Satan in Goray - Isaac Bashevis Singer [6]
in a deep cave; some knew as a fact that he rode daily on a silk-saddled horse with fifty runners before him--others, that he fasted from Sabbath to Sabbath and wracked his body with the most severe torments. Every emissary brought another story. A Frank who had wandered to Lublin swore that Sabbatai Zevi was as tall as a cedar, wore gold, silver, and precious stones, and that it was impossible to look at his face because of its brilliance. A Talmud scholar from some distant place revealed that Sabbatai Zevi was involved in a controversy with the rabbis, and that they had laid a ban on him, for blasphemy. People also had much to say about Sarah, the girl from Poland, who having fled the Cossacks had prophesied that she was destined to be the Messiah's wife--and had married Sabbatai Zevi. While some declared she was modest and God-fearing, others whispered that she had been a whore. Rabbi Benish knew of these rumors and tales, but he heeded the verse in Amos: "Therefore the prudent doth keep silence in such a time"--and he kept silent. As long as Rabbi Benish dwelt in Lublin he pretended to hear nothing. For many years he had known that Polish Jewry was taking the wrong path. They delved too deeply into things that were meant to be hidden, they drank too little from the clear waters of the holy teachings. The study of the Bible and Hebrew was looked down upon. The early commentators were rarely read. Young men, confused by the twists and turns of pilpul, sought to resolve a hundred dilemmas with one answer; they scorned true learning, as child's play. Boys not yet twenty, still young in understanding, were already poring over mystical works, like the Treasury of Life, and Raziel the Angel, and the Zohar, and the interpretations of the mysteries of the Divine Chariot in the Book of Ezekiel. Men deserted their families and wandered through the world, purifying their souls by exile; boys of thirteen immersed themselves in cold baths. There were too many ascetics among Polish Jewry, too many recluses, amulet writers, and wonder workers. Himself a student of philosophy, well versed in The Guide for the Perplexed, and the Cuzari, and the Duties of the Heart, and Principia, Rabbi Benish deplored the cabalistic works of Rabbi Isaac Luria; in his opinion they were contradictory and lewd. Before 1648, when at home in Goray, Rabbi Benish had kept his eyes open and had seen to it that this plague (as he sometimes called it in his thoughts) did not spread. Secretly he had taken the cabalistic volumes with their wooden covers from the study house and had hidden them in his own home. He recited the lessons for the older boys himself, to be sure that they understood the meaning clearly; and he did not allow them to indulge in pilpul. Rabbi Benish ordered them to read the biblical Prophets and Writings until they had memorized them, and he taught the boys Hebrew grammar, although in Poland this was considered al Satan in Goray 25 most apostasy. If a younger rabbi had dared this, he would have been driven from the town. But Rabbi Benish Ashkenazi was respected. The substantial citizens--men of means who liked common sense and moderation in all things--stood by Rabbi Benish in his battle against the zealots. The young man who secluded himself to become immersed in the study of the mysteries would be flogged, or forbidden to appear in the prayer house, until he stood before the congregation in his stockinged feet and promised no longer to isolate himself from the community. Occasionally, adepts in the cabala, men who could extract wine from walls, heal the sick, and even revive the dead, would appear in Goray. But Rabbi Benish did not permit them to stay long. Those who refused to leave of their own accord would be forced to leave. There would be a certain amount of grumbling, Rabbi Benish's foes claiming that he disbelieved in the cabala. Once unknown persons posted a paper slandering Rabbi Benish. But the rabbi remained steadfast in his ways, maintaining, "So long as I live, there will be no idolatry in Goray!" To Rabbi Benish the misfortunes