Borrowed from the Treasures of Judah

Julius T. Loeb, “Borrowed from the Treasures of Judah,” Birmingham Age-Herald (Birmingham, AL), Nov. 7, 1909. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038485/1909-11-07/ed-1/seq-29/ 

BORROWED FROM THE TREASURES OF JUDAH 

By Rabbi Julius T. Loeb

    The scientific world Is now filled with thrilling interest at the reappearance of that mysterious wanderer of the upper regions known as Halley’s comet, the discovery of which is attributed to the English astronomer, Edmund Halley, in the year 1682; yet none seems to note the important fact that some 19 centuries back the earlier sages of the Talmud had already given us an explicit statement with reference to the periodical movement of this same celestial body that is now nearing our habitable globe. In Talmud, tractate Horoyoth, page 10, it is plainly spoken that “there is a star which appears once in 70 years and perplexes the sea-farers.” According to the Talmudic statement it was Rabbi Joshua Ben Chananya, who once having embarked on a ship in company with the Patriarch Rabbon Gamliel, had revealed to the latter this valuable bit of information, as he precalculated the advent of the comet for just about that time.

    Prof. G. Zelickovitz in the Jewish Daily News calls the attention of modern scientists to this remarkable passage In the Talmud, and he adds that “it is quite possible that Edmund Halley, who in the year 1682 is said to have been only 26 years of age, that he received the information concerning the septuagesimal revolution of this comet from some learned Jew of his time; as the Talmudical compilations had been in existence then as they are today.

    That the Talmud here refers to this same heavenly wanderer as discovered by Halley seems to be true beyond a doubt. It is the one and the same comet that has been traced back to the years 1457 and 1531; the same as was seen by Kepler in 1607. It was hailed by Halley as a periodical visitor in 1682. It appeared afterward in 1759, also in 1835l; and again it is to reach its perihelion now in May, 1910. The period intervening between the regular rounds of the comet thus proves to be a period of 70 and some odd years. (The sages were so used to be brief in the mention of figures and things; as, for instance, in the case of the “Septuagirt” [sic] there were 72 doctors—not 70—engaged in the work of the Bible’s first translation.) 

    The supposition, therefore, by the many that none before Halley had the slightest knowledge of the elliptical orbit of comets is absolutely wrong. Even though we should grant the possibility that Edmund Halley, aided by the famous Sir Isaac Newton and other scientists of his age, did solve this problem anew by his own personal effort, without regard to those who preceded him—even then the fact remains that many centuries before Halley there lived a Rabbi Joshua who taught precisely the same doctrine anent the peridodical [sic] revolution of the comet. And this circumstance may likewise have some bearing upon the wonderful thought of the Roman philosopher, Lucius A. Seneca, a contemporary of Rabbi Joshua, who revolutionized the scientific world by declaring his view to the effect that “the comets had their perpetual motion along the lines prescribed to them by nature”—a doctrine entirely strange to the many ages of the past. The venerable Seneca, however, may have been associated with Rabbi Joshua and his doctrines; as did many another of the Reman philosophers, jurists and statesmen that caught their inspiration from Jewish men of learning.

    Of this Rabbi Joshua it is related that he was a noted astronomer and mathematician and that on account of his vast erudition and learning he was held in the highest esteem at the imperial court. Notable were his arguments on scientific and religious questions with the wise men of Rome (Sanhedrin, page 90), with the “Elders of Athens” (Bechoroth 8) and with the famous scholars of Alexandria (Nidah 69). The emperor's daughter is said to have been very fond of debating with Rabbi Joshua (Chulin 60), and she praised him very highly for his extraordinary wisdom (Taanith 8; Nedarim 60, and Chulin 71). The following is an instance of a dialogue passed between the Princess of Rome and the Rabbi: “Splendid learning in an ugly vessel,” satirically observed the emperor’s daughter, alluding thereby to his deformed personage. Rabbi Joshua asked her in what vessels wine was kept in the royal court. “In earthen pots,” she answered. “That is real strange," retorted the Rabbi, “common people keep wine in earthen pots, and in the imperial court, too, the same custom should prevail?”

    The Princess ordered the serfs to pour the wine into golden vessels, but in a very few days the wine became sour. “Now you can understand,” remarked Rabbi Joshua to the Princess, “that learning can only be kept by such a person who does not pride himself on personal beauty.”

    To the superstitious and untutored of all ages and creeds the fantastic appearance of the “hairy body” with its luminous train had invariably betokened the approach of public calamities, such as war, pestilence, earthquake and the destruction even of the entire world. From among the “knowing ones” also not infrequently we hear of many that share the same fears and misgivings at the sight of the mysterious wanderer of the unending space. So even now a certain professor from the west predicts the end of the world with the approach of the heavenly intruder. To such and similar would-be prophets we should hold out the admonition of Jeremiah (chapter x, 2): “Thus hath said the Lord, do not habituate yourselves on the way of the Gentiles, and at the signs of the heavens be ye not dismayed: though the Gentiles should be dismayed at them.”

