 Chapter 5 Abraham, Part 12 of the Legends of the Jews, Volume 1. And while they were walking along, Isaac spake unto his father, Behold the fire in the wood, but where, then, is the lamb for a burnt offering before the Lord? And Abraham answered Isaac, saying, The Lord hath chosen thee, my son, for a perfect burnt offering instead of the lamb. And Isaac said unto his father, I will do all that the Lord hath spoken to thee with joy and cheerfulness of heart. And Abraham again said unto Isaac his son, Is there in thy heart any thought or counsel concerning this which is not proper? Tell me, my son, I pray thee, O my son, conceal it not from me. And Isaac answered, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is nothing in my heart to cause me to deviate either to the right or the left from the word that he hath spoken unto thee. Neither limb nor muscle hath moved or stirred on account of this, nor is there in my heart any thought of evil concerning this. But I am joyful and cheerful of heart in this matter, and I say, Blessed is the Lord who hath this day chosen me to be a burnt offering before him. Abraham greatly rejoiced at the words of Isaac, and they went on and came together to that place that the Lord hath spoken of. And Abraham approached to build the altar in that place, and Abraham did build, while Isaac handed him stones and mortar, until they finished erecting the altar. And Abraham took the wood and arranged it upon the altar, and he bound Isaac to place him upon the wood, which was upon the altar, to slay him for a burnt offering before the Lord. Isaac spake hereupon, Father, make haste, bear thine arm, and bind my hands and feet securely, for I am a young man, but thirty-seven years of age, and thou art an old man. When I behold a slaughtering knife in thy hand, I may per chance begin to tremble at the sight and push against thee, for the desire unto life is bold. Although I may do myself an injury, and make myself unfit to be sacrificed. I adjure thee, therefore, my Father, make haste, execute the will of thy creator, delay not. Turn up thy garment, gird thy loins, and after that thou hast slaughtered me, burn me unto fine ashes. Then gather the ashes, and bring them to Sarah, my mother, and place them in a casket in her chamber. At all hours, whenever she enters her chamber, she will remember her son Isaac and weep for him. And again Isaac spoke, as soon as thou hast slaughtered me, and hast separated thyself from me, and returned us to Sarah, my mother, and she askedeth thee, where is my son Isaac? What wilt thou to answer her, and what will you two do in your old age? Abraham answered, and said, We know we can survive thee by a few days only. He who was our comfort before thou was born will comfort us now and henceforth. After he had laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac on the altar upon the wood, Abraham braced his arms, rolled up his garments, and leaned his knees upon Isaac with all his strength. And God, sitting upon his throne, high and exalted, saw how the hearts of the two were the same, and tears were rolling down from the eyes of Abraham upon Isaac, and from Isaac down upon the wood, so that it was submerged in tears. When Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son, God spoke to the angels. Do you see how Abraham, my friend, proclaims the unity of my name in the world? Had I hearkened unto you at the time of my creation of the world, when you spake, what is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Who would there have been to make known the unity of my name in this world? The angels then broke into loud weeping, and they exclaimed, The highways sly waste, the way-faring man seethis, the way-faring man seeseth, he hath broken the covenant. Where is the reward of Abraham? He who took the wayfarers into his house, gave them food and drink, and went with them to bring them on the way. The covenant is broken, whereof thou didst speak to him, saying, For an Isaac shall thy seed be called, and saying, My covenant will I establish with Isaac, for the slaughtering knife is set upon his throat. The tears of the angels fell upon the knife, so that it could not cut Isaac's throat. But from terror his soul escaped from him. Then God spoke to the archangel Michael, and said, Why standest thou here? Let him not be slaughtered. Without delay Michael, anguishing his voice, cried out, Abraham, Abraham, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. Abraham made the answer, and he said, God did command me to slaughter Isaac, and thou dost command me not to slaughter him. The words of the teacher and the words of the disciple, unto whose words doth one hearken. Then Abraham heard it all, By myself have I sworn, sayeth the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. At once Abraham left off from Isaac, who returned to life, revived by the heavenly voice admonishing Abraham not to slaughter his son. Abraham loosed his bonds, and Isaac stood upon his feet, and spoke the benediction, Blessed art thou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead. Then spake Abraham to God. Shall I go hence without having offered up a sacrifice? Where unto God replied, and said, Lift up thine eyes, and behold the sacrifice behind thee. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and behold, behind him, a ram caught in the thicket, which God had created in the twilight of Sabbath Eve in the week of creation, and prepared since then as a burnt offering instead of Isaac. And the ram had been running toward Abraham, when Satan caught hold of him and entangled his horns in the thicket, that he might not advance to Abraham. And Abraham, seeing this, fetched him from the thicket, and brought him upon the altar as an offering in the place of his son Isaac. And Abraham sprinkled the blood of the ram upon the altar, and he exclaimed and said, This is instead of my son, and may this be considered as the blood of my son before the Lord. And whatsoever Abraham did by the altar, he exclaimed and said, This is instead of my son, and may it be considered before the Lord in place of my son. And God accepted the sacrifice of the ram, and it was accounted as though it had been Isaac. As the creation of this ram had been extraordinary, so also was the youths to which all parts of his carcass were put. Not one thing went to waste. The ashes of the parts burnt upon the altar formed the foundation of the inner altar, whereupon the expiatory sacrifice was brought once a year, on the day of atonement, the day on which the offering of Isaac took place. Of the sinews of the ram, David made ten strings for his harp upon which he played. The skin served Elijah for his girdle, and of his two horns one was blown at the end of the revelation on Mount Sinai, and the other will be used to proclaim the end of exile, when the great horn shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they there were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. When God commanded the Father to desist from sacrificing Isaac, Abraham said, One man tempts another, because he knoweth not what is in the heart of his neighbor, but thou surely didst know that I was ready to sacrifice my son. God, it was manifest to me, and I foreknew it, that thou wouldst withhold not even thy soul from me. Abraham, and why, then, didst thou afflict me thus? God, it was my wish that the world should become acquainted with thee, and should know that it is not without good reason that I have chosen thee from all the nations. Now it hath been witnessed, and to mend, that thou fierest God. Hereupon God opened the heavens, and Abraham heard the words, By myself I swear. Abraham, thou swearst, and also I swear, I will not leave this altar until I have said what I have to say. God, speak whatsoever thou hast to speak. Abraham, didst thou not promise me, thou wouldst let one come forth out of my own bowels, whose seed should fill the whole world? God, yes. Abraham, whom didst thou mean? God, Isaac. Abraham, didst thou not promise me to make my seed as numerous as the sand of the seashore? God, yes. Abraham, through which one of my children? God, through Isaac. Abraham, I might have reproached thee and said, O Lord of the world, yesterday thou didst tell me, In Isaac's shall thy seed be called, And now thou sayest, Take thy son, thine only son, even Isaac, And offer him for a burnt offering. But I refrained myself, and I said nothing. Thus mayest thou, when the children of Isaac commit trespasses, and because of them fall upon evil times, be mindful of the offering of their father, Isaac, and forgive their sins and deliver them from their suffering. God, thou hast said what thou hast to say, and I will now say what I have to say. Thy children will sin before me in time to come, and I will sit in judgment upon them on the New Year's Day. If they desire that I should grant them pardon, they shall blow the ram's horn on that day, and I, mindful of the ram that was substituted for Isaac as a sacrifice, will forgive them for their sins. Furthermore, the Lord revealed unto Abraham that the temple, to be erected on the spot of Isaac's offering, would be destroyed, and as the ram substituted for Isaac extricated himself from the tree, but to be caught in another, so his children would pass from kingdom to kingdom. Delivered from Babylonia, they would be subjugated by Medea, Delivered from Medea they would be enslaved by Greece, escaped from Greece they would serve