Tree of Souls

by Howard Schwartz

  Yet some say that that it was for Israel’s good that God destroyed the Temple and drove the Jews into exile, for God will surely have mercy forever more and will rebuild the Temple with greater strength. Thus the exile is only an illusion, for God, to whom all mysteries are revealed, knows it is good for Israel. Everything that has happened during the long years of exile was in preparation for the redemption, and at the time of the liberation this will all be revealed.

  In God’s scheme of things, everything has a purpose, even the many exiles to which the Jewish people have been subject. Here two important Hasidic rabbis, Elimelekh of Lizhensk and Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, propose that the purpose of the exile was to prepare the people for redemption, and that God’s plan would eventually be revealed. This myth acknowledges the confusion that often attended the setbacks and tragedies experienced by the chosen people, which were a great test of their faith. These two rabbis remind the people that God’s true intentions are hard to discern, and that they must retain their faith through difficult trials, because these are merely preparation for the rewards to come in the messianic era.

  Note the primary role of the myth of the Ari of the Shattering of the Vessels and the Gathering of the Sparks in this myth. The Ari’s myth turns the negative aspects of exile into positive one, making it possible for the Jewish people to travel far and wide gathering the holy sparks that were scattered everywhere. See “The Shattering of the Vessels and the Gathering of the Sparks,” p. 122.

  Sources:

  No’am Elimelekh, Likutei Shoshanah 101; Kedushat Levi ha-Shalem, Lamentations, pp. 142-143.

  601. THE SECRET OF THE EGYPTIAN EXILE

  The Egyptian exile contains a great secret: God chose the seed of Abraham and placed them in exile in order to make it possible for them to receive the Torah. Had God increased them and made them prosperous without exile, and had they taken possession of the land without receiving the Torah, how could He have compelled them to go the desert to receive it? Thus the purpose of the Egyptian exile was to enable Israel to receive the Torah, and it is the cause of the great reward God has bestowed upon His people.

  This myth is an attempt to justify the difficult trials of the people of Israel during their Egyptian bondage. Here the years of slavery are viewed as a preparation for the receiving of the Torah, which, in Gikatilla’s view, could not have taken place without the suffering that preceded it. Since the Torah was the greatest gift that God gave to the Jewish people, the years of Egyptian bondage must be viewed as a necessary step in order to be worth of receiving it.

  Sources:

  Tzofnat Pa’ane’ah; Perush ha-Haggadah p. 3; Em ha-Banim S’mehah.

  Studies:

  Gates of Light/Sha’are Orah by Joseph Gikatilla.

  602. THE TEN LOST TRIBES

  The Ten Lost Tribes were carried away as prisoners out of their own land, and they were sent into exile on the other side of the river Sambatyon, which can only be crossed on the Sabbath. But to cross it on that day would break the Sabbath, something the tribes would never do. There they are hidden from all other peoples. Some say they are covered by a cloud, which keeps them hidden, while others say it is the river itself that keeps them isolated, as well as the mountains of darkness. Thus they have been separated from their fellow Jews for centuries, without any communication between them.

  How did the Ten Lost Tribes reach the other side of the Sambatyon? It is said that when B’nei Moshe, the Sons of Moses, were exiled to Babylon, they were told to play their harps for their conquerors. They refused, and a cloud settled about them, raised them with their families and all their belongings, and carried them off, setting them down during the night. In the morning they discovered that impassable river that surrounded them.

  Now the Jews who lived on the other side of the river Sambatyon were exceptional in every way. All of them observed the Law with joy, and the level of wisdom of the average man was equal to that of the wisest sages among the Jews elsewhere. When the tribe of Issachar is hard pressed, for example, they ask counsel from heaven and this is how they are answered: The Prince of Issachar envelops himself in his prayer shawl and prays in a corner of the synagogue. The answer comes by fire from heaven descending upon the Prince of Issachar. This is seen by everyone, but the answer is heard by him alone.

  As for the sages among the Jews of the Ten Lost Tribes, they were masters of kabbalah, familiar with the most obscure mysteries of the Torah, and there were ten who knew the pronounciation of God’s secret Name, YHVH, the Tetragrammaton, while among the rest of the Jews there was never more than one such sage in each generation.

