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The birth of Eydl’ s child, which marks the end o f the first volume o f the Yiddish

edition, is one o f the very rare occasions, in which we can discern a glimpse o f new life

in this novel, whose “dominant leitmotif’ is death.^*

The second volume significantly opens immediately with the death o f Hadase’s mother

Dakhe and the double funeral of Dakhe and Yoyel Mushkat [421-426].^^

In fact, at the beginning o f the first volume two generations o f the Mushkat family are

already old, and soon after R. Meshulem’s third marriage, with which the novel opens,

the octogenarian patriarch already senses that his hour o f death is approaching [114].

This fi*ightening realization occurs one night, when R. Meshulem takes out a volume

from his bookshelf at random, tries to read, but finds his vision getting blurred and the

letters seemingly changing colour. When he regains his vision, he recognizes the book as

the “pH’’ “ûyo” {Ma ‘avar Yabok, Crossing o f the Yabbok).^® A paragraph o f this work is

presented here as being read by R. Meshulem. It is said that the “mon-"lxbü” (angel o f

death) will visit a person who lies dying, with his sword and attempt to convince him to

blaspheme against God. Therefore a person who is critically ill, should call in ten

witnesses to annul the words he would speak before his “nZDlz/l nx’S’”, the parting o f his

soul, and the evil thoughts coming from “iDiy” (Satan). R. Meshulem considers it as a

Cf. Max F. Schulz, ‘The Family Chronicle as Paradigm o f History: The Brothers Ashkenazi and The

Family MoskaV, in: M. Allentuck (ed.). The Achievement o f Isaac Bashevis Singer, 83.

The one volume English edition does not reflect this significant division o f the Yiddish at this particular point [362]. It does not even begin its “Part Six” here, but two chapters earlier instead [English: 352].

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bad sign that he has happened to pick the Ma ‘avar Yabok out o f all the volumes on his

shelves [114].

Not long after this R. Meshulem is lying in his sickroom, sleeping or occupied with a

(other-worldly activity). Sometimes he emits a sound, but to

those around him it is not clear, if this sound is not produced by the

(unseen ones), that surround a person who is dying [202].^^ This description reflects

the superstitious folk belief, according to which a dying person is surrounded by

demons, who ‘Svere held responsible for the anguish that he suflered”.^^

Other similar folk beliefs appear in the novel in connection with the last Purim

celebration, which R. Meshulem attends before his death. He realizes that his whole

striving to accumulate wealth during his lifetime was just vanity, as it is said in the Book

o f “n*7np” (Ecclesiastes).^^ He would have done better to travel to the Land o f

Israel in his old age. Had he done so, he would have spared himself the process o f

the rolling through caves, after his death. This expression refers to the

popular belief that the dead will migrate underground to the Land o f Israel at the time

o f the resurrection. Another idea expressed here concerns the “nan the angel of

the realm o f the dead, who is believed to knock at the grave with a flery rod and open

the “pinwrn-pi”, the judgement of the dead, with the question: na” (What is your

name?) - [241]/"

These ideas are bound up in this passage with the use o f light imagery, which lends a

mystical atmosphere to the scene. In the light o f the setting sun the clouds are said to

look like ““lyüDjyô ymîsms ,oa'’TS7n (“fiery sailing

In the English these details are omitted from the description o f R. Meshulem's sickroom [English: 179]. Cf. J. Trachtenberg, Jewish M agic and Superstition, 174.

” Cf. Ko 1, 2-4.

These ideas about the rolling through caves and the angel o f the realm o f the dead are omitted in the translation [English: 207].

ships, flaming brooms, purple windows”), and a mysterious hand o f light, fog and air

seems to weave, paint and write something X ü’ü” (in a concealed

script), which no human being could understand [Yiddish: 241; English: 207]. Back

in his sickroom R. Meshulem continues to contemplate the nocturnal sky, in which

stars have appeared, and he recognizes the pô (face o f Joshua) in the

yellow moon, as he did in his childhood. By now he has only one desire, to reach

the ma'piy” (upper worlds) as soon as possible, which are hovering

“yp’üD’7 px yp’Tnmo” (mysteriously and full o f light) over the roofs o f the

Grzybowska [242]. As in several other places throughout Bashevis’s works, the

majesty o f the nocturnal sky is here associated with the higher spheres.^^ In addition to

this in this passage it is also connected with one character’s longing to die and to

understand the mysteries o f the higher worlds. In the novel this is the last occasion, on

which we encounter R. Meshulem alive.

