Daf Ditty Eruvin 29: Johnny

We are all as delicate as .

Outside, pinkish-brown, striated with age, our dried up, papery carapace ready to be peeled away to expose new skin beneath.

Tears flow as I remove each layer, tough becoming ever more soft, richer in aroma and paler in hue.

Then the tender centre, the unblemished flesh like that of a new-born child - the child I yearn to hold in my arms.

The by Yvonne Clark1

1 https://www.londonindependentstoryprize.co.uk/post/the-onion-johnny

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The Master also said that the minimum measure of olives and onions that may be used for an eiruv is enough to eat them with the food of two meals.

The Gemara asks: May one establish an eiruv with onions? Wasn’t it taught in a baraita that Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: Rabbi Meir once spent Shabbat in the town of Ardiska, and a certain person came before him and said to him: Rabbi, I made an eiruv of Shabbat borders [eiruv teḥumin] with onions, so that I might walk to the town of Tiv’in.

3 Ardiska was located between the man’s eiruv and his destination of Tiv’in,

which was beyond his Shabbat limit as measured from his hometown. And Rabbi Meir made him remain within his four cubits. He forbade him to leave his four cubits, as he held that an eiruv made with onions is not an eiruv, and therefore the person had left his Shabbat limit without an eiruv teḥumin.

The Gemara answers: This is not difficult. This ruling, which states that onions may not be used for an eiruv, is referring to onion leaves, which are harmful; whereas that ruling, which states that onions may be used for an eiruv, is referring to onion , which are edible.

As it was taught in a baraita: If one ate an onion and died early the next morning, we need not ask from what he died, as his death was certainly caused by the onion.

And Shmuel said: They only taught this with regard to the leaves; but with regard to onion bulbs, we have no problem with it. And even with regard to the leaves, we only stated this concern.

4 The Sages taught in a baraita: A person should not eat onion because of the toxins in it. There was an incident with Rabbi Ḥanina, who ate half an onion and half of its toxins, and he fell deathly ill, and his colleagues prayed for mercy for him, and he survived. He was rescued only because the time needed him, as his generation was in need of his teaching, but otherwise he would not have recovered.

RASHI

…poison in the onion…

Tosafos תופסות ה"ד נפמ י שחנ ובש שחנ י נפמ ה"ד תופסות Tosfos gives two explanations of what this is. 'פ ה' סרא לש ףרש לצב ףרש לש סרא ה' 'פ

Explanation #1 (Rashi): This is poison on the onion's sap.

ו 'ר ח' יפ ' דומעה וכותבש לגעתמש וכותב ןימכ לועבג ןיצבקתמו וב ערז לצבה ותוא דומעה ארקנ שחנ לש :לצב לש שחנ ארקנ דומעה ותוא לצבה ערז וב ןיצבקתמו לועבג ןימכ וכותב לגעתמש וכותבש דומעה ' יפ ח' 'ר

Explanation #2 (R. Chananel): This is the central core inside that is round inside it, like a stem, and the onion seeds gather in it. That pillar is called the “snake of the onion”.

Steinzaltz (OBM) writes:2

Avoiding Dangerous Foods When Establishing an Eiruv

When discussing what types of food items can be used for the eiruv, the Gemara emphasizes that foods that are dangerous to eat should not be used.

Rav Hamnuna said: One may not establish an eiruv with raw beets, as Rav Hisda said: Raw beet kills a healthy person. The Gemara asks: Don’t we see people eating it and they do not die? The Gemara answers: There, it is referring to a beet that was only partially cooked, which is dangerous.

The Gemara follows this discussion with another quote from Rav Hisda that cooked beets are good for the heart, good for the eyes, and certainly good for the intestines.

The beets commonly referred to in the Talmud are Beta vulgaris cicla, a garden vegetable. Its leaves can be cooked and eaten and have a flavor similar to spinach. Another vegetable that may

2 https://www.steinsaltz-center.org/home/doc.aspx?mCatID=68446

5 not be valid for the eiruv because of the potential danger involved in eating it is the onion. The Gemara relates that while the onion itself can be used for the eiruv, its leaves are potentially dangerous and cannot be used.

A baraita is brought that teaches that onions should not be eaten because of "the snake that is in it." The baraita continues with a story that Rabbi Hanina ate half an onion with half of the "snake" that was in it and became ill to the extent that he was close to death.

His colleagues then prayed on his behalf and he recovered, since the generation needed his teaching and leadership. The "snake" that the Gemara understands to be the danger lurking in the onion is subject to much speculation.

