god as matchmaker, a rabbinic legend preserved in the piyyut

American Academy of Religion

God as Matchmaker, A Rabbinic Legend Preserved in the PiyyutAuthor(s): Leon J. WeinbergerSource: Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Jun., 1972), pp. 238-244Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1461021 .

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God as Matchmaker, A Rabbinic Legend Preserved in the Piyyut

LEON J. WEINBERGER

Recent studies in the relationship between midrash (rabbinic legends and scripture exegesis) and piyyut (liturgical poetry of the synagogue) have shown the close connection existing between these two major branches of Jewish literature.' One aspect of this relationship indicates that legends (agadot) that no longer appear in the midrash or survive only in fragments are sometimes preserved in their en- tirety in the piyyut. An example of the former is the search of Jochebed and Miriam for the dead Moses. This legend was one of the many midrashim on the death of Moses which survived only in the piyyut.2 An example of the latter is the battle between the mythical

animals, Behemot and Leviathan. Frag- ments of this legend survive in the midrash but the complete work is preserved only in a piyyut by Qalir, (5th/ 6th centuries) one of the leading synagogue poets of Byzantine Palestine.8

The legend of God as matchmaker to be described below belongs in the latter category.4 It is preserved in a number of Qedushtot (sing. Qedushta, a nine part liturgical work designed to embellish the benedictions of the stand- ing devotion (amidah) which contains the trishagion (qedusha) after Isaiah 6:3) for the festival of Pentecost and is in the form of a dialogue between God and the Torah.5 Two of these Qedu- shtot were composed by the aforemen-

1Cf. J. Schirman, "Hebrew Liturgical Poetry and Christian Hymnology," J.Q.R., N.S. 46, (1953) pp. 123-161 and A. Mirsky, "The Origins of the Forms of Liturgical Poetry," (in Hebrew), S.R.I.H.P. 7, pp. 1-127.

*Cf. L. J. Weinberger, "A Lost Midrash" (in Hebrew), Tarbiz, 38/3 (March, 1969), 286-293.

" Cf. J. Schirman, The Battle Between Behemot and Leviathan According to an Ancient Hebrew Piyyut, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Proceedings, 4.13, (Jeru- salem, 1970).

'Cf. in Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 68.4 the reply of the 3rd century Amora R. Jose b. Hanina to the query put to him by a Roman matron, "What has (God) been doing since (the creation of the world) ?" "He sits and makes matches, assigning this man to that woman, and this woman to that man." This is no easy matter even for God: "It is as difficult for the Holy One, Blessed be He, as the dividing of the Red Sea." Ibid.

SCf. L. J. Weinberger, "A Legend Preserved in the Piyyut" (in Hebrew) Hadoar, 50.8, (December 25, 1970) p. 127.

LEON J. WEINBERGER, Ph.D. (Brandeis University) is Associate Professor of Reli. gious Studies at the University of Alabama. He is Director of the Comparative Religion Institute for Alabama Secondary Teachers funded by a grant which he received from the National Endowment for the Humanities. His forthcoming book, Selected Poems of Samuel Ibn Nagrela will be published by the University of Alabama Press.

238



GOD AS MATCHMAKER 239

tioned Qalir (henceforth Qalir 16 and Qalir 2)7 and the others by tenth and eleventh century poets from Palestine, Babylonia, Byzantium, France, and Germany. These include Yohanan ha- Kohen b. Yehoshua8 (10th cent. Byzan- tium), Simeon b. Isaac the Pious b. Abun the Great9 (10th cent. Mainz), Solomon Suleiman al-Sinjari10 (10th cent. Babylonia), Nehemia b. Solomon b. Heman ha-Nasi" (10th cent. Baby- lonia), Solomon b. Judah Gaon12 (11th cent. Jerusalem), Benjamin b. Samuel13 (11th cent. Constantinople) and Jo- seph b. Samuel Tob-Elem14 (Bonfils) (11th cent. Limoges).

The setting of the legend is in a period two thousand years before the creation of the world. Only God and the Torah are present. She is lodged in his "chamber"'5 and is described as "playing in his lap."'6 God thereupon, "decides"'7 to create the world with "wisdom"'s for the sake of the Torah and "consults" with her regarding his plans:

The ruler of the world [God] consulted with her

As if to ask permission whether to create the world . .

