THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
283 of silver which sioni'd
reclaim
was
in
He
Ni-haniea.
conmiis-
Janiiai and Jose bon Kipjjar Id and, im their return to Palestine, to bring
Dositiii it
!)cii
to liini (Git. 14'M. From all these data it is evident that Al.iai ben.Iosiali was bu.' 'd in Babylonia, where he had spent his last days; that he had been in thai <oiintry bel'cire the deaih of .Iiidah 1., and that Iw' had siinic (lersonal prnperty in Babylonia, even while lie himself was in Palestine. 'I'hi re is, in fact, little donbt that Ahai spent his riper yearson Babylonian
and with Babylonian
This aeeonnis
seliolars.
fur the failure to tind him mentiiined in the Palestinian Talmud or the Palestinian Midiashim; whil<> he is r<'ferred to in the Babylonian Talmud and in the halakie Midnishim compiled bv the disciples of
Bab (BeHab)in Babylonia (Kr.
l;i/(.
—
Git. 4.w,
Mek.
Bo, ;i twice; ihiti, liahoilesh, g 7; compare ibid. KiTi.ssa; Sifre, Num. l()tj, 12(1). As an ethical teacher, Ahai tried to impress the strictest morality on the people. "Whoever eyes woman will eventually fall into sin; and whoever watches her stej) will rear unworlhy children " (Ned. On domestic economy he observed 20«). "WI111S0 purchiuips breudstulT In
whose iitotlicr diMir »->
t<)
l(*
tlip niarket Is like the Infant therefcirc carried from door to never irettiny il.s UN. Whothe market Is like one Interred. Hut store Is like the rhild rulst'rl on It.s own
dead, and
who
l.s
stit-kle at .stranirern' brea.st.M.
purcha.ses hreud In eal.s of hi.s own
whoso
mother's brettsts." He al.so remarked, " As lontf us a nmn supIK'rts himself he enjoys pi-aee of mind but when he Is dependeta, even on his own parents or on his own children, he luus no (n'are of ndnd still less so when he depends on stnuiifei's" (.li. 11. N. .xxl. [ed. Sehechter, xxx.]; compare Men. Mil>, Ver.
Ill, 5k(, and parallels). Bibliography Bacher, Ag. Tan.
She!;.
11.
393,
.m. S.
AHALI-TAUBAT The name adopted by
M.
("People of the Tonih"):
the Persian .Tews of
Deniavend. Tehenui, ami
Hamadan,
othi'r districts, in contra-
distinction to Persian .lews of Indian origin, who arc called "Israeli." They are not, however, remarkable for their knowledge of the Torali.
U
BinLiOGRAPilv VoQ der Hoven, I'TuKMarn t Xanliijimlichurn Axinlfkikh Ycvreyev, In Slmriiik UiitlUKliiliuiind,
l!««i,
I.
With
AHARAH. Si e .Viiiit.wi. ANARONIM iD'OnnN "Thi'
II.
A
technical term used in later rabbinical literature generally to indicale authorities who are contemporanes of the person (pioling them or who belong to the generation immediately preceding him. It is especially applied to the rabbinical aulhors following the age of the "Shulhau 'Aruk" the end of the sixteenth century. The religious mind is prone tonccejit the testimony of the past, and remoteness in time adds weight to an authority. Even in the time of Ecch'siasti's there were people will) believed "that the formerdays wen'bel ler than these" (Eccl. vii. 10). In lh<' Talnunlic lit erature we nirely tInd an attempt to set aside the authority of former teachers. For example, none of the .moraiin is permilled to contradict the wordsof the Tannaim It is said that Babs words maycontnulict a .Mishnah Ixiause he is a tanna(Ket. H<i). As II rule, it is taken for granted that past generations were superior to the present. The following from the Talmud may si-rve to illustnile this;
—
Zelni In the name of Raba barZlmiaia: "If our anei'stors l:'rJ'K-v| were anuels, we an' hninan lielnvs; and If they wi'H' human iM'lnirs. wi- ao' h-v-m's" tshab. llL'/o. Says KabblJohanan "The iiiiirer nallof ihennresliirs Is beiiiM' Ihan till' wlii>le iHidy of the dixendanls." Said Uisli Ijiklsh l.i him "On Iheeonlniry. the de.<u'endanUiin* ^n'lin-r: for. In spite of their oppn*s,Hton. lliev sindv the Ijiw." Said hf (.lobanan) ( ibe ipiesiloa fur II wiw H'slored Ii» (be aneeslors anil not In the ib'seentlants" lYoma. W"i. Says Kab I'apu to Aluiye: "Why wen- nilnieles ilone t4i
Soys
Ilnltbl
i.
