Elijah Delmedigo’s _Examination of Religion_, made the remark that this
book adds to its other merits that of bearing a title corresponding to its
contents,—a merit that is very rare in Jewish books. Reggio proceeds to
give a few specimens confirming his assertion, and concludes his remarks
with a eulogy on Delmedigo, who in this respect also had the courage to
differ from his contemporaries. Zunz also once wrote an article on titles
of books. But this article unfortunately appeared in some German
periodical which the British Museum does not possess, and I could not even
succeed in ascertaining whether Zunz treats at all of titles of Hebrew
books, nor am I aware that the subject has been taken up by any other
scholar, Isaac D’Israeli’s few notes on the subject in his _Curiosities of
Literature_ being scarcely worth mention. It seems to me, however,
interesting enough to deserve some illustration, though I can by no means
hope to be complete.
The titles of the books contained in the Bible need not be discussed here;
information concerning them is to be found in every critical introduction
to the Old Testament. The Rabbinical works dating from antiquity also
offer little opportunity for reflection on their titles. The Talmud, as a
work, has no title at all; for Talmud simply means “teaching” or “study.”
Sometimes it is termed ShaSS, an abbreviation of _Shisha Sedarim_,(225)
meaning the Six Orders or divisions contained in the Mishnah. This last
word means, according to some authors, “Repetition.” Other Tannaitic
collections of laws or expositions of the Scriptures are called “the Book”
(Siphra), “the Books” (Siphré), or “Additions” (Tosephta to the Mishnah).
The word _Baraitha_(226) means the external Mishnah that enjoyed less
authority than the Mishnah of R. Judah the Patriarch. Some approach to
titles we find in the names given to the different tractates included in
the Mishnah, as _Berachoth_, because it treats of Benedictions,
_Peah_(227) (Corner) which contains the particulars concerning the law in
Lev. xix. and so forth. Of the few works quoted in the Talmud it will
suffice to mention the _Seder Olam_, the Order of the World, the name of
which is very suitable to the chronological contents of the book. In
general, I may observe that as long as the law which prohibited the
writing down of the Oral teachings was in force, there hardly existed
Jewish books. But where there are no books there is also no need for
titles. The few titles, however, which can be proved to be historical are
simple and to the point. It is not till about the beginning of the Middle
Ages, when this prohibitive law had, for reasons not to be explained here,
been abolished, that we can speak of Hebrew books. But here also the
Title‐confusion begins.
In order that we may have some general view of the thousands of titles
that are catalogued by the Jewish bibliographers, it will perhaps be well
to arrange them under the following six classes:—
I. _Simple titles_, that have no other object than that of indicating the
subject matter of the book. These are, as we have just seen, the only kind
of titles known to antiquity. The few books which the Gaonim left us bear
such simple titles as could have served as models to later generations.
Among them may be mentioned the _Halachoth_ or collection of Laws, _Creeds
and Opinions_, by R. Saadiah Gaon, the _Book on Buying and Selling_, by R.
Hai Gaon, containing the laws relating to commercial transactions. It may
be noticed that this last book is one of the best arranged in Jewish
literature, and displays more systematising powers than even the Code of
Maimonides. The greatest part of the literary activity of the Gaonim
consists in their Responsa, in which they gave decisions on ritual
questions, or explanations of difficult passages in the Talmud. The titles
borne by the various collections of those Responsa belong to a period
later than the author’s. The great majority of the books produced by the
Franco‐German school may also be included in this class. They are termed
“Commentaries,” “Additions” or “Glosses,” “Novellæ,” or “Confirming
Proofs,” and similar modest titles which show both their relation to, and
dependence on, another older authority. The largest collection of
Midrashim we possess bears the simple title “Bag.”(228) Many of the
Responsa satisfy themselves with the words “Questions to, and Answers by.”
