Satan in Goray - Isaac Bashevis Singer [27]
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Rabbi Benish Prepares for War with the Sabbatai Zevi Sect Rabbi Benish prepared for war with the Sabbatai Zevi sect. He sent Grunam to search out the packman Itche Mates and learn his ways, and on the fence of the prayer house he hung an injunction against reading the tracts from abroad. Rabbi Benish called on all those who had amulets to bring them in to be examined, for there were widespread rumors that the names of impure demons and of Sabbatai Zevi were written in many of them. On the Sabbath the rabbi preached in the prayer house between the morning and the afternoon prayers on the verse in the Song of Songs: "Awaken not, nor stir up love, until it please"; he pointed out that it was a sin to try to hasten the end of days. Rabbi Benish also told the congregation of the false Messiahs who had risen in days gone by, and of the persecutions that Jews had suffered because of them. To keep the young folk who were cabalists from gathering at midnight as they usually had done, he ordered the study house and the bathhouse closed late at night. Reb Itche Mates was no longer able to immerse himself in the bathhouse before the midnight prayer watch, and was forced to go to the pond beyond the town, taking along a hatchet to chop a hole in the ice. Two young men walked ahead of him with wooden lanterns to light the way, which was full of pits and holes. Reb Itche Mates carried the Book of the Creation to drive off evil spirits. Silently, without a sigh, he took off his clothes, and immersed himself in the water. So as not to lose the small break in the ice, he held on to a rope. After immersion he did not cover his frozen body immediately; instead, he rolled in the snow, recounting his transgressions. He went so far as to beg forgiveness for the pain he had given his mother when he lay in her womb.... Rabbi Benish called him a "foolish zealot." The old rabbi's melancholy mood would not leave him. Ever since the Sabbatai Zevi sect had gained in strength in Goray, he had begun to shout at the members of his household, and had become brusque with the women who asked him ritual questions. He stopped greeting visitors with "God bless your coming," and avoided prayers with the quorum. His body stooped as under a heavy load, and he would nap during the day; this was unusual for him. Waking his household in the middle of the night, he would demand to have his bed fixed because his body ached and he was sleepless. With nightfall he ordered the shutters barred. He wrote many letters that he did not send, and they were scattered over the table and the floor. No matter how often his dinner was brought to him from the kitchen, he would let it grow cold, until finally it had to be carried off, still untouched. He no longer reviewed the daily lesson with his students, and, as in times of famine or epidemic, he ordered his bed removed from the bedroom. His face yellowed and grew wrinkled, and old age overtook him all at once. Once he sat up all night composing a will, which he burnt in the oven at dawn. _Another time, calling in ten of his company, he made a declaration to the effect that he remained true to his faith, and that any statement to the contrary that he should make before his death should be regarded as lacking truth and validity. He also wrote this declaration on parchment with his goose quill, and ordered the wit-nesses to sign their names to it. For many days after-ward the town was full of whispering about this event, for people did not understand the meaning of it. Finally, in the Book of the Ford of the Jabbok, they found a passage explaining that Samael comes to every dying man with a drawn sword in his hand, and incites him to deny God; hence, it is best to void any such blasphemy in advance. From this they drew the conclusion that Rabbi Benish was preparing for his end. Meanwhile, amazing things were taking place in Goray. It was reported that Mordecai Joseph, the cabalist, was kneading a clay