., 153,
155, 162-165, 166, 177, 187, 192-194,
197, 200-202, 2O4f., 215, 218
Circumcision, i3fL; benedictions at
the ceremony, 25, 39,41, 58; celebra-
tion of, 1 8; ceremony in Mayence,
4of.; ceremony in Rome, 39f.; cere-
mony in Worms, 41-43; in the
Christian church, 24; date for, 16;
connected with the services in
the synagogue, 34, 57; in Eastern
Europe, 57-59; among the Egyp-
tians, 14, 16; feast in Galilee, 26;
feast in Jerusalem, 251".; in the
Greco-Roman world, 23f.; with an
iron knife, 25; Jeremiah, first great
prophet to mention, 16; with a knife
of stone, 15, 25; as the mark of be-
longing to the Jewish community,
1 8; in the Middle Ages, 331!.; Moses
and Joshua linked with the begin-
ning of T among Jews, i5f.; obstacle
to proselytes, 23; origin of, 14; with
a pair of scissors among the Kara-
ites, 60; among peoples and tribes
all over the world, 13; performed
in hospitals in America, 62; per-
formed by Oriental Jews of Asia
and North Africa in the synagogue,
61; performed in the synagogue by
the Karaites and in Palestine up to
the present, 60; prohibited by Anti-
ochus Epiphanes, 22, by Hadrian,
24; reverted to the home from the
synagogue, 51; and the Sabbath, the
fundamentals of Judaism, 5 1 ; among
the S'fardim, 60; as the sign of the
Holy Covenant, 18, 59; in the syna-
gogue among the Jews of the Cau-
casus, 61; in Talmudic times, 24f.;
transferred to the synagogue, 33f.;
as a wholly religious rite among
Jews, 14
Coffins, see Shrouds
Comforting the mourners, 240-242^
269
Confirmation, see Bar Mitsvo
Cradle, 21, 451"., 79f.; songs, see Lulla-
bies
Cradling the child, in America, 80;
in Eastern Europe, 79f.; in the Mid-
dle Ages, 79
Customs, connected with death, ori-
gin of, 2851!.; connected with the
growth of a child, 79ff.; local, 7;
of marriage, origin of, 21 off.; of
mourning, see Mourning; popular,
3, 6; spiritualized and Judaized, 3;
spurious, 3f., 6
Cutting the hair, of the bride, see
Wedding; of the bridegroom, 200,
204; of a child, 82-84; prohibited
during certain seasons, 210
rt
Days and Seasons, unlucky, 2o8ff.
Death, in Biblical times, 223; in East-
ern Europe, 260-262; in the first
centuries ex., 2 3 of.; in the Middle
Ages, 25of.; origin of customs con-
nected with, 2851!.
Dowry, 140, 144, 151, 159, 170, i8of.,
184
Drosbo, discourse, 43, ii6f., 119, 177;
see also Bar Mitsvo and Wedding
DumOy see Angel of Death
c
Eastern Europe, Jews in, yf., 38f.,
53#., 57-59, 79-8 2 . 86, 88f,, 93, lozff.,
107, I09f., i68f., i79fL, 209, 213, 215,
251, 255, 258ff., 292, 299
Edomites, 13
Egypt, Jews of, 204, 2i4f.
Egyptians, ijf., 16, 27, 234
El Mole Rachamim, 300
Elephantine, Jews of, 27, 139-141,
144
ELIJAH, chair of, 34ff., 37-39, 4*, 57f.:
connected with the Lilith myth, 55,
72f.; connected with marriage, 149;
guardian angel of the Jews, 36; pro-
tector of the child, 36; stories of,
1 06; and the Watch Night, s6f.
Essenes, 277
Europe, Jews in, 7, 29, 44, 86, 163, 252
Eve of the b'ris, see Watch Night
Evil eye, 85fL; safeguards and reme-
dies against an, 87-89
Evil spirits, 4, 21, 321".
f
First steps, see Walk
Franco-German Jews, 76, 101, 115,
161, 218, 250
Funeral, in Biblical times, 224; in
Eastern Europe, 263-266; in the first
centuries C.E., 231-237; in the Mid-
dle Ages, 25 if.; orations, 235^, 264^
Future life, belief in a, 273*1".
