FOUR ATTRIBUTES OF A TZADDIK
Herman Fishman asked, "Was Shlomo
Putchkis a tzaddik?" Julius Jaffe replied,
"No, because Shlomo Putchkis did not
possess the four attributes of a tzaddik."
He continued, "A tzaddik must come
from a lineage of tzaddikim, both in his
generations and also in his connection
with his teacher, and through his teacher
in his connection with his teacher's teacher,
and his teacher's teacher's teacher.."
He went on, "A tzaddik must have traversed
all ten of the sefirot, perhaps over the course
of many lifetimes."
He further stated, "A tzaddik must diligently
learn Torah for its own sake. 'Those who seek
Me will find Me.'" (Proverbs 8:17)
He concluded, "As an exemplar of tikkun
olam, a tzaddik must teach, inspire, and lead
others in the correct path, and this work
continues even after the revival of the dead."
LILITH
The companions were walking. Julius
Jaffe said, "When Lilith was cast into
the bottom of the ocean, Adam in his
unhappiness consorted with demon
women for 135 years."
Sidney Plouse asked, "Did God ever
consort with Lilith?"
Julius Jaffe replied, "Yes. After the
destruction of the Second Temple and
the exile of the people, the Shekinah
remained with the people while God
separated himself from the people
and consorted with Lilith."
Herman Fishman asked, "How can a
man know if his wife has been possessed
by Lilith?"
Julius Jaffe said, "A man and his wife
must have a secret word. Also, if a
wife refuses to lie beneath her husband,
she has been possessed by Lilith. Feh.
It was for this that Lilith was cast into the
bottom of the ocean.."
SINS OF THE MARRIAGE BED
Julius Jaffe was walking with Herman
Fishman. Julius Jaffe said, "Alike unto
the dinner table, the marriage bed has
many prohibitions. Wrongdoings can
bring forth a child with two heads."
Herman Fishman inquired, "Of all the
prohibitions of the marriage bed, which
one is the most dire to transgress?"
To which Julius Jaffe replied, "When a man
and wife are locked in intimate embrace,
should one or both of them think lasciviously
of another person, feh, no transgression
is worse than this one. Their child will have
webbed feet like a duck."
As they walked on Herman Fishman said,
"But what of Jacob who, at the moment
of conjugal bliss, must surely have called
out Rachel's name in the darkness, although
his bedmate was Leah?"
Julius Jaffe answered without hesitation,
"Yes, but Jacob had been hoodwinked to
believe he was with Rachel!"
He continued, "Further, when Jacob realized
the deception and upbraided Leah, she quite
correctly answered in kind: 'Are you not my
teacher and am I not your pupil? I learned
from your fine example. When your father
Isaac called you by Esau's name, you said,
Here am I.'" And they continued on their way.
EVEN BEFORE HE CREATED
Julius Jaffe said, "Even before he undertook
the creation of the world, even before he
brought Adam into being, God revealed to
Adam the entire future of humankind, from
the first day until Moshiach's arrival."
He continued, "Some may ask how God revealed
the entire future of the world to Adam even before
the world was created. Some may ask how Adam
witnessed this revelation even before the creation
of Adam himself."
He concluded, "Feh! Feh! The highest emanations
of the Sefirot -- Keter, Chochmah, Binah -- are not
vouchsafed to us and even to inquire regarding
Keter, Chochmah, and Binah causes judgment to
be rendered!"
IF A MAN'S HAIR FALLS OUT
Herman Fishman said, "My hair is falling out."
Julius Jaffe replied, "One whose hair falls out
will succeed in his affairs, as the sages teach,
if his hair falls out before he grows old. If his
hair falls out after he grows old, he will become
the opposite of what he was before, whether for
good or bad."
He continued, "Sol Benish, when he was old his
hair fell out at the spot where his tefillin were worn.
Then he became a deceiver, a gossiper, whispering
but not out loud."
He continued, "When the forehead of a man is thin
and angular, not round, he thinks he is wise but he
knows little. He laughs with his tongue, like a snake."
He went on, "A forehead that is large but not rounded?
Or two upper large wrinkles on his forehead and one
wrinkle above one eye and one wrinkle above the other
eye? This conceals madness, but people do not perceive
it. He becomes wise, even in Torah, but not for its own
sake. Sometimes he succeeds and sometimes not."
He went on, "Similarly, yellowish-green eyes -- madness
lies within him. But green eyes surrounded by white, he
is beloved. The color black does not appear in him. Amen."
"I WOULD PUT IT DIFFERENTLY"
Morrie Brier said, "What is a lot of money
to some people is not a lot of money to
other people." Julius Jaffe said, "I would
put it differently." He said, "What is not
a lot of money to some people is a lot
of money to other people." He continued,
Or, what is a lot of money to some people
is a lot of of money to other people, and
so on ad infinitum."
HE BIT HIS TONGUE
Julius Jaffe was 118 years old. They were walking
and Herman Fishman said to him, "Tell me a great
secret." Julius Jaffe replied, "Have I not told you?
But I cannot show you, that is, the way of a man
and a woman."
