Naḥum of Gam Zu (Naḥum Ish Gamzu)

They said about Naḥum of Gam Zu that he was blind in both eyes, both his arms were amputated, both his legs were amputated, and his entire body was covered in boils. And he was lying in a dilapidated house, and the legs of his bed were placed in buckets of water so that ants should not climb onto him, [as he was unable to keep them off in any other manner]. Once his students sought to remove his bed [from the house] and afterward remove [his other] vessels. He said to them, “My sons, remove the vessels first, and afterward remove my bed, as I can guarantee you that as long as I am in the house, the house will not fall.” They removed the vessels, and afterward they removed his bed, and the house collapsed.

His students said to him, “Rabbi, since you are [evidently] a wholly righteous man, [as we have just seen that as long as you were in your house it did not fall,] why has this [suffering] befallen you?” He said to them, “My sons, I brought it upon myself. As once I was traveling along the road to my father-in-law’s house, and I had with me a load [distributed among] three donkeys, one of food, one of drink, and one of delicacies. A poor person came and stood [before me] in the road, saying, ‘My rabbi, sustain me.’ I said to him, ‘Wait until I unload the donkey, [after which I will give you something to eat.’ However,] I had not managed to unload the donkey before his soul left [his body].

“I went and fell upon his face and said, ‘May my eyes, which had no compassion on your eyes, be blinded; may my hands, which had no compassion on your hands, be amputated; may my legs, which had no compassion on your legs, be amputated.’ And my mind did not rest until I said, ‘May my whole body be covered in boils.’” [His students] said to him, “Woe to us that we have seen you in this [state].” He said to them, “Woe is me if you had not seen me in this [state, as this suffering atones for me].”

And why did they call him Naḥum of Gam Zu? [The reason is] that [with regard to] any matter that occurred to him, he [would] say, “This too is for the good [gam zu le-tovah].” Once, the Jews wished to send a gift to the house of the emperor. They said, “Who should go [and present this gift]? Let Naḥum of Gam Zu go, as he is accustomed to miracles.” They sent with him a chest full of jewels and pearls, [and] he went and spent the night in a certain inn. During the night, these residents [of the inn arose and] took all of [the precious jewels and pearls from] the chest, and filled it with earth.

When he arrived there, [at the ruler’s palace,] they opened the chest [and] saw that it was filled with earth. The king wished to put all [the Jewish emissaries] to death. He said, “The Jews are mocking me.” [Naḥum of Gam Zu] said, “This too is for the good.” Elijah [the prophet] came and appeared before [the ruler] as one of [his ministers. He] said to [the ruler], “Perhaps this earth is from the earth of their father Abraham. As when he threw earth, it turned into swords, [and when he threw] stubble, it turned into arrows, as it is written: His sword makes them as the dust, his bow as the driven stubble (Isaiah 41:2).”

There was one province that [the Romans] were unable to conquer. [They took some of this earth,] tested it [by throwing it at their enemies,] and conquered [that province. When the ruler saw that this earth indeed had miraculous powers, his servants] entered his treasury and filled [Naḥum of Gam Zu’s] chest with precious jewels and pearls and sent him off with great honor.

When [Naḥum of Gam Zu] came to spend the night at that [same] inn, [the residents] said to him, “What did you bring with you [to the emperor] that he bestowed upon you such great honor?” He said to them, “That which I took from here, I brought there.” They tore down their inn and brought [the soil underneath] to the king’s palace. They said to him, “That earth that was brought here was from our [property.” The emperor] tested [the inn’s soil in battle,] and it was not found [to have miraculous powers,] and he [had] these residents [of the inn] put to death.