INDEX 329
the synagogue to the, 51; influence
of the, on the Jewish child, 91
i
Italy, Jews of, 214
k
Kaddish, 60, 253, 272, 293 ff.
Kaf ha-Kala, zSzf .
Karaites, 60, 169
Kiddusb ha-Shem, 296, 299
Klezmer, Klezmorimj 167, r86ff.
Knas Mahlj 165, i82f., 216
Kohen, Kohanim, 18, 29, 48-50, 82,
149, 152, 286
ICsubo, i4if., i44f., 152, 169^, 203,
205
K'tsotso, 150
Kvater, Kvaterin, 38, 57
Gad, 35-37
Gan Eden and Gehinom, 64, 278,
Gehinom, Gehenna, see Gan Eden
and Gehinom
Germans, 5, 8, 32, ^6, 166, 209, 289
Germany, Jews of, 33, 39, 45, 47, 88,
9if., 115-117, 165-167, 215, 218, 254,
297, 299
Gtlgulj see Transmigration of souls
Graves, in Biblical times, 226-228;
and monuments in Palestine, 245-
248, in Babylonia, 248; in Rome,
2481".; and tombstones in the Middle
Ages, 254f.; visiting the, 54, 248, 255,
259, 269-271, 300
Greco-Roman world, 5, 7, 23f., 146,
153, i68f., 229, 231, 243f., 246, 249
Greek, Greeks, 25, 27f., 97, 234, 244,
249
h
Haircut, first, 82-84
Hazkoras N'shomos, 299^
Holekreisch, 44-47
Home, bar mitsvo celebrated in the,
ii6f.; beginning study of Torah in
the,93f.; circumcision reverted from
I
Lag "Bo-omer, 82-84, 210, 260
LILITH, 3 if., 36, 4<5, 55, 59, 61, 6j&.
Lullabies, 80
m
Ma-ane Loshon, 27of.
Ma-avar Yabok, z6of.
Magic, see Charms
MAHARIL, 39^, 42, 49f., i59f., 1706%
195, 252^297
Marriage, in early Biblical times,
i25ff.; contract, i39f., 142; in East-
ern Europe, i79fL; in the first cen-
turies C.E., i46fT.; among the Jews
of Yemen, 203ff.; see also K'subo; in
late Biblical and post-Biblical times,
i38ff.; levirate, 12; in the Middle
Ages, 1581!.; of minors, 148, i58f.,
179; origin of customs of, 21 off.;
predestination of, 2o6ff.; ring, 161,
173; among the S'fardim, 198$.
Marshalik, see Badchon
Matchmakers, 150, 158-160, 179-182
Matsevo, see Graves
Matton, see Mohar
Mazol Tov, 2i8f.
Meal of the mourners, benedictions
at the, 238; in Biblical times, 225f.;
330 INDEX
in Eastern Europe, 268; in the first
centuries C.E., 237^; in the Middle
Ages, 252; among the S'fardim, 272
Mi Sheberach, 5 8f.
M*ni, see Gad
Moabites, 13
Mohar, i26fL, i4if., 144, 203
Monotheism, monotheistic, 3-5
Morocco, Jews of, 31, 119, 272
MOSES, anniversary of the death of,
260, 298; and Joshua linked with the
beginning of circumcision among
Jews, i5f.
Mourning, benedictions in the house
of, 24if.; in Biblical times, 223-226;
connected with the synagogue, see
Synagogue; customs of, in the Mid-
dle Ages, 252f.; in Eastern Europe,
268f.; in the first centuries C.E.,
238-240; gestures of, 223^; among
the Moroccan Jews, 272; period of,
sf.
