(9) Because you took the LORD—my refuge, the Most High—as your haven, (10) no harm will befall you, no disease touch your tent. (11) For He will order His angels to guard you wherever you go.
(26) And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this rite?’ (27) you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the LORD, because He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses.’” The people then bowed low in homage. (28) And the Israelites went and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. (29) In the middle of the night the LORD struck down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sat on the throne to the first-born of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of the cattle. (30) And Pharaoh arose in the night, with all his courtiers and all the Egyptians—because there was a loud cry in Egypt; for there was no house where there was not someone dead.
§ The Sages taught: If there is plague in the city, gather your feet, i.e., limit the time you spend out of the house, as it is stated in the verse: “And none of you shall go out of the opening of his house until the morning.” And it says in another verse: “Come, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself for a little moment, until the anger has passed by” (Isaiah 26:20). And it says: “Outside the sword will bereave, and in the chambers terror” (Deuteronomy 32:25). The Gemara asks: What is the reason for citing the additional verses introduced with the term: And it says? The first verse seems sufficient to teach the principle that one should not emerge from one’s house when there is a plague. The Gemara answers: And if you would say that this matter, the first verse that states that none of you shall go out until morning, applies only at night, but in the day one may think that the principle does not apply, for this reason the Gemara teaches: Come and hear: “Come, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut your doors behind you.”
...אנחנו ראינו מוסר אלקינו זה י"ג שנה עד שנשתנו סדרי בראשית. כי ירד רע בשנה ההיא לרוב יושבי העולם וחלו בהם חלאים משונים א"א שנמשכו למנהגו של עולם. אבל כל משכיל צריך להודות ולומר אצבע אלקים היא. כי החלאים הנוהגים בבני אדם הם קורים בו מצד טבעו. אבל הזרים אינם נופלים בהם בטבעו אבל עונש האלקים בהשגחה עליו. ... והנה לשון זה הפסוק מסכים עם מה שמורה עליו השכל והוא שהחליים המשונים לא יחולו במקרה מצד טבע האדם אבל הוא אצבע אלקים. ואלה ראינו בעינינו מתפשטים וכוללים בשנה ההיא עד שנהפך העולם בזנה אחת יותר ממה שנהפך ונתחלף בזמן קודם במאתים שנה. וקרה בכמה מקומות כמו שקרה לדתן ולאבירם שכמה אנשים תמו נכרתו עד שנחלתם נהפכה לאויבים. לא שאומר שיהיה זה בעונם אבל כי היה וגם אנחנו בימים האלה ובזמן הזה שמועות יבהלונו תמיד שקורה בארצות אינן רחוקות ממנו מאד כמו שקרה במקומותינו וכאשר ראינו בעינינו. ועתה אחרי זאת איך ישאר ליצרנו ולדמיון הכוזב פתחון פה ואיך ישיאנו משאות שוא ומדוחים ויגרשונו מהסתפח בנחלת ה'. הלא עינינו אשר ראו את מוסר ה' אלקינו וידו החזקה ויאמרו לנו לבל נפנה אל רהבי הזמן כי שקר נסכם, ונקל עלינו לשוב אל הש"י בלב שלם כאשר גזר שכלנו כי אין עליו ליאות בזאת ומונע ומעכב אין שטן ואין פגע רע?
...We have been witness to the chastisements of our God for thirteen years now, a complete reversal of the natural order of things. For the evil [the Black Plague] descended in that year [1348] upon most of the inhabitants of the earth, bringing upon them unusual afflictions which it is impossible to attribute to the workings of nature. Every enlightened individual must acknowledge them as "the finger of God." For the sicknesses common to man may be attributed to his nature, unlike strange, exotic illnesses, which must be regarded as the punishment of God to man in His constant surveillance of him. ...The language of Scripture, then, agrees with what is dictated by intellect — that sore, exotic afflictions are not the adventitious byproducts of man's nature, but rather "the finger of God." And it is such afflictions that we witnessed with our own eyes, reaching out and engulfing all in that year, until in the space of just one year the world underwent a more radical change than it had ever undergone previously in the course of two hundred years. And in many places it happened as it happened with Dathan and Aviram, many men — they and all that was theirs — being completely wiped out, until their inheritance reverted to their foes. I am not saying that this happened because of their sins, but that it happened. And we, too, in these days and in this time are being constantly alarmed by reports that in lands not at all distant from ours there are happening things of the kind which happened in our land and which we witnessed with our own eyes. This being so, how can our evil inclination and our deceitful imagination make any claim upon us? How can they arouse us to rebellion and drive us from domicile in the inheritance of the Lord? Is it not our own eyes that have seen the chastisements of the Lord our God and His strong hand exhorting us not to fall prey to false, temporal vanities? Is it not easy for us to return to the Holy One Blessed be He with a whole heart, as dictated by our intellect, unimpeded by any hindrance or deterrent, untrammeled by the Satan or by any evil intercessor?
