Jewish Mythology
Jewish mythology is a body of stories that explains or symbolizes Jewish
beliefs. Jewish folklore are the tales, legends, and superstitions that exist
within the oral history of the Jews. There is very little early folklore
distinct from the aggadah literature. However, some forms of folklore have
survived among the Jewish people in all eras of its history.
In Biblical times
Scholars of religion hold that people in the time of the Hebrew Bible had
beliefs and superstitions analogous to those found among their contemporaries,
and among some modern peoples. This view is echoed among some of the medieval
religious rationalists such as Maimonides.
Many scholars of religion hold that some of the early Israelite views about the
creation of the world and of humanity are derived from the mythology and
folklore of the surrounding ancient near-eastern nations, such as Babylon,
Sumerian and Akkadia. This is discussed in the article on Biblical mythology.
Mythologists hold that parallels found between Biblical and ancient pagan views
can throw light on the former only when the connection of the latter with some
wider view is established. Thus, when the Biblical principle that blood is life
is found among the Yorubas of the west coast of Africa, the parallel is
interesting, but has no further instruction. When, however, the custom that the
younger sister must not marry before the elder, found in the case of the
biblical matriarchs Leah and Rachel, is found also among the Nias (Rosenberg, "Malayische
Archipel." p. 155), among the Hahmaheras (Riedel, in "Zeitschrift für Ethnologie,"
xvii. 76), in Java (Winter, in "Tijdschrift Voor Nederl. Indie," i. 566), and
China (Gray, "China," i. 190), it becomes probable that such a practice has
natural roots in polygamous societies.
The "soul-hunting" referred to and reprobated in Ezekiel 13:17 et seq. may be
analogous to the practice observed among the Canadian Indians by the Jesuits
("Relations des Jésuites," 1637, p. 60, quoted by Frazer, l.c. i. 139). The
Canadian wizards sent out familiar spirits to seek the souls of their enemies,
which they brought back in the shape of stones, and the wizards then broke these
with swords or axes, and by this means destroyed their enemies. Thus mythology
by comparative research may throw light upon certain Biblical practises, but
they are just those practices that are opposed by the Hebrew prophets.
In the Talmud
The natural tendency to create myths, denigrated as it had been by the Jewish
prophets, returned with force during the Talmudic period, probably under the
influence of the Babylonian and Persian populations. The "Shedim", or demons,
became as ubiquitous to the populace of the ordinary Jews in Talmudic times as
microbes are thought of today, to which they present remarkable analogies.
The classical rabbi themselves were at times not free from sharing in the
popular beliefs. Yet there are found instances of exceptional freedom from
mythological influences. Thus, while there is a whole catalog of
prognostications by means of Dreams in Ber. 55 et seq., and Rabbi Johanan
claimed that those dreams are true which come in the morning or are dreamed
about us by others, or are repeated (Ber. 56b), Rabbi Meïr declares that dreams
help not and injure not (Gittin 52a, and parallels).
In the Talmud (חולין נט ע"ב - ע"ב) exists a discussion about a giant deer and a
giant Lion which are both originated in a mythical forest called "Dvei Ilai".
The deer is called "Keresh". The lion is said to be such as big that there is
space of 9 feet between his lobs of his lung. The Roman Caesar once asked a
Rabbi to show him this lion, since every lion can be killed, but the Rabbi
refused and pointed out that this is not a normal lion. The Roman Caesar
insisted, so the Rabbi called for the lion of "Dvei Ilai". He roared once from a
far distance and all constructions and the city walls of Rome tumbled down. Then
he came nearer - but still in a far distance - and roared again and the teeth of
all Roman men fall out.
