Parody in Jewish Literature 9780231887755

Table of contents :
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Part I. History of Parody in Jewish Literature
I. The Beginnings of Parody in Jewish Literature
II. Parody in Provence and in Italy in the 14th. Century
III. The Decline of Parody From the Middle of the 14th. Century to the Middle of the 17th.
IV. The Revival of Parody from the Middle of the 17th. Century to the Close of the 18th.
V. Parody from the Beginning of the 19th. Century to the Present Day
Part II. Studies in Jewish Parody
I. The Massekheth Purim, Sepher Habakbuk Ha- Nabhi and Megillath Setharim
II. Provençal Parodies of the 14th. and 15 th. Centuries
III. The Verses Against Gamblers Ascribed to Ibn Ezra and the Parody of Leon de Modena
IV. Parody of a Letter of Credentials
V. The Haggadah of Jonah Rapa
VI. The Sedher Pesah Wehilkhatho
VII. The Massekheth Purim of the Seventeenth Century
VIII. Liturgic Parodies of the 17th. Century
IX. The Burlesque Testaments of Polido and Colorni
X. Earliest Yiddish Parodies
XI. The Massekheth Derekh Ere, of Isaac Luzzatto
XII. The Laws for Creditor and Debtor of Zachariah Pugliese
XIII. The Satire for Purim of Judah Loeb Bensew
XIV. Descriptive Bibliography of the Parodies from the Beginning of the 19th. Century to the Present Day
Additions to the Bibliography
Additions and Corrections
Indexes

Citation preview

PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE

FOL. 7 b -8 s FROM T H E PILPUL

ZEMAN

IN T H E SULZBEF SEMINARY OF .

ULZBERGER COLLECTION OF THE JEWISH THEOLOGICAL LV OP AMERICA

PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE BY

ISRAEL DAVIDSON

W I S PRKSS, INC. \K\V YORK. . 1 (XX)3 1966

C o p \ righi 1907 Columbia I ni\ersil\ Pres»

Reprinted with the permission of the original publisher A MS PRESS, I N C . N E W YORK. Y Y . 10003 1966

Manufactured in the I nited Slates of America

NOTE T h e study of Hebrew writings has seldom been undertaken from their literary side. This is true even in the case of those books that formed the canon of the Old Testament. It is not surprising then that nothing at all has been attempted along these lines in the domain of post-biblical Hebrew literature. In the present volume Dr. I. Davidson has had in view one aspect of the subject, and has made an exhaustive study of parody in Hebrew literature. With much diligence and with much literary ability he has followed up the development of the parody in this literature from its rudiments in the Talmudic literature through its various ramifications down to its extended use at the present day. H e has also determined the solution of a number of literary problems connected therewith, using for this purpose not only printed works but whatever manuscript sources have been at his disposal. To this he has added a complete bibliography of the parodies written since the beginning of the last century which includes also works not written in Hebrew but germane to the matters discussed in the volume. RICHARD GOTTHEIL.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION

IX XIII

PART I HISTORY OF PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II.

The Beginnings of Parody in Jewish Literature Parody in Provence and in Italy in the 14th. Century CHAPTER III. The Decline of Parody from the Middle of the 14 th. Century to the Middle of the 17 th. . . CHAPTER IV. The Revival of Parody from the Middle of the 17 th. Century to the Close of the 18 th. . . . CHAPTER V. Parody from the Beginning of the 19th. Century to the Present Day

i 15 29 40 59

PART II STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY CHAPTER I.

The Massekheth Purim, Sepher Habakbuk HaNabhi and Mcgillath Setharim CHAPTER II. Provençal Parodies of the 14th. and 15 th. Centuries CHAPTER III. The Verses Against Gamblers Ascribed to Ibn Ezra and the Parody of Leon de Modena . . CHAPTER IV. Parody of a Letter of Credentials CHAPTER V. The Haggadah of Jonah Rapa CHAPTER VI. The Sedher Pesah Wehilkhatho CHAPTER VII. The Massekheth Purim of the 17 th. Century .

115 134 148 151 153 167 172

VIII

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER VIII. Liturgic Parodies of the 17 th. Century . . . CHAPTER IX. The Burlesque Testaments of Polido and Colomi CHAPTER X. Earliest Yiddish Parodies CHAPTER XI. The Massekheth Derekh Ere, of Isaac Luzzatto CHAPTER XII. The Laws for Creditor and Debtor of Zachariah Pugliese CHAPTER XIII. The Satire for Purim of Judah Loeb Bensew CHAPTER XIV. Descriptive Bibliography of the Parodies from the Beginning of the 19 th. Century to the Present Day ADDITIONS TO THE BIBLIOGRAPHY ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS

187 195 199 203 204 206

209 262 264

INDEXES INDEX I. Titles of Parodies INDEX II. Names and Subjects

267 277

PREFACE The purpose of this book is to trace the development of that branch of Jewish satire which on account of its form goes by the name of parody, and to throw as much light upon the social life of the Jews as is possible to obtain from this peculiar class of literature.

The author holds no brief for Jewish humorists,

and does not pretend to defend them against the charge of obtaining laughter under false pretences, so frequently repeated since Renan pronounced his verdict that all Semitic people lack the sense of humor.

Me is not so sure that this very

contribution may not help to aggravate the indictment.

All

that is attempted here is to introduce the reader to a branch of literature hitherto entirely neglected, and to show what importance it has as a side-light on Jewish history. As its title "Parody in Jewish Literature" indicates, this volume treats not only of parodies written in Hebrew, but also of those written in other languages, provided they imitate some Hebrew original and deal with Jewish life. parodies written in Hebrew

On the other hand, all

are included even though

have no Hebrew original and do not deal with Jewish

they life.

Those parodies, however, which were merely written by Jews, but are non-Jewish both in language and in subject matter, do not come within the scope of this study. In the course of the work, many bibliographical, biographical and historical questions had to be cleared up, which made it necessary to divide the book into two parts, so that the results

PREFACE

X

interesting to the general reader might be kept apart from the minute studies intended only for the student of Jewish literature. The

point from which the author set out to collect

necessary

data

for this work,

the

was the late Professor Stein-

Schneider's article "Purim und Parodie", published in the Israelitische Letterbode (vols. 7 and 9). His bibliography which absorbed the earlier lists of Fiirst, Sommerhausen and Zedner, contains seventy-two titles under fifty seven numbers.

But only thirty-

one of them arc parodies, the rest relate to Purim. tinuation of this bibliography in the Monatsschrift

T h e con-

of 1902—1904

added comparatively little to the list of parodies.

It is quite

evident, therefore, that in gathering the five hundred parodies, or more, recorded in this volume, I had very little ready material before me.

And

though it is not fit to make a virtue out of

necessity, I, nevertheless, feel it m y duty to the reader to state that, with the exception of a very small number, I have read all the parodies whereof I speak. That I was able to gather that much material is due to the kindness and courtesy which I met with in all quarters.

The

Library of Columbia University furnished me with a number of rare books, Mr. Ephraim Deinard was kind enough to place at my disposal several important manuscripts and rare editions, and similar courtesies were shown me by Mr. A. L. Germansky and Rev. George A . Kohut, to all of whom I take this opportunity of expressing my sincere thanks. Until 1904, however, though this work was well under way, I was painfully conscious of many important omissions.

The

catalogues of the great libraries of Europe held out a vision of many treasures, but verily I could s a y : " W h o shall go over the sea for us and bring it unto us".

In that year, however, the

library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America

was

placed at my disposal, and through the kindly interest of its librarian, Prof. Alexander Marx, I was able to get at the treasures

XI

PREFACE

contained in the Sulzberger and Halberstam collections. Without these collections, the second part of this volume could not have been written, with them I felt as if the sea had receded and Europe had offered its treasures to America. Though I have acknowledged in the body of the book every obligation I owe for suggestions and information, still I take this opportunity once more to express my gratitude to those who took a lively interest in my work. I am under great obligation to Mr. A. S. Freidus of the New York Public Library for bibliographical assistance as well as for many useful hints. Without his aid, the last chapter of the book would have missed many of its more interesting data. To Prof. Louis Ginzberg I am indebted for many valuable suggestions, and to Prof. Alexander Marx for bringing to my notice a number of rare manuscripts. I also take pleasure in acknowledging my obligations to Prof. Joseph Jacobs for suggesting certain alterations in the introduction. Thanks are also due to Dr. J. D. Fitz-Gerald and Prof. C. L. Speranza of Columbia University, whom I consulted in regard to several Spanish and Italian texts. Above all, I wish to thank Prof. Richard Gottheil for reading this book in proof and suggesting many textual corrections. NEW YORK, July 31, 1907.

I. D.

INTRODUCTION The imitative tendency in man, which sometimes manifests itself in parody, is much older than the art of literary expression. Long before man learned to ridicule or amuse his fellow-man by means of the written word, he must have resorted to the art of mimicry; before he became an adept in turning religious hymns into wine-songs and ribaldry, he must have practiced the art of imitating the mannerisms and peculiarities of those whom he loved or hated. This tendency might, therefore, be studied not only in literature, but in social life as well, and a few illustrations of the manner in which it has played a part in the social life of the Jews are not out of place here. Among the Babylonian Jews, as early as the Talmudic period, it was customary to celebrate the feast of Purim by burning an effigy of Haman to parody his downfall. This custom was still in vogue among the Jews of Caucasia in the last century 1 . In Provence, the feast of Purim was somewhat influenced by the Feast of Fools, and a Purim King was appointed to take charge of all the festive ceremonies of the occasion'. There are no Jewish festivities corresponding to Mardi Gras, but the Class Day Professor of American Colleges has his counterpart in the Purim Rabbi, who is generally the wit of the Yeshibah, vested with temporary privileges to mimic the master of the school and other dignitaries of the placed Jewish history knows of no mock duels and no mimic wars 4 , but the Purim Plays of • See below p. 21—22. ' Ibid. p. 26—27. 3 Ibtd. p. 27. 4 Some regard the encounter between the warriors of Abner and Joab (2 Samuel, ii, 14—17) as a mimic war. See Ewald, History, iii, p. 114.

XIV

INTRODUCTION

the seventeenth century may be regarded as nothing more than mock shows, and these again, may be traced back to the custom of masquerading on Purim which was prevalent among the Jews of Europe as early as the sixteenth century 5. Mock-marriage is another manifestation of the imitative tendency not altogether of rare occurrence in the life of the Jews. Rabbis have again and again been called upon to give their opinions on the legal aspect of marriages made in jest 6 . It is also recorded that Shabbethai Zebi, the pseudo-messiah, while residing at Salonica, prepared a solemn festival and invited his friends to the celebration of his mystical marriage with the Torah 7 . And if we may believe a well-known novelist of the last century that he has taken his stories from life, it is safe to say, that in certain localities in Russia, before the spread of Haskalah, those who infringed on the moral customs of the community were sometimes put through a mock-marriage as a public chastisement 8 . All these instances are manifestations of the imitative tendency in the social life of the Jews, and since all of them spring from the desire to ridicule or amuse, they bear the same relation to the social functions which they imitate as a parody to its original. Other manifestations of the same tendency resembling parody might be found in the class o/ caricatures which imitate wellknown paintings, in sacred tunes set to rag-time, and in the racial types presented in vaudeville. But we must confine ourselves to parody, the manifestation of the imitative tendency in literature. Parody has been defined as a "composition in which the form and expression of grave or dignified writings are closely imitated, but are made ridiculous by the subject or method of treatment"'. This method of treatment is not without some interesting features 5 See n x "pis inbw, chap. 696; Monalsschrift, vol. 46, p. 181—182. 6 See Responsa of Samuel Abohab (^KID® "Ol), No. 291; of Zebi Aschkenazi, No. 135, and of Meir of Lublin, No. 139. For a recent case see p ^ o n 1903, No. 6. 7 Graetz, Geschichte, x, 191. 8 P. Smolenskin, "ttDn miap, chap. 14. For a still stranger instance of mockery in Jewish life see L. Rosenthal, 1SD P1V, p. 176. 9 The Century Dictionary, s. v.

INTRODUCTION

XV

well worth description and illustration. In its simplest form, a parody may consist of the mere change of a word, or even a letter. An example of this is Ibn Shabbethai's cynical remark, that "a man's enemies are the women of his own house" l0 , which parodies the Prophet Michah (vii, 6) by merely substituting "women" for "men". When a parody is produced by the change of a letter or only a vowel it is not far removed from a pun. The same effect is sometimes produced by breaking a word into its component syllables. Examples of the pun-parody are very numerous in Hebrew literature, but they are the most difficult to render into English11. Sometimes a passage may be parodied by merely putting a pause in the wrong place. Thus, an inexperienced reader once ran two Biblical sentences together, making God say unto Noah: "Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee I have seen righteous before me in this generation of every clean beast" 12 . The humorous application of a well-known passage will also produce a parody. A good illustration of this is Ibn Ezra's epigram on a woman with raven hair and light complexion. "For thy neck and the hair of thy head", says the poet, "we should bless Him who forms light and creates darkness" The liturgical text parodied in this epigram has undergone no change whatever. The humorous effect is produced entirely by its unexpected application. The same method when applied to a proverb produces a perverted proverb, or modified maxim. The proverb remains unaltered, but the added clause invests it with a surprisingly new significance. This, again, is not far removed, in its function, from the exegetical parody, which derives its humor from the false interpretation of some Biblical passage1*. 1° See below p. 13, note 54. 11 Compare, for example, the parodies against the Karaites cited below p. 3, note I t , also Immanuel, UVUnB, ed. Lemberg, p. 86: lb \ i n DIME nrUTI DV TB. " Genesis, vii, I—2. »3 See D. Kohn's ed. of Ibn Ezra, Warsaw 1894, vol. I, No. 62. >4 See below p. 18—19. Steinschneider would have us regard even the allegorical interpretations of the Bible as parodies (Monatsschrift, 1. c. p. 179).

XVI

INTRODUCTION

When an author parodies his own composition, retracting the ser'iments expressed in the original, his parody is also a palinode, while those parodies which consist of a rigmarole of meaningless phrases taken from all parts of the Bible, go by the name of Long Benedictions and resemble the English Tom-a-Bedlams's. All these may be called parodies of sound because they follow, as closely as possible, the words of some original. Such parodies, however, as Dictionaries of Misinformation, sometimes called Foolish Dictionaries, or those that assume the form of periodicals are parodies of form, because they imitate only the outward form of the original, while parodies like the Hebrew Epistolae Obscuromm Virorum and the Talmudic imitations ofKalonymos and others are parodies of sense, because they not only imitate the diction and style of the original, but also reproduce the train of thought and method of reasoning peculiar to that original. Closely allied to parody are the forms known as travesty, burlesque and mock-heroic. The distinction between these forms briefly stated is that parody keeps the form but changes the subject of the original, travesty keeps the subject but changes the form, while burlesque holds itself neither to form nor to subject, but is content with a general resemblance to whatever it may imitate. A mock-heroic is a parody that treats a trivial subject in a pompous manner. Few parodies imitate each and every phrase of the original. Most of them imitate only the general features of the style. But it is essential that all parodies should appear spontaneous. A parody must catch the ring of the original. It must emphasize its mannerisms and peculiarities, its catchwords and favorite tricks of style, so as to strike the ear with the very echo of the original. But imitation of mere externals is not enough. The parody must enter into the spirit and reproduce the intellectual and emotional characteristics of its mcdel. It must discover occult resemblances in things apparently unlike, it must employ contrast and surprise and "must be able to leap lightly •5 See below p. 50—51.

INTRODUCTION

XVII

over the little chasm that separates the ridiculous from the sublime" ,6 . This ought, therefore, to dispel the notion that parody is all the time parasitic. The existence of a parody presupposes, of course, the preexistence of an original, and in cases where the parody has no other aim than to ridicule the style of its model, the term parasitic may occasionally be applied with some degree of justice, but not so where the parody is used as a satiric weapon, charged with a moral purpose, full of wit and humor, keen observation and deep human sympathy. Such parodies owe to their models only the outward garb. They are imitative only in form, but original in matter, and often surpass the original. In its incipient stage, however, Hebrew parody was not far removed from pure imitation. This may be gathered from the fact that some parodies were admitted into the ritual. Had they been regarded as anything else than imitations this would have been impossible. The Hymn for the First Night of Purim, for example, which is embodied in the Mahzor Vitri, is only one step removed from imitation. It is classed with parodies because it dresses a wine-song in the garb of a religious hymn 1 ?. Of the same nature is also Abraham Bedarshi's eulogy of Todros Abulafia couched in the language of the Passover Haggadah. There is not a trace of humor in it, but the mere fact that a religious text is used as a vehicle for personal sentiments gives it a tone of playfulness and removes it one step from pure imitation18. Rabbi Emden's Hymn for Saturday night "9, written against the followers of Shabbethai Zebi, may be said to be on the border between imitation and parody. For while it was written in all earnestness and with full belief in the efficacy of prayer, it has that touch of personal invective which strongly reminds us of the parodist. Imitation may therefore be regarded Quaterly Rnicw, vol. 182, p. 154. *7 See below p. 4—5. Ibid. p. 16—17. 1 9 See ^N rvo ye^B, Altona 1745, fol. 406a; also BTIDW 1BD, Amsterdam 1758, fol. 77b. b

XVIII

INTRODUCTION

as a prototype from which parody evolved by degrees, the process of evolution being that the imitators first passed from serious to playful imitation, and then from playful to humorous and satiric. A s soon as imitation imbibed the spirit of satire, parody sprang into being. Hebrew parody is therefore not so base born as parody in the general literature of the middle ages. The latter is said to have originated from the desire to pull down the ancient models from their high pedestals 10 . Such is not the case with Hebrew parody. It did not spring from the desire to disparage, but rather from the wish to emulate. In fact, no Hebrew parody written before the middle of the eighteenth century, ever aimed at ridiculing the text of the original. And even such parodies of latter days as the Hebrew Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum, which do ridicule the style of their models, direct their ridicule at corrupt stylists not at classics. On the other hand, the close relationship which exists between parody and imitation has led many to mistake imitation for parody. T o avoid such misunderstanding the distinction between these two literary forms must once more be emphasized here. Imitation assimilates both the style and the tone of the model, whereas parody, though closely following the style and the diction of the original, assumes a tone of playfulness altogether foreign to that original. T o put it more briefly, an imitation may be distinguished from a parody by the absence of humor. This will justify the exclusion from this work of all imitations which lack this important ingredient". The range of Jewish parody is as wide as the range of general parody. The Jewish parodist has invaded every de2° See H . p. 1 2 1 — 1 2 2 .

Schneegans,

Geschichte

der

Grotesken

Satire,

Strassburg

1894,

™ Such, for example, are Katzenellson's rOOB ttsnn .TUT I W B published in «JDKDn 1 8 8 7 , and WPlin J"ODD NCTd .TOT m»t> published in 0Y71 1886, No. 47. Both are excellent imitations of the style of the Mishnah, but »!iey are scientific essays and have nothing in common with our theme. A t some future time the author expects to publish his bibliography of pure imitations, which numbers already about 1 5 0 titles.

XIX

INTRODUCTION

partment of literature and every walk of life. He has drawn upon the various phases of Jewish life for his subject matter and upon the various forms of Jewish literature for his models. It is no exaggeration to say that Jewish parody contains the entire Jewish literature in miniature. It would indeed be easy to make a collection of parodies representing the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, Liturgy, Zohar, Codes, Responsa and Homilies. Even dictionaries and newspapers, marriage and divorce formulae, amulets and anathemas have served the parodist as models. And not content with Jewish models, he often went in search of foreign models, in consequence of which we have parodies of Hippocrates, of Shakespere, of Goethe, of Schiller, of Heine, and of numerous folk-songs of the various nations among whom the Jews lived and wrote. It is equally no exaggeration to say that almost all the great movements in modern Jewish history are reflected in Jewish parody. Hasidism, Reform Judaism, Socialism, Zionism and many minor phases of Jewish thought—all have brought forth their own parodists. Satiric parody is one of those branches of literature which spring directly from contemporary history, and in tracing the history of parody in Jewish literature, we may be sure to light upon many phases of Jewish life and Jewish thought which have hitherto remained unobserved by the diligent searcher after dry facts and neglected by those who have an eye only for the serious. On the other hand, the study of this branch of Jewish literature will also reveal the serious side of Jewish humor. It will show that beneath the playfulness of Jewish satire an undercurrent of sadness is always present. Tears and laughter lie very closely together in Jewish humor, and the Jewish parodist is not always a mere clown, but more often he is a preacher disguised in the garb of a jester. Like general parody Jewish parody has also a moral aim. "It is opposed to every kind of untruth, to pretence, to bombast, to hypocrisy"". "

Quarterly Review, I. c. p. 159.

b*

XX

INTRODUCTION

To say, however, that Jewish parody has exerted great influence on the evolution of Jewish morals or Jewish thought would be to exaggerate its importance beyond all reason. T h e early parodists, it must be admitted, had no other aim than to amuse, and those of later years who tried to criticise and instruct succeeded but rarely in bringing about the desired result. Now and then some of them may have enhanced the general progress towards enlightenment, but for the greater part, the fate of the parodists was the fate of all humorists—not to be taken seriously. People laughed at their jokes, enjoyed their wit and sarcasm, but continued in their own old ways just the same. The only parody that made itself strongly felt was Joseph Perl's Revealcr of Secrets, and even this remarkable satire produced results of a doubtful nature^. Rut even if parody had no other aim than to amuse it would need no further apology for its existence. T o amuse cleverly and intelligently is an aim high enough for any branch of belleslettres. Many of the Rabbis, however, did not look upon it from this point of view. The general sentiment among them was against parody. In their opinion, parody degraded the original, especially when the original was a religious text. Even pure imitation of sacred texts was regarded by some as sacrilegious. The Gaon Saadia, for instance, was attacked by his opponents for imitating the Biblical style and providing his imitations with vowel points and accents. They made these imitations the ground for the absurd charge that he aspired to the role of Prophet Some eight centuries later, Moses Hayyim Luzzatto brought upon himself the wrath of the zealots by imitating the Book of Psalms 2s. These, however, were exceptional instances. The general attitude of the Rabbis towards pure imitation was more lenient. But wherever the imitation might cast the least shade of disrespect upon the original the Rabbis were generally 2

3 See 1 See 25 See p. 39; A. 3

below p. 71—73. Harkavy, Studun and Millherfungtn. vol. 5, p. 160—164. Almanzi, torm nvton, Lemberg 1879, p. 49; F. Kothstein, C'rDN M. Kahan, IDNSl^ D"n TOO '31, p. 9.

nil

INTRODUCTION

XXI

opposed to it. Rabbi Judah I^asid of Regensburg forbade anyone to sing children to sleep with melodies that were used in religious services 26 , while a much older authority considered it sinful even to recite the Song of Songs as if it were a mere love song, or to read it to the tune of the Book of Lamentations 2 '. All through the middle ages the Rabbis looked askance at humorous compositions *8, and even those who were themselves writing in a lighter vein condemned anything that savored of sensuality 2 '. But it was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that parody was singled out for especial condemnation, 'l'his was due to the wide-spread popularity of the Massekhetk Purim of the XVIIth century, first published in Cracow and then in Sulzbach 3 ". Men like Samuel Aboab 3 ', Moses WengrowJ 2 and Moses Piazza 33 were shocked at the liberty which the parodists took with the Talmudic texts. Strange to say there was even a Karaite who objected to Talmudic parody 3 4 , and more surprising perhaps is the fact that some of the parodists themselves, or at least the copyists, advised people to read their productions only on festive occasions J5. In our own times, the protest against parody has not altogether been hushed. Not only conservative Rabbis, but even men who belong to the progressive wing have come out openly against this branch of literature 36 . 26 See D'-Ponn "1ED, Frankfurt a. M. 1724, S 238. '7 See Kn"i;.Ti « m nb: rooo, chap, i : j-ds iniwi t r r c n v i m prac mipn,,

no Ton V'33 -iDT i"D3 'on 'rrt . . . obis'? np-i k î* 0 - 2 3 4 ; B . Nathansohn, nurwtrt "lBD p. 60; J . S. Olschwang, p'Scn 1869, No. 22; P. Rudermann, (ntfpn) 1 1 1 » Warsaw 1878. 37 A. S. Martin, On Parody, p. 10, 13. Tal. Bab. Sanhédrin, fol. i o i a . Compare also note 27 above. 39 HavelocV Ellis, The New Spir:t, p. 72. 4° Quaterly Review, I. c.

HISTORY OF PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE

PART I HISTORY OF PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE CHAPTER

I

T H E B E G I N N I N G S O F P A R O D Y IN J E W I S H L I T E R A T U R E Parody, satire's most powerful weapon, though of hoary antiquity in Classic literature 1 , is not so ancient in Hebrew literature. While the Bible abounds in various forms of satire', it does not contain a single example of parody 3 . N o r is this form of satire to be found in the apocryphal literature, even if we choose to regard imitation as a species of parody. For only that kind of imitation can be said to border on parody, which ridicules the original, or treats it in a spirit of playfulness. But the apocryphal literature, though largely imitative, aims neither at playfulness nor at ridicule. On the contrary, it holds the original in high esteem. In the Talmud, we would naturally expect t c find the art of parody adequately represented. For the ancient rabbis h a d a 1 " T h o s e who attribute to H o m e r the authorship of the 'Battle of t h e Mice and F r o g s ' credit the first great poet with b e i n g his own p a r o d i s t " (A. S. Martin, On Parody. N. Y. 1896 p. l). H i p p o n a x of E p h e s u s (fl. in the 6th cent. 13. C.) is said to be the inventor of this art, others m a k e H e g e m o n of T h a s o s (fl. in 5th cent.B.C.) the first parodist. 2 See J. Chotzner, Humor and Irony of the Bib'.e. H a r r o w 1883; Marion D. Shutter, li'i/ and Humor of the Bi/de. Boston 1893. 3 Notwithstanding t h e contention of S. Rubin. (D^'DDn rtnn, V i e n n a 1880, p. 8), that Prov. IX 13—18 is a parody of the first six verses of t h e s a m e chapter. T h e foolish w o m a n , he says, uses the words of W i s d o m : " W h o s o is simple let him turn in hither etc." But this seems far f e t c h e d and insufficient to overthrow my assertion.

2

HISTORY O F PARODY IN JEWISH

LITERATURE

keen sense of humor, and often manifested it in the course of their educational and religious work«. Some of them, for instance, were in the habit of prefacing their lectures with humorous remarkss, others brought their native wit into play in their religious controversies with the Sadducees and the Minim6, while those who were conversant with Roman matters satirized the tyranny and the profligacy of the Caesars. Withal, there is in the Talmud very little that may be called pure parody, and even the number of its travesties is too small to merit more than passing notice. In the few instances, where the rabbis travestied the subtleties of the schools, they did so at the risk of bringing reproach and ill-favor upon themselves 7 . The Talmudists were fond of puns and conceits, especially etymological puns 8 . They also indulged in what may be called Imaginary compositions, as for instance, the Edict of Haman and the Prayers of Mordecai and Esther». But as no one will allow the term parody to take on so broad a meaning as to embrace these forms of literature, we must not look for the beginning of parody until we reach a much later period in the history' of Jewish satire , 0 . 4 On this subject see: H . Adler, Jewish Wit and Humor: The Nineteenth Century, Mch. 1893; A. Kohut, IVit, Humor and Anecdote in Talmutf and Afidrash: Amencan Hebrt~i*.\ vol. 26, no. 13; vol. 27 nos. I — 5; L. Low, Die Lebensalter in der jiidischen Literatur. Szegedin 1876, p. 295—300, 346—351. 5 Tal. Bab. 30 b, beginning «nb'D ID« . . . WIST 'OpO n a n KH "3 Hninnn. 6 A. Kohut, 1. c., gives all the references to the Talmud on this subject. 7 Tal. Bab. mriJD 3 7 a beg.: DWS1 "3® lb W "D '310 lD^B ITJTS 8 » the answer to this impertinent question was KHC® Sip IN Dip IK; KITO K23 23b, beg.: . . nriN ri'DT '1 T 3 the sequel to this is '30 ,TDY ' a i b VTipBK «erne. 8 See Low, 1. c. p. 349; Tal. Bab. raff 77 b, m j 31b. 9 See Midrash Rabba, Esther S D13«1) 3rO' 31B ^DH bv OR, and S "®Km \ m n i>K rrwnb VOX; see also below Part II, S II, sect. 2. G—I. 10 One genuine example of parody, however, is found in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Ned. VI, 8). It is related there, that the deputation, which came from Palestine to urge upon Hananiah, nephew of Rabbi Joshua, to submit to the authority of the Palestinian Sanhedrin, publicly parodied Scriptural passages. One of them substituted " H a n a n i a h " for "the Lord" in "These are the feasts of the Lord" (Lev. xxiii. 4). Another recited "Out of Babylonia shall go forth

I.

T H E BEGINNINGS

OF PARODY

IN J E W I S H L I T E R A T U R E

3

In the period following the completion of the Talmud, the Halakha was predominant in all the schools, and pushed all lighter literature to the background. And though the rise of Karaism, in the middle of the eighth century, brought a good deal of satire and polemics into Jewish literature, parody was neglected by Rabbinite as well as by Karaite. At least no trace of it has as yet been found among the literary relics of that age 11 . It is only in the twelfth century, that we first meet with parody in Jewish literature. Those, therefore, who see in parody a sign of literary decay, will find their theory shaken by this fact. For the twelfth century was the golden age in Jewish literature, having such authors as Judah ha-Levi, Abraham and Moses Ibn Ezra, Maimonides and Harizi among its representative men. Early in the twelfth century, Abraham Ibn Ezra penned his famous epigrams, a number of which have an element of parody in them, in so far as they echo some well known texts". He was also the first to write in the mock-heroic style, a literary form closely allied to parody. His poem Concerning the Flies the Law,

and the word of the Lord from N e h a r - P e k o d " instead of " O u t of

Zion" and "from Jerusalem" (Isa. ii. 3). Prof. L. Ginzberg called my attention to another passage in Tal. Yer. (Pes. chapter III, 7) which is a genuine parody. It is told there, that Rabbi A b b a h u sent his son Haninah to study at Tiberias. T h e latter, however, engaged in charitable work and neglected his study. father thereupon reprimanded him saying: " W n t ó

His

p D ' p a •'"Op f R

parodying E x o d u s xiv. I I . 11

S. Pinsker, in describing the poetry of Moses Darai the Karaite,

and of the Karaitic literature bwi T i

says:

^nm "i«oin 'Ten o'isp n'ven nrrn p DÌ 13 eri (nrarnp ••Bip'p p. 46)

D'Ticbrin

D3 ETSBD n u n r p

"nobrni nawon

in general he says:

iW^Dl V® "ISO in3V3 p i

n t h o ' m p n i"nn t ò v n v m

,n,T"nnDi Dn tarò»

bs (ibid. Preface p. 2 — 3 ) ; but to judge from the specimens

given by him {ibid. p. 73—74) there were

no parodies among these

satires.

Nor is there, to my knowledge, any parody against the Karaites in the Rabbinic literature, excepting a few biting puns such as n t y ' K^l Swtf* TV p "J^l 13? a parody of Job vii, 9, directed D ^

against

the

D'nKnD n r » D'Kip.l, a parody of ^nttflD

Karaites

Anan

and

Saul,

j ' j n p I^Hl (Tal. B a b .

and Moed

Katan, 26 a). « See D . K o h n ' s ed. of Abraham Ibn Ezra's poetry (Warsaw 1894), vol. I nos. 4 — 6 , 20, 6 2 ; vol. II pt. 2 p. 60—62. I*

4

HISTORY

OF

PARODY

IN

JEWISH

LITERATURE

is written in this style, and such is its intrinsic merit, that even a prose translation preserves a great deal of the original force. CONCERNING THE FLIES >3 " T o w h o m shall I run f o r h e l p in m y t r o u b l e , of t h e r a v a g i n g flies t h a t r o b h a r d on me'.

They

s o n g s in m y ears.

run

m e of m y

across

my

to w h o m shall I c o m p l a i n

breath,

eyes

and

and l i k e

brows,

enemies

and

I want to eat m y meal a l o n e , but

press

whisper

they, like

love

wolves,

s h a r e it w i t h m e , a n d d r i n k f r o m m y c u p of w i n e a s if t h e y w e r e i n v i t e d g u e s t s or k i n .

T h e y spurn t h e p o r t i o n I allot t h e m of old

of l a m b , b u t t h e y thirst a f t e r m y w i n e and

hunger

w h e n I invite m y f r i e n d s to d i n e , it is t h e y w h o table.

B u t I h o p e t h e w i n t e r w i l l destroy

sit

them

It was probably

the Night

embodied in the Mahsor Vitry's. Night

M So

of Passover

bv ibi,t.

little

is

cold

wind

the and

account".

of Purim,

which was

It parodies the Hymn

by

Meir ben

it more in form than in diction 1 '. '3 D'TDtn

its

And of

in the same century, that Menahem ben

Aaron 1 4 wrote the Hymn for the First

a n d fat

food.

at the h e a d

with

s n o w , and r a i n , e l s e I w o u l d d e s p i s e l i f e on t h e i r

wine

after my

The

Isaac' 6 ,

for

imitating

parodist,

apparently

v o l . I n o . 13.

known

of

certainty when he lived.

the

author,

T h o u g h the

that

it is

"Mahzor

impossible

Vitry

was

to

begun

say

with

in t h e

time o f R a s h i ( c i r c . I l o o ) , it c o n t i n u e d to r e c e i v e a d d i t i o n s m a n y y e a r s

life

later"

('F.mldtung u. Register zum Machsor liiry p. 1 7 2 , also G r o s s , Gallia Judatca, p. 196). B u t , a c c o r d i n g to D r . B e r l i n e r [Einleituug, p. 1 7 3 ) , the a d d i t i o n of E l i e z e r b e n A a r o n ( M a h z o r V i t r y p. 600) w o u l d b e the l a t e s t , if he is the s a m e man w h o

flourished

in the t i m e of M e i r A b u l a f i a ( 1 1 8 0 — 1 2 4 4 ) .

Vitry. 1140

Zunz, again, includes M e n a h e m among the poets w h o and

(Litgesch.

1300

T h i s points to

1244 M e n a h e m ' s h y m n w a s a l r e a d y i n c l u d e d in t h e M a h z o r

o n e t h i n g , that b y

p.

4 5 3 , 485).

We

may,

flourished

therefore,

between

meet him

half

w a y a n d a c c e p t 1 1 4 0 a s p o s s i b l y t h e earliest, w h i l e k e e p i n g 1244 as the latest l a n d m a r k in t h e l i f e of M e n a h e m .

Still, it s e e m s to m e , t h a t w e can s a f e l y assign

h i m t o t h e t w e l f t h c e n t u r y , i. e. n e a r e r the o r i g i n a l c o m p i l e r s , b e c a u s e his h y m n is not m a r k e d as an a d d i t i o n ,

(Einleituug p .

indicated

>5 V't p n « p.

P

172;

t h o u g h it is true t h a t n o t all a d d i t i o n s

Monatsschri/l

are

so

v o l . 46, p . 578, n o . 157).

DmD '1 1DP0D c n i c b S ' l P B (Mahzor V i t r y , B e r l i n ,

1893—1897,

583-584). 16

Zunz

Berliner,

(Litgesch. p .

Emlatung

*7 T h e o r i g i n a l , the Bodleian ms.

73)

counts

this p o e m

not contained

in t h e printed

no. 1 1 0 0 f o l . 68 et sqq.

following

divisions:

3) D'tinB

,nos,

among

the

anonymous.

See

p. 180.

i ) HSn b « lniK 4) B'pnw

pi®

Mahzor

(Einleitung

D'llOW

W,

nbnn

2) nb'bn ,noD,

Vitry

p. iSo),

but found

nt «in

5) «in

in

c o n s i s t s of

iod

the

D'TIOtff

W,

d'-iidb

Vb,

I.