But the above-cited words of our sages (Berachoth 33b): "Is fear of the L-rd a small thing? Yes, to Moses it is a small thing. The situation is analogous to a man's being asked for a large vessel, etc." — these words still demand explanation. For it would seem that our sages are not answering this question along the aforementioned lines but that their intent is to say that since Moses found it easy of attainment he portrays it as such, as though it were easy for them. And I have already written above that this is cause for wonder, for it is not reasonable to gauge what is easy or difficult for another by what is easy or difficult for oneself. A closer look, however, will show that there is no cause for question. For our reservation applies only in respect to something that is easy to the speaker and not possibly easy to the one he is addressing, but this state [fear of the L-rd] is of an entirely different nature, being within the capabilities of all men. And the man who has attained it describes it truthfully as easy of attainment in the respect that all of the exertion and toil expended in its attainment are as nothing compared to the exalted thing that is attained; so much so, that one who pictures it to himself in all the glory of its exaltedness will not find its pursuit toilsome even in the very midst of his toils to attain it, as in (Bereshith 29:20): "And they were but as a few days in his love of her." But one who does not picture and discriminate it as such will see it as extremely difficult of attainment, though in truth it be very easy in point of its nature. This can be compared to one's having tried out a certain occupation, having found it easy, and telling others who think it difficult because they have not tried it out: "Believe me, it is quite easy." This is how I interpret the words of our sages. In any event, Moses' saying "And know this today" and the rest of the parshah are seen to be cogently interconnected according to our interpretation. And the verses may also be understood according to our sages' interpretation. For there is no doubt that when the world is visited with distress and adversity it is easier for a man to return to His Creator. How much more so should we return, in our time and in our epoch when the L-rd has smitten such a multitude, to examine our deeds and repent both of those sins between man and his Creator and those between man and his fellow man. And there are three considerations which cause me special concern in respect to two sins that men are constantly guilty of — the first, vows and oaths; and the second, causeless hatred. What leads me to say this is that I find even one of these considerations to intensify a transgression and make it more serious. The first consideration is the severity of the sin in itself, its being comparable to idol worship, murder, and adultery. The second, the fact that one constantly falls into it. The slightest thing in the world if it is doubled over many times, becomes extremely strong — as we see a constantly redoubled strand of flax to be stronger than a fiber of iron. And, as our sages commented on the verse introducing this parshah (Devarim 7:12): "And it shall be ekev you hear" — (Tanchumah Ekev 1): "If you hear [observe] the slight mitzvoth that one is prone to tread down with his heel [ekev]." And this is the intent of (Psalms 49:6): "Why should I fear in the days of evil? The sin of my heels encompasses me." That is, I do not fear the major transgressions, for I do not go astray in them, but I do fear the lesser ones, which, because one regards them as minor, he transgresses constantly, as a result of which they are transformed to the severest of the severe. Repetition of a sin, then, intensifies and strengthens it. The third consideration — its being a sin to which man's nature is not prone. For a man can offer some rationalization for what his nature is prone to, as it is written (Ibid 51:6): "Behold, I was shaped in sin, and in sin did my mother conceive me." And our sages have stated (Yoma 19b): "And what does the Holy One Blessed be He say? — (Bereshith 4:7): 'Sin lies at the door [of life]'" But a man cannot rationalize what he is not naturally prone to. And if even one of these three factors in itself intensifies and strengthens a sin, how grave must a transgression be in which they are all combined! And in the sin of vain and false oaths I see men constantly going astray in these three areas. They take oaths on anything and everything until it becomes virtually a custom or force of habit for them to do so — and they do not take heed as to whether they are swearing truly or falsely. There is no doubt that this transgression in itself is one of the gravest in the Torah, for concerning it it is written (Shemoth 20:7): "For the L-rd will not absolve…" Those who swear falsely have been likened to those who incur the penalty of cutting-off [kareth] or the judicial death penalty, for it is as if they deny the Holy One Blessed be He. They imply that what they are swearing to is as true as the Holy One Blessed be He, and if they swear falsely, see what they have wrought! This sin, then, is found to be severe in itself and in point of its being constantly repeated. For there is no end to the oaths that the habitué pours forth from his mouth. And as to the populace in general, they pour forth literally a flood of oaths. There is no rationalizing this sin because the nature of man is not prone to it. This one transgression, then, is found to contain all three elements which place the stamp of gravity on any sin whatsoever. Community oaths are also extremely severe, and they require amendment. And causeless hatred also falls into this class in that it is a transgression that one constantly persists in and that affords no benefit or enjoyment to a man which would cause his nature to incline towards it. It is for this reason that our sages placed causeless hatred over and against three transgressions: idol worship, illicit relations, and murder — for man's nature inclines more to these three than it does to causeless hatred (to explain the how and why of this would take too long) and because it is only once in a long while that one succumbs to them, whereas one constantly succumbs to causeless hatred.
Should cause for dissension present itself, be slow to accept the quarrel; seek peace and pursue it with all the vigor you command. Even if you suffer loss thereby, forbear and forgive, for God has many ways of feeding and sustaining His creatures. ... In trade be true, never grasping at what belongs to another. For by avoiding these wrongs - scandal, falsehood, money-grubbing - you will surely find tranquility and affection. And against all evils, silence is the best safeguard. ...
Be very particular to keep your houses clean and tidy. I was always scrupulous on this point, for every injurious condition and sickness and poverty are to be found in foul dwellings. Be careful over the benedictions; accept no divine gift without paying back the Giver's part; and God's part is humanity's grateful acknowledgement.
On holidays and festivals and Sabbaths seek to make happy the poor, the unfortunate, widows and orphans, who should always be guests at your tables; their joyous entertainment is a religious duty. Let me repeat my warning against gossip and scandal: just as you speak no scandal, listen to none. For if there were no receivers, there would be no bearers of slanderous tales; therefore the reception and credit of slander is as serious an offense as the originating of it. The less you say, the less cause you give for animosity. ...
From the last testament of Rabbi Eleazar of Mainz, c. 1357
In the year 5108 (1348), a terrible pestilence raged from sunrise to sunset, and not one city remained untouched. ... A pitiful outcry rose from one end of the earth to the other, unequaled until now: for a town evacuating one thousand sick people had only one hundred persons left, and a town of one hundred had a mere ten survive. And if a single Jew took ill and died, then one hundred people of the land took ill and died, the Gentiles were filled with rage and would no longer fraternize with the Jews ...
In these days, no king ruled in Aragon; had God not stood by our side, not one Jew from Aragon or Catalonia could have escaped or run away. Out of sheer spite, accusations were leveled against us: "All of this has come to pass due to the guilt of the Jews; they have brought this deadly poison into the world; they have caused it, and only because of them has this horrible plague come upon us." As they voiced this rumor, the Jews panicked, mortified their bodies through fasting, and cried out to God. This year was a desperate time for Israel, a time of grimness and of punishment. On a Sabbath eve, the Gentiles rose up against God's people in Barcelona and killed twenty people...[some of] the Jews went out to the nobles and dignitaries of the city to save the rest from the attackers...but they were powerless to save them; too many had risen against them, saying: "Let us destroy them, so that they will no longer be a nation, and the name of Israel will no longer be remembered..."
Yosef HaKohen, Emek HaBacha [The Valley of Weeping], 1557
In medieval Europe, Jews were blamed so often, and so viciously, that it is surprising it was not called the Jewish Death. During the pandemic’s peak in Europe, from 1348 to 1351, more than 200 Jewish communities were wiped out, their inhabitants accused of spreading contagion or poisoning wells.
...