  Some say that the exiles were divided into three. One-third was banished to the other side of the Sambatyon, one third was banished to the region further beyond the Sambatyon, and one-third was banished to Daphne near Riblah, where it was swallowed up.

  When the time of redemption has arrived, the Messiah will seek out the lost tribes who were banished to the other side of the Sambatyon, and tell them to go forth. Some say that at that time the wild waters of the River Sambatyon will subside, and a pathway of sand will lie before them, as it did for the Israelites who crossed the Red Sea. Then the people will be able to cross over, and the Messiah will lead them to the Holy Land.

  As for those swallowed up in Riblah, God will make underground passageways for them, and they will make their way underground through them, until they arrive at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

  Then God Himself will stand upon the mount, as it is said, On that day, He will set His feet on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4). At that time God will see that the mount is split open, and the exiles will come out of it to be reunited with their long lost brethren, and to celebrate the arrival of the End of Days.

  Nor will these three companies of exiles come alone. Wherever Jews are to be found, they will be gathered up and come to the holy city of Jerusalem. God will lower the mountains and make them into roads for them. So, too, will God raise up every deep place for them and make all the land level, so that their journey can be as easy as possible.

  When all the exiles have arrived and been gathered together, God will call upon heaven and earth to rejoice with them, and the whole world will join in the celebration.

  There are dozens of legends about the fate of the Ten Lost Tribes, and they are identified with a great many communities, including the American Indians (partly because the Lost Tribes were sometimes described as red in the legends), the Japanese, and other unlikely peoples. Ethiopian Jews identify themselves as members of the lost tribe of Dan. Among those travelers who claimed to have discovered the Ten Lost Tribes is Eldad ha-Dani, who claimed to belong to the tribe of Dan, and asserted that he had found four of the lost tribes. According to him, the members of these tribes spoke only Hebrew. So too was their Talmud written in Hebrew, instead of Aramaic. Nor, because of their isolation, were any of these tribes able to communicate with the others.

  The myth of the Ten Lost Tribes is vividly portrayed in an elaborate tale of the rescue of a Jewish community by an emissary from the Ten Lost Tribes on the other side of the river Sambatyon. The tale exists in many variants, ranging from a page or two to novella length. The longest and most complete version is that published in Yiddish by Yitzhak Rivkind. Elements of several variants have been combined here. The hero in this tale is usually identified as Rabbi Meir Ba’al ha-Nes, although this attribution is purely legendary. The tale is closely associated with the Akdamut Millin, an Aramaic poem composed by Rabbi Meir ben Yitzhak Nehorai, which is recited in the synagogue on Shavuot. The origin of the poem is connected to the legend recounted in this tale. The Black Monk is a legendary figure who combines all of the elements of the anti-Semitic hostility that so plagued the Jews of Eastern Europe. His defeat at the hands of the old man from the other side of the river Sambatyon is similar to the tales told about Rabbi Adam, Rabbi Judah Loew, and the Ba’al Shem Tov, among others, who vanquished dangerous enemies of the Jews using supernatural powers based
on kabbalistic incantations and holy names; i.e., powers deriving from God. The fact that the Jews in this tale had to turn to their brethren on the other side of the river Sambatyon indicates the desperation felt by Eastern European Jews in the face of the persecution they suffered, and their inability to find any other solution to the problem. At the same time, the tale is a reaffirmation of faith in God, and it is this aspect of it that is recalled in conjunction with the song of Akdamut. In fact, this story is generally known as Ma’aseh Akdamut, the tale of Akdamut. This story exists in many variants. See “The Black Monk and the Master of the Name” in Miriam’s Tambourine, pp. 335-348.

