THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME I

CONTENTS

PREFACE
I. THE CREATION OF THE WORLD
The First Things Created--The Alphabet--The First Day--The Second
Day--The Third Day--The Fourth Day--The Fifth Day--The Sixth
Day--All Things Praise the Lord.

II. ADAM
Man and the World--The Angels and the Creation of Man--The
Creation of Adam--The Soul of Man--The Ideal Man--The Fall of
Satan--Woman--Adam and Eve in Paradise--The Fall of Man--The
Punishment--Sabbath in Heaven--Adam's Repentance--The Book of
Raziel--The Sickness of Adam--Eve's Story of the Fall--The Death
of Adam--The Death of Eve.

III. THE TEN GENERATIONS
The Birth of Cain--Fratricide--The Punishment of Cain--The
Inhabitants of the Seven Earths--The Descendants of Cain--The
Descendants of Adam and Lilith--Seth and His
Descendants--Enosh--The Fall of the Angels--Enoch, Ruler and
Teacher--The Ascension of Enoch--The Translation of
Enoch--Methuselah.

IV. NOAH
The Birth of Noah--The Punishment of the Fallen Angels--The
Generation of the Deluge--The Holy Book--The Inmates of the
Ark--The Flood--Noah Leaves the Ark--The Curse of
Drunkenness--Noah's Descendants Spread Abroad--The Depravity of
Mankind--Nimrod--The Tower of Babel.

V. ABRAHAM
The Wicked Generations--The Birth of Abraham--The Babe Proclaims
God--Abraham's First Appearance in Public--The Preacher of the
True Faith--In the Fiery Furnace--Abraham Emigrates to Haran--The
Star in the East--The True Believer--The Iconoclast--Abraham in
Canaan--His Sojourn in Egypt--The First Pharaoh--The War of the
Kings--The Covenant of the Pieces--The Birth of Ishmael--The
Visit of the Angels--The Cities of Sin--Abraham Pleads for the
Sinners--The Destruction of the Sinful Cities--Among the
Philistines--The Birth of Isaac--Ishmael Cast Off--The Two Wives
of Ishmael--The Covenant with Abimelech--Satan Accuses
Abraham--The Journey to Moriah--The Akedah--The Death and Burial
of Sarah--Eliezer's Mission--The Wooing of Rebekah--The Last
Years of Abraham--A Herald of Death--Abraham Views Earth and
Heaven--The Patron of Hebron.

VI. JACOB
The Birth of Esau and Jacob--The Favorite of Abraham--The Sale of
the Birthright--Isaac with the Philistines--Isaac Blesses
Jacob--Esau's True Character Revealed--Jacob Leaves His Father's
House--Jacob Pursued by Eliphaz and Esau--The Day of
Miracles--Jacob with Laban--The Marriage of Jacob--The Birth of
Jacob's Children--Jacob Flees before Laban--The Covenant with
Laban--Jacob and Esau Prepare to Meet--Jacob Wrestles with the
Angel--The Meeting between Esau and Jacob--The Outrage at
Shechem--A War Frustrated--The War with the Ninevites--The War
with the Amorites--Isaac Blesses Levi and Judah--Joy and Sorrow
in the House of Jacob--Esau's Campaign against Jacob--The
Descendants of Esau.

I

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD
THE FIRST THINGS CREATED
THE ALPHABET
THE FIRST DAY
THE SECOND DAY
THE THIRD DAY
THE FOURTH DAY
THE FIFTH DAY
THE SIXTH DAY
ALL THINGS PRAISE THE LORD

I

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD

THE FIRST THINGS CREATED

In the beginning, two thousand years before the heaven and the
earth, seven things were created: the Torah written with black
fire on white fire, and lying in the lap of God; the Divine
Throne, erected in the heaven which later was over the heads of
the Hayyot; Paradise on the right side of God, Hell on the left
side; the Celestial Sanctuary directly in front of God, having a
jewel on its altar graven with the Name of the Messiah, and a
Voice that cries aloud, "Return, ye children of men."[1]

When God resolved upon the creation of the world, He took counsel
with the Torah.[2] Her advice was this: "O Lord, a king without
an army and without courtiers and attendants hardly deserves the
name of king, for none is nigh to express the homage due to him."
The answer pleased God exceedingly. Thus did He teach all earthly
kings, by His Divine example, to undertake naught without first
consulting advisers.[3]

THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME I