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Yerushalmi Found And Lost: The Story Of A Forgery
By Yisroel Holland
A Real Yerushalmi
Part I
This series was first published in 1992, or, 24 years ago.
For Part II of this series click here.
Yerushalmi Lost...
The lot of the talmud Yerushalmi has not been as happy as that of its younger by-about-a-century sibling, the Bavli. Through the years, lomdim and poskim have given preference to the latter, in spite of the Yerushalmi's being the product of Eretz Yisroel, whose very air imparts wisdom.
In a teshuvoh, Rav Hai Gaon explains that the choice is not arbitrary and that due to the circumstances, the Bavli is more authoritative. Compilation of the Yerushalmi ended with the petiroh of Rebbi Yochonon (around the year 4050 or 290 CE), and it was never formally finished off as the Bavli was.
Intensification of the Roman oppression and persecutions in the seventy or so years from 4065 onwards finally destroyed the remaining Jewish life in Eretz Yisroel (almost three hundred years after the churban beis Hamikdosh). The last generation of amoroim of Eretz Yisroel either perished or fled to Bovel, where most of the nation lived in relative peace and security.
The remnant of the Torah scholars of Eretz Yisroel were thus present in Bovel during the final arrangement of the Bavli which took place during Rav Ashi's lifetime (he was niftar in 4186 — 426 CE) and all of the teachings they had brought with them were taken into account in arriving at the rulings of the Bavli. This is the reason that the poskim take the opinion of the Bavli as authoritative when the two gemoras arrive at different conclusions.
Extent of the Yerushalmi
The reduced use of and involvement with the Yerushalmi led in time to the disappearance of large parts of its material and their eventual loss. In the "Introduction to Peirush Hamishnayos," the Rambam writes "there exist five complete sedorim of talmud Yerushalmi." In other words, there is Yerushalmi on all the masechtos of Shas with the exception of seder Taharos for which almost no gemora was composed in the Bavli either.
Today however, we have no trace of the Yerushalmi's seder Kodshim. Its existence is also attested to by Rashi, Tosafos, the Oruch, the Ra'avad, the Tashbatz (who writes, "and on the entire seder [Kodshim], there is Bavli and Yerushalmi except for maseches Middos") and other Rishonim. The great Chid"a bemoaned this tremendous loss, which in all likelihood would have resolved many of the Acharonim's difficulties with the psakim of the Rambam, who did possess the Yerushalmi Kodshim, as we noted above.
In fact, were it not for the Bomberg edition of the Yerushalmi printed in Venice in 5263 (1503 CE), we might have lost the Yerushalmi entirely. This is suggested by the short paragraph at the end of the Slavita edition, which reproduces a few lines in Aramaic that were inserted at the end of the first printed Yerushalmi.
The printer wrote that he managed to find only four manuscripts on which to base his work and that even these lacked seder Kodshim and ended abruptly while discussing the first mishna in the third perek of Niddah. All that is left for us to do then, is to look towards the arrival of Moshiach, who will probably bring with him the missing parts of the Yerushalmi which the Rishonim had in front of them.
Bound Volume of the Forgery
Yerushalmi Found ...
However, one man hit upon a most original way of restoring its lost property to Klal Yisroel. If none of the libraries or genizos contained the missing Yerushalmi, he would write it himself.
To make his plan a reality required years of labor the nature of which will be described in detail. Then, when the preparatory work had been completed, the Torah world was informed that the Yerushalmi on Kodshim had been found, and was being prepared for publication by a great talmid chochom. Lomdim everywhere rejoiced, especially Yerushalmi devotees. Acharonim waited tensely for its appearance in print.
After the "discovery" of the "manuscript," the publisher, a Sephardi Chacham identifying himself as "a young member of the Algazi family ytz"v, Shlomo Ya'uda S'T [Sephardi Tahor], son of the Gaon MaHaRa"M zt'l the Sephardi, also known as Friedlander" (his own description, as he put it on the title page of the new Yerushalmi), travelled to a number of gedolei hador, showing them the manuscript and requesting their haskomo to its publication.
The response was good. Six gedolei Torah lent their authority to the undertaking. In the haskomo of the MaHaRSha"M MiBrezhan we read the following, "Hurrah, behold, I have seen a diamond light, like the sun at midday, the Yerushalmi Kodshim which we have always known about... and so `there was light for the Jews,' our eyes behold it and our hearts fill with happiness and rejoicing... Morenu HaRav Shlomo Ya'uda Algazi a.k.a. Friedlander, who has brought out all the sedorim of the Yerushalmi with his explanation Cheshek Shlomo."