2).
which
cient authorities were considered superior in religious conduct to those of later generations. This lielicf in the authorilv of the past. and. consc(|uently. the lack of confidence in the present age and ils iimneiliate predecessors, arc .strongly ujjheld in the age of the Geonim and by the more strict observers down to our own era. Shidira Gaon, in the tenth century, says: " One who opjiosesa single word of the teachings of the Talmud is like one opposing God and His Law; for the words of the rabbis are th(? words of the living God" ("Sha'are Zedek." introduction; sec Weiss. "Dor." iv. 100), In the twelfth century K. Tani writes toB. .Samson of Sens, who obje<-led to a ]iassage in Bashi's works: "God forbid that one should think for a moment of oppo sing the angel of our Creator" ("Sefer ha-Yashar," (pioted by Azulai in "Shem haCicdolim" under "Samson of Sens"). Israel Isserlein of Marburg iu the tifteenth century says: " No one has a right to contradict the rabbinical works that have been accepted by the majority of Israel" ("Terumat liaDeshen," Pes. No. 241). Similar expressions of a strict belief iu the authority of the jiast, on the ground that past ages were always sui)erior to all suceeetling generations, are found in rabbinical liter-
ature.* A typical e.vpression of the deference shown to the earlier authorities is found in a letter of Aarou Samuel Kaidanower (seventeenth century) to Samuel ha Levi of Bamberg. He writes: "
You have Riven allentlon to the later anthnrltle.s. Dad ha(Mrnn [died llKiTl and Shabbethal Cohen [died atn.ut
lA-vl of
This
Is n tt
mv
method.
Mv
st utiles
are llndted— thank
God I— to theTalimei and older authorities [2':l",s-'-i C'|1Dib]. And why should we nibble at the Ismes of the later authors when we ran feast on the meat u|)on the golden table of IheTal-
u.
Later Ones"):
reference to the Mishnah (Mid.
"The Name
speaks of the heavy punishment meted out to the guards of the Teinjile who were found sleeping while on duly, .lohanan Siiys: " Blessed are our ancestors|D'jt,"xn|. who were p'unished even for succumbing to sleep " (Tamid, iHa). From all these passages it is ai)parent that even in Talmudic times the an-
lt)li:il.
i^'l
Anaronim
the uneestors [D'JS'.mt] and not tnus?" Said Abave: aneeslors saerllli'ed their lives for the sanetifleation of "the [the service of tiod], and we do not " (Ber. aOa).
it
.soil
Ahadboi
niibl. Alfiuil. Mainionides, Asher. the nails on whteh evervthim; hantrs [see Isa. xxll. 23]; for the later writers [::"J"viNJ mnfnse man's mind and memory. The Rood which Is fouml In their works comes frt>m our teacher. Kal)ltl Htn'M-hl of craeow fdled li'iU:)) and In that which Is their own I can show any numIter of ndstakes <m every patfe. You would thei>'fore tlo Ix'tter to sell their iKMiks anil buy an edltlitn i>f the "Tin"' with Jo. .seph Cani's eomnienuiry " ("Nahalal Shib'ah." N'o. .'lU; Filnn. " KIrvah Nei'inanah." p. 81 ; Denibltzer, " Kelllat Yotl," p. i»i. Criieow. 18.s(i).
The absence
of a dictionary covering the postliterature renders it impossible lo trace the usage of the Word "Aharonim " in the sense in which it is now understood; but the only exception which can be found is in the
Talmudic Hebrew and rabbinical
work on Talmudic methodology. "Halikot • .See Klljah lie Vlihus Islxiivntl
In; Joseph
by
nlurv). "Ileshll l.lokmah."
(am
Warsaw,
Eli."
l.ssl.
lUlti loT.'o, In his notes on "fur MIS. p. ir7(i. who attacks Jaiob for tds eritleism t>f sdomoii tH*n Adn*!. "to whom all Menahem Mendel KnH'hmul the paths of hi'avi'i) wen* known " pd. KQrIh.
Yore iPi-a. Ih'm Asher
11. '
4
eil.
Idled imill. "/.enud.iZ<'<le^.".o. II: l.lpmaiin Heller ilTiTT lil'm. on the Mishnah 'Kdtiv. v. 1. who gays: Ill Ills eomini'iitarv " Kvery ndlRloiis authority Is. as a matter of ci'iirse (2.'0T jc],
Menahem dl l.onzano suiMTlor to the siii-eefdliiR fenerations " <d]ed I1LII1. Ill Ills prefliee to " l>i-n'k hll-KllWlm." quoted bV liaild I'aido In Ihe pnfaee to " MIzmor b--fiavld " (LeRhorn. Islsi. ami bv s..lomon Hii/aii In lla-Ma'alot ll-Sbelomoh" lAh-xandila. IsiMi, p. mn A/iilal. "Sh.iu ba-iiedollm." under " .Mosf> Is-n Niihman " Israel Liiiiiliiu. In Ihe " '.Knik." emitted by his son. M. I. IJiiKlau, under Ibe lltlf. " UabblnlHeh-.minftl.si>lilleut.si-hes WorttTbueh " iPniRiie. ISTVii. II. :S»l: Moses Sofer ilTit.* IKfih. In Ills responsii on " Klu-n ba-'K/iT." II. I.Vl; LuiH'l/kl. rabbi III Paris, In bis " nidk,e llallm " (Piirl.s, IstW). n. Uli; Kllezer }'n*: III his dietloiuiry of ri'llRlous ethics " IVln
'
Yo'e;f."
under " KpHionn."
