A series of sea tales about Leviathan are found in the Talmud in B. Bava Batra 74b-75a, which are attributed to Rabbah bar Bar Hannah. These closely resemble the tales of Sinbad the sailor in The Arabian Nights.
The myths about Leviathan are closely related to those about Rahab. See “The Rebellion of Rahab,” p. 106.
One of the reasons given for the custom of eating fish at each Shabbat (Sabbath) dinner is that eating fish anticipates the feast of Leviathan, which will take place when the Messiah comes, as stated in the Talmud, “In the future God will prepare a feast to the righteous from the flesh of Leviathan” (B. Bava Batra 75). “This will be a complete and perfect Sabbath” (B. Berakhot 57).
Parallel myths about sea monsters are found in the Babylonian text Enuma Elish (1:132-38), where Tiamat, who personifies the sea, gives birth to hideous monsters.
Sources:
B. Bava Batra 74b-75a; Genesis Rabbah 7:4; Rashi on Genesis 1:21; Midrash Haserot ve-Yeterot; Battei Midrashot 2:225; Zohar 2:34a-35b; Sefer Eliyahu in Beit ha-Midrash 3:68-78; IFA 597, 13365.
Studies:
Slaying the Dragon: Mythmaking in the Biblical Tradition by Bernard F. Batto.
“Rabbinic Mythmaking and Tradition: The Great Dragon Drama in B. Bava Batra 74b-75a” by Michael Fishbane.
“The Battle Between Behemoth and Leviathan According to an Ancient Hebrew Piyyut” by Jefim Schirmann.
Myths from Mesopotamia by S. Dalley, pp. 228-277 (Enuma Elish).
“Elements of Near-Eastern Mythology in Rabbinic Aggadah” by Irving Jacobs.
183. BEHEMOTH
Behemoth is a beast of such gigantic proportions that it is the size of a thousand mountains. Daily it devours the grass of a thousand hills. It drinks so much water that there is a special river flowing out of Paradise to quench its thirst. It roars just once a year, in the month of Tammuz, and that roar so frightens all the animals in the world that they are kept in its control.
Like Leviathan, Behemoth was created male and female. And if this pair had mated, their offspring would have destroyed the world. What did God do? God made the male sterile, and cooled the desire of the female, and saved them for the messianic feast in the World to Come.
Some say that in the messianic age Behemoth and Leviathan will slay each other, and their flesh will be served at the messianic banquet. Others say that God Himself will slay Behemoth and Leviathan, in order to serve them to the righteous at that glorious feast.
The enormous land monster Behemoth is described in Job 40: 15-24. It is said that its flesh will be served at the End of Days at a great feast given by God. See “The Messianic Banquet,” p. 508. For accounts of other mythic monsters, see “The Sea Monster Leviathan,” p. 145, and “The Ziz,” p. 147.
Sources:
B. Bava Batra 74b.
Studies:
“The Battle Between Behemoth and Leviathan According to an Ancient Hebrew Piyyut” by Jefim Schirmann.
“Leviathan, Behemoth and Ziz: Jewish Messianic Symbols in Art” by Joseph Gutmann.
“Elements of Near-Eastern Mythology in Rabbinic Aggadah” by Irving Jacobs.
184. THE ZIZ
The Ziz is a bird as big as Leviathan. When it stands in the ocean, the water only reaches to its ankles, and its head is in the sky. Some say its head reaches as far as the Throne of Glory, where it sings songs to God. It is so big that when the Ziz unfolds its wings, it blots out the sun. Once the sailors on a passing ship saw the Ziz standing there and thought the water must be shallow. Then a voice called out from heaven: “Don’t dive in here! A carpenter dropped his axe here seven years ago, and it still has not reached the bottom.” Another time, one of the eggs of the Ziz fell to earth and crushed a forest of three hundred trees. The liquid from the broken egg flooded sixty cities.
The Ziz serves as a messenger of God. Once King Solomon learned that a heavenly voice had announced that his daughter, the princess, was destined to marry a poor man within a year. To keep this from happening, King Solomon sent his daughter to live in a high tower in a desert island. Then it happened that the Ziz carried a poor youth from Acco to the balcony of that tower, so that the princess and youth were brought together. And he lived secretly in that tower with her, and before the year was out they were wed, for not even King Solomon could outfox fate.
