[42] In the same way a fool, called Chosek, was going to starve the city of Lemberg, against which he was enraged; and for this purpose he placed himself behind the wall, in order to blockade the city with his body. The result of the blockade, however, was that he nearly died of hunger, while the city knew nothing whatever of a famine. [43] In our times, when so much is said both _pro_ and _contra_ about secret societies, I believe that the history of a particular secret society, in which I was entangled, though but a short time, should not be passed over in this sketch of my life. [44] That is, of course, the 17th century.--_Trans._ [45] _Baalshem_ is one who occupies himself with the practical Cabbalah, that is, with the conjuration of spirits and the writing of amulets, in which the names of God and of many sorts of spirits are employed. [46] As I never attained the rank of a superior in this society, the exposition of their plan cannot be regarded as a fact verified by experience, but merely as an inference arrived at by reflection. How far this inference is well founded, can be determined merely by analogy according to the rules of probability. [47] The ingenuity of this interpretation consists in the fact, that in Hebrew נגן may stand for the infinitive of _play_, as well as for a _musical instrument_, and that the prefix כ may be translated either _as_, in the sense of _when_, or _as_, in the sense of _like_. The superiors of this sect, who _wrenched passages of the Holy Scriptures from their context_, regarding themselves as merely vehicles of their teachings, selected accordingly that interpretation of this passage, which fitted best their principle of _self-annihilation_ before God. [48] Maimon in a footnote here refers, by way of a parallel, to the interpretation by a Catholic theologian of a passage in Ezekiel (xliv., 1-2) as an allegorical prophecy of the Virgin Mary; but most readers will probably prefer to leave the exposition of the allegory to the imagination of those who choose to follow it out.--_Trans._ [49] A trait of these, as of all uncultivated men, is their contempt of the other sex.