The Ritva suggests that it is a worm that is found in the leaves of the onion that is potentially lethal. According to most traditions, however, it refers to a sprouting onion, which looks very much like a snake. It is difficult to come to a clear conclusion regarding the Gemara's contention that eating onions generally, or their leaves specifically, presents a danger, since experience shows that onions are eaten with no ill effects.

Nevertheless, onions contain the chemical n-propyl disulfide (C2H12S2). Ingestion of even relatively small amounts of raw onions can, theoretically, cause toxicity from this chemical, which denatures hemoglobin leading to the destruction of red blood cells (see below for the chemistry).

In our case, which discusses making up two full meals solely from onions, there is certainly the possibility of poisoning (?) People with specific sensitivity may even be in danger of death.

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3 .the cepa, one of the earliest cultivated ( לָצָבּ .ONION (Heb

It is mentioned only once in the Bible as one of the vegetables eaten in Egypt for which the Israelites longed when they were in the wilderness:

We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in 5 ה ,וּנְרַכָז תֶא - ,הָגָדַּה רֶשֲׁא - לַכאֹנ יַרְצִמְבּ ,םִ ,םִ יַרְצִמְבּ לַכאֹנ Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and ;םָנִּח תֵא ,םיִאֻשִּׁקַּה תֵאְו ,םיִחִטַּבֲאָה תֶאְו - ;the , and the onions, and the ֶה ריִצָח תֶאְו - ,םיִלָצְבַּה תֶאְו - .םיִמוּשַּׁה

Num. 11:5

Onion growing was widespread in Egypt and drawings of it are found on the pyramids. The onion, with its concentric skins, symbolized in Egypt the stellar and planetary system, and was an object of idol worship, some swearing by its name (see below Pliny, Historia naturalis, 19:101).

The word appears in family names. Among the Nethinim (see *Gibeonites and Nethinim ) who went from Babylon to Ereẓ Israel, a family of the children of Bazluth is mentioned:

the children of Bazluth, the children of 52 בנ יֵנְבּ - ַב תוּלְצ }ס{ יֵנְבּ - ;Mehida, the children of Harsha ְמ ,אָדיִח }ס{ יֵנְבּ }ר{ .אָשְׁרַח }ס{

Ezra 2:52

3 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/onion

7 and the Jerusalem Talmud (Ḥag. 2:2; 77d) mentions a Miriam bat Alei Beẓalim ("onion leaves") which may be a reference to Miriam the mother of Jesus.

The onion is frequently mentioned in rabbinic literature. R. Judah used to say "Eat baẓal [onions] and sit ba-ẓel [in the shade], and do not eat geese and fowl" (Pes. 114a), i.e., do not desire luxuries but be content with little.

They made a distinction between "rural onions" (TJ, Shev. 2:9, 34a) and "urban onions which were the food of city folk" (Ter. 2:5). A species very near to the onion was called beẓalẓul (Kil. 1:3), which is possibly the , the Ashkelon onion, and therefore sometimes called "" which was praised by Theophrastus, Strabo, and Pliny.

The onion was usually pulled up before it flowered and some of the plants were left to flower and produce seed (Pe'ah 3:3 and TJ, Pe'ah 17c).

Many species of Allium of the same genus as the onion grow wild in Israel, where the climate and soil are very suitable for onion plants.

To the Liliaceae family of onion belong some of the most beautiful of Israel's flowers.

8

Miriam, the daughter of Onion-Leaves

Dina Stein writes:4

The figure of Miriam the daughter of Onion Leaves connects the story of the pious men of Ashkelon and the story of Shim'on ben Shatah. She holds both the gate of Gehenna and logical axis that holds the world at bay. She also serves as the fulcrum of the narrative, connecting its seemingly disparate parts. I suggest that precisely the coarse stitching by which her figure is made to bind the narrative, and the dual explanation regarding her sin, together reveal the cultural imagination underlying the tale of Shim'on ben Shatah.

There were two pious men in Ashkelon. They used to eat together (lit. as one), and drink together, and toil over Torah together. One of them died and he was not properly mourned. The son of "bowels," the tax collector died and the entire town ceased working in order to mourn him. The [surviving] pious man began crying: "woe unto the enemies of Israel (i.e., Israel) for they have nothing." He [the deceased man] was revealed to him in a dream, and he said to him: "don't despise the sons of your master." One committed a single culpable deed and it was atoned for and the one performed a single good deed and it was rewarded.