Dr. Martin J. Blaser, a historian who is chairman of medicine at New York University’s medical school, offers an intriguing hypothesis for why Jews became scapegoats in the Black Death: they were largely spared, in comparison with other groups, because grain was removed from their houses for Passover, discouraging the rats that spread the disease. The plague peaked in spring, around Passover.
...
During the Black Death, Pope Clement VI issued an edict, or bull, saying Jews were not at fault. He did not, of course, blaspheme by blaming God. Nor did he blame mankind’s sins. That would have comforted the Flagellants, the self-whipping sect who were the bull’s real target; they often led the mobs attacking both Jews and the corrupt church hierarchy, and were considered heretics. Nor did it blame Möngke Khan or Yersinia pestis. It would be 500 years until the “germ theory” of disease developed.
No, the pope picked a target particularly tough to take revenge upon: a misalignment of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Donald G. McNeil Jr., "Finding a Scapegoat When Epidemics Strike," New York Times, Aug. 31, 2009; accessed online at https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/health/01plague.html.
Now that this disease is abroad in the land – Heaven deliver us, here also – this is the teaching for man, and the way of common sense: not to fear it at all, for what is man’s life in all its aspects, for who knows if one’s path is proper? One must also heed the instructions of the physicians, in light of whose words we shall walk, even by law [the Torah], and to establish the life of this world for good and for betterment. For experience has taught us that in days past, when the disease spread greatly, that whoever took upon himself the burden of the doctor’s orders in his diet, etc… was free of the signs of the disease – may Heaven protect us. And… one is not to worry and to complain about the precious soul which has been relieved of its suffering in this life of vanity, in order to go on the straightforward path to its haven…(Ohr Yisrael, letter #22, Translation in Etkes, Israel Salanter, pg. 169)
Rabbi Israel Salanter Prohibits Fasting on Yom Kippur 1848
The other Yom Kippur tale taught a lesson about first principles, too. Cholera is a dread and terribly incapacitating disease, and it was rampant one particular year in that area of Europe where R’ Salanter and his congregants lived. Anyone who suffered from it could easily become seriously, mortally ill; and one had to replenish fluids and nutrients to replace those lost in the course of the illness in order to get well.
But on Yom Kippur? To eat and drink when, as everyone knows, the Torah forbids that? Wouldn’t it be in our best interests to fast then anyway, and to pray that G-d have mercy on us?
R’ Salanter took another tact. In order to prevent tragedy and forestall the rapid deterioration of those who’d be exposed to cholera, R’ Salanter forbad his congregants from fasting that year (to ensure their resistance to the disease), he ordered that the prayer service be shortened (so no one would tire himself out and be more susceptible to it), and he ordered that people hold services in the open air rather than in the synagogue (so that no one come into close contact with others and thus not to spread the disease). In fact, after the Morning Prayer R’ Salanter himself ascended the pulpit with a piece of cake in hand, said Kiddush over wine, and ate and drank in everyone’s sight.
Knowing full well that actively avoiding a danger to one’s life trumps nearly everything else according to the Torah, as most observant Jews know, still and all the stark application of that in the course of the Holy Day of Yom Kippur seemed to belittle the moment. So some people looked askance at what he did. But R’ Salanter knew that what needed to be done and what mattered most of all rather than what we’d ordinarily be expected to do had to be done, so he set out to do it despite appearances.
