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494 Bankruptcy

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Banoczi

494

Bankruptcy on the contrary, Hillel already found means to abrogate the effect of the Biblical year of

Kappara) Not much

laws for the discharge of Prosbul). As to equality among creditors, the Talmud tends very much the other way for every " shetar " or sealed bond (obligation

preserved but he is distinguished as one of the great haggadists of his time. Probably he also enjoyed the reputation of a saint, as is shown by the mar-



release, the simplest of all

poor debtors

(see



by two witnesses) operated from its date as a mortgage on all of the debtor's land only bonds of the same date stood on an equal footing; and in many places the custom was to mark the hour, and thus to give preference even between bonds of the same date. Among debts by simple contracts the one first ripening into judgment would take priority. In the later Middle Ages, when the .Tews became landless, and when their little wealth was invested in jewels, in merchandise and shipping, in silver and attested



gold, or in loans to the Gentiles, the priority among bondholders was extended to such personal property as might be in hand at the time of the insolvency

nature and effect of bonds, see Deeds). Cases would, however, occur in which execution was levied on behalf of several creditors of the same rank, and in which the law had to contrive some plan of distribution. Here the method of the Rabbis (as to

widely from that of modern courts. The division of the fund is not made in proportion to the demands, but according to the number of creditors none of course to be paid more than the full amount of his claim. If there are five creditors, and the smallest claim is less than one-fifth of the fund, it is paid in full the rest of the fund being divided, on the same principle, among the other four creditors. The example given in the Hoshen Mishpat puts it thus: Suppose the fund be 300 dinars, and there are three creditors with claims for 300, 200, and 100 dinars respectively, each claimant receives one-third of the fund; i.e., 100 dinars. Again, suppose the fund be more than 500 and less than 600 dinars, each claimant receives an amount equal to the smallest claim, i.e., 100 dinars, and, of the remainder, each of the two remaining creditors receives an amount equal to the smallest claim, i.e., another 100 dinars; and the rest goes to the third claimant (Shulhan 'Aruk, Hosshe 11 Mishpat, iv. 10). Another case is mentioned Where two Jews hold bonds against a Gentile whose property is proved insufficient to pay both in full, and the proceeds come to a Jewish tribunal for distribution, the interest ranks with the principal, and an objection from the holder of the junior bond, because the interest arose after the date of the elder bond, will not be condiffers





sidered

15).

(ib.

These views are sustained by the corresponding passages in Maimonides, "Yad," Malveh xx., and in the Tur, Hoshen Mishpat, civ., and "Bet Yosef," ad loc., and run back that about the man-

—

ner of distribution among creditors, to Ket. x. 4, 93a; and that about interest, to a principle set forth in K~et. xii. 1. B. Moses Isserles (to H osu en Mishpat, lxxxvi. 1). however, thinks that the junior creditor may redeem by paying interest up to the day. J. sn. L. D.

N

BANNAAH, BANNAY, BANNAYAH Benajah)



A

Palestinian

semi-tanna (see

at the beginning of the third century. of a halakic nature from him has been



vels related of him in later legends. Regarding Bannaah's relation to Rabbi, the collector of the Mishnah, the following utterance is characteristic "Man should ever penetrate de«p into the study of the Mishnah for if he knock it will be opened to him, be it the Talmud [= Halakah] or the Haggadah" (Pesik. xxvii. 176a; compare Matt. vii. 7: "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you"). Bannaah therefore belongs to the few of the semi-tannaim who fully acknowledged the merit of Rabbi's collection of the Mishnah, regarding it as a progressive step in the development of the tannaitic literature (compare Yer. Hor. iii. 48c). To the Mishnah of Rabbi in particular, and to the Halakah in general, might be applied Bannaah's remark on Joshua, that he acted " in accordance with the spirit of the Law

as revealed by God to Moses, also in instances when not directly instructed by the latter " (Yer. Peah i. 15b).

Bannaah's view on the origin of the Pentateuch is remarkable as almost bordering on Biblical criticism. " The Torah, " he says, " was given in rolls " (Git. 60a). meaning to say that the Pentateuch was promulgated in sections, which were afterward joined into a unity. In haggadic exegesis Bannaah frequently applies symbolism. For instance, he thinks that God demanded gold for the Tabernacle, in order that Israel might in this way do penance for the sin committed in worshiping the golden calf (Sifre, Deut. i.). The following words of Bannaah are also noteworthy: "Saul began to subtilize over the order which he had received to exterminate Amalek. If the men have sinned, said he, in what manner have the women, the children, or the cattle?' Whereupon there came a voice from heaven that cried, 'Be not righteous overmuch' (Eccl. vii. 16); that is, Be not more just than thy Creator " (Eccl. R. vii. 16; and compare Jerome's commentary, ad '

'

'

'

'

loc).

Neither the foregoing nor any other passage of Haggadah justifies the role of a saint ascribed to Bannaah in the Babylonian Talmud the following can therefore be accepted only as a legend the



"Bannaah," relates the Babylonian Talmud, "was in the habit ot marking tombs, in order that persons might guard themselves against ritual impurity, and, when engaged in this manner, chanced one day to come upon the cave ot Abraham. At the entrance he found Eliezer, Abraham's faithful servant, and, being announced by him, thereupon entered. When Bannaah, however, endeavored to view the grave of Adam, which was situated in the same cave [see Adam in Rabbinical Literature], a voice came from heaven, saying: 'Thou mayest look upon the image of My image [Jacob], but not upon My direct image [Adam].' But Bannaah had already seen the soles of Adam's feet, which were like unto two suns" (B. B. 58a).

In another legend the practical wisdom of Banis extolled. On one occasion, a man had ordered that only one of his (supposed) ten sous was to be his heir, knowing that only one was his true son.

naah

Naturally (not

Bannaah

Bar

and

claimed this distinction; whereupon them to visit the grave of their father, upon it until he should awaken and tell

all

told

to strike