And he (the pious man) saw Miriam the daughter of Onion Leaves hanging by the nipples of her breasts. R. Yossi ben Haninah said: the pin of the gate of Gehenna runs through her ear. He said to them: Why is this so? They said to him: Because she used to fast and boast about it. And some say because she used to fast one day and deduct two [sins] against it. He said to them: Until when

4 Framing Witches, Measure for Measure, and the Appointment of Shim'on ben Shataḥ: DINA STEIN, The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol. 104, No. 3 (SUMMER 2014)

9 will she be like that? They said to him: Until Shim'on ben Shatah will come, and we will remove it from her ear and place it in his. He said to them: And why? They said him: Because he said: When I become nasi I will kill the sorcerers. And there are eighty women sorcerers in a cave in Ashkelon, destroying the world. So, go and tell him.

Her figure alludes both to the beginning and the end of the foundation legend. Note that even her name, "Miriam the daughter of Onion Leaves," could well connote the geographical location, Ashkelon, with which the tale begins, and ends. Cepae Ascalonia was an onion (shal- lot) known in the ancient world and named specifically after its place of growth, Ashkelon. Thus the pious man of Ashkelon's visions of the punishments in the afterworld are woven together with the worldly geo- graphical framework of the narrative as a whole. It is not, however, merely a device for providing the narrative with formal cohesion.

Stein ends with a conjecture as to the possible connection with the Virgin Mary:

This allusion was made some 400 years earlier however,

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Lightfoot, John (1602-1675)5

Some Christians claim Mary is mentioned in the Talmud as the daughter of Eli (which would be Heli in the genealogy of Luke).6 If that is the case, then the most likely explanation is this was in response to Christian claims in the gospels.

However, it seems very uncertain if she is actually mentioned at all. All claims of a Talmudic reference seem to go back to a statement by John Lightfoot, in a book written in 1675, over four centuries ago. The relevant passage is on page 550:

Suppose it could be granted that Joseph might be called the son of Heli (which yet ought not to be), yet would not this be any great solecism, that his son-in-law should become the husband of Mary, his own daughter. He was but his son by law, by the marriage of Joseph's mother, not by nature and generation.

There is a discourse of a certain person who in his sleep saw the punishment of the damned. Amongst the rest which I would render thus but shall willingly stand corrected if under a mistake; He saw Mary the daughter of Heli amongst the shades. R. Lazar Ben Josah saith, that she hung by the glandules of her breasts. R. Josah Bar Haninah saith, that the great bar of hell's gate hung at her ear.

5 English churchman, rabbinical scholar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. The Works of Lightfoot were first edited, in 2 vols. fol., by George Bright and John Strype in 1684.

6 THE PERSONALITY OF JESUS IN THE TALMUD: Bernhard Pick, The Monist , JANUARY, 1910 We rather prefer the suggestion that the reference is to the supposed Davidic descent of Jesus, a suggestion made by the late Professor Delitzsch in his Jesus and Hillel (3d ed., 1879) where he says on page 12, note: "Mary is also called in the Talmud a daughter of Eli, and Jesus is called (Sanhedrin 43a) 'related to the royal house (of David).

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If this be the true rendering of the words, which I have reason to believe it is, then thus far, at least, it agrees with our evangelist, that Mary was the daughter of Heli: and questionless all the rest is added in reproach of the blessed Virgin, the mother of our Lord: whom they often vilify elsewhere under the name of Sardah.

This reference has no basis in Talmud. In fact, it seems possible this is referencing the following citation:

In Ashkelon lived two good friends, both pious students. One died and appeared to his friend in a dream, strolling among the orchard and springs of Paradise. Then the dream says Miriam, the daughter of My Onion-Leaves, with the hinge of the hood of Hell stuck in her ear.

"The misunderstanding comes from the fact that Alei Betzalim (onion leaves) and Eli, Betzalim (Eli, in the Shadows) are spelled the same in Aramaic." This is somewhat confirmed by the Jerusalem Talmud (Ḥag. 2:2; 77d) mentions a Miriam bat Alei Beẓalim ("onion leaves") which may be a reference to Miriam the mother of Jesus.7

Charles Gore however dismisses the connection:8

G.R.S. Read writes:9

As to Eli Betzalim, I can discover nothing about him. It is true that a certain Eli is given as the father of Joseph in the genealogy incorporated into the third Gospel, a genealogy which would be quite useless if at the time of its compilation Jesus had not been regarded as the natural son of Joseph, but in the very different genealogy prefixed to the first Gospel, and also purporting to give the descent of Joseph, a certain Jacob takes the place of Eli and the name Eli is not found.