Rome, yet in the end they would be redeemed in a final redemption, at the sound of the ram's horn, when the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the South. The place on which Abraham had erected the altar was the same whereon Adam had brought the first sacrifice, and Cain and Abel had offered their gifts to God, the same whereon Noah raised an altar to God after he left the ark, and Abraham, who knew that it was the place appointed for the temple, called it Yerah, for it would be the abiding place of the fear and the service of God. But as Shem had given it the name Shalem, place of peace, and God would not give offense to either Abraham or Shem, he united the two names and called the city by the name Jerusalem. After the sacrifice on Mount Moriah, Abraham returned to Bersheba, the scene of so many of his joys. Isaac was carried to paradise by angels, and there he sojourned for three years. Thus Abraham returned home alone, and when Sarah beheld him she exclaimed, Satan spoke truth when he said that Isaac was sacrificed, and so grieved was her soul that it fled from her body. Chapter 5 Part 13 of The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Scott Sherris, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1 by Rabbi Louis Ginsburg. The Death and Burial of Sarah. While Abraham was engaged in the sacrifice, Satan went to Sarah and appeared to her in the figure of an old man, very humble and meek, and said to her, Dost thou not know all that Abraham has done unto thine own son this day? He took Isaac and built an altar, slaughtered him, and brought him up as a sacrifice. Isaac cried and wept before his father, but he looked not at him, neither did he have compassion upon him. After saying these words to Sarah, Satan went away from her, and she thought him to be an old man from amongst the sons of men who had been with her son. Sarah lifted up her voice and cried bitterly, saying, O my son Isaac, my son, O that I had this day died instead of thee. It grieves me for thee. After that I have reared thee and have brought thee up, my joy is turned into mourning over thee. In my longing for a child I cried and prayed till I bore thee at ninety. Now hast thou served this day for the knife and the fire, but I consoled myself, it being the word of God, and now didst perform the command of thy God, for who can transgress the word of our God, and in whose hands is the soul of every living creature. Thou art just, O Lord, our God, for all thy works are good and righteous, for I also rejoice with the word which thou didst command, and while mine I weep it bitterly, my heart rejoiceth. And Sarah laid her head upon the bosom of one of her handmaids, and she became a stillest stone. She rose up afterward and went about making inquiries concerning her son, till she came to Hebron, and no one could tell her what had happened to her son. Our servants went to seek him in the house of Shem and Eber, and they could not find him, and they sought throughout the land, and he was not there. And behold, Satan came to Sarah in the shape of an old man, and said unto her, I spoke falsely unto thee, for Abraham did not kill his son, and he is not dead. And when she heard the word, her joy was so exceedingly violent that her soul went out through joy. When Abraham with Isaac returned to Bersheba, they sought for Sarah and could not find her, and when they made inquiries concerning her, they were told that she had gone as far as Hebron to seek them. Abraham and Isaac went to her to Hebron, and when they found that she was dead, they cried bitterly over her, and Isaac said, O my mother, my mother, how hast thou left me, and wither hast thou gone? O wither hast thou gone, and how hast thou left me? When Abraham and all his servants wept and mourned over her a great and heavy mourning, even that Abraham did not pray, but spent his time in mourning and weeping over Sarah. And indeed he had great reason to mourn his loss, for even in her old age Sarah had retained the beauty of her youth and the innocence of her childhood. The death of Sarah was a loss not only for Abraham and his family, but for the whole country. So long as she was alive all went well in the land. After her death confusion ensued, the weeping, lamenting, and wailing over her going hence was universal, and Abraham, instead of receiving consolation, had to offer consolation to others. He spoke to the mourning people, and said, My children, take not the going hence of Sarah too much to heart. There is one event unto all, to the pious and the impious alike. I pray you now, give me a burying place with you, not as a gift, but for money. In these last few words Abraham's unassuming modesty was expressed. God had promised him the whole land, yet when he came to bury his dead he had to pay for the grave, and it did not enter his heart to cast aspersions upon the ways of God. In all humility he spake to the people of Hebron saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. Nor spake God to him, and said, Thou didst bear thyself modestly, as thou livest, I will appoint thee, Lord, and prince over them. To the people themselves he appeared an angel, and they answered his words, saying, Thou art a prince of God among us, in the choice of our suppokers, bury thy dead, among the rich if thou wilt, or among the poor if thou wilt. Abraham first of all gave thanks to God for the friendly feeling shown to him by the children of Heth, and then he continued his negotiations for the Cave of Machpalach. He had long known the peculiar value of this spot. Adam had chosen it as a burial place for himself. He had feared his body might be used for idolatrous purposes after his death. He therefore designated the Cave of Machpalach as the place of his burial, and in the deaths his corpse was laid, so that none might find it. When he entered Eve there, he wanted to dig deeper, because he sent the sweet fragrance of Paradise near the entrance to which it lay, but a heavenly voice called to him, enough. Adam himself was buried there by Seth, and until the time of Abraham the place was guarded by angels who kept a fire burning near it perpetually, so that none dared approach it and bury his dead therein. Now it happened on the day when Abraham received the angels in his house, and he wanted to slaughter an ox for their entertainment that the ox ran away, and in his pursuit of him Abraham entered the Cave of Machpalach. There he saw Adam and Eve stretched out upon couches, candles burning at the head of their resting places, while a sweet scent pervaded the Cave. Therefore Abraham wished to acquire the Cave of Machpalach from the children of Heth, the inhabitants of the city of Jebus. They said to him, We know yet in time to come, God will give these lands unto thy seed, and now do thou swear covenant with us that Israel shall not rest the city of Jebus from its inhabitants without their consent. Abraham agreed to the condition, and he acquired the field from Ephron in whose possession it lay. This happened the very day on which Ephron had been made the chief of the children of Heth, and he had been raised to the position so that Abraham might not have to have dealings with a man of low rank. It was of advantage to Abraham too, for Ephron at first refused to sell his field, and only the threat of the children of Heth to depose him from his office, unless he fulfilled the desire of Abraham, could induce him to change his disposition. Dissembling deceitfully, Ephron then offered to give Abraham the field without compensation, but when Abraham insisted on paying for it, Ephron said, My Lord, hearken unto me, a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee, showing only too well that the money was of the greatest consequence to him. Abraham understood his words, and when he came to pay for the field, he weighed out the sum agreed upon between them in the best of current coin. A deed signed by four witnesses was drawn up, and the field of Ephron which was in Machpala, the field and the cave which was therein, were made sure unto Abraham and his descendants for all times. The burial of Sara then took place amid great magnificence and the sympathy of all. Shem and his son Abair, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, Anair, Eshkol, and Mamre, as well as the great king of the land, followed her beer. A seven days morning was kept for her, and all the inhabitants of the land came to condole with Abraham and Isaac. When Abraham entered the cave to place the body of Sara within, Adam and Eve refused to remain there, because they said, as it is, we are ashamed in the presence of God on account of the sin we committed, and now we shall be even more ashamed on account of your good deeds. Abraham soothed Adam. He promised to pray to God for him that the needs for shame be removed from him. Adam resumed his place, and Abraham entombed Sara, and at the same time he carried Eve, resisting, back to her place. One year after the death of Sara, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, died too, at the age of 193 years. His successor upon the throne was his 12-year-old son, Ben-Melech, who took the name of his father after his accession. Abraham did not fail to pay a visit of condolence at the court of Abimelech. Lot also died about this time, at the age of 142. His sons Moab and Amon both married Canaanite-ish wives. Moab begot a son, and Amon had six sons, and the descendants of both were numerous exceedingly. Abraham suffered