THE

BEGINNINGS

OF

PARODY

IN

JEWISH

LITERATURE

$

has no other aim than to dress a wine-song in the garb of a religious hymn. The burden of the song is, that on Purim one must throw off all care and anxiety. "This night [of Purim] is a night for drunkards, a night for wine drinking and rejoicing... On this night all creation is intoxicated... and woe betide the man, who should put forth his hand for the bitter water. The day of Purim is a day of feasting and drinking and merrymaking'" 8 . But in order to make our happiness complete, we must remember the needy, and share our luxuries with those that are in want of them' 9 . About the year 1200, Joseph Zabara composed his satires on physicians and women 20 , which contain a number of parodies, such as the four recipes to cure fever and other maladies, and the prayer of the henpecked husband 21 . It is also likely, that Zabara had before him a Hebrew translation of the Aphorisms of Hippocrates, and that the Physicians' Aphorisms, in its entirety, is a parody of the work of Hippocrates' 2 . This brings us to the thirteenth century, and the first to attract our attention by his parodies is Judah Harizi23. He 6)

N i l : 1K1J> v b,

two verses,

7) B'artJ« DP1? ISDtf V

f o r m i n g in their s e c o n d w o r d s

t h e s e v e r s e s b e g i n w i t h the w o r d nDB, a n d riDB i n ' D ' l , Passover

of

the

and

acrostic

end

of the

alternately

In

the French

s t a n z a s , the first t w o and

the

Ritual,

Lit^. p. 85).

last

two

All

they

t h e o t h e r the all

terminate

T h e parody contains forty-five

consisting

r e m a i n i n g o n e s , o n l y of r h y m i n g c o u p l e t s . a n d nDB 2n ' B ' S to D'llB Jn

however,

alphabet.

w i t h nDB Jn '0*3

the one describing the Passover of the past, future.

w i t h t h e w o r d s nDB i n *D'3 (Zunz,

fifth

T h e third part c o n t a i n s t w e n t y an

of

D'llDB? W

four

verses

each,

the

is c h a n g e d to D ' l l i © S'S

T h e a c r o s t i c w h i c h b e g i n s w i t h the t w e n t y -

v e r s e g o e s o n l y as f a r as t h e l e t t e r 3. S t a n z a s 1 — 3 , 10.

19 S t a n z a s 22, 23. 20 F o r a full t r e a t m e n t satires rox'jn e b a , 21 " p m

rnn

o f t h e s e satires,

see

m y e d i t i o n of Z a b a r a ' s

three

N . V . 1904. 8°. 32 p.

'B'a u p m

w

,piDi

nisiw

b:"

ibid. p. 2 1 — 2 2 ;

'nbsn

. . NWAN N« HIDB I D 'JK K T B . . . P M n s TI I 1 ?, ¡bid. p. 3 1 . 22 IbiJ. p. 7. 23 T h o u g h b o r n

in 1 1 6 5 ,

Harizi

began

his

Tahkemoni

during

his

travels

in E g y p t , and since he a r r i v e d in E g y p t a f t e r the d e a t h of M a i m o n i d e s (1204.), t h e T a h k e m o n i b e l o n g s to t h e thirteenth c e n t u r y ( S e e Tahkemoni, p. i x , x x v , x x v i i i , xxix).

ed. Kaminka,

6

HISTORY OF PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE

changed parody from a mere literary toy into an instrument of satire. His extensive travels brought the wlole panorama of Jewish life under his observation, and enabled him, in his itineraries, to criticize the follies and foibles of his ontemporaries. His great skill lies in drawing a vivid picture in few words. He sketches the outline boldly, emphasizes with a few strokes of the pen some peculiar characteristics and leaves tie imagination to complete the rest His art, therefore, remind.« us of caricature. This is best exemplified in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Tahkemoni14, which treats of the religious lift of the Jewish community in the city of M o s u l W i t h a few nusterly touches he succeeds in making the community live before us, but everything is subordinated to its religious phase. After telling us, in as few words as possible, of the extent, beauty and wealth of the city, he takes us into the synagogue, where the people are gathered for devotion. There we come into the presence of the Hazzan, the man that leads the congregation in prayer, who is the central figure, and the main object of his satire He examines him minutely. His hat, his beard, his dress, his gait, everything is noted, all of which is calculated to impress us with his dignity and to make the subsequent ridicule stronger by contrast. And the ridicule is brought about by means of parody. For, the Hazzan, though dignified and imposing in appcarance, proves to be so ignorant, that he stumbles over the most ordinary prayers, confusing vowels and skipping consonants, making the most absurd medley of the simplest sentence. This, for example, instead of "He who covers the heavens whh clouds (Ps. cxlvii, 8)", he reads "He who covers the heavens with clothes" and so on. In the tenth chapter of the Tahkemoni, Harizi chooses the mock-heroic for the vehicle of his satire. His object seems to be to decry the religious custom of killing fowl )n the morning Tahkemoni ed. Kaminka, p. 220 "VJTI'JBl VW130 IIEJOl 1125 *5 Ibid. p. XXXV. »6 « n m D i e no3on ¡"it» ^ a s a d-d® rtoion nipnai" The other parodies do not lend themselves to translation.

I. T H E BEGINNINGS OF PARODY IN J E W I S H L I T E R A T U R E

7

before the Day of Atonement. But not content with branding this custom a stupid superstition, he brings the rooster, the traditional scapegoat on these occasions, on the scene to plead his own cause. From the top of the synagogue, whither it has fled for safety, the rooster harangues a big crowd, and denounces man's ingratitude. "Have I not served mankind faithfully?"—asks the rooster — "Have I not roused them for prayer in the morning and entertained them with my voice in the day, and have I not brought forth a whole brood of young fowl for their pleasure? Besides, what good can come from killing me now, that I am old and lean? The healthy cannot relish my tough flesh, and the sick will only die sooner if they taste it." Such is the Sermon of the Rooster, couched in the language of the Prophets 17 . Equally clever and humorous is his mock-heroic poem: The Ant and the Flea2*, which was undoubtedly inspired by Abraham Ibn Ezra's poem on the flies. Harizi was the first to parody a whole Biblical narrative In telling how he came to write the Tahkemoni, he parodies the story which Eliezer the servant of Abraham told to Laban (Genesis xxiv. 42—48), applying metaphorically the virtues of Rebekah to the Hebrew language, and Eliezer's conduct to his own efforts in the cause of Hebrew literature He is also to be credited with the first palinode, a literary form closely allied to parody, an example of which is the eighth chapter of the TahkemoniJ*. Another poet-parodist of the thirteenth century was Judah ben Isaac Ibn Shabbethai, a native of Toledo, or Burgos. Three satires are known by, him, in each one of which he showed 27 [bunn niito] beg. niton mm» pro -dtii -Sk i j b ® (ibid. p. 105—107). 18 [gnmcn v w nScan w ] ibid. ch. 4, p. 46—54. '9 Parodies of single Biblical sentences are already found in earlier literature, e. g. the parodies in Tal. Yeru. mentioned in note 10 above. For simple parodies in the writings of Abraham Ibn Eira, see K. Albrecht, Studien zu den Dichtungen Abrahams ben Ezra. ZDMG. vol. 57, p. 4 2 1 — 4 7 3 ; also Leipiig, 1903. 8°. 53 p. jo Tahkemoni, ed. K. p. 8—9, beg.: . . . fPn DVH ma«V 31 "rrm: nnw nr-ipn .miTsai ,rner n-UK ^ n a a " ibid. ch. 8, p. 84.

8

HISTORY OF PARODY IN J E W I S H

his skill as a parodist. Judahwas

written in

LITERATURE

His first satire, entitled 1208 u, and in the

day was dedicated to Abraham

The

Gift

fashion of

of the

Alfakar, in order to obtain

3» DTMH KJW rrriiT nruo Ed. pr. s. 1. e. a. [Constantinople, circ. 1543]; Salónica, circ. 1600; also in Ashkenazi's D'Jpt DVB (Frankfort a/M. 1854), fol. 1 —12. The phrase "Woman-Hater" [D'Win K21W] should be construed as a second title, not as an adjective phrase relating to Judah. That this phrase has only an appositional meaning can be seen from the opening lines of Bedarshi's D'Wi 3niK: p mirv I bill,! V'bcb HiCp nns rtybc D31TI3 n«1«1" "Q'WJ KJ1W nJClp »ibn '«ra® and again from the closing paragraph of the same »»tire h j w o ' » j » n p siTn m w Kin . . . 'Hnzv p mirp i s HKa rrmowm" "D'WJH (See below note 35). The word HBD2 has undoubtedly been omitted here before N3W, and in that case the word SlTn need not assume the meaning of ruiSDil as suggested by Steinschneider (Letterbode, XII p. 67 note 36). 33 The numerous doubts raised about the date of composition of this satire make the following lengthy discussion indispensable. In the ed. of 1854 (f. 12 a), the year 1218 is given as the date of composition (StWYl D'Bb« nP3"lK2 nipob DTCKb , n j 6 wmb n i m ,njeen D'PSBl msc) and this is corroborated by the Ktthubah (f. 8 b), which is dated 1217 (mm D'Cb« run U«3 . . . JO«n V S I S nraen O'paen niHO). But in a ms. copy of this satire, which Halberstam described in Kobak's (VII p. 33 et sqq.) the year 1208 is mentioned in two places as the date of composition, with the additional date 1225 (".upo 1 ? orroKb nirn nucen Dieren who rwm o'eb« romia" ibid. p. 34; w u : " "dtoj ]inBD -:3 jwa nn m draw rowni ,nnn: ¡®JK nwnn b«] bnpb. The words in brackets are written in the ms. above the line, and Neubauer (1. c.) ascribes them to Samson Modon. An exact copy of this satire was made for me by Rev. Moses H. Segal of Oxford, and Mr. A. Cowley was kind enough to consult with him in the deciphering of several difficult passages. 49 The five men named in the ms. are as follows: 1) bi311311 . . . 1'nirlH 1DW3 TIBW -iWK ,K"\!jni "DDjn OBTI nKV1? ,K«l!D . . . d ^ d . h p a n ' s y v i . . . o , K , » : m n m i i n m . . . o ' e a n m o n - c n n and again on f. 55 b — 5 6 a: n r m n K m e n ®io> W> n»j?j . . . IBD tni® o n an 52 The parody, extending from f. 62a to 62b, begins as follows: mtJ3 v s n p Itwm p " » . Cf. m n n nDU in D"n ram« of Rabbi Aaron of Lunel (Berlin 1902, p. 503—504). 53 m s r c b rn3»n b e g . : nm«i j m nmns D : ; n (f. 63a—64a). 54 Here may be given a few simple parodies found in the satires of Ibn Shabbethai: 1) "lfl'2 TM CTK 'T1K" (mirr nnic ed. 1854 f. 3b) parodies Micha vii, 6. 2) " i o n ' bn

bv p i n " (1 bid. f. 9 b ) parodies Eccl. ix, 8.

14

HISTORY OF PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE

Another point worth dwelling upon and of special interest to the student of folk-lore is his reference to the imaginary horns of a c u c k o l d w h i c h is perhaps the earliest instance in Hebrew literature 5®. This proves at least, that this popular superstition of the Greeks, which, through Italian literature, has become the common property of all European people, was already in the beginning of the thirteenth century familiar to the Jews. Thus, parody had its beginning in the early part of the twelfth century, and, with the single exception of Menahem ben Aaron's hymn, all parodies of this period sprang from Spanish 3) Speaking of untimely gray hair, he says: ,111KB VIpi ,11SW ^S^m" " C I S 1 ^ MSB! D ' l i n w ]Bt 1 {ibid. f. 10a), parodying Tal. Bab. Be?a, 10b. Again, wishing to emphasize the fact, that no one takes his wealth with him to the grave, he says: Kb ami . i ^ k : ' vnttB i n « »b ,rrnn nbiKi 13BJ "inm ,rprvn nio- o k " " n a j ^ id'd ixm " j n a T'wnn® ' b i irm n»s' i r o w »1331 ("liTlim riODnn nonSo ed. Warsaw p. 119), parodying Tal. Bab. Shabbath 153 a. In the article Parody in the Jewish Encyclopedia, I hastily assumed that the parodies of the Requiem first came into vogue in the l 8 t h century. 55 In speaking of Joseph ben Isaac Benveniste (Tljm nbK.I fol. 59 b), he says: ,nenp n n nnc® n u a a npb i b k ,fvianS w i n « «nn ,n»J3i3 pre»' pipire hdv" , v n p d k i > n p i ,vsiy a m i -hm ,vapp wanii nam lb -nni :j»w wi ,piiKBn i^pa p p n nn^ns i r n w n S "pBi»3 ypni u n b u « n * -jb tpi".is'nm»* n a s n t » k i b 31 bf vb? 110«. a

28

Ibid. chap, pip 1'* f. 31b, beg.: in* btt "ifin "1H.

•9 Ibid. chap. VIH3 "10*3 t 17a, beg.: D'H^Sil ^JD. 3° iri3 ]3N Cremona, 1557.

n.

PARODY I N PROVENCE AND IN ITALY

21

we meet with a grotesque passage, as the story of the glutton, who doffed his clothes and dived into a bowl of soup to look for his portion of meat 3 '. We also learn in passing some customs connected with the feast of Purim of which no mention is found anywhere else. We read, for instance, that people rode on horseback through the streets with pine branches in their hands J o r made merry round a puppet representing Haman, which was set on an elevation amidst shouts of vengeance and blowing of trumpets. This custom was called Ira, which is the Italian for vengeance * K The custom 3» 't VD ed. V. chap.

fl»a

f. 22b, beg.: WM m i d VTK1 'IK Wn T *U9M.

3» Ibid. chap. Dmt f. 28b, beg.: D""I1B3 D1DH \ff DIM 3311. 33 Ibid. chap, v r j j n f. 24 a : -KB . . . D*1W3 [Ira] MYM iiwyb 1TO i W 1JD apjf mM tdww i m S "131 -mb .TUT ^mv by t\*\ jon i n « ' a n a a i tom mym nvjnr p n r » a u "ai n * w m ')m t o * nrm» .my* mSm t»m n p - n S» dim w a ' » S imi3B ip3 p p i n n^jma inM. Ill construing DTM to mean poppet, I follow Gudemann (Gesch. vol. 2, p. 211). For the meaning of iTYK, I am indebted to Prof. C. L. Speranza of Columbia University. Here reference may be made to the various customs of commemorating the downfall of Haman, prevalent at one time or another. In the Talmudic and Gaonic periods, it was the custom among the Babylonian Jews to burn Haman in effigy. 1TI0 but lately has This was long ago known from a pastage in the Arukh s. been confirmed by a Gaonic Responsnm from the Geniza, recovered by Prof. I.. Ginzberg (JQR. XVI, p. 652), which reads as follows: "13 n« ]DtB -J^Bn" •Tinn n n l^po n« jnui i v p '13 ^a n» ]btb mm ,opn nn«S l'jpe ] n m n W n p n n opa r n bki a n » no "dV Van d^i» D'W onV p i a v y n -33 m o«i IBtDi i n n mm -jStsS Sport ntt p ^ s n o -n«3 lery r\vv j t i w b ."n«3 n r w np ."Dmsb cdSb m p ' i noun .ib t i < ibpai W ' « p a "Bp ibkiw r r p "13 n« Here may also be quoted a poem which Daniel ben Samuel of Rossena (Fl. in Italy 1492—1506) wrote in honor of a young man who was made Purim King:

II.

P A R O D Y IN P R O V E N C E A N D IN I T A L Y

27

it is difficult to draw definite conclusions, but it is not unlikely, that this custom, in some way, took its origin from the Feast of Fools, or the Carnival, and later gave birth to the Purim Plays''1 of the 17th century and the Purim Rabbi of more modern times 6 '. The Book of Habakbuk the Prophet (Sepher Habakbuk haNabhi) is a parody without satiric motive. Joan de Plantevit found a cabalistic significance in it, seeing in the name Karmi ('013) an allusion to the Jewish Messiah, and in Beeri 0"1K3) to the Gentile World 6 !. But this naïveté was already ridiculed by Bartolocci, who recognized the humor of the book6». How far the author succeeded in being humorous is another question. The language of the Prophets is cleverly imitated, but the humor is not very pronounced. The Jewish people, says the parodist, were divided in their allegiance between the Vineyard (Karmi) and the Well (Beeri), an allusion, it would seem, to intemperance and abstinence. The Bottle (Bakbuk) was the inspired Prophet sent to turn the people to the worship of the

.mirò vman ID® ny1?« o^-iicn ity m a i Vpin n a u y '3K "VS3 bDB "itj> ^K

in noi1?

.NJJR^K IBO N«

-^oin in« una by inn "ipi -p^n y w - p » K op D'TB* f i l l i p 31B

D-D'

prw> r\m by

—3 NBUO Dp bp -WK

(yfonatssck. fur Gesch. u. Wissensch. d. Judenth., yol. 47 p. 174). 6 1 See Low, Lebensalter, p. 296—297; Thomas Wright, History of Caricature in Literature and Art., London, 1864 p. 207—210. 6 j In the Talmud schools, or Yeshiboth of Poland, the Purim Rabbi is chosen from the body of the students, and his function is to mimic the master of the school (n3*EP 1SK1), just as in European and American colleges, the students take the liberty of ridiculing their professors on Class Day (See M. H. Bernstein, D'Bsnn O'DJTB "IS1N London, 1904, p. 124, where an anecdote is told of a Purim Rabbi in the Yeshibah of Volozhin). 63 In his Bibliotheca Rabbinica No. 102 he says among other things: "Unde saspicari licet huius libelli Auctorem, Messiae diu et frustra a caecis Hebraeis expectati regnum tectis verbis descripsisse. Introducitur enim saepissime Deus ore Bakbuk Judaeos cohortans, ut firmiter adhaereant imperio Carmi, id est Messiae, et implacabile bellum gerant adversus Beeri, id est, Reges Gentiles" (.Florilegium Rabbinicum, Lodova 1644, p. 559). 64

Bartolocci, Bibliotheea No. 102, vol. I, p. 693.

28

HISTORY OF PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE

Vineyard, which after many trials he succeeded in accomplishing, hinting thereby, that the Jewish people were no ascetics. To make the estimate of Kalonymos as a parodist complete, mention must also be made of one passage in his Touch Stone. It occurs in that humorous part of the satire, where the contrast is drawn between the easy life of the Jewish girl and the burdensome existence of the Jewish boy. The Jewish girl, says the satirist, has few worries and still fewer duties, while the boy is made to feel the burden of his religion from his very infancy. He has six hundred and thirteen precepts to observe, and many difficult studies to pursue, while the Jewish girl has only one aim in life—to marry well. After lamenting his ill luck of having been born a boy, he strikes out in the style of the old litanies: "O Tbou, in heaven, our Sire, Thoa hast saved our fathers from flood and from fire; The heat of Ur-Kasdim thou hast cooled 6 }, The sperm Be Dinah thou hast ruled 6 6 ; Hast turned staff into snake, And clean hands didst leprous make; Hast changed the Red Sea into land, And the bed of the Jordan into dry sand; At thy bidding water gushed from rocky mass; O, that Thou wouldst refashion me a lass. Were I blessed with fortune rare, I would be a lady free from care. But, alas, it is of no avail My bitter fortune to bewail. Since my lot in heaven was willed, To change it, no one is so skilled. Thus, my burden I'll bear with grace, Until I have run my race. And conforming with our belief To thank the Lord in joy or grief, I offer thanks in speech faint and worn: 'Praised be Thou, O Lord, that I no woman was born'" 6 ?. ¿5 This has reference to the legend that Abraham was thrown by Nimrod into a burning furnace and came out unhurt. See Tal. Bab. Pes. 118 a. 66 See Tal. Bab. Berakhoth, 6oa. É 7 ^nn pK ed. Cremona, f. 8a; ed. Lemberg, p. 17 beg.: D ' o r a r W3M DTOl r i o irnia»1? O'DJ rr»pr J. Chotzner paraphrased the same passage {y.Q.Jt. XIU p. 133), but the greater part of his rendering is sot found in

m.

T H E D E C L I N E OF PARODY

29

With the satires of Kalonymos, parody completed its first period of growth, and entered upon a period of decay that lasted almost three centuries. From the middle of the fourteenth century to the middle of the seventeenth, there was almost a total disappearance of humor from Jewish literature. As the age of codes and casuistry, of extreme and unhealthy seclusiveness, it lost all taste for poetry and the beautiful in literature. Romances of any kind were condemned, and writings such as Immanuel's were put on the Index. In a word, the age was hostile to humor in general and especially opposed to the humorous treatment of sacred texts. CHAPTER

III

THE DECLINE OF PARODY FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY TO THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH During the three centuries, from the middle of the fourteenth to the middle of the seventeenth, we search in vain after parodies of importance. With few exceptions all the parodies of this period are only parts of other compositions. In the fifteenth century a few independent parodies are found, but most of these are ascribed to this period only by conjecture. The earliest parody of this period is the work of a Samaritan Priest1, who sets forth the Messianic doctrine of his sect in the style in which the Deluge is described in the Bible the text, and most of the text is wanting in his paraphrase. An excellent German translation of the same passage is given by Geiger in his Judischt Dichtungen der spartischen urui italienischen Schule Leipzig 1858, p. 55—56. 1 I am indebted for a copy of this parody to Mr. David Yellin of Jerusalem, who expects soon to publish it in full. From a private communication of his, I learn that the codex in which the parody is found is in the possession of the Samaritan Priest at Nablus (Shechem) and contains various subjects, most of them written (copied?) by Ibrahim b. Ishak in 1 1 5 4 of the Hegira (1776). The name Phinehas is written in Arabic at the top of the parody, from which Mr. Yellin concludes that the author was Phinehas ben Abisha, a Samaritan Priest who was born about 1376 and died in 1440 (See Jewish Enc. X , 679b).

3jb S p d n ^ e n n i b p -o ' n n

.'*p«n Sa The text reads: " p t t n by n ' n n n u B S n o i n i » d'B^k n w a ' m " , bot i Tenture to read D'B^K because this wonld about correspond to the downfall of Samaria, which took place in 7 2 2 6 . C. ( 3 0 3 8 A. M.). The date generally accepted as the beginning of the ."iTlllB is the time of Eli and the disappearance of the Tabernacle (See Jewish Enc. vol. X, 674 a). 4 The text reads : o'ya-\ro j»a"uh n » niKo jwm n w D'B^« nnuB S i a e v m " 3

pun

its o o n n i

ttenn

nnurn

nirjm r o c i

nmic

i2«m . . .

rur

". . . r t p n nj-in by tnnb m * a ' w i n n n a w j p n nini by o - p ^ s n . The abbreviation "UVl for OTU VI is common in the Samaritan Bible (See ibid, vol. V p. 6 3 1 a). 5 See below Part II, chapter 1, S II, sections I, 2, 3. 6 Ibid, chapter II Sect. 2 no. 34, where five sentences in Provençal are cited. Other Provençal words used in the "Resolutions" are 1 B V H 3 (Resolution no. 1 6 ) , K r V l B (Resolution no. 2 6 ) , nUD^p and VUlsSp (Resolution no. 3 0 ) . 7 See Hid. ibid. no. 1.

in. THE DECLINE OF PARODY

31

imposed upon the community for the benefit of the king. The resolutions are preceded by an anathema on those who disregard them8 and followed by a benediction on those who observe them«. Contrary to our expectations, they do not help us to discover what the functions of the Puritn King were. The second of these parodies is a wine-song in the form of a hymn 10 , and the third and last of these parodies is a fragment of a Talmudic travesty", which adds this much to our knowledge about the Purim King, that it was his duty to entertain his townspeople with music and serve them with refreshments during his reign. Further mention of the Purim King is found in an anonymous Massekheth Puritn, which was perhaps written in Provence during the fifteenth century 12 . According to this Talmudic travesty, every Jewish town elected a Purim King a month before Purim and invested him with full power over the lives and property of his subjects'J. The most interesting feature of this parody, however, is that it gives a Biblical origin for the game of dice. "Rabbi Shiggaon [Lunatic] said: 'Behold I am almost seventy years old and I was never privileged to understand why dice should be played on Purim until Rabbi Badai [Fiction] expounded [the passage in Esther ix, 27]: "The Jews ordained and took upon them" [D.l^y D'TITO Sap) Wp], Here bap is written instead of ^ap. This [strange spelling] is to indicate the spots on the six sides of the die in their proper order. Hirek points to the side with one spot, Sheva to the one with two spots, Kibbuj to the three spots, the Kibbu; and the Hirek to the four spots, the Kibbu; and the Sheva to the five spots, and the Kibbnj, Hirek and Sheva to the side with six spots'"M.

In the same passage mention is also made of the cards [misn pint?], the game of chess [TtsmN] and a Tables [min^BTI pint?], which is undoubtedly the game gammon 'K The parody closes with an imitation of the which turns the Prayer for the Dead into a eulogy living. 8 Ibid, section I. " Ibid, section 5. M Ibid. T 7UBB '2 pIB.

game of game of of BackKaddish of good

10 9 Ibid. section 3. Ibid. section 4. Ibid. section 6. '3 Ibid. H niVO pTB. >5 Ibid. Gemara to 1 njWD p"D.

32

HISTORY OF PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE

T h e next parody of the fifteenth century is found in Mattathiah's Faithlessness

of Timel6,

a satire on those who relinquish

study for the sake of worldly gain.

Though begun in the year

1430, this satire, which is also in the nature of an autobiography, was still in the process of composition in 1450". In well chosen phrases the author tells of the poverty and suffering which compelled him to forsake the Torah and of the disappointments he met afterwards in search after wealth. One of the parodies, found in this satire, is a Certificate of Divorce1*, which he gave to the Torah, and the other is a Marriage Contract, 1 which Time drew up between him and Old Age ». T h e former has no other merit than that of being perhaps the first and only one of its kind in Hebrew literature, the latter is quite clever and piquant. The last parody of the fifteenth century is a satire on Christianity b y Elijah y a y y i m ben Benjamin of Genazzano, in the style and metrical form of the hymn Yigdal20. It has been embodied in the second part of the polemic work of Don David Nasi, entitled Concession of the Defendantwhich was written »' flam rrraa Ed. Princ. Thiengen 1560. 8°. For other editions, see Zedner, Cat. p. 514 and Zonz, Zur Gesch. p. 129 and 302. The ed. princ. used by me is foond in the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. The author's name occurs in the following passage found on the first page: , n j r D'wbwa \-n -mo vea jrr k^i r6ain -iwk ,rra»n jd i t win n m j r w 1 ) ,rv-iiD rrtaya mints n^aam ,rv3i mobs y m b« ,nan«a mpts [inns'?] 'hkiS niKiion "jdi vyDD vrmVir ,iKa ¡vnriD bum ,iKBnn^ kVi vmits by nin nbiyn i»w6 wks^ naw n^Efonn nasn. >7 This statement is based on the following two passages: 31TI3!0 J'aK Hfiyi

nws ,ne®n d^^k ni'ir nyoi ^ar"« nvb ra»a bpwaai paaoa -1-», beginning: pn id» ,nat nsn«n ro n'nbn bin1 VIIK'SO. " p

bya n * n n Frankfurt a/M. 1866. 12°. 32 p. Edited by Jacob Saphir

33

111. THE D E C L I N E OF PARODY

about 1491.

T h e parody shows great skill of adaptation

great power of invective. " l et t h e d e a d of

existence.

proclaims To

and

It reads in part as follows:

god cease, and forgotten b e his m e m o r y , name and time

Eternal

perdition

his g r e a t n e s s and his

bequeathed

he

to

every

Naiarite

who

dominion.

emptiness and nothing did h e r e t u r n ;

with

the curse of

God,

the

E x a l t e d , w a s he crucified b e f o r e the eyes of nations, and n o one witnessed his resurrection.

..."

This is harsh and vituperative, indeed, but it must be remembered that this harshness was born of persecution.

W h e n these

lines were written thousands of innocent men and women were tortured to death in the name of the Church, and hundreds of thousands were

driven

from their homes, torn away from all

that was dear to them and given a prey to hunger, and cold and pestilence — all in the name of the Christian Messiah. Parodies definitely known to belong to the sixteenth century are only two in number, one b y Leon de Modena and one by Israel Nagara.

One of the early literary attempts of Modena,

was a satiric dialogue on card playing, entitled Turn from

Evil

In the fifth chapter of this moral satire, the well known

Verses

Against and

Gamllcrs'i,

ascribed to A b r a h a m Ibn Ezra 2 4 are cited,

followed by

gamblers 2 '.

a parody

of these verses in defense of the

T h e parody has the form and spirit of the original,

but is not as clear and forcible. T h e original points out the evil (See

colophon

on

. . . n n ' o n n 'n m m

p. 32).

It c o n s i s t s o f t w o p a r t s :

"ipp y " c-p1?. . . w

T i b » 3 " " H V i y J13DO N " n

(p. 1 — 1 6 ) , and i n n o v i j ) bi&d "i:n 3 " n

D.1J10K " t y i s 'B 1D1.T. I p n i c a m 'S^ D 7 V B B (p. 1 6 — 3 2 ) , 1491,

not in 1 4 3 0 ,

as

stated

on

title

page

and was

written

(See Steinschneidcr,

about

^KIB^ n i B D

p. 3 3 6 n o t e 8 ; //./>'. II, p. 85). 22

J I B "10 w a s w r i t t e n b y M o d e n a in

published VeDice

anonymoush

1595.

by

his

friend

It w e n t t h r o u g h m a n y

Libuwitz, W H O

«'1

>i n ' : p n s n 133 t n n .

2nd

ed. p.

his

fourteenth

Abraham

editions

ben

year

(circ.

Solomon

1584)

Ilaber

and Tob,

under m a n y different titles

(Sec

115—116).

S o r e a d s t h e title in S t e i n s c h n e i d e r , Cat. Bod. n o . 3 5 4 8 .

m o -no ( F r a n k f u r t a O . 17941 >' ' s c a l l e d in o n e p l a c e D'3pnsr! 133 l l ' t ^ l

In YW

and in a n o t h e r Q ' j p n s n 133 na^ Y V S . Ji

See

25

[D'jpnxn r.rcra n n ] In i n u -.id it is described as . . .

Dnitr:

David

Kohn,

NY5) )3K a m j K >31 ( W a r s a w , 1894), v o l . I, p. 161 — 162.

^para bs ye?

"ex:.

3

34

H I S T O R Y OF PARODY IN J E W I S H

LITERATURE

that results from gambling, the parody changes the same phrases into a panegyric of the gambler. " T h e gambler", says the old satire, "wounds his own heart sorely. He brings desolation upon his life, and curses upon his name. He squanders his money, and sinks deep into sin, and rebels against his L o r d in taking false oaths. He wants to get rich but he never succeeds, though he deceive his own brother. His days are bitter. He wanders from town to town and has no place to call his own. He is forever the strolling mendicant . . . Even the people of his house hate him and make the day of his death a day of rejoicing and singing".

In reply to this, the parody points out, that the gambler's task is light, and his cup is always f u l l . . . . His business like that of any merchant, is subject to loss and gain, but generally it has some sweets reserved for the bitter hour. A t all events, he is not as bad as the profligate who pampers harlots, or the man who robs the poor 26 . Here, then, Modena foreshadowed the attitude he was to take later in life toward gambling. Although he advised others to refrain from card playing, he was addicted to the pleasures of the game from early life. Often he was also forced by circumstances to cast his lot with the gambling nobility, and therefore strove to annul the anathema which the Rabbis of Venice had put upon this social evil (1628). He believed that each man was born under a certain star which influenced his temperament and habits, and that it was useless to fight against this mysterious force 27 . T h e parody of Nagara belongs to the literature of the mystics, and is of that class of poetry, which Dukes, for want of a better name, called "Allegorical" 28 . Already the Prophet Hosea (ii, 22) spoke of Israel as being betrothed to Jehovah, and the allegoric interpretation of the Song of Solomon, which sees in this idyl the symbolic characterization of God's attitude a6 For the texts of the Verses Against Gamblers and the parody see below Part. II chapter IIL J 7 See Geiger, ¡TiW " n IIXp fol. 16 b. For more details about Modena's attitude toward card playing, see Libowitz, KrUD K'"H 2 n d ed. New York 1901, chap. VI.

»* See Dukes, Zur Kenntnis,

p. 80—83.

m. THE DECLINE OF PARODY

35

towards his people Israel, is as old as the beginning of this era. But it was the mystics, in their search after adequate expression for the manifestations of God's love, who first used metaphors that might easily be construed as gross anthropomorphisms, and it was this yearning after symbols for the embodiment of religious conceptions that brought the Kethubah, or Marriage Contract, between Jehovah and Israel into Jewish literature. The first Kethubah of this kind was written by Isaac ben Reuben (xi cent.) in the introduction to his Azharoth and since his day it has had a number of imitations, all of them emphasizing the idea that there is a social compact, so to speak, between Jehovah and the Jewish people J0 . On the day, when Jehovah proclaimed the Law on Mt. Sinai, he took the Jewish people in marriage and pledged himself to care for their welfare, and the people in return gave their pledge to obey the Law. In order to express this idea more vividly, Nagara went a step further and parodied the very formula of the Jewish marriage contract i1. Like Judah ben Shabbethai, he paraphrased the ancient formula and used it as a framework for his hymn. There is, however, no trace of humor in this hymn. The poet is in all earnestness, when he speaks of God as the Groom, and of Israel as the Bride. The Torah is the dowry which God gave to Israel on their Wedding-Day, "and all the laws »9 Jbtd. p. 82. 30 In DTIBD J.UD3 D'Sri vhvh -mno, pub. by Israel b. Hayyim (Vienna, 1836), I find a noB bo n a m : (fol. 164—165) and a nipia® bv '3 or 1 ? raws (foL 172), both by R. David Pardo, also an anonymous DVb mui.7 n3U13 mpiaw :n bv (fol. 171) and tp1? pwba m i n n r a i n : (fol. 203), which is a Ladino translation of Pardo's Kethubah for the feast of Pentecost None of these are parodies. 31 nimawn nama was first published in his biosr m-rot Pt. 3 no. 22. Venice 1599 — 1600 (See Landshuth, rma»rt "11D5 p. 144, no. 22, where it is called m y n c b nama). In Benjacob, p. 250, no. 371, it is called ^(OBT n3W3. T h e parody proper begins with the seventh verse: Dienn J1K TJH n3®3 'BTWS . . . pnEUn an33. This hymn has often been reprinted in the Sephardic ritual and also separately. A pamphlet entitled riDBn JTO D'JlVtn D'KJil n D and published by M. L. Mahler (Lemberg, 1878) contains this parody under the title niyiacn jn1? nsinan -nD, together with three similar parodies by Wolf Buchner (See below p. 54). 3*

36

H I S T O R Y OF P A R O D Y

IN J E W I S H

LITERATURE

which distinguished scholars were in the future to deduce from the Law, as well as the Siphra, Sip lire, Agada and Tosephta are the additional endowment (Tosepheth Kethubah)". The dowry of the Bride, on the other hand, consisted only of the promise to make pilgrimages to the Sanctuary, and to bring "a knowing heart, ears to listen, and eyes to see". And all this was legally attested by Heaven and Earth on the sixth day of Sivan, in the Year of the World, two thousand four hundred and forty-eight. Besides these two parodies of whose date we are certain there is also a number of parodies, whose style and subject matter, as well as the age of the manuscripts in which they are found, justify us in ascribing them to the sixteenth century. One of these is an anonymous parody in the form of a Promissory Note, the first and perhaps the only one of its kind in Hebrew literature 32 . In answer to the question why the privilege of devouring the whole human race has been given to the earth, the legend says, that, when the Lord was about to form Adam out of the dust of the earth, the latter rose in protest and demanded that Adam be made out of heavenly matter. For this reason the Lord gave the earth a note promising, that a thousand years from date He would give her one hundred men like Adam every day, in return for the four ells of ground He took in creating him. T h e note is dated the Sixth Day of Creation, and attested by "Michael, the Angel of Wisdom", "Gabriel, the Angel of Power", and "Metatron, the Chief Secretary". This familiarity with angels was not one that breeds contempt. The Mystics had invented a complete system of angelology and demonology, and claimed to know the functions of ever)' seraph in heaven, and every demon in hell. 3* ION «®3i Di i^o t k obiy fitr-c^ e s ' ntrca lraea njvrw nny p-ot. The codex in which this parody is found is described by N. Brüll, in Jahrbücher für jüdische Geschichte u>id Litteratur (IX, p. i — 71). The parody is part of vrr6»«n KYD P D (34th fascicle), which differs from the Venice ed. of 1544 in having additional matter after the question: " W h y is the Eagle called Nesher in H e b r e w ? " with which that edition closes.

m.

THE DECLINE OF PARODY

37

It is no wonder, then, that the parodist shared their knowledge and spoke of angels in terms of intimate friendship. The same codex contains also a Puritn Sermon on Wine, written by a man named Meir, and described by N. Briill as "ein humoristischer Purim Tractat"31. To the same group belongs a wine-song, modelled after the Spanish version of the hymn ha-Mabhdil^. As this version was already well known in the latter part of the thirteenth century 35 , the parody might have been composed even as early as the beginning of the fourteenth century, but its subject matter stamps it as a product of the latter part of the sixteenth. The following translation preserves the metrical system of the original: "Here's to him who flings aside The cup of penitence at Pnrim tide, And flees the hermits with drunkards to bide Howling through the night. Red wine I prize as meed, White wine is good in time of need, But the water-drinker I hate, indeed, As the dense darkness of the night; I cry, and tears I shed If on water I am fed; O, for twenty measures of sparkling red To qaench my thirst to-night 33 Brüll, Jahrbücher, ibid. p. 19 no. 38 YKB TVm hi D^llA m m . See also Monaissch. vol. 46, p. 277 no. 10b. 34 Of this hymn there are three versions extant One is incorporated in the German and Polish rituals, one in some of the Spanish rituals for the outgoing of the Day of Atonement (Zunz, Synag. Poesie, p. 554; Landshuth, miapn m o y p. 1 1 3 no. 30 and p. 129 no. 11) and the third is found in the Prayer Book of Jacob Emden (O'OW "imp nj3B by lOipn S« n ' 3 fD 1 « Altona, 1745, fol. 406 b). The three versions open with the same verse, but vary in the succeeding verses, and the first two have the name Isaac in acrostic, and therefore are supposed to have one and the same author (See S. Baer, nTOB TTO bmep, Rödelheim, 1868, p. 312, notes). J. Reifman found this hymn in an old Spanish Mahzor in the morning prayers for the Day of Atonement I, p. 165). 35 It is mentioned in TnDH 'D to Yoma; R. Mordecai died in 1310.

HISTORY OF PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE

3»

Your praise, my friends, aloud I'll cry If ne'er the wine in my cop go dry. With brimful jugs of beer well try To get drunk to-night A holy deed I teach you, hear! Men of wisdom incline your ear! Keep your houses of water clear, 'Tis as bad as the night. Summon courage men of lore For Noah's sake, the Righteous of yore, Who planted vineyards, unknown before, To drink by day and night" 36.

This wine-song evidently grew out of the custom of making the fourth meal on Sabbath an occasion for much feasting and carousing. And though this custom has its origin in the Talmud 37( it did not take on its Bacchanalian form until the latter part of the sixteenth century, when the Mystics of the school of Isaac Luna made this meal, King David?s Feast, as it is called in Cabbalistic writings, an important feature in their religious life. &

,Dnnsn rrn m w v ,d,tii5^ n e a pa V-nnn . n W a trpyisn Bnwwn nx anuo

;mi pS nj? on ,'nanK nm pDD> ^ i « ,mn onwy -b w a n .D'raJa ic'Din Q« tan"? inr iDm jii .nWn nt rnawa &*bt> niDi3 np ,D3im ion n'oan ,D31b^k n r n p ¡rawm on '3 ,B3VDB d u n j n ,D"Dn r « m n i s n ^ a m B'naj ipiri

.nVbai ova nro®1? bts"o j>bi iwk

The above hymn is no. 48 on fol. 130 of DTIBDB D*VW D'Bl'B '0 Ms. Q. 178 f. Sq. script, which was brought from Tunis by H. Hirsch and is now in the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Other poems in this ms. having the name Isaac in acrostic are found on foL 82 OaaiB npn npow n>), fol. 92 ( n T'v p » niasb t w r -rany i t d -in'), fol. 94 ('Vprn 31BT aiB 1") and fol. 127 (,1MM mia 111'). A later version of the same parody is found in another ms. of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (D. 8$ p. 5). It has two additional verses at the end and a number of variants. None of these, however, are of any great importance. 37 Tal. Bab. Sab. 1x9b: . . . f!3W 'KJ1B3 ljn1?» 01« nD* DSiyV

39

m. THE DECLINE OF PARODY

In the first half of the seventeenth century, we find the parodist trespassing for the first time upon the sacred ground of the grave yard. For we know at least of three epitaphs on the tombstones of Venice that are liturgical parodies. One, dated 1616, parodies Adon Olam, and the other two, one of which is dated 1624, parody the first mnemonic in the Passover Haggadah. It is not unlikely that they are the work of Leon Modena, as he has written quite a large number of epitaphs38. Aside from these the only parody of this period is the Talmudic travesty of Joshua Abraham ben Simhah Calimani, entitled Pleasantries for the Days of Hanukah Written at the age of thirteen40, it shows the remarkable precocity of its author, 38 See A . Berliner, Hebriiische nos. 2 1 , 54, 55 and p. 6 — 7 .

Grabschri/ten

The

first

of

in Italien, these,

on

Frankfurt a/M. 1881, account

of its b r e v i t y

and cleverness, may b e r e p r o d u c e d here. -¡^n -IWK X-QJ T S ' b*

^3 DP QU13

yens

nwyit npS

K i p i 113»

rots n »

bipn n n p

3 'VHO

K113 ~MD

l ) « n j 3"6

w i n Kini

r r n «ini

n"IKDJ13

r r r r »im

( T h e s e parodies were brought to m y attention by Mr. N. S. Libowitz.) 39 n ; u n

'B'b K J l i m T l ^"B.

V e n i c e , 1617.

for m e by R e v . M. H. Segal of O x f o r d library.

40 3t,

according to a c o p y m a d e

from the V e n i c e

Steinschneider (Cat. Bod. no. 6038) g i v e s 4 fT.

ed. in the B o d l e i a n

T h e booklet opens with

a dedicatory epistle addressed to Judah ben Salman de S e r v e ('ITS 1 ) . T h e parody proper begins on f. 2 a with the Mishnah: "lDK p j U "1 T13Un b v p i n s ]0t

WKB

D u p 101K )pns "an n^'SK i n n b , the rest is G e m a r a closing with the w o r d s roun

p i n s » o V i 1« m m

«pp nrn

e>np

i n e o v n e m p i '3i:n pins p i ;

21

'¡n

.«D'l "DiDiE ni»o tpy roun pins kbbb n - irysn v o .kd'J 'md-id dido «pp It is also provided with Rashi and T o s a p h o t h . in a Bodleian ms. [Cat. Neubauer,

1006, 2).

T h e same parody is also f o u n d

It is not unlikely, that the H3DD

rt31Jn, a ms. that came from the library of Franco-Mendes into the possession of Sommerhausen (Littbl. VIII, 7 5 4 ; X , 789 and X I , 182) is only another c o p y of the same parody.

I am also inclined to r e g a r d the "n31Jn rDDD mit R a s c h i

und T o s a f o t " , mentioned by Steinschneider in Monatsschrift,

47, p. 368, no. 23,

as but another copy of the same. 4° T h e

dedicatory

epistle

closes

with the w o r d s :

nSin

IMJ n3p"

jwi.T msob 2"' p CJW2 "p nnsns jep .obipb tjib lnmpb psn: ni\"6 nnturt vs" 'JKD^Kp nnnr "i"B3 r6p:m awn «"«"j p omsK.

40

HISTORY OF PARODY I N JEWISH

LITERATURE

but it is without great merit otherwise. It imitates the style of the Talmud with some success, but it has no intrinsic wit or humor. On the other hand, the abundant use of such fictitious names as Rabbi Glutton and the like is probably due to the influence of the Massekheth Purim of Kalonymos. This brings the third period in the history of Jewish parody to a close. In the second half of the seventeenth century parody began to show signs of revival, and from that day it has continued to grow until it has attained to a distinct rank in Hebrew belles-lettres of the nineteenth century. CHAPTER

IV

T H E R E V I V A L OF PARODY FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE S E V E N T E E T H CENTURY TO THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH The revival in the art of parody began in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. What seems to be the earliest parody of the period, dates from the year 1679. It bears no title, but it imitates the style of Letters of Credentials, and concerns itself with the feud between two factions. It may perhaps have reference to some political or communal events of that period, but the enigmatic language in which it is couched defies all interpretation1. To the same period may also be ascribed a parody of an Almoner's Credentials, entitled The Humorous Letter for Purimaddressed to the "mighty in drink", asking them to ' For the text of the parody see below Part II, chapter IV. » D'HbS 'irtn a r o o "So schrieb Schorr auf den Rücken der HS." (Steinschneider, Letterbode, VII, p. 12, no. 27). Ms. Paper, Ital. curs. Q. 1 f. (not 2 Bl., at Steinschneider, Hid.). This ms. is part of a codex which was formerly in the possession of I. S. Reggio, but is now in the Bodleian Library (See Neubauer, Cat. no. 2221, 14). The statement "jetzt N. 24, Stück 10 in der BodL" (Letterb., ibid.) is evidently a misprint According to a copy made for me by Rev. M. H. Segal of Oxford, the Letter begins with the words p nnpK VnK -IKO -irr Sill HIB n r n n .Till "13» nK3DJ1, followed by a long euphemistic title, beg.: DSipO IBM D'llDn TOH ^KIB" 'B^K 'BJO D'IMK D3^>3 K"lpl D:i>.

IV.

T H E R E V I V A L OF

PARODY

41

extend their hospitality to the bearer, for whose name a blank space is left in the body of the letter. To all appearances, this parody has no historic significance, nor does it have exceptional literary merit It was, however, during the same period, that one of the most important parodies in Hebrew literature was written. In 1680, Jonah Rapa, probably a native, or resident of Vercelli, wrote a satire on Christianity in the form of the Passover Haggadah, which has come down to us in a number of manuscripts, some bearing the peculiar title of Pilpul Zematt Zemanim Zemanehem, and some the title of Haggadah of Jonah Rapa*. The parody begins by exposing to ridicule some of the customs prevalent in Catholic countries during Christmas, New Year's Day, Carnival, Lent and Easter. It even goes into detail in describing the Church ceremonials on Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Good Friday. Incidentally, it decries the blood accusation, and points out the absurdity of it. Gradually, however, the parody develops into a satire on Christianity and its dogmas. Here it assumes first the nature of a polemic on the New Testament, and then branches out into a general denunciation of the Christian faith, treating of such matters as the divinity of Christ, his miraculous conception and birth, his human attributes and physical weakness, the crucifixion and the Trinity. Baptism, the eucharist, confession, Papal dispensation, the worship of the Virgin at the numerous shrines and the healing power attributed to relics also receive the attention of the satirist The parody then closes with a narrative of events that transpired in Vercelli and Rome4. The minuteness and vividness with which the religious ceremonies and carnival excesses are described, show that the It is signed by on1? JV3D DWnjn 31 Its »3D « 1 " 3 1 ,miDOD KDB 3 1 . The ms. is not older than the 1 8 th. century, because the preceding mt. of the same codex was copied in 1769 (See Neubauer, Cat. col. 767). 3 For bibliography and the question as to the date and authorship of the parody see below Part II, chapter V. 4 For the specific description of the contents see

ibid.,

section 6.

42

HISTORY OF PARODY IN JEWISH LITERATURE

author not only had a very intimate knowledge of the rites ol the Catholic Church and the customs of the Catholic world, but that he must have seen and watched them with his own eyes. Nay more, we are even tempted to speculate, that at one time he must have participated in them, and that he wrote the satire on his return to Judaism after an involuntary conversion. This, of course, is mere speculation; but it gains additional credence from the harshness of many of his utterances. His knowledge of the New Testament is in keeping with his knowledge of Christian ceremonies. And though all, but two, of the New Testament passages which he controverts were already treated by Isaac ben Abraham Troki in his Support of Faith*, there is no reason to suspect him of plagiarism. His wide knowledge of Church history and of all matters pertaining to Christianity precludes such a suspicion. At all events, his treatment is in every respect original, even if his arguments are not. In his satire, he prefers to strike out right from the shoulder. Take, for instance, his exposure of the Carnival, which reads in part as follows: "In those days no lamentation is heard, sorrow and grief take to flight. No one asks for anything but plenty of wine and food. No sound is heard but that of stringed instrument and pipes, timbrels, harps and psalteries The wise man is sought in those days, but he is not there; the prudent cannot be found. Men of intelligence and knowledge are searched from one end of the earth to the other, but their place is unknown. The moral man — even hii shadow is gone. Orators and poets have run away and joined the scoffers. The pious have become impious, the shrewd have lost their senses in drink.. . Judges have gone wrong, honest men turned defaulters. Princes cheat and magistrates keep themselves in hiding. . ."

Evidently, his satire lacks that subtle irony which made Profiat Duran's Epistle so powerful, and at the same time gained for it such great popularity. Undoubtedly, it is due to this directness and plainness of speech, that the parody has never yet seen the light of day. 5 For a list of the New Testament passages controverted in the parody, and parallel references to the Hizzuk Emunah, see ibid., section J; also section 8, Extract B.

IV. THE REVIVAL OF PARODY

43

The anonymous and still unpublished parody entitled The Order of Passover and its Law6, which very likely belongs to this period, is a satire on imprudent marriages, a favorite theme in Mediaeval Hebrew literature. It relates how a notorious miser and woman-hater fell in love with a shrew, and how miserable his life was after marriage. It is, therefore, similar to Ibn Shabbethai's satire, but its plot is imperfectly developed, and the whole narrative can at best be regarded only as a chain of disconnected incidents. There is very little of historic interest in the parody, save the few remarks from which we gather, that it was customary for men to give their betrothed precious gifts of jewelry and fineries, and that people were accustomed to spend lavishly on wedding receptions. Here is what one of the wise men in the story says to the miser to dissuade him from marrying: "Listen my friend and let me warn you right here against the fate of the man that takes a wife, be she ugly or b e a u t i f u l . . . A slave selling himself for a loaf of bread I call him, who takes a wife to satisfy his pleasure. On her account he will have to eat unleavened bread and bitter herbs in haste and in sorrow, with a trembling heart and longing eyes and a pining sool. . . But I have forgotten to preface this, that first of all, before they will say to you 'Come and take possession' it will be your duty to drive away all your present ideals. . . All men must visit their betrothed twice a day, and sometimes forty. They must play and joke with them and spend the time in vain pleasures and wild pranks as with a dear son or a playful child. . . If you do so, you will be happy, and you will know peace in your home; if not, do not come near her honse, for her anger is of longer duration than her caresses. Above all, take care, that at the beginning of your courtship you give her ear-rings, either new or antique in style, crowns, golden bells and pomegrenates, necklaces and anklets, cauls and turbans, ankle chains, sashes and rings, pendants, veils and covers for the hand, belts, mantles and more things of this k i n d . . . . These are some of the duties of the man who is betrothed. The law holds good for all, and it has come down to us from distant generations" 7.

Interesting from another point of view is also the following passage, in which the miser's excuse for uncharitableness is expressed in terms not altogether unfamiliar to our ears: t> For the bibliography and the question as to the authorship of this parody

see ibid, chapter VI. 7

For the Hebrew text, see

ibid.,

extract A.

44

H I S T O R Y OF P A R O D Y IN J E W I S H

LITERATURE

" W h e n he gave a coin as alms to a poor man, he shouted at him saying: 'Why dost thou sit with thy hands folded? The sleep of the laborer is sweet; go, then, till the earth and live by the labor of thine own hands. T h y hands are not bound, nor are thy feet put into fetters. By your lives, all of you are poor, because you hold your hands akimbo. If you had in your possession all the gold of Parvayim, you would squander i t D o you perhaps wait for manna to come down from heaven, as it did for those who went out of Egypt, or for the earth to bring forth white bread and garments of fine wool, colored and embroidered, or do you wait for God to open windows in h e a v e n ! ' " 8 .

A s a parody, this work is certainly one of the cleverest9, and as a satire, it would likewise have ranked with the best in Hebrew literature, if not for one characteristic which detracts a good deal from its merit. It abounds in too many profane and vulgar expressions. And while this characteristic is not uncommon in the literature of the middle ages, it nevertheless becomes inexcusable, when it is overdone. All the preceding parodies, however, since they have never been published, cannot be said to have perceptibly influenced the progress made in this branch of literature. The true revival of parody must be attributed to such works as have seen the light of day. It is, therefore, a noteworthy incident, that just as in the first period of its growth parody reached its culminating point in the Massekhetk Purim of Kalonymos, so it began its revival in the latter part of the seventeenth century with a newparody of the same name and character. The Massekhetk Purim of the seventeenth century, however, is not only of unknown authorship, but in its fifth and final version, it is the composite work of several authors ,6 . Like some popular legend that grows in variety of incident and narrative as it is carried down the stream of generations, so this Talmudic travesty grew For the Hebrew text, see ibid., extract B. 9 Besides imitating the Passover Haggadah from beginning to has 24 of its paragraphs end with the names of the 24 chapters of Shabbath" as a sort of frame-work. This is what led Fránkel to his Cat. 5 (Husiatyn 1904) p. 68, no. 1020 as: DTnDO D ' T í l 8

end, it also the "Tractate describe it in niB' r w t e "

"raw roDD 'pis nos. 1 0 For proof of this theory, see below Pt. II chapt. VII, where the bibliography and the question as to the authorship of this parody are discussed at length.

IV.

THE

REVIVAL OF

PARODY

45

in matter and changed in form as it passed from one ambitious copyist to another. In its earliest version, this parody is more Midrashic than Talmudic in character. There is very little of the Halakhic element in it, while the Agadic preponderates. In the second version, however, it not only grows in substance, but also assumes a different form. It preserves its Agadic aspect, and in addition assumes also the Halakhic. It has the true ring of Talmudic argumentation, though its diction is not as archaic as it should be. The third version is but a slight modification of the second, and the fourth is an inexact copy of the third. But the fifth and last version again presents a radical change in substance and form. In it, the element of Agada is much reduced, and the Halakhic passages much amplified. The arguments are put more compactly, the language is more concise, and the diction approaches nearer to the diction of the Babylonian Talmud. In addition, it is also augmented with parodies of the three best known Talmudic commentaries, namely, Rashi, Tosaphoth, and the Novellae of Rabbi Samuel Edels. This version, made by a number of Polish Bahurim in the beginning of the eighteenth century", caught the fancy of the people. Though it was not published until 1814, it must have been copied and circulated quite extensively. It has certainly superseded the Massekheth Purim of Kalonymos in popularity, and to-day, is by far the most widely known parody. In the first version, the parody has only one praise of wine. " S a i d R a b b i B a k b u k (bottle):

'Whosoever

theme—the

drinks wine on Purim,

and

b e c o m e s as intoxicated as Noah the R i g h t e o u s , will be protected the rest of the y e a r from the evil effects of bad water. Y o u may learn this from N o a h the R i g h t e o u s .

F o r when the deluge came and drowned the w h o l e

world,

e v e n the giants,

Noah,

his wife

and

there remained no one in the world,

excepting

children and those w h o were with him in the ark,

all b e c a u s e he was destined to plant a vineyard

and b e c o m e

intoxicated

on Purim. . . ' " ' J . See LetterhJe,

I X , p. 49.

12 D'HD KHDDD ( C r a c o w , X V I I th. cent.), f. 1 b. V I I S HI.

See b e l o w Part II, chapter

H I S T O R Y OF P A R O D Y I N J E W I S H

46

LITERATURE

"Rabbi Hamran (wine dealer) said: 'Why did the eyes of Isaac onr forefather grow dim sooner than those of any other Patriarch?

Because all

his life he busied himself with nothing but digging wells, as it is told in the Pentateuch, and never planted even one vineyard. . .'"'J.

The same note runs through the whole parody. It is one long eulogy of wine and those who drink it to excess on Purim. In all the later versions, however, the parody broadens out, and by means of Talmudic methods deduces from the Bible a number of fantastic laws for Purim, retaining all the while the seriousness of tone for which the Talmudic discussions are noted. In the manner of the first Mishnah of Pesahim, the parody begins: "Mishnah. On the eve of the fourteenth (of Adar), water should be searched and removed from houses and from courtyards. All places where water is not usually kept need not be searched. Gemara. W h e r e is the Biblical authority for this law? It is found in the Scriptures 'So shalt thou put the bad away from the midst of thee' (Deut., xiii, 6), and nothing is bad but water; for it is written 'the water is bad' (2 Kings, ii, 19)" M.

In the same humorous strain it is deduced from the Bible, that on Purim we must avoid passing a stream's, and, if rain fall, must remain indoors16. Occasionally the humor turns into the grotesque, as in the following instances: "When Rabbi Hamran drank wine on Purim and a drop fell on the ground, he fell on his knees and licked it off with the dust and all" 1 ?. "When Rabbi Shakran (drunkard) went to sleep on the night of Purim, he suspended a bag of wine over his head, from which the wine dripped through a puncture into his mouth" >8.

It has a number of excellent exegetical p a r o d i e s a n d the homiletics of the Talmud are likewise cleverly imitated". •3 Ibid. ibid. M DTD® "noSn p D-rtD rODD, Warsaw 1885, f. 2 a . In somewhat modified form in Mai's ed., col. 179; and in Blogg's ed. (1884), p. 1. '5 In Mai's ed., col. 187; Blogg's, p. 7; "Off 'Stf ]D 'B TO f. 3a. In Mai's ed., ibid.; Blogg's ed., ibid.; "DO 'Sri )D 'B 'DO f. 3 b. '7 In Mai's ed., col. 183; B l o g g ' s ed., p. 6. In 13® 'Sri ]D B 'DO this passage is not found. T h e same is found in the Cracow ed. f. 3 a. «8 In Mai's ed., col. 185; Blogg's ed., p. 6 ; not found in 13» 'Sn ]B 'B '00. In the Cracow ed. f. 3 b. I

9 For example, see Mai's ed., col. 213; Blogg's ed., p. 15; ® T ] D C D f. 8a. In Mai's ed., col. 201, beg. O'llBS 1" n"n®2 b s y r o n S i K'jri; Blogg's ed.,

IV. THE REVIVAL OF PARODY

47

But the most humorous feature of this parody is undoubtedly the relation which it establishes, in Talmudic fashion, between well known historic events and the day of Purim. Thus, the Deluge came upon the earth, because that generation drank water on Purim 11 . The night on which Lot was intoxicated by his daughters (Genesis, xix, 33), was Purim 12 , and so was the day on which Esau sold his birthright to Jacob and the day on which Joseph made himself known to his brothers'4Similarly, the day on which Miriam, the sister of Moses, died was Purim; for since it is said: "and there was no water for the congregation" {Numbers, xx, 2), it must have been Purim 25. The generation that died in the desert will have no share in the future world, because they drank water on Purim*; and, finally, the day on which Sisera fled to Jael's tent (Judges iv, 17) was Purim, and she killed him, because he asked for water 2 '. To sum up, this parody is a fair specimen of scholastic wit. Thought, not fancy, subtlety, not imagination, pervade it. Its humor does not flow from the spring of life, as true humor should. It is the work of recluses, who have no eye for the real, no sense for the tangible. It is the product of a school that delighted in play on words, and attached as much importance to names of things as to things themselves. Closely associated with the preceding parody, both in printed copies and in manuscripts, are a number of wine-songs, in the form of hymns, the theme of which is, that on Purim it is p. 11; C l i p m i s '3D f. 6 a, beg. B'-ilBS 1" n"n»2 Minn ^2 "Tn also Mai's ed., col. 205, beg. pl2p3 2T nSnt?: Y'n; Blogg's ed., p. 12; 'bn ]D D'TB 'DD f. 6 b, beg. •poirv nm»n See I. Abrahams, Jr.stsh I-.thi.al Wills j " See above p. 1 3 notes 53 and 5 1 . o1 See bcluw Part II, chapter I X , j I.

iJ.Q./x. Ill, p. 4 3 6 - 4 8 4 ) .

IV. THE REVIVAL OF PARODY

49

Burlesque Testament is hardly worth the name of literature. It consists of curses and maledictions hurled at the head of Haman, the symbolic enemy and oppressor of the Jewish people. The several parodies of the Requiem, with which the collection closes, are no better. They all abound in word play, but are sadly deficient in ideas. Euphony is mistaken for thought, and paranomasia for humor. The one passage in the book, which may be called humorous, is where Haman requests his family to pension the parodist, that he may buy new clothes every Purim. We can see, as it were, the face of the poor, shabby scribbler brighten up as he labors over his puns, amused at his ingenuity in telling people what he needed without asking them for it. Similar to Polido's parody, not only in name but also in contents, is the Book for the Commemoration of Purim31 by M. C—i. of Modena, which is perhaps the pseudonym of Malachai Colorni, who flourished in that town in 1781JJ. It is written in the Aramaic dialect and is an attempt to present Haman's downfall in dramatic form. The parody draws a good deal upon the Midrash and the largum Sheni of the Book of Esther. And though its literary execution, as a whole, is not much better than that of Polido's parody, some of the individual parodies embodied in the Burlesque Testament are better than the rest. Such for instance, are the Epitaph on Haman's Tomb and the Lamentation of Haman3*. On the whole, however, it must be admitted, that from a literary point of view all these parodies are very poor. They represent the efforts of mediocre minds, and are not only void of the brilliancy of original invention, but are also without the lustre of clever imitation. To the early period of the eighteenth century belongs also what may be considered the earliest specimen of Yiddish parody. 3* See ibid. S II. 33 See Monatsschrift, 1899, p. 1 0 5 — 1 0 6 ; Neub. Cat. no. 1379; Dvn rmSlK p. 3 3 8 : Jewish Ene., IV, 180. M See below Pt. II, cbap. IX $ II no. 1. 4

SO

HISTORY

OF PARODY

IN J E W I S H

LITERATURE

It has been embodied in a Yiddish Purim Play, the earliest printed copy of which appeared in Frankfurt in 1708, under the title: Ein schön neu Achaschwerosch Spiels. Recently, 6 there appeared Dus PirimspielJ , which is a new version of the Yiddish Purim Play, based on the collation of two copies, independently drawn up by two professional Purim Players, both of which point to a more ancient source. The parodies found in these versions of the Purim Play are very quaint, and deserve to be reproduced on that account alone, but they defy all efforts at translation. In one of these, Mordecai is represented as the Father Confessor to Queen Vashti. Before she is led away by the executioner, Mordecai comes to administer the last rites. "Repeat the Confessional after me" — he says — "word for word", and thereupon he recites the blessing which Jacob pronounced upon the children of Joseph {Gen. xlviii, 16), but every word of that passage is so translated — or rather mistranslated — into Yiddish, that as a result, we have a string of nonsensical phrases extremely funny, though in parts somewhat vulgar. Again, Mordecai appears in the character of a Shadkhan, or professional match-maker, on which occasion the Jewish marriage formula is parodied in quite a witty fashion. There is also a prayer by Esther, which is a clever imitation ot the style of the Tehinnoth, and in Schudt's edition of the Purim Play there is also a funny, but vulgar parody of the Selihoth v. In connection with the parodies in the Yiddish Purim Plays, mention must also be made of the Kiddush le-Purim, or the parody of the formula of the blessing over the wine, with which these performances always wound up A It is similar in character to the English "Tom-o'-Bedlam", or the French "Coqa-l-'ane"39, but its construction is peculiar to itself. It is •35 See Schudt, Jüdische Merckwürdigkeiten, J6 See Grunwald, Mittheilungen p. 4 — 2 8 .

III (Frankfurt 1714), p. 202—225.

der Gesellschaft für jüdische

Volkskunde, XIII,

T h e collation was made and edited by Dr. S. Weissenberg.

37 For the texts of all these parodies see below Part II, chapter X, 3s See Grunwald, ibid., p. 3. 39 See T h . Wright, History of Carvature,

p. 773.

IV.

T H E R E V I V A L OK P A R O D Y

51

formed by attaching to one Biblical phrase, ending with a certain word, another which begins with the same word, continuing the same process through a long rigmarole of meaningless phrases taken from all parts of the Bible. One of the cleverest of these parodies was published together with Dus Pirimspiel mentioned above 40 . Like the play itself this liturgie parody very likely had its origin in the early part of the eighteenth century, and is a product of Jewish folk-lore in Poland and Lithuania, where many versions of it are current among the students in the Yeshiboth. The second quarter of the eighteenth century, as far as our knowledge goes, was barren of parodies 41 . But from the middle of that century they begin to appear more frequently and continue to increase in numbers without any further interruption. In 1750, or thereabouts, Samuel Mendes de Solla, Rabbi of the Jewish congregation at Curaçoa, composed a parody of the Passover Haggadah 4 ', and about the year 1756 Raphael Jehiel Sanguinetti preached a sermon before a religious society in Fiorenzuola in which he used the rules of the Italian game of Tresette to illustrate his ethical teachings H The sermon as 4" Gmnwald, ibid., p. 28 D'HB1? OTip beg.:

D'DB.1 O'DEM

DV

. . . i n » « TO iTN cbKltff VniBD oSip kSo n i a : mas triEDB and closing with i i j r o xvaa jdim bip n e nn« "pin tod p n o m e n a . . . . nnoen m i « nrrn e n n ' 1 ) rrVnj n\n® n b n : n j r p n . 41 Perhaps the only exception to this is the satire on Christianity in the style and metrical form of the hymn oblS ]HN, the first two verses of which are as follows: -jbn 1W« nbiy piD K"\aj l w vnt bi i o ; i It is found on fol. third decade of the Theological Seminary (See his ¡T!Dn 1S18

98 b of Joshua Segre's ib/ï DVN, a ms. written in the eighteenth century, now in the library of the Jewish of America. The ms. was bought from D. Frankel Husiatyn 1906, p. 1 3 — 1 5 ) .

42 "Orden de la Agada que se pende dezir en la noche de Purim. 1 2 ff. 4° Ms. Travestie de la liturgie pascal pour la fête de H a m a n " (Roest, Cat. einer werthvollen Sammlung hebräischer u. jüdischer Bücher u. Handschriften. Amsterdam, 1870, p. 83, no. 1404). See also G. A. Kohut, Early Jewish Literature in America (Publications of A. J. H. S , vol. 3, p. 142, no. 17 and p. 1 1 8 ) . 43 Sermone m Idioma Ebraico Di biwna morale sopra il Giitoco del Tresette. Ms. no. 468 of the Halberstam collection in the Jewish Theological Seminary 4*

HISTORY

52

OK

PARODY

IN J E W I S H

UTERATURE

such has little merit, but the twenty-six paragraphs into which it is divided, each headed by one of the rules of the game, are of

considerable

interest««.

instance in which

This

parody

is

perhaps the only

a trivial subject has been

turned into the

service of a serious discussion. L a t e r in the

century, Isaac

1803) «5, a younger Luzzatto, entitled

wrote

(1730—

brother of the well-known poet, Ephraim

a satire

Massekheth

ben R a p h a e l Luzzatto

in the form of a Talmudic

Derekh

Ere?*6.

The

author

parody

is known to

h a v e had in mind his own native village, San-Daniel del Friuli, when

he penned this satire 47 .

It presents

quite

a

different

picture of Italian Jewish life than that given b y K a l o n y m o s in Massekheth

Purim.

T h e men are uncharitable and the women

uncleanly.

T h e y are all uncouth

manners.

Gossip

in dress

and vulgar in their

is rampant and hospitality is unknown.

of America.

4 0 gf.

Rabbinovicz,

-who f o r m e r l y o w n e d it, g a v e the f o l l o w i n g e r r o n e o u s description

of i t :

B'j) p i n s n

"loin

C u r s i v e Ital. script. 'an

The

'ja l y o i x p n

Ms. has n o

Hebrew

but

p i n s by n r i K i m a t ^ b i o » "10 i n n "

(Cat. R a b b i n o v i c z , N o . V I I I (1885^, p. 87. no. 3 2 ; cited also b y in Monatss. vol. 47, p. 176, note 1). W h a t led R a b b i n o v i c z for the author

title,

In

to

Steinschneider

mistake

Ravenna

of the p a r o d y w a s the fact, that t h e n a m e of R a v e n n a at the

e n d of his letter o f approbation is written in l a r g e r characters than the author's. T o c l e a r the r e a d e r ' s mind of author's introduction

in

all doubt on the subject, I r e p r o d u c e

condensed

form:

. . . nnan

njptf

"|pt

here the .¡IDlpn"

l«3i . . . 'iiKxa: m ^ ns 'nvn DVD . . . v u m'UK-i mat baits® mnina naab win niwpS one 'nwm wim , . . D'np 'paip man ¡rn nwnp man nn'n HD'S 'in«wi n n m m . . . run n v n : w i . . . mwa mw n o 'n'wp p i . . . minrt

pi C O B ® mn rtnpDi . . . DonBom jimn ' O ' C ' I T S N pins ty wmn K W U [ID'S] 'me: PS . . . bim ernp anpb . . . 'Bpi: 'abi . . . nt win DBW 'JDD D'wpae D'ai D ' l a y n n K s a KUKI . . . nwjm m r new bai . . . na"jt5 'BJa nnn niDnb «a1? 'aba w'K n o nn: '-6 ni' nbixni'D v a V I K D'w m p a "iws laio i B B i n naya . . . "'B'J'USD bK'n'

TJ>Sn [ 5 1 6 =

1756] p ' ^ b l a D'pbit n h "1WK.

The

reply

of

R a v e n n a is dated m o r e p l a i n l y : r n ' S ' b t o ' p n n "IKJ" : " 3 'B'Dia. 44 T h e g a m e of Tresette

as d e s c r i b e d

E n g l i s h g a m e o f Quadrille.

in this p a r o d y is v e r y similar to the

B o t h are p l a y e d b y four p e r s o n s a n d t h e number

o f cards are f o r t y ; the four tens, nines, and e i g h t s b e i n g d i s c a r d e d f r o m p a c k (See The Hand-Book

of Games,

45 F o r b i o g r a p h i c a l data, G r u n w a l d , Autobiographic

the

ed. by B o h n , L o n d o n 1867. p . 225 et seq.).

see S. D . Luzzatto, m m

S. D. Ltizsalto's,

p. 23 et seq.

46 S e e b e l o w Part II, chapter X I . 47 See TJDH vol. 3, p. 5 4 ; b "i® PHJK p. 786.

nos. 140, 223, 3 2 1 ,

and

IV. T H E REVIVAL O F

PARODY

53

one passage the author seems even to accuse the villagers of being in complicity with thieves 48 . In a community of this character, it is not surprising to find the passion for card playing strongly developed 40 . Sad as this picture looks, it is not altogether without some humorous sides to it. The picture of the wives curling the hair of their husbands, and the men swarming around the fellow who chanced to don a new coat, each passing his opinion on the merits of the work, the value of the cloth, and the cheapness of the price, is extremely amusing 5°. In 1792 an anonymous travesty of the marriage contract appeared in Judeo-Spanish entitled The Marriage Contract of

4 8 This peculiar statement, found on f. 1 2 b — 1 3 a of the ms. reads as follows: r : r . D "bai n y 'ba « ' a m a ' 3 3 : i n « n':

•Wuf ruth* 7VW - v - i - ^ i * W W » •n-i^ir St ->**>£ t f j vrw •d-SJ. o-y_> tit* a * - p ) ' » ) ' | : ' - > y iitan-

-T-

—!»•

ro

~"*>

§»

n

-.y—v —. -J, - j-n- - r S» •V.-M

>r» W^^SO'S^XSf 1

tr r x t w ^ n r " * t o »3-TO m

-WT* 1593«T«K

ri» W , tww tJ"

1

^

-»'--a

fcW

=~y.--w " :

" w - •i'N^.ii-^--

- S^jfaa**«»*^ - s w a t i - ^ i » - t * ' ' •™SS»ti»f c-.wa_B~.woi- «-e- -31

ï r i r û ï nniD T 3 3

miO 3rDB.

T h e Cambridge

ms., according to Rabbinovicz (Cat. iv., no. 100), was written between 1390 and 1440.

T h e Leipsic ms. is very likely as old

as the fifteenth century, and the contents of the Bodleian will be proven in the course of this discussion to be at least as old as that of the Vatican. j,

Bartolocci was the first to note a number of parodies

Vatican

in a Vatican ms. (Comp. Cat. Assemani,

Ms-

f. 79), which

he ascribed to L e o de Valentibus, a person unknown

in Hebrew literature.

