JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

erechiah
organized his more successfully integrated stories and opened
them to symbolic interpretation. In their structure they resemble
the rabbinic legends whose concrete situations and
symbolic implications had always fascinated Berdyczewski.
During his most rebellious period (1896–1900) he collected
ḥasidic legends which he published as a separate volume in
1900. The vitality, individuality, and aesthetic sensibility of the
Ḥasidim attracted him since they were the antithesis of rabbinic
Judaism. Both the Hebrew and the German editions of
these anthologies substantially expanded the library of Jewish
literature available to the average reader.
One of the most seminal figures in both modern Hebrew
literature and Jewish thought, Berdyczewski exerted a
subtle yet crucial influence upon many readers after the turn
of the century because he embodied, both in his personality
and in his writing, the painfully ambivalent attitudes toward
both traditional Judaism and European culture shared by
many Jewish intellectuals. Characteristically, Berdyczewski
rebelled against his religious background, but could never
completely reject it.
Berdyczewski’s collected works are Kol Kitvei, Stybel edition
(20 vols. (1921–25) and various other later editions; collected
Yiddish works Yidishe Ksurim (1924); rabbinic legends;
Me-Oẓar ha-Aggadah (2 vols., 1913; Mi-Mekor Yisrael (5 vols.,
1930–45). A list of his works translated into English appears in
Goell, Bibliography, 63, 94. An English translation of Miriam
appeared in 1983. Among recent collections in Hebrew are A.
Holtzman, Y. Kafkafi (eds.), Kitvei M.J. Berdyczewski (1996)
and A. Holtzman (ed.), Meḥkarim u-T’eudot (2002)
His son IMMANUEL BIN-GORION (1903–1987), writer
and translator, was born in Breslau. In 1936 he settled in Tel
Aviv where he served as director of Bet Mikhah Yosef (a municipal
library based on his father’s collection). His writings
in Hebrew and German include essays, literary criticism, and
studies of folklore. He edited and published his father’s writings.
His Hebrew books include Shevilei ha-Aggadah (1950)
and Ḥidot ha-Sheloshah, ancient Indian legends.
Bibliography: Waxman, Literature, 4 (1960), 113–24, 382–93;
Kressel, Leksikon, 1 (1965), 322–5; S. Spiegel, Hebrew Reborn (1930),
331–74; Y.A. Klausner, Major Trends in Modern Hebrew Fiction (1957),
124–43; Kol Kitvei J.Ḥ. Brenner, 3 (1967), 34–54; Fishmann, in: Kol
Sippurei Bin-Gorion (Berdyczewski) (1951), 13–28; Y. Kaufmann, Golah
ve-Nekhar, 2 (1954), 386–404; Y. Keshet, M.J. Berdyczewski (Heb.,
1958); Lachower, Sifrut, 3 (1963), 71–139, bibliography 217–9; Meron,
in: Moznayim, 19 (1954), 248–58; I. Rabinovitz, Major Trends in Modern
Hebrew Fiction (1968), 124–44. Add. Bibliography: N. Govrin
(ed.), M.J. Berdyczewski: Mivḥar Ma’amrei Bikoret al Yeẓirato ha-
Sippurit (1973); G. Shaked, Ha-Sipporet ha-Ivrit, 1 (1977), 163–205;
Z. Kagan, Me-Aggadah le-Sipporet Modernit bi-Yetzirat Berdyczewski
(1983); Y. Oren, Aḥad Ha-Am, M.Y.Berdyczewski ve-Ḥavurat
“Ẓe’irim” (1985); E. Bin-Gorion, Olam ve-Olamot bo: M.J. Berdyczewski,
Mored u-Meshorer (1986); Y. Ben Mordechai, Shivḥei ha-Eyvah:
Iyyunim bi-Yeẓirato shel M.J. Berdyczewski (1987); D. Miron, Boah
Laylah: Iyyunim be-Yeẓirot Bialik u-M.J. Berdyczewski (1987); A.
Holtzman, Hakarat Panim: Masot al M.J. Berdyczewsi (1993); idem,
El ha-Kera she-ba-Lev (1995); H. Bar-Yosef, Magga’im shel Dekadans:
Bialik, Berdyczewski, Brenner (1997); N. Govrin (ed.), Boded be-
Ma’aravo: M.J. Berdyczewski be-Zukhronot benei Zemano (1997); W.
Cutter, Relations between the Greats of Modern Jewish Literature: M.Y.
Berdyczewski´s Complicated Friendship with Martin Buber (2000); A.
Holtzman, “Ha-Sefer ve-ha-Ḥayyim” (2003); M. Bergman, in: D. Stern
(ed.), The Anthology in Jewish Literature (2004).
[Dan Almagor / Arnold J. Band]
BERECHIAH (fourth cent.), Palestinian amora; sometimes
referred to in the Midrash as R. Berechiah ha-Kohen. His father’s
name was apparently Ḥiyya (Tanḥ. B. Gen. 60, cf. Lev.
R. 31); was a pupil of R. *Ḥelbo, whose aggadic sayings, as well
as those of other scholars, he reported. His many aggadic sayings
are found mostly in the Midrashim and in the Jerusalem
Talmud, but he is also mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud.
R. Berechiah preached and taught in his own bet midrash (TJ,
Ber. 7:6, 11c). In his homilies he stresses the virtues of charity
and the uniqueness of the Jewish people (Lev. R. 27:7; Ta’an.
4a). “God said to Israel: ‘My children: If you see the merit of
the patriarchs declining and the merit of the matriarchs diminishing,
go and cleave to acts of charity’” (TJ, Sanh. 10:1,
27d). He gave voice to the expectation that God would exact
vengeance upon Israel’s enemies (Lam. R. 5:1). Although only
a few of his halakhot are mentioned, it is clear that his views
in the field of halakhah were regarded as authoritative (TJ, RH
3:1, 58d). Some scholars think that there was an earlier Palestinian
amora (third century) called Berechiah or Berechiah
Sabba (“old”).
Bibliography: Bacher, Pal Amor, S.V.; Hyman, Toledot,
296–8; Z. Rabinowitz, Sha’arei Torat Bavel (1961), 368; Frankel, Mevo,
69.
[Zvi Kaplan]
BERECHIAH BEN NATRONAI HA-NAKDAN (end of
12th–13th century), fabulist, translator, thinker, copyist, and
grammarian. Some have identified him with Benedictus le
Puncteur of Oxford, who presented a gift to Richard I in 1194,
though many deny this. Berechiah lived in Normandy and at a
certain period also in England. His title ha-Nakdan testifies to
the fact that he punctuated Hebrew books. He also knew foreign
languages and translated and adapted several books into
Hebrew, including Quaestiones Naturales by Adelard of Bath,
a popular 12th-century book on natural sciences. Berechiah
entitled it Dodi ve-Nekhdi or Ha-She’elot (ed. by H. Gollancz,
1920). His collections of ethical treatises Sefer ha-Ḥibbur and
Sefer ha-Maẓref (ed. by Gollancz, The Ethical Treatises of Berachyah,
son of Rabbi Natronai Ha-Nakdan, 1902) summarized
the opinions expressed in Saadiah Gaon’s Emunot ve-De’ot (of
which Berechiah used the old, unprinted translation in Hebrew),
as well as the opinions of other geonim. In these essays
he invented several Hebrew terms for philosophical concepts.
He also wrote Ko’aḥ Avanim (unpublished), a translation-adaption
of a Latin book about the magical powers in stones.
His most famous work is Mishlei Shu’alim (English translation
by M. Hadas Fables of a Jewish Aesop, 1967), a collec-
406 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3