So too did the Ziz pick up a young scholar named Shlomo from the roof of his house where he was studying and drop him in the garden of the king of Spain. The king took a liking to him, and let him live in a hut in the garden. There he met and fell in love with the princess, who studied Torah with him and secretly married him. But then the Ziz picked him up out of that garden and brought him back to the roof of his parents’ house. In this way Shlomo was separated from the princess, but after great trials she found her way back to him.
The flesh of the Ziz will be served to the righteous at the messianic banquet that will take place at the end of days.
The Ziz is one of three mythical gigantic creatures that often appear in Jewish lore. The others are Leviathan and Behemoth. The Ziz is mentioned in Psalms 50:11: And Ziz-Sadai is with Me. In Jewish folklore the Ziz serves as the incarnation of fate. The two folktales noted are two famous examples. See “The Princess in the Tower” in Elijah’s Violin, pp. 47-52, and “The Flight of the Eagle,” pp. 82-88 in the same book.
The account of the sighting of the Ziz by a passing ship is attributed to Rabbah bar Bar Hannah, a talmudic sage who reported on many strange sightings in his sea and land journeys. These are found in B. Bava Batra 73a-74a. Because of their outlandish nature, the tall tales of Rabbah bar Bar Hannah were often interpreted allegorically. The Maharsha, Rabbi Samuel Eliezer Edels, interpreted these fables this way, as did Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. For the Maharsha, the waters that first appear shallow but turn out to be very deep represent the Torah, which may appear to be only ankle deep, but is actually profound and difficult to fathom. The bird’s head that reaches the sky represents the hidden aspects of the Torah—the secrets of kabbalah.
In Likutei Moharan, Rabbi Nachman expands on the Maharsha’s interpretation in which the deep waters represent the deepest secrets of the Torah. He interprets the voice that warned against diving in as a warning to those who are not trained in the Torah against seeking out its deepest secrets. This is the esoteric view taken by kabbalah and succeeding stages of Jewish mysticism. Rabbi Nachman sees the carpenter as God, and the axe dropped into the sea as the Messiah, since the Messiah is called God’s “axe.” He finds that the reference to seven years refers to the 7,000 years that the world is supposed to exist. Most interesting is Rabbi Nachman’s interpretation that the falling of the axe refers to the Messiah’s own probing of the deepest secrets of the Torah. And when he reaches those secrets, then the messianic era will arrive. When that takes place, the Messiah will reveal these secrets to the whole world. Note that here Rabbi Nachman has created a new messianic myth.
It is said that the Ziz, like Leviathan, will be served to the righteous at the messianic banquet at the End of Days. From this the rabbis concluded that the Ziz must be kosher. See “The Messianic Banquet,” p. 508.
Sources:
B. Bava Batra 73a; Likutei Moharan; Midrash Tanhuma, Preface; Oseh Feleh; IFA 4735.
Studies:
“Leviathan, Behemoth and Ziz: Jewish Messianic Symbols in Art” by Joseph Gutman.
185. THE RE’EM
A re’em that is one day old is the size of Mount Tabor. Once, when King David was a young shepherd, he came upon a sleeping re’em. Thinking it was a mountain, he climbed upon it. Before long the re’em awoke and rose up, and David, astride its horns, was lifted as high as the heavens. Then God caused a lion to appear, coming toward the re’em. When the re’em saw the lion, the king of beasts, it knelt down in fear. David was also afraid, so God caused a gazelle to come along, and as the lion sprang after it, David descended the horn of the re’em and escaped. That is the meaning of the words of the Psalm: Deliver me from a lion’s mouth, r
escue me from the horns of a re’em (Ps. 22:22).
The re’em is a horned mythological creature of great size, similar to a unicorn or a rhinoceros. This legend about King David explains the enigmatic meaning of Psalm 22:22 by offering an account of the young shepherd David escaping both from the re’em and a lion. Compare the account of the death of Cain said to explain the meaning of Genesis 4:23. See “The Death of Cain,” p. 451. The wandering sage Rabbah bar Bar Hannah reported seeing a re’em in one of his journeys.