  An unusual myth about the Ten Lost Tribes, likely of Christian origin, concerns Alexander’s gate. Alexander the Great is said to have confined the lost tribes within a range of mountains by building an enormous gate. In some versions all of the Ten Lost Tribes are to be found there, while in others only the tribe of Issachar dwells beyond the mountains. The gate was said to be made of metal and was impenetrable, but Alexander made it appear even more invulnerable by using certain invisible devices for defending it. Brambles were planted and were so well watered that they overgrew the mountain. In addition, according to this myth, Alexander had men of iron constructed who wielded hammers and axes without interruption, making the wall resound under their blows, so that the people living enclosed within the mountains might believe that the work of building and fortifying was ever in progress, and that it would be utterly futile for them to attempt to burst forth. Alexander also mounted upon the rampart a stone eagle which, whenever it was approached, uttered a screech that could be heard an eight days’ journey in every direction, and whenever the people heard it, they prayed to God to protect them from the impending menace. Finally, Alexander erected trumpets which resounded with the wind, giving the impression that his armies were guarding the exits from the Caucasus in full force.

  For a further discussion of the Ten Lost Tribes, see the Introduction, p. lx. See “The River Sambatyon,” following.

  Sources:

  B. Sanhedrin 10:6; Genesis Rabbah 73:6;Pesikta Rabbati 31:10; Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 11:133; Genesis Rabbah 73:6; Pesikta Rabbati 31:10; 4 Ezra 13:24-45; Sefer ha-Zikhronot 61; Eldad ha-Dani; Haggadot Ketu’ot; Gelilot Eretz Yisrael; Hadre Teiman, collected by Nissim Binyamin Gamlieli from Shlomo Ben Ya’akov of Yemen; IFA 310, 462, 11774; Paris Hebrew manuscript 157 number 7, translated from the Yiddish by Yisrael Cohen in 1630. Published by Eli Yassif in Bikoret u-farshanut, volume 910, 1976. The Yiddish original was published in Fyorda in 1694 and reprinted by Yitzhak Rivkind in Yivo Filologische Schriften 3 (Vilna: 1929).

  Studies:

  The Lost Ten Tribes in Medieval Jewish Literature by Joshua Trachtenberg.

  Lost Tribes and Promised Lands by Ronald Sanders.

  Alexander’s Gate, Gog and Magog and the Enclosed Nations by A.R. Anderson.

  603. THE RIVER SAMBATYON

  Ever since they went into exile beyond the river Sambatyon, the Ten Lost Tribes have been prevented from returning to their brothers in the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. It is the river itself that stops them. For six days its current is so strong that it throws up rocks as high as a house, so that it sometimes gives the appearance of being a mountain in motion. But on Friday at sunset a cloud envelops the river, so that no man can cross it, and at the same time the waters come completely to a halt. Then on the Sabbath the waters subside and disappear, and it resembles a lake of snow-white sand, and at the close of the Sabbath it resumes its torrent of rushing water, stones, and sand. The Sabbath is the only day its wild current stops flowing.

  Where did the river Sambatyon come from? Some say it flowed from Paradise. Others insist that Sambatyon is another name for the Euphrates. On one side of the river there are the rich fields and forests of the land that was once Assyria, and on the other side dwell the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, who were sent into exile by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser in 722 BCE. Most accounts concur that the river came into being at the time of this exile, but the reason for its creation has long been a matter of debate.

  There are those who insist that the river was formed to remind the lost tribes of the unchanging nature of the eternal laws, and to assure them that they had not been forgotten in their exile. Then there are those who have concluded that the river was created to keep them in exile, since the Sabbath is also their day of rest and they cannot cross on that day any more than they could on any other day of the week.

  And when will the waters stop running? Not until the days of the Messiah will the people be permitted to cross.

  The legend of the river Sambatyon is first noted by Josephus (Wars, 7:5:1, although he reverses it, describing the river as running only on the Sabbath). All other versions of the legend describe it as running six days a week and resting on the Sabbath. This is how the story goes in the Talmud (B. San. 65b) and in the Midrash (Gen. Rab. 11:5 and 73:6). Just as the children of Israel must rest on the Sabbath, so must the river. In this way the legend of the river Sambatyon serves to prove the holiness of the Sabbath and provides an explanation for the Ten Lost Tribes remaining in exile. See “The Ten Lost Tribes,” p. 473.

  Sources:

  B. Sanhedrin 65b; Genesis Rabbah 11:5, 73:6; Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Ki Tissa 33; Pesikta Rabbati 23:8, 31:10; Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 11:133; Genesis Rabbah 73:6; Sefer ha-Zikhronot 61; IFA 943, 2208, 13947.

