<p>Ben Sira's teacher is freaking out. The boy has just rattled off proverbs for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet with the confidence of a seasoned sage, and his educator can only stammer: "The natural orders of Creation have been changed for you." In other words, you're not normal.</p>
<p>Ben Sira isn't impressed. "There's nothing new under the sun," he fires back, quoting Ecclesiastes. He points to a precedent. The prophet Jeremiah (Yirmiyahu) once studied with his scribe Baruch ben Neriah in exactly the same alphabetical fashion. When Baruch said "Aleph," Jeremiah responded with the opening of Lamentations: "Alas! Lonely sits the city..." (Lamentations 1:1). When Baruch said "Bet," Jeremiah answered: "Bitterly she weeps in the night..." (Lamentations 1:2). And so on through the entire acrostic.</p>
<p>Ben Sira's argument is clever. If Jeremiah could compose inspired alphabetical poetry on the spot, then Ben Sira doing the same thing isn't a miracle -- it's a tradition. The orders of Creation haven't changed. The tradition of brilliance just continues.</p>
<p>Then comes a second claim, even bolder. Ben Sira says he learned the entire book of Leviticus in a single day. His teacher again cries miracle. Ben Sira again says no. He cites Benaiah son of Jehoiada from (II (Samuel 23:2)0), who is called a "living man" -- chai (חי) in Hebrew -- which Ben Sira reinterprets. "Living" through Torah means absorbing it at extraordinary speed. According to the Alphabet of Ben Sira, composed between 700 and 1000 CE, this is what it looks like when someone is truly alive to learning.</p>