There is another description o f a person’s experiences in his dying hour, which is replete

with mystical imagery. When the rebe o f Bialodrewna awakes fi*om a bad dream one

night, he realizes that his time has come [555 f.]. In his mind dream mingles with reality.

He remembers long-forgotten passages from the Talmud, the Zohar, the 'Ez Hayim and

other works. He constantly reflects on the situation of the Jews and asks himself,

whether God wants the generation before the final redemption to be I'piD”

(completely guilty) or “’XDT (completely virtuous), or whether there would be a

Messiah at all [556].

As death is drawing nigh, the rebe dreams about the parting o f his soul and realizes

that there is indeed “u;D2n-mxï7n” (immortality o f the soul), which he had come to doubt

35

In this novel see also: 350 f., 541. This association can be found in other works o f Bashevis as well. See for example: ;?5 im n a m ip ijn , 21, 29, 69. - See also: Section 2.3, 28 f.

at times. He can hear the flapping o f wings, and again we find a reference here to the

angel o f the realm o f the dead. In this passage the rebe then experiences the angel lifting

him up and flying with him through the “ly'pa’n (seven Heavens). He sees the sun,

the moon and the “m’7Tü” (planets / stars). The higher he ascends, the more light and

purity he senses. He has left the “m9'’‘7pn-D*7lï7” (world o f the Klipot) far behind, and the

“man’ll” (Gehenna) looks small and insignificant fi’om his perspective [558 f.]. On

awakening the rebe longs to reach the higher worlds full o f light, which he has seen

in his dream, and on his eyelids shining “]ypnô” (sparks) remain.

He has merited glimpses o f Divine light in his dream o f the higher spheres shortly

before his death, and they remain with him as a foretaste o f what he expects to

experience soon in reality in the World-to-Come. From this moment the rebe does not

pray for healing anymore. He is filled with longing for the VT” (brilliance o f the

Shekhinah), a glimpse o f which he has already seen in his lifetime. Shortly after this the

rebe dies [559].^^

As in the paragraph describing R. Meshulem’s experiences before his death, in this

account of the dying hour o f the rebe o f Bialodrewna mystical images o f the higher

spheres are also bound up with the closeness o f death and with a person’s longing to

have a part in the life o f the World-to-Come. This world is seen by these two characters

as the world o f impurity, the world o f the Klipot, while the higher worlds present

themselves to them in images o f purity and light.

The whole 45*** chapter o f the Yiddish [555-562], in which all these mystical images connected to the death o f the rebe o f Bialodrewna appear, is omitted in the translation [English: 477]. The death o f the rebe and the induction o f Arele as his successor are not even mentioned at this point in the English. These facts are stated in a short paragraph many chapters later and in a completely different context, with the following words: “The Bialodrevna rabbi died at his evening prayers. The Chassidim wanted Reb Moshe Gabriel to become their rabbi, but Reb Moshe Gabriel refused. After much persuasion Aaron consented to take the holy burden on his shoulders. It was not for long. Aaron was planning to go to Palestine with a group o f young Chassidim. The Bialodrevna court was as good as finished.” [English: 571 f.].

Another important idea connected to death, which appears throughout the novel, is the

concept o f (gilgul - the transmigration o f the soul).

There are a number o f instances, in which various characters express the idea that either

they or other characters connected to them are gilgulim o f souls that have had a

previous existence in this world. When Hadase comes to visit Oyzer-Heshl and he

looks into her mysterious-looking eyes, he has the feeling that he has experienced all of

this before p n i n S s px” (in a previous gilgul) - [87].^^ Another time, when

Oyzer-Heshl spends the night at Avram’s place and finds himself unable to sleep, it

seems to him that he is not really himself anymore, but “T’T p6 X” (another gilgul o f

himself) - [168].^* When Fishele reflects on the love af&ir between Hadase and Oyzer-

Heshl, he thinks that Hadase is y]!7i''i7nx5 X” (a lost soul), who does not have

any part either in the life o f “ x n n o7l37” (the World-to-Come) or o f “HTn d7iî7” (this

world). He even suspects that she might be “pns x pS X” (a gilgul o f a saint), who

needs to purify himself in this existence [428].^^

There are also two instances, where Avram experiences himself as a gilgul in his

dreams. One night Avram dreams that he has to carry a millstone and wonders, whether

this is a punishment, or: X p x p ix n v ) ba'pian “ly PX” (Did he have a reincarnation

as a miller?) - [592]."^® Another night Avram sees himself in a dream as an ox in a

slaughterhouse. He thinks, he must be a {gilgul), and tries to shout that he is a

human being, not an ox [613].

