Beri‘ah ve-Zimrah (Briyo and Zimro)

Zimro, the son of Tovas [ . . . ] was very good-looking, highly intelligent, and a scholar. Now, the king loved him more than any other member of the royal household. He was the leading figure at court, and it was the king who gave him the name Zimro after his grandfather. It was the king, too, who would appoint him judge over all his people Israel, to teach them Torah, and who would award him a house next to his palace in Jerusalem, alongside the houses of the priests, in order that he might preside as judge over all Israel thrice yearly, at festival-time, when they came on pilgrimage and to offer sacrifices each day.

Once, at Rosh Hashanah, the king was sitting on his throne, while the young men of his household stood before him. Then a woman approached him with her two sons, who were locked in a dispute over the property that their father had left them. One of them had two heads and spoke out of two mouths—so he was laying claim, as two people, to two portions of the estate. The king said to his two favorite lads, Tuvas and Zimro, “Try her case by ordeal. I want to see how you adjudicate the matter,” to which they replied, “Gracious lord, father and king, we will do so with pleasure.” Then, the man with the two heads came before them, but Tuvas had no idea how to proceed with his ordeal. Zimro, on the other hand, asked that a can of hot water be brought, which was done, and when the hot water was thereupon poured over one of the two heads, it was the other head that screamed out. Then Zimro said “What are you screaming for? I have not hurt you. It seems clear to me that you are in fact just one person, and that you should, therefore, receive just one portion.” The king and his entourage all had a good laugh about Zimro’s way of handling a trial by ordeal.

Soon after, the gorgeous Zimro caught sight of the beautiful Briyo, daughter of Pegin, the high priest. She was very extremely modest and pious, and he was greatly taken with her. The maiden fell in love with him, too, for she had heard about his scholarly and devout reputation and her heart ached for him. The day came when Pegin gave a dinner party and sent invitations to Tuvas and Zimro. Zimro was looking forward to mealtime with eager anticipation. “Now,” he said, “I shall open my heart to the girl.” When they arrived at the house of the lord high priest, he was setting the table with utensils more magnificent than anything they had ever seen, and everyone was amazed. Then Pegin said “That is nothing! I have a possession more beautiful by far,” and he steered the king and Tuvas and Zimro into a chamber where he showed off his lovely daughter. She was more radiantly beautiful than any woman upon whom man had ever set eyes.

Zimro stared and could not take his eyes off her. He was so overwhelmed by passion that he went white. Everyone saw this and laughed, but they kept quiet. Then they left her for the other room and there they fell asleep because they had drunk so much. Zimro, however, could not sleep but wondered, instead, how he could get to see the beautiful daughter again, even at the cost of his life. Then he simply walked over to her room. When he opened the door and she saw him enter, she got up and went to receive him graciously and warmly. He thanked her politely; she took his hand; and they sat down side-by-side. Then he began to speak, saying, “There is something I need to talk over with you with all the politeness and reverence at my command, and I just hope that you will not be offended.” To this, she replied “Dear Zimro, say anything you like; I will not be offended.” Thereupon, he said “From the moment I saw you, I have been a prisoner of love; I have not had a moment’s repose since then, so I beg you to take me as your husband. If so, I will arrange with father for him to broach the matter with your father and seek his consent. I will see to it that this is handled properly.” Then she said “Dear lord Zimro, you do not care for me as much as I love you. I cannot tell you how much I love you. God willing, we bring this off.”

So they bade each other farewell in high spirits, and Zimro returned to the party and behaved as if nothing had happened, and as if he, too, had fallen asleep in his cups. Then the guests all said their goodbyes and went contentedly home. But when Zimro got home, he started to sicken. He did not want to eat, drink, or sleep, and he seemed very sad. Then his father said, “Tell me, dear boy, why you are sad? What is your desire?” To this, he answered “Dear lord father, I have to tell you that from the moment I set eyes on the daughter of the high priest, I have been so deeply in love with her that if I do not win her I will surely die. Therefore, dear lord father, ask the high priest to let me have her hand.” Then Tovas, his father, said, “Dear boy, keep quiet and do not embarrass yourself or me. I do not err when I say that he does not want to become linked to us by marriage, so take my advice and do not even think about it.” Then said Zimro, “Dear father, permit me to let you in on a secret, from which you will see that I have behaved perfectly honorably. When the high priest invited us over and all the others were sleeping, I visited her discreetly, with all the politeness and reverence at my command, and there we solemnly swore that we would marry one another.” Tovas saw how things stood and said, “Dear boy, take care of yourself and I will see what I can do.” So Tovas left his son Zimro and went to the four city elders and told them of his son’s desire, asking them to speak to the high priest and obtain his consent, and promising them a handsome reward for their intervention. Then the four men said, “You and your son need have no fear. We can easily arrange this. There is no doubt about it. You can go and make wedding plans.” “It seems premature to plan the wedding,” replied Tovas. “There will be plenty of time for that. Go ask him first.” The four leading citizens went to the high priest and told him about the desire of Tovas and Zimro to become linked to his family through marriage and how Tovas would give his son a large allowance. At this, Pegin, the high priest, laughed and said, “Dear worthies, my good friends, I am well aware that Zimro is the best-looking, brightest lad in the area, even in the whole country, but give him my daughter? Never! No way! I would drown her before that. You have my answer, so off you go in health and peace!”