In this context, we cannot reproduce all the glowing haskomos in full; we will only quote brief extracts. Rav Arieh Leibish Halevi Ish Horowitz, Av Beis Din of Stanislav wrote, "This is a day of glad tidings... may the name of the man who has set up the Torah of Ma'arava be remembered for the good... my soul is full of light and gladness, tears of joy flow from my eyes."
Rav Eliezer Deitch, Av Beis Din of Banihad, author of Shu"T Pri Hasadeh: "Whose heart does exult and rejoice with the revelation of this manifold light, an ancient treasure, (guided) by whose light we travel?"
Rav Yehuda Greenwald, Av Beis Din of Satmar, writes, "We must give praise to the Master of everything, that in our times a light has sprouted and blossomed forth for Yisroel."
Rav Avrohom Binyomin Kluger (son of HaRav Shlomo Kluger) of Brody wrote, "Which man does not long to see this hidden treasure... in his great humility, he has also called upon me to be maskim."
The list of haskomos closes with a letter from Rav Yitzchok Leib Sofer of Drohobitch (son of the Ksav Sofer) who writes, "...certainly, the man inside whom a love of Torah burns, will bring this brocho to his house in exchange for the full price."
Upon examination, the source of most of the haskomos turns out to be Hungary, where the Sephardi publisher resided. Not all Hungarian gedolim were taken in by the fraud however. An eyewitness relates that when the publisher showed the manuscript to his Rav and teacher, Rav Moshe Greenwald, Av Beis Din and Ra"M of Choust, the Rav astonished his talmidim and the disappointed publisher by asserting that this was not the long awaited Yerushalmi. (Rav Greenwald's comment seems however to have been confined to the content of the text, stopping short of claiming that the manuscript itself was a forgery.)
The publisher had no choice but to take himself in shame back to Satmar, where he was living, and make do with the other six haskomos, which after all, coming from such distinguished company, made a very powerful impression.
Title Page of the Forgery of Chulin
The Light Of Day
At the beginning of the Summer of 5663 (1903), the first volume of the newly discovered Yerushalmi was added to Torah bookshelves. The layout used was the same as that of the Vilna Shas and the method of presentation was impeccable. It was entirely convincing; not the slightest doubt would arise on account of the volume's appearance.
The title page begins, "Be'ezras Hashem see this novelty, appearing for the first time from an ancient manuscript (as explained in the introduction)..." and later on, "Talmud Yerushalmi Seder Kodshim part two, masechtos Chulin and Bechoros." (Part one, on Zevochim and Arachin would appear two years later in 5665, by which time the Torah world was already feverishly trying to ascertain whether the first volume was genuine or not.)
The second title page adds, "Corrected and arranged to perfection, clearly explained by the peirush Cheshek Shlomo according to the Shas Bavli ve'Yerushalmi, Mechilta, Sifri, Sifro and Tosefta, and the gedolei horishonim from whose waters we drink, in order to understand the words of the wise and their riddles ... based on foundations of straight logic ... tended and nurtured for those who seek Torah ... for the greatness and glory of the Torah ... by the young member of the Algazi family ytz'v Shlomo Ya'uda S'T called Friedlander. With glosses, comments and new insights from the great Gaon ... Leshum Mordechai HaCohen, Av Beis Din of Brezon. Explanation of foreign words and comments from the great Rav Shlomo Buber of Lvov."
After the aforementioned six haskomos, which follow the title pages, comes a lengthy introduction which is divided into chapters. The publisher first proves that there once was a Yerushalmi to seder Kodshim. In the second section he tries to convince us that his manuscript is indeed the lost Yerushalmi. He notes that the language and style are identical to those of the rest of the Yerushalmi. The content also attests to its authenticity: the manuscript is an apparent source for things found in the writings of many Rishonim, which were later wondered at by Acharonim who did not have the Yerushalmi.
Many sugyos in other parts of the Yerushalmi, and even of the Bavli which hitherto defied understanding, could now be explained without problem in the light of the new Yerushalmi. After presenting his proofs, the publisher turns to the story of the manuscript itself.
The "Story" of the Manuscript
In 5660 (1900), while working on his project of correcting and arranging the entire talmud Yerushalmi, and composing his explanation "Cheshek Shlomo" — writes Friedlander, unfolding the "saga" for us — he received a letter from his brother "the Torah scholar and researcher Eliyahu S'T."
