Months Compete for Passover Honor: Targumic Fragments Reveal How Hebrew Months Vied for Pesach
KLEIN, MICHAEL L.
Months Compete for Passover Honor Targumic Fragments Reveal How Hebrew Months Vied for Pesach MICHAEL L. KLEIN Pesach (Passover) occurs during the month of Nisan. It begins on the 14th of Nisan....
...and] he will place them in the ark [see Exodus 34] It is I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered...
...For the complete original Aramaic texts, with English translation, and for many additional poems of the same genre, see M L Klein, Genizah Manuscripts of Palestinian Targum (Cincinnati Hebrew Union College Press, 1986) I wish to thank Hershel Shanks for transforming some of the technical material into its present, more literary form...
...There Nisan is referred to as the "first of the months of the year...
...Let me conclude with a completely different poem preserved for us in the Cairo Genizah.* This poem, also an acrostic, was chanted before the reading of Deuteronomy 34, the last chapter of the Pentateuch, which recounts the death of Moses...
...what is in it was thus decreed...
...It tries to attribute reason and cause to chance historical events...
...said Adam to him sagaciously...
...Because Adam ate of the fruit, God decreed that "to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19...
...Ills I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered...
...Some say the dispute was resolved only by drawing lots...
...In me the Exalted One will be revealed to deliver His people, for in me he will send a messenger, and will bring Hadassah [Queen Esther...
...He revealed Himself to darken the eyes of the Egyptians in all their dwelling places For the cloud was half light and half dark, the light illuminated Israel...
...and you resemble it...
...Because the Exodus from Egypt began on that date (Exodus 12:67,29,31,37...
...Moses goes to the tomb of the patriarchs, Machpelah in Hebron, where, according to a midrash, Adam himself is buried...
...One of these poems, found in several versions, was read before the special Torah reading on the last of the four special sabbaths that precede Passover, the sabbath known as Shabbat haChodesh, "the sabbath of the month," the sabbath before the new moon of Nisan that occurs about two weeks before Passover...
...Why then...
...Nisan makes similar attacks against all the months...
...May your soul rest with all the patriarchs...
...The "humble one" is a reference Moses Numbers 12 3 slates that "Moses was a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth " ** The name Mar-cheshvan (frequently shortened to Cheshvan) is based upon the Babylonian "eighth month " All the names of the Jewish months derive from Babylonian names There are only four original Hebrew names for months in the Bible (Aviv, Bui...
...Why did you sin in the Garden...
...The conclusion is God's decision in favor of Nisan, as expressed in Exodus 12:2: This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months, it shall be the first of the months of the year for you For the most part the poems are acrostics...
...In some fragments the debate gets quite heated...
...Even when sacred scripts wear out and become old, Jewish law dictates that they be properly buried or placed in a synagogue storeroom called a genkah...
...Moses rouses Adam from his eternal rest and * This poem is in Oxford University's Bodleian Library, rather than at Cambridge rails at him for sinning by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge...
...and which of us will take the crown...
...The fact is, there was a great argument among the months for the honor...
...And that is where we learn of the debate among the Hebrew months for the honor of including Pesach...
...and he entered the ark safely...
...than 1,600 years ago, when the Talmuds were being formulated...
...Although these poems are difficult to date, there are several clues that suggest they were composed at an early period—as early as the third or fourth century C.E...
...Why did you spurn the laws of the Lord...
...You are likened to the crab...
...the months don't merely "say...
...In researching Cairo Genizah manuscripts, I have found a number of previously unknown poems intended to be chanted before special Torah readings...
...The Cairo Genizah is a major source of targumic fragments...
...Now, when Moses heard that word, [and] at that moment, he went to Hebron the capital.* He cried out, and called to Adam [from] in the tomb: "Tell me...
...Adam skillfully defends himself on the basis of predestination: The Torah, according to another midrash, was written long before the creation...
...They were transferred there in 1896 through the monumental efforts of Dr...
...Until recently, little was known about this midrask* And that is the burden of my story...
...Since most of the manuscripts are not complete, I have excerpted several of them to give the full sense of the complete poem: All of the months gathered together, in their twelve orders In which month shall be the deliverances that He will perform [for] the beloved children...
...Had Adam not done this, mankind would have been immortal and would not need to taste of death...
