1. I just finished Jacob Neusner’s Judaism: The Evidence of the Mishnah. On pages 307-328, Neusner discusses two Jewish stories: that of Honi the circle-drawer, which appears in Mishnah Taanith 3:8 (second century C.E.), and that of Vespasian’s interaction with Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, which is in chapter 4 of Abot de Rabbi Nathan (fourth-fifth centuries C.E., according to Neusner).
In the story of Honi the circle-drawer, people ask Honi to pray for rain. Honi does so, and rain does not fall. And so Honi draws a circle around himself and tells God that he will not leave the circle until God sends rain. In response to Honi’s prayer, God sends tons of rain, such that the people ask Honi to pray that the rain might stop. Honi does so, and the rain ceases. A sage from the first century B.C.E., Simeon ben Shetah, tells Honi that he would have imposed a ban on anyone who acted as Honi did towards God, but Simeon recognizes that Honi has a special relationship with God, as if Honi is God’s son. Simeon then applies to Honi Proverbs 23:25, which says that a mother and a father should be glad.
In the story of Vespasian’s interaction with Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, Yochanan asks the conquering Roman, Vespasian, that the city of Yavneh might be reserved to Yochanan for Jewish study. Vespasian agrees. Yochanan then tells Vespasian that he will soon become king, for Isaiah 10:34 predicts that the Temple will be surrendered to a king, not a commoner. A few days later, Vespasian is told that the emperor has died and that Vespasian is now king.
On page 315, Neusner sarcastically dismisses the scholarly argument that the story of Honi was history about a one-time event: “To be sure, the story occurs in diverse compilations, from the Mishnah onward. So I suppose we are expected to count each time the story is told as evidence of yet another miracle of rainmaking.” For Neusner (if I’m understanding him correctly), the stories are didactic, not really historical. Their point is that a sage has power through his mastery of Scripture: Simeon could apply to Honi Proverbs 23:25, and thus desist from banning him. And Yochanan could tell Vespasian that he would soon become king, through the knowledge of Isaiah 10:34. The rabbis have a power that is neither supernatural nor political. For Neusner, the stories served to highlight this power of the sages before the community of Israel.
2. At Latin mass this morning, the priest said that the Jew who showed Jesus the coin with Caesar’s image on it was violating the Torah, for Jews were not allowed to carry images of another god, which (in the eyes of the Romans) Caesar was. I’m not sure whether this is true or not. I know that even Herod was queasy about images.
3. Dr. Mildred Jefferson passed away this week. She was the first African-American graduate of Harvard Medical School, as well as an influential pro-life activist. If I’m not mistaken, she ran for President in 1980 on the Right-to-Life ticket. At least that’s how I first heard of her: through my reading about the 1980 Presidential election.
R.I.P., Dr. Jefferson.