His descriptions read as follows: jltO1? , a"l"

rODD rmy mi :?r6na p n « nais6 c n i e n D U N t a n t r o i k a v

"iaKp"DKiia

'a iksb31 refai yn3

(Bibiiotheca von "ia

onie

h

iniK by D'niB

Magna Rabbinica, IV, p. 10), and again: IK pl3p3"

r t a o by iid , d «mi o n i s mpV

p. 693).

in bv pay

rpi

naoo p -\yr\ lai

laça

d j tnpji piapan nnBtsn

ptw»

idd

{ibid. I,

After a more careful examination of this Vatican ms.,

Renan and Neubauer found that Bartolocci wrongly deciphered the name of the author, reading B^BiN^a H instead of E ^ V i a i {Les Ecrivains,

p. 107). T h e whole codex, of which the parody

is the fifth and last part, is described in Hebrew b y its former owner, Vidal Bonafoux )K1BH (perhaps reproduced in Les Ecrivains,

=

de Salon), and

p. 254 as follows: B*1 TBDH , C and four sentences in Provençal. This division, however, must be incorrect.

For, judging from the

opening lines of these parts, the parody really contains only the Sepher

Habakbuk

and Megillath

Setharim,

the former corre-

sponding to the o m e n JVU« and the latter to the pnpn of Bartolocci.

It does not contain the Massekheth Purim of Kalonymos,

and what Renan and Neubauer designate as the third part is really the second chapter of Megillath

Setharim.

This statement is

further strengthened by the fact, that there are only two epilogues in the ms., the second of which is identical with the poem of Gershon Soncino which immediately follows the Megillath Setharim

in all manuscripts.

Wagenseil's statement (cited in

Wolf, B. H. IV, p. 1041), that he found the Vatican ms. more complete than the edition of 1552, is erroneous, unless it has reference to the additional parodies (12D2Dn and ing the Megillath 2.

The

12) follow-

Setharim.

contents of the Bodleian ms. (Neubauer,

Cat.

Bodleian

Heb. Ms. no. 714, 4), according to a copy made for

Ms-

me by Rev. M. H. Segal of Oxford, are as follows: 1

(A)

D-NNO RFAO (f. 59a—61 b), beg. « i n ^NN« K-IJ ansa

^ki»"1 -j^o rrraaa nit p

- c i a - c a t p i onis 1 ? onr® r 6 : o

ending "?a Daaa^> fDfcOI Iptn p'tn

tootr

and

nVty HTK D'OBlcm

Darren, followed b y the colophon "D-D nblD no^iMI Hon rm«n rruo «s-1 ns^D prion n n w nua

a n n o n ^ n ton , m s a a m i p

nai^an ^Dtra ,«-iaim naoan rmn« t a n n y . m i a m p n «

p m "jDii ernea ^n

niaSn r M i a , m i a n^«n b'byi W

romn n«-nm (lrn)

[ n ^ w i ] r p v w a [nats^ = 'BB6] BB6 m n t a ,rna "02 nips«

a n n a r f o a ni p y

by m o v e îtbn «naaan BB>i [?D^a«] m ^ « .

(B) n m s rODO composed of three chapters: (i) ^ap piapan3 nib niDDi 1

first

rmn (f. 62 a — 6 6 b ) ; (2)

^ n (f. 6 6 b — 7 0 b ) ;

Of t h e tr-inD nSjD a n d D'HB rODD h e c o p i e d o n l y t h e h e a d i n g s a n d e n d i n g s , a n d last lines.

3 T h e n was added by a later hand.

I. THE MASSEKHETH PURIM

121

(3) 1 1 « D33J8>n (f. 70b—72b), followed by the poem of Gershon Soncino on the same page. (C) [mom] beg. . . . yo VD'Dya

U

IT1»1 .ÏD1R1 "QCD TatPO D13

(f. 75 b), followed on the same page by a post-

script of the copyist, beg. . . . n*?BD Î1VK p n n i W [n»K] t^K and ending with p^nyen XlBDin .Nrobn p i . (G) p n n u n beg. bru

-nana ;on "ok a p y rvo n« in« 1 ?

. . . "I^D1? and ending with the words DWfin1? ¡TOI p n DJ?D TD nron p^D , i ^ n nipiyna

nVnn t b^w "Vr d r i (f. 75 b — 7 7 a),

which is an enlarged version of the p n t l b w a r o published by Perreau (H. B. VII, p. 46—47), and both are modifications of the Edicts (ni"UR) of Ahasuerus found in Midrash Esther

DiaR^> ana" aiB ^ B n

ty

Rabba,

DR beg. ipn I"« i y

Dl^>t?.

T o the same class of imitations belong the two edicts of Ahasuerus (nmrrn naa trmitrn«

niiwun rruR and bv m e n

mj«

oniiTH n"?sn "liaya »VWilK) found in ms. at the end of a copy of the nt?D W

(1612) of Moses ha-Cohen of Corfu

{Letterbode,

VII, p. 8 no. 20), and the Haman Edict in the Maghrib dialect published

by

Dr. H. Hirschfeld

(G. Kohut,

Semitic

Studies,

p. 250—253), beg. n i t o n "B ana . . . "rsi^R p n aRna riioa Rtni . , . R?a-iy n ™

nn'jp r ^ - i d jto ^ r i î t

(H) anan ptrnB beg. by p n

«a [nWya] Rnsj pris11 "1 i b r

122

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

D n ^ n n«!?D31 ¡B> •jKlty- a n d e n d i n g w w w p,(?D a n p a

jnr

bs b v inSp'jp m p '

l v n ^ r n n o n j d k (f. 7 7 a — 7 9 b ) .

m o d i f i e d v e r s i o n of a M i d r a s h R a b b a p a s s a g e . . . ' S T l O ^ p a r t of

which

which begins " ^ o n ^

{ibid).

n*?tr » r w r i K •fpo1? t r n »

(I) r b i e n ]d r n : « b e g . . . . is

the:

OTÜ3 ? 1J53J? )OH -120» "iN

"13*13 rt0JJK.

The

M ü n c h e n , 422),

same

is f o u n d

See

Tar gum

ms.

Letterbode,

A fuller

Rishon,

is c i t e d

in an(

HUD, fol. 1 5 5 Targum

Rischon

4

reprinted

( K ) /WIK Ki"DDC. Mishnah

ends

by Posner

T h i s T a l m u d i c t r a v e s t y c o n s i s t s o n l y of o n e abruptly

S f l T D a n d is f o l l o w e d b y

with

the

a number

and

the G e m a r a

words

p . 1 1 — 1 2 ; N e u b a u e r , Cat. the

above

col.

of b l a n k l e a v e s .

(Comp,

description

it is e v i d e n t t h a t t h e The

Bodleian

c o n t e n t s of

t h e B o d l e i a n ms., t h e r e f o r e ,

a r e a t least a s old a s 1438.

Vatican

not

t h e B o d l e i a n a f t e r "]*13ty ^D. lath

Setharim

in t h e

because the third

d e s c r i p t i o n of R e n a n a n d 3.

The

t h e p a s s a g e s f o u n d in

It is also p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e

Megilform,

YIN DJ3Jt?D is n o t m e n t i o n e d in t h e Neubauer.

W h a t s e e m s t o b e a similar m s . t o t h a t o f t h e B o d -

Cambridge Ms

contain

V a t i c a n m.s. is n o t in its c o m p l e t e

chapter

VII,

1142D).

and Vatican mss. contain the s a m e parodies. ms. however, m a y

to

1

also Cat. Michael, p. 18, no. 213; Steinschneider, Letterbode, From

in

( B r e s l a u , 18961, p. 7 1 — 7 2 .

M i s h n a h r6"3K31 nnCB»2 p * l D VIK Di3Ji?D, the

Rabbinovicz

vol. 46, p. 279.

v e r s i o n of t h i s A g a d a , w a n t i n g in o u r

Das

c h a p . v. 5 1T1D1

entitled )DH n Y 3 D 1t3t9.

IX, p. 55 no. 47, and Mouatss.hrifl, by Alkabez

in a

16»,

(f. 7 9 b — 8 o a ) .

C o m p . T a l . B a b . n^JD 15 a ; "¿IJiDtT Dip"?"1 Esther, (now

meo

1

I T » . . . BTIWn« | o n

^

T h i s is a l s o a

leian, w a s o n c e in t h e p o s s e s s i o n of R a b b i n o v i c z , a n d

-

a f t e r w a r d s in t h e p o s s e s s i o n of E . D e i n a r d w h o sold

it t o t h e L i b r a r y o f C a m b r i d g e R a b b i n o v i c z {Cat.

.*tKD n ^ n c m d ^ i b s n w rryo

on s r o n

KnsDin v

aa

.otid1? «in

to

University.

It is d e s c r i b e d

by

I V , n o . 100) a s f o l l o w s : DniB DDI p ! 3 p 3 f l D" m a c ^ppino itrytr m o D D m

ptwiai DHirrn naj;^

msy

.oniB

pn

1

n « -n« ? p n tjöp

dd^> nBDin

not?

«im

nun .(¡mo

.D^on

;

nnno

n^jo

. n m s b n-iiotfi «inj

m w o

nieran pnir

-n

I. THE MASSEKHETH PURIM

123

im«D 3fD2 p - n nniD 'DD 3'TIKI ."b J"p nap p "40

]WKVID.

'njn1? arojff

T h e D^ITID N^JD D^LB DDI PUPAFL TBD c o r r e s p o n d s

to (A) and (B) of the Bodleian ms.; niDSOn to (D); D^lDtB Dmc1? to (E) and (F); 3 « n pBTBl. . . p n ITUK to (G) and (H); t o ( I ) ; a n d DMN W I ^ D

prcr

T 1 KHBDVL t o

(K).

4. The Leipsic ms. is the oldest in which Massekheth Leiptic Puritn is used as a collective title of the three parodies. Ms. According to Delitzsch, who gave a very adequate account of the ms. (Cat. Lib. Manus . . . Lipsiensis p. 288 no. 8) it consists of three parts: Pt. I D'VFFL R6JD composed of three chapters:

( 1 ) PLDPNN.

(2) P ^ N

(3) T1K DJ33PD, w i t h

the

colophon anno f f a o Kp^Dl -n« DJ3JPD "jty p m , followed by the poem of Gershon Soncino. Pt. II CUB FDDD of Kalonymos in four chapters, and with the same postscript as in the Venice edition, except that instead of tSTU^ fpVD J^Nl the reading is tPBi1? ppVD p w . Pt. Ill pnpnn 1DD beginning ,D*13 \T1 and 1 ending with "riW Besides these known sources, I have also made use of three, hitherto unknown, manuscripts, which throw light upon some of the most mooted points in the discussion. The first ms., now in the Sulzberger collection in the SuizLibrary of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, berger was bought from Ephraim Deinard. Italian Rab(Deinard) binic char. Sq. 12°. fol. 80—176. The first seventy-nine W -

leaves are missing. A list of the birthdays of the copyist's children, inserted in the ms., was written, without any doubt, between the months of Adar and Elul 5389 (1629). For, whenever the birthday falls in Elul he refers to the year 5389, but when it falls in Tishri, Kislev or Adar he refers to the year 5390. Thus, ^3 a p r ,D"B»n b-bn natr r s p «in v t note" "Y'vn m?N"13 n:t? K"D P Kin I T . The scribe had four sons, Solomon, Jacob, Saul, Azriel and one daughter («~6tD) living at the time. His wife (ND'ORQ) had died in 5387 (1627). The ms. contains the following items: (A) nnis "ova j i n ny3 1a «np1? niirjt? by train piapan - c o (f. 80—83).

124

STUDIES IN J E W I S H

(B) ^ a n

W D by ^ r r a a p

note

PARODY

t n a n t c (f. 83 a). F o l . 8 3 b

is blank. (C) c m s D^IC.

The

WDD

as

a

general

title for D"*inD n"?JD and rODD

colophon o f t h e Massekheth

Purivi

in t h e V e n i c e eie

DUB onro

naoD

(Title of Pt. I).

DUD rooo

D'llB rooo (In Title of Pt. II).

bv train piapan ibd tr-ns naoD mvj» Has no distinct title (In Title to Pt. C). (In Title to Pt. A).

bv 'mai

8. in Suliberger (Benamozegh) Ms.

to

129

T3"û iBD

D'IIB (Title of Pt. I). O'lIB bv 'D131 ' H O c m s raoo (In Colophon to (In Colophon to Pt. I). Pt. I and to Pt. ni). bv train piapan nuv» n-wD nVia (ibid.), (In Colophon to train piapa nroai P t II). (In Postscript to Pt. III), ti-oi -««a n a n a (In Ms. f. 131).

bs train piapan ibd naoo bv tt-itsan navjw D'HB (In Title). 9. in LuizattoMj. KTpO (In Title to Pt. B). (As Subtitle).

10. in Pesaro ed.

t r a m piapan *isd

d-iib rooo

Ti. in Venice ed.

train piapan ibd |

onno nbm

D'HB rooo (Title of Pt. III). NIBl (Subtitle) man nira (In Colophon to Pt. III).

D'HB naoo (Title of Pt. C>

Has no distinct title.

Q'HB naca 9

13°

STUDIES IN J E W I S H PARODY

D I A G R A M 3.

THZ AUAMCIMEMT OP THE PARODIES. A.

B.

piapan ido

nnno n1?»

D'tpd rtin

D"T1D roots

piapan ibd

In Cambridge, Suit-, berger and Luzzatto Mss. and perhaps also in ' the Pesaro and Venice editions.

papan ico

Q've r6jn

Dim naos

In Ed. Vienna.

o^-mo rtoo

d'hb rasa

In Vatican and Bod-j leian Mss. \ In Leipsic Ms.

!

i

The above diagrams clearly show why bibliographers groped so long in the dark about these parodies. They fell in one of two errors. Some took Megillath Setharim and Sepher Habakbuk to be one and the same parody, because the former begins with the words "Habakbuk kibbel torah", and some took Megillath Setharim as another name of Massekheth Purim. Bartolocci labored under a double illusion, and not only regarded Megillath Setharim and Massekheth Purim as one and the same parody, but called it also Sepher Habakbuk. Wolf, who had the second edition of Massekheth Purim before him, was convinced that the parody which began with the words "habakbuk kibbel torah" was not the Sepher Habakbuk; still, like Bartolocci, he thought it was part of Massekheth Purim (Wolf, Biblio. Heb. II, p. 1269). This erroneous opinion was also held by Graetz (Gesch. VII, p. 264, note 1), and as late as 1890, J. Chotzner, in an essay on Kalonymos (J. Q. R. XIII, p. 137, and in r6t?n VII, p. 430) persisted in the same error, though in the Hebrew translation of Graetz (vol. V. p. 251 note 1) this error had been corrected.

I. THE MASSEKHETH PURIM

S III.

AUTHORSHIP

In regard to the authorship of these parodies, the blunders were equally numerous. Bartolocci, having deciphered the Vatican ms. wrongly, ascribed Megillath Setharim and Sepher Habakbuk to Leo de Valentibus (Bib. Mag. Rab. IV, p. 10). Wagenseil (cited by Wolf, Bib. Heb. IV, p. 1041) on the authority of an Italian Rabbi, attributed Massekheth Purim to R. Leon Blantes, and De Rossi made Elias Levita the author of Megillath Setharim {Attn. p. 48. no. 37). The more definite knowledge, which we possess to-day concerning these parodies, is due to the combined researches of Zunz, Delitzsch, Ftirst, Renan and Neubauer. Zunz was the first to discover that Kalonymos ben Kalonymos was the author of one of these parodies (Gesam. Schr• III, p. 150—153), and though in the heat of discovery he attributed to him Megillath Setharim instead of Massekheth Purim, he soon corrected this error (Cat. Lips. Additt. p. 319). Delitzsch was the first to point out, that Sepher Habakbuk, Megillath Setharim and Massekheth Purim were three distinct parodies (Cat. Lips. p. 288, no. 8). But while he accepted Kalonymos as the author of Massekheth Purim, he still held to Valentibus, or Blantes, as the possible author of Megillath Setharim (ibid. ibid.). Fiirst, it is true, added a great deal to the confusion, a3 Steinschneider puts it (Letterbode, YII, p. 11), still to him belongs the credit of being the first to detect a close relationship between Sepher Habakbuk and Megillath Setharim and to suggest one authorship for both of them (Litbl. X, col. 759). His other suggestion, based on the opening line of Soncino's poem NVlbn N^JH CHID ^"I, that the author of these two parodies was Leon Halevi the Orator (ibid.), is worthless. For a long time this passage was a bone of contention, until Renan and Neubauer discovered, that Bartolocci had deciphered the Vatican ms. wrongly, reading trci.s1?:: "H fltc1? for tr %i ?n:n This at once suggested, that X ^ H might be identical with Levi ben Gershon, who was surnamed Leon des Bagnoles (Les Ecrivains, p. 107,255). 9*

S T U D I E S IN J E W I S H

132

PARODY

Still the word t02Jn in that passage remained unexplained, and even Steinschneider's statement, that train was not an uncommon title of distinction among Hebrew authors of the Middle Ages {Heb. Bib. X V , p. 55), did not quite satisfactorily explain it. The meaning of the word, however, becomes apparent as soon as it is construed with the word tPTID preceding it and not with the words ^ n N ^ H that follow it K-SJn BTITD, in other words, is another title of Megillath Setharim, because the latter is a Midrashic commentary on Sepher Habakbuk ha-Nabhi. On the other hand, the expression "'lbn N ^ n is not to be taken with the word BPflD, as Renan and Neubauer did, but with the word m e in the second verse- The rendering of these two verses is, therefore, as follows: "The Midrash on the Prophet (i. e. Sepher Habakbuk ha-Nabhi), Leon Halevi of the Family of Grammarians laid its foundation at a time when all are more attached to eating and drinking than to wisdom and honor". This interpretation is further corroborated by the fact, that on closer examination the Megillath Setharim is found to be a running commentary on Sepher Habakbuk. In true Midrashic fashion, the Megillath Setharim weaves its thoughts into passages taken from the Sepher Habakbuk, and uses it as a frame work 8 . The dependency of the text of Megillath Setharim on the text of the Sepher Habakbuk, as well as the order in which they follow each other in the Vatican, Bodleian, Sulzberger and Luzzatto mss., make it quite certain, that both parodies were written by one man; not, however, the mysterious "Leon the Orator", but the well-known Levi ben Gershon. Another passage which points to Leon des Bagnoles as the author of the Sepher Habakbuk is the colophon to that parody in the Bodleian ms. which reads in part as follows: m a n rMJD KT . . . >D"0 thOD ncn" . . . m i s m t r n « [Leon] (See above S II Sect. 2 A). Another cause of confusion has been the fact, that some used Megillath Setharim as a collective title of the various 8

The

commentary on Sepher Habakbuk

at follows: . . . 'J^aipB p

]12 M l ID»

begins on f. 4 b (Venice

edition)

.4"DT5 'DM VTI" and ends on f. 7 b with

the words . , . -pin i n Sp in 1 ? - r a m p y « "KD

."SKIET ba

" m s npp HJK"

I.

THE

MASSEKHETH PURIM

133

parodies, e. g., the former owner of the Vatican ms. (see above S II, sect. 1), while others used Massekhetli Purim as the collective title, e. g., in the Leipsic and the Sulzberger mss. (Ibid, s e c t 4 and sect. 5 C).

s IV.

DATE OF COMPOSITION.

One more question to be answered before closing the bibliographical discussion of these parodies is the date of their composition. The Massekheth Purivi, according to Zunz, was written between 1319 and 1322, while Kalonymos resided at Rome (Gesam. Schr. Ill, p. 150—153). But no date has been given yet for the Megillath Setharim and Sepher Habakbuk. It seems however, that the same note, by which Renan and Neubauer determined the date when the Vatican ms. was copied (Ibid, at the beginning) contains also the date when these parodies were written. For, immediately after the date of the copying comes the phrase ¡TPS"1? WW1 «in DJ VB2 niB> Kfini, which can have no other meaning than that the parody was written in 5092, i. e., 1332 C- E., about ten years after Kalonymos wrote his parodies. And since the Megillath Setharim depends upon the texts of the Sepher Habakbuk, the latter must have been written some time before 1332. The whole foregoing discussion may, therefore, be summed up as follows. Kalonymos ben Kalonymos wrote the Massekheth Purim in Rome sometime between 1319 and 1322. Levi ben Gershon, on the other hand, wrote the Megillath Setharim in 1332 and the Sepher Habakbuk sometime before. Of these three parodies the Sepher Habakbuk was printed at Pesaro in 1513. The Megillath Setharihi followed by the poem of Soncino and the Massekheth Purim also appeared at Pesaro, but perhaps at some later date. In 1552 the Sepher Habakbuk was again printed separately in Venice, and a month later the two other parodies without the poem of Soncino were issued from the same press under the composite title of Megillath Setharim Massekheth Purim, and instead of Soncino's poem the printers

134

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

prefixed the poem of Gabirol. Subsequently, numerous written copies were made, in which title, contents and arrangement were carelessly confused. CHAPTER PROVENÇAL

II

PARODIES OF THE FOURTEENTH

AND

FIFTEENTH CENTURIES The first five of the following texts are edited here according to a copy made from the Bodleian Ms. no. 714, fol. 72 b—75 b and 80a—80b, for a fuller description of which see the preceding chapter, § II, section 2. It may be added, that the quotations from the Sepher Habakbuk in the last paragraph of the Resolutions (See below notes 32—35), as well as the frequent references to p l l p l and ,D"I3 (See below S I» S H, 2, 10, 11 and g III), prove that the author of these parodies was familiar with the parodies of Levi ben Gershon. And while it would be rash to jump from this to the conclusion that these parodies came from the same pen as the Sepher Habakbuk, it is nevertheless justifiable to assume, that they are the products of the same century, and the frequent use of Provençal words and sentences, on the other hand undeniably prove them to be of the same country. The sixth and seventh texts are based upon a copy made by S. G. Stern from codex 1199, 1, of Dc Rossi's Mss. The first of these has been described by De Rossi as "Tractatus Talmud. Purim cum Tosephoth et Comment. Rasci" (See MSS. Codices Hebraici Bib. I. B. De-Rossi, Parma 1803, vol. 3, p. 96). In Stern's copy, which is now in the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the Tosephot and Rashi are wanting. The reason for assuming that it is of Provençal origin is the fact that it devotes considerable space to the Purim King and the various sources of his revenue, which is a favorite topic with the Provençal parodists. That it is a product of the fifteenth century may be surmised from the fact that the next fascicle in the same codex was written in that century (See De Rossi, ibid.), as well as from the fact that the game of Backgammon

n. PROVENÇAL PARODIES

135

is called in this parody the game of Tables, a name by it was known in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (See note 82). The seventh text was not noticed by De Rossi. the title it is to be inferred that it originates from the author as the preceding parody.

which below From same

[mom] .1 D"ontn . . » ran n « pupa onnntr m m piapa -ie«oi ns-o r i ï U 3 rry w a i ntro bbp» rMpai «va 1 ? ^ a 21 mnoen «no»ai j m i e uk ntn -iBDa niainan rv6«n "»ai Mn-œra y»vri *)ïd m » b i w on«i nat?« «3D jr'pyn r a nyn by j ^ p n i pnetroi «nennn jwinnn r a nyn tyi p mnt?1? nViyo t o » o n m n on D'lB« . m m m "on n« cp"1 «"? 1 » « "d-d m y o n e w ar« "?a »any man [niDDDH] •wen

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,dbb'D3

« Supply in".' JIN. Cf. Joshua vi. 26. 1 The first two proper nouns are a play on Ps. lxxii. io "DWK K2D1 R2W ir"\p\ For the name NnET.nn cf. Eira ii. 63, and for 1 Chr. iv. 8. ì Read U1JW3. 4 Read H3in. 5 Cf. Mishnah SotaA, VII, 7.

136

S T U D I E S IN JEWISH

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" Cf. T"1 V"V S 228, 21. '3 W N is Superflnons. '4 R e a d niPB^ ^ ¡ J . T C ' ? ' V 1 ? ^ - c i • D a n i e I ">• 29. i 5 _ a 6 T w o coins, but in spite of diligent research I am unable to identify their country and value. »7 R e a d 1 3 i n . »8 R e a d "D h i . '9 Read l n n i ' . 3° TVK is superfluous. 31 R e a d i p n ? "HUM HCIQ^ 'niB")?? 'nTHB HPDD\ Cf. T a r g u m Gen. xlix. 12. 3 J -35 T h e s e four quotations are from Sepher Ifabakbuk ha-Nathi\ 32 is a play on Isaiah v. 1 2 ; 33 on Proverbs xxiii. 3 1 ; 34 parodies Micha ii. I I ; and 35. parodies Isaiah viii. 2.

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43 Read 'rTU

44 Supply

XXI,

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,Bnisa

)vya «non B m s a

« ^ a

. p t o t o tran i a n ]V3i i m o

«•? an

m n » 1 ? m « a ^ n « » p a n a i p ^"3 a n

i

n^iyn

wa

"D o m s a

^ a

nenia

ai

n-on^

«navn

'¿Bai

b a a » ^«ntf1 o a » "sn y j n nwsa

"¡b rvx

ty

^ a

pb

-ia« ^ a

pna«

D"HB

n^aan

k 1 ?«

nb-a«

na"> n n S n

r m

^ a y

imo

)ìbb . t b j ì b iroa « m

pnv

5°i3dd

n«i«-i

town

nyai«

«BWB

,ia w imo

^t

pnt?

'Di

."vn

ai

vtn

ini«

«"in

rrè

, KD

."n"n»ai„

nnit?

« b i iTDJìb " r a s i

«•ya'1«

no«

urob

BTIp

DJDiB^D

. t e r -ia« «bb

an

wdki

ia

,hidd

ìt w

inVo«

US"»

•os

in 1 ?

«ini m i «

I1? T P E " «

V e p "«a k b ^ b

•on « m a f a n é n «

ibib -ijn e h i n t r « - i a nia-ib a n i « ^kb

.nnae>3

tbb

.TI« 013'»

.ntra^i

TlD^D

.«

]ijntr nn,!?v l ^ o o t v i

o^a

d^bb

naui

45 R e a d (oinomeli). Cf. Terumoth xi. i . In the ms. this Vtìne6 is followed by a repetition of the w o r d s after the preceding lflWB^. 47 R e a d >33.

tj?

niiiaa

coming

Spiced wine. Cf. 3'"VI «np'Dft 102b l ' d l i p i m i n ^ S l K3K 49 I n the ms. there is another dittography h e r e ; the word 1JDB is followed by a repetition of the words coming after the preceding 11BD. 5" R e a d llD'n.

II. DO A ^ N M O «

PROVENÇAL PARODIES

Y y b «AN -vy p

.N^Y « W B DD A^N o m s a N»«

i r a

«»A

«"»AB DD

1« D I K »

-ira

, - r y n »'»A 1 ? D Û

neoo

rryb -«in 51 U " « 'D .a«n nrnb

N » « n M « I tsr«n M «

141 P

D«I D » « A » T y n MYIA

1«

N

«nwb

101«

naob«

,DD P ^ N

V

]bta

-1

nbwa

M«I

n a « b o n w y b «b» U N » D i p D , a n a o a BAN .N"vy .Î,A(nanon anaoa) D » « « O D I MATÓO * p » n i byo n a « b o r r a n y m •"«P « I P « «an .nmaa u n ^ A « I M ^NA^A unpn >«P «A\N «ON

.DHSNY I-K T T K M Y

NNSTRAI NNUTFD u n

nnna

ainam

I N b a a D^YAI DONARA n b « N D W I

a-rtan

nniaa

r r b U N ON S»DI»D , T Y I R Y

AVIAN

na"NAI

NANO

«"»A b » i s p n «PIN •'«a ,«)pin b a n « MN^N o r n a i VNA« n a "VIDK

ba by TWA ornai

nbna

/ANO

nensi

mmaai

îepn

DWTPA n b y a « i p ' « n OSNA« 'n I D « ^ D u n « a a

N » y DI

a"nan

^NÛ

.B«NT^

«npan DID «b« ,p«N nxpa «a» «"»A "SA p\n "AI ,p«N rapo DHI n p i T X P I $NT p«n "D" ba m y A^NAN ,p«N VIY rrapa i n t m m 531"« , p u 'XN T X P I ; r b o a ^ M , | I » m a / - E N ^ N « M y n t ;*pni p p i ; A « "SNI n o n ,]VD "XN DM ; e a » nao ,vbDa ^ N i p i JP-D « r n i )«3D ,]DU ^NI M« OA» ^N *pm ;N»n ^NI bib« ,a« ^N ppi a-ma «in

«a

/AA n o s ny a' « O M I N TO n b rppna

. » A » "SNN «'»AB

.nxp ba « b i nxpo « n p I D « nb p n s o « I M nb . R R Û I Y O RUBTTL .*p by INXR na»A RRN MN» « ' » A b » înbna n « M CA^ U » n« D'TRIY nvnb «np NO«n D i a p n m 'N na« jbaa n n a i y a n a » n o i » D na» «b« n a » I na» ^«D . n a t r i natp baa D a o t a i Daroa n b « N . M Y I A » "1 54 « B « -jb P « .nat?I b"n OATY «MO BIA^ . m a i y o NACÍ «D , W Y Y X ) . » N «b NACÍ na» ? r r b N>ay •'«D n a » ^«N ) i y a » DICBIE

12T3

NA«

.nûi»«5 n a » a

'«D K W S6«-U«

I

"ID«

U'«»

nau

»L^PNO

.)A»

p

LA^D

nnyo «b«

-I"«

NO

.]AOB^

51 Read Kin.

NUDD

a « no

UNI

.p

s5hd«t

ounu

ia

«m

p a n

«ob»a

ni»sa

no

DOD n a u t r «^»A

» n

«m

^SN J T J N

un p «b« .TnTay

a « O NOIM b p o N-'b )UOBN

M»sa

U M NUDD

un

NOA

NA«N n a » N ba p p » T A a « b n o O M I N TD rrb osna«

NU^O P I

the previous line.

••n« « O B T

"«N n a a

«ao

ba «b

i n « b F\NV K T O

«JIBN^B

«b

ON «O'N

I N^B I D «

«b

nn«

.niyia» »nnb

«b« T a a«

NTR»

P'

«b îobn»

D,Tby

imnao

51 a T h e words in the parenthesis are a dittography from S' Read OHPBV

53 In ms. T"K

54 That is,

four weeks of the first Adar and two weeks of the second Adar. T h e ms. reads msn»

55 So in ms.

Read DIB'IJK. Compare a few lines below.

142

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

«^33 17-lDKn p ]3» TDK1? DO TIED1? K3*« DfoVBnK n«n vb -joya K m ^pn «i> n^rf?« j ' s t o i «b>« rry vbt< b \>m «TT3 *)« nUDD ,3,Tl ni®B3 p T3 3« >1Q Y3«1? KTM CpO"1« 1 nsia» twi ? p o ]33i un .n^D rQlJi .nwcj "om msec p DTI «Ml pNH by DO Bhtftl« "J^On DBT>1 TO ,rr3"31 M D In ms. vsrt K'WJH TP1?.

65 Read JT bs B'^W.

n . PROVENÇAL PARODIES « t e fb

w i o « «Si n a y

« ^ r ó n n o m e n ' o i b"n o m e n r r y ^

m r i K Ty 1 ? « a n n a a *)«

•pno

Vn p

1a w

naa k t

143

onaan pao by

.omen w

im

n a j r vbv

«Vi n m r r n T i n a «V« w t b k vb n m r r n

vb n n i s n ' d i a ' r o « n . a n i i n ' c a loipoo i w n

to'

"n

. 7 m n ' a p'-ip « " n DO j r 6 a * «

rvffyn

« t e a " r t i m1? r r y a ' o « i n n ? n a j r

na^O J m o « a n ' a r e n « a » ' « o o n »

' a n 'aa r r a n a ^ p

DM ? | a a m

' a n s a D'piop I\TW n a o m n ID TDK « o p o ' « 0 . W U f f DIpD

.'mn

'piaon

.on»

iwa

'aa-no n j r a in1? ' p a ' «

«in«

«aw

«anana p a n

tin

«napn

pan

« V » lanaw m p o «a-an DIB'^IB -1 TO« ? T n r 6

to'

by

brtov

'anpi

«pn

t r v ) «•'am , T a y

'3'an

p « 1« - i ' n r 6

D»H » r a o « n w n m e n a « t e naxVo n e n p m b y o NA«I?D n e n p m

naptii

'aa-no « ^ i « i n « « a w )'« n a « ^ o

nwfi .«va1?

^oa "»ano n o « o r r o n TO «*iio'« í?a«

«in « i w b

byot

M n o , ' n o ' « o "jty

vnaa

maa

pin

p p m n D T o a i m o i a a nan

o - o n p p - n a "WTt n j D n t ó TW

« ^ , n n n » may n y a i « p t i a

nyanwi? h k p i a tab

n-npD n y » a p n a «V ,rrn?D n j r a a p u a p n

no

, p m

«nan

-etina

*b D i m n no 1 0 « ? m p n a

n'in»

pnatii . t r i m

niD'« Dnp

o r r n a a p i s o o n « 'aan o w o

to'

«an

toy

.a

.pvó ?opna

njm«

.ntyya n a y

nt

wpna n w «

nn o*np

« t i t i a p a n i o n p « n 'a«& o n n «nyp

' n t i « V i « ^ t i a p a n ia'pn ' a n o n ? o « a n "?a« , n p n a ^ ne"« nan n « i i n i / w u r n ova p n

no , p m

i n p n a «'in m o « o n p p n ewe

nfiupa i n n a » m p n

« ^ o n ? n o t i n g 11« p n a t i i

no nam«

.tópn^>

.innaern o v a « a n 1 «

'a«»?1 ? i n p n a

inpna

'vr n i D « m i p « a n *)«

,nuns' n j w a i « n a n n n a r m a ^ b i « n a n T n a n^yay 1 ? «^T ? 2 p n a ' a n - « o « a o a m1? n a o ' « i n n a t y n u « n rvb p n t ••« T a p w i .«ao

'«na

rmaíó

«ao ' « n a

niao m S t r o i « i p IO«T o c i a « v « «'n«

?]b

«ao

nj;ai«a 'na«

nya*I«a i n n a t r n J«a IN -wy

«an

^a«

rrna»!? «bn ' a ' n ' a « a « rr 1 ? « p e a ^ .nnbtf

«ao n » v ' « n

.riB^a

"ÛJ1

'ç? 101« i n m'rwoi ' « o

n p a i « a i n n a t r n J'PRÓ n o /IDBD T'O VD

?'aD « o ' j y a b i c a a )«a »)« 'ao «o^»ya ^»icaa 67 Cf. Mishnah aboye ntró HITO i)« 101« i S j 69 Read blPID. 7o In ms. . . . TIH pT3 «S. 7» Ibid. D1PD '3H v '«p j m '3.1 01BD. 74 Ibid, - m P31B3.

firb

no '« 68 R e t t d «jníB3. 71 In ms. 'i«» ^3». 73 Ibid. nl^ST T31.

144

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

DV0) PK2 nn 75W13t2 VOID nbitpn ba WBO '1 e m .nlbt?Dl b'TI nttin b3 "3B by d"d nbitn p « n b3 "3b by -idd nbwn 'itr ,nnya .nrain ba by d t i p « n b3 "is by -idd inp« 1 a ® nmtrm ,Dnsa Jim r «bi ,0*1133 DTlltf p a .2 /bo 'in «30 .nöJ .njnap n«on n^by « o d 33i»ai nna a^n Dnisa Dms

«,n«

"1 i d « ?]b3D r r a

TOK m b t w i ^ n a n a w e

«DT\

or ennb "ntrya •]« onn "tot nb«n oman 7 7 t o r t aTD .nnii .rroa d^d nnwn ]«a 1 « rroa B'd nmtrn ;bnb no ,«in Dmaan «"n ir« nnoan «ip 'D« «3« Tiaw nn»o " t o «n •03 ^ "an ' « .tyiiK aab nets'-1 p ^n nntyo idik ,-in rmo» 1a w nn»o miaan Dvb no yiB'ob «3^« nseio «b "«t «vt nssio n w rrvn «b omsan ovn «b« ?8n3BiD cmirn «obtra .a"n ) v a ptr ]KDb «b« pHS>D ^ « l p ^ o b IHK TSC n3B1D I D i n ]«ob TTOn .i13BM3

"oi onißan dvt o"k o m i n i d s np

oi3B«b «3D ym

.nee1? «a'« wd p ' t r o -iDtn

"b nab o m s a n s a « 3 D m ainabn n i t r o n 3 s n

.Deploy d"d a«i»i nn«ao d^d nbn ovrnn i d t rvby DiBn3« "i Ttoa o n i s a na«bo nmym /n"l"i1B2 r o u t e fK .3 nmsa TDibni nmaa ''TDib )"« .njnap n«on «"an 33wai m a a"n pDib nniaa na«bo j w y f«E> p o i n .triDJ .nwya naij> nv n« "wy mnan nya DOtprn nnisn nnvrn p by '«3» onisa n m i » n n o s^d td^i to d'^i h w d i nnoty n « t t n r b i&y nyan« ^ a i etibi bbs ^bai *»n o"vi b i b nf«9D nnoty p a ntrru fjun nsno bs r\» »jun nsno nan onsn no dtbh «S« p nn« b i j t d i •'lan e»"\ti

.»]i3n p n o

mm

nicbni naN^o n i e r

»)« "[Dyobi ?i*?3d nax^D rrn w o o i y o '«di h^^d ba ^an nniD nniB K^ns k1?« «3D naxboa ma ^dtbi ^Sa »-nn i^d1? i •pis " bk ia d« omin -id r6 i"pno .nms «m« *d3 «an h b ^ d 11D« D"1 no «ip no« Dupnin i i d « «"?« >D3 ba« •]3 oniB 1 « miD »B3 *?a« "j-isi nawbo 1 mot? ?! niTiyo t dv baa omsa iroxb p ^ n ^JDD .4 n3D loyt i d « 11? «3D nmyo nya-i« .]mn«bi jn-ss^ .dv baa nmyo t "pDbb nnD»i nn»o n^ys n omsa ainan ?nia m bv |n"? i^d vaa voa '"nai "«m r^ T'o " t o t '«n « d w ,nb«n D'D^n ^ n« top no« y on .rob ia ia «ip id« 75 Ibid. W1313.

