Armilius: The Jewish Lord Voldemort

[Emblem of the The Holy Roman Empire: a double-crowned two-headed eagle]

Since everybody is talking Harry Potter, I too will ride the wave. In that vein, Judaism has its own tradition of a “Dark Lord,” Armilius or Armilus ben Belial. He is the eschatological nemesis of the Messiah(s). The name itself may be derived from Romulus, the mythic founder of Rome (which, as in the Christian tradition, embodies ungodly forces – with a Jewish twist, as you will see below), while Belial is a demonic figure who enjoys greatest prominence in the traditions of the Dead Sea Scroll sect.

The tradition of Armilus is early medieval in origin, first surfacing textually during the 7-8th Century (Sefer Zerubbabel, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Isa. 11:4). While there are several variations, the core myth is that Armilius is a king who will attack Jerusalem in the wars of the last days (see Zechariah 9-14 for the essential elements of this apocalyptic version of the End of Days), killing the Messiah, son of Joseph. In turn the Messiah, son of David will counterattack and slay Armilus, either with the breath of his mouth (an allusion to Isa. 9) or by fire raining from heaven (Sefer Zerubbabel; BhM 1:56; 2:51; 3:141; 4:124-26).

Sefer Zerubbabel reports he will be the offspring of sexual congress between ha-Satan and a beautiful Roman statue (a riff on the Virgin Mary?). Thus Armilus is a semi-human monstrosity with green skin, gold hair, and two heads (Dan. 11:27) who thinks himself God (Dan. 11:36).

Amilus narratives can be read as a counter-narrative (or parody) of Christian eschatological beliefs. This conflation of Imperial Rome with Christendom may seem confusing to the casual reader, but in the Jewish mythic imagination, Pagan and Christian Rome are a continuous phenomenon, their imperial oppressions being virtually indistinguishable (from a Jewish perspective).

Zal g’mor: To learn more, read the Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism:
http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Jewish-Myth-Magic-Mysticism/dp/0738709050

Nefilim, Refaim, Anakim: Biblical Giants

[Goliath (and David, prematurely crowned) from Kaufmann Ms. of the Mishneh Torah, at www.hum.huji.ac.il/cja/IJA2.htm ]

Many cultures have traditions of a primordial race of giants. The Greeks have the Titans, the Irish the Fomor. Jews too. Among the monstrous beings mentioned in the Bible, few get more attention then giants. Goliath the Gittite, of course, is the banner example, but it turns out he is only the most prominent of many.

The basis for the tradition of a race of giants is Gen. 6:4, the same locus classicus for the tradition of fallen angels. The angels, as you may remember, came down and took wives among mortals. The giants were either around at the time of those events, or the offspring of those unions (the phrasing of the Hebrew in Gen. 6 is ambiguous): "The nefilim [possibly meaning 'fallen ones,' it's debatable] were on the earth in those days...," and may or may not be the basis of the stories about mythological heroes "....these were the gibborim [heroes, superheroes, demigods?] of old, the men of renown." However under-defined the language of Genesis, the earliest translation of the Bible, the Septuagint, assumes Genesis is talking about gargantuanism, translating both nefilim and gibborim as "giants."

Variously known as the Nefilim [often spelled "Nephilim"] (Num. 13:32-33), Refaim (II Sam. 21:16-22), Emim (Deut. 2:1o-11, 21), Refadim (Ibid. - though this may be a simple scribal misspelling of "Refaim") or the "Children of Anak" (Deut. 9:2), the giants were prevalent enough that the spies saw them throughout their scouting of Canaan, "...we saw men of giant stature...we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers... (Num. 13:32) and Moses repeatedly alludes to them in Deuteronomy, most notably in reference to the massive King Og of Bashan, who approached 15 feet in height (Deut. 3: 11): "Only King Og of Bashan was left remaining of the Refaim." Apparently this was not a wholly accurate report. Hundreds of years later, David's soldiers had to kill a number of them (II Samuel 21; I Chron. 20:4-8). Perhaps the different names signified different clans within the ethnos of giants.

