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Critical Notices. 541
35 and after 36 ; therefore he recommends a liy^B*, " space." (That is
the right reading in a Bodleian MS., instead of the incomprehensible
IIQ^K' in our text, which Dr. Joel Miiller, in his excellent edition of
this treatise, ingeniously proposed.)
The next part in Professor Blau's monograph has for object the
pendent letters (Jewish Quarterly Review, I., p. 137), which is
followed by a chapter on the Tikkune Soferin, of which the earlier
documents count eleven, while later on we find mentioned eighteen.
Eaym. Martini, for instance (^Puf/io Fidei, p. 277, ed. Carpzov),
mentions an unknown Tiklnm for Ps. xxii. 17, which was used as an
argument to brand him as a forger {The Expositor, 1888, Third Series,
Vol. VII., p. 183) ; but from the variations found in difEerent docu-
ments on this subject it is highly probable that Martini copied from
a genuine text. In the sixth part our author treats of the words
written otherwise than read, and in the last he gives explanations of
Massoretic notes quoted in the Midrashim.
We hope that Professor Blau will continue his ingenious
Massoretic investigations, for if he has succeeded in shaking the
foundation of the Massorah, he ought to try to repair the breach by
a new construction.
A. Neubauer.
Eldad the Danite.
Eldad ha-Dani seine BericMe iiber die zeJm Stamme und deren Bitus in
verschiedenen Versionen nach Handschriften und alien Druckcn mit
Einleitung und Anmcrkungen nehsi eincm Excurse iiber die Falascha
und deren Gebr'duche von Abraham Epstein. Pressburg : 1891
(in Hebrew, and with a Hebrew title also), published by Herr
Lippe, Wien.
The author of this interesting and learned monograph is not a stranger
in the field of Eabbinical literature. Besides his essays on the Mid-
rash Rabbathi and the Pugio Fidei, on the Book of the Jubilees (of
which the first part appeared in the Revue des Etudes Juives, t. xxi.,
p. 80, sqq.), and many others of minor importance, Herr Epstein is
the author of a remarkable book on Jewish antiquities, entitled,
Beitr'dge zur Jiidischen Alterthumshunde I. (Wien : 1887), of which we
regard his present book as a second instalment ; indeed, we are
astonished that the learned author has not described it as such on the
title-page. The present work is composed of three essays. The first
treats of the diary of the famous Eldad the Danite, which Herr
542 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
Epstein thinks genuine. The native country of Eldad, our author
concludes, was either Yemen, or a province of South-east Africa,
where the Jews knew Hebrew without having any knowledge of the
Talmud, whilst in Palestine, Babylonia, Persia, Egypt, Spain and
the Magreb, the decisions of the Geonim were already well known
towards the end of the ninth century, the date at which Eldad ap-
peared, bringing with him strange Halacliotk concerning the Shehitah
and Bedikah, which agree neither with the views of Rabbanites nor
Karaites. Eldad, Herr Epstein maintains, could not be a native of
Abyssinia, the country of the Falashas, since they speak only the
Geez dialect, and know no Hebrew, whilst there is no trace of this
dialect in Eldad's Hebrew, but there are some traces of Arabic, which
Eldad must have known, although he pretended the contrary. Traces
of Arabic in Eldad'a Hebrew were already recognised by others before
our author (Jour. Asiatique, 1861, II., p. 206), although Herr Epstein
supplies a larger number of instances ; but to affirm that the Yemen
Jews, although knowing and writing Hebrew, were completely
ignorant of the Talmud and the works of the Geonim, is a premature
conclusion, for the early history of the Jews in this country is not
so well known as to permit such a definite conclusion. And were
this even proved, we could not admit that the Yemen Jews knew
nothing of the oral law, as is the case with the Falashas, who indeed
are scarcely of the Jewish race at all. Why should the Babylonian
and Palestinian Rabbis have communicated Halachas to Africa,
Spain, France, Italy, and Germany, and not to Yemen ? Surely, the
Geonim would have been as anxious for the religious observances of
the Yemen Jews as of those in other countries. It is therefore pro-
bable that Eldad invented his strange Halakhoth as he did his impos-
sible visit to the Ten Tribes and the children of Moses. Why the
Geonim in Babylonia and in Africa believed in them, and why the
grammarian, Judah ben Qoreish, quoted the explanation of TSYif ac-
cording to the dialect of the Danites (not of Eldad ; see Journal As.,
1861, loc. cit.), can be answered by another question: Why did they
believe in so many Agadic books, issued in their own time, as ancient,
for instance, the Pirke de li. Eliezer, and others? The connection of
the Ten Tribes with the rise of pseudo-messiahs is well known, and
therefore any information about them was not only welcome, but
was eagerly believed, and hence no scepticism was roused as regards
Eldad's reports.