But even had the two genealogies agreed, we should not have been helped at all, for they are given as the genealogies of Joseph and not of Mary.

7 Y. Hagiga 2,2 (77d); text printed in H.L. STRACK, Jesus, die Häretiker und die Christen nach den ältesten jüdischen Angaben (Leipzig, 1910), pp. 9-10, with variants from the one complete manuscript of the Palestinian Talmud, Leiden Scaliger 3 (saec. XIII), given in the notes (siglum "Lugd"). The parallel account in the vulgate text of y. Sanhedrin 6, 8 (23c) abruptly breaks off with the plea of the inhabitants of Jerusalem for the return of the master. 8 Dissertations on subjects connected with the incarnation. Charles Gore, London, Eng. John Murray 1895. 9 http://gnosis.org/library/grs-mead/jesus_live_100/ch9.html

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Krauss ("Leben Jesu," p. 224) translates "Eli Betzalim" by "Zwiebelblatt" (Onion-leaf) and (p. 225) refers to this Miriam as M. Zwiebelblatt, but does not venture on any explanation.

The onion, however, was a symbol of lasciviousness, and may, therefore, perhaps be taken as a synonym of harlot.

In The Talmud Mary Stories10 mead adds: “the Talmud recounts a devout person who had a vision of hell:

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Nevertheless11 Rabbinic accounts, including information pertinent to Jewish infancy stories of Jesus, aim to refute the doctrines of the Virgin Birth and Incarnation by mentioning the activities and/or moral character of his very human parents—especially his mother, Mary.12

In one Talmudic tradition13, Mary had a husband, Stada, along with her Roman lover known only by the exceedingly common name, Pandera (or Panthera), and Jesus could have been the son of either. In another, Mary’s husband’s name was Pappos ben Yehudah and he would lock her in the house every time he left in the hopes of maintaining her wifely chastity. Pappos’ lack of success is suggested by the term “Stada,” here a reference to Mary’s extra-marital activity as a sotah, or adulteress, who engaged in illicit relations with the Roman soldier Pandera.

In related Talmudic traditions alluding to promiscuity, Mary is said to have occupied herself as a spinner of cloth who let her “women’s hair grow long” and left it uncovered in public, suggesting a lack of modesty and that she may have been plying more than her handiwork at market.14

11 Infancy Stories of Jesus: Apocrypha and Toledot Yeshu in Medieval Europe.Natalie E. Latteri, in Essays on the History of Jewish-Christian Relations, ed Jeremy Brown, UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO PRESS 2020

12 Jesus’ name is not specified in the following passages. However, because the same patrilineal (ben Pandera, son of Pandera) is intertextually applied to Jesus, it is a fair assumption. For a concise review of such references, see Schäfer, Jesus in the Talmud, Princeton Univ. Press 2007,133-43

13 Schäfer, Jesus in the Talmud, 15-22; idem, “Jesus’ Origin, Birth, and Childhood according to the Toledot Yeshu and the Talmud,” in Judaea Palaestina, Babylon and Rome: Jews in Antiquity, ed. Benjamin Isaac Yuval Shahar (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012), 141-43; and Meerson and Schäfer, introduction to Toledot Yeshu, 46-7.

14 Schäfer, Jesus in the Talmud, 17-18; and Meerson and Schäfer, introduction to Toledot Yeshu, 46.

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Toldos Yeshu15

Jews from the first centuries of the Common Era on told their own, often quite similar, stories of Jesus. A loosely configured collection of such stories would come to be known as Toledot Yeshu (the life story of Jesus).16 Scholars commonly refer to the Toledot Yeshu accounts as “counter narratives,” or “counter gospels,” because they parody Christian biographies of Jesus and most likely served as the main source of information Jews had about Christian origin stories.

The earliest extant accounts focus on Jesus’ education and adult life. Historically these were told from a perspective of disbelief for an audience who was intent on mocking the Christian doctrine that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah of Israel.17

Instead of providing a template for praiseworthy thought, speech, or action in a manner that resembled the apocrypha, Toledot Yeshu served as cautionary tales— models of what not to do should another messianic pretender arise.

15 Recent scholarship has drawn increased attention to the date of origin of the Toledot Yeshu; the early layers are considered to have been manufactured orally. The first textual proof consists of fragments of Aramaic manuscripts discovered in Cairo.[10] A recent study reports that more than 100 manuscripts of the Toledot exist, almost all of them late medieval (the oldest manuscript being from the 11th century). The earliest stratum of composition was probably in Aramaic.