a severe loss at the same time in the death of his brother Nahor, whose days ended at Huron, when he had reached the age of 172 years. The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1 by Rabbi Lewis Ginsburg, Eleazar's Mission. The death of Sara dealt Abraham a blow from which he did not recover. So long as she was alive, he felt himself young and vigorous, but after she had passed away, old age suddenly overtook him. It was he himself who made the plea that age be betrayed by suitable signs and tokens. Before the time of Abraham, an old man was not distinguishable externally from a young man, and as Isaac was the image of his father, it happened frequently that father and son were mistaken for each other, and a request meant for the one was preferred to the other. Abraham prayed therefore that old age might have marks to distinguish it from youth, and God granted his petition, and since the time of Abraham, the appearance of men changes in old age. This is one of the seven great wonders that have occurred in the course of history. The blessing of God did not forsake Abraham in old age either. That it might not be said it had been granted to him only for the sake of Sara, God prospered him after her death too. Hagar bore him a daughter, and Ishmael repented of his evil ways and subordinated himself to Isaac, and as Abraham enjoyed undisturbed happiness in his family, so also outside in the world, the kings of the east and the west eagerly besieged the door of his house in order to derive benefit from his wisdom. From his neck a precious stone was suspended which possessed the power of healing the sick who looked upon it. On the death of Abraham, God attached it to the wheel of the Son. The greatest blessing enjoyed by him, and by none beside except his son Isaac and Jacob the son of Isaac, was that the evil inclination had no power over him, so that in this life he had a foretaste of the future world. But all these divine blessings showered upon Abraham were not undeserved. He was clean of hand and pure of heart, one that did not lift up his soul unto vanity. He fulfilled all the commands that were revealed later, even the rabbinical injunctions, as for instance the one relating to the limits of a Sabbath day's journey, wherefore his reward was that God disclosed to him the new teachings which he expounded daily in the heavenly academy. But one thing lacked to complete the happiness of Abraham, the marriage of Isaac. He therefore called his old servant, Eleazar, unto himself. Eleazar resembled his master not only externally in his appearance, but also spiritually. Like Abraham, he possessed full power over the evil inclination, and like the master, the servant was an adept in the law. Abraham spake the following words to Eleazar, I am stricken in age and I know not the day of my death. Therefore prepare thyself and go into my country and to my kindred and fetch hither a wife for my son. Thus he spake by reason of the resolution he had taken immediately after the sacrifice of Isaac on Moriah, for he had there said within himself that if the sacrifice had been executed, Isaac would have gone hence childless. He was even ready to choose a wife for his son from among the daughters of his three friends, Annair, Eshkol, and Mamre, because he knew them to be pious, and he did not attach much importance to aristocratic stock. Then spake God to him and said, concern thyself not about a wife for Isaac. One has already been provided for him, and it was made known to Abraham that Milka, the wife of his brother Nahor, childless until the birth of Isaac, had then been remembered by God and made fruitful. She bore Bethuel, and he in turn at the time of Isaac's sacrifice, begot the daughter destined to be the wife of Isaac. Mindful of the proverb, even if the wheat of thine own place be darnel, use it for seed, Abraham determined to take a wife for Isaac from his own family. He argued that as any wife he chose would have to become a proselyte, it would be best to use his own stock, which had the first claim upon him. Eliezer now said to his master, per adventure no woman will be willing to follow me unto this land. May I then marry my own daughter to Isaac? No replied Abraham. Thou art of the accursed race, and my son is of the blessed race, and curse and blessing cannot be united. But beware thou that thou bring not my son again into the land from whence I came. For thou broughtest him thither again, it were as though he thou tookest him to hell. God who sets the heavens in motion, he will set this matter right too, and he that took me from my father's house, and that spake unto me, and that swore unto me in Huron, and that the covenant of the pieces, that he would give this land unto my seed, he shall send his excellent angel before thee, and thou shall take a wife for my son from thence. Eliezer then swore to his master concerning the matter, and Abraham made him take the oath by the sign of the covenant. The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1, by Rabbi Lewis Ginsburg, The Wooing of Rebecca. Attended by ten men, mounted upon ten camels, laden with jewels and trinkets, Eliezer betook himself to Huron under the convoy of two angels, the one appointed to keep guard over Eliezer, the other over Rebecca. The journey to Huron took but a few hours, at evening of the same day he reached there, because the earth hastened to meet him in a wonderful way. He made a halt at the well of water, and he prayed to God to permit him to distinguish the wife appointed for Isaac among the damsels that came to draw water, by this token that she alone and not the others would give him drink. Strictly speaking, this wish of his was unseemly, for suppose a bondwoman had given him water to drink. But God granted his request. All the damsels said they could not give of their water because they had to take it home. Then appeared Rebecca coming to the well, contrary to her want, for she was the daughter of a king, Bethuel, her father, being king of Huron. When Eliezer addressed his request for water to drink, to this young innocent child, not only was she ready to do his bidding, but she rebuked the other maidens on account of their discourtesy to a stranger. Eliezer noticed too how the water rose up to her of its own accord from the bottom of the well, so that she needed not to exert herself to draw it. Having scrutinized her carefully, he felt certain that she was the wife chosen for Isaac. He gave her a nose ring wherein was set a precious stone, half a shekel in weight, foreshadowing the half shekel which her descendants would once bring to the sanctuary year by year. He gave her also two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight in gold, in token of the two tablets of stone and the ten commandments upon them. When Rebekah, bearing the jewels, came to her mother and to her brother Laban, this one hastened to Eliezer in order to slay him and take possession of his goods. Laban soon learned that he would not be able to do much harm to a giant like Eliezer. He met him at the moment when Eliezer seized two camels and bore them across the stream. Besides, on account of Eliezer's close resemblance to Abraham, Laban thought he saw Abraham before him and he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord. It is not becoming that thou should stand without. I have cleansed my house of idols. But when Eliezer arrived at the house of Bethuel, they tried to kill him with cunning. They set poisoned food before him. Luckily he refused to eat before he had discharged himself of his errand. While he was telling his story, it was ordained by God that the dish intended for him should come to stand in front of Bethuel, who ate of it and died. Eliezer showed the document he had in which Abraham deeded all his possessions to Isaac and he made it known to the kindred of Abraham how deeply attached to them his master was, in spite of the long years of separation. Yet he let them know at the same time that Abraham was not dependent wholly upon them. He might seek a wife for his son among the daughters of Ishmael or Lot. At first the kindred of Abraham consented to let Rebekah go with Eliezer. But as Bethuel had died in the meantime, they did not want to give Rebekah in marriage without consulting her. Besides, they deemed it proper that she should remain at home at least during the week of mourning for her father. But Eliezer, seeing the angel wait for him, would brook no delay, and he said, The man who came with me and prospered my way waits for me without. And as Rebekah professed herself ready to go at once with Eliezer, her mother and brother granted her wish and dismissed her with their blessing. But their blessing did not come from the bottom of their hearts. Indeed, as a rule the blessing of the empires is a curse. Wherefore Rebekah remained barren for years. Eliezer's return to Canaan was as wonderful as his going to Heran had been. A seventeen days journey he accomplished in three hours. He left Heran at noon and he arrived at Hebron at three o'clock in the afternoon. The time for the Minah prayer, which had been introduced by Isaac. He was in the posture of praying when Rebekah first laid eyes upon him, wherefore she asked Eliezer what man this was. She saw he was not an ordinary individual. She noticed the unusual beauty of Isaac and also that an angel accompanied him. Thus her question was not dictated by mere curiosity. At this moment she learned through the