And said to her, "If you approve then I shall make the world."f•

He further asserts that at the present there is no one to appreciate her worth and beauty:

Of what use is your beauty if there is no world.20

The Torah replies that mortal man will not esteem her and will always fail to live by her precepts. She agrees to the creation of the world but on the con- dition that she be given only to angels and not to men:

Torah.

The work of your hands [man] which has precedence over all

He is unable to observe my precepts ...

Make for yourself ministering (angels) and I shall be in their midst

For they will preserve me with all their power.21

God, however, insists that she was de-

'Cf. I. Davidson, Thesaurus of Medieval Hebrew Poetry, (New York, 1924-33), 4 Vols. Aleph 7694.

7Ibid. Aleph 445. 8 Ibid. Aleph 7707. 'Ibid. Aleph 2010. 10 Cf. M. Zulay "Sources and Imitations in the Piyyut" (in Hebrew) Sinai, 25 (5709),

p. 43. "Idem, "Liturgical Poems of Nehemia b. Solomon b. Heman ha-Nasi" (in Hebrew),

S.R.I.H.P. 4, pp. 239-40. 2 Idem, "Sources and Imitations" pp. 41-42. SDavidson, Thesaurus, Aleph 7639. '4lbid. Aleph 5900. ' Cf. Nehemia b. Solomon. ' Cf. Qalir 1. ' Cf. Yohanan ha-Kohen, Solomon Suleiman and Benjamin b. Samuel. SCf. Qalir 1. 9 Yohanan ha-Kohen.

20 Idem. 21 Idem.



240 LEON J. WEINBERGER

signed for men, not angels. Her laws and statutes are made for life on earth, not heaven:

God.

How can I offer your secrets to the immortals [angels]

Since most of your wisdom is made to solve human prob- lems.22

Moreover, man always has before him the opportunity to repent:

God.

I have appointed for him [man] a healing balm wherewith to remove his ailment

There is planted before me the light of repentance which I made pre-existent for his sake

This is the power of the penitent: No door is closed before him.23

God then asks the Torah to which of the following men does she wish to be given. Perhaps Adam, made in God's own likeness and praised for his wisdom and his imposing stature.24 The Torah, however, finds Adam unsuit- able:

Torah.

If one command he could not ful- fill

How will he observe my many precepts.25

Torah.

Three commands he violated at one time:

"Thou shalt not steal" but he stole and divided [the spoil] with the thief [Eve]

He transgressed, "Thou shalt not bear [false witness]" testifying to a lie with his wife together.

He failed to observe, "Thou shalt not covet" for he desired and ate and was glad.26

God then presents Noah as a likely suitor for the Torah praising his right- eousness as well as his achievements in

reconciling God with man. Him also the Torah rejects noting that he was unable to control his passions for he ended up a drunkard and cursed his own kin:

Torah.

Why O Dweller in the Heavens, do you request of me that I be- long to a man of contention....

After leaving [the ark] he planted grapevines;

He filled himself with wine and was found uncovered in the bedroom

"Benjamin b. Samuel. 2 Idem. " According to an opinion of the 3rd cent. Amora R. Judah (b. Ezekiel) in the name

of Ray the size of Adam extended from the earth to the sky and from one end of the world to the other. Cf. Hagigah 12a.

Simeon b. Isaac. . Qalir 1. A fragment of this legend is presented in the midrash as may be seen

from the following statement of the 3rd-4th century Amora R. Judah b. Simeon, "It was fitting that the Torah should have been given through Adam. ... The Holy One blessed be He said: 'He is the creation of my hands, and am I not to give it to him!' Subsequently, however He said: 'I gave him six commandments and he did not remain loyal to them; how then shall I give him 613 precepts.' " Cf. Bereshit Rabbah 24.5.