Numerous as they are vague, these passages would be the basis for a very elaborate complex of legends about giants in post-Biblical Jewish literature.

To learn more, read the entries Giants; Goliath; Og, in the Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism.

The EJMMM is available at amazon.com. Click on http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Jewish-Myth-Magic-Mysticism/dp/0738709050/sr=1-1/qid=1159997117/ref=sr_1_1/002-7116669-7231211?ie=UTF8&s=books

Af and Chemah: Dark Angels of Destruction

Af and Chemah (or Hemah) are Hebrew for "Wrath" and "Anger." The angelic names are derived from Ps. 37:8 and Deut. 9:19, where these two words are understood to be proper nouns, the personifications of God's fury.

Af and Chemah are two of the six angels of death, the others being Gabriel over kings; Kapziel over youths; Mashbir over animals; Mashchit over children. Af and Chemah are the destructive angels over men and beasts (Beit ha-Midrash, 2:98). Unlike the others, however, these are often paired together, apparently because they are chained to each other with bonds of black and red fire on the seventh level of heaven (Gedulat Moshe).

They have been unleashed on earth several times, most notably to destroy Jerusalem for its sins (T.B. Shabbat 55a) and to punish Moses for failing to circumcise his son Gershon (Exo. 4; T.B. Ned. 32a):

R. Judah b. Bizna lectured: When Moses was lax in the performance of circumcision, Af and Hemah came and swallowed him up, leaving nought but his legs. Thereupon immediately Zipporah 'took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son'; straightway he [they?] let him alone. In that moment Moses desired to slay them, as it is written, "Cease from Af and forsake Hemah" (Deut. 9:19) (Nedarim 32a) [1]

Zal g'mor - To learn more consult the Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism: http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Jewish-Myth-Magic-Mysticism/dp/0738709050

1. Trans. from the Soncino Talmud.

Song of Songs: The Secret Meaning is the Plain Meaning

[Illustration from Die Bucher der Bibel, by Ephraim Moses Lilien]

Today we assume the proper way to read Scripture is for it's plain (and/or historical) meaning. This way of reading started to appear in the Middle Ages and accelerated with the Reformation. While rarely acknowledged, however, the plain sense of Scripture often presents problems. Take Shir ha-Shirim/Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon, or Canticles), for example. The plain meaning is - - there is nothing 'religious' at all about this book. It's a collection of ancient love poems, maybe even wedding poems. But it never mentions God, it teaches no ethics, it contains no metaphysics beyond the romantic assertion that "love is stronger than death." In short, we all know, its only rock 'n roll....

Modern fundamentalist churches, I've noticed, try to teach it, but even if they are "six-day creation," "sun stood still," "walk-on-water" literalists, they immediately abandon the obvious meaning when it comes to the SofS. Within a breath or two, all these hot-guy-pursues-lusting-maiden lyrics become a symbolic representation of Christ and the church.

In doing so, they revert to the now much poo-pooed but indispensable medieval strategy of "allegorical" reading. I don't fault the preachers for surrendering their fundamentalism in the face of this work. In order to make religion out of this stuff, one has to get allegorical. In fact, the book was probably included in the canon in the first place only because the Rabbis were persuaded that reading it allegorically as the love between Israel and God is the only real meaning.

For most of its interpretive history, in fact, the Bible has been treated as a cryptic text. The Jewish assumption has been that it operates on (at least) two levels, the niglah and nistar (The revealed and concealed). And Song of Songs was held to be the most esoteric of all the canon, because it has no niglah, only nistar.

But once you claim to hold the key to unlock the secret treasure (i.e., "Its about God and Israel" or "God and the soul") then you have explain the parabolic meaning of all the figures, symbols, or imagery - what do the "garden," "nut," or "breasts" refer to? In Judaism, this has led to a vast array of interpretive strategies and conclusions. Here are just a cross-section:

A Love-Dialogue Between God and the Community Israel

This usually assumes that the images are all related in some way to events of the Exodus (Midrash Song of Songs) or to the entire arc of Jewish history, from Abraham to the Messiah (Targum Song of Songs)

A Dialgoue Between God and the Soul

This Neo-Platonic perspective is the primary focus of Issak ibn Sahula's 13th Century commentary.