Holy Spirit that she was destined to be the mother of the godless Esau. Terror seized her at the knowledge and trembling she fell from the camel and inflicted an injury upon herself. After Isaac had heard the wonderful adventures of Eliezer he took Rebekah to the tent of his mother Sarah and she showed herself worthy to be her successor. The cloud appeared again that had been visible over the tent during the life of Sarah and had vanished at her death. The light shone again in the tent of Rebekah that Sarah had kindled at the coming in of the Sabbath and that had burnt miraculously throughout the week. The blessing returned with Rebekah that had hovered over the dough needed by Sarah and the gates of the tent were opened for the needy, wide and spacious as they had been during the lifetime of Sarah. For three years Isaac had mourned for his mother and he could find no consolation in the Academy of Shem and Eber, his abiding place during that period. But Rebekah comforted him after his mother's death for she was the counterpart of Sarah in person and in spirit. As a reward for having executed to his full satisfaction the mission with which he had charged him Abraham set his bondman free. The curse resting upon Eliezer as upon all the descendants of Canaan was transformed into a blessing because he ministered unto Abraham loyally. Greatest reward of all God found him worthy of entering paradise alive, a distinction that fell to the lot of very few. The last years of Abraham. Rebekah first saw Isaac as he was coming from the way of Bear Lachai Roy, the dwelling place of Hagar, wither he had gone after the death of his mother for the purpose of reuniting his father with Hagar or, as she is also called, Kachurah. Hagar bore him six sons who however did scant honor to their father for they were all idolaters. Abraham therefore during his own lifetime sent them away from the presence of Isaac that they might not be singed by Isaac's flame and giving them the instruction to journey eastward as far as possible. There he built a city for them surrounded by an iron wall so high that the sun could not shine into the city. But Abraham provided them with huge gems and pearls, their luster more brilliant than the light of the sun, which will be used in the messianic time when the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed. Also, Abraham taught them the black art wherewith they held sway over demons and spirits. It is from this city in the east that Laban, Balam, and Balam's father, Bayor, derived their sorceries. Effer, one of the grandsons of Abraham and Kachurah, invaded Libya with an armed force and took possession of the country. From this, Effer, the whole land of Africa, has its name. Aram is also a city made habitable by a kinsman of Abraham. In his old age, contracted a new marriage with Pellila, and from this union sprang a son, Zoba, who was the father in turn of three sons. The oldest of these, Aram, was exceedingly rich and powerful, and the old home in Haran, sufficed not for him and his kinsman, the sons of Nahor, the brother of Abraham. Aram and his brethren, and all that belonged to him, therefore, departed from Haran, and they settled in a veil, and they built themselves a city there, which they called Aram Zoba, to perpetuate the name of the father and his firstborn son. Another Aram, Aram Naharaym, on the Euphrates, was built by Aram, son of Camuel, a nephew of Abraham. Its real name was Petor, after the son of Aram, but it is better known as Aram Naharaym. The descendants of Qased, another nephew of Abraham, a son of his brother Nahor, established themselves opposite to Shinar, where they founded the city of Qased, the city whence the Chaldis are called Qasdim. Though Abraham knew full well that Isaac deserved his paternal blessing beyond all his sons, yet he withheld it from him that no hostile feelings be aroused among his descendants. He spake and said, I am but flesh and blood here to-day, tomorrow in the grave. What I was able to do for my children I have done. Henceforth let come what God desires to do in his world. And it happened that immediately after the death of Abraham, God himself appeared unto Isaac and gave him his blessing. Chapter 5, Part 15 of the Legends of the Jews, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1 by Rabbi Louis Ginsburg. A Herald of Death. When the day of the death of Abraham drew near, the Lord said to Michael, Arise and go to Abraham and say to him, Thou shalt depart from life, so that he might set his house in order before he died. And Michael went and came to Abraham and found him sitting before his oxen for plowing. Abraham, seeing Michael but not knowing who he was, saluted him and said to him, Sit down a little while and I will order a beast to be brought and we will go to my house that thou mayest rest with me. For it is toward evening and Arise in the morning and go with or so ever thou wilt. And Abraham called one of his servants and said to him, Go and bring me a beast, that the stranger may sit upon it, for he is wearied with his journey. But Michael said, I abstain from ever sitting upon any four-footed beast. Let us walk, therefore, till we reach the house. On their way to the house, they passed a huge tree and Abraham heard a voice from its branches, singing, Holy art thou, because thou hast kept the purpose for which thou wasst sent. Abraham hid the mystery in his heart, thinking that the stranger did not hear it. Arrived at his house, he ordered the servants to prepare a meal. And while they were busy with their work, he called his son Isaac and said to him, Arise and put water in the vessel, that we may wash the feet of the stranger. And he brought it as he was commanded, and Abraham said, I perceive that in this basin I shall never again wash the feet of any man coming to us as a guest. Hearing this, Isaac began to weep, and Abraham, seeing his son weep, also wept. And Michael, seeing them weep, wept also, and the tears of Michael fell into the water and became precious stones. Before sitting down to the table, Michael arose, went out for a moment, as if to ease nature, and ascended to heaven in the twinkling of an eye, and stood before the Lord and said to him, Lord and Master, let thy power know that I am unable to remind that righteous man of his death, for I have not seen upon the earth a man like him, compassionate, hospitable, righteous, truthful, devout, refraining from every evil deed. Then the Lord said to Michael, go down to my friend Abraham, and whatever he may say to thee, that do thou also, and whatever he may eat, eat thou also with him. And I will cast the thought of the death of Abraham into the heart of Isaac, his son, in a dream, and Isaac will relate the dream, and thou shalt interpret it, and he himself will know his end. And Michael said, Lord, all the heavenly spirits are incorporeal, and neither eat nor drink, and this man has set before me a table with an abundance of all good things earthly and corruptible. Now, Lord, what shall I do? The Lord answered him, go down to him, and take no thought for this, for when thou sitest down with him, I will send upon thee a devouring spirit, and it will consume out of thy hands and through thy mouth all that is on the table. Then Michael went into the house of Abraham, and they ate and drank and were married. And when the supper was ended, Abraham prayed after his custom, and Michael prayed with him, and each lay down to sleep upon his couch in one room. While Isaac went to his chamber, lest he be troublesome to the guest. About the seventh hour of the night, Isaac awoke and came to the door of his father's chamber, crying out and saying, Open Father, that I may touch thee before they take thee away from me. And Abraham wept together with his son, and when Michael saw them weep, he wept likewise, and Sarah hearing the weeping called forth from her bedchamber, saying, My Lord Abraham, why this weeping has the stranger told thee of thy brother's son Lot that he is dead, or has ought be fallen us? Michael answered and said to him, Nay, my sister Sarah, it is not as thou sayest, but thy son Isaac, me thinks, beheld a dream, and came to us weeping, and we, seeing him, were moved in our hearts and wept. Sarah, hearing Michael speak, knew straight way that it was an angel of the Lord, and one of the three angels whom they had entertained in their house once before. And therefore she made a sign to Abraham to come out toward the door to inform him of what she knew. Abraham said, Thou hast perceived well, for I too, when I washed his feet, knew in my heart that they were the feet that I had washed at the oak of Mamre, and that went to save Lot. Abraham, returning to his chamber, made Isaac relate his dream, when Michael interpreted to them, saying, Thou son Isaac has spoken truth, for thou shalt go and be taken up into the heavens, but thy body shall remain on earth until 7000 ages are fulfilled, for then all flesh shall arise. Now therefore Abraham set thy house in order, for thou wasst heard what is decreed concerning thee. Abraham answered, Now I know thou art an angel of the Lord, and wasst sent to take my soul, but I will not go with thee, but do thou whatever thou art commanded. Michael returned to heaven and told God of Abraham's refusal to obey his summons, and he was again commanded to go down and admonish Abraham, not to rebel against God, who had bestowed many blessings upon him, and he reminded him that no one who has