The concept o f gilgul, which is not referred to in the Bible or the Talmud, and which

” The English translates only: “It seemed to Asa Heshel that he had experienced all this before”, but omits the reference to the previous gilgul [English: 112].

In the translation no mention is made o f the idea o f a gilgul at this point [English: 154].

In the English this sentence is translated: ‘Maybe she is the vessel for the spirit o f some holy man whose purification it is her lot to accomplish.’ [English: 369].

The English translates this sentence as: ‘Had his soul transmigrated into a miller’s?’ [English: 504]. The translation mentions Avram’s dream, but omits the reference to the gilgul [English: 521].

was strongly opposed by the major mediaeval Jewish philosophers, is “taken for granted

in the Kabbalah”, since it found its “first literary expression” in the T/inn IDO {Sefer ha-

Bahir, the Book o f Illumination - Provence, late twelfth century). After its inclusion in

the Bahir, the concept o f gilgul became “one o f the major doctrines o f the Kabbalah”,

although Kabbalists differed widely on various details."*^ Transmigration is usually

interpreted as a punishment for sins comitted in a previous existence, and its purpose is

supposed to be the purification o f the soul. The Kabbalists o f Safed advanced the

doctrine o f “transmigration into all forms o f nature”, even into animals and plants, which

was not universally accepted, but through them “this teaching became a widespread

popular b e l i e f T h i s also explains the belief in gilgulim by Bashevis’s afore-mentioned

characters, who are either hasidim, like Fishele and Avram, or hail fi*om a traditional

background and have been exposed to both superstitious popular beliefs and to

kabbalistic literature, like Oyzer-Heshl.

There is one more passage connected to the concept o f gilgul, which requires

comment. When Eydl asks Oyzer-Heshl to translate a paragraph fi-om her late

father’s Hebrew manuscript for her, he chooses a comment on a verse from Kohelet:

“nnn 2 ^ nnn inio nmo” (“round and round goes the wind, and

on his circuits the wind returns”).

The word “m i” (wind / spirit) is interpreted to refer to the (soul), which after the

death o f a sinful person may become (transmigrated) into different creatures,

into a dog, a cat or a worm [78 f.].'^^ This interpretation is also concordant with the

doctrine o f transmigration into all forms o f life upheld by the Safed Kabbalists. But the

Cf. G. Scholem, Kabbalah, 344 f. Ibid., 346 f.

Ko 1, 6.

commentary goes on to explain that occasionally a light can shine out from an animal,

which is caused by the human soul that has entered it in its new gilgul. According to this

interpretation, the verse from Kohelet teaches that the “n n ” (spirit) has to transform

itself constantly, and through its transformations it returns to its origin. The

(soul) is a “aniD” (something which is turning), something which is constantly

transformed. Only at the time, when all the “□’np’ri” (restorations to the original state o f

harmony) occur and everything again becomes “ü'’‘’pDybüî7Ji T’’l'73 ,niD-TK” ( ’Ein-Sof, pure

Divinity), will all these transformations come to an end [79]

This comment by Eydl’s father is in accordance with the kabbalistic teachings o f Joseph

b. Shalom Ashkenazi and his followers (early fourteenth century) that “transmigration

occurs in all forms o f existence” and that “everything in the world is constantly changing

form”.'^^ The comment that these changes o f form will come to an end with the

completion o f Tikun, the restoration o f the universe to its originally intended state of

harmony according to Lurianic Kabbalah, and that then everything will become again

’Ein-Sof is an original idea o f Bashevis, ascribed here to Eydl’s father.

This comment by Eydl’s father about Tikun and the envisaged return o f the universe to a

state o f pure Divinity is, like the birth o f Eydl’s child at the end o f the first volume, one

o f the few glimpses o f hope in this novel, which is so dominated by images o f decline,

decay and death.

5.4.3. Letters Like Flames - The Mystical Significance of the Letters of the Hebrew

In document Estructuración y mejoramiento de los procesos y procedimientos de la Clínica los Rosales S A (página 32-36)