Satan in Goray - Isaac Bashevis Singer [41]
4
The Rejoicing in Goray
Reb Gedaliya performed wonders. In every house his wisdom and talents were discussed. He had brought a kerchief with him on which the name of Sabbatai Zevi was stitched. When it was placed on the bellies of women in travail, their birth pangs ceased immediately. From the saintly Rabbi Michael of Nemerov he had brought magic pearls and coins worn smooth by many fingers. He knew how to make ointments for scaldhead and pills to prevent excessive menstruation. Since coming to Goray, Reb Gedaliya had saved many a soul. With his amulets he exorcised evil spirits from a house where they had dwelt and multiplied for years; he also restored the power of speech to a child who had been frightened by a black dog. Reb Gedaliya's piety and learning were famous. Levi was still young, unaccustomed to the yoke of a congregation, and Reb Gedaliya became the true leader of Goray. He ruled on all the difficult cases, and occupied himself with ministering to the spiritual needs of the community. With Levi he visited the mill, to pronounce it fit to grind the Passover wheat, examined specimens of the grain, and went from house to house with a bag to collect for the poor. Never since Goray first became a town had the rich given so much to the poor. Reb Gedaliya completely overwhelmed the wealthy with his smooth tongue, and enchanted them with his grand manner. Two weeks before the holiday the people of Goray began to bake unleavened bread. Reb Gedaliya himself drew from the well the first bucket of water that would be allowed to settle overnight; he taught the kneaders how to knead properly, the water pourers how to pour, the hole punchers how to punch holes. He even rolled up his coat sleeves, and, covered with flour, stood at the table beside the women. He even shoved the unleavened bread into the oven with the long wooden paddle. Not, like Rabbi Benish, with wrath and harshness, did Reb Gedaliya oversee the preparation of the matzoth, but with rejoicing and blandishments. With a long pipe constantly between his fleshy lips he watched everything that went on. The older women heaped blessings on him and said the Divine Presence was upon him. The young women and girls blushed and became more diligent. Smiling, Reb Gedaliya showed a mouth full of strong yellow teeth, and cried: "Hurry, children! Next year we shall eat matzoth in the Land of Israel! The angels will prepare it!" On the Great Sabbath before Passover, after Levi's explication, Reb Gedaliya preached a sermon that was full of admonitions and consolations. He re-minded the congregation that the days of exile were numbered, and warned them that the last souls who were to be brought into the world waited beneath the Throne of Glory. He scolded them that so many young men and girls were still unmarried. Such neglect of the principle of fruitfulness would delay their redemption. He demonstrated by means of cabala that all the laws in the Torah and the Shulchan Aruch referred to the commandment to be fruitful and multiply; and that, when the end of days was come, not only would Rabbi Gershom's ban on polygamy become null and void, but all the strict "Thou shalt nots," as well. Every pious woman would then be as fair as Abigail, and there would be no monthly flow of blood at all; for impure blood comes from the Evil One. Men would be permitted to know strange women. Such encounters might even be considered a religious duty; for each time a man and a woman unite they form a mystical combination and promote a union between the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Divine Presence. Reb Gedaliya explained all these things in a pleasant way and with many parables; he recited from memory whole sections from the Zohar and other works of cabala and adorned his speech with mystical combinations and permutations. Several times he raised his glance to the women's