https://torah.org/learning/spiritual-excellence-classes-salanter2/
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
(ז) וְלָֽקְחוּ֙ מִן־הַדָּ֔ם וְנָֽתְנ֛וּ עַל־שְׁתֵּ֥י הַמְּזוּזֹ֖ת וְעַל־הַמַּשְׁק֑וֹף עַ֚ל הַבָּ֣תִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־יֹאכְל֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ בָּהֶֽם׃ (ח) וְאָכְל֥וּ אֶת־הַבָּשָׂ֖ר בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַזֶּ֑ה צְלִי־אֵ֣שׁ וּמַצּ֔וֹת עַל־מְרֹרִ֖ים יֹאכְלֻֽהוּ׃ (ט) אַל־תֹּאכְל֤וּ מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ נָ֔א וּבָשֵׁ֥ל מְבֻשָּׁ֖ל בַּמָּ֑יִם כִּ֣י אִם־צְלִי־אֵ֔שׁ רֹאשׁ֥וֹ עַל־כְּרָעָ֖יו וְעַל־קִרְבּֽוֹ׃ (י) וְלֹא־תוֹתִ֥ירוּ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ עַד־בֹּ֑קֶר וְהַנֹּתָ֥ר מִמֶּ֛נּוּ עַד־בֹּ֖קֶר בָּאֵ֥שׁ תִּשְׂרֹֽפוּ׃ (יא) וְכָכָה֮ תֹּאכְל֣וּ אֹתוֹ֒ מָתְנֵיכֶ֣ם חֲגֻרִ֔ים נַֽעֲלֵיכֶם֙ בְּרַגְלֵיכֶ֔ם וּמַקֶּלְכֶ֖ם בְּיֶדְכֶ֑ם וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם אֹתוֹ֙ בְּחִפָּז֔וֹן פֶּ֥סַח ה֖וּא לַה'׃ (יב) וְעָבַרְתִּ֣י בְאֶֽרֶץ־מִצְרַיִם֮ בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַזֶּה֒ וְהִכֵּיתִ֤י כָל־בְּכוֹר֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם מֵאָדָ֖ם וְעַד־בְּהֵמָ֑ה וּבְכָל־אֱלֹקֵ֥י מִצְרַ֛יִם אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה שְׁפָטִ֖ים אֲנִ֥י ה'׃ (יג) וְהָיָה֩ הַדָּ֨ם לָכֶ֜ם לְאֹ֗ת עַ֤ל הַבָּתִּים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אַתֶּ֣ם שָׁ֔ם וְרָאִ֙יתִי֙ אֶת־הַדָּ֔ם וּפָסַחְתִּ֖י עֲלֵכֶ֑ם וְלֹֽא־יִֽהְיֶ֨ה בָכֶ֥ם נֶ֙גֶף֙ לְמַשְׁחִ֔ית בְּהַכֹּתִ֖י בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
(7) They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it. (8) They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. (9) Do not eat any of it raw, or cooked in any way with water, but roasted—head, legs, and entrails—over the fire. (10) You shall not leave any of it over until morning; if any of it is left until morning, you shall burn it. (11) This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly: it is a passover offering to the LORD. (12) For that night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and I will mete out punishments to all the gods of Egypt, I the LORD. (13) And the blood on the houses where you are staying shall be a sign for you: when I see the blood I will pass over you, so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
(ה) כְּגַוְונָא דָּא קְטֹרֶת, כָּל מַאן דְּאָרַח בְּהַהוּא תְּנָנָא, כַּד סָלִיק הַהוּא עַמּוּדָא מֵהַהוּא מַעֲלֶה עָשָׁן, הֲוָה מְבָרֵר לִבֵּיהּ, בִּבְרִירוּ בִּנְהִירוּ בְּחֶדְוָה לְמִפְלַח לְמָארֵיהּ, וְאַעְבָּר מִנֵּיהּ זוּהֲמָא דְּיֵצֶר הָרָע, וְלָא הֲוָה לֵיהּ אֶלָּא לִבָּא חֲדָא, לָקֳבֵל אֲבוּהָ דְּבִשְׁמַיָּא. בְּגִין דִּקְטֹרֶת, תְּבִירוּ דְּיֵצֶר הָרָע אִיהוּ וַדַּאי בְּכָל סִטְרִין. וּכְמָּה דְּצִיץ הֲוָה קָאִים עַל נִיסָא, אוּף קְטֹרֶת. דְּלֵית לָךְ מִלָּה בְּעָלְמָא, לְמִתְבַּר לֵיהּ לְסִטְרָא אַחֲרָא, בַּר קְטֹרֶת.
(ו) תָּא חֲזֵי מַה כְּתִיב, (במדבר יז) קַח אֶת הַמַּחְתָּה וְתֶן עָלֶיהָ אֵשׁ מֵעַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְשִׂים קְטֹרֶת. מַאי טַעְמָא. כִּי יָצָא הַקֶּצֶף מִלִּפְנֵי ה'', הֵחֵל הַנָּגֶף. דְּהָא לֵית תְּבִירוּ לְהַהוּא סִטְרָא בַּר קְטֹרֶת. דְּלֵית לָךְ מִלָּה חֲבִיבָה קָמֵי קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, כִּקְטֹרֶת. וְקַיְּימָא לְבַטְּלָא חַרְשִׁין, וּמִלִּין בִּישִׁין מִבֵּיתָא. רֵיחָא וַעֲשָׁנָא דִּקְטֹרֶת דְּעַבְדֵי בְּנִי נָשָׁא, בְּהַהוּא עוֹבְדָּא אִיהוּ מְבַטֵּל, כָּל שֶׁכֵּן קְטֹרֶת.