A Dialogue Between the Torah and its Disciples

This reading is, to my knowledge, only to be found in the writings of Solomon Alkabetz (16th Century)

A Dialogue Between the Material and the Intellect

This scholastic-philosophic interpretation is exemplified in the commentary of Gersonides (14th Cent.)

An Dialogue Between the Feminine and Masculine Aspects of Divinity

This Kabbalistic reading begins (as far as I know) with Ezra of Gerona (13th Century). The Zohar includes this interpretation in Zohar Hadash.

In a following entry I will further explore SoS by providing a couple of sample readings to illustrate some of these interpretive strategies.

Zal g'mor - To learn more consult the Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism: http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Jewish-Myth-Magic-Mysticism/dp/0738709050

Olam ha-Ba: The World to Come in Judaism

The World-to-Come (Olam ha-Ba; Alma de-Atei) is a general term for those spiritual realms in which humanity will one day be a part (Isa. 64:3 is occasionally cited as a reference to the World-to-Come). Sometimes it refers to a perfected reality that is temporally in the future, i.e., the messianic Kingdom of God, which will follow the advent of the Messiah, a period of interregnum between the advent of the Messiah and the end of the world (Pes. 68a; Ber. 34b; Sanh. 91b). Its duration is indeterminate, with periods as short as 40 and as long as 1000 years being proposed (Sanh. 99a). In this renewed creation, ten things will change: The supernal light of first creation will return, living waters that heal will flow forth form Jerusalem, fruit bearing trees with healing powers will sprout from those waters, all the ruined cities will be rebuilt, Jerusalem will be completely rebuilt out of precious materials, harmony will reign in the animal kingdom, and between animals and humans, suffering will be swept from the world, death will be swallowed up, and all human beings will know wholeness and contentment (Ex. R. 15:2).

At other times the World-to-Come refers to a temporally current spiritual world that surrounds the material world and is the place of the afterlife (Shab. 152a; Tanhuma, Vayikra 8; MT, Bahir 106 (160); Hilkhot Teshuvah 8:8). In this interpretation, it is mysterious and beyond our ken (Ber. 17a; Ex. R. 52:3). In Zohar it emanates from the sefirah of Binah (3:290b). It is a place of unending bliss, though the Sages find themselves in some dialectic tension over this. For some regard the World-to-Come as less interesting and rewarding than this world, since there will be little to do there and no commandments to fulfill (Ber. 17a). Whatever it’s true configuration, the righteous of every nation have a portion in the World-to-Come (P Yev. 15:2; Ber. 17a; Uk. 3:13; B.B. 75a; Shab 152b; Sanh. 90a; Tos. Sanh. 13:12).

For a more personal reflection on Olam ha-Ba, go to my earlier entry: Texas, Hell, and Governor Perry

Zal g'mor - To learn more consult the Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism: http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Jewish-Myth-Magic-Mysticism/dp/0738709050

Ancestral Spirits in Israel and Judaism

[The shrine over the Cave of Machpelah, where the Patriarchs and Matriarchs were buried]

The belief in the continuing presence of the dead and their and influence on the living has been, in different forms, a feature of Jewish belief from earliest times. This has led to venerating the ancestral dead, and even cults dedicated to them. The Bible itself refers to such practices as ensuring the dead are gathered together with the clan on ancestral land (Gen. 50:24-25), caring for the dead spirits (Deut. 26:14; Isa. 57:6), and consulting them for occult knowledge (Deut. 18:11; Isa. 8:19-22; 19:3; I Sam. 28:3-25).

It is clear that ancient Israel venerated its dead (Deut. 10:15). Many scholars also believe that the Children of Israel inherited a cult of the ancestral dead, possibly even deified dead, from their Semitic milieu and that it remained a popular belief among Israelites despite the opposition of the Prophets.The burial places of Judges and Rachel may have served as shrine/oracles (Judges 8:30-32, 10:1-15; 12:7-15; Sam. 10:2; Jer. 31:15).