He was afflicted [in his sleep] as the youngest of his sons cas- trated him

And upon awakening he cursed him exceedingly.27

Following Noah, Abraham is offered to the Torah as a prospective bride- groom. To the Torah God speaks of Abraham's achievements in abolishing idolatry and of his ability to draw men nearer to God. Moreover Abraham withstood all of the ten temptations which he faced and was a model of hospitality. Again the Torah is not persuaded as she counters by saying that Abraham showed a lack of faith in God when he asked for proof that he would inherit the land of Canaan.28 Moreover, Abraham was pernicious in his zeal to shed the blood of his son Isaac after God's command. He should have at least asked God for mercy:

Torah.

Upon his only one [Isaac] he had no mercy

As he with cruelty stretched forth his hand to shed blood

All this to do your will with a pure heart

He was convinced that you are a God full of mercy

Yet he should have appealed to you and begged for mercy

So as to spare his only one like a flaming coal.29

It is now Isaac's turn to be presented to the Torah. Here God informs her of Isaac's willingness to be offered up as a living sacrifice after the divine command, even urging his father to bind him fast lest he come loose. Yet he too is found unacceptable by the Torah since he preferred Esau to Jacob because the former provided him with tempting foods:

Torah.

He [Isaac] fell by the wayside because he delighted in soft [foods].

He invited [Esau] to approach him [even though] he was most distant from his sovereign [God].3o

Torah.

He [Isaac] preferred [Esau] to his brother [Jacob] because he put in his mouth the animals caught in the hunt.

He [Isaac] therefore encouraged him [Esau] to live by the sword.al

Moreover, Isaac was almost tempted to curse his son Jacob when he suspected that the latter was attempting to win

" Tob-Elem and cf. Benjamin b. Samuel. * Cf. Qalir 1 and Simeon b. Isaac. SYohanan ha-Kohen and cf. Qalir 2, Benjamin b. Samuel and Tob-Elem. It is sig-

nificant that Qalir 1 and Simeon b. Isaac do not mention this "sin" of Abraham and refer only to his lapse of faith in requesting proof that he would inherit the land, cf. note 28. For S6ren Kierkegaard Abraham's act is "the teleological suspension of the ethical" in response to what he believed was God's will in the binding of Isaac. Cf. S. Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, (New York: Doubleday, 1954), pp. 67ff.

T Qalir 2. 8 Yohanan ha-Kohen and cf. Benjamin b. Samuel and Tob-Elem.




his father's blessings under false pre- tenses.32

Jacob the last of the patriarchs was then to be considered by the Torah as God continued to seek for her a suit- able mate. Again God praises the can- didate noting in Jacob's case his dili- gence in the study of the Torah and how his image is engraved upon the divine throne.33 The Torah, however, persists in her refusal and finds Jacob also unworthy of her affection since he deceived his father Isaac in order to obtain his blessings:

Torah.

He came and presented the good food with deceit ...

It is unbecoming for the right- eous to engage in falsehood.34

Moreover, he spoke words in anger:

Torah.

He spoke in anger and exclaimed with indignation,

"My way is hidden from the Lord."P35

God then brings out Moses whereupon the Torah exclaims, "Him I desire,"36 and makes him her choice for bride- groom:

Torah.

I gloried in my wedding day Behold the end (of the search)

has come, my time has ar- rived. ...

The wise one (Moses) scaled the city of the mighty (angels)

And brought down the splendid prize, - the strong confidence (Torah) . . .

Even taking it from the right hand of the maker of mountains (God).37

Even in the piyyut where this legend was preserved, it was copied from the manuscripts to the printed editions of the prayer book for the festivals (mahzor) only in two of the aforementioned Qedushtot, that of Qalir 1 and Simeon b. Isaac. The other Qedushtot either "disappeared"38 or are known only in their manuscript versions. Some have come to light as a result of the recent Cairo Geniza discoveries. In the printed editions of the German (Ashkenaz) synagogue ritual where the Qalir 1 Qedushta is preserved, certain portions of the work are omitted. These include the sections in which the Torah refuses to accept as suitors Adam, Noah, and the Patriarchs and then proceeds to defame them. This then is one prob- able reason why this legend survives only in fragments in the midrash and is not more extensively preserved in the

piyyut.39 This is in line with rabbinic tradition to praise and not denigrate the lives of worthy men as may be seen in the statement of the third-fourth century Amora R. Samuel b. Nahmani in the name of his teacher R. Jonathan,

8 Qalir 1. * Cf. the statement of R. Isaac in Bereshit Rabbah 82.2. "Tob Elem and cf. Qalir 2, Yohanan ha-Kohen and Benjamin b. Samuel. T Qalir 1. * Cf. Yohanan ha-Kohen. * Simeon b. Isaac. * Cf. Shalom Spiegel, The Last Trial, (New York: Pantheon, 1967), p. 6, n. 11.