(ז) מִלָּה דָּא גְּזֵרָה קַיְּימָא קַמֵּי קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, דְּכָל מַאן דְּאִסְתָּכַּל וְקָרֵי בְּכָל יוֹמָא עוֹבְדָּא (נ''א פרשתא) דִּקְטֹרֶת, יִשְׁתְּזִיב מִכָּל מִלִּין בִּישִׁין חַרְשִׁין דְּעָלְמָא. וּמִכָּל פְּגָעִין בִּישִׁין, וּמֵהִרְהוּרָא בִּישָׁא, וּמִדִּינָא בִּישָׁא, וּמִמוֹתָנָא, וְלָא יִתְזַק כָּל הַהוּא יוֹמָא, דְּלָא יָכִיל סִטְרָא אַחֲרָא לְשַׁלְטָא עָלֵיהּ, וְאִצְטְרִיךְ דִּיכַוֵּין בֵּיהּ.
Similarly, incense: Whoever smelled the smoke, as a column rose from the smoke-raiser, became cleansed of heart, refined in radiant joy to serve his Lord. This filth of the evil impulse disappeared from him, leaving him with only one heart toward his Father in heaven; for incense actually disintegrates the evil impulse in all aspects. Just as the tsits existed miraculously, so did the incense, for nothing int he world breaks the Other Side except incense.
Come and see what is written: Take the fire-pan and place fire upon it from the altar and put in incense. Why? For the fury has gone forth from before YHVH, the plague has begun! (Numbers 17:11). For look, nothing breaks that side except incense, since nothing is as beloved to the blessed Holy One as incense! Consequently, it can eliminate sorcery and evil elements from the home. If the fragrance and smoke of incense prepared by people for that purpose has the power to eliminate, all the more so [holy] incense.
This matter is an established decree before the blessed Holy One: Whoever contemplates and reads every day the Preparation of the Incense will be saved from all elements of sorcery in the world, form all mishaps, evil fantasies, and pestilence. He will not be harmed that entire day, for the Other Side has no power over him - but he must focus his intention on it.
(translation by Daniel Matt, Zohar, Volume 6, pages 247-248)
(ח) אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן, אִי בְּנֵי נָשָׁא הֲווֹ יַדְעֵי כַּמָה עִלָּאָה אִיהוּ עוֹבָדָא דִּקְטֹרֶת קַמֵּי קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, הֲווֹ נַטְלֵי כָּל מִלָּה וּמִלָּה מִנֵּיהּ, וַהֲווּ סַלְקֵי לֵהּ עֲטָרָה עַל רֵישַׁיְיהוּ, כְּכִתְרָא דְּדַהֲבָא. וּמַאן דְּאִשְׁתָּדַּל בֵּיהּ, בָּעֵי לְאִסְתַּכְּלָא בְּעוֹבָדָא דִּקְטֹרֶת, וְאִי יְכַוֵין בֵּיהּ בְּכָל יוֹמָא, אִית לֵיהּ חוּלָקָא בְּהַאי עָלְמָא, וּבְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי, וְיִסְתָּלַּק מוֹתָנָא מִנֵּיהּ, וּמֵעָלְמָא, וְיִשְׁתְּזִיב מִכָּל דִּינִין דְּהַאי עָלְמָא, מִסִּטְרִין בִּישִׁין, וּמִדִּינָא דְּגֵיהִנָּם, וּמִדִּינָא דְּמַלְכוּ אַחֲרָא.
Rabbi Shimon said, "If human beings knew how exalted the Preparation of the Incense was in the eyes of the blessed Holy One, they would take every single word and raise it as a crown upon their heads, like a crown of gold. Whoever engages in the Preparation of the Incense and concentrates upon it every day has a share in this world and in the world that is coming. Pestilence will disappear from him and from the world, and he will be delivered from all judgments and all evil aspects of this world, from the judgment of the alien kingdom and even from the judgment of Hell".