16 Jonatan M. Benarroch, “God and His Son: Christian Affinities in the Shaping of the Sava and Yanuka Figures in the Zohar,” Jewish Quarterly Review 107, no. 1 (2017): 39, 57. 5 Michael Meerson and Peter Schäfer,

17 Michael Meerson and Peter Schäfer, introduction to Toledot Yeshu: The Life Story of Jesus, vol. 1, ed. Michael Meerson and Peter Schäfer (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 47.

15 From the 9th through the 20th centuries the Toledot has inflamed Christian hostility towards Jews. In 1405, the Toledot was banned by Church authorities. A book under this title was strongly condemned by Francesc Eiximenis (d. 1409) in his Vita Christi. but in 1614 it was largely reprinted by a Jewish convert to Christianity, Samuel Friedrich Brenz, in Nuremberg, as part of his book vilifying his former religion, titled Jüdischer Abgestreifter Schlangenbalg "Skin Shed by the Jewish Snake". An indirect witness to the Christian condemnation of the book can be found in one manuscript of the Toledot, which has this cautionary note in its introduction: [This booklet] should be shown only to people of discretion, for one never knows what the morrow may bring. ... I copied it from three different pamphlets from three different countries, not just one, The contents of all these pamphlets were identical, except that I wrote it in the language of prudence [- namely, Hebrew, because Gentiles do not understand it]. Martin Luther quoted the Toledot (evidently the Strassburg version) at length in his general condemnation of Jews in his book Vom Schem Hamphoras in 1543.

16 Allium cepa

The onion (Allium cepa L., from Latin cepa "onion"), also known as the onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. Its close relatives include the garlic, scallion, shallot, , chive,[2] and Chinese onion.[3] This genus also contains several other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion (), the (A. ×proliferum), and the Canada onion (). The name "wild onion" is applied to a number of Allium species, but A. cepa is exclusively known from cultivation. Its ancestral wild original form is not known, although escapes from cultivation have become established in some regions. The onion is most frequently a biennial or a perennial , but is usually treated as an annual and harvested in its first growing season. The onion plant (Allium cepa), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. It was first officially described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum.

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Onions of Antiquity

Most researchers agree the onion has been cultivated for 5000 years or more. Since onions grew wild in various regions, they were probably consumed for thousands of years and domesticated simultaneously all over the world.

Onions may be one of the earliest cultivated crops because they were less perishable than other foods of the time, were transportable, were easy to grow, and could be grown in a variety of soils and climates. In addition, the onion was useful for sustaining human life.

Onions prevented thirst and could be dried and preserved for later consumption when food might be scarce. While the place and time of the onion’s origin is still a mystery, many documents from very early times describe its importance as a food and its use in art, medicine, and mummification. Because the wild onion is extinct and ancient records of using onions span western and eastern Asia, the geographic origin of the onion is uncertain, with likely domestication worldwide. Onions have been variously described as having originated in Iran, the western Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. Traces of onions recovered from Bronze Age settlements in China suggest that onions were used as far back as 5000 BC, not only for their flavor, but the bulb's durability in storage and transport.

18 Ancient Egyptians revered the onion bulb, viewing its spherical shape and concentric rings as symbols of eternal life. Onions were used in Egyptian burials, as evidenced by onion traces found in the eye sockets of Ramesses IV.

In Egyptian hieroglyphics, the word "onion" is written HDw, with sometimes the general plant determinative instead of the three onions. It should be noted that many authors translated HDw as "garlic"; it seems that they are wrong, but it cannot be excluded that, in certain circumstances, the two plants are interchangeable.

One text asserts that the origin of onion HDw is milk teeth (a play on words, with HD which means "white") of Horus which germinated in soil after falling there. In the same way, the white eye of Horus "which comes from the land" would hint at this which springs from soil. The eye and the tooth of Horus are thus interchangeable.

The onion referred to here is a special one, 'Allium cepa L', the Egyptian one being bulbus (also called the tree onion), which measures about a metre in height. It produces the bulb (on and in the ground), but also, uniquely produces a cluster of bulbilles at the top of the stems.

Culture:

At the end of September (therefore at the winter solstice) is the planting of the seedlings on gritty land; 28 days later (a lunar month), the onions produce early bulbilles which can either be consumed or replanted. The big onions, at the base, can be harvested in February, at the time when the days get longer.