II. _Titles taken from the first word with which the book begins_, or from
the first word of the Scriptural verse occurring first in the book. This
class is strongly represented by the Midrashim. Thus the Midrash to the
Song of Songs is also quoted as the Midrash _Chazitha_,(229) “Midrash,
Seest thou” (the first text with which this Midrash deals being Proverbs
xxii. 28). The Midrash to the Psalms is called Midrash _Shocher Tob_,(230)
“Midrash, He that diligently seeketh the good” (Prov. xi. 37). The Midrash
containing the legendary story of the wars of the sons of Jacob with the
Canaanites is quoted as Midrash _V’yisseu_,(231) “Midrash, And they
journeyed,” as the story begins with the verse from Gen. xxxv. 5. And this
is the case with the titles of many other Midrashim. Whether the work
cited under the strange name of _Meat on Coals_ did not begin with those
words, containing some law relating to the salting of meat, I do not
venture to decide. Under this class we may also arrange those books that
are called after a phrase which is often used in the book, _e.g._, the
Midrash _Yelamdenu_ (He may teach us), or the _Vehizhir_, “And He
commanded us,” almost every paragraph in these books beginning with the
phrases mentioned.(232) Probably all the books belonging to this class
received from the hands of their authors or compilers no titles at all.
The student who had to quote them gave them names after the phrase or word
which first caught his eye. In later centuries this class disappears
almost entirely (see, however, Ben‐Jacob’s _Treasure_, p. 201, No. 827).
III. _Pompous titles._ The largest contributions to this class were made
by the mystical writers. Books which profess to know what is going on in
the heavens above and the earth beneath cannot possibly be satisfied with
modest titles. Thus we have the “Book of Brightness” (Zohar), “the shining
book” (Bahir), “the Confidential Shepherd” (Moses).(233) The books which
the Zohar quotes bear such titles as the Book of Adam, the Book of Enoch.
The only excuse for the Zohar is that the manufacturing of such books with
pseudo‐epigraphical titles had already begun in antiquity. It is not,
however, till the Gaonic period that a whole apocryphal literature
suddenly emerges which perplexes the Gaonim themselves. No one is spared.
Angels, patriarchs, and martyrs are called upon to lend their names to
these books. What one resents most is that history came within the range
of the forger’s activity. There is, for instance, the Josippon, which
professes to be written by Josephus, the well‐known Jewish historian of
the first century. But in spite of all the care taken by the author to
disguise himself in the garb of antiquity, the Josippon is a forgery of
the ninth or tenth century. Of a similar kind is the Book of Jasher,
containing legendary stories relating to Biblical personages. It pretends
to be identical with the Book of Jasher quoted in Joshua x. 13 and 2 Sam.
i. 18. Some sixty years ago a certain Mr. Samuel of Liverpool had the
misfortune to make himself ridiculous by maintaining the pretensions of
this book; for, indeed, it does not require much knowledge of the Agadic
literature to see that the Book of Jasher is only a compilation of
comparatively late Midrashim.
IV. _Titles suggested by other Titles._ As an instance of this we may take
Maimonides’ great Code of Law, which bears the title _Mishneh Torah_. The
importance of the book made it the object of study for hundreds of
scholars, who wrote their commentaries and glosses on it. Among the titles
of the commentaries such Title‐genealogies may be discovered as Maggid
_Mishneh_, _Mishneh_ Lammelech; which last word again suggested such
titles as Emek ha‐_Melech_, Shaar ha‐_Melech_, and so on.(234)
The same process may be observed in other standard works, the importance
of which made them a subject of investigation and interpretation as the
“Prepared Table,” one of the glosses to which is called _Mappah_,
“Tablecloth,” whilst others provided it with the _Shewbread_ and with _New
Fruit_.
V. _Euphemistic Titles_, as “The Tractate of Joys,” treating of funeral
ceremonies and kindred subjects. It does not seem that this title was
known to antiquity, but it is certain that already the earlier authorities
quoted it by this name. “The Book of Life” (the German Jewish title of
which is _Alle Dinim, von Freuden_), is the name of a very popular book
containing the prayers to be read in the house of mourning as well as in
the cemetery, which is also called the House of Life.
VI. _Titles taken from the Bible_, or Fancy Titles. This is the largest
class of all, though it was utterly unknown in antiquity. It will be,
perhaps, convenient to arrange this class of titles under the following
sub‐divisions. (_a_) Titles taken from the Bible, but also fulfilling the
purpose of indicating the name of the author. For instance, “Seed of
Abraham” (Ps. cv. 6), is the title of nine different books, the name of
whose authors happened to be Abraham; “And Isaac entreated” (Gen. xxv.
21), is by Isaac Satanow on the Prayers; “Then Isaac sowed” (_ibid._ xxvi.