come from Adam and Eve can escape death, and that God, in his great kindness toward him, did not permit the sickle of death to meet him, but sent his chief captain, Michael, to him. Wherefore then, he ended, hast thou said to the chief captain, I will not go with thee. When Michael delivered these exhortations to Abraham, he saw that it was futile to oppose the will of God, and he consented to die, but wished to have one desire of his fulfilled while still alive. He said to Michael, I beseech thee, Lord, if I must depart from my body, I desire to be taken up in my body, that I may see the creatures that the Lord has created in heaven and on earth. Michael went up to heaven and spake before the Lord concerning Abraham, and the Lord answered Michael, go and take up Abraham in the body and show him all things, and whatever he shall say to thee, due to him as to my friend. Abraham views earth and heaven The archangel Michael went down and took Abraham upon a chariot of the cherubim, and lifted him up into the air of heaven, and led him upon the cloud, together with 60 angels, and Abraham ascended upon the chariot over all the earth, and saw all things that are below on the earth, both good and bad. Looking down upon the earth, he saw a man committing adultery with a wedded woman, and turning to Michael he said, Send fire from heaven to consume them. Straight way there came down fire and consumed them, for God had commanded Michael to do whatsoever Abraham should ask him to do. He looked again, and he saw thieves digging through a house, and Abraham said, Let wild beasts come out of the desert and tear them in pieces. And immediately wild beasts came out of the desert and devoured them. Again, he looked down, and he saw people preparing to commit murder, and he said, Let the earth open and swallow them. And as he spoke, the earth swallowed them alive. Then God spoke to Michael. Turn away Abraham to his own house, and let him not go round the whole earth, because he has no compassion on sinners. But I have compassion on sinners, that they may turn and live and repent of their sins, and be saved. So Michael turned the chariot and brought Abraham to the place of judgment of all souls. Here he saw two gates, the one broad and the other narrow, the narrow gate, that of the just, which leads to life. They that enter through it go into paradise. The broad gate is that of sinners, which leads to destruction and eternal punishment. Then Abraham wept, saying, Woe is to me, what shall I do? For I am a man big of body, and how shall I be able to enter by the narrow gate? Michael answered and said to Abraham, Fear not, nor grieve, for thou shalt enter by it unhindered, and all they who are like thee. Abraham, perceiving that a soul was a judged to be set in the midst, against Michael the reason for it, and Michael answered. Because the judge found its sin, and its righteousness equal, he neither committed it to judgment nor to be saved. Abraham said to Michael, Let us pray for this soul, and see whether God will hear us. And when they rose up from their prayer, Michael informed Abraham that the soul was saved by the prayer, and was taken by an angel and carried up to paradise. Abraham said to Michael, Let us yet call upon the Lord and supplicate his compassion and entreat his mercy for the souls of the sinners whom I formerly in my anger cursed and destroyed, whom the earth devoured and the wild beasts tore in pieces, and the fire consumed through my words. Now I know that I have sinned before the Lord our God. After the joint prayer of the archangel and Abraham, there came a voice from heaven saying, Abraham, Abraham, I have hearkened to thy voice and thy prayer, and I forgive thee thy sin, and those whom thou thinkest that I destroyed, I have called up and brought them into life by my exceeding kindness, because for a season I have requited them in judgment, and those whom I destroy living upon earth, I will not requite in death. When Michael brought Abraham back to his house, they found Sarah dead. Not seeing what had become of Abraham, she was consumed with grief and gave up her soul. Though Michael had fulfilled Abraham's wish and had shown him all the earth and the judgment and recompense, he still refused to surrender his soul to Michael, and the archangel again ascended to heaven and said unto the Lord, Thus speaks Abraham, I will not go with thee, and I refrain from laying my hands on him, because from the beginning he was thy friend, and he has done all things pleasing in thy sight. There is no man like him on earth, not even Job, the wondrous man. But when the day of the death of Abraham drew nigh, God commanded Michael to adorn death with great beauty, and send him thus to Abraham, that he might see him with his eyes. While sitting under the oak of Mamre, Abraham perceived a flashing of light and a smell of sweet odor, and turning around he saw death coming toward him in great glory and beauty. And death said unto Abraham, Think not, Abraham, that this beauty is mine, or that I come thus to every man. Nay, but if any one is righteous like thee, I thus take a crown and come to him. But if he is a sinner, I come in great corruption, and out of their sins I make a crown for my head. And I shake them with great fear, so that they are dismayed. Abraham said to him, And art thou indeed, he that is called death? He answered and said, I am the bitter name. But Abraham answered, I will not go with thee. And Abraham said to death, Show us thy corruption. And death revealed his corruption, showing two heads. The one had the face of a serpent, the other head was like a sword. All the servants of Abraham, looking at the fierce mane of death, died. But Abraham prayed to the Lord, and he raised them up. As the looks of death were not able to cause Abraham's soul to depart from him, God removed the soul of Abraham as in a dream. And the archangel Michael took it up into heaven. After great praise and glory had been given to the Lord by the angels who brought Abraham's soul, and after Abraham bowed down to worship, then came the voice of God saying thus, Take my friend Abraham into paradise, where are the tabernacles of my righteous ones, and the abodes of my saints, Isaac and Jacob in his bosom, where there is no trouble, no grief, no sighing, but peace and rejoicing, life unending. Abraham's activity did not cease with his death, and as he interceded in this world for the sinners, so will he intercede for them in the world to come. On the day of judgment he will sit at the gate of hell, and he will not suffer those who kept the law of circumcision to enter therein. The patron of Hebron. Once upon a time some Jews lived in Hebron, few in number, but pious and good, and particularly hospitable. When strangers came to the cave of Machpala to pray there, the inhabitants of the place fairly quarreled with each other for the privilege of entertaining the guests, and the one who carried off the victory rejoiced as though he had found great spoil. On the eve of the day of atonement it appeared that, in spite of all their efforts, the dwellers at Hebron could not secure the tenth man needed for public divine service, and they feared they would have none on the holy day. Toward evening when the sun was about to sink, they described an old man with silver white beard, bearing a sack upon his shoulder, his raiment tattered, and his feet badly swollen from much walking. They ran to meet him, took him to one of the houses, gave him food and drink, and after supplying him with new white garments, they all together went to the synagogue for worship. Asked what his name was, the stranger replied, Abraham. At the end of the fast the residents of Hebron cast lots for the privilege of entertaining the guest. Fortune favored the Beatle, who, the envy of the rest, bore his guest away to his house. On the way he suddenly disappeared, and the Beatle could not find him anywhere. In vain all the Jews of the place went on a quest for him. Their sleepless night spent in searching had no result. The stranger could not be found. But no sooner had the Beatle lain down toward morning, weary and anxious to snatch some sleep, than he saw the lost guest before him, his face luminous as lightning, and his garments magnificent and studded with gems radiant as the sun. Before the Beatle, stunned by fright, could open his mouth, the stranger spake and said, I am Abraham the Hebrew, your ancestor, who rests here in the cave of Macpela. When I saw how grieved you were at not having the number of men prescribed for a public service, I came forth to you. Have no fear, rejoice, and be merry of heart. On another occasion Abraham granted his assistance to the people of Hebron. The Lord of the city was a heartless man, who oppressed the Jews sorely. One day he commanded them to pay a large sum of money into his coffers. The whole sum in uniform coins all stamped with the same year. It was but a pretext to kill the Jews. He knew that his demand was impossible of fulfillment. The Jews proclaimed a fast and day of public prayer, on which to supplicate God that he turn aside the sword suspended above them. The night following the Beatle in a dream saw an awe-inspiring old man, who addressed him in the following words. Up, quickly, hasten to the gate of the court, where lies the money you need. I am your father Abraham. I have beheld the affliction wherewith the Gentiles oppress you, but God has heard your groans. In great terror the