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According to
Professor of Jewish Folklore Dov Noy, three different types of rabbinic and
post-rabbinic presentations of the Angel of Death reflects man's ambivalent
attitudes toward death:
According to
Professor of Jewish Folklore Dov Noy, three different types of rabbinic and
post-rabbinic presentations of the Angel of Death reflects man's ambivalent
attitudes toward death:
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Narratives in which
the Angel of Death is defeated mainly by means of deception. In these
mostly humorous legends, the fooled Angel of Death appears as a grotesque
and stupid character.
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Narratives in which
the appears as a cruel and stubborn hero; in these tales of horror and
magic, fearful mortals submit passively to the authority of the terrible
Angel of Death.
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Narratives
in which the Angel of Death, although inherently cruel, can be moved to
mercy and concession by the exceptional deed of a human being. Clearly,
this narrative is an expression of man's optimism and wishful thinking.
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The following
tale, The Town that Had Faith in God was recorded by David Alkayam
from Rafael Uhna (born in Morocco) and transposed by Prof. Noy. In this
tale, the Angel of Death is in fact neither grotesque, cruel nor compassionate.
He is functioning as a servant of God, fulfilling His will, more along
the lines of the earlier conception of angel as messenger.
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THE
TOWN THAT HAD FAITH IN GOD
or: MEIR AND THE ANGEL OF DEATH — A FOLKTALE
This is a story
of a town whose inhabitants were pious and had faith in God. Not one of them
used to save, not even a penny, because they said, "We must eat and drink
today, and as for tomorrow, we will trust in God." Therefore there was
not a rich man among them.
One of the
inhabitants, named Meir, was a watchman. He carried out his work diligently
and wholeheartedly. But he had an evil wife, and she did not trust in God. Day
and night she used to nag her husband, "Let us save money for our old age."
But Meir always answered, "I trust in God, so we should not be afraid."
The woman was barren, and since they had no children, she was very concerned
about their old age. "Who will sustain us tomorrow?"
"Confidence in
God's power is a great thing," her husband used to say. "So do not
fear."
 The
Almighty, blessed be he, looked on and said to the Angel of Death, "Go
and fetch the soul of Meir from the town of my faithful ones, because he no
longer trusts in me."
When Meir returned
from work, the Angel of Death awaited him, disguised as a porter and carrying
two sacks of flour. He said to Meir, "A rich man sent me with flour for
the inhabitants of this town; so you distribute it, but forego your own portion:"
Meir did as
he was bidden. He wept from house to house with the flour. However, the inhabitants
refused to accept it saying, "Today we have food, and as for tomorrow,
we trust in God."
Meir returned
to the porter and related all that had happened. The porter disclosed the truth:
that he was the Angel of Death and had come to take away Meir's soul because
he no longer had faith in God. Meir pleaded with the angel, "Promise not
to take away my soul until I have prayed the Shema prayer: `Hear, O Israel."'
The Angel of
Death agreed and said, "I shall be damned if I take your soul before you
have prayed the `Hear, O Israel."'
Meir began
the prayer but interrupted it and said, "I shall be damned if I ever complete
this prayer." The angel realized that Meir had deceived him; whereupon
he disappeared.
Meir related
to his wife everything that had happened. She said, "Come, let us escape
from the Angel of Death to another town." And so they did.
After some
time the Angel of Death disguised himself as a rich man. He went to the same
town and asked if he could be a guest in Meir's home. The town notables informed
him, "This Jew, Meir, is a poor fellow. There are many benevolent and rich
people who would like to entertain you. Would you not prefer their hospitality?"
However, the
guest would agree to stay with no one else but Meir. The couple was very pleased
with the guest, who did not spare money on their account.
Whenever Meir
prayed, the rich man listened to him. He noticed that every time Meir reached
the prayer "Hear, O Israel," he used to skip the end, and never once
did he complete it. So it went on day by day.
One morning
Meir's wife entered the rich man's room to awaken him, as was her daily custom.
Imagine her shock when she saw that he was dying. Hastily she went to call her
husband, "Come quickly to recite `Hear, O Israel' over the dying man. Then
we shall bury our guest in secret, and all his wealth will remain with us."
At first Meir refused to fulfill his wife's request, but at last he gave in
to her pleading and nagging.
Meir finished
the shema prayer, and the Angel of Death jumped out of his bed and seized
his soul.
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- This
story combines several classic folkloristic motifs: "The Lord's
Prayer"; "Death avenges itself by tricking the man into finishing
the prayer"; "Trying to save provision for another day";
"Lack of trust in God is punished"; "The devil as a well-dressed
gentleman."
- The
first cultural hero in Jewish tradition who tried to prolong his life
by studying holy scripts when he was about to die was King David, as
described in the midrash.
- In
his foreword to Folktales of Israel, Richard Dorson writes: "The
folklore of Israel refers both to the oral legend and to parable and
metaphor which express many facets of the Jewish popular faith and to
the avariegated bodies of tales and songs, customs and beliefs brought
into Israel by her immigrants."
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From:
Dov Noy, Folktales of Israel (translated by Gene Baharav) Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1969 |
ANGELS
Table of Contents
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