12), edited by R. Isaac Perles, contains an index to the Zohar. “Jacob
shall take root” (Is. xxvii. 6) is the name of a book on Grammar and
Massorah by R. Jacob Bassani. R. Joseph of Posen left two collections of
sermons and commentaries on the Pentateuch, of which the one is called
“And Joseph nourished” (Gen. xlvii. 12), the other “And Joseph gathered”
(_ibid._ 14). Authors with the name of Judah are represented among others
by such titles as “And this of Judah” (Deut. xxxiii.7), a treatise on the
laws concerning the killing of animals; or “Judah shall go up” (Judges i.
2), a pamphlet containing a collection of prayers to be said on a journey.
“Moses began” (Deut. i. 5) forms the title of three different books on
various subjects, the authors of which had the name Moses. “Moses shall
rejoice,” a phrase occurring in the morning prayer for Sabbaths, is also
the title of two books, the authors of which were named Moses. The “Rod of
Aaron” enjoyed, as it seems, a goodly popularity; there are four bearing
this name, not to speak of a fifth, “The Rod of Aaron brought forth buds”
(Exod. xvii. 23), which is the name of a collection of Responsa by R.
Aaron ben Chayim. But other Rods also were fashionable; there are, besides
the five Rods of Moses, also Rods of Ephraim, Dan, Judah, Joseph,
Naphtali, and Manasseh. By authors of the name of David we find books with
the title “And David said,” or a “Prayer of David,” and other phrases
occurring in the Psalms relating to David; whilst the “Tower of David”
became the stronghold of other writers, and the “Shield of David”
protected as many as nine more. The “Chariot of Solomon” (Cant. iii. 9)
adorns the title‐pages of five books by authors named Solomon. The Caraite
Solomon Troki was so fond of that title that he called his two polemical
treatises “He made himself a chariot,” while R. Solomon of Mir’s
collection of sermons has the title, “This Bed which is Solomon’s” (Cant.
iii. 7). As to family names, there were not many authors in the enjoyment
of that luxury (especially among the German Jews), but we find them
indicating the fact of their being Priests or Levites. Among such books
are the collection of Responsa, by R. Raphael Cohen, which has the title
“And the Priest shall come again” (Lev. xiv. 39), and the Cabbalistic
treatise by R. Abraham Cohen, of Lask, with the title “And the Priest
shall reckon unto him” (Lev. xxvii. 18). Probably the author deals with
numbers. R. Hirsch Horwitz, the Levite, called his Novellæ to the Talmud
“The Camp of Levi.” The title “The Service of the Levite” (with allusion
to Exodus xxxviii. 21) is borne by five other books by authors who were
Levites. And there may be found hundreds of books with titles suggesting
the Priestly or Levitical descent of their authors. Most anxious is Joseph
Ibn Kaspi (Joseph the Silvern, so called after his native place
Argentière, in the south of France) to provide most of his numerous books
with some Biblical titles combined with silver, as a “Bowl of Silver”
(Numb. vii. 13), or “Points of Silver” (Song of Songs i. 11), or “Figures
of Silver” (Prov. xxv. 10), and other similar phrases. On the other hand
Azulai manages to indicate at least one of his three Hebrew names, Chayim
Joseph David, in most of his works, of which the number exceeds seventy,
as Chayim Shaal,(235) “He asked Life” (Ps. xxi. 4), or “The knees of
Joseph” (alluding to Gen. xlviii. 12), and “Truth unto David” (Ps. cxxxii.
11).
(_b_) The Tabernacle with its furniture was also a great favourite with
many authors. There are not only six tabernacles (two on Cabbalah, two on
grammar, and two on Talmudical subjects), but also three “Arks of the
Testimony,” two “Altars of gold,” two “Tables of Shewbread,” four
“Candlesticks of the Light,” two “Sockets of Silver,” and two “Pillars of
Silver.” Others again preferred the vestments of the priests as the “Plate
of Judgment,” the “Robe of the Ephod,” the “Mitre of Aaron,” the “Plate of
Gold,” the “Bell and Pomegranate,” “Wreathen Chains,” and the “Arches of
Gold.” Many of these books were written by authors claiming to be priests.
(_c_) But besides the canonical, other costumes were also fashionable. R.