Beatle rose, but he saw no one, yet he went to the spot designated by the vision, and he found the money and took it to the congregation, telling his dream at the same time. Amazed, they counted the gold, precisely the amount required of them by the Prince, no more and no less. They surrendered the sum to him, and he who had considered compliance with his demand impossible recognized now that God is with the Jews, and thenceforth they found favor in his eyes. Chapter 6, Part 1, The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1 by Rabbi Lewis Ginsburg. The Birth of Esau and Jacob. Isaac was the counterpart of his father in body and soul. He resembled him in every particular, in beauty, wisdom, strength, wealth, and noble deeds. It was therefore as great an honor for Isaac to be called the son of his father, as for Abraham to be called the father of his son. And though Abraham was the progenitor of 30 nations, he is always designated as the father of Isaac. Despite his many excellent qualities, Isaac married late in life. God permitted him to meet the wife suitable to him only after he had successfully disproved the mocking charges of Ishmael, who was in the habit of taunting him with having been circumcised at the early age of eight days, while Ishmael had submitted himself voluntarily to the operation when he was 13 years old. For this reason, God demanded Isaac as a sacrifice when he had attained two full manhood at the age of 37, and Isaac was ready to give up his life. Ishmael's jibes were thus robbed of their sting, and Isaac was permitted to marry. But another delay occurred before his marriage could take place. Directly after the sacrifice on Mount Mariah, his mother died, and he mourned her for three years. Finally, he married Rebekah, who was then a maiden of 14. Rebekah was, quote, a rose between thorns, end quote. Her father was the Aramaian Bethuel, and her brother was Laban, but she did not walk in their ways. Her piety was equal to Isaac's. Nevertheless, their marriage was not entirely happy, for they lived together no less than 20 years without begetting children. Rebekah besought her husband to entreat God for the gift of children, as his father Abraham had done. At first Isaac would not do her bidding. God had promised Abraham a numerous progeny, and he thought their childlessness was probably Rebekah's fault. And it was her duty to supplicate God, and not his. But Rebekah would not desist, and husband and wife repaired to Mount Mariah together to pray to God there. And Isaac said, quote, O Lord God of heaven and earth, whose goodness and mercies fill the earth, thou who ditched, take my father from his father's house, and from his birthplace, and ditched bring him unto this land, and ditched say unto him, to thee and thy seed will I give the land. And ditched promise him and declare unto him, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea. Now may thy words be verified which thou ditched speak unto my father. For thou art the Lord our God, our eyes are toward thee to give a seed of men, as thou ditched promise us, for thou art the Lord our God, and our eyes are upon thee. Isaac prayed furthermore that all children destined for him might be born unto him from this pious wife of his, and Rebekah made the same petition regarding her husband Isaac and the children destined for her. Their united prayer was heard, yet it was chiefly for the sake of Isaac that God gave them children. It is true Rebekah's piety equalled her husbands, but the prayer of a pious man who is the son of a pious man is far more efficacious than the prayer of one who, though pious himself, is descended from a godless father. The prayer wrought a great miracle, for Isaac's physique was such that he could not have been expected to beget children, and equally it was not in the course of nature that Rebekah should bear children. When Rebekah had been pregnant seven months, she began to wish that the curse of childlessness had not been removed from her. She suffered torturous pain because her twin sons began their lifelong quarrels in her womb. They strove to kill each other. If Rebekah walked in the vicinity of a temple erected to idols, Esau moved in her body, and if she passed a synagogue or a Betha Midrash, Jacob essayed to break forth from her womb. The quarrels of the children turned upon such differences as these. Esau would insist that there was no life except the earthly life of material pleasures, and Jacob would reply, quote, my brother, there are two worlds before us, this world and the world to come. In this world men eat and drink and traffic and marry and bring up sons and daughters, but all this does not take place in the world to come. If it pleases thee, do thou take this world, and I will take the other, end quote. Esau had Samael as his ally, who desired to slay Jacob in his mother's womb, but the archangel Michael hastened to Jacob's aid. He tried to burn Samael and the Lord saw it was necessary to constitute a heavenly court for the purpose of arbitrating the case of Michael and Samael. Even the quarrel between the two brothers regarding the birthright had its beginning before they emerged from the womb of their mother, each desired to be the first to come into the world. It was only when Esau threatened to carry his plot at the expense of his mother's life that Jacob gave way. Rebecca asked other women whether they too had suffered such pain during their pregnancy, and when they told her they had not heard of a case like hers, except the pregnancy of Nimrod's mother, she betook herself to Mount Moriah, whereon Shem and Eber had their bet Hamidrash. She requested them, as well as Abraham, to inquire of God what the cause of her dire suffering was. And Shem replied, quote, my daughter, I confide a secret to thee. See to it that none finds it out. Two nations are in thy womb, and how should thy body contain them, seeing that the whole world will not be large enough for them to exist in it together peaceably. Two nations they are, each owning a world of its own, the one the Torah, the other sin. From the one will spring Solomon, the builder of the temple, from the other Vespasian, the destroyer thereof. These two are what are needed to raise the number of nations to 70. They will never be in the same estate. Esau will vaunt lords, while Jacob will bring forth prophets, and if Esau has princes, Jacob will have kings. They, Israel and Rome, are the two nations destined to be hated by all the world. One will exceed the other in strength, first Esau will subjugate the whole world, but in the end Jacob will rule over all. The older of the two will serve the younger, provided this one is pure of heart, otherwise the younger will be enslaved by the older. The circumstances connected with the birth of her twin sons were as remarkable as those during the period of Rebekah's pregnancy. Esau was the first to see the light, and with him all impurity came from the womb. Jacob was born clean and sweet of body. Esau was brought forth with hair, beard and teeth, both front and back, and he was blood red, a sign of his future sanguinary nature. On account of his ruddy appearance he remained uncircumcised. Isaac, his father, feared that it was due to poor circulation of the blood, and he hesitated to perform the circumcision. He decided to wait until Esau should attain his thirteenth year, the age at which Ishmael had received the sign of the Covenant. But when Esau grew up, he refused to give heed to his father's wish, and so he was left uncircumcised. The opposite of his brother in this, as in all respects, Jacob was born with the sign of the Covenant upon his body, a rare distinction. But Esau also bore a mark upon him at birth, the figure of a serpent, the symbol of all that is wicked and hated of God. The names conferred upon the brothers are pregnant with meaning. The older was called Esau because he was, SUI, fully developed when he was born, and the name of the younger was given to him by God to point to some important events in the future of Israel by the numerical value of each letter. The first letter was YAH AKHAB. YAHD, with the value of 10, stands for DEKALOG. The second, AYIN, equal to 70, for the 70 elders, the leaders of Israel. The third, the third, KOF, a hundred for the temple, a hundred L's in height, and the last, BET, for the two tables of stone, the favorite of Abraham. While Esau and Jacob were little, their characters could not be judged properly. They were like the Myrtle and the Thornbush, which look alike in the early stages of their growth. After they have attained full size, the Myrtle is known by its fragrance, and the Thornbush by its thorns. In their childhood both brothers went to school, but when they reached their thirteenth year and were of age, their ways parted. Jacob continued his studies in the bet Hamid Rash, of Shem and Eber, and Esau abandoned himself to idolatry and an immoral life. Both were hunters of men. Esau tried to capture them in order to turn them away from God, and Jacob to turn them toward God. In spite of his impious deeds, Esau possessed the art of winning his father's love. His hypocritical conduct made Isaac believe that his firstborn son was extremely pious. Father, he would ask Isaac, what is the tithe on straw and salt? The question made him appear God-fearing in the eyes of his father, because these two products are the very ones that are exempt from tithing. Isaac failed to notice, too, that his older