Torah in the Mouth.pdf

Torah in the Mouth, Writing and Oral Tradition in Palestinian Judaism, 200 BCE - 400 CE
Jaffee, Martin S., Samuel and Althea Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Washington
Print publication date: 2001, Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: November 2003
Print ISBN-13: 978-0-19-514067-5, doi:10.1093/0195140672.001.0001
The parable of “the patron” richly evokes the Roman patronage system, of which rabbinic culture stands as only one local variation. 32 But
it is of interest to us in terms of its mnemonic characteristics.
end p.134
The set scene is the well-known judicial process of arrest, trial, and conviction. The orator and his audience both know that the patron can
intercede on behalf of his client at the stage of arrest and trial (B), but that if conviction results, the patron is helpless (C). There is
otherwise virtually nothing to remember, other than the repeated phrase “I'll stand by him” and the lament, “What will become of the client
and where is his patron?” The helplessness of the patron at the moment of the test of his powers (C) sets up the contrast with the ultimate
Patron and His client, Israel. The illustrative citation of an appropriate Scripture then concludes the parable with a demonstration of the
orator's ability to link the parable and the Scripture into an illuminating relationship.
With these simple elements in mind, any decently prepared homilist could extemporize endlessly, from one performance setting to
another, by varying the situations of threat to the client (B–C) and selecting appropriate verses for representing God's abiding patronage
(D). Indeed, the copyist has abbreviated the fourth rendition, knowing full well that he could do so without interfering with the reader/
performer's own rendition of the parable. Obviously, we should not search here for the “original” version of the “patron of flesh and blood”
that inspired the others. Rather, each repetition constitutes its own authentic version. Even the one reported by Rabbi Yudan “in his own
name,” although it varies the content of texts 1–4, takes the basic elements of the parable for granted. At 5B the client calls upon the
patron, while at 5C the patron's ineffectiveness is exposed. Finally, at 5D a scriptural text illustrates the incomparable power of the divine
Patron.
Pharaoh” (Ex. 18:4)! . . . 30
2. Rabbi Yudan [transmitted] in the name of Rabbi Yitzhak another version:
A. One of flesh and blood had a patron.
B. They said to him: Your client has been arrested. He replied: I'll stand by him!
They said to him: Your client has been brought to court. He replied: I'll stand by him!
C. They said to him: Your client has been thrown into the water—what will become of the client and where is his patron?
D. But the Blessed Holy One saved Yonah from the belly of the fish, for it says in Scripture: “And God spoke to the fish and he spit up
Yonah” (Jon. 2:11).
3. Rabbi Yudan [transmitted] in the name of Rabbi Yitzhak another version:
A. One of flesh and blood had a patron.
B. They said to him: Your client has been arrested. He replied: I'll stand by him!
They said to him: Your client has been brought to court. He replied: I'll stand by him!
C. They said to him: Your client has been thrown into the fire—what will become of the client and where is his patron?
D. But the Blessed Holy One is not like this, for He saved Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah from the furnace of fire, for so is it written:
“And Nebuchadnezar replied, saying, Blessed is the God of Shadrakh, Mishakh, and Evednego” (Dan. 3:28)!
4. Rabbi Yudan [transmitted] in the name of Rabbi Yitzhak another version:
A. One of flesh and blood had a patron.
B. So on and so forth until— 31
C. Your patron has been thrown to the beasts.
D. But the Blessed Holy One saved Daniel from the den of lions, for so is it written: My God sent His angel who closed the mouth of
the lions (Dan. 6:23)!
5. Rabbi Yudan stated in his own name:
A. One of flesh and blood has a patron.
B. When troubles overtake [the client], he does not immediately approach [his patron]. Rather, he goes and stands at the gate of his
patron and calls out to the attendant or other member of the household. And the latter says to the patron: So and So is waiting at the
gate of your courtyard.
C. Maybe the patron will let him in; maybe he'll leave him there.
D. But the Blessed Holy One is not like this! When troubles overtake a person, he shouldn't call either to Michael or to Gavriel. Rather
let him call upon Me and I shall respond immediately, for so is it written: “All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be spared” (Joel
3:5)!
Rhetorical pedagogy, we recall, would have presented the student with a written version of his parable. Was there, then, a written version
of this parable before Rabbi Yudan that served as the starting point for a series of oral variations on its themes? The simplicity of this
parable's structure would suggest no real need for a written version to serve as a mnemonic aid. But elsewhere in the Yerushalmi, in a
passage discussing the utility of various aides de memoire, we are told in the name of Rabbi Yohanan that “It is a certainty that one who
learns homiletics ['gdh] from a book will not quickly forget it” (Y. Berakhot 5:1, 9a). 33
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