Cf. Mahzor for Pentecost, Heidenheim ed. (RiSdelheim, 1857), p. 35.




"Whoever maintains that Reuben sinned ... that the sons of Eli sinned ... that Samuel's sons sinned.., that David sinned ... that Solomon sinned ... that Josiah sinned is merely mak- ing an error."40 By ingenious methods of exegesis the rabbis sought to explain away the transgressions of worthy biblical figures even when these are ex- plicitly recorded in the scriptural text.41

There is yet another possible reason why this legend was suppressed. It has to do with the story of the binding of Isaac. According to the scriptural ac- count, Abraham was restrained in time from offering his son Isaac as a living sacrifice to God. However, commen- tators have been puzzled by the biblical statement that father and son "went both of them together"42 to Mt. Moriah yet only "Abraham returned to the young men."43 Speculations arose con- cerning the whereabouts of Isaac. Some midrashic sources suggested that Isaac was taken up to Paradise for three years where he was healed from the wounds his father inflicted upon him and where he remained until it was time for him to meet Rebeccah, his wife to be, as may be seen from the following:

And Isaac where was he? The Holy One blessed be He, brought him into the Garden of Eden, and there he stayed for three years."

What was he doing there?

He [Isaac] remained three years [in Paradise, in order] to be healed from the wound inflicted upon him by Abra- ham on the occasion of the Akedah [binding of Isaac]."

From other midrashic sources, we learn that when Isaac came down from Para- dise he walked after the manner of the dead with his head down and feet up. Rebeccah, when she came out to greet him, fell from her camel upon wit- nessing this strange sight.46 These midrashic sources are combined in the Qedushta of Benjamin b. Samuel:

He [Isaac] was sheltered in the Garden of Eden where he remained hidden for three (years) until his helpmate (Re- beccah) came.7

Another opinion in the midrash from the second generation Palestinian Amora R. Eleazar b. Pedat holds that, "Although Isaac did not die, Scripture regards him as though he had died and his ashes lay piled up on the altar. That is why it is said, 'So Abraham returned unto his young men.' "48 This view is also reflected in the following lines from the Qedushta of Yohanan ha- Kohen:

He [Isaac] who was prepared to do my will as commanded is regarded before me as though he were slaughtered and a burnt offering."

" Cf. Shabbat 55b, 56a-b. Ibid.

"Gen. 22:6-8. SIbid. v. 19. "Midrash ha-Gadol, ed. M. Margulies, (Jerusalem, 1947), to Gen. 22:19. ' Yalkut Reubeni, Wa-Yera (Maggid, Toledot). MCf. R. Judah b. Eliezer Minhat Yehudah, to Gen. 24:64 and R. Isaac b. Judah ha-

Levi, Paaneah Raza, (Tarnopol, 1813), 29a and S. Spiegel, Last Trial. p. 6, n. 14. ' Cf. Davidson, Thesaurus, Aleph 7639. " Midrash ha-Gadol to Gen. 22:19. ' Cf. Davidson, Thesaurus, Aleph 7707.




To be sure, there is here an attempt to deviate from the clear meaning of Scripture which holds that Abraham did not lay a hand upon the lad nor did anything to him. Abraham Ibn Ezra (1092-1167) in commenting on the verse in Gen. 22:12, "Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do anything (meumah) to him" observes that the

Torah here emphasizes what is taught by the rabbinic sages, "Don't you even so much as bruise (mumah) him." And although historically this admoni- tion has been honored more in the breach than in observance50 one may nevertheless conjecture that our case reflects an attempt to abide by this teaching of the sages.

' Cf. S. Spiegel, Last Trial. pp. 3ff.



god as matchmaker, a rabbinic legend preserved in the piyyut

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