son gave him forbidden food to eat. What he took for the flesh of young goats was dog's meat. Rebekah was clear-sided. She knew her sons as they really were, and therefore her love for Jacob was exceeding great. The offener she heard his voice, the deeper grew her affection for him. Abraham agreed with her. He also loved his grandson Jacob, for he knew that in him, his name and his seed would be called. And he said to Rebekah, quote, My daughter, watch over my son Jacob, for he shall be in my steed on the earth and for a blessing in the midst of the children of men, and for the glory of the whole seed of Shem, end, quote. Having admonished Rebekah, thus to keep guard over Jacob, who was destined to be the bearer of the blessing given to Abraham by God, he called for his grandson, and in the presence of Rebekah, he blessed him and said, quote, Jacob, my beloved son, whom my soul loveth, may God bless thee from above the firmament, and may he give thee all the blessing wherewith he blessed Adam, and Enoch, and Noah, and Shem, and all the things of which he told me, and all the things which he promised to give me, may he cause to cleave to thee and to thy seed for ever according to the days of the heavens above the earth. And the spirit of Mastema shall not rule over thee or over thy seed, to turn thee from the Lord, who is thy God from henceforth and for ever. And may the Lord God be a father to thee, and mayest thou be his firstborn son, and may he be a father to thy people always. Go in peace, my son, end, quote. And Abraham had good reason to be particularly fond of Jacob, for it was due to the merits of his grandson that he had been rescued from the fiery furnace. Isaac and Rebekah, knowing of Abraham's love for their young son, sent their father a meal by Jacob on the last feast of Pentecost, which Abraham was permitted to celebrate on earth, that he might eat and bless the Creator of all things before he died. Abraham knew that his end was approaching, and he thanked the Lord for all the good he had granted him during the days of his life, and blessed Jacob and bade him walk in the ways of the Lord, and especially he was not to marry a daughter of the Canaanites. Then Abraham prepared for death. He placed two of Jacob's fingers upon his eyes, and thus holding them closed, he fell into his eternal sleep. While Jacob lay beside him on the bed, the lad did not know his grandfather's death, until he called him on awakening next morning. Father, Father, and received no answer. End of Chapter 6, Part 1, Recording by Robert Scott, MojoMove411.com, Mo-J-O-M-O-V-E411.com, August 22, 2007. Chapter 6, Jacob, Part 2 of The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1, by Rabbi Louis Ginsburg. The Sale of the Birthright Though Abraham reached a good old age, beyond the limited years Vouch saved later generations, he yet died five years before his allotted time. The intention was to let him live to be one hundred and eighty years old, the same age as Isaac's at his death. But on account of Esau, God brought his life to an abrupt close. For some time Esau had been pursuing his evil inclinations in secret. Finally he dropped his mask, and on the day of Abraham's death he was guilty of five crimes. He ravished a betrothed maiden, committed murder, doubted the resurrection of the dead, scorned the birthright, and denied God. Then the Lord said, I promised Abraham that he should go to his fathers in peace. Can I now permit him to be a witness of his grandson's rebellion against God, his violation of the laws of chastity, and his shedding of blood? It is better for him to die now in peace. The men slain by Esau on this day were Nimrod and two of his adjudants. A long-standing feud had existed between Esau and Nimrod, because the mighty hunter before the Lord was jealous of Esau, who also devoted himself assiduously to the chase. Once when he was hunting it happened that Nimrod was separated from his people. Only two men were with him. Esau, who lay in ambush, noticed his isolation, and waited until he should pass his covert. Then he threw himself upon Nimrod suddenly and felled him in his two companions, who hastened to his succor. The outcries of the latter brought the attendance of Nimrod to the spot where he lay dead, but not before Esau had stripped him of his garments and fled to the city with them. These garments of Nimrod had an extraordinary effect upon cattle, beasts, and birds. Of their own accord they would come and prostrate themselves before him who was arrayed in him. Thus Nimrod and Esau after him were able to rule over men and beasts. After slaying Nimrod, Esau hastened cityward in great fear of his victim's followers. Tired and exhausted he arrived home to find Jacob busy preparing a dish of lentils. Numerous male and female slaves were in Isaac's household. Nevertheless Jacob was so simple and modest in his demeanor that, if he came home late from the Bet Hal Madrish, he would disturb none to prepare his meal but would do it himself. On this occasion he was cooking lentils for his father to serve to him as mourners' meal after the death of Abraham. Adam and Eve had eaten lentils after the murder of Abel, and so had the parents of Haran, when he perished in the fiery furnace. The reason they are used for the mourner's meal is that the round lentil symbolizes death. As the lentil rolls, so death, sorrow, and mourning constantly roll about men, from one to the other. Esau accosted Jacob thus, why art thou perbearing lentils? Jacob, because our grandfather passed away, they shall be a sign of my grief and mourning that he may love me in the days to come. Esau, thou fool! Does thou really think it possible that men should come to life again after he has been dead and moldered in the grave? He continued to taunt Jacob. Why dost thou give thyself so much trouble? he said. Lift up thy knives, and thou wilt see that all men eat whatever comes to hand. Fish, creeping and crawling creatures, swine's flesh, and all sorts of things like these. And thou vexest thyself about a dish of lentils. Jacob, if we act like other men, what shall we do on the day of the Lord, the day on which the pious will receive their reward, when a herald will proclaim, Where is he that weigheth the deeds of men? Where is he that counteth? Esau, is there a future world, or will the dead be called back to life? If it were so, why hath not Adam returned? Has thou heard that Noah, through whom the world was raised anew, hath reappeared? Yea, Abraham, the friend of God, more beloved of him than any man, hath he come to life again? Jacob, if thou art of the opinion that there is no future world, and that the dead do not rise to new life, then why dost thou want thy birthright? Sell it to me now, while it is yet possible to do so. Once the Torah is revealed it cannot be done. Verily there is a future world in which the righteous receive their reward. I tell thee this, lest thou later say, I deceive thee. Jacob was little concerned about the double share of the inheritance that went with the birthright. What he thought of was the priestly service, which was the prerogative of the first born in ancient times, and Jacob was loth to have his impious brother Esau play the priest, he who despised all divine service. The scorn manifested by Esau for the resurrection of the dead he felt also for the promise of God to give the Holy Land to the seat of Abraham. He did not believe in it, and therefore he was willing to cede his birthright and the blessings attached there too in exchange for a mess of potage. In addition Jacob paid him in coin, and besides he gave him what was more than money, the wonderful sword of Methuselah, which Isaac had inherited from Abraham and bestowed upon Jacob. Esau made game of Jacob. He invited his associates to feast at his brother's table, saying, No ye what I did to this Jacob, I ate his lentils, drank his wine, amused myself at his service, and sold my birthright to him. All that Jacob replied was, Eat, and may it do the good. But the Lord said, Thou despises the birthright, therefore I shall make thee despised in all generations. And by way of punishment for denying God and the resurrection of the dead, the descendants of Esau were cut off from the world. As not was holy to Esau, Jacob made him swear concerning the birthright by the life of their father, for he knew Esau's love for Isaac that it was strong. Nor did he fail to have a document made out, duly signed by witnesses, setting forth that Esau had sold him the birthright together with his claim upon a place in the cave of Mechpela. Though no blame can attach to Jacob for all this, yet he secured the birthright from him by cunning, and therefore the descendants of Jacob had to serve the descendants of Esau. The Legends of the Jews Part 1 by Rabbi Lewis Ginsburg Isaac with the Philistines The life of Isaac was a faithful reflex of the life of his father. Abraham had to leave his birthplace, so also Isaac. Abraham was exposed to the risk of losing his wife, so also Isaac. The Philistines were envious of Abraham, so also of Isaac. Abraham long remained childless, so also Isaac. Abraham beget one pious son and one wicked son, so also Isaac. And finally, as in the time of Abraham, so also in the time of Isaac, a famine came upon the land. At first Isaac intended to follow the example of his father and remove to Egypt, but God appeared to him and spake. Thou art a perfect sacrifice without a blemish, and as a burnt offering