7 6 Ibid. nib®1?.

77 Ibid. "OVV

?8 Ibid.

II. PROVENÇAL PARODIES trims'?

no^>] K i o m 'an i a

pa«w ,rw

nasa

maa

.TMi^

ia

nnow nnero ^

bm

Vn

poi

.nnn«

n n ^

omea

p o

ioa

161 ^

pj»»

na»a

.Dnifi n - n y o a

145 vtidk

^im

moe^i

nwwin

nrn^i D ^ n

nniK r w f h V n m n « V x n t s m p3ot

r6n

ppjw pan

un

. n n t f e i n r m e n V'n .nroan

•jKiEraty top

'"dhi , n n w m i j > o a TDK i1? k i d

TDK p j n

ainan

nan

bv

poi

n m ~ 6 .p^an

n,ncn w

omnia

» » [ W ? ] ""Vi d . t } d t ,

ffnya .fcOBJ

kdv

bib

6,

«vb n m y o a p i c »

in

p ^ n 8o,

.^nD

.5

nine'

»6

3»d

n^p 1 ? a n a i d s d o i

n« Dior

new

nanaa

.nam

31 - p m i j ? D a p » n

D^DT

'3 >nn ; k d v

. m » r m 3 ^ 1a V n m a

••(pvw ^-d) »JDmua nv pine

«run^wn

•»in p j n t ? t n ny D n i e a

piran

i n

niyas«

'103

tea 8

pmh

»'3 p i n t r a

pm

.inain

kv

pin» 1 ? p o

TDK3 K ? i t e p [ E s t h e r x . 27] " o m i T O p-vm

dtid®

yiap

nrnps ;n

«op « i n K3^s ^ o a

dtd»

, m i D o a yro

•j^ t o n i « a

nyVa

pinen

"1

yvrr»

ICp,,

pa^p .»'D^i?

nrnp3 «a»i

'1

ilBmW

nrnp3

dtib» p a p

«a» nrnps nmps

12d « e p i o n D i t e v i t n K n

ii?api n n o c ^ d « v

/ a i ,'p « n i s o ^ a

W 3

ton j « a ^>ap « t o

.D-niaa n i y a s N pine»1? ] « a o

dk vr "iao n y ^ a - n rmoD 1 ? dk v • d d Dj^a

^

:]vtoa m y a s u n n m p 3 avian ^

»«[Kaen] p*vm d t i d b ' p a p inyte

"?a m i x nnran

j n o e ^ w a t k'ji n a r r r y a » j a a ^3«

1

,nn« rmp3 p i n

m

pa*n •"¿no .6

- q d p"n

n ^ e n - n ' n a ^ a p i Kipa 1 ?

tdk

.Nnpo1? dm en

[ n u n ^ n p w a » '"?] n n i s n p w a » a"3 / i i y a s « '3 p i n » a » n" 1 a v o n 'na

pn»

vb&

te

no 1 ? n n n

jtoD

.»«wnn« pvwat?

a'^i

79 The ms. is illegible in this place. 80 Read n m as required by context two lines below. 81 In ms. "in. 81 Wanting in ms. 83 In m s - D'HM. 84 A marginal note explaining that the words nsaiK, runbv, YVT1K and m i s are names of games. The copyist, however, has carelessly embodied it in the text. For the explanation of these terms, see note 89 below. 85 Supply niJMK. Cf. below the expression nuaJK '1 pimtn® n"\ 86 In ms. nunVlsn pinwb. 87 Ibid. D^® rrnpj. 8« Wanting in ms. 89 In the ms. the reading is VBT1K pin»2B nillSn pinwaw 3"1. The games enumerated in this passage are dice (mpaSK), cards (r.lllS), backgammon (ni:nb®) and chess (TSTP.K). The translation of dice by mpa*«, while etymologically incorrect because the name for this game in all Romance language« 10

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

146 wupn

?|Vsd

t

em

jwn 1 ? p n t r - » « 3 » jien

m p

vb

.em

p m r n i?a pan

neca

pm

nijn nijno» w w

TO

.inrnn

, [ J o b x x x v i i i . 7] j i o r

1

nuwn .n^iD

d h v p h i b a p i i c p vo D n i e n Dva w o o mxh r r f r o p e n - e t u i ,o,tVj? D ^ i n

^ r a Djnto

dim

em

*)tn p o i

.n»«

.Ditty o-an

.nrn i n

1» c o t

oik : r n

m p nnnp .7

on« a ^ n i n i>a

11

on" ?«

rvb p n

Dn®a

*iTiD

Djnt "?jn o n - t y

n ^ b )«a 1« new j6

D^a

M n p a n

k?

e r a n n u e ^ i r 6 ^ a m o o web

T»i?n ? r o a * n

»6 kvt

nrw nan

,

n o "h* v «

wr

f j r w o fK a tf novh

. n n i B 9«nt t d w mh n o i n m p n w i n w k .mam dvj

t

.oniea n n a o n n m o » pain

nmoa

n ^

n-'iSjn -mi1? inBD

mpon

9»^aa n ^ p j i o n a t a n e t « -iaa n n nat neii? d m

is derived from the Latin dare, may nevertheless be defended on the ground that dice are cubes of a finger's breadth each. It is also possible that niJQSK is a chirographic error for ITID15, as dice are usually made of bone or ivory. But while the etymology of ni)03K is uncertain, the game signified by it is made certain from the context In the vowel points of the word Sap (Esther ix. 27), says the parodist, are indicated the points of the niJDXK. Hirek corresponds to the single point, Sheva to the double points, Kibbuj to the three points, Hirek and Kibbu? to the four points, Sheva and Kibbu? to the five points and the three vowels together to the six points. There can be no doubt then that JNjnSK are dice, as these also are marked on each side with black spots from one to six. Again, in playing with three dice the greatest number of points one can score in one throw is eighteen, when each of the dice is thrown with the six spotted side upward. Hence the statement " n i j m * 'J pineo® M'" ainin ion lio". The translation of cards by m r s needs no explanation. The expression i"il"0Sn pWBD® 2") has reference to the fifty-two cards that constitute a pack. VBTTUt is either an error for 1T!mj or another spelling for the same game the invention of which is ascribed to Ardeshir Badekan (See Low, Lebensaller p. 327). Since this game is similar to or the same as chess (See Kohut, Aruch and Jastrow Dictionary s. v. TVTO) it is played with thirty-two pieces. For this reason I read T m « pintTO® My reason for identifying n u n t a n pinw with Backgammon is twofold. First, because it is known from Chaucer that the early name of Backgammon was "Tables" (See Bohn's Hand-Book of Games. London 1867 p. 381), and secondly because Backgammon is played by two persons, each furnished with fifteen men, or thirty pieces in all, and thirty is just the number wanting to complete the number 132, which, according to the parodists, these four games make up in pieces or points. The latter reason justifies me also in supplying pinV3E? nunbwn. 9° In ms. tni* Sip . . . ponb pnt?. 9« Ibid, m i i na.. 9» Ibid. V522.

n . PROVENÇAL PARODIES /¿»n

vno

noen

nnen

n:ef

tea

loa ptwn m o ten

mp

moe6i

«!? dm v i s a

nine6i

ten

*œy

- i d « « o < n o'?j?,r!

,Ki»aa

p« pai

byi

rrwtai?

anp

.vnby

«n^ . p «

te

Vlifi'1

pa*na

,«oitn

tyi

^Kur

K^ooia

xniop

jinn" 1 - a s o « !

nncM

drunk,

9« Ibid.

dhd -intó

enrovi

inn «n»

probably

« n ^ y o Mb

for

tebi '¿a n^i

U'jp».

from with

raw

and

unsalted

ibid. s. v. 97 I n m s . N^sbl.

-od

, d ™

«rr

TiDKi , a n p p t a i « ^ y a

get

n

^nc«

-11« "j^j?

,to»

pamnnai

p

94 S o =

w a ]ru

bv

tfytiz «oui pa^>

í p j i o t i r r j K n i » » p a r » i k î b j rvby po«

,dd«ti

v n

y » v ,«nsi«

terna

p »

anisa

w

teen

T'*?ia

«an

1

te"?i

a^nan

nyai«!?

«stpíó

"paw

n « w

m»

tea

nou

«nona

«a*i n n n a

KT)B>an wfaywa

«-ivn

"n

^ncK

D'onea

'n' vi^k -piaa

niyia

jra-io

nnn o^ian^i n w n

.DniB naDD parv

no«

jro

o m

vb ni»i

11? « a n e o c

nv.~ó

^aon

n n - t f y t«i , o n i B a

empn

te

er p »

"1 e m

oam

nay

t ó i Y?

\nn b»

m r

.8 noa

^bk ' a n ^

w a

^n

ff-m

on

pns

.iyb

Key

re

«n

.^JTiû

.mya

te

ïdïk

natrn

.tCtol

*?ki n a m

onaya Tinni

p«n on»«

. D w a * ó n u n o i nteo *npo u

nannn

.oniaa

niai1?

.men

tetó

nya-wa wo

v i - i d k n t o , n t o n n i p "ion o e n a «

147

K36U.

10'

meat.

See

148

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

CHAPTER

III

THE VERSES AGAINST GAMBLERS ASCRIBED TO IBN EZRA, AND THE PARODY OF LEON DE MODENA Besides appearing in the numerous editions of the J>TD "I1D, the Verses Against Gamblers have been reprinted in the following works: (1) T^.TD of Moses Kimhi, Mantua 1563 {Cat. Bod. no. 3548). (2) Kleiner Brantspiegel, 1657 (Cat. Bod. no. 5700, 8). (3) nnom nil« 'D, Leghorn 1786. (4) M. Pinner, Grabschriften der berühmtesten Männer . . . nebst Catalog von 38g hebr. Drucken und Handschriften. (Berlin 1861), 8°. p. 49. The text is the same as that in the Frankfurt ed. (1794) of the jnn HD. (5) TJDn 1867, p. 318 by Ch. J. Gurland. (6) Ibid. p. 350, by B D UJ> |1D'C, according to the text of (3). (7) D^lDn TTÜK Calcutta 1889, 8°. [ii] + 34 p. This booklet belongs to the collection of Judeo-Arabic in the library of Columbia University, and since it is not mentioned by Bacher {Zur neuesten arabischen Litteratur der Juden, in Zeitschr. für Heb. Bibliogr. VII, p. 87, 113, 148) it may be described here. It opens with two poems, one beginning ,inDt?m ^ l K bi bj? tPtn "ODt? with nobt? in acrostic, and the other beginning rPH "\ty with p rnty in acrostic (p. II). After these poems comes the book proper, giving the history of Purim in the Judeo-Arabic dialect (p. 1—32). The Verses Against Gamblers, and a wine-song beg. nop D"-|1D DVO nno with pm p i n il»D in acrostic follow to p. 33, and on p. 34 is the oft reprinted poem beg. Sn "HDn "TDJK )OlO with nob» -D jvn cmns in acrostic. (8) David Kohn, K"UJ? )3K QrrOK Warsaw 1894. vol. i, p. 161—162. This is also almost identical with the text of (3). (9) vny n-tt -pea n inns nun p. 65. This book is described by Bacher, I. c. p. 115, no. 17. (10) DniS niJD TJD p. 10—11 (See Bacher, ibid. p. 116, no. 19). The text of this ed. is the same as that of (7).

III. THE VERSES AGAINST GAMBLERS

149

The reason for reprinting here the Verses and the parody is to give the reader for the first time the text of these poems with all the variants. In the following transcription, the text is taken from the Frankfurt ed. (1794) of the JHD HD f. 26, and the variants are according to nos. (3), (7) and (9). The texts of (1) and (2) are inaccessible to me, the text of (4) is the same as that of the 1794 ed. of the JTID 11D, the text of (5) is too corrupt to deserve comparison, the texts of (6) and (8) are copied from (3), and the text of (10) is the same as that of (7;. Besides the textual differences noted below, the verses are also differently arranged in (7) and (9), as indicated by the numbers on the margin. The variants of (3) are enclosed in parenthesis, those of (7) in brackets and those of (9) in braces. .wprwn -m j r a ^

TO

.A Is 1794 ed. In (7) In (9)

.nnytso

vrnmo ,;mts iron ,K>3ip3 prise .1

.ONP» NJN3»3 ,UIP3 TIIDI

.1

.1

.2 .4

.3

.5 .11 .6 .5

.5 .7

by *POVI ,IIIDD -ITS' .2 .15 .2

. a n n o I W ,n« m v "3 MI ,irb:r nbiyb , r m o 3iB>rm "¡y Kim ,yy t 6 loipe ,-PJ/ -170 .nnnn by .nmen »pa-1 .nsioai noD3 ,ri3B3i TJ> nie^i i1? ,yiT mini , y n p r u s i ,ynB

.D"HBD "WYA ,)IN « S , | I T C H NANA

.3 .4

TIRANA "?3TN .7

rnowa ,inio nr w j n ,iniN BWW V.T ,uva ' » i s ^>31 .8

.3 .6 .6

.9

1.

< Variants: . ¡ir«® in-in« . . . pnwonj ,[,TKÍ . , . pneen] ,(n'«w... maei . . . rraipa)

4. 5. 6.

.{anno paen .n^o' vo' . [onn . . . -i-y «S wipe TJ» "jV] ,(nnn . . . vpV Tpa) .{c-nen wpa* ,naiD^ nooo ,K3T aien ,nani mían pscj ,[3mt] .{tr-intói jnv pij .([o'tnK^ icspb jm' jn '3]J

2. .[{NIPNTO ... WJ> «I'DVIJ],(ÑIPARA) 3.TAI},[D(WD IMN» « ... DBIYBI ... SIEW] VD* ^ .N^C NB WAI)

7. 8.

.{PRA ... ^A ... ^ATO TDW} ,[KSD> DJ ,11M... B ' A ... ,(PTN) .J... DK ' IIW D^A UVA 3 m l e w , d " » t p r w m .8 .onapV fen »nenrn nam ,mtna moan ,n»'wa prrrm .9 .on-non vaa r m b nar> «*> ,nc "Tfb »nafiKDa pnwm .10 .onnDoa naan toh oai , v w TODna w i p Read nBM>3 — DBMS which is another term for dice. Cf. TaL Bab. Sanhédrin 25 b; t r o w n pnv&n.

IV. PARODY OF A LETTER OF CREDENTIALS

I SI

.iroaVo n^na ,uvn nt pirn .8 . n n n o » a

v i n a er« vp

T h e readings enclosed in brackets are according to the edition o f the JHD "11D b y M. A . Pfeiffer, Wittenberg, 1665.

T h e version

o f Pinner (/. c.) is the same as that o f the Frankfurt edition.

CHAPTER PARODY OF A LETTER

IV OF

CREDENTIALS

This manuscript, found a m o n g a collection o f letters of Italian Rabbis, originally belonged to Rabbinovicz (Cat. 4, no. 28), afterwards came into the possession of Halberstam (no. 431) and is now in the Jewish Theological Seminary o f 14—1/2 x

America;

1

leaf

1 4 — 1 / 4 inches.

S q u a r e characters, 25 lines as indi-

cated b y the vertical lines.

T h e division into paragraphs, t h o u g h

not found in the ms., is adopted here b y reason o f the uniform rime which marks the end o f e a c h paragraph.

T h e lower left

hand corner of the leaf is destroyed, but apparently nothing is missing, except, perhaps, additional signatures. t?pm ,nnat n o « nnapt n y a

, « m p " o n n D'aaa n a n n 1 ?«

.1

. « s o "i»« nay «in n i p n « r r f r n n o •o naroa n « s a i ,nn*6a ,mtwo r m - u n r « i ,nBni«o m y a «sdm | n » « n p ^ nay

.2

m a y r m ,n»Bi n « s a r r t « « r i , n w n n « n n a m , n » n a i naoV« .nsea .-6«d | rxtbo ,mpe> p p p r , m n a y p

o*aa r r n «in ^

.7

.r»noi «3 I k s , o n n «

onaay!? t d k i nra b n a n n a a y n

D T « n n ^ i n n i r e "a

m v i iniK w y n

. k t i a m I D-na o n » w a , caopi n ^ n j

mpi

r»\

n n o » a .nniDK

.8

. o m a n a i t e « n o w i n n ^>a ,nniD3

.9

,o^innn

ire o

,D,-VBn

iyots> -kpk o n a a y n

to

. c j p n o n y a , D " j » n i | D'asTntrn« »d^b ntsna "6a u x v a "pna .10 na

( B"3c»i

trDia« o m a - i a i ,DU"ij»n

,ouai

ma«

I .KÏ1B ba Di »DOIOI DJ D'iKfl tpts^wi m »

,mon

^d

S s i^sh

,mn

mn

dîus^ o

nvnai

.u

, r n y n ba ui!ri | r r 6 v a ^ m ,,-nyn unrnK nt u v r o n a i ,rrnm .12 . m y l a n i t d k •«a ]Bi«a I onxyyi

n«:y

,anion

tu

iyn»

,Dn»n p

m«

netn

pn

D^ytri D n a a y n jo oipi^ p e n a i e t h k *?inn ^ vr> ,Dnyai o^pt .13 » « 1 i n « aba1? ton a m n t y a | o m c w n r r a a w n in 1 ?» p V , o n D n T s « p n o n t r y i

dyikoi ^ k

.omiK

DiaDa

.twoJ ^ 1 « , n m i D o u a mbv cho

i^a»

oxsny-ifl jn»

rp^p n a t r

,wvrrp

uan n e e

^ai d v b b i

pS

d"îwk p , - 6 | m ^

.rraoi I an 1 ? in i n c i t e I [439 = 1679] Q'Tip n « ' i b i

| D^mte .15

^oinn u r n « u o a o n

ccpy

.14

.onroen

.16

, D W i a u a i .17

¿ a n "«a n i » a - n x e n r à - p n v n

I ^ y b n r~u t o i p t ? p

KJip c h d -vy n s n w n n d i m .18

I bp1 id n"t w k

nais p

Kama -vjran d u o .19

I "VT i ^ e y «"K^'a n c a n n^iraas? -rysn UK .20 I m 1 ? ^ a niiiDB «bi non o n c y i r t r y u n a « w I mo I b"n ra»a n «

.21

n a m m i a n i y s s a Di .22

enn 1 ? t - n r n ^lbo w i d

.23

I n s n o i nbaa K"*6"a n e n a^a T y a n .24 . V i « n ny n a «"«V'a i ^ i a y T y s n .25 O f the t w o cities mentioned in t h e t e x t , the first aviO (i. e. d e a d ) is p e r h a p s the H e b r e w

for Moret, a town in t h e depart

m e n t of Seine-et-Marne, forty miles southeast o f Paris, and t h e s e c o n d ^l^D "'tsJlD for Montmélian, of Savoie.

a town

in the

department

V.

THE HAGGADAH OF JONAH RAPA

CHAPTER

>53

V

THE H A G G A D A H O F JONAH R A P A The peculiar title: Pilpul Zeman Zemanim Zentanehem Title ' s e ' t ^ e r a Play on the expression pJJ J^BI fiTJM pj? (Daniel vii. 25) or has reference to Talmud Babli, Megilah 2 a, where the question is raised why it is written {Esther, ix. 31) cmotn r6«n c-idh n« o^pb and not jen or Dion. All the existing manuscripts of the parody begin with the conjunctive phrase HT JIDIJ^ ¡It TK DJ. And though the construction is rather peculiar, it does not necessarily prove that the manuscripts are defective. It would be more singular were all the manuscripts defective up to the same word. In the study of this satire I made use of three mss. Mss used, belonging to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, which I designate here by A, B and C. Ms. A was purchased from David Frankel of Husiatyn (Austria), who gave the following erroneous description of it in his Catalogue 5 (Husiatyn, 1904), no. 917: k^bj roa^a noB bv man 10a »D^Kj>orin roiDK "n:„ 26 t : 20 v'En axia n.-rmai!?nrn c.Tjrue io by .nrroi mts^n "CBT. The ms. has in fact no title at all, and consists of 26 leaves besides two fly-leaves. The handwriting is not Rashi style, but Italian Rabbinic, and the size is not 2° but 40. The first two leaves are somewhat mutilated, and on the fly-leaf is found the following inscription: "Sanson Lazaro Bachi di Carmognolla nel anno milla otto ciento trentasetta Dico—1837". The entire ms. is vocalized, but the punctuation is so faulty, that it suggests the work of a school boy practicing his lessons. Mss. B and C belong to the Sulzberger collection. Ms. B was bought from Ephraim Deinard, who wrote on the cover: "1ED D'inn a« onjD t r i m vdksd ninet cost jet ^ b . It 1 A euphemism for D"lYUn to evade the Russian IX. 154).

censor (See Z. H. B.

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

154 h a s no title-page.

Paper, 4". i 8 f .

Ital. R a b b . char.

Ms. C is t h e

dentical c o p y described in C a t 6 o f Ch. M. Horowitz (Frankfurt a/M. 1884), p. iii, no. 7 6 a s follows:

lain

nnsun niiD« nai Drpjet D"3di jet by Sib'jb Kim " 4 ° ( 1 8 3 4 ) ttpn '»a npny: nee bv r n n ry.

KBT H3V fVtin,, (1380)

o"p ro»3

T h i s is evident

from t h e title-page and colophon o f t h e copyist, which a r e reproduced here in full. won m»

ii«n

T h e former reads as follows: f\bnb D"pn r o t w - o i n i » k

n'ser pr by bifida mm ,Drpoui o w n

CHDJlp,,

KB"i HJT" m i l

O'ys-iKi nxoi d ^ k

njlDK 133 "[bin 3310 .DTPITD ^B3 D ' J ^ y n ^>33 l i m n y n by ,Dn"3D1

mpsi o ^ f na3 nnnxn ,orrm yn onnpt? mioi ,orr3t3i c-tsun

, d . t i » 3 D ^3.-n a n ^ w i f a i n m p royBro by D^ytsni ,nrp^D3 e r 3 3 y "B3 7'3H ,piOB lV>KO»m T3B!TI .DTP'JKD»1? D3,D"' i j t p K^ T»K nni3iy 1 on ? j n 'n by

• i n«o

\m

,o.T3sy

K3K .Dnnoo

H3iy m»B3i

n

"paiN

ybpn * p - j i m

.on 1 ? d'?ic3 stem on1? j n b t t

fnmmosy

yni

d^bs

T h e colophon is worded ¡TUn

ntriBn n i y o n r K 1 6 n n p n y n s «so^ « s o n

13VlDr.

V. ony

THE HAGGADAH OF JONAH RAPA

"nani ensn t ó a

ca»

d w

,vroai

IÓI

m i a o o n » n oy (a^ao)

« n m a a d ì i i k p s v n m orpp1?« bavia Dm» n ^ a a o a"n«i byi irroro by D^na ottjn nwiaoai D'piwa yTaiyi " -\ty

M n a^pn Dn^uivoa» DEDUCI (Sna bv)

,ny

ny

p t i w a n ,*inai

nxhvbv

, o ]nn«is

.niwtann i w i

d ^ b h

B. POLEMIC ON MATTHEW, IV, I-io. (Ms. A. f. I3b-I4b). Compare Hizzuk in-mini lanon Da a*na

ny

Va« var

i « d maa m

ih

by inbyni

mnn»n dm

;n« n1?« ba n « ib

."niayn

«Tn

ini«i

-j^p1?« 'n

n«

.•naaD 'n l y a o nam nanoan o b d D^ataoi airn

pin

rtt>* ìniervDi

f nnDaai

op»na

'na^i naiaoai ataa immyn !?«i , n m m ,nna«i ^aaa

, 8 noi

nt

,6tdkdd

ab n e w a

ao\n

nob

ipogea

*?« «*?i [rrn] m « r e " >a i y m i ladani ,nnaiai «a

w p n a «"? y n y i ,nnt?on jo»a n»oa « t e rvtro tòi >Tn r n o i

miei

nnnn nn^n «•? >a nyns «t>i ,nno»n n^an tói ni«iaan rut n n n T i i n t«„ mipn t o « o d •»npnnnai 'nabn "jVn >a oa n n j n ^ e a nn*?a cai nsoaa ". . . ]B»n ini« noan? ^ a l a i n n ,nai« ^a «in o y m r ó ia ^ « s d t k nayna

9 'o 11 14 17

&b» pnwy)

*?« i"»'1

naba ns n v w p i D^pri munb nbvirob

tó

,ns,noD

o«i

ibid. rrrna ^yna ]rn« fyrno. 11 ibid. md. ornun.. orrsro... d^bd. ney. in Ms. c WBoa -nsi. 13 ibid. 'in -mun v'r nw nnn Tun »k. Ibid. inm. 15 Ibid. dSish nis^DD. Ibid. "lDMO. Ibid. 13b. >8 Ibid. now. II

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY , n a 12 r r n « t e ^ a o

w o n

to

mm

mi« t i w

" p o s i •o r w p

. n i e n o n Daaa 1 ? by n « i j r a e n Kin n a n ttbn mav6i

nnia6

^na ,)Bp «^>1 w a n e

tonan

b

na"?a

»ms

, ] i s y e a n ^ a w a n " t r n t ^ bvt> mba

" p w n o [D.Tnan -b^»] « i n c p t o p

.jvty nyn

y n v «-rn t 6 i y « i n

3nȧ2

, n t by

iton

m w n

vio pro n r n

wtoa

pi

)i«n

jj

ni

nv

e

n i n e i D"pton

to

n^yo - o "nW> n»

, n " n •j'jd ' i ß m « a

,nna»

d k a"«

n»pi

. ] V j n o rarurv j

w

,]Et?n « s i n e y » i a " p i s n o [ u o o ] n t r p m j n ' a

pBD

n i « n a hid n a i e

a^ia pty

naynn v»"' .3'any r r b

na

*ma

i1»'

TT

n o « n i n n c p «!?i

20 «9 Ibid. WIK no:'». Ibid. DIKH n Ibid. D'ntn. « Read Il'ITa. >i Ibid. HPID. «4 Ibid. D^a«.! Cn1? 1\TW. 25 Ibid. D'2U3. '(> Read inn1?» to rhyme with IHDn. »7 Ibid. 1D1D3V 28 Jbid. nnB Kin® VB^B. a 9 The parenthesis is only found in Ms. C. J® Ibid. VBB733. 3i Ibid. D-J3Kn. Read D*33Kn JfllKD Onb rilOT^ ]KD. 3' Ibid, amp nba ncinn ornep «bl. The reading as it stands in our text is correct 311J) n^S HOK is a quotation from Mishna Middoth iv, 6. To ward

V. T H E HAGGADAH OF JONAH RAPA

163

•?tò rf?nn ."D-nm abiyn «nroto to ü ntnni„ by rwp t o yvrb "ò rvn .an« lamsa nò •o ama« ^ k dp laa ma n»K rtem ,trnvp *)« d t t t tfnira maabi ,trn , «i naa tón "b ninren dk ^ p a rò« te nai, . j « ^ ton o *b a^awa annn to rrrvf mio verb jeern (ity rroan new "anobn ^ n w n o nt J*noi ,jsinenab nooi ity •Dane .wnn ' r y r ^k aai wan "jk anaaa nvneio nvtn i^awpn ivaaa rtr iop anew antw aneraon aa^y ^ih toip n W y^ nia-raai no«n lanna a^naan iato p tó anno bv p i naaa toi D'B1?«^ antri aoVa nip1?« ^nt Wi va« d ' w 1 rer ? ib mm o^iBryi ^nyann (toa) la-xo n»«a an^an S k t i ^ lb ronronb ^an-ao nnws> ny ^ik nyin pen noiS ,"b mnntrn C.

A RELIGIOUS WAR IN T H E S T R E E T S OF MADRID. (Ms. A, f. 19b—20a).

D.Tmajnn nnao nvo 39ip-a

nat^

vbvz

nn^ni

(kv'Jdd,k

a'atoan

bv

a^ae»

naiton Ty) nmKDa jniKD

TWyQ

.amnioeM

.an^pa k i k nan toi nav men i k «arm K o t o oacDi .D.-rninsn 4*nnaiDD nam k roi k ^«usa'p1?« ro jn ibsn na 'am .arnato 'as wm poto uai pan ^ k «toi ,a.Tnim d . t u ,D«TBro bye (ik) nmn naaa arrnaa by apina pnwi nbna aaw «VB" •aTnmBtpaa pnva dvk toK ay *v»y ato ,arpaab naaa piae ik *rtt iKipa [«npa] , « b t k era nnp mainna rniana anato 'K aye naai neiy Kim ma!? re" nniana ^ana1? niawKnn ninan «r^nia toK aa^i ,a.TaBb new ynn by navty nwn nnan nn^n nni«na mawKvi ninan w it?y no .Drpya pueo nan ^«1 cnan i« ,nn,l?KDE'1? "pnn ]n w i nenn nnno mTtr inbtf the ravens off the roof of the Temple there was an arrangement of iron points a cubit high which was called 3T,y I am indebted for this suggestion to Prof. Ginzberg. 3J 111 Ms. C nubOD. 35 Ibid. ìenab no^i. 34 Ibid. ^Dn». 36 11,id. noin. 38 n3DD

o

,mcio

H3 W O K

o

mtrto?

anpnV

mnan

(2)

it v b "o , c s n

iyin iyr ^ìtó

,nna

r o

ddd»d3

,B.TT3

mumi

muti rw

s n K t s o t b t n

pa

,D"Nn

o$n)

nr«

p«

«sn

,

napia

,nai«i

nE>Nb> l i n n e t

nantói

tab y n a i mnn

D^nia

tbna

pK p a

nmm ?'(DnD

n s t ? by

ni)

by

,D"na

njn p a

niBonji

mpenai

ia» xb •'«pa

. m a i pp-pi p s T t ?

.naipa 8i

by

rrayn»

)it?b>i n a n a i d^bn

^sa» di»

Dnota

omtna ^tnua'Ta1?

?8niD nti n » « n

^pman

boi

noni una»

o n a y a»" 1 » o ^ a u i n n

,(Dna n a n a

n«

bai n m

pb>i c s S n

sin

d ^ d

nnen nanan

,77 d^tb n n DKon n n ^ «db»

IBDKI

inai

, a r ò -®yai e n

iamb

,onb> n a n

miKtw

ns«i

K s a j n » p a n bz

iKia> rr 1 ?« 1

, D i T n i o a bz by iitk

a^y

73nnni< n b y n

bo

Domani

viaa

.avitò

warn

«nat^

noe

DWBa

ik

ìamba

n o d i » by

n o «

[ n n y j dj> n ^ p i ] n » « i k e ^ n n m p n n p i B i

, 72Diipci pinne

Dy

.Tina

its'« 7 « - q d 3 ) « « m a n a

CNntfoni a w i s n

bina dk

mawi

by "?iana d,-6

.tetti

on

nt

non

boa

nnw vmhv

i?ai n n a a a i

Dnai»

d ^ j d b>nn nn

^a

nni?»

ton»

n»«n

wni^a

,niaròan

nana d»

nNT

^aai b$n

m s i y n «vi o

rwya onato

66 in Ms. B: m-cye. 67 i „ Ms. C: n m nTtPsn nempDni. 68 Ibid, m u t s i a a . I.oreto is a small town in the province of Ancona, eastern Italy. There is found the famous pilgrimage shrine, Santa Casa, which is reputed to be the veritable house of the Virgin, transplanted by angels from Nazareth and miraculously set down in Italy on Dec. 10, 1294 (The Century Cyclopedia of Names, s. •.). Compare also the closing lines of this paragraph beginning JV3n Kin. Bertinoro is a small town in the province of Forli, Italy. Evidently, the author is at fault here in his geography. 69 The sign of parenthesis is found in the Mss. 70 Ibid. "DCO. 7» Ibid. D"in nn VeSTI nt. 7* ibid, nnpbi pmib. n In Mss. B & C: nan«. 74 In Ms. C: D111 75 Ibid. 12BT. 76 Ibid. m i y B Y ^ . 77 Krauss in his article on this ms. omits the whole foregoing paragraph. (See R. E. J. vol. 47. p. 92). 78 In Ms. C rtJ'D HI. 79 Ibid. nDB>. 80 fad, iBflO B>m Krauss {ibid. p. 87) identifies this with the celebrated church Nueslra 81 Seftota de Atocha at Madrid founded in 1523. Ibid. mSW.

166

STUDIES IN J E W I S H lJ?"Di

TBf« K T ^ H nniió winen

n«

,9° n a a ' i a n ia^Dn

nnin myi

,nianon »cn

.«Viua tea

,nuopn» inn

D^aa n i a i -into

rbnan

e w o ,

, o j

»jrrpa

]»

roen" 1

miwtna h

torn

/«"»K^-a^

dp

in«a

»ók

inn byv

nm«

km

VOÜ

,roaa»n

""Dn1?

up

(•&»)

bon^i

anaína

"siBXT'Baioa»

ba

,««maniD-i

K? 1

tea

9snniK

reran wnpn nn\n> nnaav

wkbviik

n1?« v b v n»«n

«OIVUIM

m^tom

(atf

mnatsn

nanpi

tó

DJ1

runci "vh*

«^wic^ßa

k\ti

W

Dpn

^D'aaro^im

nn»jn

TO< nwtn

T&K

««-iw-wpa

n^na

nuaaipa

nnruöD

^n

tbtk

^iaaa

tfftn n r m

n*?Bi ^

nj>Dt¡n

matoso

.«»tcmnBO

non

nrr^p

"fun

^JIDD K t V

/Wa^Bpa

»9 t e r p e n

moana

nnjn mn«

DTtBTOD)

o-oannoi

iK'^u

ÍHMÓ W a ^

, » s K « a i a " - n a a tb>k Man ^ p y n o a

TttftÓ (ote

PARODY

am

,manna

, .Trono

ik

( n w a D )

n»« ?

,m£>a

nn»

1

«3 Ibid. ... rWK nM I W V Almeida is a town in the province of Beira, Portugal. ®4 Tournon is a town of France in the Department of Ardéche (Gross, Gallia Judaica, 216). 85 Burgundy. 86 Ibid. Ip*!. Vich is a town in the Province of Barcelona, not Catalonia as Krauss has (See Geografia General de España. Madrid 1862). 87 Catalonia, Spain. M For the identification of this place see Krauss {ibid. p. 88) who gives 8 the reading WBrUOT. 9 Poland. 9° Hungary. 1 9 In Ms. C : «"JIVIBW, Strigonia is a city in Hungary. 9* Ibid. UkVd, Milan. 93 Ibid. VJKWlKpa, Caravaggio is a town 22 miles east of Milan. 94 Varallo, a town in the province of Novara, Italy. Near it is Sacro Monte, a place of pilgrimage founded in i486. Krauss' identification of this place with Vorarlberg is not satisfactory. 95 Ibid, m i n p n nnpi. 96 Ibid. rrB31D"6n. 97 Ibid. ^U.T 9« Ibid. 'BJlD^Bi®. 99 Ibid. HDD1"«H. 100 Biella is a town in Italy, Oropa is not far from it. 101 Ibid. in^. 1°« Ibid. mw«na. "»3 Ibid. Jerri n VllipX The phrase means, " T h e Virgin of the little lake (laghetto) in the suburb (contado) of Nice". 104 Ibid. '11J1DT nVMffl, Mondavi is a town in the province of Cuneo, Italy. 10 5 Montferrat is an old marqaisate of Northern Italy. But as the next place seems to be in Spain and both seem from the text to be near each other, I suggest reading lBNTDMB. Montserrat is a jagged mountain, about 30 miles North West of Barcelona, noted for its monastery, founded in 880, which contains the Image of the Virgin.