A summary of the biennial cycle of the plant

19 Medical-magical properties assigned by the ancient Egyptians to the onion

Besides its use in daily food, a popular belief was given to the onion: Numerous medicinal, circulatory and anti-inflammatory uses were given to it, to such a point that it became an almost universal means to remove illness and the bad eye. It had anti-snake properties (curative, preventive, repulsive). A property celebrated at the time of the festival of Bastet, in February. A closeness exists between HDw "onion" and HD "to destroy". In mummification, it is known from the XIth Dynasty it was used for its antiseptic and deodorising properties. It was buried in the body, on the body, between the fabric strips around the mummy's legs.

The onion and the funerary cult

Onions were part of the offerings always presented to the gods and to the people, always mixed with other vegetables. At the time of the night of the great Netjeryt festival of Sokar occurs the deification of the deceased through the intermediary of the new, white, luminous onions (a merger of HDw "onion" with HD "light").18

At the time of the ritual of the Opening of the Mouth, the onions purify the mouth, and a play on words exists between sk ("to clean") r ("the mouth") and skr ("Sokar"). This then makes the face luminous, the prelude to the restoration of the deceased with its solar heart.

18 https://www.osirisnet.net/docu/fetes_sokar_nehebkaou_bastet_et_oignons/e_fetes_sokar_nehebkaou_bastet_et_oignons.htm

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Chapter 172 of the Book of the Dead would appear in this context: "You chew the onion by fear of your heart". The onion appears as the guarantee of the maintenance of a heart, protecting the deceased and it is an instrument of a solar rebirth. From then on, the onions presented to the deceased's nostrils allow him to acquire the new breath of life. It is the only plant of Egypt which reproduces at the same time underground, on the soil and on a stem, the Egyptian onion thus perfectly evokes the potentialities of Sokar, to be a chthonian (underworld) inhabitant in the Duat, therefore intervening in the sudden appearance of the "First Time" and often taking the celestial form of a falcon. This vertical progression has the advantage to intervene at all levels of the universe in order to maintain it.

Pliny the Elder of the first century AD wrote about the use of onions and cabbage in Pompeii. He documented Roman beliefs about the onion's ability to improve ocular ailments, aid in sleep, and heal everything from oral sores and toothaches to dog bites, lumbago, and even dysentery. Archaeologists unearthing Pompeii long after its 79 AD volcanic burial have found gardens resembling those in Pliny's detailed narratives. According to texts collected in the fifth/sixth century AD under the authorial aegis of "Apicius" (said to have been a gourmet), onions were used in many Roman recipes.19

19 Zohary, Daniel; Hopf, Maria (2000). Domestication of plants in the Old World (Third ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press

21

Nutrition facts Serving size: 1 medium onion (5.3 oz / 148 g) Calories: 45 (Calories from Fat: 0) Amount per serving (%DV*) *Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Total fat: 0g (0%) Total Carbohydrate: 11g (4%) Dietary Fiber 3g (12%) Sugars 9g Cholesterol: 0mg (0%) Sodium: 5mg (0%) Potassium: 190mg (5%) Protein: 1g Vitamin A: (0%) Vitamin C: (20%) Calcium: (4%) Iron: (4%)

The onion (Allium cepa) is one of the oldest crops. Its world production has increased by at least 25% over the past 10 years with current production being around 44 million tonnes making it the second most important horticultural crop after tomatoes. Because of its storage characteristics and durability for shipping, onion has always been traded more widely than most vegetables. Onion is versatile and is often used as an ingredient in many dishes and is accepted by almost all traditions and cultures. Onion consumption is increasing significantly and this is partly because of heavy promotion that links flavour and health. Onion is rich in two chemical groups that have perceived benefits to human health – flavonoids and alk(en)yl cysteine sulphoxides. Apart from its culinary uses – fresh, cooked or dehydrated – medicinal properties have been attributed to both since ancient times, prompting in recent years an accurate chemical analysis of the most characteristic active ingredients. Compounds from onion have a range of health benefits which include anticarcinogenic

22 properties, antiplatelet, antithrombotic activity, antiasthmatic, antidiabetic, hypocholesterolaemic, fibrinolytic and various other biological actions, and antibiotic effects.20

Heart health21

According to Jarzabkowski, onions encourage a healthy heart in many ways, including "lowering blood pressure and lowering heart attack risk." A 2002 study in the journal Thrombosis Research suggested that sulfur acts as a natural blood thinner and prevents blood platelets from aggregating. When platelets cluster, the risk for heart attack or stroke increases. This research further supports a similar 1992 study in Thrombosis Research that focused on sulfurs in garlic. Furthermore, a 1987 animal study in the Journal of Hypertension demonstrated delayed or reduced onset of hypertension with sulfur intake. However, the authors said more research was needed to determine if this benefit might be found in humans.