They walked on and he said, "'Three things are too
wonderful for me, yea, four things which I know not:
an eagle in the air, a snake upon a rock, a ship in
the sea, and the way of a man man with a woman.'"
(Proverbs 30:18)
He explained, "A husband and his wife intimately
embrace and when the Creator sees, he likewise
embraces Shekinah until there is a great exuberation
of Light upon the world."
They walked on and Herman Fishman said, "The
subsequent verse?"
Julius Jaffe said, "'The way of an adulterous
woman: she eateth and wipeth her mouth and
saith, I have done no wrong.'" (Proverbs 30:20)
He continued, "This refers to Lilith," He added
"Feh! Feh!" and he spit over his left shoulder
and he bit his tongue.
THE PARTRIDGE THAT SITTETH ON EGGS
In the 1950s he invented the Hula Hoop, he was a
pioneer in color television, he marketed poodle
skirts, he patented the Tastee Freeze dispenser,
Disneyland was his idea, he built atomic bomb shelters
for the rich, he discovered Elvis Presley, he developed a
rubber seal for refrigerator doors, he invested in
McDonald's, he wholesaled Davy Crockett coonskin
hats, he capitalized on Jello-o molds, shrimp cocktails,
and frozen TV dinners. He did this in secret because
secrecy sustains the world, as the sages teach, but
in spite of himself, and secretly, Julius Jaffe was a
wealthy man.
His home was a single room on the fourth floor of
the Rienzie Hotel. He ate bowls of cottage cheese
mixed with sour cream and crushed crackers. He
ate baked potatoes and boiled potatoes, He drank
seltzer water. He read For Two Cents Plain by
Harry Golden. He read The Old Bunch by Meyer
Levin. He learned Torah, as is written, "His delight
delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his Law doth
he meditate day and night." (Psalm 1:2)
Oy vey. Yet he was not fruitful, he did not multiply.
(Beresheet 1:22) nor was he as the tree planted
by the waters, that spreadeth out roots by the river
and hath not care when the heat cometh. (Jeremiah 17:8)
Was he not rather as the partridge that sitteth on eggs
but hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches shall leave
them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool?
(Jeremiah 17:11) Oy vey. Oy vey.
EVERY BEGINNING IS HARSH
After Gus Golding died, Herman Fishman, Sidney Plouse,
and Julius Jaffe began playing three-handed pinochle
on Sundays.
On the first Sunday Julius Jaffe wept and said, "Every
beginning is harsh, but later comes gentleness. Upon
the birth of Benjamin, Shekinah was fully arrayed in
twelve tribes. Because Shekinah derives from Judgment,
oy, her manifestation meant death for Rachel."
When the game ended the three companions went to
the Far East restaurant for Chinese food. Julius Jaffe
continued, "Oy vey. Every beginning is harsh, but later
comes gentleness, forgiveness,and atonement at the
conclusion of Yom Kippur." And they all said, "Oy vey."
A GREAT FISH
Sidney Plouse and Julius Jaffe were walking accompanied
by a Jew. Sidney Plouse said to Julius Jaffe, "Open your
mouth and deliver words of Torah."
Julius Jaffe replied, "'Her ways are ways of delightfulness.'"
(Proverbs 3:17) The Jew said, "A coin in a flask is found in
this verse." They said, "How do you know it?"
He said, "I heard it from my father. Wherever in Torah one
reads 'ways' -- her ways were opened by the patriarchs
who dug in the sea and entered her. Those ways are open
on every side, in every direction in the world."
Julius Jaffe said, "Who then was your father?" The Jew
said, "My father was a Great Fish," and he was gone.
MAN WITH A BIRD ON HIS HEAD
Herman Fishman and Julius Jaffe were walking. Herman
Fishman said, "I see a man with a bird on his head."
Julius Jaffe said, "Is that a human being there? No, it is
a hint of wisdom given to us."
He called out to the man with a bird on his head, "What is
the meaning of 'He will swallow up death forever and wipe
away tears?'" (Isaiah 25:8) The man replied, "When He
enacts his prerogative, the powers of harsh judgment will
be denied, including death -- but not until the Jews by their
righteousness arouse His enactment."
Julius Jaffe gave him twenty dollars. Why? Because
only in the Upper World is wisdom free.
A BLACK ROOSTER
Herman Fishman said, "When the moment of death approaches,
when the judgment of a human being is aroused, a black rooster
crows but nobody hears it except the one taking his final sleep."
Then he asked, "Why is it a black rooster?" Julius Jaffe replied,
"Oy. A black rooster -- what difference does it make?"
KINDLING FROM WHICH THE FLAME ARISES
Julius Jaffe said, "Every black letter of Torah is sacred, but more
sacred still are the white spaces between the letters, above and
below the letters, and even within the letters themselves."
Sidney Plouse asked, "Why is that the case?" Julius Jaffe replied,
"As the letters are black flame, the white spaces are kindling from
which the flame arises. The letters are male, the white spaces
are female."
Bravo!
Posted by: The Best American Poetry | April 03, 2020 at 12:47 PM