Gershom Ben Judah

Gershom ben Judah, (c. 960 -1040?) was a French rabbi, best known as Rabbeinu Gershom (Hebrew: רבנו גרשום, "Our teacher Gershom"), who was the founder of talmudic studies in France and Germany.

and also commonly known to scholars of Judaism by the title Rabbeinu Gershom Me'Or Hagolah ("Our teacher Gershom the light of the exile"), was a famous Talmudist and Halakhist.

Rashi of Troyes (d. 1105) said less than a century after Gershom's death, "all members of the Ashkenazi diaspora are students of his." As early as the 14th century Asher ben Jehiel wrote that Rabbeinu Gershom's writings were "such permanent fixtures that they may well have been handed down on Mount Sinai."

About 1000 C.E. Gershom called a synod that decided the following particulars, altering the practice of Rabbinic Judaism: (1) prohibition of polygamy; (2) necessity of obtaining the consent of both parties to a divorce; (3) modification of the rules concerning those who became apostates under compulsion; (4) prohibition against opening correspondence addressed to another.

Biography

Rabbeinu Gershom studied under Judah ben Meïr ha-Kohen, who was one of the greatest authorities of his time. Having lost his first wife, Gershom married a widow named Bonna and settled at Mayence, where he devoted himself to teaching the Talmud. He had many pupils from different countries, among whom should be mentioned Eleazar ben Isaac ha-Gadol ("the Great"), nephew of Simeon ha-Gadol; and Jacob ben Yaḳar, the teacher of the great rabbinical sage Rashi. The fame of Gershom's learning eclipsed even that of the heads of the Babylonian academies of the Sura and Pumbedita, which until them had been preeminent.

During Gershom's lifetime Mainz became a center of Torah and Jewish scholarship for many Jewish communities in Europe that had formerly been connected with the Babylonian yeshivas. He was the spiritual guide of the fledgling Ashkenazic Jewish communities and was very influential in molding them at a time when their population was dwindling.

The most difficult questions were addressed to him by Jews from all quarters, and measures which he authorized had legal force among virtually all the Jews of Europe. In about the year 1000 he called a synod which decided the following particulars:

• prohibition of polygamy
• necessity of obtaining the consent of both parties to a divorce
• liberalization of the rules concerning those who became apostates under compulsion
• prohibition of opening correspondence addressed to another

Gershom's was also an active writer. He is celebrated for his works in the field of Biblical exegesis, the Masorah (textual criticism), and lexicography. He revised the text of both the Mishnah and Talmud, the fundamental texts of rabbinical Judaism. He also wrote commentaries on several treatises of the Talmud which were very popular and gave an impulse to the production of many other works of the kind.

He also composed poetic penitential prayers warning the people against sin, which were inspired by the bloody persecutions of his time. He is the author of Seliha 42—Zechor Berit Avraham ("Remember the Covenant of Abraham")—a liturgical poem recited by Ashkenazic Jews during the season of Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur:

"The Holy City and its regions
are turned to shame and to spoils
and all its desirable things are buried and hidden
and nothing is left except this Torah."

Gershom also left a large number of rabbinical responsa, which are scattered throughout various collections. His life reportedly conformed to his teachings.

Man of tolerance

Rabbeinu Gershom had a son who forsook the Jewish religion and became a Christian at the time of the expulsion of the Jews from Mayence in 1012. The young many later died before his father, sill a Christian. Refusing to disown him spiritually, Gershom grieved for his son, observing all the forms of Jewish mourning. His example in this regard became a rule for others in similar cases.

His tolerance also extended to who had submitted to baptism to escape persecution and who afterward returned to the Jewish fold. He strictly prohibited reproaching them for their apostasy, and even gave those among them who had been slandered an opportunity to publicly pray publicly in the synagogues.

Legends

As with many of the great rabbis of this and other periods, the life of Rabbeinu Gershom is surrounded with legends. As a young man, he had already won great renown as a scholar and example of righteousness. His teacher esteemed him so highly that he gave Gershom the hand of his daughter Devorah in marriage.

Soon after this Gershom and Devorah traveled to the Babylonian city of Pompadissa, where the renowned Shrira Gaon headed perhaps the greatest Talumdic academy in the world. The journey there was full of hardship and adventures.

In Pompadissa Gershom spent several happy years devoting himself to the study of the Torah and Talmud. When he reached the point of becoming a teacher himself, he did not want to profit from his knowledge, but labored as goldsmith, developing great skill in this trade and settling in the great city of Constantinople, the most important trading center of the East.

While there, a tremendous fire swept through the city, leaving it in ruin. This was followed almost immediately by a horrible plague. So terrible was the situation that victims lay dying everywhere in the city's streets.

Rabbeinu Gershom escaped both the fire and the plague, but he refused to sit passively and witness the suffering of his fellow men, even though they were not Jews. He had some knowledge of medicine as a result of his studies, and he thus took up this profession. With utter selflessness and lack of concern for his own safety, he ministered to the sick.

The Byzantine emperor Basil II ruled at Constantinople during this time. Although he personally was a good man, he was easily misled by his advisers, especially a certain John, and unrelenting Jew-hater. When emperor called a conference to decide how to deal with crisis brought on by the fire and plague, John blamed the Jews. "Let us rid the country of them!" he declared like some latter-day Haman, ultimately persuading Basil to issue a decree expelling the Jews and confiscating all their property.

