“5. Have as little as possible to do with the poor. For, as they will only send for you in hopeless and desperate cases, you will not gain any honour or reward by attending them. Be therefore exceedingly reserved with them, and keep them at a distance. Let them wait outside your house, and those who pass by will look with amazement at the crowd patiently waiting to obtain your services.
“6. Consider every medical practitioner as your natural enemy, and speak always of him with the utmost disparagement. If he happens to be young, then you must say that he has not had sufficient experience, and can do no good; and if he is old, you must declare that either his eyesight is bad, or that he is a little crazy, and is not fit to be trusted in important cases.
“7. If asked to take part in a consultation with other physicians, you will be acting wisely if you always loudly protest against the previous treatment of the case by your colleagues. Whatever the issue of the case may be, you will always be on the safe side.”
In the same satire Erter speaks in by no means flattering terms of his old enemy, the Chief Rabbi of Lemberg, to whom he had already alluded in another satire, entitled מאזני משקל. There he had censured him for having published a bulky commentary on the well-known code of Jewish laws, called Shulchan Aruch, under the title of ישועות יעקב, as being the work of his own pen. But Erter shows that the contribution of the learned divine was limited to the title-page, while the rest of it was in reality the work of other authors. Not satisfied with this revelation, however, Erter seizes the opportunity offered to him in the satire “Transmigration of the Soul” to refer again to the soul of the same Rabbi, who had once caused him such great trouble. This soul, says Erter, made him a full confession of its origin, and declared that it had formerly belonged to a mean, scurvy, and ill-tempered watchdog. Being too dangerous an animal to be allowed to move freely about, it had to be kept chained to its kennel. There it kept straining at its chain, watching all the time for any passersby; and when it saw some one coming it began to howl and to bark violently, and incited all the dogs in the neighbourhood to follow his example, resulting in a deafening uproar. Woe to the person who came within its reach without being provided with a long stick or some other protective weapon. For the dog would attack him suddenly, and cause him serious injuries. But, on the other hand, if the stranger were well armed, the savage brute would, in spite of its pretended courage, retreat at once and crouch behind its kennel. This dog once swallowed a big bone, in consequence of which it died an untimely death, but its soul continued its transmigration, and entered the body of a human being. When the latter grew up and became a man he still retained the nature and the characteristics peculiar to the canine species, or rather to a cowardly watchdog. Unfortunately he thought fit to choose the Jewish ministry for his calling, and as ill-luck would have it succeeded ultimately in obtaining the guardianship of the souls of his flock. Far from following the golden path of a true minister of the Jewish religion, who is in duty bound to promote peace and harmony in his community, he allowed himself to be guided by his canine instinct, and hectored every one whom he disliked. He thundered forth his indiscriminate anathemas against those persons who wished to enter the portals of the temple of knowledge, and induced his adherents to assist him in carrying out his holy work. But, like his cowardly prototype, the watchdog, he only inflicted mortal wounds on the helpless and the unprotected, while he did not dare to harm the rich and powerful, as well as influential members of his flock who resisted him. When the Rabbinical tyrant died his soul, says Erter, migrated into the body of a fox, and thence, in due course, it again entered into the human frame of a spiritual leader of the “Chassidim.”
The “Rebbe” swindle and the clever tricks of the whole fraternity of these performers of supernatural wonders give plenty of scope to Erter's satire, and he is never weary of ridiculing them. In the satire under notice Erter gets hold of the soul of such a “Rebbe,” and causes it to relate some of the adventures through which it had passed during its earthly career. Among other amusing stories it also gives a description of a clever trick, by means of which its late owner, the “Rebbe,” had extricated himself from an awkward position, and shows how he had deceived his devotees even at the time of his death.