Sources:
B. Bava Batra 73a; Midrash Tehillim 22:28.
186. THE PHOENIX
When God created the Angel of Death, He gave him domination over all creatures except for the Phoenix. This is because the Phoenix was the only creature not to taste of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Eve had offered the forbidden fruit to all the animals, and only the Phoenix had refused to eat it. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, established the Phoenix as an everlasting witness for Israel and let these birds live forever.
An angel took Baruch to where the sun goes forth. There he saw a bird flying that was as large as a mountain. The angel told him that bird was the guardian of the world, for it runs with the sun in its circuit, and spreads out his wings and catches the fiery rays of the sun. If that bird were not there to intercept them, no creature on earth could survive. Its food consists of the manna of heaven and the dew of earth. And the angel told Baruch that bird was the Phoenix. And when the bird spread its wings, Baruch read what was written there: “The earth has not borne me, nor has heaven, but wings of fire bear me.”
Over a thousand years, each Phoenix becomes smaller and smaller until it is like a fledgling, and even its feathers fall off. Then God sends two angels, who restore it to the egg from which it first emerged, and soon it hatches again, and the Phoenix grows once again, and remains fully grown for the next thousand years.
For many years the Phoenix has made its home in the City of Luz, which the Angel of Death cannot enter, where it reproduces its kind.
This midrash builds on earlier traditions, found in the Talmud, that the Phoenix was the only creature given eternal life because of its refusal to taste of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. A companion tradition holds that the Phoenix was the only creature in the ark not to make demands on Noah. The legend of the Phoenix has been taken from Egyptian mythology. Note that this rabbinic addition to the legend provides an explanation as to how the Phoenix became immortal. Attraction to origin tales is characteristic of the Midrash, as is a willingness on the part of the rabbis to create them where necessary.
The myth of the Phoenix moved beyond its Egyptian origins to enter Greek, Jewish, and Christian literature. It was originally linked with the idea of the bird of the sun. For more on the city of immortals where the Phoenix can now be found, see “The City of Luz,” p. 476.
There was a debate between the School of Rabbi Jannai and that of Rabbi Judah ben Rabbi Simeon. Rabbi Jannai held that the bird and its nest burned after a thousand years, and only an egg was left, from which the Phoenix came to life again. Rabbi Judah argued that its body decomposed and its wings fell off, leaving only the egg, as in the other explanation. These two traditions are parallel to those found in the classical myth of the Phoenix.
Sources:
Genesis Rabbah 19:5; 3 Baruch 6; Alpha Beta de-Ben Sira 27a, 28b, 29a-29b; Sefer ha-Zikhronot.
187. THE LION OF THE FOREST ILAI
Caesar called in Rabbi Joshua ben Haninah to question him about the ways of the Jews. He said to him: “Your God is likened to a lion, as it is written in your Holy Scriptures: The lion has roared, who will not fear? (Amos 3:8). What is so great about this? A hunter can kill a lion.” Rabbi Joshua replied: “You would not want to see this lion.” But Caesar insisted, saying: “Indeed, I want to see him. If I do not, the lives of the Jews will be in grave danger!”
Then Rabbi Joshua saw that he had no choice, so he prayed that the lion might come from its place in the forest Ilai. And before long his prayer was answered, and the lion emerged from the forest and set out for the city of Rome. And when the lion was at a distance of four hundred parasangs, it roared once, the ground shook, and all the bridges of Rome collapsed. When it was at a distance of three hundred parasangs, it roared a second time, the molars and front teeth of the people fell out, and Caesar himself fell from his throne to the floor. Then Caesar said to Rabbi Joshua: “Enough! I beg you, pray that the lion be returned to its place.” This Rabbi Joshua did, and the lion turned around and returned to the forest from which it had come.
This myth suggests the terrifying power and glory of God, who is compared to the lion of the forest Ilai. The roar of this mythic lion is so loud that even Caesar fell from his throne on hearing it and begged for the lion to be returned to its place. The point is that God is far more powerful than any human ruler.
Sources:
B. Hullin 59b.
188. THE RAM SACRIFICED AT MOUNT MORIAH
The ram that Abraham found caught in the thicket at Mount Moriah was one of the ten things created on the eve of the first Sabbath, along with the rainbow of Noah, the staff of Moses, and other precious things. The ram waited in Paradise for many centuries until that fateful day on Mount Moriah. All this time the ram knew why it had been created, but it was not afraid. Instead, it looked forward to fulfilling its destiny.