His brother wrote that he had acquired the legacy of Rav Yehoshua Benveniste zt'l, author of the Sdeh Yehoshua on the Yerushalmi and brother of the Knesses Hagedolah on Shulchan Oruch. Amongst the precious, yellowing seforim, he came across a Venice edition of the Yerushalmi whose margins contained many notes written in the Sdeh Yehoshua's own hand. Among the worn pages he came across two letters which caught his attention; one concerned the Sdeh Yehoshua and the other was addressed to the Sdeh Yehoshua.
The first letter had been sent by Rav Moshe Benveniste, (Av Beis Din of Constantinople and author of Shu"T Pnei Moshe) to the leading Rabbonim of Smyrna (Izmir), headed by Rav Shlomo Algazi. It contained a request for financial assistance for Rav Yehoshua Benveniste in his efforts to publish the Yerushalmi seder Kodshim which he possessed.
Dated in the year 5448 (1688), and composed in the lyrical Sephardi style, the letter described the manuscript's journey until it reached the hands of the Sdeh Yehoshua: "And when Yehoshua grew old, heaven merited him — a man whose Master helps him — and a good thing was brought about through a good man such as Yehoshua. For here was, and still is, one of the Portuguese anussim (the term used for a Jew who had converted under duress), the esteemed Don Avraham Halevi who has returned to G-d with all his soul and heart.
"He has left the city of Lisbon and its vanities, the land he knew, in order to enter the covenant of Avraham Avinu. He has accepted the law of his forefathers, das Moshe, upon himself. This has all come about from the hand of Hashem through Yehoshua. And thus said the esteemed one to Yehoshua, `I will do you a favor in return for what you have done for me. In my quarters I possess a holy manuscript, my portion from the legacy of a priest, an apostate Jew whose name used to be Don Shlomo Narvonno of Barcelona.
"And Yehoshua looked at the pages. He saw and he trembled, for here was the gemara of the bnei Ma'arava including all of seder Nezikin, at great length. Also the Yerushalmi on the whole of seder Kodshim, including maseches Temura. Our eyes had never beheld this much. There was light for the wise, set out and preserved in beautiful clear writing."
The second letter had been sent to the Sdeh Yehoshua by his brother the Knesses Hagedolah. While it is written in the same poetic style, its language and message are cryptic. "... `There was light for the Jews,' this is the Torah of the amoraim ofbnei Ma'arava... Now come my brother, `I will advise you, and G-d will be with you.' Stay your hand at present and wait a while until the anger has passed, for something has befallen Yaakov, Yisroel; the trap is broken and with Hashem's mercy we have escaped. To one who is wise in hidden messages, it is a time for silence and ingathering, until the storm dies down ... Your brother whose soul's desire is your name and your remembrance, Chaim, the younger, Benveniste S'T."
This letter was a complete fraud. It was a figment of the forger's inventive imagination to explain why the Sdeh Yehoshua's did not publish the Yerushalmi himself. Supposedly, in the wake of Shabbesai Tzvi's activities in Turkey, the Yerushalmi had been filed away in Rav Yehoshua Benveniste's library never to appear. Even after the letter, why such a step was necessary is far from clear.
The publisher continues his story, relating that he sent his brother an immediate reply asking that he begin searching for the manuscript, which should be somewhere in the vicinity of Smyrna or Constantinople. On yom gimmel of seder Toldos 5661 (1901), he received a reply from his brother who wrote that they found nothing, besides receiving a message from the Rabbonim of Smyrna and Salonica that they too had heard about the existence of something of this nature. Eliyahu indicated that he had supposedly recruited "the great chacham, mori ve'rebbi Yaakov Kobi S'T" for the effort of finding the manuscript.
The intrepid pair of investigators sent another, slightly more optimistic letter at Shavuos to say that between Adrianople and the royal city of Darim, lived the members of the Benveniste family, descendants of the Sdeh Yehoshua.
In their possession were tens of kameiyos (amulets) and shemiras (protective writings) which sometimes turned out to contain no more (and no less) than ancient sifrei kodesh. Thus it had happened, wrote Eliyahu, "substantiating" his story, that a Jew who thought he had a kameyia against headaches, found that it contained sheilos and teshuvos dealing with mikvaos. (Here at any rate, there is a grain of truth. Chazal advise "chosh berosho, ya'asok beTorah — one who suffers from headache should involve himself in learning Torah!") Their search was now centered on these kameiyos in the hope that one would turn out to be the missing Yerushalmi.
Not a soul knew anything about these investigations for naturally, they had to be conducted in the utmost secrecy. If the local Torah scholars would hear about what was going on, they would join in the search and the manuscript would fall into their hands.
End of Part 1
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