Recently, health researchers have noticed a relationship between messaging molecules called oxylipins and high cholesterol management. A 2016 study in the journal Redox Biology found that consuming onions increases oxylipins that help regulate blood fat levels and levels of cholesterol.

The quercetin in onions may also help prevent plaque buildup in the arteries, which reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. But since most of the studies in this regard have focused on animals, more research is needed to understand the effects in humans.

Anti-inflammatory

Onions’ sulfurs may be effective anti-inflammatory agents, according to a 1990 study in the journal International Archives of Allergy and Applied Immunology.

Quercetin has been found to relax the airway muscles and may provide relief of asthma symptoms, according to a 2013 study in the American Journal of Physiology.

Immune system

"The polyphenols in onions act as antioxidants, protecting the body against free radicals," said Anne Mauney, a dietitian based in Washington, D.C. Eliminating free radicals can help encourage a strong immune system. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the quercetin in onions also reduces allergic reactions by stopping your body from producing histamines, which are what make you sneeze, cry and itch if you're having an allergic reaction.

20 Augusti KT. Therapeutic values of onion (Allium cepa L.) and garlic (Allium sativum L.) Indian J Exp Biol. 1996;34(7):634– 640.

21 https://www.livescience.com/45293-onion-nutrition.html

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Onions suffer from a number of plant disorders. The most serious for the home gardener are likely to be the onion fly, stem and bulb eelworm, white rot, and neck rot. Diseases affecting the foliage include rust and smut, downy mildew, and white tip disease.

The bulbs may be affected by splitting, white rot, and neck rot. Shanking is a condition in which the central leaves turn yellow and the inner part of the bulb collapses into an unpleasant-smelling slime.

Most of these disorders are best treated by removing and burning affected plants. The larvae of the onion leaf miner or leek moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella) sometimes attack the foliage and may burrow down into the bulb.

Animal Toxicity

According to world statistics, dogs and cats are the species that owners most frequently seek assistance with potential poisonings, accounting 95–98% of all reported animal cases. Exposures occur more commonly in the summer and in December that is associated with the holiday season. The majority (>90%) of animal poisonings are accidental and acute in nature and occur near or at the animal owner's home. Feeding human foodstuff to pets may also prove dangerous for their health.22 The aim of this review was to present common food items that should not be fed (intentionally or unintentionally) to dogs, i.e. chocolate, caffeine, and other methylxanthines, grapes, raisins, onion, garlic, avocado, alcohol, nuts, xylitol contained in chewing gum and candies, etc. Onion and avocado are toxic for cats, too. The clinical effects of individual toxicants and possible therapy are

22 Natália Kovalkovičová,1 Irena Šutiaková,2 Juraj Pistl,1 and Václav Šutiak1Interdiscip Toxicol. 2009 Sep; 2(3): 169–176.

24 also mentioned. Knowing what human food, the potential has to be involved in serious toxicoses should allow veterinarians to better educate their clients on means of preventing pet poisonings.

Sub chronic and Chronic Toxicities of African Medicinal Plants23

Various soluble and insoluble fractions of dried onion powder exhibited significant hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, and antioxidant activities in several animal models and diabetic patients.

Sub chronic oral treatments Swiss albino mice with 250 and 500 mg/kg/day of the plant extract for 30–90 days did not produce visible toxic symptoms, but the oral dose of 30 g/kg/day for the same period caused hypothermia, tachypnea, tachycardia, piloerection, and polyuria in the treated mice.

However, chronic oral treatment of male Swiss mice with 150 mg/kg/day of the plant extract for 8 weeks resulted in hypothermia, aggression, alopecia, and itching with manifestation of hypothermia and itching in the female mice treated with same dose of plant extract for 12 weeks.

Allium Species (Onion, Garlic, Leek, and Chive)24

Allium cepa (onion), Allium porrum (leek), Allium sativum (garlic), and Allium schoenoprasum (chive) contain organic sulfur compounds that are absorbed through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and converted to highly reactive oxidants.

Cooking does not reduce potential toxicity, and onion powder at 1% to 3% of dry matter intake may induce clinical signs. Direct oxidative damage to the erythrocyte cell membrane causes cell lysis. Oxidation of exposed beta-93 cysteine residues present in hemoglobin results in the formation of sulfhemoglobin that is less soluble than hemoglobin.

