The Aggada is made up of stories, dialogues, homilies, sayings, proverbs, fables, and riddles scattered through the Mishna and the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, as well as other sources. The Bialik-Ravnitzky edition of the Aggada, which appeared in six volumes from 1908 onwards, and from which this translation was made, was the fruit of research into the numerous traditional collections of Aggadic sayings by the famous Hebrew poet and his scholarly patron. It was created with the needs of the modern Hebrew-reading and Hebrew-speaking generation in mind and intended as a popular, literary folk-collection rather than an archeological or scholarly monument. It has proved itself one of the most popular books in the Hebrew-reading world. The selections given below have been translated by Hilda Auerbach.

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God created (Gen. I:I).

Once an unbeliever came and said to Rabbi Akiba: Who was it that created the world? Said he to him: The Holy One, Blessed Be He. Said he; Give me a clear proof. Said he to him: Come to me tomorrow. On the morrow he came to him. Said Rabbi Akiba to him: What are you wearing? Said he to him: A garment. Said he: Who made it? Said he to him: A weaver. Said he: I do not believe you; give me clear proof. Said he to him: A garment. Said he: Who made it? know that a weaver made it? Said he: And you, do you not know that the Holy One, Blessed be He, created the world? The unbeliever departed. Said his pupils to him: What is the proof? Said he to them: My sons, just as the house proclaims the builder, and the garment proclaims the weaver, and the door proclaims the carpenter, so the world proclaims the Holy One, Blessed be He, who created it. . . .

Said Master Zutra bar Tovia: The world was created on ten things: on wisdom, on understanding, and on knowledge, on strength, on reproof, and on courage, on justice and righteousness, on kindness and mercy.

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In the Day that The Lord god made the earth and the heavens (Gen. 2:4).

This may be compared to a king who owned some fragile goblets. Said the king: If I put hot water in them, they burst, if cold, they contract. What did he do? He mixed hot water with cold and poured it into them and they stood firm. So the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: If I create the world solely on the principle of mercy, its sins will be many; if on the principle of justice, how will the world survive? But I am creating it on the principle of justice together with the principle of mercy—and may it endure.

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And the earth was without form (Gen. 1:2).

Rabbi Abahu said: This may be likened to a king who bought two slaves, both with the same bond and at the same price; he commanded that one of them be fed from the king’s treasury and that the other one eat the fruit of his labor. This last sat bewildered and astonished and said: The two of us were bought on the same bond for the same price, the one is fed from the king’s treasury and I must eat the fruit of my labor. How strange! Thus the earth sat bewildered and astonished and said: The upper and the lower [spheres] were built at the same time, the upper ones are nourished by the radiance of the Divine Presence, and the lower ones cannot eat except if they toil. How strange!

Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: This may be likened to a king who bought himself two maidservants, both on a single bond and for the same price; the one was commanded not to stir out of the palace, while the other one was sent away. This last sat by herself, bewildered and astonished and said: We were both on the same bond, for the same price, but she never stirred out of the palace, while I was sent away. How strange! In this way the earth sat by itself, bewildered and astonished and said: The upper and lower [spheres] were created at the same time; the upper ones are alive and the lower ones are dead. Hence—“And the earth was without form. . . .”

Said Rabbi Tanchuma: This may be likened to a king’s son who used to sleep in a cradle, and his nurse was confused and bewildered. For what reason? Because she knew that in the future she would receive punishment at his hands. Thus the earth waited for the future when it would receive its punishment at the hands of Adam, for it is said: “Cursed is the ground for thy sake” (Gen. 3:17). Hence, “And the earth was without form.”

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And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters (Gen. 1:6).

They said: When the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,” the middle drop [of water] congealed and thus the lower heavens and the upper heavens were formed.

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And God called the firmament heaven (Gen. 1:8).

Said Rav: Fire and water. The Holy One, Blessed be He, took fire and water and mixed them and made the heavens out of them. Moreover, this was in order that people might marvel over them, saying: What are they made of? Out of fire, or out of water? How strange!

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And God said, let there be light (Gen.1:3).

Rabbi Yehuda said: The light was created first and the world afterwards. Like a king who wished to build a palace and the place was dark. What did he do? He lit candles and lamps so that he would know how to lay his foundation stones. Thus the light was created first. . . .

Rabbi Nehemiah said: The world was built first: like a king who built a palace and crowned it with candles and lamps. . . .

Rabbi Shimon ben Yehozadak asked Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman: As I have heard that you are a master of Aggada, whence was the light created? Said he to him: The Holy One, Blessed be He, draped himself in a white praying-shawl and let His glory radiate from one end of the world to the other.

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And God divided the waters (Gen. 1:7).

An unbeliever asked Rabbi Meier: Is it possible that the upper waters depend merely on the divine command? Said he: Yea. Then he said to him: Bring me a water-clock. . . . and he brought him a water-clock, whereupon he set upon it a filling of gold, and the water was not held back; he set upon it a filling of silver, and the water was not held back; but when he set his finger upon it, the waters were held back. Said he to him: So you use your finger for that! . . . And what am I, that am merely flesh and blood? Yet my finger stops the waters—how much the more so can the finger of the Holy One, Blessed be He.

On the third day the earth was a flat tableland like a plain and the water covered all of the earth and when the utterance went forth from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed be He: “Let the waters . . . be gathered together,” mountains and hills rose up from the ends of the earth and separated themselves over the face of the earth and formed many valleys. The middle of the earth rose up and the waters rolled back and were gathered into valleys (and became seas). The waters were lifted up forthwith and rose up to cover the earth as at the beginning, until the Holy One, Blessed be He, rebuked them and overcame them and subdued them beneath the soles of his feet and measured them with the hollow of his hand, so that they would not increase or diminish, and He made the sand the limit of the sea, like a man who puts up a fence around his vineyard. And when the waters rise up and see the sand in front of them—they return whence they came.

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Rav Asi compared the following texts: it is said “And the earth brought forth grass” (Gen. 1:12) on the third day before the Sabbath; and it is said “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth” (Gen.2:5) on the Sabbath eve! This teaches that the grasses came up and stayed at the surface of the earth, until the first man came and asked for pity on them and the rains fell and they grew.

Rabbi Simon said: There is no grass without its guardian angel [lucky star] in the sky, which drives it saying: Grow!

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Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi compares the following: “And God made two great lights” (Gen. 2:16) and it is said “the greater light . . . and the lesser light.” Said the moon to the Holy One, Blessed be He; Lord of the Universe, is it possible for two kings to use a single crown? Said he to her: Go and diminish yourself. Said she: Lord of the Universe, is it because I have said something unworthy that I must diminish myself? Said he to her: Go then and govern both by day and by night.

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He made the stars also (Gen. 1: 16).

Said Rabbi Acha: this may be likened to a king who had two administrators, one governing in the city and the other governing in the state. Said the king: Since this one diminished himself to the point of governing the city, I sentence him as follows: when he goes out, let him be accompanied both by members of the aristocracy and the common people, and when he goes in, let him be accompanied both by the aristocracy and the common people. So the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Since the moon has diminished herself to the point of only ruling over the city, I decree that when she comes out, the stars must come out with her, and when she goes in, the stars will go in with her.

When the Holy One, Blessed be He, rebuked the moon, she fell, and sparks fell from her all over the firmament and they are the stars.

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And all the host of them (Gen. 2:1).

Even those things which seem to you to be superfluous in the world, such as flies, fleas, and gnats, they too are included in the creatures of the world: through them all does the Holy One, Blessed be He, accomplish His purpose, even by means of a frog, even by means of a mosquito.

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