Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/621

569 :



THE

569 Very often he nicnlions

IVsaro.


 * iiirnry, Isjiiuh

Tmiii

ili

<ommcntaiy Auaw

in

his st'iiior coiiliiu Elder), ti) whoso Uible wrote glosses.

itht-

Vi'J'i

Bulicr's IntnKiuiIkin to Shihluile ha-LehcU St-tiiirr. ill '/Ann. 1. Hi r.l xr<i.; Vogelstcln anil Kit'tfcr, fii-srh. <l. Jinliit in lintn. i. :W; rt sat,; Berliner, liifvh. it. Juilin ill lliiiii. il. V); SteinschneUler, Cat. ISmll. No. 7149; MIrhael. i )r lia-}f»imiin, iitt. 11119; GiitU'iimnn. tiatch. dot Erzieliuimswe^cnii it. Juden in Italicii. pp. 192.

lijiiLKiiiKAiMIV Wiliiii, 1K«U;



I!«.

Af.

R.

ANBAL, (AMBAL) THE JASSIN (OSmany foreii,'ni-rs who held poSETE) Anionj; llii:



the court of Prince Andrei Boi^olyubski, in ICiev. toward the end nf the twelfth century, were t woof Jewish ori?:in: 1) Epliraim .Moisicli, or iloisievicli, who had gained the prince's confidence; (2) Anhal the .lassin (the 0.s.sete, from the Caucasus), his all-powerful " key-waleli " (ehamherlain). These siiicpiis al

(

and Anilrei's relative Kuclikov were the instiand rim^leaders of a conspiracy against the They killed him in the night of June 29, prince. 174, and when his naked body lay exposed in the

-vo

L^ators

1

palace garden, a faithful servant imjilored Anlial to pcrniil him tocover it, reminding him thai lie(Anbal) liad come into the .service of his master clothed in rags, and that it was by the hitter's bounty that he

was now wearing velvet. To this remonstrance Anbal lent a ready ear. Besides its historic interest, the incident is of importance as proving the existence of •lews from the Caucasus in Great Russia in the twelfth century. ItiHi.iocR.vi'UY: S. M.S vycv, Mnriiia lio^iii.i s Drcvncinhilili Vrcniinn. 2(1 ed., 1. ."il2 ct sni. ; s. WeisseiilH'n?. Dii' .s'tjf/nwsiscticn Jmtcii. Brunswick, jsiri; Rcuciitu i .Y«'/i«Vi. .os. it;..

174.

,j

ANCESTOR 'WORSHIP:

j^

The same homage

parents and more reto deities. -Many anthropologists are of opinion that this was the original form of religifm II. .Spencer, Lippert); the school represented by Sta<li,' and F. Schwally ;irgues that il was the original religion of Israel before .lahvism was intrtxluced by Moses and the Prophets. .Vieording to them, much of the jiriestly legislation was directed against the rites connecle<l with Ancestor Worship. At present the view that the original religion of the Israelites was some form of Ancestor Worship is the only one that has bei'ii put forward seientitieally or systematically, tog<lher with an explanation of the <-hanges ma(ie by the later and true religion of Israel. Nevertheless arguments of some weight hav(' been brought forward toshowthat this view of the original Israelitish religion is only slenderly based U]ion fads, and it .seems desirable theretcin- to give a suimnary of the argumenis for and airainst regarding Ancestor Worship us the original reliirioM of Israel. The school of Slade ba.ses its belief a.s to the forluc-r existence of this worship in Israel on the follow:imI adnniii.iii p.nd h.

i:isid

ilr(

mote ancestors as usually given i

in:.'

arguments:

I.

