Once upon a time there lived in the city of Paris, in the country of France, a good and pious man by the name of R. Jehiel. He was, besides, a great cabalist, astronomer and philosopher, as you will learn further from his deeds, and he studied day and night. In the city of Paris there also lived a priest, provost of the cathedral, who

was a great scholar and a devout believer, and with whom R. Jehiel was very friendly.

One night, as Rabbi Jehiel was studying as usual, he heard a pitiful cry at the back of the house. Not knowing what it was, he became very much frightened and began to recite the Shema' until the cry ceased. Reading, he fell asleep, and when the cry was repeated, he did not hear it.

Now I will tell you what the cry was. Two demons (may God protect us!) came into the garden, and one asked the other why he had come to the home of the pious man rather than to some other place. The other demon replied that he had heard from the angels that there was no rabbi in the world more distinguished by his good deeds than R. Jehiel. "And it is true," he said, "for there you can see him poring over his book and studying. The whole world depends on his merits."

The other demon said: "I come from hell, where I heard about the priest, who is so

strong in his faith that no man can move him, any more than the rabbi can be moved from his."

These words seemed to the other demon like a depreciation of the rabbi, and the two demons finally entered into a wager, staking their lives on the result. One demon was on the side of the rabbi, and he wagered that he would convert the priest to Judaism. The other demon was on the side of the priest, and he wagered that he would cause the Jew to abandon his faith. The wager was that whoever won should cut the

throat of the other. Accordingly, one demon went to the rabbi and said to him: "I was sent by the Lord to tell you that you should give up Judaism."

He spoke so suavely and persuasively that he thought he would succeed.

The pious man grew frightened and immediately realized that he must be a demon. He therefore jeered at him and adjured him to depart. The following night the demon came again, this time in the shape of an old man, and pretended to be the Prophet Elijah. Again he spoke smooth words in the hope of succeeding in his attempt, but in vain. When the demon saw that the rabbi refused to listen to him, he came again on the third night, this time in the shape of a beautiful woman, but he accomplished nothing. When the pious man saw that the demon would not desist, he feared that he had committed sins, or such things would not have happened to him. So he fasted and gave alms to the poor and did penance, so that all the world wondered at his piety.

When the demon beheld his great piety and penance and saw that the time limit had expired and he had accomplished nothing, he ceased troubling him and went to the other demon and related his experience with the rabbi.

The other demon was very glad that his life was now safe and said: "Now I will go and see what I can do with the priest."

And he went to him, dressed in costly garments. The priest was sitting in a room filled with candles, and many servants were sitting with him, as is the custom with dignitaries of the Church.

The demon addressed him and said: "Listen to me, Provost, the Lord sent me to tell you that you have been a Christian long enough. From now on you must become a Jew and enter into the covenant of Abraham. Otherwise you will perish for ever and ever and will go to hell." And he took the priest and carried him to hell and showed him the people there, and among them were his father and mother and all the friends he had known during their lifetime.

When the priest saw this, he cried out and said to the demon: "Take me away quickly and I will do everything you ask."

Then the demon carried him to paradise, where he saw the pious men, each one

more glorious than the other, and he knew many among them, to whom he said: "Happy are you that you have been found worthy to enjoy this dignity and happiness."

Then he saw some empty seats and asked the demon to whom they belonged. And the demon replied: "They are reserved for some pious men who are still alive. If, therefore, you embrace Judaism and accept the covenant of Abraham, you will also enter paradise."

The priest replied: "If I were sure that I would be among the pious and share

everlasting life with them, I would embrace Judaism."

The demon replied: "I assure you that you will."

Then the priest promised the demon he would embrace Judaism, and the demon brought him home. After a time the demons met again in the court of R. Jehiel the

Pious to hear the result of the wager.

One demon said "I have succeeded in persuading the priest to become a Jew."

The other replied: "You have not won yet, for I do not believe that the priest will embrace Judaism."

The following night, the priest took all the jewels and money that he could carry with him, went to the house of R. Jehiel and asked to be admitted. But the rabbi was afraid of a false charge, because the priest came at night time, and the rabbi said that he would not open the door to him in the night. The priest assured him that there was nothing to fear and begged to be admitted. R. Jehiellet him in, and the priest told him of all that had happened and asked him to help him to get away in order to embrace Judaism. R. Jehiel performed the ceremony himself and taught him the Torah.

That same night, as they were sitting together, R. Jehiel heard a voice pronouncing the blessing used on the occasion of slaughtering animals.

They both went out to see and found the two demons, one of whom was about to slaughter the other.

R. Jehiel asked them what they were doing, and they replied: "We are the two demons who made a wager as to which of us would succeed in converting either of you, and the arrangement was that the victor should slaughter the other. I won the wager, for I have persuaded the priest to forsake his faith, but he could not convert you, therefore I am going to slaughter him."

When the pious man heard this, he thanked God for having protected him from the

wiles of Satan. The proselyte rejoiced because he had become a Jew and thanked God likewise.

But R. Jehiel would not allow the demon ,to kill his associate in his garden and told him to go to the field and slaughter him there.

R. Jehiel assigned two Jews to accompany the proselyte to the Holy Land, where he lived as a very pious Jew. He married and begat children. In time he married his children into good families, and left a good name behind him at his death. And the rabbi remained always a truly pious man.