  604. THE CITY OF LUZ

  The natives of the city of Luz are spared the dangers that confront all other human beings. The histories of the city, reaching back for centuries, are filled with every detail of learning and life. Yet these same histories, though complete, do not record a single war, a single flood or fire, nor the death of a single person. For so safe are the citizens while they live inside the city, even the Angel of Death can do them no harm.

  Some say Luz is so safe because it was built on the spot where Jacob had the dream of the ladder reaching from earth into heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it. Others say that the Holy One set aside Luz after the Fall of Adam and Eve, to preserve one boundary in this world that the Angel of Death could not cross. In any case, not even the armies of Nebuchadnezzar could disturb the city. Nor do the people suffer from internal strife. For all who are born inside the city have their names inscribed in the Book of Life.

  The precious dye known as tekhelet was made in this city. The Torah commands that this dye be used in dyeing a thread of the fringes of the tallit (prayer shawl). But no one knew how the dye was made, or whether it was derived from a snail or shellfish. This dye was said to be available in the city of Luz, but no one knew how to get there. King David is said to make his home there, thereby avoiding death for all time. That is why Jews sing a famous song with words that mean “King David is alive” (David melekh Yisrael hai ve-kayyam). After learning that Jews sang such a song about King David, the Turkish sultan accused them of obeying King David instead of him. He demanded a gift from King David, one that only King David could give him. Messengers were sent on a quest to the city of Luz. They reached it through one of the caves that lead directly to the Holy Land, discovered the secret entrance, and found King David in the city, who rewarded them with an apple from the Tree of Life. This apple later saved the sultan’s daughter from a sleeping sickness, and the Jews of the community were suitably rewarded.

  The walls that surrounded the city of Luz had no apparent entrance, since the city would otherwise have been deluged by those seeking eternal life. But there was an almond (luz) tree that stood before the gates, from which the city is said to have taken its name, with a hollow trunk, which led to a secret cave that passed beneath the walls and emerged inside the city. It was this exit that the inhabitants of Luz had to take if they chose to depart from the city.

  Yet despite their safety and the great blessing of immortality, there was one mystery that absorbed the wise men at night, and one source of sadness that caused the families to suffer from time to time.
For in the course of a life it always happened that very old people would take leave of their families and walk off alone, to make their way into the world outside the walls of the city.

  Why would anyone, young or old, choose to abandon such a city? And why did these wanderers never come back? Some are believed to have grown tired of living, others to have been called by an angel to another place. But when they passed through the hollow trunk and reentered the mortal world, they are said to have found the Angel of Death waiting there to take their lives and bury them in the fields beyond the walls.

  The earliest reference to the city of Luz appears in Genesis 28:19: And he called the name of that place Beth El, but the name of the city was Luz at first. Thus Luz is identified with the place where Jacob had his famous dream of the ladder with angels ascending and descending. What was so special about this place? The myth grew up that it was the location of a city of immortals, and all who entered there were spared the Angel of Death.

  The commandment for the use of the blue dye (tekhelet) derives from Numbers 15:38.

  This legend of a city of immortals is unique in Jewish literature, although the notion of a boundary that the Angel of Death cannot cross appears in the Zohar (4:151a), referring to the Land of Israel as a whole rather than to the city of Luz: “It is the Destroying Angel who brings death to all people, except those who die in the Holy Land, to whom death comes by the Angel of Mercy, who holds sway there.” The various strata of legend concerning the city of Luz can all be found in this tale, which offers an opportunity to study the legendary evolution of a text. It is possible to observe the expansion of the myth of Luz in the Talmud, B. Sota 46b, and further embellishment is found in Genesis Rabbah 69:8. In such a case, each given detail becomes exceptionally significant. Since the literal meaning of luz is an almond tree, the motif of the tree is drawn upon, and it is said to have been placed at the entrance of the city. Then the development is taken a step further, embellishing the role of the tree: “This tree was hollow, and through it one entered the cave and through the cave the city” (Genesis Rabbah 69:8).