News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-09-20
WHO Is SATAN!
The Question Discussed by a Learned
Jewish Rabbi.
From the Menorah MONTHLY I

| lrrom bne Menorah Monthly.l
Taking the word Satan in its specific
sense, as proper name, we find it in
the Bible signifying rs q spiritual in
visible being, whose vocation is to tempt
and mislead mankind, and who delights
in mans destruction and degradation
In the Book of Job Satan is described
as being familiar with the Almighty:
| "And the Lord said unto Satan,
whence comest thou?" Dob j., ~ Dur
ing the reign of David, Satan is report
ed to have worked against Israel. "And
Satan stood up against Israel" (Chron-
| lcles xxii.) When the prophet Zech-
arlah beheld in O vision the high priest
Joshua standing before an angel he saw
Satan by his side to resist him Czech.
ariah iii, H.
These biblical passages have given
rise to superstitious belief which has
taken deep root, not only in the hearts
OF our people, but also in those of the
numerous adherers of Christianity and
Islam.
In the New Testament Satan is iden-
titled with the devil, derived from the
Greek Dlabolos, and is believed to be as
ubiquitous and powerful as God him.
sell. In Matthew iv., l., Satan is re-
ported as having tempted Jesus. 81.
John calls Satan a murderer, q liar. And
In. Revelation xii, 49,, it is said: "And
there was war in heaven, Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon,
&C. And the great dragon was cast out,
that Old serpent called the devil and
Satan, &C." 1t is most astonishing that
Jesus, in whom Christians believe MS
having been God himself, was powerless
In the presence of Satan, while Michael
and his angels yanquished him2 In the
second seventh chapter of the Koran we
read that ''Satan, who is called there
Eblis, having disobeyed Gods order to
worship Adam, was hurled down from
heaven, &c" Thus has Satan become
the invisible ruler of Europe, Western
Asia and America, corrupting the inno-
cent, defiling the pure, and degrading
individuals as well as communities.
But the question arises spontaneously:
Who is Satan2 Has Judaism given
birth to such phantom? Are the peo-
pie of Israel responsible for the exis-
tence of such q demon2 In order to
solve these questions, we must concur
in the conclusions to which our great
historians and modern Bible critics
have arrived, with reference to the pc
riod when those books which mention
Satan as proper name were discovered.
1t has been ascertained that the books
Job, Daniel, Chronicles, and Kings be-
long to that time when the children of
Israel, with exception of q few who
were permitted to remain in Jerusalem,
were transported by Nebuchadnezzar to
Babylon. There they came in contact
with the Persians, whose religion con-
sisted in fire worshipping and believing
Greater of light and good, and Ahriman,
the originator of darkness and evil.
This belief of the Persians was during
the time of jeremiah and Ezekiel, i'm
proved by Zoroaster, who was the prop
agator of Monotheism, teaching that
there was before the worlds creation
but one omnipotent God who, by his
word, called into being two good angels,
Ormuzd and Ahriman. But the latter
corrupted his ways, and thus became
ruler of darkness and evil.
Now, as the people Of Israel found in
the land of their captivity nation
whose principal belief in God bore such
a striking resemblance to their own,
they soon became closely attached to
them, and imbued with their belief in
Ahriman, whose name they changed
afterward into Satan, which found en-
trance in the Bible. Persian super
stitious religious ideas took q strong
hold of our peoples imagination, yes,
even that of our prophets. "The names
of the angels"-says the Talmud Jer-
ushalmi of Rosh Hashana-" did the
people of Israel bring with them from
Babylon during the reign of Cyrus"
Thus the Christian world is indebted
for the invention of Satan, who embel-
fishes their Testament not to the Jews,
but to the Persians. Also the believers
in Kabbalah are indebted for the no
menclature of angels and demons which
they possess to nobody else but to the
PeIsiars- The poIssinrl doctrines of an
GEOLOGY and demonology have impress
ed the majority of our people so that
they adhere to it up to the present day.
This doctrine has become the nucleus of
many of our prayers. The Kabbalistic
rabbis have even gone q step further,
and have identified Satan with the SER
pent which enticed Adam and Eve to
trespass against Gods commandment.
And gradually they have advanced him
to the high position of "Malach Hamo-
vess," angel of death. Hence, one of
the sages says: "Hu, Hasatan, Hu, Ha-
jezer hora, Hu Hamalach hamovess.
''The Satan, the enticer to evil, and the
angel of death are one and the same
being"
This view, however, was not shared
by all rabbis. There were many who
bitterly opposed it. The Talmud B'rach-
9TH, page 80, relates: 'In the place
where Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa resided
4 serpent endangered the lives of the
people The rabbi succeeded in doing
away with the serpent and convincing
the people that not the serpent killeth,
out sim" This story intimates the idea
hat Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa worked tn
lestroy the prevalent belief that the old
serpent "Nachash, Hakadmony," was
the 'Malach Hamovess" who hurls peo-
pie into untimely graves. The rabbi en-
ieavored to show that the untimely
leath is due to some ''cheth, yes, some
deviation from Gods precepts which are
with the laws of nature.
How WnOd PuIn IL prOduaN6