VL THE SEDHER PES AI

(Bijro) ncno ,|rrtona m

M^tf

,rmn«Vi rriß^ r n

newt

wjn j . t w o y o »bv

\yyoi «V rwt b a i W T

WEHLLKHATHO

«*> rs

167

roSn

^rwnp

b a i a v t6sn

*

,pnum

iVnai isn-i

myn ,nrrjwn by m e n niaSoi ,m*mjr

,nr«i n m

.nniDD •fra «"on « a r « a nra nnx opce? w m ^ r rw«n by awa

Ttip »bv

DwnB (Drrty) «"»ao

b*

np

abz

, ,o 9D^«j»srD .-rn «as

DTO

rm

, i M D^noi triyo

o^wn ta r n

.«"DHaai ann *jDa DWD ursim w t « •wfyi ruts

(o^ai) c - a n d^dvh rrobv v y

nviioTp "Jtcp'ittn

noi vpi ra«

nmo nman raen

RO»

^jn

^Ta

ba

.d^h

vbtt ¡¡btm '« bs

rb

vrv TDDD

1nonsen»

r»D

nVijmn

,

CHAPTER T H E SED HER

PES AH

nasi naa by

rrnnsi«

mxia-i n « N an»

.nwiam *pai ant « m a

r&w

*joa w a n

,nopi noti bxt

.«"«p ntn p t a

min«

msi nrmpc

no*

" S I M Y K N

^ W B b x n^K «an

VI WEHILKHATHO

The manuscript used in the study of this parody is part of a codex (Paper, ItaL Rabb. char., 16°. 8if.), which has been inadequately described in David Fränkel's Cat. No. 5 (Husiatyn, 1904) p. 68 and 71, nos. 1020, 1047 and 1048.

The codex is now in

the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and contains the following parodies: (a) t i n « » TODB (f. 1 — 2 2 ) ; (b) ttTBD3 B ^ j m D T O (f. 2 4 — 3 1 a ) ;

(c) D , «3 D-BVB (f. 32—35, 37—38);

(d) [ i r o S n

TOB

"HD] (f.

106 Coria is a town of Spain, 47 miles N. N. W. of Caceres, on the Alagon. It is enclosed by granite walls of Roman origin, and has a castle of the 15 th. century, a Gothic cathedral, and several convents. Kraoss did not io 7 In Ms. C: nrr6. identify these two places satisfactorily. 108 Barbarossa, ruler of Algeria, died in 1546.

109

Ibid.

D^KSNERNO.

m Ibid. m e n . 114

Ibid.

110

ibid,

Ibid. 0^31.

N^M

DTTUX

" 3 Ibid. jrpnsu».

CTIBDRW.

" 5 Ibid. m-nn. East India Company, chartered by Queen Elizabeth in 1600. 116 in Ms. C: m r mum n u t

168

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

40—73a, 74—81). Folios 23, 31b, 36, 39 and 73b are blank. T h e first parody will be described in detail in the next chapter, in connection with Mai's edition of the same parody, and the second and third parodies will be discussed in chapter VIII. The fourth parody is the one under consideration. Another ms. of this parody is found in the Bodleian, described by Neubauer (Cat. no. 2581) as follows: [fUB] by bpbpD" ]pr6. This is the heading of a poem of eight lines, beg. TtPK JVntSD WKI «Bin. Signed MSI p a m r ,.TN1 TJ> ,iTHC ¡"tCJiD, which precedes the treatise containing a travesty of the bv man nDB, on praise and blame of women by Yonah Kohen Rapa? It beg. IT1? Hit« "'p'jKl m » fin. with the words 'D i n « JHV (incomplete). Ital. curs, char.; fol., paper, ff. 9." A copy of f. 1 a which contains the poem, f. 2 a, and of the first and last lines of every page of this ms. was made for me by Rev. Segal of Oxford, and according to his transcription the beginning of the parody reads m x K1? ItTKl (?)iT3, just as Prof. Steinschneider had suggested in his discussion of this parody {Letterbode, XII, p. 80). The copy in the Seminary library, however, lacks the poem, and the parody proper begins with the words iT"TB> The words JHV 'B TT1K are not found in the Seminary copy, but instead there is the short colophon mann IIB^D D"?E01, which is not found in the Bodleian ms. A ms. of this parody, once in the possession of J. Kaufifmann (perhaps identical with the Bodleian ms.), is described in his Catalogue (Frankf. a. M. 1883) p. 12, no. 71 as follows: «11» ty^a tf"K mana rw^n niNitwm n i t r o n ba by j n ot? tosm^ 1-17 n« i t v i no-i D'tran a n a i bea n w i w n ^ a n a i no"1 n"?ina nanttn vby maa «pDa^i

irman»

pidb

^p^pB w s ^ b

n o pto topi

inai

pwiyi mint« ^ltwn

nan pa^n m a n h t d

bd»b

y m

Va Kim] i n n t o n

[ . . . rrntr rwybb m n n rv ny jmp n t y by aina p .]pr6 naB by (See Letterbode, XII, p. 79, where this description is given). T h e statement in the brackets is certainly that of the compiler of the catalogue, but even the one preceding it must likewise be ascribed to some copyist and not to the author of the parody, because it gives us the impression, that the satire is put in the

VI. THE SEDHER PESAF WEHILKHATHO

169

mouth of the woman-hater ("Itfin OBtPD 3'TIN 3T131), whereas in the text of the parody we find that the satire is the expression of one of the wise men, whom the woman-hater comes to consult, as will be seen from the extract given below. B y what name the author himself called the parody cannot be ascertained. None of the titles mentioned above is authentic. T h e title nDB bv rrUH is nowhere found in the mss., iTUnn HB'D is found only in the Seminary ms., while WD by bpbpn, even if it were found in all mss., could not be regarded as the original title, because the poem and the parody were most likely written by different men, as will be seen from the arguments below. I have, therefore, chosen the title IfO^m rtDD VTD, because it is found in the body of the text, as will be seen in the extract below. T o the identity of the author of this satire we can find no clue. In the whole parody, the only personal remark is the following: ^iNtre "»»si v t e m , totei "vctr DID rrateite ^r lanon ^KI, . " r r M n nno»3 VJB^> 1D1K ,rvnnn (Seminary ms. f. 69; Bodleian ms., f. 7 a), from which we gather, that the author was a bachelor when he wrote the parody. T o ascribe the parody to Jonah Rapa, because the poem preceding it seems to be his, is unsafe. For, aside from the fact, that the poem is not found in all the mss., which proves its apocryphal nature, it is quite impossible that the author of Pilpul Zeman should also have written this satire. If there is no other reason, this alone should be sufficient to discredit the theory of Rapa's authorship, that while in the Pilpul Zeman almost every page gives evidence of Italian life and culture, there is not a single expression in the Order of Passover that points to Italy, or, for that matter, to any other of the Latin countries. Furthermore, it is difficult to associate the crude and almost unintelligible lines of the poem with the easy and graceful prose of either parody. But allowing even that Jonah Rapa, the author of Pilpul Zeman, is also the author of the poem by bpbpto ipr6 WD, all we may deduce from its proximity to the Order of Passover is, that the latter was written by a contemporary

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

170

of Rapa, and, therefore, belongs to the latter part of the seventeenth century. This, by the way, is the only means we have of determining the period to which the Order of Passover belongs. There are no names and no events in the parody to throw further light on this question. In conclusion, I reproduce here the poem, according to a copy from the Bodleian ms., and two extracts from the parody a translation of which was given above (p. 4 3 , 4 4 ) . » j p r b r u n bp , n n«i ,*WD

bpbpo ,rpnwD r w

pjn rrn w t

rvDin n w n

,«Din ~&tt .1 b n by l a i y i .2

-nil e m o « p n a n a o n D o i i n p e n ^ a o i ntB c n v a t ^ n r 6 a t e ^ -» b »

r r r r «Vi n i t r o m a t m p'raa "ay

wai a w

jvn CBI p t w - i m ( m

71x01 n a o jn rwijn iwea n » « a t « n

.3 4 .5

m d w o u b d p > m n .6

K S ^ K ) ^>t-on

.nuoa

.7

1

Steinschneider published the same poem in Letterbode, XII, p. 79 from a copy made for him by Neubaner. Some of his variants are given here below; for the Talmudic references I am indebted to Prof. Ginzberg. Line I. The meaning is as if it read: JYrtWDl KBin WK. „ » „

„

„ „ ,, „

2. In Leiterb. rPDlM, cf. TO» 140b; Kin W would be the better reading. 3- D'ICD I'lpD is a metaphoric expression for an ox (Cf. Ps. lxix, 32); the meaning is that he abstains from meat. 4. Prof. Gimberg suggested to me the reading: "h "piKO WKD m n r « 1 1IB D'JVaiji) nn1? kW. For D'JVaK compare the commentaries to Ecclesiastes, 12,9; for 1»D compare Jeremiah 3,13: T3VI "Itttfn. 5. In Letterb. rrrr Kb. Compare TO» 105b: Q1K bv 1S111 VFV 11 bit CT'X pin -fir rn 101K MHj Steinschneider's emendation instead of n»K2 MV] deprives the passage of its proper significance. 6. In Letterb. p i a a ICS, which is incorrect Compare 2 Sam. xii, 31. 7. In Letterb. T i m i . For ]1KW 1131 compare n2® 140b in v'Cn beg.: nnw ma . . . KH3. 8. The name pSID is not common in later Hebrew literature, and is very likely used here only playfully. 9. In Letterb. TOPD.

VI. THE SEDHER PESAH WEHILKHATHO RIANO « t a (nt) JIBIB

171

DIAAI MN NTYYOI .8

•Hin ]na nif n w -ty n\-i» nwyoc .9 EXTRACT A. (Seminary mi. f. 46—47; Bod. ms. f. 2 b—3 a).

nam upon Dßtws m «m «n -ja î t t j w um« nyo» . . . . •'liB wvna tran "ÛT noa .n«ii» nnm nain« nn« ,nto 1« miya ro^? a^n noa w i inrnai ;n«i nw -«a not ioti ,nmaa rnaa jyc1? Taan p-mwu ,nuoci mine nonaa rs'aaai ntoi mia ."nterp n r « nom nwrr .TON nos,, ,n«o:tn n« nnn nioc , a by , ya ten1? n»K treni1? K-np OK nonn n^ioa p-itjo tnay ivtai m ata .jiaxyai ptena annoi ran *>iatò m s a«n miaya .;iy nsa" M M «IM .]iayi "'rb JWH-M EP b*bo ^IN ,|O«TI n ^ y ,infia "wer 'ob non nt nn ,WIKTI MATA1? N ^ « «a TON p nn« DJI ny vas ns Ttnni ra peipi ,ini« naso nt?« njnn by nninci •raw no*ipm Tiai ay-no1? UK p n s fnyi .iman tatto pmni» •pty ^n nawtm .nom iya n UD ">a ,no» •vat.-òi naiyta vina» ta iten "piß byo rnbvb ,tsn rby ib noto» onp ,oi«on nain n'oan uta -BNI .»un m i nta Dntoai ,ann nn« -I»K niaemon D^oyB^I or taa D^oys .TN-Ü nn^n 'ran ,Deaeri jnitB»3 n n n « 'n r w y "3 IN ,D"nopi ysx

CHAPTER T H E MASSEKHETH

PURIM

VII OF THE

SEVENTEENTH

CENTURY The main points I intend to prove here are, that the Massekheth Purim of the seventeenth century has come down to us in five different versions; that, while each of these may appear at first sight entirely different from the others, they are at bottom one and the same parody; and that the first version is the one from which all the others developed. § I.

EDITIONS AND MANUSCRIPTS

IS KH '11N DniS ^NIBM *ttO C H S KD3DD > » nyii .B3«-ip "pDjnp i^k -iyi«K t« -p^i ^ s n b ^ p y x -ijn jib p y n o-ijm ,pN,,!? po tsiyn n i . v ]BU )VT I V p i m i BJ>H 1J? M S. 1. e. a. [Cracow? 17th. cent.]. The copy in the Bodleian library [Steinschneider, Cat. Bod. no. 3852] is considered to be a unicum (See Letterbode, IX, p. 47, no. 32). I had it transcribed for me by Rev. M. H. Segal of Oxford. It is not divided into chapters, nor into Mishnah and Gemara. It begins with the words .TDn« ITS m tori ntriB3 3V13 ate rrntr i n s 3no ro nbnnjtr n c ^ s ^ m jib^ l?n,i . m s yen Version

vn.

THE x v n

. . . it njnsaa rrfcr, .D^nwon D'on ^ D In Letterbode, IX, confusedly welded

C E N T . MASSEKHETH PURIM

173

and ends with m « r o lyo» n r n n "jni v w p ^ m ? m Tiipn bi vi w o i n a wipn 'nbob p. 47, no. 32, the beginning and end are together.

nniß rODD s.l. [Sulzbach], 1695, 8°. 8f. That this edition was printed in Sulzbach is evident from the fact that Moses ben Isaiah Wengrow, in the preface to his /V*U ntfD ¡TOD (Berlin, 1701), speaks of a Massekheth Purim that was printed in Sulzbach. Evidently, he must refer to the ed. of 1695, since the next Sulzbach edition appeared in 1814 (See M. Weinberg, Die hebräischen Druckereien in Sulzbach, no. 34, in Jahrb. d. Jüd.- Literarischen Gesell. Frankf. a. M., 1903, p. 127—128). This version consists of six chapters, the names of which will be given in the table of contents below, and a hymn for the night of Purim, which will be discussed in the eighth chapter. T h e same version is found in two manuscripts. (a) Ms. Rosenthal, . . . niDD» JDW D'COK >T by . . , e m s rODD p B^> l^on TV3 ^N TT1DM np^ni nitf yaoim TDVUl Paper, small 8*. Sq. char. 18 p., consists of five chapters without the hymns. It was written in 1784 by Meir ben Joseph De Wulft. T h e copyist added later (1812) a parody in the form of a commentary on the Massekheth Purim the full title of which reads as follows: by

NNJK W R N

NTW NOSN W I V I NEU IKSDS

TRYWY» JRAA -IBD

non m n a o i n ^T by -unn:i IDTIJ a m s 'dot tcusi K^pt? aypn DYiBBtoKa D'OSPK VnpT !>nn e m o n r c n Paper, small 8°., Rabb. char. 21 p. It contains additional notes by M. J. Verkoze and approbations by Abraham Zirndorf, Meir Loonsteen, Isaac Lieden, Moses Joseph Verkoze and Abraham Susan, all dated 1813 (See Roest, Cat. p. 1170, no. 6; Letterbode, IX, p. 47, no. 33). (b) Ms. Michael, D^HB rODD consists of five chapters, followed by two hymns for the night of Purim. It was written in 1815 by Zebhi Hirsch ben Judah Loeb Wanfrieden of Amsterdam and presented to Moses Oppenheim by his son-in-law Hertz of Amsterdam (See D"n nrtllK p. 358). It is now in the Bodleian

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

174

library (Neubauer, Cat. 2285, 11). See also Letterbode, IX, p. 47, no. 33. nvjiD moo .Dmnai D^pt "JbV p ' m c rDDD Version ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ,»13031 DJ>B3 , KTD3TT1 HUTCH •en n»« »K112H Mb rmy nan nt< w s i r a ,»nipn » v w n K ]dd rmyv 103 .ccpi q ^ i k t d uxiik ^sm ,D>ony raj? bv

didh by tsr>K ^o pb

.jon ^ n e 1 ? us>k ppn by ni>ni» ,]om

lim« ^ ,nnaSn i^m itobt« jyoS .p^ym roiiaa it roDo «ip" .pK ,0^1? Tjn nnyo , n m m D^no It is printed in John Henry Mai's "Bibliothecae Uffenbachianae" (Hallae, 1720. 2°. col. 178—225) from an Uffenbach ms. (now ras. Hamburg, 241; Steinschneider, Cat. Hamburg no. 284), which was written in 1703. It consists of four chapters, followed by two hymns for the night of Purim, all of which were translated into Latin by the editor (See Letterbode, IX, p. 47, no. 33). Besides the Uffenbach ms. there are three other manuscripts of this version. (a) Ms. Frankel. I, .BnTB DJi . . . tTpTE 71&& (nsfcl) D^ntr JT3DD mp"? nu ^D"« Yro {Cat. 5, Husiatyn, 1904, p. 71, no. 1047). The manuscript has no title, and is part of a codex which is now in the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (See above chapter VI). Besides the division into Mishnah and Gemara, it also has a number of passages marked NpDB. The tflTB is in the form of foot-notes and extends as far as the end of the third chapter. The last chapter has two glosses (niHlH) instead of the BflTB, and closes with the colophon innpb «to "inn . a m : v m M n^nn ,Dni3B> roDD atoai on .tniBn vivni nnem ilWD *6k The manuscript itself was very likely written in the early part of the eighteenth century. (b) Ms. Deinard, tni3tf rDDD Paper, Ital. Rabb. char. 240. 23 f., now in the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Excepting a few unimportant variations, the text of this manuscript is the same as that of the preceding manuscript. It has only five chapters, but the first comprises 3.11 that is contained in the first two chapters of ms. Frankel. The BATS is here in the form

v n . THE x v n CENT. MASSEKHETH PURIM

175

of marginal notes, and is found only on the first two leaves. The glosses (nirUH) are altogether wanting. It closes with the colophon ypw 'n r6ma topd n « o rooo pnn 1 1 "tr pV nyier ma jrri ,n!?ip - p m rmyD 1a? ne>jn ,on 'ripa new irm1? bv "ma an nVa« nmpD^ p a m laVa rrnai pbxy t o n n w nbty tnia "jkS nae> oteai nn .a-a« .nnp )isn pitcn m t e nae> .Dbao -pys p^aa p"?na ^aa paaa 'n iaom> c n n t nv .DB'nn While the version as contained in this manuscript was composed in 1729, as is stated in the colophon, the manuscript was written at a much later date. (c) Ms. Frankel. 2, D^maffTODD{Cat. 1 1, Husiatyn 1906, no. 188). Paper, small 40, Ital. rabb. characters 9 p., in the J. Th. S. of America. It has the divisions of rOCD, Knoa and KpDB, but the t?1TD and mnjn are completely wanting. In the arrangement of the chapters and the Mishnahs it is entirely like Ms. Deinard. The date of the ms. cannot be determined; it was very likely written in the early part of the eighteenth century. Version

.cms1? nirr^Di r v n y o i^k n*?ai d ^ b r o e e ^ a a -nt^n „^¡^ ^ ^ ylJ? B j n i Hannover, [»Ha JVC .Tntrm nat?

4

" DJ1K [1844], 8°. 16 p. The second ed. s.'l. [Vienna] 1867 [-Otn] 120. 24p., in the New York Public Library, bears the imprint . . . ^ H no^tf v Ji "Y11DD The third ed. s.l. [Vienna?] ; 1884 [D 3W«1 niaij? lib na»n bs nat9], I2°. 24p., in my possession, has a better text than the two first editions. This version consists of four chapters, preceded by a hymn for the night of Purim, and followed by Bensew's D^lfiV ¡TO^D, somewhat altered in text and provided with a new title: anac ^BD DniB^ mir'jD 1TD I^IBI taaewa nmatyn. The same version is found in Ms. Franco-Mendes, CUB rDDD D ^ r r a pns na pna^ n naaa «sea ^ » i t It became later the property of Sommerhausen, who found its text identical with Blogg's edition (See Litbl., XI, col. 181—182, nos. 4, 9). The name pnx "ia ]na'a 1 occurs in Blogg's ed. (1884) p. 8. In Mai's ed., col. 191, the passage reads Wy D17 by pa^a an IDC Nnpi rr.n pns nai.

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

176 Version

nifiovn

.WTC

ny

nnw

tiD^n

p

tmiß

HDD 13 lBDWil It rDDD CHTO 3/1311 BnnW tonan -napn ^r

nsno

niBDvn w t b i

iT2DO .JWVTDl

'oas tran-pn

nvnno u m "lilO Sulzbach, [1814?]. 8°. 12 f. (See Roest, Cat. Rosenthal . . . Anhang p. 222, no. 1160; Letterbode, IX, p. 48, no. 34). Another edition of the same version . . . Ö^IB TODD m m n nn isoina nnjn . . . y e n n n i n a n a niBDini ntsn"B dj? Dil [of Sommerhausen] D^O» W man DJ . . . DtSHn DlSDini D^IB^ nvrtD [of J. L. Bensew]. Lemberg, 1847, 8°.26f. The same was reprinted in Lemberg, 1854, 8°. i6f.; Cracow, 1878, 2of.; Warsaw, 1885, 8°. 24 f. This last edition contains also at the end a parody (KpffD K ^ n ) by M. S. Rabener (See below Chap. 14 no. 210). The same version is found in Ms. Rosenthal, p CTID rDDD ton o^iwmn )d -©na k1? . . . niBDini v , en ""B dj> ^33 -no1?/! . . * |^T33 iWJra^U n«^MK33 lDBna Paper, 8"., Sq. and Rabb. char. Title page and iof. It was copied from an alleged Amsterdam ed. of the year D^B33 DniB W [1808]. (See Roest, Cat. p. 1170, no. 5; Letterbode, IX, p. 49).

S II.

CONTENTS OF MASSEKHETH PURIM OF THE XVII CENT. ACCORDING TO VERSIONS J, 3. 4, 5.

VERSION 2. SULZBACH, 1695.

Chapter I, Mishnah i. . . . T7K3 -my

B D V

MS. ROSENTHAL, no. 6.

Chapter I, Mishnah i. nK pj>3D viK3 l a y n a b » DV3 . . . D'D.n

Chapter 2, Mishnah i . In Sulzbach ed. this Mishnah ,-prw ^o (AM -j1?

t 6 o na n^a r n w n ^ a a

a i r o t o o n K S a a i [f. i b ]

tfp'isi ••a a i n a

bvt

navn

tnooaa

v n a n a ipnsai iniata p n s n m by

y

D«p i t o n a p ^ i s n n a myv

DJis

vb

nona pi

^^JIVTK D.TIDI O ^ L ,1DVM

aprai

nna y e a » [ n i a t a ] "?a p a p a a i

DM ,v"1

iniata c m

o ^ j n n nnao r 6 i a rucrn ^a n o » a

na pn n S i y a I M M h^I o^papn I ^ d k if?ia n ^ i y n *?a y a o i ^ i a o n

«ar

* For the fall title see above under Editions and M»s. version I . 3 All textual corrections are put in brackets. 4 Comp. ed. Mai, coL 203 beg. . . . p a n&M:V ffl l ' " 1113 . . . D'l^ l'" 'in . . . r n w i 'ipp i " 1113 n a m p i J'"' w i m ' i t s « ; ed. Blogg, 1867 p. 12. 5 Comp. ed. Mai, coL 181 beg., T3KH . . . UTUK n^l&S m i *h >1D '1CD . . . o 1®» rwona mil ,12 y n rwano mn flrrywm rrm uwiw p i D I » 6 rb® ed. Blogg, p. J .

v n . THE x v n CENT. MASSEKHETH PURIM

183

T r i p n\-i» [mata] ima»3 rrn nt Vai na^na i n « v n t e m vani i n » « i i a Vt"n«i n a v a mnior c i a n a i o r n e a nan»nV T n y RVN»i D-D y c V .«nan»ai n n » o r a ia n m « p o i o v a oyi*

vn

«V «in «VoV«» aits'? » ' « n

i n i « mat pana

TDK

D^aan» inoana «in «V« p n o o y o D^y-tv v n «Vi p n a^sa oViyn .oViya p

m i n [nsxtwi] n a n a r «V» n s na^na mmot

«V« nVs m a « n Vso i v a « prrr V» v a i n a

no1? p e n an

e m

7

o^o n r w a menV DK ^ [vn «V v p o y ] m n «V vpoyi vo^ Va» ^BO o^on iV«i ,[-in«] n n « n í a IVv p - u 'i .naanon pyo jnon 1 D ^ I K D iaa [bK"«"] ma» i?a i w DK I D I K n^n Kin nen 13 pa» "1 by I I D K o^ ^ r i a c N W *pa pen 11 O N E Y "11 nKii .Tntrai n a ^ kV» DV .Tn nber vb j-oer 1 ID» Kipi na1? 9 Comp. ed. Mai, coL 189, beg. VM n : bt> V a 'JiB 311 p3W Tn « a n ne«! DTO-o bv i n s i i" Dnb rrn KVI , . . -p-n »bn nn« DVB« vn o t i j ^rai Sw ik3 on1? irni: t d . . . D^ir ed. Blogg, p. 7. »® Comp. ed. Mai, col. 183—185, beg. «3D K13 3 ^ lb V.T Dn'C^n .TWOn . . . in ; ed. Blogg, p. 6.

VU. THE xvn CENT. MASSEKHETH PURIM

185

rrn Kb» "IV rea miûi vaia by yna ,-pn p«b rrn» p htk pen by noK .HB^B na«o law YD na mpj nt byi »i»n Kb» DT> .Yn Kb aNai in« non ib nw D I » D pen i TD» Knpa nob «V obiybi [nixbo] n^bo mjrai 'a nenn by rrn Toni nav rrn «b nnnn» Dipo Di»b "jbin rrn Kb Dbiybi ,mapn [vn] nvi rrn wao wr» nip DV baa Tern ,vby piyB» prora-i'a oy aie mn m« wa oy "Dio rrn»ai [p n^yan] pa Ta*i nni» join AN I D » Kipa nt byi -IKD iy DENAN ,Ym VBD twv rrn pno WBD )tana -i io» topi nob pana "1 by no« ."laanon pyoa [pon] b'tn noKi nn« no^ba .nn« nybaa p rvyai nni» rrn» .imbv n » K pana K-ipa nt byi ,pa-ia nt nn nn« roa LDIA nni»n 1^3 ima ana ib mn» ^BB ^"o a-i 10» Kipa nob ^oia "\ by no« ID*OB b*BDI "[bin nvt wa nnco tw^ mip -ipa baai I B W D b sK 10» K-ipa nt byi lonao p np»o rrm lonab I B W B B I ìBvnab vn» 'ÌBD piapa 'i io» tnpa nob pupa "i by no« .Ton ^0*0 "1 DIIK mKi ;ab nn« 'n p niK^bo [f. 3 b] 'piapa ^ a» Ton nKisa ib nb^bai .niKbo vn Toni ntai nto rrn» uba mo« n ^bin rrn Kbi vm»Kio nbyob D^piapa [jniK] WIK nbm rrn )»^b ibin rrn»A •ni^ nti [nbiy] nby nt VB -pnb pbKD YIV nvi na»ao nwiBS mi»ai naa»K nvn» vby -nyo» IK .ib non p« piapa t io» Kipa nt byi [on»] ww Qipiapa Kba pbin [pw] il1«» 'naa»Kn «snn Ton 'a .piapa "i "otb D.TTS3 D'lbn Dp .nan»ai w»i iba« .KniBn KTmyoa «in -ib [ps»n] ptn «m n^n -pi .KDTVKI ,-rby ^om ^ya »nna»o ppn» in«i K T I ib ion»i «an bai Kin biaon 'DO iniK inbsn» p^nsn m "p ' bK mk ;Kai b» mbsn yjßb anpn» pipno ninwn nn OK nmn»i iniata na^na ITIK T I X D 'no^p a"j " 3K1 onisa "on»ai p nn»» na»a n^n nt bai niKBib KIN ib no^b» 'KIBT nib»b -pon K3 \ T omsa inian»ni nK n^nm inbsnb n'apn yo»i .orna» wsa nbn biyan bKi iniK inon "11 ,pa 1B13 ba \>rn» 'OIK )ia» 'i .Kin ^Kim KWibß .KTt 'T 'I 'OK .ban n»y» 'OIK piapa 'i .ouay ^^nn naon by D»» 'OIK .piapa 'na nabn pj-u DIU ;)ia^y DIU ,nno» DNA :jrt ibKi by noKa onan a"1 Tn ,mon babao ¡[o^yn] D^ononKo D . ^asn d^KD ;nrpn Diia ,nanK Dna ,nos b^a abn^» Dna ¡np^n» Dna ,im Dna ;IID nbao ,'iai nnnn np^y a^b ton .naop Dna

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY «eoi «"TIBT KOV 'BVO mm « m i « 3 bvn KP mn KIN «son "ntQ " i " T3D3 ibsp ITS» "n , p n n » «bi m n «b VD'O m o 'TI ,pa» t rrab ini« [nasi] TDSI [f. 4 a] mn»bi bi3«b neb D» »jar« m e DUB [ano >ba or «ira «bo] «•'»So p^i o n « jo ma" w T W J vasb Dten noi «in no j m «b ^ Doin»oi bnao top np»on nt n«-i»3 nwa TI •p« no1? "1 lb 'D«I T«O TV many mm neb A N )TA» "i «ai ID® nn»i ib» Diaa ini« D»I pno )Ta» t np^i ,T«D «in aw nnw nt w « - i «b ,D,D n w a -i ib a ^ m ••an« nn» lb •»« a"n«i ]T3» am TKO TV m m nbna n n n )T3» mmi «V np»on 1 a" »™ n n » nn« noi ib tok^i nbnaa op-n ía now TK»a «bi iab VO»»ai .TKO TV •"pinol D^bibx D^D íaoipos pnw 11« *V«A ib tDi 7 0 » no ib TOKI TKO TV nnoi nbna npjra pjrri PA» 'T nt n » v » npjran p n uaT ba lyoen .«mea «^o nin»b oibn "jwan niKO t [bipn] -|bn nn« v^Tai nn« nv»ai nn« naa oba wa*i .nt no byi nt no by njnb obs vbK raspi note m«O T by ÍIDTB n»yon 'T nn1? TBD^I .vnn n»yon mn no ib ib«»«i vb« i«a^i o-'iann bo nyvi .«mea «na nin»b ín^aa « a » nt1? ib ? T K » jnn 1b ibwjn TI«O DOW»OI Tniso omasb «a^i . n n o ' T n a y in'wi nav :nnb a ^ m .-;bin nn« )«bi nn« DV nr«oi «an pKoi nrw >0 •OKI ,N»a\n n«I D\T n« N»y T»K « T UK o w n n « I >aa« .•p^y D» noi *p» no ib ib«»i . 1 ^ 0 ni»yb oibB nipob "jbin nnia [D» lib] D»b t^i yo» IKA ^ y D»I ^ « A ONB AVM •"¿an ba isjr-Tia tK ,n"v i v a « pret" i s n p nnKano ""pinoi cot d^oo TV nnBity 'IKO [f. 4 b] "ia ini« [ibbpi] mbbpi [ITII] imTJi lonnm ]IPT'^OII ID» PTKA] n-'Ka

IT"V DPI ID» NI"»I NVM OTTO [atw] LAITSRO

inb»i ,nai»n r w y v i nbivb c d [nn»s] in»" «b»i ,«a ; nai b« «a lab by TaTb p o n ' t ,paTa't ,piapa ^aaT 'a DV tea B"a ib VEEN .vnibvini nnio \b TIDDSI nvTn 13TTO [aitsw] iai»np n v w ,nai»«T ,)b iana» n3i»nn nn .nswn nwv1' bapi D¡T6K no bsi CAN by «b»i ona DI» .TKT1 «b» [niBUT] D W D^A» 'a lana TIVI .TIS^» n\T> «b» or .T.T «B»i |«3 b»i3o [n\-p] rrrw BSK^» «bo nvsns DV baa D^OVB 'I NN« na» rrnny ,mn« nai»n ib •'bai nvaan ^ba íaoo nin»b b s w nvsns p bs n>rr»i DITV lfiia " Comp. ed. Mai, col. 189, beg. "1 bun nn« mw m«M rrn nn« Bit 31» ... nv«^ ¡mi n«n k^i ... i" bs vjd^ warn onion wa )-ob; ed. Blogg, p. 7—8.

Vm. LITURGIC PARODIES OF THE n t f ? "JSti vby p a » "1 t o «

^api rmy

nt

p w

.idj> «"an o n a n a v n

XVII™

n u n p i vxf

ivjtoi nai

.toy n n j p n » irmo d«i

npaV f 1 ? ^ o n « a ^ n o m c D-np o w n nr

187

ruusn

m

.tamo

iop

.nnit 1 ? p

• O I 11? p « d k i

ropM b

.nrno byv ^jran

Dpnpa w

frew

«'am

«'an

-I p i c a

1 pen

id«"

e y e o n e n i m V i n m e n a y D'aio r\w

i ^ d k an« « i n dki nn« n ^ r u

CENTURY

ir

TW* K\n d k i I ^ j w

vby T o n t m n

dm

11? p «

vrw n o Sa

teion

n»ao bwtr)

naoV

. [ w i a n i k'ji] iBT"ann "?ki d h k p c i n t o p 1 ? p o pa

wavta

m p n *?ki

w m m ijme> " t d v i " j n i

tw

. n m w o n n ' o n nso n m m v i i p n ta vr

CHAPTER

VIII

LITURGIC PARODIES O F T H E

SEVENTEENTH

CENTURY T h e s e p a r o d i e s a r e f o u n d u n d e r t h r e e different n a m e s :

(A)

niaijtti, (B) D'YP a n d (C) D'BVD.

Massekheth Puritn of t h e 17th

( A ) In Mai's edition of t h e

century, t h e r e a r e t w o h y m n s : (a) D'llB bvf ptMO W m i a n a o m n a i n'apt o n i a » W DniB but W

3*1)70 b e g .

(col. 217—219), a n d (b) ^

b e g . D'Jpip nj?21K D T 3 "rniK (col. 2 1 9 — 2 2 1 ) .

of t h e s e consists of t e n stanzas.

anpo Each

T h e first h y m n is also f o u n d ,

in a slightly modified form, in t w o m a n u s c r i p t s b e l o n g i n g t o t h e Jewish T h e o l o g i c a l S e m i n a r y of A m e r i c a , viz. in t h e mVo n D ^ n rr6l of Z a c h a r i a h Pugliese (f. 22 b — 2 3 a), w h i c h will b e d i s c u s s e d in c h a p t e r XII, a n d in C o d e x F r a n k e l , fascicle 3, d e s c r i b e d below. 1 In e a c h of t h e s e t w o v e r s i o n s , t h e

h y m n consists

stanzas, b u t t h e t e x t a n d a r r a n g e m e n t quite considerably.

of

of t h e s e s t a n z a s

In B l o g g ' s edition of t h e

sixteen differ

Massekheth Purim,

t h e t w o h y m n s a r e not only d i s f i g u r e d b y m a n y t e x t u a l errors, but a r e also confusedly b l e n d e d into o n e h y m n of sixteen stanzas, " Comp. ed. Mai, col. 185, beg. «imao . . . "j^n rrn oniB nT.p nv d'w^w r a n . . . i^nitsb; ed. Blogg, p. 6. 1

See also above chapter VL

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

to which Blogg added two new stanzas with his name in an acrostic, resulting in what Steinschneider justly called a "Flickwerk äusserst geschmack- oft sinnlos" (Letterbode, IX, p. 5i,c). (B) In fasc. 2 of Codex Frankel, described above in chapter VI, there are four wine-songs, parodying four Sabbath hymns, headed by the collective tide DniB nnDtW TD^ D*VBD3 O^IJ» DTO. (Q Fascicle 3 of the same codex consists of a collection of parodies entitled DHDilil D'tO D^fiVfi, which is made up of (a) [anyo], mentioned above, (b) D'HIB1? Ytf, a wine-song of Menahem de Lonzano, beg. f «Tip« VHK (Comp. Monatsch., vol 46, p. 574, no. 94), which is no parody, and (c) Ef« by . . . "W VniOM DV3 union, a very obscene poem. All the hymns enumerated above, excepting the poem of Lonzano and the obscene poem, are reproduced here below. .»EriiD be p r n n W> a n y o

§ i

J(usm 3"nm ijn nbiyb ip ibik) m wyv ly ,«rniana w trjpn nmna d ' t o s W .1 "jiod ,mi»3i p a 5 [ i w ] nn« r o s d d ,mian .«¡(tio-iy anyon v '«a) rnv ^nan inns dhi.t^i /nVna p n ma •»« ,nWn nr 7 [«in] onoe? .2 V'K2) n^as r o c i n n n in» p by rrm »[nmi] 11 idim a"ruo nvw uy np srp pipi .»(^«TB^ lay am« a«

»joniß an nro .«in o n i s dv " l i s t ,injnV bpk id«"1 .nmat? b^b .3 , u n n i 3 » W?3 .np® nints6 , n p i jtspi "vys ,oniB » So

in

Mai;

in

Frankel) this verse ductory verse:

P

( =

t r n m

man

O ' a i p a - i p n n h * ^k ^ n S i

miana

6 So

P.;

rniroi p a

F.

and

10

S o in F .

