Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
The piety of Baruch and the great favor he enjoyed with God were made
known to later generations many years after his death, through the
marvellous occurrences connected with his tomb. Once a Babylonian
prince commanded a Jew, Rabbi Solomon by name, to show him the grave of
Ezekiel, concerning which he had heard many remarkable tales. The Jew
advised the prince first to enter the tomb of Baruch, which adjoined
that of Ezekiel. Having succeeded in this, he might attempt the same
with the tomb of Ezekiel, the teacher of Baruch. (72) In the presence
of his grandees and his people the prince tried to open the grave of
Baruch, but his efforts were fruitless. Whosoever touched it, was at
once stricken dead. An old Arab advised the prince to call upon the
Jews to gain entrance for him, seeing that Baruch had been a Jew, and
his books were still being studied by Jews. The Jews prepared
themselves by fasts, prayers, penitence, and almsgiving, and they
succeeded in opening the grave without a mishap. Baruch was found lying
on marble bier, and the appearance of the corpse was as though he had
only then passed away. (73) The prince ordered the bier to be brought
to the city, and the body to be entombed there. He thought it was not
seemly that Ezekiel and Baruch should rest in the same grave. But the
bearers found it impossible to remove the bier more than two thousands
ells from the original grave; not even with the help of numerous
draught-animals could it be urged a single step further. Following the
advice of Rabbi Solomon, the prince resolved to enter the bier on the
spot they had reached and also to erect an academy there. These
miraculous happenings induced the prince to go to Mecca. There he
became convinced of the falseness of Mohammedanism, of which he had
hitherto been an adherent, and he converted to Judaism, he and his
whole court.
Near the grave of Baruch there grows a species of grass whose leaves
are covered with gold dust. As the sheen of the gold is not readily
noticeable by day, the people seek out the place at night, mark the
very spot on which the grass grows, and return by day and gather it.
(74)
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