Then the day came when the angel brought the ram from Paradise to serve as the sacrifice in place of Isaac at Mount Moriah. There, its horns caught in the thicket, it waited for Abraham to set it free. That is why God said to Abraham, “Although your children are destined to be entangled in misfortune, in the end they will be redeemed by the horns of a ram.”
Nothing of the ram that was sacrificed there was wasted. The skin of the ram became Elijah’s mantle, the gut was used in David’s harp, one horn was sounded by Moses at Mount Sinai, and the other will be blown by Elijah at the End of Days, as it is said, And in that day, a great ram’s horn shall be sounded (Isa. 27:13).
For a list of the ten things created before the creation of the world, see “Ten Things Created on the Eve of the First Sabbath,” p. 77. The ram does not appear in all such lists, which vary considerably. For a modern midrash about the ram, see “The Tale of the Ram” by Tsvi Blanchard in Gates to the New City: A Treasury of Modern Jewish Tales, p. 152.
Sources:
Rosh ha-Shanah 16a; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 31.
Studies:
“The Riddle of the Ram in Genesis Chapter 22: Jewish-Christian Contacts in Late Antiquity” by Marc Bregman.
189. GOD THE POTTER
God is a potter who, in turning His wheel, constantly fashions new vessels, as it is said, He revolves wheels by his devices (Job. 37:12). Using the instrument of the potter’s wheel, God endlessly reshapes His works, turning one vessel into another. If a man’s works are good, the potter’s wheel revolves to the right, making the course of events highly favorable. For those who turn to evil ways, however, God imparts a spin to the left, and events follow an unfavorable course. Thus, through these rotations of the wheel, everything turns out as it should.
In this allegorical myth God is described as a potter, who creates new vessels at His wheel—thus, creates new creations. While these are similar to the old creations, each new one is still unique. This metaphor about God being a potter was likely inspired by Job 37:12, which can be rendered, He revolves wheels by his devices. For a parallel theme, see “Re-creating the World,” p. 292.
As a kabbalistic allegory, the spinning of the wheel represents the Shekhinah, since creation is continually formed and transformed through Her. When the wheel spins to the right, this symbolizes Hesed (Lovingkindness), and when it spins to the left, this symbolizes Din (Justice).
Sources:
Zohar 1:109b-110b.
190. THE UNFINISHED CREATION
The universe that God created is always in an unfinished state. It is not like a vessel that can be worked and finished. It requires conti
nuous work and unceasing renewal. For the world is re-created every day, and a man is reborn every morning. Were these forces to pause for a second, the universe would return to chaos.
This teaching is attributed to Rabbi Simcha Bunam of Parsischa (1765-1827). He observes that the unfinished nature of Creation is a necessity, not a flaw, for the world requires constant renewal. Without this force of renewal, the world would come to an end. The Ba’al Shem Tov also taught that the world is renewed daily.
Sources:
Siah Sarfei Kodesh 2:17; Midrash Ribesh Tov 2:24.
BOOK THREE
MYTHS OF HEAVEN
God has a tree of flowering souls in Paradise.
Ha-Nefesh ha-Hakhamah
Moshe ben Shem Tov de Leon
191. ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD
When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he begat Methuselah. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years; and he begat sons and daughters. All the days of Enoch came to three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God took him.
This brief biblical passage is the basis of the enormous Enoch tradition, or else it is the summary of a prebiblical tradition concerning Enoch. Because of the verse Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God took him (Gen. 5:24), the tradition grew that Enoch had not died, but had been transported into heaven in a chariot, where he was transformed into the angel Metatron. The primary texts about Enoch are 1 Enoch and 2 Enoch and the Hekhalot text that is often called 3 Enoch in the Pseudepigrapha. It seems significant that Enoch is said to have lived 365 years. This seems to associate him with the yearly cycle of the sun, perhaps indicating that the myth of Enoch includes some remnants of sun worship that have survived in Judaism. Likewise, Enoch’s metamorphosis into the fiery angel Metatron seems to affirm this link to the sun. See “The Metamorphosis and Enthronement of Enoch,” p. 156.
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