The authorities of the Talmud seem to be particularly influenced by popular
conception in the direction of Folk-Medicine. A belief in the Evil eye was also
prevalent in Talmudic times, and occasionally omens are taken seriously, though
in some cases recognized as being merely popular beliefs. Thus, while it is
declared to be unlucky to do things twice, as eating, drinking, or washing (Pesachim
109b), Rabbi Dunai recognized that this was an old tradition (ib. 110b). A
remarkable custom mentioned in the Talmud is that of planting trees when
children are born and intertwining them to form the huppah when they marry (Gittin
57a). Yet this idea may be originally Persian; it is found also in India (W.
Crookes, in "Folk-Lore," vii.)
A custom like that of walking on the sidewalks when the plague was in the town,
and in the middle of the street when the town was healthful, might have been
founded upon some particular experience, but the reason given, that the Angel of
Death walks about openly in time of plague, and sneaks near the houses at other
times, is little more than a metaphorical repetition of the experience.
It may be possible to distinguish in the haggadic legends of Biblical character
those portions that probably formed part of the original accounts from those
that have been developed by the exegetic principles of the haggadists. In the
later Haggadah there are some elements probably derived from Indian and Greek
fables (see Fable), while others resemble the quaint plays of fancy found in
modern drolls in the so-called "Lügenmärchen" of German folklore. In one
particular direction the Talmud is of extreme interest for folklore
investigation, namely, the transition from maxim to proverb, which can be
clearly observed.
While there is a considerable number of anonymous Proverbs, there is a still
larger number of wise sayings, which, owing to the Talmudic principle, "say a
thing in the name of the man who says it," can be traced to their authors, and
are therefore maxims; for example, the saying "Descend a step to choose a wife;
ascend a step to choose a friend" would be considered a proverb if it did not
happen that one is able to trace it to its original author, Rabbi Meïr.
In post-Talmudic times
After the dispersion of the Jews it becomes increasingly difficult to speak of
specifically Jewish mythology. Spread among all the peoples of the earth, the
Jews appear to have borrowed customs from each of them, and when found among
them today it is most difficult to determine: first, whether the custom is at
all Jewish; and, secondly, if non-Jewish, whether it belongs to the country
where the particular mythological item is found, or has been brought thither
from some other country.
Thus among the Jews of Lithuania and England is found the German remedy against
toothache, to look at the hole of a mouse and pronounce the German formula
commencing "Mausele, Mausele!" As the Lithuanian Jews still use this formula,
the custom has clearly been brought by them from Germany. Or, again, as early as
the twelfth century, the Teutonic test of murder was to bring the suspected
murderer into the presence of his victim, when, if guilty, the wounds of the
murdered man bled anew. This is found in the Sefer Hasidim, No. 1149, and, five
hundred years later in Manasseh ben Israel's "Nishmat Hayyim," iii. 3.
A variation in custom is sometimes found between one set of Jews and another
which enables the inquirer to determine the origin of them. Thus, English Jews
sometimes show a disinclination to sit down with thirteen at a table, probably
copied from their Christian neighbors who connect the superstition with the Last
Supper of Jesus; whereas Russian Jews consider thirteen as a particularly lucky
number, as it is the gematria of "echad" (one), the last and most important word
of the Shema. [aleph (1) + khet (8) + daled (4) = 13]
When, therefore, the custom of covering mirrors after death, usual among the
Jews, is found also in Oldenburg (Wuttke, "Der Deutsche Aberglaube," § 728), it
may be safely assumed that the Jewish custom was derived from the German, and
not vice versa. Again, the custom of "sin-buying" observed among the Jews of
Brody ("Urquell," iii. 19) has its analogue in the "sin-eater" of Wales
("Folk-Lore," iv.). In the Jewish practise a ne'er-do-well would take upon
himself the sins of a rich man for a definite sum. Cases have been known where a
person who has taken another's sins upon himself has felt compunction upon the
death of the original sinner, and has visited his tomb and in the presence of
witnesses deposited upon the tomb the sum originally paid for the sin, begging
the dead man to take back his sins. Though found among Jews, there is little
probability of this practise being originally Jewish.