References in the Bible to the ob, (A familiar spirit, possibly derived from the same Hebrew root as "father") has been considered part of that covert tradition. Other scholars argue that a cult of the beneficent dead was introduced by influence of the Assyrians, who were obsessed with necromancy, in the 8th-7th Centuries BCE (Isa. 29:4). From this perspective, all seemingly earlier references found in the Bible are actually anachronisms introduced by later editors.1 The
only clear example of a Biblical figure who, contrary to the proscription of the Torah, consulted the ancestral dead for guidance is that of Saul summoning the dead spirit of the Prophet Samuel (I Samuel 28:4-25). The account clearly illustrates that the author of Samuel believed necromancy was real, though the end results for Samuel were personally disappointing.

With the prophetic verse Jer. 31:15-16 serving as locus classicus, "A cry is heard in Ramah, wailing, bitter weeping, Rachel weeps for her children, she refuses to be comforted...," the Sages of Talmudic times believed that their ancestors were aware of what transpired on earth and would plead before God on behalf of their descendants (Ta’anit 16a; Men. 53b). Midrash Lamentations Rabbah includes a description of Biblical figures like Abraham, Moses, and Rachel interceding before the Divine Throne when God's judgment is being pronounced against Israel (Lam. R. 24). In time this idea of the positive influence of the beneficent dead expanded into the doctrine of zechut avot (the merit of the ancestors), which became canonized in the daily liturgy with the Avot prayer ("You remember the faithfulness of our ancestors and therefore bring redemption to their children's children..."). Sefer Chasidim describes how the dead pray for the living (452). As late as the Zohar, we find the theme of being reunified with one’s relatives is still a prominent expectation of the afterlife (Va-yehi, 218b). In later Kabbalah there is a shift from veneration of biological ancestors to “soul” ancestors (see Reincarnation).

Under the influence of Christian and Muslim saint veneration, the doctrine of zechut avot eventually evolved into a more direct veneration of the meritorious dead, with practices such as praying to them for their intercession in personal matters. The purported graves of many luminaries - Biblical (Rachel's tomb in Bethlehem), Rabbinic (Simon bar Yochai in Meron), Medieval (Meir Baal Nes in Tiberia), and modern (Nachman of Bratzlav) - have become the focus of pilgrimages and prayers for divine intervention among the Ultra-Orthodox. Even the tombs of Jews who would have scoffed at such behavior, like Maimonides, have become destinations for Jewish pilgrims and supplicants.

The custom of graveside veneration endures and thrives to this day in some sects of Judaism, and is extended even to such 20th Century figures as the Moroccan faith healer Baba Sali and the seventh CHaBaD rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

1. Schmidt, Israel’s Beneficent Dead, pp. 132-263.

Zal g'mor - To learn more consult the Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism: http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Jewish-Myth-Magic-Mysticism/dp/0738709050

Bible Course at the University of North Texas in 2010

Since I have a blog, I might as well use it for promotional purposes. This Spring 2010 at UNT, I am slotted to teach an undergraduate class on the Hebrew Scriptures. Here it is:

THE HEBREW BIBLE AS LITERATURE
Eng. 4800 - 002 CRE 3.0
Tu-Th, 3:30-4:50

The Hebrew Bible or Hebrew Scriptures (known to Christians as the Old Testament) is one of the foundational books of both western literature and world culture, and serves as the basis for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In this course we will survey the biblical literature, acquaint students with literary and critical methods for the study of the Bible, situate the Bible within the writings and culture of the ancient Near East (ANE), and discuss the artistic and religious heritage of ancient Israel. We will deal with questions of translation, prose and poetry, rhetoric, artistry, structure and meaning – what the biblical text meant to its ancient readers, and what meanings it has today - but also with some historical, sociological, and archaeological issues useful to the reader’s fuller understanding. All texts will be read in English translation. Geoffrey Dennis, instuctor.

I hope to get an interesting crowd, so if there is a local blog reader, I encourage you to sign up.