But apart from the question of the genuineness of Eldad's diary, we
consider Herr Epstein's geographical notes, as well as the comparison
of Eldad's Halakhoth with the Rabbanltic ones, as a boon to Rabbinical
literature. His publication of the different texts of Eldad's diary
from old editions, and from MSS. is also an important contribution,
Critical Notices. 543
and this remark applies more especially to the copious and learned
notes. It seems, however, that our author was not aware that the
Jewish Quarterly Eevie w, vol. I., pp. 95 to 114, has an article on the
same subject, where in a supplementary note (p. 423) another text is
pointed out in which the diary in a concise form is ascribed to a
merchant Elhanan.
The Halakhoth are also given as found in four different texts, of
which the most authentic seem to be those reported by Samuel Jama
ben Jacob of Cabes in Tunisia. Here in the neighbourhood of
Kairowdn the tradition was better kept up. That the Arabic book
entitled Bisaleh al-Burhdn f, Tadzkiyat al-Haiman, without the name
of the author, in the unique Bodleian MS. is indeed, according to Herr
Halberstam's ingenious deduction, the work of our Samuel, results from
passages in Yemen MS. which we shall mention in another number of
the Jewish Quarterly Eeview. Why Herr Epstein doubts the
existence of this MS. (p. 105, N) we do not know.
The third part treats of the Talashas, which has become now a
subject a la mode. Of course Herr Epstein, as well as others who
have busied themselves with this strange tribe, have to rely chiefly upon
the report made by the celebrated M. Joseph Halevy, and the
accounts published by Flad and others. The name of Falasha is
derived from the root falash to emigrate ; they indeed call themselves
" the exiled " in their prayer-book. Is the name of Pelisktim, " the
Philistines," derived from the same word ? It is possible, for they
came from Caphtor (Amos ix. 7).
After a brief description of the dwelling-places and the language of
the Palashas, Herr Epstein gives an account of their literature. To
this ought to be added some apocrypha which M. Halevy brought
from Abyssinia, and which are still in his possession. Our author
continues then with a chapter on the creed of the Falashas, and with
the enunciation of their feasts and fasts with the calculation necessary
for fixing them. In mentioning that the Falashas rely in these respects
on the book of the Jubilee, our author speaks of the similar calculation
of the Samaritans according to a late source. Why not rather quote
the introduction to a Samaritan chronicle which appeared in the
Journal Asiatique, 1869, II., p. 422 ? After having spoken about
the priests, the Nazirites. the house of prayer, the sacrifices, the
prayers, the ritual rules and the costumes of the Falashas, Herr
Epstein concludes with a chapter on the origin of this curious tribe,
for which they have themselves three traditions, and after having
mentioned and discussed the opinions on the subject by Filoxene
Luzzatto, the late Marcus and M. Halevy, our author comes to the
conclusion that the Falashas for the greater part came from Egypt,
whence they brought their strange ritual, which is neither Samaritan
VOL. III. M M
544 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
nor Judaic, but a mixture of both made by Onias when he built the
temple of Heliopolis, and tried to satisfy the different sects by accept-
ing something from each of them. That is also the reason suggested
for the strange literature the Falashas possess, and perhaps also of
their ignorance of Hebrew. We, for our part, believe that the Falashas
are converted slaves, made by the Jews of Abyssinia at an early
epoch.
From this short summary it can be seen how much of proved theory
as well as of conjecture are to be found in our author's book, the read-
ing of which we can recommend to those who are interested in the
fictions found in Rabbinical literature. We only regret that Herr
Epstein uses G-erman words written in Hebrew characters, which are
unintelligible for all Jewish students, except perhaps in German-
speaking countries. ODpJ^tO (Text) could have been given by NnD13.
What a barbarism the word TltOX"iyiD''7n? represents ! A Hebrew
particle and a Hebrew article appended to the German word
" Literatur " ! Why not rather employ the word D''3n3 ?
A. Neubauer.
Geography of Palestine.
BiUiotheca Gcographica Palcestinm. Chronologischcs Verzeiclmiss der
avf die Geographie des Heiligen Landes dezugliclien Literatur,
von Z2i'i ¥is 1878, und Versiich einer Cartograpliie. Herausgegeben.
By Reinhold Roheicht. Berlin, 1890. (Reuther.)
As the comparatively small volume of the Bible has produced, and
still continues to produce, an immense literature, so also Palestine,
which was one of the least extensive countries of the ancient world,
has been the subject of an immense literature of travels and pilgrim-
ages, which is of the highest importance for the geography of the
Bible. Of course, the greatest number of pilgrims were Christians
of all denominations, and thus from them proceeded the greater bulk
of this literature. A smaller amount was written by Jews, and a still
smaller portion by Mahomedans. But the last have composed special
works of geography, of which Palestine, of course, forms a part, and
they wrote histories of Jerusalem and Hebron, which they also
regard as holy places. It was high time for compiling a bibliography of
the works concerning Palestine, which are written in so many
languages. This task the Nestor of Palestine studies, the late
Dr. Titus Tobler, undertook, and issued a bibliography in 1868.
Before his book appeared, and soon after, societies for Palestine