11

These

"

I n F.

in

in

in

nnnra n m a r

W a

D'jpt. mi

aiJB;

in

is

following

in

,rnv

'Bn3 in

JltD

,mi3J

M.

.. . p n

W1K3

in M . : H^TT

IB«.

n j 1 3 113191.

are w a n t i n g in

M.

a n d P . . . . 1131 . . . I I B i T ; i n M a i

»J I n F . a n d P . D ' H B J n verse

. . . DV ' 3

Wa.

is w a n t i n g in F .

and

P.

F

1131.

( =

Codex intro-

d'hi d'bvb

P.

5 Only

D v n UTIK3 ' 3 ; i n P . :

and P.;

the

Dim«1? o n o n n

3 Only

omrni M.:

^

F.

directions

whole

Q'llC

its stead there

7 Wanting

> In M.: . . . jan

M The

nniB

nwrn.

9 Wanting

Pugliese): and

nnir6.

4 In M ( = Mai): in

Ms.

is wanting,

in

F.

npWS

^3

'JKJD

vm.

UTURGIC PARODIES OF THE

X V O ™

CENTURY

189

«se na n'^10 m»$? »an ni'rn ,D"njm totò a«n njnso "òaim ,«ria wan bib rmtfi na'ty iVap .oniB

.wb

. ' 7 c m , Q y y a Dan n v r « t o IJ? ,naviera » a n aits p ,-D3 n a by « a a niD'«« jopi d^d nnitrn .nniB

.er1? .5

.4

.D n a ,D7in »°nrpna^ no^im ,amaneran »«[vrr] c a m .vb .6 ."erbi , i r p by a a i » a">aai ,irjn »»up» by m . o n i c 23D"na ,rpn jo u 1 ? itoan ,tjòa n o t r ,wb .7 ,]iatWD *òa a i o p tcanV jia^ «in o n p » n a n . a n i c »i.B'na, ,nsi«a p i n « T ^>a , - a v e a xvaiatn ,wb .8 *.Br^a , n n w n r Vktbt» tato ,nnata DV «in .oniB a 7.B'na ,Dai naia ròaa «5 In P.: D'HÛ '"HW1 V-BK-Di «Cpil ^TWD Sid«1? DI« 3*71; in F. this verse is wanting. 1« In F.: rantrn nr «in Dr ma ,rm> Saa rmeb ai-bv iSap; in p. this verse is wanting. •7 in F.: oaa oan «so' «Sw ip ,oajwiw rrnn a » i"; in P.: e m nvnn ]« D33 nan rrrr «S® i r ,oavwo. '8 In F.: "OJ Sk na . . . 13ST1 "IBn npiBH ; in P.: ...IOTI DTI nni»n, the expression ]Bpl mutt be construed as ID© B5D1 or else read ]UVJJI. »9 Wanting in M. "> In F. and P.: on^S. « In M. 12"pt. " The whole verse is wanting in F. and P. »3 In F.: psn bv nSmn p n SJ ,tpSa no«" n i i ; in P.: iirnn uba no«' pi . . . orò ; in M.: . . . "IDH" p i . »4 In M. : . . . «S3 f . . . pa* D^pW . . . ; in F.: . . . « S a i " • • • P ' ßv1P® • • • i in P. : a » i" mjpS pa< m n . . . »5 In F.: "ISBn ID WBP S« ,"13 DrPB "IVM IT31Dtn; in P.: ,15 D.TB D« niD«n isi«a I«T S«. 16 in M.; . . . "D"... nrra» DV njn; in F.: . . . nnaw DV «in; in P.: or run NRRSD DIA Smsr SaS nmsw nnao. '7 In F.: CREN»: DIA NAIWD J D ' B D I D'URI mW»S; in P. this verse is wanting. »8 In M.: a m l®aai l«a; in F.: . . . tfnoa D'IP» ini; wanting in P. 29 In F.: rtSiPDi «SBID inaion p ,«SDI "n oían rrrr in P.: SNJ oían rrrr ; NSLPDL «SBID 310 ,KSD1. 3° Wanting in M. 3« in F. : •« ose w pi ,njw Saa warn \"tm . . . m m iaS' S'n S« S"no

190

STUDIES

IN

JEWISH

PARODY

The difference in the arrangement of the stanzas in the various versions can be seen in the following tableEd. Stanza

Ms.

Mai. I.

U

Ms.

Frankel.

2. 33»44»55»-

2.

34H-

6.

75-

5-

wanting.

wanting.

7-

8.

8.

8 a.

910. 11.

9a.

12.

8.

9-

loa. wanting.

wasting.

wanting.

u 12. 13141516.

wanting.

.miß

16.

910. 11.

13IS16.

10.

wanting.

wanting.

6.

77«-

Blogg.

435«5-

4-

,»

6a.

Ed.

wanting.

wanting.

6.

Pngliesc.

1. 2. 3-

1.

in

y » W> n n y n

6.

7wanting.

§ n

d ^ d w 3 a ai nnlra pm» nya-w o t o »tm« .i ij.D^iy to.-ói V ^ i nm-6 ,0^-01 rrvteo nrrt n» e w n e , m r a dj> w i jhwd ,mntn -pm mocó nt ova .2 3 * . m n 11? n» ova " o n p ,nio« npai ja* dvw hok nnuo W> [verse 16] w un ,111» pin ts nsro bin tu nina rfra ,ru«n Djn b3i , p i n dtotmd dupbbi pn .t.t -p-m ,pwn pnss dm '3 jn» mbn bisirt rrn nnrntni nr-o nVa annw lai i w tw m 2"n*i .ptn pM u r ; in P: . . . ion« 3"nw itoki 1» ts '3i .Tn .tttobd . . . u i mr p ruw bai mnih nraro rrrvn ,nbio mw nc 71131 ,p«n peo dm »3 pwa eibn íroab hdk d»to» W [ y e r s e 14] uoa ptn u [Tan nbirb -pbc -n] lV-n ron ne 1» uwr -ranpiiurDin b3i ,D'pn ntw nrannw u .n^pnen vwn Brom ite« 0*113» Vb [verse 15] um* 3"rwi inibw roo ts i3i U3'3wn .bin»' biu "••ta .D'prt uiraj 131 D3 ,Di3' i m « b r n i

di

,»ir

wi»

ots

nmwn

,djw

)"n

m s

rrtmi

'J3 S« 'n tjid ru< rwn Tan 131 V'K3 ,di bs le^am.

3» R e a d

v b

3 1 m s b o 1" l"ni® Cf. E s t h e r I , 7.

33 C f . E d . B l o g g ,

Stanza

1.

34 C f . i b i d . , S t a n z a

2.

[rerse

16]

Vm. LTTURGIC PARODIES OF THE X V n ™ CENTURY

3 3 ] N A « S D ' B ITTIWL ,]1TTD Titty U P «

191

. D ' T O S-'S . 3

*.tmiB an t>*i , p n'oa w j r c u p T v i s S i y S l o n n n S i , T a iman 1 ? ^ t n , t d n n w m

Sa

.crS

.4

.B'na j;,nntD inneS my iS«a , « n a w a n S rwy b^kpi .crS .5 .B'na ntn oSipa Sap* naen .b'na u S by tw laijn ,ia i w n o r mo ,ia-iS -naa pSiim .vb .6 Sa ìiotn ,iDen p a p i runen S k i ,|owa i S v a n msrjr ,erS .7 38.B"na p « nyn » r a w nSSp ,»ana D"aaiBD dm«« rraySD pawn .wb .8 V i T a / t S n a n j r p n ia ppim , n S j » S

.B 'na » a r r o m o w n

maai

rimani? i d « e w o n

.w b

.9

. a ra n S n a S i n n ^pa t ^ « « i n »

« T W - S P A S Y I , N S Y ; V DSJ? J E ^ A I vajn , M S N A-ip^ yawe

.oniB bv 'it* S^S anpo p'So .rrrsD3

.ERS . 1 0

.B"na .diS» naie onB'1

trtnyo t m

§

. D m a » S^Sa o n m m w a

m iotS

n a m tttwann in-nyo « Sa noa» m«S orna» W a DH«oai Do»a o w p a n on ,nSna mian dp o w j n o v a « . 1 n r a rnhn n w n ? « vby\ ,-pnp u n t e «rp dbn , « i n Off S n a i )iop '« Dipoa ,piS

may

(Salame) ov

'« Sa ukSkd

«in oniacò

n i S n a niDiai

^«Sd

a"ai

n a m op Dtajmoi

icran

^Sxyan ov

bv

la^ayo

aie D^nai

nopapi niYB

i«en

D'piapai orraBSi

(?) •'bidtbi

. a m a » S^S bv m-rotn pS^nnei ,oniBn (DI bipn OnDiHI JWiCI 012 pnB)

^na npino . ^ w 3"nm)

'«na «a* •'«na ,nan nne»a not« r r m Sipa .«•*» «Sa «a« p«na]

35 Read p a »6 did n n m 36 Cf. the previous hymn, note 31, P. [verse 16], and also Ed. Blogg Stanza 13, which has the reading p"D>0 ]" TOW JHfl. 37 Cf. the previous hymn Stanza 4 a. 3> Cf. the previous hymn, note 31, F. [verse 16]. » Read TTO3 Cf. Ps. 109, 19.

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

192

t m n ^ UK n n o » i .n^tonn o v « i n o n i s onantwi n o n [ v a i n ]

rati

[mow]

or no»

.nnnni b t i w moia ntmb

o

K*?L D"B «ba 210 F

D^PTFTJ

Dijopi D ^ n a d ^ d

o^apapn ^>a

d'k^o d ^ j n i r e w

o-piapa

p i t o by n v r 6 -p^n"

n©i3i rrn»

msoa

» t n VSK K i p mp •prnya Dii vi

nn»i

•pn 1 3 3 >3 n n t j e o n n » nan rrnan tsmpi on 1 ? taijra

nana nni w&ym

ana

n a n n a n f f o n ^a a » a n 1 ? . « a n nViy

or

^ma n w a a

(pmn Dtt pnin) NNW^R onpi 'IR OW WDI) , i r n e » t5"«n

,«m n o » e r n e dv«1

.a

;IRRO» PVI DJN ,ia

p n c a n ,ia!>

avr

toi

.lain n « jra" 1 mxn m1? DKI m - n NO»' "iisn" ,n*aiayna iDrr *?K(i) ^ m

p

"wan

;tras n e 1 ? r 6 « n « DKI ia«a pen

n a » n \ T nt

.1D13 n « ijnsaa KSD r a ^ a |n na " j n na» ,7100 vby

aits p

,-jnj; m a

DKI

^ n « ]Qt n\-p nt ]Bn»a r 6 n a yyn "ijnt"

by 10»

, p n a TTP W I N

.je»!? 1T1T ijnt , i n » « i vaai « i n v n a

byi

4° This poem parodies the Sabbath Eve hymn D*TirP^ "rtK ¡inMTl nnUB of Rabbi Moses. See Zum, LiiercUurgesch. 584, no. 64. «' Parodies the Sabbath Eve hymn mn snp rav OV of Rabbi Jonathan. See Zun1, ibid., p. 486. The parody has the same acrostic as the original.

vm. UTURGIC PARODIES OF THE xvn™ CENTURY

193

nrm « a onie «a ,rma«a o v o i

""fO"

"?p dtisìd on 'am ó a « i n » .fi p r n t o e m - p a Dtjjmo i m aio p np na^nn "vidki ' a n o ^ m t n n a » u n KTpD oniBa ia^1 ,naietì « a naa n a a nano ,-inDió « i p .nao « mpi? nan .mia npi nn«' fi?

"nan"

/iipnnn jnto onapeoai .nap^nn nna o v à ;nap"on -iianm ,1671» omo ino1? >s ,]naVna D^aKon n i w ò «inno» nanp n« imoai ipopnai nrrra dki

""IH"

rrvan itswa uosa rrn» iSk o-^n nnoen nntpc ni ora nrapV ,inne» Top •»apn n « ,irrpnt? niao mteoi .iròap n r o » a iinbv bp nnaT ixcn mano op ^trer* *aa mp1?

D» -I»K ni«n nt "j«in p n oniea "a ,*iaa "a b« non ^ ,tdi Va« ini»pV . i s tonerà t » « «aw Va T o » n a nraxò lab Tonai "To»na" (non tr^® DO pn&i DW nrari) aita )"di .paia- nioian Va on D^aop dui ,Dbip bsa T » 711*0 »obiaa i w i»«i ab» rrn» -p» naa n a » i nba c i r r in» " r v naa" fra» vw nu"jj3 Vmv 3-n«) 4J The expression "]Dn 'il«" is also found in a poem by M. S. Ghirondi.

Cf. Menatssch.

1903, p. 277.

13

194

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY m i e i k d v iìh "jnmac n r r r

no «

n p u i e k j " '«a inMip^ p i a naiaa p .trt> ia 1

D ^ w a ma«a -own ? .D^pna t n a n

n r a 1 ? n r r t e n *naa tena^ ran

m^i m n e m

ta

fern

"ian»ró

ia trajmo ^ tfOBiBD

"?a D ^ B D

n^DjjB n a m

any»

B a l a a m D'oaio n v T i p a o

ansenao m a " n i w lai

.3

pa

n ^ « n o a 711)^1

n w w S i Sia* 1 ? t m y o

^piatm

ian»,-ó n^na o n »

^a

n^iwV o n na^nai n a

apjr ani y v y

rowi

ròm

irmaa- 1

dm o m c

dv

n^aa o m o o n m a p n a r t

w

n r w a a a n 1 ? Dai o m o « m e o

i?a

l a i -\an&.-6

ma»

m a " -A» p « dm n n m o

OTÌ

m n e ò p» d ^ t v f M dm m p u v i ^ a*?m r i m a n i m y D b a a DTioen 'iaì

dyiwi

nawrò o n i s ^ Min aaiy n n a a Mnn - [ n ^ a « DtiVE n a m n n t w w a n n a i t y o

rrrtrm

DTiaitytj m a " mwd 1 ? n n e » mvt » e a na^e

m

vsib mai

pa

na^na

lai ian».-ò , n r n a o Min o r n a d v ,Man d ^ j ? p y o ; n n n » a n 1 ? i a r , n a a n a n i n s n ^>a n a i a 1 ? i"?sv , r r a o " b a n c nnaMi ]ia' Dai ,n"D:r i a l i n o lai

-Drtwù

(D'Tomi ' j r a i Di3 D'inni)

4J Parodies the Sabbath Eve hymn i o t e n raw m "jnrTUD nrPT .ID of Rabbi Menahem. See Laadihuth rrmrn "1105 p. 195.

IX. THE BURLESQUE TESTAMENTS

195

mae6 f « wn o n » nr«« m bv p a na»

.n

ro u too 10* na TW vna"1 nan ornate "lib naai nrn m a i n n « r a x h onvrr dv^d nioia w s pipn .na p s « i trow a r c "HHSC M"" nxr nvn mson iiBfjtt «3 tdi1? mar natsn nns> i>aa n a j r n j jptn f n w newa "HKSfi K3"" (D'DJC nKo

l^tH

^ a r w '«run 'jra^ DID pm» 3"rmi)

CHAPTER IX T H E BURLESQUE

TESTAMENTS

OF POLIDO

A N D COLORNI . . . n a i . . . jen to naa»m n«m e t o d [TOT Leghorn, 1703. 16', 15 p. Besides the introduction (tmpn pp btt), which gives the parodist's reason for taking Haman as an object of satire, and the postscript (D^pjS pin), which gives a vivid description of the manner of celebrating Purim in the author's days, this collection consists of the following parodies: (I) . . . p n msff HKllsn in two parts. The first begins with a few introductory lines, telling of Haman's life in prison, followed by the parody proper which begins with the words iwur -nix bx lyotri ,apyn lyntri raapn nnb new via1? Kip L

4i Parodies See Zunz,

the Sabbath morning hymn ni®1? \-H ¡lra® DV of R. Judah.

ibid.,

565.

13*

196

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

D3H "7P1?« 71 '23K,, "1DK1 IT.Ttn 1131 . . . Tni2K m (2) iar6 mcpn beg.-. . . . D«n iron «3 mrm. (3) pn1? naaern beg.: . . . «son nomm. (4) nin« my beg.: . . . roes tpk lain no. (5) mnK t p beg.: . . . niinnnn Kama naiD3 nana. Abbreviated, but otherwise only slightly modified in text, these parodies were reprinted by Lazar Farchi in Tint TBD DniD (Leghorn, 1887, 32°, iff.), f. 14—18, which contains also a history of Purim in the Maghrib dialect (f. 1—14 a). The parodies in this edition are divided into two parts: (1) yenn )en bst n«iw identical with the first part of the ."IK112» in Polido's edition, and (2) jwin p n be naatffn which consists of the following paragraphs: (a) T'a-'IN1? fl3BS TON 1flDp3 21 no, similar to no. 4 in Polido's edition; (b) HDD ^ND noinm, similar to no. 3 in the same edition, but very much shorter; (c) rot^a ¡12123 nn3K n3innnn, similar to no. 5 in the same edition; (d) ytTCT ]DH . . . nWDlDH nn . . ., expressing the same sentiment found in no. 2 of Polido's edition, though very different in text, and (e) JDK3 b» 'TOO T3tK a poem by Abraham Hayyun dealing with the history of Purim. This little volume is found in the New York Public Library. Comparing the above description of D^TllB Hint IBD with Steinschneider's notes in his article Purim imd Parodie (Letterbode, VII, p. 4, no. 7b; IX, p. 53 no. 39b, and p. 58 nos. 55—56), we find that the second part of D^IB flint D was already printed in nniB "H ."WO^K (Leghorn 1875), f. 79b—80b, and in r> TTW ,21J?'?K2 -J1D3 (Alexandria, 1869— H. £., XXI, p. 44—1879), p. 16—19, where the n23tWl follows the poem of Hayyun. This poem is also found in n^3D TV0 (Leghorn, 1759), and in DniB bv DOIDIB (Salonica, 1875). A still later reprint of Polido's parody is found in H13D TID nniB (Bagdad, 1889. 12°, 12 p.), which contains also other matter (See Zeitschrift fur Heb. Bib. VII, p. 116, no. 19).

IX. THE BURLESQUE TESTAMENTS

I 1 " 0 ' " 1BD ( a I s o n n i B I 1 " 0 1 *1"10)- T h e c ° d e x of which this collection of parodies is a part, has already been described above in chapter I § H. sect. 6. T h e author's pseudonym is found in two postscripts; one on f. 130a reads T j » v 'po m a n 1 » « "nispm . . . viai p n niaa»n . . . on WniD and the other on f. 1 3 1 b reads . . . TIND m a m n«t D3 KJHIBB v'pB. From the last postscript it appears that the writer of the codex also wrote the Burlesque Testament, inserting each parody in the order in which he composed it. T h e contents of this collection of parodies is as follows: (1) v e i n )en IW13 beg.: DV TUBO W 2 . . . «21 «p^KT NBB>a pnn n . . . m o w j k p y - n n a . . . n-pan jtsnp ns p^i enn1? a w n a . . . nnanan *ia . . . p n . . . l a y n ntwsn t o y a » toynaai t o y y a s

a

197

on1®

. . . KVDK

riTl"' lBt!>.

This Burlesque Testament contains an

elaborate and enlarged form of the narrative given in the Targum Sheni

on the sentence njiatn "iDt^l (Esther, vii, 9), and

Hainan's paiTN . . .

Bill

of Sale

"Its»), beg.: nntnan

(f. 81 b), the Epitaph

on Haman's

also

"G p n KJX

Tomb ( p n naSB),

beg.: n r a a p n by niDitci niaa (f. 103a—103b), which parodies 2 Samuel, i. 24—27,

and the Lamentation

of

Hainan

(nyp),

beg.-. tuToy n .-paa m a t o y y jnna na^s (f. n 6 b — 1 1 9 a), which parodies the second chapter of Lamentations. (2) njpbh p n naatrn beg.: naiaai v o n naiai n a n a (f. 124b — 1 2 5 b). (3) nana rbiyn

m n s naapn beg.: nr«i «son p n a

nana DIpB (f. 125 b — 1 2 7 a),

namni

This varies but slightly from no. 3

in Polido's ed. (4) n«Sla^> "»"IN n j n

a poem parodying Prov. xxxi. 10—31

(f. 127 b). (5) naa»n beg.: « m a m n w a i n (f. 1 2 7 b — 1 2 9 a ) . (6) n a ^ i pn^> mspn beg.: K^iya p ^ a l a m n (f. 129b—130a). (7) pn 1 ? i n « beg.: KTjn m s c marm ppn-1 (f. 130a—130b). (8) p n

bv

ma1? mro< naa»n beg.: nb'ri -oai .-6na nnat?

(f. 130b—131b).

This is followed by the postscript n a n a DO

Dnnx onan dj; inaatpni p n n«ns n a i . . . c m s naDai lanai n « a >a lnai lbia -ibd^> , n ^ c n niso by " w a i n a 1 ? . . . ^nna nny . . .

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

198 "TXD.

T h e poem referred to in the postscript begins

)itrc Sipa

and consists of 312 quatrains, closing with

the words n a n Vku

UK^rf? > « u n «"anV a r m inon»

nispni ,ni«ns CKsoa 121 n n n D n^JDI CTTlfi "lTD niMffm ,metM p a n ,niBpnn i n « d^idbi ,yenn p r 6

im s

in« ijn? jnn ijnt nvp» y mno

y

«ni ,b«n«ni trrpon (f. 132—170).

.D^tsnn bib D"snii D ^ m

ni>i«ai d t b i raaV n^nn p « o

D^i^pi

o^tsnuDi DobtriDi d^b'jidd

D.TQK Tin i"32 Vkbi *rn . . . hd^i n a n

.DHonan na 1 ? n n o n b v

P' tb DJVDXK "jrVOM nx& V't Vr'jlB. Ms. Paper, 16° 24f.; fol. 10, 2 1 — 2 3 are blank. This manuscript, now in the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary

of America,

was

bought

from Ephraim

Deinard.

Only part of this collection of parodies belongs to Polido, the rest is taken from the D^IB p a l of Colorni, as is evident from its contents given below: (1) -IBOn nmpn (f. 2), which is identical with the introduction («Hpn

in the printed edition of Polido's parody.

(2) onyan pin (f. 3—4a),

identical

with

the

postscript in

that edition. (3) via1? p n nxiis c m s ] r a beg.: isapn Dnb i d k i vaaV «*ip 2pyn

1JJD8M (f. 4 b — 9 a), identical with no. 1 in that edition.

(4) pn 1 ? niBpn (f. 11b), the same as in the printed edition. (5) pn 1 ? mspn nyat? (f. 12 a), not found in Polido's ed., but found in Colorni's collection (f. 129b—130a) under the title of raa^i p n b nispn. (6) pn 1 ? naatPn m i p D'plDB (f. 12 b — 1 3 b ) . of (a) . . . jran

r1?!?

This part consists

I p s n , not in Polido's ed., but identical

with a part of no. 3 of Colorni's parody; (b) ffHn« TlJ? beg.: . . . "pits n

HO identical with no. 4 in Polido's ed.; (c) HDinni

. . . p n o not in Polido's ed., but identical with no. 3 of Colorni's parody, and therefore partly repeating (a); (d) D'HnK TIJ? beg.: . . . «SOfl p«D nomni identical with no. 3 in Polido's edition; and (e) enr!? naatrn m i p c p i c s beg.: n«xioV '1« n j n w m not in Polido's ed., but identical with no. 4 of Colorni's parody. D5 which differs both from no. 5 in Polido's ed. and no- 2 of Colorni's parody; (b) pn^ TOSOTl, same as in the printed ed.; (c) n v w Tiy identical with no. 5 in the printed ed.; (d) mnn tip beg.: nafcnn "iptwi mpa . . . roioi rono; (e) 7T prrt rtaSBTI, not in Polido's ed., but identical with no. 2 of Colorni's parody. (8) niOM p-Ot (f. 17a—18b). This is a slightly modified version of no. 5 in Colorni's parody. It begins with the words . . , djvtiid oyrua T » «

Decern

tnrwn

v t i n p n j r f c D"DH n o r '

. . . J«nn p n B>D1 nM which are not found in Colorni's parody. The list of men is much longer here, and so also is the postscript (9) BntS riMtPn (f. 19a) identical with no. 5 of Colorni's parody. (10) p n na t o ^ m e nro nascrn (f. 19a—19b), identical with no. 8 of Colorni's parody. (11) T1DD jrooa JUia Emp DlpDa (f. 19b). This is similar to no. 7 of Colorni's parody, but is more complete. (12) ' » « t e w tmaew arises ju^a in« ernp (f. 20a), not found in either Polido's or Colorni's parody. (13) n M p Dipoa m a i a (f. 20a—20b), not found in either of the above named parodies. (14) On the last leaf is found Gabirol's poem flltea in five stanzas.

CHAPTER

X

E A R L I E S T YIDDISH PARODIES A. PARODY OF THE CONFESSIONAL.

"Mordche:

Sug Wide Wort in Wort, Wet sech dir setzen a Make (Geschwür) asoi groiss wie a Kwort (Flüssigkeitsmass)! Sug: Hamalach — der Gesalzener, Hagoiel — der Imgesipter, Oisst — mir, A Make dir,

200

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

Makol — der Stecken, Ro — der bejser Stern, Jeworejch — er soll machen knieen, Es — in, Haneoritn — di jinge Lompen, Wejkorej — in es soll wem oisgerissen, Schemi — dein Numen, Jemach schemoi — in sein Numen (wast af Humenen); Awrum — der Schinder, Itzschok —

der Blinder,

Jankew — hot ungemacht a vill Säckele mit Kinder, Weidgu — in sollst unlejgen, Bekerew — mit'n Köpele, Hoorez — in der Erd aran. Umejnt (Amen)." (M. Grunwald, Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft fiir jüdische Volkskunde. XIII, p. 9—10. Line 220—240).

B. MORDECAI AS MATCH-MAKER.

"Mordche: Nu, dus wet san a Pur Flocken (Entstellung aus Pur Volk = Ehepaar): Hör ze ois, ich hob vin deinetwegen a Sckidech (Partie); a Schidechel as ihr sollt bejde geschädigt wem. A Bucher (Junggeselle). Is er asoi groiss, wie a Wedjel vin a Kuter; A Punetn Vin Moische-Grunem; A toiber In a blinder; A

Stimmer

In a krimmer;

In a ständige Pämusse (Verdienst) Mit der Torbe (Bettelsack) in die Haser Hant kimm in a giter Schu, mit Broit host di schoin ken Deige (Sorge) nit. (Ba dem Mejlech:) In a giter Schu

X. EARLIEST YIDDISH PARODIES

20I

Sant ihr Bejde du. Setzt sech anider bejde, Ich bin eich an alter Sejde (Grossvater), Gejt in der Erd aran bejde. (zi bejden:) Nu lejenen (lesen) eich die Tnoitn (Ehevertrag)? Ejle hatnoim (Das ist der Ehevertrag) Ihr sant (seid) bejde groisse Goirn; Ejle habgudem (die Kleider) Kaduches

(Fieber) mit kuschere Fudern;

Naden (Mitgift) gieb ich Kart (150) Schok Riehes (Geister); A Dire (Wohnung) in Hegdesch

(Armenhaus);

Msoinois (Kost) in die Haser; A Platz af dem Bejs hachaim (Friedhof); Hakoil ssurir wekaim (Alles soll in Kraft und Geltung bleiben) — Awekgejen sollt ihr mit Ejsck (Feuer) in mit Maitn (Wasser). Maseltowl — Git mir a Rejf vin a Pomenetze (Spülbütte) wel ich mekadesch san (trauen) dus Pur Flocken. Hart (wartet), Kinder, sugt mir nuch Wort ba Wort, W e t eich setzen a Make wie a Kwort. Harej —

(Trauungsformel)

S' soll eich san wind in wej; At Schmassen soll eich der Kiewer K a t (Henker), Nit der Odesser

—

Er schmasst besser. Mekadesches

—

Jak Ssobaka breschesch (du lügst wie ein Hund); Li

—

Darfst Iigen in Krementschug in Hegdesch, lig hi; Betabaas

—

W e m sollt ihr geschwollen wie a Fass; Kedas

Moische weissruel

—

202

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

A Kapure (Sühnopfer) sollt ihr wern far mir in far kol (ganz) Isruel! MaseltmvMaseltow!" {Ibid. p. 13—14, line 379—427). This parody is not found in Schudt's Jüdische Merkwürdigkeiten. C. PARODY OF A "TEHINAH".

'Esther.

Jehi ruzoin milifnej uwini schebaschumaim: (Es möge der Wille unseres Vaters im Himmel sein) Allmächtiger Gott, allmächtiger Vuter! Ich bin gekimmen var dir Asoi wie an Uni (Armer) var dieser Thir: An Uni var dieser Thir thit bejten a Neduwe (Almosen) schejnken, Asoi bin ich gekimmen zi dir, as di sollst amchu (dein Volk) Isruel zi allem Giten gedejnken. Jehi ruzoin, etc. Allmächtiger Gott, etc. Di varlost sech nit dus klejnste Werimel (Würmchen) intern grössten Stejn, Asoi bet ich dir Gott, as di sollst unnehmen mein Gebejt un mein Gewejn. Jehi ruzoin, etc. Allmächtiger, etc. Erbarm sech iber dein hejlig Volk Wus sej schreien zi dir dreimul in Tug: Schema Isruel adonoi echod. Jehi, etc. Allmächtiger, etc. Thi mit die Jiden groisse Winder In mach fallen Humen-harusche in sei mewatel die Gesejre rue (das böse Verhängniss) vin die jidische Kinder.". {Ibid. p. 20—21, line 673—690). The Parody of the "Selihoth" found in Schudt, vol. 3, p. 215,

XI. MASSEKHETH DEREKH EREZ OF ISAAC LUZZATTO

begins as follows: f «

ft* . . . . HW

203

( f i « OTTO BDip)

,nB«"iE pjm bat jon m ,nn« d*bk -p« b« .pBtrip mrr^D teu j^w Dnjni « n « n ITM j^m pop »p« to» name . . . r e p nc n"1« ]« tot D*O « n ,poj> f j w

CHAPTER T H E MASSEKHETH

XI

DEREKH LUZZATTO

EREZ

OF ISAAC

KBim nsnn yo mo r m w .nm >jd t i t by p N "pn rDDD ybn b W l fpa] ]jm IBKSI^ pm-" "1 Ms. Paper, Sq. 8°. I4f. Cursive Italian char. (f. 2a—12a) and Sq. Rabb. (f. lb, 12b—14a). It is the identical copy described by S. Schonblum {Cat. (Tune Collection Anconienne, no. 56, 3) and mentioned by Steinschneider in Letterbode IX, p. 45. Schonblum has the reading . . . HND •win JTD3 lBfc«^ pnr instead of to^n )DB, which misled Steinschneider to ascribe it to Luzzatto b. Daniel. The ms. belonged formerly to Halberstam and is now in the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. The parody proper consists of three chapters, the first two of which are composed of Mishnah and Gemara, the last only of Mishnah, and is preceded by an introduction (f. lb) of the copyist, which reads as follows: DV3 13 in^pt? in« nniB DV3 mroa i6n p K y n rODD„ in«1? • o r » i n n p

yr

m^t iy

«mss

, did3 i ?

b^jk 3*>n

dtohd

rn t6 ,Dnifi nv3 nnntfn nsro -onon osnrn .jon niw«i H3p»n3 nsni» ids p x 7 m t j n«T mm iDino m w tdhi ]id-d mm *6d .th n s n « "o ,mrra y n isrw ni lontsaipo i t ? « nDm npns3 D^in a s m npis bjni ••one n n t o n t6siD TDj?m DH^oni c o s n p rrn Kim .nort^ or ^>3 vty lrpn nuiDm n3x"7D3

d ^ j k i o n t o ay 310 t d o i nsn p )3 n :

;n ntnui m n r o nosm nnn« c t b d 3"j "nn ntn "ormn oanm nn"?in 'D p

dj i s m

antra rvewo

-ibd "73 n n

dsvoi

."K-ni n"3J .pnr The first chapter begins: nO'lsn )Bt J^WID TIDKD .rUffO n'jfin bnpn i b ^ t ? iy nvn "73 pxBSBi protsn m » n nicy n^jrpo

204

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY 3 T O 1 "Kp K i p « «3X1

/riDKD ^flpT '«p tO'H t o n ,'DJ

.n^iy

. . . ' a n )nn t d k p a " D i n 771*0

The second chapter begins: WIN I^OND nnnob KSVn .HiPD WDipoi? « 2 » -unn -p-Q 33 oVtrai

. o n n n n ^ i ny n j ^ D""ied p^nynS ^ r

^a»en Kim w pan ,miaa 1« ynt Kia" 'a yf -m*

mm

pt6

ncr^ei tcaan nt nwsn y n 'amn nya viik ,rnin bv nnonSo am« D>yim -ipvi nnan mar now n»a -on tdik , r w t 6 nai .•pa nnte nw jvs1? pap^i ,tinea wpis n ^ c CHAPTER

XIII.

THE SATIRE FOR PURIM OF

JUDAH LOEB BENSEW nnetoi nnis nno» na n m - 6 ovsn nrSo r y nniB^ m ^ e p"B^ rpi 113» ro» Dniacn Anon. s. 1. e. a. [Breslau? 1800?] 8°. I2f. According to Roest {Letterbode, IX, p. 51, note 1), the flT^D CTID^ is only another recension of D^lfii? XIW^D [Breslau 1796?]. Besides the introduction in rhymed prose (f. 2 a) and the opening lines Klp'l ViB ty Dian Tiaj?,l (f. 2 b), the booklet contains the following seventeen parodies of liturgical hymns. (1) py T« 1 ™ nsBK naaw .a"K B"y n^into, parodying the nrr^D of Elijah ben Shemayah, which begins with the same words (Cf. Landshuth, .TTiayn *T10J> p. 17, no. 5). (2) D^any jn1?» ipy nyai« n« .a"K B"y . . » n^», a travesty of the Piyutic style in general.

x m . THE SATIRE FOR PURIM

207

(3) nto "f? d\mj> on toj> n w n r r .potn, a parody of Isaac ben Abigdor's nm^O, beg.: «TO IDT "]DJ> DTI TSV (Cf. Landshuth, ibid., p. 16; Zunz, Literaturgeschichte, p. 348). (4) rrn« jb: n e nt . r « vy rrrpy, a travesty of the nrrto beg.: ^K ^obcD by Mordecai Ha-Arukh. In the parody as in the original, each stanza, excepting the first, opens with the word ipa and closes with a Biblical phrase, the final word of which is likewise ^ 3 . (5) ^ r a D"3ip D13 KffK .TOIDte, a travesty of the anonymous nrr^D beg.: 0*3118 Dvn. It is constructed on the same plan as no. 4, with the word D"n as the repetent. (6) 10103 nan rw6o miyon n n v 6 i nnotrn s. 1. [Wilna], 1816, 8°. [16 p.] contains also rvrtr )DJ DD nnip^ D^IB1? mo Tt9 of Wolf of Rosienic, but lacks nos. 6—9, 16, 17 and the opening lines . . . D13H "I13JT1. This omission is not noticed by Steinschneider (Letterbode, VII, p. 12—13, no. 28). The DniB^ mn^D in the various editions of TID^n JO DniB H3DD 3m3t? is a reprint of the mt^D without the introduction. The onißV nin^D n o in Blogg's D^IB fDDD ^ 3 3 T1D^>n is another

208

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

reprint of the ilS^D, in which the editor takes considerable liberties, omitting the introduction and the first two numbers, changing the text in many places and adding to no. ^ a verse with his name in an acrostic, just as he added two stanzas to the Hymn for the Night of Purim of the seventeenth century (See above chapter VIII at the beginning). On the whole, the editor shows inexcusable haste and carelessness, but, nevertheless, he is unjustly accused of plagiarism (Roest, Cat. Anhang, no. 1162), because he styles himself only editor (V'J? DDI} or v'Jf THDO are the imprints of Blogg's D'TÍD 'DO). A ms. copy of the rre^D, in possession of A. L. Germansky of New York, omits nos. 5, 10 and 11. Another ms. of the same parody is described by Rabbinovicz (Cat. No. IV, [1883], no. 99) as follows: DBO rÓtG D'H'ff 1D1D31 ,3ttt pD D^IB1? mt^D„ r t w i n U3D r o n » n"w WK-QI .nana m « j m n ~ID p n ppTi ".4.0 .iBWDD Dnwa -eneró mso ^ Bensew's claim to the authorship of this parody was disputed by Sommerhausen ( L i t b l d . Or., vol. 11, col. 182), who had a manuscript copy of a CTlD^ íirP^DI "TUTO by Aaron ben Abraham Offenbach, which contained a number of parodies similar to those given in the Q^lDb ÍEP^D. Sommerhausen maintained, that the HS^a was an abridgement of the ntno. However, he stands alone in this opinion. Number 10, with ntliT in an acrostic is unquestionably Bensew's, and so are very likely all the other pieces (nos. 11, 13, 14), which treat of the same subject, the history of Purim. The remaining pieces, however, may have had some older models.