...In me the People will be relieved of their sighs, for in me the beloved doves will overpower the wicked Kingdom of Greece [a reference to Chanukah] It is I who shall take the crown, for m me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered...
...Some of these largwn fragments contain poems that served as introductions to Torah readings for holidays and special sabbaths...
...In these texts Kyrws is spelled with Hebrew letters (D'Tp, pronounced "kiris"), but the word is Greek...
...At that moment, all the twelve months gathered together and said to one another "Come now, let us cast lots among us, that we might know in which of us Israel is to be redeemed...
...It is I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered...
...and the dark brought darkness upon the Egyptians...
...The entire Garden lay before you, yet you were not satisfied...
...Jews don't discard or destroy sacred scripts (that is, any writing containing the name of God...
...Since you are likened to the ox [in the sign of the zodiac], how pan you be a redeemer...
...their language is stronger: "Tammuz raged in a sad voice," "Av interjected, shouting," "Elul objected, shouting," "Nisan roared...
...Ziv, Etanim), none of which is in use today Tevet gave importance to its words...
...The more difficult question is why God chose Nisan as the month in which to redeem the Jewish people...
...Know that all the patriarchs are there...
...The Cairo Genizah is the most important source of ancient and medieval Jewish texts ever discovered in modem times, except, as to ancient documents, the Dead Sea Scrolls...
...Many of the documents are copies of much older texts...
...But why did the Israelites begin their great freedom trek in Nisan, thus establishing that month as the date in which Pesach is celebrated...
...that is, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are imbedded in order in the text at regular intervals...
...In still another version, the months suggest that the matter be decided by casting lots: And when the Lord revealed Himself, to give the Torah to His people, House of Israel, He revealed Himself with clouds and seraphim, with signs and wonders He revealed Himself to enlighten the eyes of Israel, in all their dwelling places...
...But in the end God gives the honor to Nisan: The Exalted King [then] said in prophecy to the trusted one of His household [Moses]' "I have selected this Nisan for [the] redemption for it is first among the months of the year...
...The copies of these poems in the Cairo Genizah are, of course, later copies...
...Mar-cheshvan** displayed his words' "I will cause deliverance to sprout forth for the beloved People...
...In one poem Nisan says to Av, "You are all wailing, whereas I am all song...
...In another version, Nisan attacks the other months by making derogatory references to their zodiac signs: Nisan said to Iyar...
...This genizah contained more than 200,000 pieces of manuscript, dating as far back as 900 C.E...
...It is a story that will take us to the famous Cairo Genizah and from there to a time more * A miditnh is an elaboration on a biblical text...
...It is I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered...
...And Elul said: "Let the deliverance come in me, for in me the humble one* will ascend the mountain and bring down the tablets a second time...
...J understanding...
...Accept for yourself, O Moses, the cup of death...
...In support of its own candidacy, each month cites an important event in Israel's history that took place—or would eventually take place— within it...
...He answered, and said "It is I, Moses, who received the Torah'" • Hebron was King David's capital for seven years (see 2 Samuel 5 4) He [Adam] opened his mouth, and said to him, "Ponder upon what you have read [in the Torah" you received...
...The various versions of the poem chanted before this special Torah reading record a debate among the months for the honor of being the month in which the Exodus would occur and the people would be redeemed from Egyptian slavery...
...In the poem, Moses, about to die, has expressed to God his fear of death...
...My own special scholarly interest is in targum manuscripts...
...You tasted and ate from the Tree of Knowledge, imposing upon your children wailing and lament...
...My name had [already] been recorded for death, so why do you rebuke me0" Moses listened, and shed a tear...
...In the ancient Palestinian rite, on Shabbat haChodesh, Exodus 12:1 -20 is read from the Torah...
...The answer is again simple...
...Tammuz is disqualified because his zodiac sign is a crab: "Muzzle your mouth," said Nisan to Tammuz...
...Moses listens and sheds a tear...
...as [it is] written] [in Exodus 12.2] 'This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months, it shall be the first of the months of the year for you ' " In another version, Iyar makes his case on the basis that in Iyar, Noah entered the ark and the world was thus saved (see Genesis 7:11, 13): * A reference to Moses' speech that comprises Deuteronomy (see Deuteronomy 1 3) ** A reference to the festival of Punm, which commemorates a time when the Jews were delivered from annihilation (see Esther 9.21-22) Mar-cheshvan said, "in me King Solomon will build God's bouse and perfect II...
