When Lamech's wives heard that Adam decided they should continue to live with their husband, they weren't exactly thrilled. They threw some serious shade his way, basically saying, "Physician, heal thyself!" Because, Adam himself had been living apart from Eve ever since Abel's death. He figured, why bring more children into a world where they'll just die?
But here’s where it gets interesting. Even though Adam avoided intimacy with Eve, he apparently wasn't immune to nocturnal visits from, shall we say, other female entities. The Zohar tells us about the existence of female spirits, and Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews says that from these unions sprang forth all sorts of shades and demons! And these weren't just any old demons; they were gifted with unique abilities. Talk about a complicated family tree.
Now, let's jump to a different story, one that involves a pious man in Palestine and his son, Rabbi Hanina, who knew the entire Torah by heart. The father, on his deathbed, gives Rabbi Hanina some very specific instructions. Study Torah, be kind to the poor, and… buy the first thing you're offered at market after our mourning period ends, no matter the cost. Oh, and he also tells him that he and his wife will die on the same day. Heavy stuff.
Everything unfolds as predicted. The parents pass, the mourning period concludes on Passover eve, and Rabbi Hanina heads to the market. There, an old man offers him a silver dish at a ridiculously high price. Remembering his father's words, Rabbi Hanina buys it.
And what does he find inside? A live frog! Hopping around, no less.
Rabbi Hanina, being the dutiful son, feeds and cares for the frog. The frog grows and grows, eventually requiring a whole chamber to live in. The frog eats everything that Rabbi Hanina has, and the Rabbi winds up penniless.
But then, the frog speaks! "Don't worry," he says. "Because you cared for me, I'll grant you any wish." And what does Rabbi Hanina ask for? Not riches, not power, but knowledge of the entire Torah.
The frog agrees and teaches him the whole Torah, plus seventy other languages! How? By writing words on scraps of paper and having Rabbi Hanina swallow them. Can you imagine?! He also learns the languages of animals and birds.
The frog then rewards Rabbi Hanina's wife for her kindness. He takes them to the woods, summons all sorts of creatures, and commands them to bring precious stones and medicinal herbs. The wife learns how to use these herbs to cure diseases. They return home wealthy and respected.
Finally, the frog reveals his true identity. "I am the son of Adam," he declares, "born during those 130 years of separation from Eve. God has given me the power to assume any form I desire."
So, what are we to make of these strange and wonderful tales? Well, they offer a glimpse into the rich tapestry of Jewish folklore, where the boundaries between the human, the spiritual, and the downright bizarre are delightfully blurred. These stories, found in texts like the Zohar and Midrash Rabbah, aren't necessarily meant to be taken literally, but they do offer insights into the anxieties, beliefs, and moral teachings of the people who told them. Perhaps the story of Rabbi Hanina and the frog teaches us about the importance of honoring our parents, the unexpected rewards of kindness, and the transformative power of knowledge. And maybe, just maybe, it reminds us that even the strangest of encounters can lead to the greatest of blessings.
THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM AND LILITH - When the wives of Lamech heard the decision of Adam, that they were to continue to live with their husband, they turned upon him, saying, "O physician, heal thine own lameness!" They were alluding to the fact that he himself had been living apart from his wife since the death of Abel, for he had said, "Why should I beget children, if it is but to expose them to death?" Though he avoided intercourse with Eve, he was visited in his sleep by female spirits, and from his union with them sprang shades and demons of various kinds, and they were endowed with peculiar gifts. Once upon a time there lived in Palestine a very rich and pious man, who had a son named Rabbi Hanina. He knew the whole of the Torah by heart. When he was at the point of death, he sent for his son, Rabbi Hanina, and bade him, as his last request, to study the Torah day and night, fulfil the commands of the law, and be a faithful friend to the poor. He also told him that he and his wife, the mother of Rabbi Hanina, would die on the selfsame day, and the seven days of mourning for the two would end on the eve of the Passover. He enjoined him not to grieve excessively, but to go to market on that day, and buy the first article offered to him, no matter how costly it might be. If it happened to be an edible, he was to prepare it and serve it with much ceremony. His expense and trouble would receive their recompense. All happened as foretold: the man and his wife died upon the same day, and the end of the week of mourning coincided with the eve of the Passover. The son in turn carried out his father's behest: he repaired to market, and there he met an old man who offered a silver dish for sale. Although the price asked was exorbitant, yet he bought it, as his father had bidden. The dish was set upon the Seder table, and when Rabbi Hanina opened it, he found a second dish within, and inside of this a live frog, jumping and hopping around gleefully. He gave the frog food and drink, and by the end of the festival he was grown so big that Rabbi Hanina made a cabinet for him, in which he ate and lived. In the course of time, the cabinet became too small, and the Rabbi built a chamber, put the frog within, and gave him abundant food and drink. All this he did that he might not violate his father's last wish. But the frog waxed and grew; he consumed all his host owned, until, finally, Rabbi Hanina was stripped bare of all his possessions. Then the frog opened his mouth and began to speak. "My dear Rabbi Hanina," he said, "do not worry! Seeing thou didst raise me and care for me, thou mayest ask of me whatever thy heart desireth, and it shall be granted thee." Rabbi Hanina made reply, "I desire naught but that thou shouldst teach me the whole of the Torah." The frog assented, and he did, indeed, teach him the whole of the Torah, and the seventy languages of men besides. His method was to write a few words upon a scrap of paper, which he had his pupil swallow. Thus he acquired not alone the Torah and the seventy tongues, but also the language of beasts and birds. Thereupon the frog spoke to the wife of Rabbi Hanina: "Thou didst tend me well, and I have given thee no recompense. But thy reward will be paid thee before I depart from you, only you must both accompany me to the woods. There you shall see what I shall do for you." Accordingly, they went to the woods with him. Arrived there, the frog began to cry aloud, and at the sound all sorts of beasts and birds assembled. These he commanded to produce precious stones, as many as they could carry. Also they were to bring herbs and roots for the wife of Rabbi Hanina, and he taught her how to use them as remedies for all varieties of disease. All this they were bidden to take home with them. When they were about to return, the frog addressed them thus: "May the Holy One, blessed be He, have mercy upon you, and requite you for all the trouble you took on my account, without so much as inquiring who I am. Now I shall make my origin known to you. I am the son of Adam, a son whom he begot during the hundred and thirty years of his separation from Eve. God has endowed me with the power of assuming any form or guise I desire." Rabbi Hanina and his wife departed for their home, and they became very rich, and enjoyed the respect and confidence of the king.