M'zuzo, 34, 93
n
Names, adding of, changing of, hid-
ing of, magic power of, see Belief,
in the magic power of names
Naming a child, after dead ancestors,
27f., 43f.; after living relatives, 28;
in Biblical times, 1 2f .; among Chasi-
dim after a deceased tsadik, 52; with
dual and double names, 44-48, 56;
in the Middle Ages, 43 fL; with non-
Jewish names forbidden to Jews,
52f.; in post-Biblical times, 271!.; in
recent times, 5 iff.; in the State of
Israel, 52; use of foreign names for,
28, 44
Naming a girl, in the home among
the S'fardim, 61; soon after birth,
27; in the synagogue, see Synagogue
Omens, connected with, a child, 79f .,
death, 284^, marriage, 217-219
Orient, Jews of the, 7, 36, 44, 6of., 86,
88, 93, ii8f., 161, 163, 167, 204, 214,
?x8, 252, 27if., 297
Palestine, Jews in ancient, 7, 15, 17,
27f., 36, 76, 82-84, i47f., I53f., 235,
243-245
Paradise and Hell, see Gan Eden and
Gehinom
Passover, see Pesach
Persia, Jews of, 203, 298
Persians, 242, 278
Pesach, 54, 84, 120, zopf., 263
Pharisees, 144, 206, 230, 277
Philistines, 13, 16, 127
Phoenicians, 13
Phylacteries, see T'filin
Pidyon ha-ben, abolished by the
Karaites, 60; in America, 62; in
Biblical times, 18; in the Middle
Ages, 48-50; origin of, 18, note 22;
in Talmudic times, 29
Poland, Jews of, 47, 115-117, 163^,
187
Poles, 82
Popular medicine, among Jews, 90
Prayer-Shawl, see Tails
Priest, priests, see Kohen, Kohanim
Purim, 52, 104
r
Redemption of the first-born, see
Pidyon ha-ben
Reform Jews, confirmation among
the, ii9f.; controversy about cir-
cumcision among the, 51; name sons
after a living father, 43; shifted the
marriage ceremony from the court-
yard back to the synagogue, 164
Resurrection of the dead, belief in,
277
Rhineland, Jews of the, 4of., 252f.
Rising from childbed, in Biblical
times, i8f.; in Eastern Europe, 59f.;
in the first centuries C.E., 29f.; in
the Middle Ages, 43, 45, 50; ob-
servance discarded in America, 61
Romans, 6, 21, 36, 148, 210, 244f., 290
Rome, Jews in, 39f., 248f.
Rosh Chodesh, 210
Rosh Ha-shono, 53
Russians, 289
INDEX
33 1
S
Sadducees, 277
Samaritans, 169
Sandek, 37-43, 58, 60
School, the Jewish elementary, 956*.;
in America, nof,; in Eastern Eu-
rope, loifl.; in the Middle Ages,
100-102; in recent years, 109-111; in
tannaitic times, 98ff.
Seven days of the feast, 133, i36f.,
i56f., 20 if., 2041.
S'fardim, 7, 43, 6of., 84, 91, u8f.,
169^, igSfL, 201-203, 205, 216, 2i8f.,
254, 27 if., 29?f., 299f.
Shadchon^ Shadchonim, see Match-
makers
Shehecheyonu, 29, 49, 201
Sheoly 225, 274fF.
Shir Hamaalos, 55
Sbolom Zochor, 56
ShoVUOS, 101, 120, 2O9f.
Shrouds and Coffins, 231-233, 251,
263
Simchas Torah, 92, 115
Simon Tov, 2i8f.
Slavs, 5
Societies, see Brotherhoods
Spain, Jews in, 93, 252-254
Spinbolz, 1 66, 175
Sukos, 115
Synagogue, bar mitsvo celebrated in
the, 1 1 6; ceremony in the, when
changing a sick person's name, 76;
ceremony of the first haircut in the,
84; the child in the, 9 if.; circum-
cision in the, see Circumcision; cir-
cumcision reverted to the home
from the, 51; confirmation in the,
121; connected with wedding, see
Wedding; the elementary school at-
tached to the, 97; funeral orations
delivered in the, 235^, 265; ghost
stories connected with the, 256, 271;
the head of a, 149; Kaddish as part
of the services in the, 294-297; key
of the, to ease childbirth, 53; memo-
rial services in the, 2991".; mourner
changes his place in the, 269;
mourner visits the, 269; naming a
girl in the, 43, 52, 59, 62; observance
of Yahrzek in the, 299; rites of
mourning in the, 253; rushing to
the, to pray for a woman suffering
in labor, 53f.