Mordecai Yafeh composed ten books, every one of them bearing the name of
some garment or apparel, as “Apparel of Royalty,” “Apparel of Blue,”
“Apparel of White,” and so the whole suit with which Mordecai went out
from the presence of the king (Esther viii. 15). These ten works range
from codifications of the law and occasional sermons to philosophy,
astronomy, and Cabbalah. By other writers we have three “Coats of many
colours” (Gen. xxxvii. 4), one “Bridal Attire,” and the “Thread of
Scarlet” is not missing. (_d_) The ingredients for incense as well as
other articles used in the Tabernacle or in the Temple were also fancied
by some authors, and we have two books with the title of “Principal
Spices,” two “Pure Myrrh,” three “Arts of the Apothecary,” one “Oil of
Holy Ointment,” five “Meat Offerings mingled or dry,” three or four “Flour
of the Meat Offering,” and also one “Two Young Pigeons” (Bene Yonah) by R.
Jonah Zandsopher. But the appetite of the authors did not stop at these
holy things. It extended also to such lay articles as “Spiced Wine,”
“Juice of Pomegranate” (Cant. viii. 2), “Forests of Honey,” the “Book of
the Apple,” and “Seven Kinds of Drink.”
(_e_) Field and flock also suggested to Hebrew writers as well as to Mr.
Ruskin such titles as “The Fruit of the Hand,” the “Rose of Sharon,” the
“Lily of the Valleys,” or “The Shepherds’ Tents,” and “In the Green
Pastures” (Ps. xxiii. 2).
The specimens given for every class may with very little trouble be
doubled and redoubled. But it is not my intention to reproduce here whole
catalogues. Reggio thinks all such titles, which do not correspond with
the context of the book, absurd and confusing. He suggests that the Jews
followed in this respect the Arabic writers. There is no doubt that Reggio
is not altogether wrong in his complaint. Almost all the titles included
in class vi., as the reader might have observed, never indicate to the
student the subject of which the books treat. How can one guess that the
Responsa, the Dance of Mahanaim (two companies), is of a polemical nature
against the tendencies of reform? This list may be lengthened by hundreds
of titles. But even these incomprehensible titles are better than the
_Chad Gadyah Lo Israel_ (One Kid No Israel),(236) the un‐Hebrew title of a
pamphlet trying to prove the un‐Jewish origin of the well‐known folk‐song
sung on Passover Eve. But, on the other hand, it must not be overlooked
that even this class has, though not always, something suggestive and even
practical about it. The “Choice of Pearls” is undoubtedly more attractive
than the prosaic “Collection of Proverbs and Sayings,” which is what the
book contains. “Understanding of the Seasons” (1 Chr. xii. 32), sounds
also better than the simple “Collection of Sermons on different
occasions.” “The Lips of those who Sleep” recommends itself as a very
suggestive title for a catalogue, especially when one thinks of the Agadic
explanation given to Cant. vii. 10, according to which the study of the
book of a departed author makes the lips of the dead man to speak. Such
titles as “Bunch of Lilies” for a collection of poems are still usual with
us. Such a title as the “Jealousy Offering,” or the “Law of Jealousies,”
in polemical literature is very appropriate for its subject. R. Jacob
Emden, who named one of his pamphlets “Rod for the fool’s back” (Prov.
xxvi. 3), will be envied for his choice by many a controversialist even
to‐day. Wittily devised is the pun‐title, “City of Sihon” for a
mathematical book by R. Joseph Tsarphathi, alluding to Numb. xxi. 27, “For
Hesbon (reckoning) is the City of Sihon.”
Other titles were probably intended more as mottoes than titles. “Go forth
and behold, ye daughters of Zion” (Cant. iii. 11), is put in the title‐
page of R. Jacob’s German‐Jewish paraphrase of the Pentateuch, which was
written chiefly for the use of ladies. “Let another man praise thee and
not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips” (Prov. xxvii. 2),
forms the title of a book extending over only one and a half page in
quarto. It contains letters by seven Rabbis (among them R. Liva of Prague)
recommending the Ascetic, R. Abraham Wangos, who has a daughter to marry,
and wants also to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as deserving the
support of his brethren.
There is also another objection to these titles. It is that they seem
sometimes not quite consonant with our notions of modesty. Thus we have
“Desirable and Sweet” on astronomy, “Sweeter than Honey” or “He shall
comfort us,” and many others of this kind. But it must not be thought that
we have a right to infer from the title to the author. There is, indeed,
an anecdote that three authors were rather too little careful about the
choice of their titles, namely Maimonides in calling his Code _Mishneh
Torah_ (which is the traditional title of the Book of Deuteronomy), R.
