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Satan, condemned in Christianity as a fallen angel, as evil incarnate, is a more complex figure in Judaism, where he originated. Satan is the angel who is constantly carping and who causes people to transgress the will of God. He is the angel who accused Joshua, the High Priest, of misdeeds before God (Zechariah 3:1) and who instigated David to sin by taking a census of Israel (I Chronicles 21:1). In Job (1:7), Satan is introduced as the angel who has come from "going to and fro on the earth, and from walking in it. ' ' Satan diligently but unsuccessfully tried to get Job to blaspheme the Lord.
The Jewish written law is contained in the Pentateuch (the Five Books of Moses, i.e., the Torah). The Talmud is the compilation of Jewish oral law, consisting of the mishna, compiled and redacted by Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, known as Rebbi, about the year 189 CE.; and the gemara, commentaries and discussions on the mishna, put into written form about 1500 years ago. The oral law elaborates on the written law.The Talmud is mainly concerned with halacha (Jewish law) but also provides a detailed record of the beliefs of the Jewish people, their philosophy, traditions, culture, and folklore, i.e., the aggadah (homiletics). The Midrash, a separate scripture, recorded the views of the Talmudic sages and is mainly devoted to the exposition of Biblical verses.
Z. H. Chajes stated that the aim of the homiletic portion of the Talmud and Midrash was to inspire people to serve the Lord and to make certain that the audience paid attention. Maimonides felt that there were hidden inner meanings in the stories, riddles, parables, etc. used in aggadah.2 Clearly, many of the stories told in the Talmud and Midrash were not necessarily meant to be taken literally. But they have had a profound influence on Jewish thought and philosophy, and even on latter-day Hassidic stories.
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how Satan appears in millennia-old tales from the aggadah as a formidable but sometimes defeatable figure, intent on manipulating mortals into sin, and teaching the public important and, often, poignant lessons about life. Satan is used as an archetype, often in a somewhat humorous manner, not unlike the...