Aaron's Rod Aaron the Bookseller
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
the sanctuary were similarly sealed, to prevent any one from haviujr aciess to the rods at nisrlit. This legend of the ro<l as given bv the Syrian Solomon in "(" Auecdota Oxhis Book of the Hcc •'
Christian oniensia. Scniilie Modifi- ii.) has Christian
Series," vol. i. part rhanieteristies. Ac-
cording to it the statT is a fragment of the Tree of Knowledge, and was succes-
cations,
sively in the possession of Shem, of the three Patriarchs, and of Judah, just as in the Jewish legend. From Judah it descended to Pliarez, anceslorof David and of tin- Messiah. After Pliarez 's death an angel carried it to the mountains of Moab and buried it When Jloses, there. when' the pious Jethro found it. at Jethro's rei|U<st. went in search of it. the rod was brought to him by an angel. With this stall Aaron and Mo.ses |»erfornied all the miracles related in Scripture, noteworthy among which was the swallowing np of the wonder-working rods of the Egyptian Posdi. Joshua received it from Closes and made use of it in his wars (Josh. viii. 18): and Jusluia. in tiirn. delivered it to Phinehas. who buried it in Jerusalem. There it remained hidden until the birth of Jesus, when the place of its concealment was revealed to Joseph, who took it with him on the journey to Egy)it. Judas Iscariot stole it from James, brother of Jesus, who had received it from Joseph. At Jesus' crucifixion the Jews had no wood for the transverse beam of the cross, so Judas prodiiced the stalT fur that purpose ("Book of the Bee," Syr.
This typopp, "lO-.JS; Eiig. cd., pp. .jO—VJ). logical explanation of Moses' rod as the cross is not a novel one. Origen on Exodus (chap, vii.) says: eil.,
"This rod of Moses, with which he sididued the Egyptians, is the syndwl of the cross of Jesus, who Christian legend has preserved the Jewish accounts of the rod of the MesOther siah and made concrete fact of the idea. Western le.trends concerning the connection of the cross and the rod maj' be foimd In Seymour, "The Cross," 1898, p. 83. The rod is likewise glorified in Mohammedan le.srend. which, as is usually the case with the Biblical accounts of the Mohammedans, is plainly deThe following passage rived from Jewish sources. will serve as an illustration:
AARON ABBA HA-LEVI BEN JOHANAN
prominent rabbi; born about the close of the sixteenth century; died in Lemberg, Jiuie 18. 1643.
He was
fliinp his staff
upon the prouncl.
.inci
instantly
it
was
It elared chantreil into a serpent as hu^'e as the largest caniel. at I'haraoh with llre-ilaoins e.ves. and liftcil his tlirone to the ceilinp. Opening its jaws. It cried aloud. ' If it ]>it'i.sed Allah.
could not onl.v swallow up the throne with thee and all that are here present, but even thy pala<'e and all that it con" tains, without any ipue perceiving the slightest change in me (G. Weil. "Bllilische Lcgenden der Muselmiinner," p. 140, Frankfort-on-the-Main. l.'^.ii. I
'
AARON'S TOMB
The
burial-place of Aaron. Avhich, according to Num. xx. 23-t]8, was Jlount later Hor, on the ed.ee of the land of Edom. tradition, evidently of Mohammedan origin, refers to this hill as the one near Petra. called the Hill of
A
Aaron. On its summit Aaron's tomb is still pointed This identification, however, does not a.irree with the itinerary of the Hebrews from Kadesh, as given in Num. xxsiii. 37, 38. G. B. L.
out.
AAKON
An amora mentioned
twice in the In both places he is represented as furnishing Rabina. head of the rabbinical academy at Sura from 488 to 40!) and one of the editors of the Babylonian Talmud, with information concerning the Baraitot (tannaitic
Babylonian Talmud
traditions not
the latter
was
<B.
K.
Miilh.
.Men.
74/;).
embodied in the Mishnah) of which i.srnni-aiit.
AARON ABATOR.
L. G.
See Abiob, Aaron.
Lem-
]iresident of a nibbinical college in
His decisions are found in llie resjionsji of Abraham Uapoporl. Joel Silrkes. and Meir Lublin; the last named especially speaks very highly of him. While he hardly iiresentsan individual type, it may be stated that in one case he condemns rigorism in berg.
the Law. Bibliography:
But>er.
AnOie Shrm.
p. 21,
Cracow,
18a">.
D.
AARON ABRAHAM BEN BARUCH
EON HA-LEVI:
SIM-
A eab.ilUr. Imni in the liist quarter of the si.xteeiitli cenluiy. He ptiblished a small cabal isti<- work, " Iggenl lia-Teamim" (Letter on the Accents), about the middle of the century, in which each accent and its specific name are explained as containing references to both the Ten Sefirot and the people of Isniel, I'pon this work Shabbethai Slieftel ben Akiba Ilnrwitz, cabalist and physician at Pnigiie. wrote in (iVl a voluminous commentary, "Shefa" Tal." as.serting in the introduction (|i. i'.i) thiit 1{, Aaron was one of the greatest masters of the Cabala, anil that his work contained the most prf)foun(l ,secrets which he (Hurwitz) wished to disclose. But in reality it contains only cabalistic trifles which attempt to show that the solution of the mystery of the Ten Sefirot is indicated in the names of the accents iU'ninim). Aaron Abraham b. Baruch is not identical with
Aauon of Cakdkna.
- Steinschneider. Cal. BoiU. Nos. ViU. W'> ; Xeuliaucr. Cat. Ilndl. lUhr. MSS. Nos. 1S18, 1956; .Michael, Or
h(i-H(t]niim. No. :2t'vS.
BiBi.ioOKAPHV
c<uii|uered the world."
" Moses
A
L,
i:.
AARON BEN ABRAHAM IBN HATYIM. See 1i;n IIwvim. .!ii r.iA AnuAirAM. AARON BEN ABRAHAM BEN SAMUEL SCHLETTSTADT. BKN
.r.iiiiAM
i;i;.N
See Sciii.ettstadt, Aauo.n.
Sami'f.t,.
AARON BEN ABRAHAM BEN VIDAL
ZARFATI. BKN
lli
S( e
Zaiikati.
Aahon
j;i,.n
Aisi;aiiam
l..
AARON ALFANDARI. See Ai.fandahi, AARON BEN ASHER OF KARLIN (Rabbi
AaKhN.
Aaron
ine of the nidsi lainoiis II. of Karlin): rabbis of the IIasidim in northwestern Russia; lioru He had an immense in Wi: died June '23. 1872. number of followers, and many thousands of them used to visit him annually, iibout the time of the .Jewish New Year, as is Ihecustomamong that sect. Not withstanding his seveiity of manner and the not infretpient rudeness of his l)chavior. he was highly esteemed by his adherents. He "rei.iined" in Karlin. near Pinsk. in the government of Minsk, in succession to his father and his granilfathi'r. Aaron ben .Jacob: but a few years before his death he had a quarrel with a rich family of Karlin and removed from there to Stolin. ;i town several miles distant. Considering the amotmt of business that the yearly influx of strangers brought to the city where he resided, his removal was regarded as a misfortune for He died, aged seventy years and seventeen Ivarlin. days, in ilalinovka. near Dubno, in Volhynia. while on a journey to the wedding of his granddaughter, <
and was succeeded by his son, Asher of Stolin, whose chief claim to distinction is that he spent most of his time at the mikinih (bath). Asher died in Drohobycz about one year after the death of his father, and was succeeded by his five-year-old .son, the so-called Yemika (Baby) of Stolin, against whose