Hebrew 'Views

.Vrciinliriir

to

of the Nature of the Soul Stade and his followers, these were

idintical with the animistic llieory of savages,

o iiarils the soul as a -liadow in which the

which

of immaterial breath or life of Ihe liody exists, but uhiehian leave il foralimeand inhabit other bodies of men or animals. The iiij'mli (genenilly niidereil "soul") and nmli (lilemlly "wind." generally rendered "spirit ")of Ihe Hebrews are of this kind, either "f which leaves a man when he (Iic>s((}en. xxxv. IM; I's. <-xlvi. 4). The ruah can go back to the bixlv (Judges, XV. 11); Sam. xxx. 12), jusi as in the an! niislic belief of .savages. Ilut Ihe nnil.i represents a I

.sort

Anaw, Abraham Ancestor Worship

JEWLSII ENCYCLOPEDIA

more exalted state of the soul or spirit than the nefe.sh, and according to Stade was originally the spiiil of the dead, which might be either good or bad, and could arouse men to exalted or to base pa.ssions. Jahvisin transformed this view bv restricting the ruah to that of YIIWII (e.jr., I Sani. x. C; Judges, ix. 2:!).

II.

Hebrew

'Views of the Life After Death

Several of the I'siilms ixxx. o. xli. Hi. Ix.xxvi. i;5, cxvi. 3) speak of the nefesh being saved from Sheol; while other pas,sages (Num. vi. 6, Lev. .xxi. 11) speak of the nefesh of the ilead. Sheol appeal's to l)e a place of assembly for all departed spirits (Job, xxx. 2:5), which are i)n.ssibly to be identified with the rifiiiiii (often rendered "the shades"). The use of the expression, "to be gathered to one's fathers" (compare Gen. .xv. 1.5, xxv. S) would imply that these departed spirits were regarded chielly as those of ancestors. III. Mourning' Customs Several of these seem to be the same as those usetl in divine worship. Thus, to tear the clothes and to put ashes upon the head (H Sam. i. 1 1) are customs also employed in worship (Josh. vii. (i; compare Joel, ii. 12). The wearing of the silk or sackcloth (II .Sam. iii. 31, xiv. 2) is likewise a usual accompaniment of fasting (Isji. Iviii. 5). Cutting or shaving the hair is both a mark of mourning (Jer. xvi. 6) and a solemn sign of the end of the Nazarite's vow (Num. vi. l.S). To go barefoot (.Micah, i. 8) is a sign both of mourning and of recognition of the divine presence (Ex. iii. ."i); fa.sting both a manifestation of mourning (II Sam. i. 12. iii. 3.')) and an a<l of divine worship. The assumptiou of the school of Stade is that these customs, originally signs of woiship of ancestors, were afterward, by the Jalivistic reformation, transferred to the worship of Ihe Deity. Further, contact with the dead makes things tabu or "holv," just as consecration to Ihe Deily does. I'V. Burial Customs Israelites in historic times appear lo have usually Ijuried their dead. Hut traces are found of burning them (thus I Sam. xxxi. 12; Amos, vi. 10; Josh. vii. 2')); and it is suggested that this was because in the primitive religion of Israel the bodies of the dead were regarded as especially holy, and were therefore burneil like the renmauts of the olTcrings (Lev. iv. 12. 21). The later custom of burying the corp.se was connected with the aniinislic belief that only thus could the spirit of the departed lind rest. In early days Ihe dead were buried in their own houses (I Sam. xxv. 1 compare I Sam. .xxviii. 4; I Kings, ii. 34; II Chron. xxxiii. 20). This is held to have been for the purpose of worshiping their spirit.s. and was repudiated by the later





Jalivistic legislation

xxxv. 20 and

(Num.

xix.

Hi).

From Gen.

Kings, xxiii. 17 it is concluded that it was (uslonKirv to i>lace monuments on the graves of Ihe dead for purposes of wo|-ship. 'V. Offerings to the Dead: In Jer. xvi. (>. 7 it seems to be impli(d thai the mourning customs (Inmenling, making incisions, shaving the hair, and tearing the garments) were observed for the .sake of the dead, and that "the cup of consolation " offiTed to Ihe mournir wasotTc-red " for his father or for his mother. " Similarlv in Dent. xxvi. 14. it seems to be implied Ihal the Jahvislic legislalion opposed doing certain Ihings ami giving <'erlain things in honor of the di'ad. The same seems lo b<' implied ill llosea, ix. 4; while gifts ari' brought directly to Ihe ilead ii.s lateas Tobit, iv. 17; Kcdus. (Sinich) vii. II

(/ »f/. (compare .bot. iii. !i). The mouriung customs of shaving the hair and sprinkling bliMwl aro also regard<-d nsolTerings of hair and blood to the nianos of Ihe dead

32