is made unfit if it is taken outside of the sanctuary, so thou wouldst be profaned if thou shouldst happen outside of the holy land. Remain in the land, and endeavor to cultivate it. In this land dwells the shekenna, and in days to come I will give unto thy children the realms possessed by mighty rulers, first apart thereof, and the whole in the messianic time. Isaac obeyed the command of God, and he settled in Gerer. When he noticed that the inhabitants of the place began to have designs upon his wife, he followed the example of Abraham, and pretended she was his sister. The report of Rebekah's beauty reached the king himself, but he was mindful of the great danger to which he had once exposed himself on a similar occasion, and he left Isaac and his wife unmolested. After they had been in Gerer for three months, a bemelect noticed that the manner of Isaac, who lived in the outer court of the royal palace, was that of a husband toward Rebekah. He called him to account, saying, It might have happened to the king himself to take the woman thou didst call thy sister. Indeed, Isaac lay under the suspicion of having illicit intercourse with Rebekah, for at first the people of the place would not believe that she was his wife. When Isaac persisted in his statement a bemelect sent his grandees for them, ordered them to be arrayed in royal vestments, and had it proclaimed before them as they rowed through the city, these two are man and wife. He that touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. Thereafter the king invited Isaac to settle in his domains, and he assigned fields and vineyards to him for cultivation, the best the land afforded. But Isaac was not self-interested. The tithe of all he possessed he gave to the poor of Gerer. Thus he was the first to introduce the law of tithing for the poor, as his father Abraham had been the first to separate the priest's portion from his fortune. Isaac was rewarded by abundant harvests. The land yielded a hundred times more than was expected, though the soil was barren and the year unfruitful. He grew so rich that people wished to have the dung from Isaac's she mules rather than a bemelect's gold and silver. But his wealth called forth the envy of the Philistines, for it is characteristic of the wicked that they begrudge their fellow men the good, and rejoice when they see evil descended upon them, and envy brings hatred in its wake. And so the Philistines first envied Isaac and then hated him. In their enmity toward him they stopped the wells which Abraham had his servants dig. Thus they broke their covenant with Abraham and were faithless, and they have only themselves to blame if they were exterminated later on by the Israelites. Isaac departed from Gerer and began to dig again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had stopped. His reverence for his father was so great that he even restored the names by which Abraham had called the wells. To reward him for his filial respect the Lord left the name of Isaac unchanged while his father and his son had to submit to new names. After four attempts to secure water Isaac was successful. He found the well of water that followed the patriarchs. Abraham had obtained it after three diggings. Hence the name of the well, Bersheba, the well of seven diggings. The same well that will supply water to Jerusalem and its environs in the messianic time. Isaac's success with his wells but served to increase the envy of the Philistines, for he had come upon water in a most unlikely spot, and besides in a year of drought. But the Lord fulfills the desire of them that fear him. As Isaac executed the will of his Creator, so God accomplished his desire. And to bemelech, the king of Gerer speedily came to see that God was on the side of Isaac. For, to chastise him for having instigated Isaac's removal from Gerer, his house was ravaged by robbers in the night, and he himself was stricken with leprosy. The wells of the Philistines ran dry as soon as Isaac left Gerer, and also the trees failed to yield their fruit. None could be in doubt but that these things were the castigation for their unkindness. Now, a bemelech entreated his friends, especially the administrator of his kingdom, to accompany him to Isaac and help him win back his friendship. A bemelech and the Philistines spake thus to Isaac. We have convinced ourselves that the shekenna is with thee, and therefore we desire thee to renew the covenant which thy father made with us, that thou wilt do us no harm, as we also did not touch thee. Isaac consented. It illustrates the character of the Philistines strikingly that they took credit unto themselves for having done him no hurt. It shows that they would have been glad to inflict harm upon him for the souls of the wicked desireth evil. The place in which the covenant was made between Isaac and the Philistines was called Sheba for two reasons, because an oath was sworn there, and as a memorial of the fact that even the heathen are bound to observe the seven Nochean laws. For all the wonders executed by God for Isaac and all the good he enjoyed throughout his life, he is indebted to the merits of his father. For his own merits he will be rewarded in future. On the great day of judgment it will be Isaac who will redeem his descendants from Gehenna. On that day the Lord will speak to Abraham, thy children have sinned, and Abraham will make reply, then let them be wiped out, that thy name be sanctified. The Lord will turn to Jacob, thinking that he who had suffered so much in bringing his sons to manhood's estate would display more love for his posterity. But Jacob will give the same answer as Abraham. Then God will say, the old have no understanding, and the young no counsel. I will go now to Isaac. Isaac, God will address him, thy children have sinned, and Isaac will reply, O Lord of the world, Sayest thou my children and not thine? When they stood at Mount Sinai and declared themselves ready to execute all thy bidding before even they had heard it, thou didst call Israel my first born, and now they are my children and not thine. Let us consider. The years of a man are seventy. From these twenty are to be deducted, for thou inflictest no punishment upon those under twenty. Of the fifty years that are left one half are to be deducted for the nights past and sleep. They remain only twenty-five years, and these are to be diminished by twelve and a half, the time spent in praying, eating, and attending to other needs in life, during which men commit no sins. That leaves only twelve years and a half. If thou wilt take these upon thyself, well and good. If not, do thou take one half thereof, and I will take the other half. The descendants of Isaac will then say, verily, thou art our true Father. But he will point to God and admonish them. Nay, give not your praises to me, but to God alone. And Israel, with eyes directed heavenward, will say, thou, O Lord, art our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name. It was Isaac, or as he is sometimes called, Elohu the son of Barakhel, who revealed the wonderful mysteries of nature in his arguments with Job. At the end of the years of famine, God appeared unto Isaac and bade him to return to Canaan. Isaac did as he was commanded, and he settled in Hebron. At this time he sent his younger son Jacob to Betel-Madrish of Shem and Eber, to study the law of the Lord. Jacob remained there thirty-two years. As for Esau he refused to learn, and he remained in the house of his father. The chase was his only occupation, and, as he pursued beasts, so he pursued men, seeking to capture them with cunning and deceit. On one of his hunting expeditions Esau came to Mount Seir, where he became acquainted with Judith of the family of Ham, and he took her unto himself as his wife, and brought her to his father at Hebron. Ten years later, when Shem his teacher died, Jacob returned home at the age of fifty. Another six years past, and Rebecca received the joyful news that her sister-in-law, Adina, the wife of Laban, who, like all the women of his house, had been childless until then, had given birth to twin daughters, Leah and Rachel. Rebecca, weary of her life on account of the woman chosen by her older son, exhorted Jacob not to marry one of the daughters of Canaan, but a maiden of the family of Abraham. He assured his mother that the words of Abraham, bidding him to marry no woman of the Canaanites, were graven upon his memory, and for this reason he was still unmarried, though he had attained the age of sixty-two, and Esau had been urging him for twenty-two years past to follow his example and wed a daughter of the people of the land in which they lived. He had heard that his uncle Laban had daughters, and he was resolved to choose one of them as his wife. Deeply moved by the words of her son, Rebecca thanked him and gave praise unto God with the words, Blessed be the Lord God, and may his holy name be blessed for ever and ever, who hath given me Jacob as a pure son in a holy seed, for he is thine, shall his seed be continually, and throughout all the generations for evermore. Bless him, O Lord, and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness that I may bless him. And when the spirit of the Lord came over her, she laid her hands upon the head of Jacob, and gave him her maternal blessing. It ended with the words, May the Lord of the world love thee, as the heart of thy affectionate mother rejoices in thee, and may he bless thee.