“My own son,” says the soul of the departed ‘Rebbe,’ “was once ill, and my wife, his mother, came to me and implored me to offer prayers to God that his life might be spared. ‘Be not afraid,’ I said to her, ‘the son of God's favourite will not perish.’ Next day, and the day after, my wife begged me again in the name of heaven and earth to intercede on behalf of the poor sufferer whose illness had meanwhile taken a turn for the worse. But I answered, and said, ‘Compose yourself, you silly woman. I have already assured you that my son shall not die.’ Later in the day my wife rushed into my room, bathed in tears, and exclaiming, ‘Alas, the Lord has dealt very bitterly with me, and has taken from me my beloved child. What shall I do, and what shall my life be without him, the joy of my existence?’ Now it so happened that several of my devotees were present when I told my wife that her son would not die, and again when she actually informed me of his death. I was thus placed in an awkward predicament; but soon a happy thought struck me, which helped me out of my embarrassment. I pretended to be amazed at the sad news, and exclaimed, ‘What? am I to believe that my own son has died, and no information has reached me from heaven? No! never. You may do with my son whatever you like, but I cannot acknowledge his death till it has been officially notified to me from the world of spirits.’ And when, in due course, the remains of my son were carried away to their last resting-place, I did not tear my garments according to the general custom, nor did I follow the funeral procession, pretending all the time to be unaware of the fact of my son's death. But after the lapse of several days, when sitting one evening in the midst of my adherents and devotees, explaining to them some passages of the Bible in my own mysterious way, I suddenly burst into tears. ‘Alas!’ I exclaimed, ‘now, just now, I begin to believe in my son's death, for a heavenly message has just informed me of the sorrowful event.’ Soon after, I began to mourn over my son's demise, and all the people round about me looked on with amazement, and believed in me and in my holiness more firmly and more truly than they had ever done before.”
The soul then goes on to relate the circumstances which caused its departure from the “Rebbe's” body.
“One evening,” it said, “which happened to be the eve of the festival called Simchath Torah, the ‘Rebbe’ leaped and danced, according to his usual custom, round the Bimah (‘reading platform’) of his little synagogue, amidst the acclamations of his devotees. As on many other occasions he had then also drunk a good deal of intoxicating wine, and felt exceedingly jolly. In that sportive mood he called out: ‘Make room for all the saints of the Bible, who have just come here to rejoice with me on this joyful festival. Let me drink the health of Father Abraham and of the other patriarchs, who accompany him.’ And amidst his shouting and drinking he suddenly beheld a vision. It seemed to him that the walls of the synagogue were turning round and round, and, fearing lest he might fall to the ground, and his condition be observed by the bystanders, he quickly exclaimed: ‘Come ye, my spiritual guests, Abraham, Isaac, and all the rest of you, and follow me to my own room. There we will have a sacred meeting, and discuss our secret affairs.’ Saying which, he staggered into his own room, and locked and bolted the door behind him.
“When the devotees saw this, they said to each other: ‘No one is like our Master; no one can be compared to our holy “Rebbe”; he is a perfect saint, the Holy of holies to the letter. How they all left paradise, those great and exalted personages of the Bible, and have come to his place of worship, in order to rejoice in his pleasant company. Nay, before our very eyes has he spoken to them as a man speaks to his friends, and amidst leaping and dancing has he addressed them familiarly, and loudly toasted their health. Now, they are all assembled in his room where they are discussing certain matters concerning ourselves, such as our final release from bondage, and our return to Zion by the help of the Messiah. Our “Rebbe” will also succeed in subduing the powers of the evil spirit, Samael, along with all the other legions of evil spirits; he will tread him under his feet, and will thus prevent him from doing us any harm.’
“While they were thus addressing each other, and their minds were occupied with the discussion of the ‘Rebbe's’ doings, a boy rushed in breathlessly, and, in the greatest consternation, told all those present that he had just seen the body of the ‘Rebbe’ lying lifeless on the ground in the yard of his house. Thereupon all the Chassidim ran out woe-stricken and terrified, and behold, there, on a heap of refuse, close to the window of the ‘Rebbe's’ room, lay his corpse, the dead body of the great saint. At the sight of which they began weeping and lamenting, and said: ‘Alas, on account of our own sins and transgressions of the law that righteous man had died. The evil spirit Samael has overpowered him, and has thrown him through the window into the yard.’