Sulfhemoglobin ultimately binds to erythrocyte cell membranes to form Heinz bodies and cross- links hemoglobin to form eccentrocytes. The formation of Heinz bodies and eccentrocytosis increases erythrocyte fragility to cause extravascular hemolysis that impairs oxygen delivery to tissues.25

23Adejuwon Adewale Adeneye https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800018-2.00006-6

24 Christopher G. Byers, in August's Consultations in Feline Internal Medicine, Volume 7, 2016

25 Briggs WH, Folts JD, Osman HE, Goldman IL. Administration of raw onion inhibits platelet-mediated thrombosis in dogs. J Nutr. 2001;131:2619–2622

25

heinz bodies on peripheral blood smear

Clinical signs may be observed within 1 day of ingestion, but more commonly, there is a lag period of several days between ingestion and onset of clinical signs. Clinical signs commonly include altered level of consciousness, tachypnea, tachycardia, hyporexia, weakness, lethargy, diarrhea, and abdominal discomfort.

In summary, onion contains the toxic components which can damage red blood cells and cause haemolytic anaemia, accompanied by the formation of Heinz bodies in erythrocytes of animals.26

The CBC typically shows anemia and hemoglobinemia, and Heinz bodies and eccentrocytes are observed during peripheral blood smear evaluation. Co-oximetry may identify methemoglobinemia.

Serum biochemical analysis may show hyperbilirubinemia, and urinalysis may identify bilirubinuria and cylindruria.

26 Desnoyers M. Anemias associated with Heinz bodies. In: Fedman BF, Zinkl JG, Jain NC, editors. Schalm's veterinary hematology. 5th edn. Baltimore, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2000. pp. 178–180

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Don't Cry for Me, Onion Johnnie27

Onion Johnnies (Welsh: Sioni Winwns) are Breton farmers and agricultural labourers who travel on bicycles selling distinctive pink onions door to door in , and especially in . They have adapted this nickname for themselves in Breton as ar Johniged or ar Johnniged.

27 https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/06/style/IHT-dont-cry-for-me-onion-johnnie.html

27 Declining since the 1950s to only a few, the Onion Johnny was once very common. With renewed interest since the late 1990s by farmers and the public in small-scale agriculture, their numbers have recently made a small recovery.

Dressed in striped Breton shirt and beret, riding a bicycle hung with onions, the Onion Johnny became the stereotypical image of the Frenchman and was possibly in many cases the only contact that ordinary British people had with France and French people.28

I remember them biking through my borough of Finchley, and down our street (Claremont Park) as a child. They spoke no English. But we bought their onions!

(My twin sister Rochelle remarked how she remembered the milkman more since he came every other day and was quite a character, confirming the local adage that a child born looking different from all his or her siblings was “probably from the milkman”!)29

28 https://vimeo.com/1303789 29 In English-speaking culture, a milkman joke is a joke cycle exploiting fear of adultery and mistaken paternity. This class of jokes has its roots in the early part of the 20th century, prior to the regular availability of milk in supermarkets. At that time, milk in glass bottles was delivered directly to customers' houses by milkmen, generally in the morning (at which time empty bottles were also collected). Men were commonly the main financial supporters of their families, and a man's wife tended to remain at home to care for their children and home. As the milkman would visit the home at a time when the husband would be away at work, this created an opportune situation for adultery.

28

The trade may have begun in 1828 when the first successful trip is said to have been made by Henri Ollivier. From the area around Roscoff in known as Bro Rosko, Johnnies found a more profitable market in Britain than in France, and typically brought their harvest across the in July to store in rented barns, returning home in December or January. They could have sold their produce in Paris, but the roads and the railways were bad in the 19th century and going there was a long and difficult trip; crossing the channel was shorter and easier. As the early Johnnies were all Breton-speakers, Wales was a favoured destination. Breton is a Brythonic language related to Welsh and Cornish, and the Johnnies would have found Welsh a far easier language to learn than English. The Johnnies who regularly visited Wales in the nineteenth century became known as Sioni Winwns and subsequently as Onion Johnnies in English

At its height some 1400 Johnnies came over from Breton.

29

The Onion Johnny museum opened in Roscoff in 2004, with a two-day Fête de l'Oignon (Onion Festival) held every summer.

Since 2009 the Oignon de Roscoff [fr] has been protected under the French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée designation

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