On the other hand, there are customs among Jews which can be explained only from
specifically Jewish notions, and are rightly included in Jewish mythology. Thus,
in Minsk there is a belief that if for thirty days you are not "called up" to
the Law you are ritually dead, and a Cohen must not approach you, just as he
must not approach a corpse. To ascertain whether you are really dead or not,
when you are called up after the thirty days, look at the letters of the scroll
of the Law, and if you can discern one letter from another there is some mistake
and you are not dead, for the dead when called up at night in the synagogue can
not read. Here the whole conception is a development of Jewish ideas, and so far
it may be regarded as a genuine item of Jewish mythology. Or, again, the curious
belief that the resurrection of the dead will take place in the valley of
Jehoshaphat, and that, therefore, the corpse must have a three-pronged fork to
tunnel his way to Jerusalem if buried out of the Holy Land, is a specifically
Jewish corollary to the veneration of Jerusalem. Or, again, the belief that any
piece of iron will turn rusty if exposed on the four "tekufot," or seasonal
changes of the year, appears to be specifically Jewish, yet later than Talmudic
times.
It might seem likely that the Jews would be favorable media for transplanting
tales and customs from one nation to another, owing to their continuous
migrations; their social isolation, however, has prevented much of this kind of
intermediation, and no decisive evidence has been adduced in regard to it. On
the other hand, in the literary transmission of Indian folk-tales from East to
West, Jews have played an important part. The Bidpai literature was transferred
from the Orient to western Europe entirely by Jewish means (see Kalilah
wa-Dimnah), and the same applies to the Sindbad, Barlaam, and other sets of
Oriental tales. For the medieval legends which relate to Jews see folktales.
The mutual relations between Jews and Christians, mostly antithetical, have
given rise to a certain amount of folklore, in which may be included the myths
of the blood accusation, and of host-piercing, besides such tales as that of the
"Three Rings" and of "Shylock."
The Jews themselves have very little folklore connected with Christians or
Christianity, the Jewish legends about Jesus in the "Toledot Yeshu" being, as
proved by Krauss ("Das Leben Jesu nach Jüdischen Quellen," 1903), mainly derived
from Christian sources. Among the Russian Jews it is considered unlucky to meet
a priest, but a very natural interpretation could be given to this belief. To
prevent the ill luck the remedy is to throw some straw over the back.
Folktales and myths as stories
Stories usually containing incidents of a superhuman character, and spread among
the folk either by traditions from their elders or by communication from
strangers. They are characterized by the presence of unusual personages (dwarfs,
giants, fairies, ghosts, etc.), by the sudden transformation of men into beasts
and vice versa, or by other unnatural incidents (flying horses, a hundred years'
sleep, and the like). Of a similar kind are the drolls of the nursery, generally
consisting of a number of simple "sells." A number of haggadic stories bear
folktale characteristics, especially those relating to Og, King of Bashan, which
have the same exaggerations as have the "Lügenmärchen" of modern German
folktales. There are signs that a certain number of fables were adopted by the
Rabbis either from Greek or, indirectly, from Indian sources.
In the Middle Ages
Though there is little evidence of Jews having had folktales of their own, there
is considerable evidence of their helping the spread of Eastern folk-tales in
Europe. Besides these tales from foreign sources, Jews either collected or
composed others which were told throughout the European ghettos, and were
collected in Yiddish in the "Maasebücher." Numbers of the folk-tales contained
in these collections were also published separately (see the earlier ones given
by Steinschneider in "Cat. Bodl." Nos. 3869-3942). It is, however, difficult to
call many of them folk-tales in the sense given above, since nothing fairy-like
or supernormal occurs in them.
Legends
There are a few definitely Jewish legends of the Middle Ages which partake of
the character of folktales, such as those of the Jewish pope (see Andreas) and
of the golem, or that relating to the wall of the Rashi chapel, which moved
backward in order to save the life of a poor woman who was in danger of being
crushed by a passing car in the narrow way. Several of these legends were
collected by Tendlau ("Sagen und Legenden der Jüdischen Vorzeit").