(translation by Daniel Matt, Zohar, Volume 6, pages 248)
| The Black Wedding to End a Plague |
The memorial book for Apt recounts how a holy rabbi helped the town during a cholera epidemic in 1892. Every few days someone died. In a community of about six thousand, that was a calamity. Prominent citizens went to the holy rabbi, imploring him to say a few prayers to the Almighty. Maybe the epidemic would subside. The rabbi thoughtfully replied, "Let's try a wedding on the Jewish cemetery. Perhaps the dearly departed will intervene with the Holy One to help." It is considered a great mitsve, or good deed, to help the poor to marry. All that was needed was a bride and groom. The matchmakers got busy. In town there was a young bachelor who was supported by the community. His job was to clean the communal bath. Each week he drained the water and replaced it with a fresh supply. He also kept the fire going in the mikve, the ritual bath, so that the water would always be hot. He lived in the hegdesh, a room where the burial society kept the implements for cleaning the dead for burial. Itinerant beggars also slept there. On being approached, the young man gladly accepted. Now a bride was needed. There was in town a young lady, an orphan. In Yiddish, it is enough to have lost one parent to be an orphan. This woman had lost both parents. She was what is called a kaylakhdike yesoyme, a round orphan, because she had absolutely no relatives. In exchange for a place to sleep on top of the oven, her daily bread, and a few cast-off clothes, she did the housework for a well-to-do family. She received no wages. On being approached she also gladly agreed. A proclamation was issued in the synagogue, the houses of study, and the Jewish schools that a black wedding, a shvartse khasene, would be held on the cemetery at a designated time. Everyone was to attend. On the appointed day, the whole town, including people from the surrounding villages, streamed into the cemetery. They gathered near the oyl, the little building housing the graves of holy rabbis. The sexton brought a wedding canopy. The bride wore a donated wedding dress. The rabbi conducted the ceremony. Many people shed a tear on this solemn occasion. The community donated gifts and food. A table was set up with a small barrel of vodka, glasses, and large joints of roasted mutton. Everyone wished each other a long life. When the assembly was already a little tipsy, Yankl Krokowski, the badkhn or master of ceremonies, stood on a stool and announced that the time had come to call out the wedding gifts. Seeing as this poor couple had no home, the appeal went out for cash donations. Everyone reached into their pockets and in a short time the iron pot was full of money. When it became too heavy to hold, Yankl set the pot down on the table. He regaled the company with jokes and songs. The band struck up a lively tune, and everyone, men, women, and children, danced. Reb Zvi Hirsh, who officiated at the wedding, stepped into the large circle of dancers. Small in stature, head held high, his eyes looking toward the sky, his beard and sidelocks flying, Reb Zvi Hirsh began to dance. He invited the newlyweds to join him in the obligatory mitsve tants . The merriment continued late into the night. Sure enough the epidemic subsided in a few days. http://www.nyu.edu/classes/bkg/MK/MK_images/pages/blackwedding.html |
Kirshenblatt, Mayer (1916-2009) The Black Wedding in the Cemetery, ca. 1892, April 1996
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/bkg/MK/MK_images/pages/blackwedding.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/198036
The dark chuppa in the Mt. of Olives cemetery held aloft with four poles
Picture from Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/matpc.04804/
Spanish Flu 1918
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/black-wedding-marrying-the-spanish-flu-away/
On November 15, 1918, The Jewish Exponent announced another shvartzse khasene and was well-received by the Jewish community of New York City:
In a Mount Hebron Cemetery Miss Rose Schwartz, No. 369 East Tenth street, stood beside Abraham Lachterman, No. 638 East Eleventh street, the other afternoon, and before them stood rabbi Unger, who performed a marriage ceremony.
The tradition on which the couple acted is one which declares that the only way to stop a plague is to hold a marriage ceremony in a cemetery.
When Miss Schwartz and Lachterman consented to offer themselves to stop the influenza epidemic, the neighbors were so grateful that they provided food, taxicabs, a wedding gown and even the furnishings for a flat. Two thousand persons cheered the courageous pair as they started for the cemetery.