Moses Alshech in calling his homiletical commentaries _Torah_ of Moses,
and R. Isaiah Horwitz in calling his book _Shene Luchoth ha‐Berith_ (The
Two Tables of the Covenant). These authors, as the story goes, had for
their punishment that their works are never quoted by the titles they gave
to them, the former two being usually cited as Rambam or Alshech, whilst
the last is more known by its abbreviated title of SHeLa(237) than by its
full name.
I do not remember where I have read this story, but I am quite sure that
its pious author would have been more careful about repeating it had he
known that this accusation against Maimonides was a favourite topic with
apostates, who thought to hit Judaism in the person of its representative
Maimonides. But, as R. Solomon Duran in his polemical work remarks,
Maimonides was too much of a truly great man to find any satisfaction in
such petty vanity. Nor do I believe that even the character of less‐known
authors can in any way be impugned by the seemingly conceited titles of
their books; just as on the other hand the humility of the author is not
proved by calling his book “The Offering of the Poor,” or other modest
titles. The fancy title was in common use, and was therefore a commonplace
with no significance whatever. The real disadvantage of such titles lies
in the fact that, as already pointed out, they conceal from the student
the contents of the book which he might otherwise consult in the course of
his researches.
Did these authors perhaps foresee that there would come a time in which
index‐knowledge would pass for deep scholarship? and did they thus by
using these obscure titles try to put a check on the dabblers who speak
the more of a book the less they have read of its contents? If this be the
case we can only admire their foresight.
XII. THE CHILD IN JEWISH LITERATURE
“I saw a Jewish lady only yesterday with a child at her knee, and from
whose face towards the child there shone a sweetness so angelical that it
seemed to form a sort of glory round both. I protest I could have knelt
before her, too, and adored in her the divine beneficence in endowing us
with the maternal _storgé_ which began with our race and sanctifies the
history of mankind.” These words, which are taken from Thackeray’s
_Pendennis_, may serve as a starting‐point for this paper. The fact that
the great student of man perceived this glory just round the head of a
Jewish lady rouses in me the hope that the small student of letters may,
with a little search, be able to discover in the remains of our past many
similar traces of this divine beneficence and sanctifying sentiment.
Certainly the glimpses which we shall catch from the faded leaves of
ancient volumes, dating from bygone times, will not be so bright as those
which the novelist was so fortunate as to catch from the face of a lady
whom he saw but the previous day. The mothers and fathers, about whom I am
going to write in this essay, have gone long ago, and the objects of their
anxiety and troubles have also long ago vanished. But what the subject
will lose in brightness, it may perhaps gain in reality and intensity. A
few moments of enraptured devotion do not make up the saint. It is a whole
series of feelings and sentiments betrayed on different occasions,
expressed in different ways, a whole life of sore troubles, of bitter
disappointments, but also moments of most elevated joys and real
happiness.
And surely these manifestations of the divine beneficence, which appear in
their brightest glory in the literature of every nation when dealing with
the child, shine strongest in the literature of the Jewish nation. In it,
to possess a child was always considered as the greatest blessing God
could bestow on man, and to miss it as the greatest curse. The patriarch
Abraham, with whom Israel enters into history, complains—“Oh Lord, what
wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless!”
The Rabbis regarded the childless man as dead, whilst the Cabbalist in the
Middle Ages thought of him who died without posterity as of one who had
failed in his mission in this world, so that he would have to appear again
on our planet to fulfil this duty. To trace out the feelings which
accompanied the object of their greatest anxiety, to let them pass before
the reader in some way approaching to a chronological order, to draw
attention to some points more worthy of being emphasised than others, is
the aim of this essay.
I said that I propose to treat the subject in chronological order. I meant
by this that I shall follow the child in the different stages through
which it has to pass from its birth until it ceases to be a child and
attains its majority. This latter period is the beginning of the
thirteenth year in the case of a female, and the beginning of the
fourteenth year in the case of a male. I shall have occasion later on to
examine this point more closely.
But there is the embryo‐period which forms a kind of preliminary stage in
the life of the child, and plays a very important part in the region of
Jewish legends. Human imagination always occupies itself most with the
things of which we know least. And so it got hold of this semi‐existence
of man, the least accessible to experience and observation, and surrounded
it by a whole cycle of legends and stories. They are too numerous to be
related here. But I shall hint at a few points which I regard as the most
conspicuous features of these legends.