...This is true as well of the midrashic targums discussed here...
...There will be a great deliverance in me, for I am desuned to be transformed for them from grief to joy, and from mourning to festival ** It is I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered...
...It is I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered " Tammuz argued: "I return to the earth, dance and joy, for in me the twelve men from the leaders of the delivered ones will be sent by Moses to spy out the land [see Numbers 13 and 14] It is I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered...
...These introductory poems were preserved in old machzorim (festival prayer books) and in known targum manuscripts that contained Torah readings for the holidays...
...Indeed, the ancient custom of reading an introductory poem before the Torah reading on special occasions is preserved in traditional synagogues to this day, where an introductory Aramaic poem ("Akdamut,') is chanted before the Torah reading on Shavuot...
...see Esther 2'16...
...is I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered...
...Let the extolled nation be delivered in me, for in me the fall of dew will evaporate for them, [and] manna will rain down for [them] to eat [see Exodus 16...
...how then can you be a redeemer...
...This waking me from my sleep is a bad sign...
...I have decreed [it] upon all creatures...
...Tishri said, in turn...
...Sivan declared: "It is I who is chosen for the holy People, in me the light will be revealed [i.e., the Torah will be given, on Shavuot...
...In all, I found at least six distinct compositions based upon the same midrashic motif of a debate among the 12 months...
...The Lord said to Moses from amidst the shechina [the Holy presence] "Why is it that you fear death...
...Because that is the month God chose...
...Who are you...
...for in me they will set themselves beneath the mountain [Sinai] and will listen to the commandment[s] from amidst the fire [see Exodus 19...
...Solomon Schcchter (who was later to become president of the Jewish Theological Seminary...
...Iya]r responded, and said: "They shall be delivered in me, and it is I who will take the crown, [for in me] the righteous Noah was saved from the waters of the flood...
...God tells him that all creatures, even the patriarchs, must die...
...What suggests they were composed at such an early period—which is when the Talmuds were being created—is their use of Greek words such as Kynos for Lord...
...Kislev presented its argument in a word...
...Therefore these targumic poems must have been composed earlier...
...I am always destined for good The beloved one[s] will be delivered—in me [they] shall be saved, for in me is the Day of Atonement for sinners, and the day of good will for the forgiveness of sins [see, e g, Leviticus 23.26 IT...
...The most famous of these repositories was discovered in the 19th century in the Ben Ezra synagogue in Old Cairo, Egypt, and it is known as the Cairo Genizah...
...In one fragment, Av relies on the fact that the people were saved in the month of Av when Moses prayed to God to reverse his decree of annihilation after the Israelites worshipped the golden calf [see Deuteronomy 9:19...
...Most of these fragments, along with the bulk of other documents from the Cairo Genizah, are maintained at Cambridge University In England...
...for in me the King [Solomon] will rise up from his palace, and he will build His house [the Jerusalem temple] and perfect it [see 1 Kings 6...
...Let us see whether you have an,y knowledge [or...
...As has been suggested by Joseph Heinemann, a 20th-century scholar of Jewish liturgy, it is unlikely that Greek words with religious denotations would have been used in a Jewish liturgical poem composed after Christianity became the official Roman religion in 326 C.E., at a time when these Greek words were used in Christian liturgy...
...Observe that the Torah preceded me by two thousand years...
...Then Iyar responded with a word...
...Shevat organized all of its words logically: ' 'I am destined for relief and deliverance, for in me they will gather before the humble one [Moses], and he will interpret for them the teachings of the Torah, in Trans-Jordan.* It is I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered " Iyar responded "Let the extolled nation he delivered in me, lor in me manna will rain down for them lo eat: Adar responded...
...After each month's plea on its own behalf is a refrain' "In me they will listen to the commandments trom amidst the lire...
...In general, midrash attempts to identify the anonymous and to explain what is inexplicable in the biblical text...
...A targum is an Aramaic transI.n ion or paraphrase of a sacred text, especially the Bible...
...It is I who shall take the crown, for in me the people of the house of Israel will be delivered...
...Av, in which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, seems to have had difficulty making much of a case for itself...
...Know that the [golden] calf that they made was the son of an ox...
...fi' Tevet said, "in me the Exalted One will deliver his people, lor in me He will bring Queen Esther...
Vol. 14 • April 1989 • No. 3