Soon after this however, Basil's daughter fell desperately ill. The greatest physicians of the empire were summoned to the palace to heal her, but none of them could effect a cure. When the news of the sick princess reached Rabbeinu Gershom, he immediately set out for the palace, despite the risk. According to the legend, Basil told him: "If you succeed to cure the princess I will reward you generously, but if you fail, then you will lose your head!"

Gershom examined the princess, but he quickly realized that he was beyond hope, at least in terms of his own medical skills. Only a miracle could save her. Gershom prayed to God with all his heart. "O G-d," he implored," save this girl, for the sake of your people."

The color immediately came back into her cheeks, she returned to consciousness, and her eyes soon began to show sparkle with life. With each day she grew stronger and stroner. Finally the girl left her bed and stepped out into the fresh air of the palace terrace. The overjoyed emperor and empress were filled with gratitude to Rabbeinu Gershom, and Basil offered him a rich reward of luxurious wealth. Gershom simply replied "Your Majesty, I have no desire for riches. For me the greatest reward would be the withdrawal of the decree against the Jews." Basil immediately promised to do as Gershom requested, and soon the decree was annulled.

The Silver Throne

Gershom now became Basil II's friend and close confident. One day, Gershom happened to tell the emperor the story of Solomon's wonderful golden throne. Knowing Gershom to be a goldsmith, Basil asked him to create such a throne for him.

However, when Gershom began to build this magnificent artifact, it turned our that there was not enough gold in the king's treasury for the task. The throne was thus fashioned out of silver. So complicated was the task that it took several years to complete. When it was finished, a great festival was planned to celebrate its unveiling.

With great pomp, the royal trumpets blew, heralding the emperor's approach. However, as Basil ascended the magnificent throne, he became confused operation of its marvelous hidden mechanism. He thus Rabbeinu Gershom to ascend the thone before him and show him how it worked.

Six silver steps led up the throne, each one flanked by two different animals, all cast of siIver. As Gershom ascended, the animals marvelously extended their feet to support him. When he had reached the last step and took his seat the huge silver eagle held the royal crown over Gershom's head. The courtiers broke out into enthusiastic cheers and applause. Gershom then descended and received the emperor's thanks. Basil then proceeded to mount the throne and take his proper place.

The evil minister John, however, so jealous of Gershom's success that he determined to find a way to do away with him. John was virtually certain that some of the workmen had stolen silver during the throne's construction, and conceived a plan to lay the blame of Gershom. "Your Majesty," he asked, "how do you know that this Gershom has not stolen any silver from the state treasury? How can you be certain that all the silver he has taken has gone into the construction of the throne? Let us weigh the throne and ascertain the truth."

Basil agreed, but there was no scale large enough to weigh the throne. The empire's greatest engineers all attempted to create a way to weigh the throne, but they all failed.

The one thing that brought sadness to Rabbeinu Gershom's heart was the fact that he had no children. His wife, like the matriarchs of the Bible, thus encouraged him to take a second by whom he could perpetuate his lineage. This woman had many acquaintances in the royal household. Like Delilah before he, she used every possible woman wile, and finally succeeded in coaxing from him the secret of how to weigh the throne.

"It is really very simple," said Gershom. "All one has to do is to take a boat, and mark the water-line on the hull. After placing the throne in the boat, you mark the new water-line. When the throne is removed, one has to fill the boat with as many stones as are required to reach the second water-line. All you have to do then is to weigh the stones and you will know how much the throne weighs."

The woman, of course, immediately divulged the secret. When the throne was weighed, John's accusation seemed proven to be true, for the throne weighed substantially less than it should have. Basil summoned Gershom and informed him of the charges against him. Gershom explained that it must have been the workmen who stole the silver, but the emperor was now completely taken in by the evil John. He condemned Gershom to die unless agreed to be baptized as a Christian. Gershom refused to apostatize, and prepared to die. His one "consolation" was that, because he had saved the king's daughter, he would not be hanged, but would be imprisoned in a tower in an isolated desert. There, without any food or drink, he would starve to death.

Imprisoned in the tower, Gershom heard the sound of a woman crying. He looked out and saw his true wife, Deborah. "I have come to die with you," she said in tears. "I am glad you have come," Gershom replied, "but not to die with me. Listen carefully. Find a woodworm and a beetle. Then get some silk thread, cord, and rope. Tie the silk thread about the beetle. Then tie the cord to the silk thread, and tie the rope to the cord. Let the worm crawl up the side of the tower and the beetle will pursue it, bringing the rope up to me."

About a week later, the wicked John awoke from his sleep unable to think of anything but Rabbeinu Gershom. He determined to go to the desert and satisfy himself that the rabbi had died. Taking the keys to the tower with him John climbed up opened the Gershom's cell, only to find it empty. In his shock, he allowed the door to close, and the key was still in the lock outside! He used all of his strength, but was unable to force it open. There, he himself began to suffer the fate originally intended for Gershom.

Rabbenu Gershom, meanwhile, stood on the deck of a ship nearing the shores of his native land in France. Thus ends the legend. The rest, so they say, is history.

Legacy

The halakhic rulings of Judah Ben Gershom are considered binding on all of Ashkenazic Jewry until the present day, although the basis for this is somewhat controversial. Some hold that the bans are still binding and others consider them to have techically expired but that they nonetheless remain obligatory as universally accepted customs.

Some have speculated that if Rabbeinu Gershom had never lived then there may not have been something known as "Ashkenazic Judaism" as it is known today. In the words of the renowned talmudic commentator and rabbinical sage Rashi (1040–1105), all of the great European rabbis of the day were “students of his students.”

External links

• Schechter, Solomon and Bloch, Isaac Gershom ben Judah at the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia site.
• Biographical page

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

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