In the late 1800s many folk-tales were gathered among Jews or published from
Hebrew manuscripts by Israel Lévi in "Revue des Etudes Juives," in "Revue des
Traditions Populaires," and in "Melusine "; by M. Gaster in "Folk-Lore" and in
the reports of Montefiore College; and by M. Grunwald in "Mitteilungen der
Gesellschaft für Jüdische Volkskunde" (see Index to part vi., s.v. "Erählungen");
by L. Wiener in the same periodical; and by F. S. Krauss in "Urquell," both
series.
Altogether some sixty or seventy folk-tales have been found among Jews of the
present day; but in scarcely a single case is there anything specifically Jewish
about the stories, while in most cases they can be traced back to folk-tales
current among the surrounding peoples. Thus the story of "Kunz and His Shepherd"
(Grunwald, "Mitteilungen," ii. 1) occurs in English as "King John and the Abbot
of Canterbury"; and "The Magician's Pupil" (No. 4 of Wiener, in "Mitteilungen,"
x. 103) is also found widely spread. The well-known story of the "Language of
Birds," which has been studied by Frazer ("Archeological Review," iii., iv.;
comp. "Urquell," v. 266), is given in "Mitteilungen," i. 77. No. 4 in the
collection of Wiener is the wide-spread folk-tale of "The Giant's Daughter,"
which some have traced back to the legend of Medea. Two of the stories collected
by Grunwald, No. 13, "The Birds of Ibycus," and No. 14, "The Ring of Polycrates,"
appear to be traceable to classical sources; while his No. 4 gives the
well-known episode of the "Thankful Beasts," which Benfey traced across Europe
through India ("Kleine Schriften," i.). Even in the tales having a comic
termination and known to the folk-lorists as drolls, there are no signs of
Jewish originality. The first of the stories collected by Wiener is the
well-known "Man in the Sack," who gets out of his difficulties by telling
passers-by that he has been unwillingly condemned to marry a princess (see
Jacobs, "Indian Fairy Tales").
Aggadah and folklore compilations
"The Legends of the Jews", by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, is an original synthesis of
a vast amount of aggadah from the Mishnah, the two Talmuds and Midrash. Ginzberg
had an encyclopedic knowledge of all rabbinic literature, and his masterwork
included a massive array of aggadot. However he did not create an anthology
which showed these aggadot distinctly. Rather, he paraphrased them and rewrote
them into one continuous narrative that covered five volumes, followed by two
volumes of footnotes that give specific sources.
The Ein Yaakov is a compilation of the aggadic material in the Babylonian Talmud
together with commentary.
Sefer Ha-Aggadah, "The Book of Legends" is a classic compilation of aggadah from
the Mishnah, the two Talmuds and the Midrash literature. It was edited by Hayim
Nahman Bialik and Yehoshua Hana Ravnitzky. Bialik and Ravnitky worked to compile
a comprehensive and representative overview of aggadah; they spent three years
compiling their work. When they found the same aggadah in multiple versions,
from multiple sources, they usually selected the later form, the one found in
the Babylonian Talmud. However they also presented a great some aggadot
sequentially, giving the early form from the Jerusalem Talmud, and later
versions from the Babylonian Talmud, and from a classic midrash compilation. In
each case each every aggadah is given with its original source. In their
original edition, thy translated the Aramaic aggadot into modern Hebrew. Sefer
Ha-Aggadah was first published in 1908-11 in Odessa, Russia, then reprinted
numerous times in Israel. In 1992 it was translated into English as "The Book of
Legends", by William G, Braude.
Mimekor Yisrael, by Micha Josef (bin Gorion) Berdyczewski. Berdyczewski was
interested in compiling the folklore and legends of the Jewish people, from the
earliest times up until the dawn of the modern era. His collection included a
large array of aggadot, although they were limited to those he considered within
the domain of folklore.
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