Satan in Goray

generation, and his lips drip with deceit. With a tongue of blandishment he doth speak, and the poison is under his gums. To make matters worse, this false prophet is forever sunk in melancholy, whose root is lust, as has been clearly demonstrated by our sages. In every town he comes to he speaks upon the heart of some woman to join him in the bond of matrimony, but his purpose is to make her unclean and to give her a bad name. For after the marriage his wives all move away from him, because of his ugly ways; from too much magic working, he has himself been caught in the web, and no longer has the strength to act the man's part; he shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand.... Nevertheless, he will not divorce them, and lets them sit alone, grass widows, the tears on their cheeks, their bitter cries splitting heaven, with no recourse. Woe to him, and woe to his soul, that shall weep in secret: Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.
    "And now I beg Your Honor, regard not the vessel but that which is in it, and let this wicked man not strike root in your holy congregation, whose name is as ointment poured forth, henna and spikenard. Incline not your ear to his allusions and falsehoods. Tear him out by the roots. Beat him, break his head, make him a disgrace and a mockery, and so shalt thou put away the evil from thy midst, as was done with the help of God in other holy congregations. For from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in him, but wounds and bruises and festering sores. Tear the veil from his face, to sanctify the name of Him who is on high, and to give the wicked the reward for his wickedness. Let the blood that he has shed fall on his own head. Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Drive him off in shame, as have done all the other great men in their towns, and uncover his nakedness for all to see, that he may know that there is a judge and justice in the world, and that Israel is no widower. For the waters are come in even unto the soul, and there is no longer the strength to suffer these hypocrites and prophesyers, who would tear down the branch of Judah--that is, the disciples of the wise--and do away with them utterly. This sheet is too short, and not all things can be said. Give to the wise man and he will be yet wiser, understanding one thing from another. And God shall stand at our side and cleanse the world from the scum of the serpent and the poison of the basilisk. With this I put an end to words and conclude with a broken and a contrite heart, and with faltering knees.
    "--From me, who am the smallest of men, the tail of the fox, the threshold to be trodden by the wise. A worm am I, and no man, one to be mocked and despised by all: Jacob, the son of the holy Rabbi Nachum (blessed be the memory of the righteous!), once the head of the holy community of Pintchev, and now resident in the holy community of Lublin (God protect and shield it!)."

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    Rabbi Benish Prepares for War with the Sabbatai Zevi Sect Rabbi Benish prepared for war with the Sabbatai Zevi sect. He sent Grunam to search out the packman Itche Mates and learn his ways, and on the fence of the prayer house he hung an injunction against reading the tracts from abroad. Rabbi Benish called on all those who had amulets to bring them in to be examined, for there were widespread rumors that the names of impure demons and of Sabbatai Zevi were written in many of them. On the Sabbath the rabbi preached in the prayer house between the morning and the afternoon prayers on the verse in the Song of Songs: "Awaken not, nor stir up love, until it please"; he pointed out that it was a sin to try to hasten the end of days. Rabbi Benish also told the congregation of the false Messiahs who had risen in days gone by, and of the persecutions that Jews had suffered because of them. To keep the young folk who were cabalists from gathering at midnight as they usually had done, he ordered the study house and the bathhouse closed late at night. Reb Itche Mates was no longer able to immerse himself in the bathhouse before the midnight prayer watch, and was forced to go to the pond beyond the town, taking along a hatchet to chop a hole in the ice. Two young men walked ahead of him with wooden lanterns to light the way, which was full of pits and holes. Reb Itche Mates carried the Book of the Creation to drive off evil spirits. Silently, without a sigh, he took off