Zekhut Yisra’el (The Merit of Israel)

A Short Introduction: The Reasons That Compelled Me to Put Together These Works

A. Many great, wise, genius, and righteous men beseeched me to publish in a book that which I received from scribes and books—beautiful sayings, stories, and meritorious accounts from members of our holy family. They said that this would be beneficial and would arouse the fear of God in the heart of the reader. And indeed, this is true. And I resolved not to ignore the words of my companions—as the tanna Rabbi Jose said. And with the Lord’s help, I am in the midst of arranging forty edited collections from the sainted men of the Most High, our grandfathers and uncles, our relatives and in-laws. They correspond to the four Yuds, in the seventy-two-letter Name [of God], as is known.¹ And I have already published, with the Lord’s help, twenty edited collections in two books, ‘Eser kedushot [1906] and ‘Eser ’orot [1907]. And now we have these ten edited collections [‘Eser tsaḥtseḥot, 1910]. And if the Lord wills it, I will next publish ‘Eser ‘atarot [1910], which will add another ten edited collections. And I ask forgiveness from several famous people in our time, the descendants of the aforementioned, who were not mentioned in my books for three reasons: (1) I was overzealous in wanting to list them all—had I mentioned only the famous ones, I would have been like he “who casts jealousy into the meal [and causes envy of others”²]; (2) I feared meting out the praise deserved by each person, lest I exaggerate or understate; (3) the cost of printing prevented me from including that which does not meet the express purpose [of the work]. And as far as I am concerned, they are all equal, for good and for blessing. May they live long and good lives, Amen.

B. I studied the passage of the sages (Midrash Rabbah, Ki Tisa’, ch. 44) that expounds [upon the verse]: You brought a vine out of Egypt (Psalm 80:9)—just as the vine lives and is sustained and supported by dead trees, so too does Israel live and rely on the dead—these are the ancestors. And the sages of blessed memory also expounded the verse: Raise the heads of the children of Israel according to their families and their fathers’ houses (Numbers 1:2)—that the reason he [Moses] counted them at the beginning of the book [of Numbers] was that the people of Israel only merited their crown due to their lineage. And King Solomon (may peace be upon him) opened his book: these are the words of Kohelet son of David (Ecclesiastes 1:1). And they said in the midrash, “fortunate is the man who has a peg upon which to hang himself” [y. Berakhot 32b]. And I am the lowliest and poorest in my clan,³ most of my days having passed me over—may they continue to be long and good—I have yet to merit sanctifying even one of my 248 bones or 365 tendons. I said to myself: perhaps I will arouse the merit of our holy ancestors to speak from the grave for me.⁴ In the world upon high, they will recommend good on my behalf so that I should merit already in my lifetime to serve the Lord in truth, with a pure heart, and with complete repentance, Amen, let it be His will. For this reason, I have called these works The Merit of Israel (Zekhut Yisra’el). And it is explained in the Shlah’s books [Isaiah, or Yesha’yahu ha-Levi Horowitz, 1565–1630] that there is no objection to giving a book two names.

C. Indeed, a man does not know the time [of his death]. And I am living in the community of exiles (Ezekiel 1:1) in a country maligned by roaming armies, and my offspring (let them live) are young, and may the Lord lengthen their days with good. And they have not merited to see the great faces of these [ten] great, holy luminaries, may their merits protect us. I have arranged this as an eternal memorial so that my children, and their children, for posterity, should know from whom and how they came into this world. And they should remember the saying of the sages of blessed memory: “When will my actions compare to the actions of my ancestors?” [Tanna debei Eliyahu Rabbah 25] and they should be strict not to cross the fences [around commandments] established by our fathers and forefathers, lest they cause, God forbid, shame or humiliation to these saints (now sanctifying our land). And that they should not mix our family with a psoriatic and leprous family, rebels against the light,⁵ licentious transgressors of the laws of the holy Torah—an all-too-common occurrence from our many sins these days. All of these three reasons have compelled me to this labor, which has weighed heavily upon me due to my diminished strength and little time. Blessed is He who gives strength to the weak; blessed is the Lord forever, Amen, Amen.

The words of the humble Yisroel, son of our rabbi and teacher Yitsḥak Simḥa, may the memory of the righteous be for life in the world to come.