We would willingly
believe Rashi capable of a delicate attention of this kind, only
we know that the Isaac cited is a certain Talmudic scholar.
Tradition, letting its fancy play upon the lives of great men,
delights also in clothing their birth with tales of marvels.
Sometimes the miraculous occurs even before they are born and
points to their future greatness. The father of Rashi, for
instance, is said to have possessed a precious gem of great
value. Some Christians wanted to take it away from him, either
because they desired to put it to a religious use, or because
they could not bear the sight of such a treasure in the hands of
a Jew. Isaac obstinately refused their offers. One day the
Christians lured him into a boat, and demanded that he give up
his gem. Isaac, taking a heroic stand, threw the object of their
ardent desires into the water. Then a mysterious voice was heard
in his school pronouncing these words: "A son will be born to
thee, O Isaac, who will enlighten the eyes of all Israel."
According to a less familiar tradition, Isaac lived in a seaport
town, where he earned a poor livelihood as stevedore. Once he
found a pearl in the harbor, and went in all haste to show it to
his wife, the daughter of a jeweler. Realizing the value of the
pearl, she could not contain herself, and went forthwith to a
jeweler. He offered her ten thousand ducats, double its value,
because the duke was anxious to buy it as an adornment for the
bishop's cope.
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