Syrians, 13
t
Tachrichiw, see Shrouds and Coffins
Talis, 58, 1 1 8, 120, 172, 200, 213, 263,
278
TfiKn 9 34, 93, 1 14-" 6. "9*- 2 7
Tisho B'Ov, 209, 255, 270
T'no-im, see Knas MM
Tombstones, see Graves
Transmigration of souls, 283^
Trousseau, 154, 109
Ts'doko, see Charity
Tsitsis, 34, 93, 2oof., 248, 263, 278
u
Unlucky days and seasons, see Days
and Seasons
Unterfuerers, 187
Unveiling the tombstone, 270
to
Walk, aiding the child to, 8if.
Watch Night, 32f., 36f., 56, 6of.,
74
Weaning the child, 18, 81
Wedding, benediction, i56f., 161,
177, 194; in Biblical times, 13 iff.;
ceremony in America, i64f.; cere-
mony in the synagogue of Mayence,
170-173; ceremony in the syna-
gogue on the Sabbath following
the, 162, 174, 177, i95f, 202; pre-
ceding the, 175, i84f.; in the court-
yard of the synagogue, i64f.; in the
courtyard of the synagogue in East-
ern Europe, 192-194; cutting the
bride's hair before the, i68f., 202;
drosho delivered by the bridegroom
at the, 177, 196, 200; in Eastern Eu-
rope, 1831!.; feast, see Seven days of
the feast; festivities on the Sabbath
following the, 157; in Mayence,
i7ofT., 212, 217; in the Middle Ages,
i doff.; for the paupers, 185; per-
332 INDEX
formed in the synagogue, 161-165; JJ
preceding the, 154, 199; P^Hmi- Y ahrzeh, 293, 297-299
naries, in Eastern Europe, i8 3 fT., in Y emen, Jews of, 44, 126, 130, 20 3 ff.
the Middle Ages, 165$.; songs, 131- Yom Kippur, 192, 213, 260, 299
135, 156; in Talmudic times, 154- Yortseit, see Yahrzeit
157; in Worms, 174-178, 217
Weighing the child, 8of., 90 2
Witchcraft, see Evil spirits Z'miros, 34, 43
COMMISSION ON
JEWISH EDUCATION
of the UNION OF AMERICAN HEBREW CONGREGATIONS
and CENTRAL CONFERENCE OK AMERICAN RABBIS
AS OF 1970
JACOB P. RUTDIN, Ciiairman
MARTIN S. ROZENBERG, Vice Chairman
SOLOMON B. FREEHOF, Honorary Chairman
BERNARD J. BAMBERGER JACOB R, MARCUS
ALAN D. BENNETT
DAVID I. CEDARBAUM
NORMAN DRACHLER
LEON FRAM
HILLEL GAMORAN
ROLAND B. GITTELSOHN
SAMUEL GLASNER
ALFRED GOTTSCHALK
WILLIAM W. HALLO
LEON A. Jicx
NORMAN KAHAN
ARNOLD G. KAIMAN
BERNARD KLIGFELD
MORTIMER MAY
SAMUEL A. NKMZOFF
SEYMOUR PHYSTOWSKY
ELLIOT D, ROSENSTOCK
STEPHEN A. SCHAFER
SYLVAN D. SCHWARTZMAN
MAX A. SHAPIRO
MRS. M. M, SINGER
ROBERT I. SPERBER
PAUL M. STEINBERG
J. JACQUES STONE
MARVIN WALTS
HEINZ WARSCHAUER
MAURICE N. EISENDRATH, Secretary
Ex Officio
SIDNEY L. REGNER
UNION GRADED SERIES
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
MYRNA POLLAK
EDITED BY
JACK D. SPIRO, National Director of Education
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
DIRECTOR OF CAMP
AND YOUTH EDUCATION
LEONARD A. SCHOOLMAN
DIRECTOR OF ADULT
EDUCATION
ABRAHAM SEGAL
5 =
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