    Note the scriptural passage: “He stretches the north over empty space; He suspends the earth on nothing.” Now that the north pole is discovered we are even more fully convinced of this wonderful truth so plainly set forth in the old Bible. And this in the book of Job, which according to the best of bibliographical authority is among the earliest, if not the very earliest, production in the Hebrew biblical literature.

    The “Zohar" is an ancient book of great import. It is a work of religious philosophy and mysticism, cherished by some and despised by others. When first it was placed before the world by Mose de Leon in the year 1200 it created a tremendous sensation, and was accredited to the authorship of the noble Sire Rabbi Simon Bon [sic] Yochai, a disciple of Rabbi Akiba. Tradition has it that in hiding away from the wrath of King Hadrian, this Rabbi Simon had spent 18 years of his life in a lone cave, during which time he was engaged in learning and philosophic study. He is thus also said to be the father of the Kabbala (mystic teaching among Jews)). Later investigations, however, have brought out the suggestion that De Leon himself may have compiled the Zohar; but that in his work of compilation he was very indiscriminate, as he borrowed the contents thereof from various sources, and from different ages and differing views. So in this book we may find interpretations of scripture and traditions known to have been handed down from the earlier sages—the Tanaaim—such as Rabbi Simon and his contemporaries; and alongside of these exegetical and  moral principles taught by Talmudists of a much later period; also some of the philosophies of Maimonides and others of his age, and an admixture even of some chips of Christian theology.

    While the direct authorship of this book is still a matter of question, this one thing, however, is certain that in part the Zohar is a creation of most ancient date. And, however the case may be, the book in its entirety came to public notice in the year 1300, when none seemed to have had the least conception of the newer system of astronomy, the “Revolution of the Celestial Orbs” as promulgated by the German astronomer, N. Copernicus, two centuries later. And mark ye well the following passage in Zohar, Vayikra. page 10, vis.: “Behold, all this earth-world is rolling itself like a ball, is inhabited on all sides, and when it is light in one part it is dark in the other; and such place there is wherein all is day and night only for a short time, etc.” Wonderful! How should one account for this sort of dark mysticism of ancient times, which today is as clear as daylight and known to every school child as a matter of truth?

    The Rabbinical lore in many instances has calculations such as were impossible to be deciphered without the aid of the higher mathematics of the present day. And so the Talmud relates of a telescope that wan in use with Rabban Gamlie [sic] “through which one could see for many miles aroundabout [sic] on land as well as on sea.” (Rosh Hashanah, page 24.)

    The Pasteur system of treatment of hydrophobia by means of inoculation—one of the greatest triumphs of modern discovery—is likewise hinted at by the Talmudists in Tract. Yuma, page 84, wherein it is stated that the diaphragm taken out of a mad dog and administered internally in certain doses, and according to a certain process of preparation, will avail as a cure for a person bitten by such animal.

    That the Talmudists have had more than than [sic] a vague idea of the “germ theory,” or the world of miscroscopical [sic] organisms, is clearly shown from Tract. Berachoth, page 6, and other sections of the Talmud, wherein it is spoken of the “Invisibles” floating in the air, swarming and multiplying as if they were living beings. “It is a blessing,” is further asserted, “that the human eyes cannot discern them, else none could withstand their presence.” Great care must be taken of the finger nails, according to Talmudic lore; as in them are stowed away myriads of “Mazikin,” the hidden enemy of mankind. “The pious one will, therefore, cut off the tips of his finger nails and throw them into the fire or the drainage of water, so a weak and tender person may not be injured by the evil effects of them.” These mystic and figurative terms of the sages in substance present the same principle and theories as are substantiated by medical and scientific researches of modern civilization. The Mosaic hygienic and dietary rules are too well known for their health-preserving and salutary effect, and it were useless for me in this brief article to attempt a proper elucidation thereof.

    In our self-exultation at these latter ages of scientific discovery let us not lost [sic] sight of the peers of ancient days, who in their abundant wisdom had paved the way and made things possible for our moral, mental and physical development; who taught us how to live the life of reasoning beings, and how with the cultivation of the physical system to provide also for the formation of the human character. Those easy make-shifts who do all in their power to belittle the importance of the Bible, and who are so charry to admit that there is anything worth while knowing in the teachings of Israel’s prophets and sages of yore, they may well profit by a consideration of the facts above mentioned. These are just a few of the many instances wherein the master minds of old are shown to have fathomed the depths of intellectual and moral development, and to have laid their hands upon the tree of knowledge in all of its branches. A distinguished Hebraist of the past century had thus very aptly remarked that compared with the gigantic figures of ancient thought and idealism we of the present are as mere dwarfs seated upon their shoulders, who can see farther, but can claim very little in the way of measuring up with their towering height.

    The searching mind will readily recognize in the Bible and the rabbinical literature as commentary thereof, a demonstration of the rule of a divine Providence in the entire order of creation, and with it a revelation of truths, scientific and natural, which the world of letters and understanding is still destined to learn at this time and in years to come.