Luz:

The Mystical
word luz in Hebrew

Bone
and Aramaic

of Resurrection
literally

T
belief

HE

means nut or almond. Perhaps shape, it came to be associated with that this bone was indestructible

because of its the coccyx. The and would

The same legend Leviticus Rabbah

is recorded almost verbatim (4, p. 48) in a commentary on

in

give rise to the resurrection of the dead is reflected in Psalms 34:21 (1). The traditional translation of this verse is he protects all his bones; not one of them is broken. However, a variant translation pertinent to the theme of immortality reads one of his bones is not broken, In response out from Rabbah
on Genesis, dialogue

Leviticus 18:5 (2, p. 489). The biblical text states, You shall therefore keep my statutes and ordinances which, if man does, he shall live by them, come. scholars. scholars spoke Jews. paper
sources.

that is, achieve The belief that was During as well not

eternal life in the world the luz was the source of confined to the early rabbinic non-Jewish and actually

to

resurrection

that is, is indestructible. to mans wickedness, 6:7 quotes the face the Lord the
the

the Middle Ages, accepted the legend

the

biblical I shall cornin a emperor

text blot

in Genesis man Berashit

mentary legendary

as saying, earth
this

of the Judenkn#{244}chlein, the little In 1910, Garrison (5) reviewed that, are regretfully, greatly basic
demonstrated

bone of the the subject in a secondary embryologists (6, 7). Their

contains the

of the
discusses

(2, p. 20).
verse Roman

consulted to various contributions

that the

only

(3, p. 1 19),
between

midrashi&

We for In this in
studies

indebted scientific

many

Hadrian verbal whence the time vertebra can you Come

and Rabbi give-and-take, will the to come? called convince closer

Joshua, the Lord The cause

son of Chananiah. emperor asks, From man to rise up again the rabbi replies, From

coccyx

vestige of the sacrococcygeal abnormal speculate by these in our

primitive neural area is a common

tube. site

Moreover, the for teratomas,

luz. Hadrian me? Rabbi and I shall prove

then queries, How Joshua responds, it to you. After

embryos whether facts were time. U

in a sense. It is interesting to Rabbi Joshua would be surprised he suddenly to reappear on earth

producing the bone for the emperors inspection, the rabbi says, Though you grind the luz in a hand mill, it is not pulverized; though you burn it in a fire, it is not consumed; though you put it in water, it is not dissolved; though and begin to strike it with split and the hammer cleft intact.
1 Midraslz designates a particular type of rabbinic literature. The

ROBERT

SHAPIRO,

University

Department of Miami School

M.D. of Radiology of Medicine

you place it on an anvil a hammer, the anvil is but the luz remains

Acknowledgment: invaluable help

I am indebted
and for his review

to Rabbi Joshua of the manuscript.

A. Tarsis

for his

References
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
7.

word (from the Hebrew root drsh, to search out) refers to the process of interpreting. Since the principal object of interpretation was the Bible, ,nidrash for our purpose represents an anthology of these interpretations. The material discussed may deal with Jewish law and codes of behavior (halacha) or with non-halachic narrative, including folklore, legends, and theological speculations (aggada). Midrash Rabbah is a collation of separate biblical texts redacted by different editors over a period of time. Berashit Rabbah and Leviticus Rabbal: are not the work of a single author, even though they are usually published together in one or more volumes.

Cohen A, ed. The Psalms. London: Soncino, 1950; 34. Hertz JH, ed. The Pentateuch and Haftorahs. 2d ed. London: Soncino, i975. Berashit Rabbah. Rabbi Hoshiah, ed. New York: Grossman, 1952. Leviticus Rabbah. Rabbi Tanchumah, ed. New York: Grossman, 1952. Garrison FH. The bone called luz. NY Med J 1910; 92:149-151. Baxter JS, Boyd JD. Observations on the neural crest of a 10-mm somite embryo. J Anat 1939; 73:318. Seesenig EC. The early development of the meninges of the spinal cord in human embryos. Contrib Embryol 1951; 34:147.

718

#{149}

Radiology

June

1987