XIV.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

CHAPTER

209

XIV

D E S C R I P T I V E BIBLIOGRAPHY O F T H E P A R O D I E S F R O M T H E BEGINNING O F T H E N I N E T E E N T H C E N T U R Y T O THE PRESENT D A Y A. Abramowitsch, Shalom Jacob. [ninD"" lino nno] A satire on poetasters, in his CJam nUKH (Odessa, 1868), p. 61. Ackerman, B. 2. J?TP TTIM A socialistic satire on capitalism, in "lJJB^STK vol. 3 (1888), no. 12. A g u s , A. D. 3. DUD^Kp^ monpK* A satire on the life of the Jewish immigrants in America, especially the working man and the pedler, in D^mKIl KH May 30, 1906. Amram, David Werner. 4. *Sepher Nun Beth. A humorous description of the game of whist, and a satiric characterization of the members of the whist society, of which D. W . A . was president It parodies the "Ethics of the Fathers", and is preceded b y a humorous introduction, setting forth the claims of the "Sepher Nun Beth" to antiquity, all of which forms part of his "Talmudic Miscellany", which appeared in " T h e Whist" (p. 18—26), an anonymous private publication [Philadelphia, 1896. 8°. 100 p.], edited and published by the members of the above mentioned society. 1.

Anonymous. See below nos. 348 et seq. Apotheker, David. See also below under L. Friedland JlpTlTt TDD. 5. i n y i niton nijniHD A satire on the life of the Jewish immigrants in New York City, published over the pseud. D^arn:« tev in nayn, vol. i, no. 8 (N. Y . 1892). * Parodies not exclusirely in Hebrew are marked with an asterisk.

14

2IO

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

rbiü byz n«o

6.

n^oB

7.

against Ephraim Deinard and M. L. Rodkinson, in the style of the "Megalleh Temirin"; ibid. vol. 2, no. 7. p l í B n*?JD bjDD m t n u mjrnWD A satire on the Galician Hasidim in New York; ibid. vol. 3, no. 14. - r r n p nccn ,Kpnjto»a irr^sai H-on "no rotnu rrrnp

8.

irrjn nitnu

rojnwo

A polemic

ISO IK [Breach of Promise] CDtOB t W U . 1 fVlKrttW? Dorr vhwna vbv nnto rpipj n»«n, with ruep noTpn "ISp "11*021 [by Abraham Baer Dobsevage]. Appeared anonymously in ^ l y o n "Ü, vol. 1 (N. Y . 1 8 9 5 ) , no. 1, p . 9 — 2 0 . For a criticism of this parody see Tiaj»n vol. 5, no. 5.

9.

10.

jib ^aro n n « dj?b B ^ e n y

b w ^ f f ]J>3,Typ3,n A satire on the in jn3D"B» W 3 - I K JT"®, vol. 3, pnsOJD arm PHI^ ninr* Known a private communication of the

ys^ijna k DB-ljmp^l*

socialistic paper DBTJflVIKB, no. 38 (N. Y. 1902). to me only by name from author.

B. Bader, Gustav. 11. pTDJ>n CTBIDH bib mjn] A satire on the poverty of Hebrew authors, in his HBlsn, Cracow 1890, p. 2—4. 12. tTO^Jl KE>YIO "OD Two satiric chapters, one in the style of the Talmud, treating of Antisemitism, Napoleon and Bismarck, the other in the style of the Zohar, pleading for the revival of Hebrew Literature in Galicia. Baskind, Joshua. 13. prarrK K )IB -jn-yaKD u JIB ptoup^i-iH JTBKIJtra «* "Dl^BJIKB KH" p« 1J?D-|KB, in the Jewish Daily News (N. Y. 1905 ?), no. ? Beaumáche, Isaac. 14. nninim djwd 'jbik1? krw rrannn p a a " ^DKon" by pttUlDrt Parodies in 13 stanzas A. B. Lebensohn's TWDTO piKnon, [with a motto and a note by T. P. Schapiro], Anon. N. Y. s. a. [1881 ?], 8°. 2 f. Printed on one side. It is the first Hebrew parody printed in America. The copy in the New York Public Library is perhaps a unicum.

XXV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

15.

211

Ben Gideoni (Pseud.). airoi? no bbz DWB jnv ^"K A satire on current literary topics, in the style of the "Megalleh Temirin"; in vol. 1 (N. Y. 1892), nos. 9, 10.

Ben Yashar (Pseud.). 16. D'BD^K'SKDn a'"1 A satire on socialism, in ^OK^n (N. Y. 1888—89), no. 16. With slight variations this is reprinted in Deinard's D"ttlpn "1BD 143—147. Ben Zebi (Pseud.). 17. rtDB^ rmtSTrt ni^Kff* Jocose questions and answers, in M. Chinsky's ptOKD nDB, N. Y. 1901, p. 8—9. Reprinted in m j n J>B>n KH, [N. Y.] S. a. e. 1. p. 8—9. Benjacob, Isaac A. 18. rran A palinode of the poem ncrun (*)DKDn 1810, p. 8—9); in his D^rCD (Leipsic 1842), p. 140. Berdiczew, Aaron. 19. DHIpn 1BD Wilna 1824. 8°. According to I. B. Levinsohn BlpV1, p. 23) this satire was originally written by a Lithuanian Jew and afterwards augmented by A. Berdiczew. See also Benjacob, D TI1K p. 524, no. 226; E. Deinard's "ICO DUIpn (Newark 1890), p. 5—6, and below s. v. M. Landsberg. Berdyczewski, Michah Joseph. 20. . . . pi! aroo lpnya nmBD nnJK Cracow 1888, p. 111—112.

in his »-non

m

Bick, Jacob Samuel. 21. [nVBHB TWO] A humorous letter with the names of the weekly portions of the Book of Genesis as a frame work, begin.: D^iyo ntfD otyn Mb y v r w -jDDtrpaK i W i C Q . . . n j t6; in nort D13, vol. 1, p. 82. 22.

Blumenfeldt, Simon. nmsbl n i y i ^ b nairoi n ^ j n Ms. See Letterbode, vol. 9, p. 58; Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 3, p. 274. It is probably no original, but a copy of Nagara's D'tOH. See above P- 35-

14*

212

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

Brandstaedter, M. D. 23.

T » ^yn on« *?ai 1D"\B A travesty of wedding jests, in -intyn, vol. 4, p. 469—470; also in nyoyDeniK-12 niBD bi, Cracow 1891, p. 115—116. 24. [r^^y p i ] A satire on the Hasidim, parodying their style of exegesis; in "Ol^cn 11, vol. 2, p. 22. Brill, Joseph. 25. niDDDD m v r - p w w "b rnrpn t b d d rrb n^p I T A satire on many phases of Jewish life, mainly on antizionism; in ¡TVBSH, vol. 29 (1902), no. 170. 26. by*-) riND r w j n b i D a midrashic parody, treating of the persecution of the Jews, Antisemitism and Zionism. The last is a panegyric on Baron Edmond de Rothschild; in flDJ3, vol. 1, col. 593—605; continued under the title •ttlpDn bv w v r n JV3B in "Hon, vol. 32, no. 28 and again ,p"l£) in DY11B p 1893, p. 151 —152. cont. under the title 27. a»in '2VK bv d^bdh "raina v 'a «301 i c n outbid e m o . . . u n a riBDina hk 1 ? ten .3rmiD n y t n a ,Tyn »pp-ao A critical survey of Hebrew journalism from 1784 to his own time; in W I l , vol. 10, p. 81—87, l37~l42> '95—J99> 562—567, 622—626, 683—689 and vol. II, p. 105—111, 178—183. v '3 hnxdj . . . Dmpa rODD IK n n p n D njtMD 28. nnscn rwravi ,rmiD p n a "vyn ]-p-DD aenn ,rmx p a w b& . . . UKa HBDina A guide for authors, publicists and literary critics; ibid. vol. 8, p. 317—324. 29.

. . . D-Hlo'N DHD^b!? "pny \vbv n s p A criticism of the system of education among the Jews in Russia, consisting of 151 paragraphs in 13 sections; in Graeber's DYIfiDn "1S1N, vol. 3, p. 17—34. Brodotsky, Isaac Zebi.

30.

. . . f K l i n " p a w ^ r o o by...

n y i X EHia tbd

A Talmudic

parody, criticising the extravagance of the Jews in dress, preceded by an introduction which contains nilT^D 1

Vv-ia «\ov -JK.

» poro.

3 mon.

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

213

B'Tia, and followed b y D^TS BmOD n o S n 'pDD Berdychev 1899.

8°.

38 p.

B r o d o w s k i , H a y y i m of Berdychev. 31.

n v i y "pnpn TODD Satiric sketch of the life of the Hebrew teacher, parodying the style of the Talmud only in part; in Vlpn, vol. 3, nos. 25, 26, 28. B u c h b i n d e r , A b r a h a m Isaac.

32.

. . . i j r j y o n v n jjnv ton -iks r 6 ß n j r ^ N*

In

ijn

IJnsiKJ, Wilna 1885, p. 33—34. 33.

« e n by*

ibid.

P.

4—5.

See also below under A. B. Gottlober . . . bxbbnab n^Bn

c. Cahn, Abraham. 34.

13 m i D iOT*

A socialistic satire in the style of the Midrash,

published over

the signature TJD "lypernNBJ^tCIB 1JH; in

DbTJMnKfl 1903. C a s s e l , B. M. and Pik, A . D . (Editors). 35.

TU?N rWK "TIN* ! •'BMip-Ki

]KB JjnjT

A

Jewish folk-song parodying a

Hebrew h y m n ; in "Evreiskiya Narodniya Pyesni v' Rossii" ed. b y S. M. Ginzburg and P. S. Marek

(St. Petersbourg

1901), no. 371. 36.

-5J« "K* nro; a n a p « i j n p TDKT> . . . U\tVk K m

D12t

A Jewish folk-song, parodying

Passover rhyme " j n v 37.

in«".

the

Ibid. no. 259.

u>D}»x"D bytybi •n -II^K* . . . nana K y n -JKD A Jewish folk-song, parodying the benediction pronounced over water. Ibid. no. 370.

38.

sv'rp K — . . . j y ^ n s « — " i n A Jewish folk-song, parodying the Passover rhyme " j n r ^D i n « " . Ibid. no. 88.

214

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

39.

npJT1? 71 10«* !JT ,iyDKD A Jewish folk-song, parodying the hymn for Sabbath eve, begin, with the same words. Ibid. no. 19.

40.

— "na i s * 31D BV -|K1 1J>3"I«D *pK A Jewish folk-song, parodying the hymn in the prayer for rain, beg. with the same words. Ibid. no. 363. l y ^ r y n « |ya"iiiK VDN1?* . . . ]J>T« jnjailN pa n^ytl NH A Jewish folk-sonj, parodying the hymn "HDirt BIN". Ibid. no. 25. Chaschkes, Moses. Diorn n"?d ^>N On the persecution of the Jews; in rSDK ffDan no. 4, p. 56. !?*nts» DJ?!? mot?: nnatn On the same subject. Ibid., ibid. «nv,atWi '1 bv ntonn WBB A satire on the life of the Jews in Russia, parodying the prayer book under the following rubrics: 1) "lljrt? D.lV ) Dnm lb«, 2) \"6n nvi n^nnv 13 nni» now, 3) anpy n"\ 4) nat? r6ap, 5) n s a bv^, 6) roijrann, 7) l y n t r B"D IBID ETON p "1H, in BDiyvnNB? 4

Dppw«n '» p n m

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

48.

49.

215

David Zemah. D^TJ HJtTD On the methods employed by modern writers in Hebraizing foreign words; in TJDH, 1902, nos. 6, 7. Davidson, Israel. r6np p Parodies chapters 1, 3 and 4 of Ecclesiastes in describing the life of the pedler and the working man in America; in , najn, vol. 5, no. 13.

50.

)VDan nan Parodies Psalms 1 and part of the Ethics of the Fathers in describing the proverbial poverty of Hebrew scholars; ibid. vol. 2, no. 8. Deinard, Ephraim. 51. DEii... rinyn npa r M a kbjnkj . . . p K n j m ^ B n nro Kpl1NJ1Dl?N33 A collection of polemics on Hebrew periodicals in the form of a periodical and in the language of the "Megalleh Temirin" with the following subdivisions: (1) VI mn, an attack on the JliaSl; (2) p « D Vlp, an attack on the iNpn (these two polemics first appeared as feuilletons in N. Y . 1888, nos. 1—3, 10, 15); (3) TBSH, an attack on the iTVDSfT; (4) ">D1Dn, an attack on the ; (5) nJH, an attack on the "Dsn. Anon. s. 1. e. a. [Newark 1892], 12°. [4] + 100 p. with comic illustrations.

52. [ktw D-uip] a r t . . . aaw na . . . an nan DTJtpn nee Dona .jy^jmni .lyo^n ,oiD«t anaoa «nan onaip .man d h d n s n^iyn rima ^ cwenn na»a no .Kpnyo«i toner p « ,nens ,?ja»K anaoa aBn . . . m a n Dnas A n indiscriminate and rather coarse satire on socialists, rabbis, preachers, antisemites, physicians, actors etc. in the form of the code of R. Joseph Caro. The satire is interesting on account of its description of the various games, diversions, frolics and sports common among the boys in Russia. The term DnJip stands for gamin, practical joker, mischief maker and rascaL For the etymology of the word, see Senior Sachs in his introduction to I. M. Dick's nV3J> roDO (Wilna 1878), p. 9. In the same parody (pp. 27—28) is also given a brief

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

216

characterization of the DUIp, beg.:

t 1TIK ]t>p ^KTBT1 Y n

Diiip ntyys A n o n . s. 1. e. a. [Newark

1890].

48°. [4] + I V + 200 p.

Printed on colored paper, with comic illustrations. Dick, Isaac Meir. 53.

. . . 'Dim n'"«n » w b

op Ktsty e n t i c b n p

DPjp fODO

inane nirum n v n n nitDin n a uiDiroi . . . p a p n

v

y rmoii

. . . D ^ B S n ^pt A satire on the manners, morals and customs of the Russian Jews in the middle especially

of the X I X century,

on the usurers, teachers and I^assidic

rabbis,

with an introduction b y Senior Sachs, which contains t w o small satiric parodies, entitled D^ai rODD and m n e rDDB XUtPn, directed

against

Reform

rabbis.

S. S a c h s

also

ascribes to D i c k the following unpublished parodies, (1) p*?m p'rm t w o ;

(2) » t n taip1?'; (3) t r y o d d ,

p i c a m e x -jninn nr pe nrwi

ip^Ttrn

nnwn

viz. beg.:

(4) m p t e 'DO, beg. nip^-6

j^nno;

(5) an 'an NTBD

WIDTJ ^iOCl? which has reference to Samuel Holdheim. A l l these, however, are undoubtedly mere fictitious titles. Anon,

in

S.

Sachs'

HiV

Reprinted Wilna 1878.

,D3D

160.

(Berlin

1848),

p.

3—20.

32 p.

D l u g a t s c h , M. 54.

miDD o t y n JOT*

A

satire on the manners, morals

and

customs of the Polish Jews, in the form of the Masorah. W a r s a w 1895.

8°.

68 p.

D o b s e v a g e , A b r a h a m Baer. 55.

. . . " m t e Its"

bm V1VTOD (nitfn l?3t?) t u p e n n

laneous satire, with V'IDn X1KD m n j m m j ? n .

A

miscel-

Anon,

in

•nayn, vol. 2, no. 15. 56.

. . . ("D!b& - r " btt n n o o )

bsb

nrp

A satire on

Jewish life in N e w Y o r k City, parodying the e l e g y ]V3 "6k. Ibid. no. 6.

See also above no. 8.

D o l i t z k y , Menahem Mendel. 57.

V ' l jnrrpyD

cnbl y o p

A

p a r o d y of an amulet

in

the place of an introduction to his satire nVWBi"! "W ^pb, directed

against the

Hasidim.

In iriBTI, vol. 9, p. 391

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

217

et seq. Reprinted Vienna 1879, and in his DTUD T P (N. Y . 1900), p. 120—171. Drachman, Bernard and Rosenberg, Abraham. 58.

K-Dl-I "fitb D>K1U CD"1? J1DJB A satire on Czar Nicholas II, in the form of a hymn; in the Hebrew Standard, Oct. 13, 1905. E.

Elisha ben Abuiah (Pseud.). 59. ¡T12N p ytP^K WE'D A socialistic satire, consisting ot m a n p j w ^ « bv i n m b mop nonpn, signed no'vi; a letter from Elisha ben Abuyah and the Talmudic parody proper with the subtitle D^iy 31t?1 and the commentaries va'in D»n rniDD, UK ¡VWl; in D'DSn X1BDK (Königsberg 1878), p. 76—77, 96—99, 125—127. Continued as B^iy 31BT WE'D, in *)DKDn (Königsberg 1879), p. 21—23, 65-67. 60.

61.

Erter, Isaac. antn "»pTB A satire on physicians, parodying the aphorisms of Hippocrates; in his "Wl»" Wlb Hflisn (Warsaw 1890) p. 60—62. [D'TDO niin] A satire on Hasidic rabbis, in the form of a Biblical travesty, begin.: lyfftib ^Bll l^n'1 ^ n»K IK B^K. Ibid. p. 101—103. F.

Faust, Joel. 62. pTtfn ]1tWU 3X130 A satire on the professional matchmaker; in his niDy ill^D, pub. in 3"iyB01 ITltCD, vol. 2, p. 86—87. 63.

Feigenbaum, Benjamin. rt^Bn J?BDJ?2 r « *TQ trn«iT A socialistic satire parodying a religious hymn beg. with the same words; in IJWOIK "1JH I V I B , vol. 4 (1889), no. 40. Reprinted with a Yiddish commentary "D^D3 1U1? HOD PITE" in rot n^B/l By "lima (Leeds 1903), p. 18—24.

218

64.

65. 66. 67. 68.

69.

70.

71.

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

(tsnn HD13 ^ ty) HDD m i l * A satire against capitalism; begun in ' W a i K 1JH, vol. 2 (London 1887), no. 21 (without the parenthetic part of the title), and continued in the same periodical, vol. 3, no. 12. Reprinted by the Socialist Pamphlet Fund of N. Y. in 1894 and again in 1896. 8°. 15 p. A fourth ed. appeared as "Supplement" to the "Freie Arbeiter Stimme", s. 1. e. a. 8°. 8 p. All these editions close with the parody of the passage ]B>J> m o n i »«1 01. The 5 th. ed. omits the TOTpn but extends to the end of the Haggadah. Anon. 3. 1. [Geneve] 1900. 12° 23 p. Pub. by the "Allgemeinem jüdischen Arbeiter-Bund in Russlancf und Polen". p n DV nan* A socialistic satire; in i m s "lyB^aTK "1JH, vol. 3, no. 35. ijpin njnai tya p a y ~ia rwyo *)pm rural* Idem, ibid. vol. 3, no. 37. ru»n bib niypnn VTD* Idem, ibid. vol. s, no. 37. Reprinted in nat r6sn ny -mno (Leeds 1903), p. 13—18. n'psn A blasphemous parody; in "t^ns nytS"a-|K l y i , vol. s, no. 47. Freidkin, Joseph Loeb. p pote pn ok . . . ,n£DK itr« now nn:« ""»-no py 21K3D i)DV D»a p^BDÖl "dp PITS By n m « t)DV A miscellaneous satire; in the Hebrew division of "lytS^TK "iyi vol. 4(N. Y. 1902), nos. 155—160, 162—164, 166. Friedberg, Abraham Shalom. [DniDff b^b •OD] A satire on the persecution of the Jews, as part of a feuilleton ND1H OOye, published in f^Dn, vol. 20, no. 25 and reprinted in his nUVT3?n 1BD (Warsaw 1899). P- 75—76. Friedland, L. (Pseud.). n .ranp mann snupn1? pp^n roaSn yv ppTin ibd l a w »)DK . . . r a m pbis n-onl? ppvi niaVn o n bi -wia* . . . TDn . . . am A satire on the habit of

S Read rupm.

XIV.

B I B L I O G R A P H Y O F XIX C E N T . P A R O D I E S

219

the Hasidim to indulge in drinking in the Synagogue, written in the style of Caro's code. Czernowitz 1881. 12°. 20 f. In a private communication of July 23, 1903, Mr. David Apotheker (see above, nos. 5—10) informed me, that he wrote and printed this parody while residing at Husiatyn, Galicia, in the neighborhood of Reb Motele (?) and fearing to provoke the anger of the Ijlasidim he chose to write under the above pseudonym.

72.

73.

Friedlieber, Ignacz. *Dusz Lied vim Kigely. A parody of Schiller's "Das Lied von der Glocke"; in L. Blau's "Magyar-Zsido' Szemle", April 1904, p. 167—169. Friend, Emanuel M. * Yokejie Possemacher Brecfe. Letters written in the Bavarian Jewish dialect, depicting the life of the old-fashioned foreign Jews who removed from the East Side to the more fashionable residential quarters of New York City; appeared above the pseudonym "Yokefle Possemacher*' in The Hebrew Standard, July 24, 31, 1903. Frischmann, David.

74.

C'^dkh,, mnj>D rv:n ntr« nnnn bv y^n nvrt?) A series of imaginary letters to the editor of the haAsiph, pub. over the pseud. PURINE» i n in rpDKn, vol. 2, p. 764—770-

75.

^«Dy« "j^opyB ta^tsny BK^JIJOKII Djo^ayo « JtfD "ljn* inK'1 K A satire on the British East Africa movement in the form of a journal, pub. anon, in IJ^TB "lJH and reprinted in ddkb lijDK "lypitni O c t 25, 1903.

76.

tn»K I j n * Parody of Heine's poem "Der Asra"; , V in *13 "1B T^in, vol. 5 (Warsaw 1896), p. 64.

77.

,tmnn r v ^ r o enn /nnn ,Tirade ^nican j r e "pm ^3 DayilJW pTN V'V tryiT D^na1? KXV A satire in the form of a journal; in DVH, vol. 2 (1887), nos. 207, 234, 274 and reprinted in his D'nnaa D"Ori3, p. 314—322.

78.

"jrtDBO VTW

A

palinode of J. L. Gordon's VIDtM Vttf

220

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

(See Gordon's works, Wilna 1898, vol. 5, p. 29—31), pub. over the pseud.

^KTV in Dm, 1887, no. 234.

Frug, Semion Grigoryevich. 79.

omtvik n i«n u t 6 o m n DDiyp*

A parody of

Göthe's "Kennst du das Land wo die Zitronen blühen?"; in pynßN^a^Dpbss w i r , vol. 2, p. 167—168. G. Geiger and Braverman. 80.

. . . nDfl to n u n n j y u *

An

of the Passover Haggadah.

advertisement in the N. Y . s. a. [1895?]

8°.

form 14 p.

(In the New Y o r k Public Library). Gestetner, A d . 81.

03

prra^ 'HajJ* oder Hebräische Travestien.

Translations

of Biblical phrases.

Budapest

Perverted 1897.

240.

[1] + 32 p. (German) + 32 p. (Hebrew). Ginzburg (?). 82.

]12n NT nbsn

Satire on the economic

condition of the

Jews; pub. over the pseud. f J J U - D ; in D^ÖSH nBDN (Königsberg 1877/78), p. 117, 118. Goldberg, Israel. 83.

. . . D-idno bVn ,njt?n -cnnS . . . Tip n r o e rrinnn . . . rHTl mi6 n t

.D«Tmj6sD bib lioy^ia rnjruo by n^inm

b^bi

KTTTIJJ

VV

social and religious life of the Jews. 142 p.

ffinn

A Hebrew Puck, dealing with the Berdyczew 1895. 8°.

T h e following parodies contained therein deserve

special mention: (a) . . . o ^ v u d t o

i n

n "a

. . . c i t o n ^ b c n •jtOBP v i N Mb r r n i 1 ?«

Dm

(b) "IED

ftbiO,

(c) 3'T

bv

. . . nvcDp Dy (p. 8 — 9 ) ;

A satire on the German Jews (p. 1 8 — 1 9 ) ;

w b v

miyD1?

[not],

A

satire on those

who

desecrate the D a y of Atonement (p. 19). (d) [ffnoSon

A satire on the life of the Hebrew teacher,

beginning: » m o w n (e)

KDn*1

tOlBtD

A

ntn neben njntra HD (p. 32—33).

miscellaneous satire, in the form of a

Talmudic parody with a commentary (p. 33—35,45—46, 58).

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

( 0 [¡TT^O arOD] A stylistic parody, beginning: "MO niETD . . . W 2 'B nnsN (p. 67). (g) HD3 DV b'bl DIDIK1? 13T130 A satire on poverty (P. 70). (h) DniB1? DiTlfi a«r A satire on antisemitism (p. 81). (i) DO^O1? n3BTt TSV A satire on poverty (p. 90—91). (j) W nD£¿ ¡"UntJO HD On the peculiarities of the Jews as a nation (p. 105—106). (k) ,3,D in TDyea WW DWn Parody of a contract of betrothal (p. n o — i l l ) , (l) ruso xnrb HBDin A miscellaneous satire (p. 115 —116). (m) NOJ73 N23 Jliwn pTB p « f l Idem (p. 124—125, 140—142). (n) 3"fi nr¡DBÓ mspn On the wild pranks played by boys on the Ninth Day of Ab (p. 132—133). Goldenberg, N. 84. (J>-Htoy"ti NH D'T'Dn T Ö * A satire on the tfasidim, parodying Heine's "Die Grenadiere"; in J. L- Gordon's l^in nntf (Warsaw 1889), p. 68—70. See "Voschod" 1886, no. 5: "Pismo v' Red". Goldfaden, Abraham. 85. DW-ni D^C yw ]1B ^TOTD D i e m * A satire on the Dreyfus case, parodying the New Year's liturgy; in Ch. J. Minikes' DIB DV (Sep. 1899), p. 17—19. Goldschmidt, A. 86. *Purim-Almanack. Hamburg 1884; 1886; 1888; 1892. Golomb, Hirsch Nisan. 87. NJYUfcn J^D A Midrashic parody, urging the necessity of teaching children a trade; in tpKDn (Königsberg 1879), p. 28. Gordon, Judah Loeb. 88. .TT31 p i m m ^K A satire on Jewish life in Russia; in Vs 3'V ^ r o (Odessa 1889), pt. 1, p. 77—78. 89. monpH pj33 A satire on those who go from extreme piety to licentiousness; in 3"^ mT3K (Warsaw 1894), no. 114, also in 3"^ n't* (Wilna 1898), vol. 6, p. 119—121.

222

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

90.

rÒJD rtBD A satire on Alexander Zederbaum, in the form of a periodical, with the subtitle . . . HSnn arOD HCf^O . . . 'jKTty^ fiosrò c n n , pub. under the name of Joshua Meisach. Warsaw 1885. 8°. 47 p.

91.

An epitaph on the money buried in the publication of his Book of Fables; in "HIP vol. 5, p. 88. "ITTIÌT

rOSD

nahs

Gottlober, Abraham Baer. 92.

93.

BOTO p i n e ¡S'IVI

O n superstition; in i n & n , vol. 6, p. 1 6 8 —

169, 1 9 0 — 1 9 1 . tyjip D^IS T^ DN1* der Glocke".

Parody of Schiller's "Das Lied von

D'pfiSn DTlWDn nnain1? "P'bV TV Mimics those poets who juggle with words in order to make the numerical value of the letters of each verse equal to the year of composition; in his m p 3 m i K , pub. in D^iUn (Wilna 1865), p. 3 1 . 95. ^K^riD^ rÓDn A satire on superstitions; in UK "Ipan, vol. 2, p. 6—12. This parody was translated into Yiddish by Abraham Isaac Buchbinder (See above, nos. 32, 33) (a) under the title of IS "TIM DV any D1K "jK^HD1? r6fifl* nniD; in ijrcnKJ "ijn (Wilna 1885), p. 51—53.

94.

96.

Gruschkin, Raphael. -MK Perverted proverbs; in *)DKVlK, vol. 2, 342-345.

col.

Giinzburg, Mordecai Aaron. 97. pan« D^TJi W K viynv] Satire on the wedding jester; in his "ItjrnK (Wilna 1864), p. 71. H. 98.

Halpern, D. G. (Compiler). Ijm* A Jewish folk-song, parodying the Passover rhyme JHV inti ; in "Evreiskiya Narodniya Pyesni v' Rossii", ed. by S . M. Ginzburg and P. S. Marek. St. Petersbourg 1901, no. 125.

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

223

Harkavy, Alexander. 99.

100.

101.

D W K . . . nrUK

p u p Kim

KpnyDtn

p T D B n ^ J D TBD

. . . »)DV - o nona . . . m o i . . . o w î n A satire on Jewish life in America, in the form of an imaginary correspondence; in (rvoyn np^non) •jKnwt -ijn, vol. 4 (1902), nos. 147—152, 155, 156, 158—160. . . . TOXI 'B man JIB TJJffiiflD* A humorous publication, containing a number of parodies, issued as souvenir of the festivals celebrated from time to time by the "Pi Tomid" association [No. i]. Anon. N. Y . 1903. 12°. 16 p.; [No. 2] ibid. 1904. 16o. 16 p.; [No. 3] ibid. 1906. 160. 16 + [2] p. (In the New York Public Library). Harmelin, Moses. yiSnn m^nn A polemic against O. H. Schorr; in his f'jinn, Lemberg 1861, p. 208—210.

Heisinsky, M. M. 102. DVro D^B^ Perverted proverbs; in f t e í l 1900, no. 1 1 3 . Herrman, S. I. 103. Kp-'TDy rDOOO n-on K'n rrt,N pTBÍ> CKÏ^D A satire on societies and lodges; in vol. 2 (N. Y . 1892), no. 6. 104.

105.

Herz, Joseph. yespa vid p r r a i j n witjp ijn ojnpjn* A humorous description of the preparation made for the Passover holidays, in the form of a decree ; in his KH "IJHK *V1DM •UjniB yoantÓJD (Fürth 1854), p. 125—128. i v ^ t p .B ypp«í?3 i « : . r o o i j n JKD TJT6 « P * Parody of Schiller's "Die Glocke", describing the process of baking unleavened bread; ibid. p. 100—114.

Hisda bar Hisda (Pseud.). 106. «P"ncn nbo A satire on the Hasidim in the style of the "Megalleh Temirin"; in W H , vol. 7, p. 383—390. 107.

Hugolin. *Pétition Burlesque adressée aux deux chambres et aux ministres par les Juifs d'Algérie, qui prétendent qu'on

224

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

leur fait une guerre de religion en les empechant d'assassiner et de voler. Alger 1899. Hurwish, A. 108. mjnae^ -mne •paKp'njnjN i j n * 109. na»n nos^ man JRI npaKpnyoK KH* A satire on Jewish life in America, with a poem by I. Jonathanson. s. 1. e. a. [N. Y. 1895]. 12° 15 + [1] p. no. . . . pn*»ran w ^ n p ijn ijn« D^pTB IJttKpnyDK t n * A satire on the political, social, religious and industrial phases of Jewish life in America, parodying the "Ethics of the Fathers". N. Y. s. a. 12°. [2] + 16 p. 111. NpnjiD« fK JiDpKB H^* 112. (man -ijuKpnyoK t r o nDB n u n D'fjfcruyfyo Djn* A satire on many phases in the life of the Russian Jew in America. N. Y. s. a. 8°. 4 p. Hurwitz, Issachar Baer. 113. nw«a TlVIK Parody of J. L. Gordon's Horn "TnnK (Gordon's works, Wilna 1898, vol. 1, p. 117—118); in "VWn, vol. 11, 403—406. Hyman, Charlap A. 114. D^ptP WTBl? "«V On the proverbial poverty of the scholar and the riches of the business man; in vol. 6 (N. Y. 1896), no. 21. 115. ^TTON Bip^ A miscellaneous satire in Midrashic form, with a short commentary; in DN^n, vol. 2 (N. Y. 1902), no. 1. 116. n*nn bv p^cn TBDD A satiric vocabulary; in "'"Qjrn, voL 3, nos. 14, 17, and again in his "B1KH JV3, Chicago 1902. I and J. Idelsohn, A. 117. [nD3Dn] A satire on the Uganda movement; in jottl (St. Petersbourg 1903), no. 81, p. 7. Isaac. 118. * The Ten Plagues of American Jewry, in The Hebrew StaTidard, April 10, 1903.

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

119.

120.

121.

122.

123.

124.

225

Isaac ben Jacob Adam (Pseud.). . . •'BV pny 2pJF "|T A miscellaneous satire in the form of a periodical; in March 12, 1903. I[saacs], A. S. *The Four Cups. A modern Midrash. In The Jewish Messenger, vol. 89, no. 14. Jazkan, Jacob Samuel. (nuvjn rsi^ii ^nap ,0^100 na») nijria» W> ppn A miscellaneous satire, pub. over the pseud. TlT^N; in nTBSn, 1902, no. 119. Jonathanson, J. -IBim bp ]1B n u n y t s r i n p n y a x * A satire on the Jewish immigrant in America, parodying the Decalogue; in Ch. J. Minikes' BB«i?3 niJM3B> N. Y . 1901. Jospe, A. (Ht D^DIK D^tfTVIl) A satire on the social conditions among the Jews in Jerusalem; in f^BH, vol. 29, no. 172. Judelsohn, K . S. EHn "ITU Attacks the synagogues in New York City that charge admission fees; in "Hayn, vol. 2 (1892), no. 15. K.

125.

126. 127. 128. 129.

Kaminer, Isaac. prEP 'VI ni/VID A satire on the Hasidic, conservative and progressive elements in Russian Jewry; in blpn, vol. 3 (1878), no. 84. prcr "n n i m a A miscellaneous satire; in D,mD 1890, p. 81. TÜ1 03""I3 B>1VB ay pJ"!2P T l f l l T m On the oppression of the Jews; in ^VbH, vol. 19 (1883), no. 34. (naß bv ly^t? natr1?) fpTlö Dip* On the persecution of the Jews; in TIBT!, vol. 8, p. 69—70. 2 )pns Dlp^ On the struggle of literary men; ibid, p. 7 0 - 7 1 . is

226

130.

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

(V'» K S ' n n n n D D ) noya» A

satire

on

the

three

mya w fDn n p n a "VID elements

of

Russian Jewry:

Hasidim, Conservatives and Progressists, parodying the ritual and the laws (BO'I) pertaining to the custom of burning leavened bread before Passover; pub. over the in ^ipn, vol. 3, no. 30.

pseud, « i n -iKtspKTI 131.

now ty)

p oa be?

. . . (V't Ka"vVt

A

vhtod ...

flTOD

¡ogo

TID

satire on the meat tax imposed by

the Russian Government on the Jews, in the form of a 132.

liturgy.

As

a

subdivision,

it

contains:

CSS

nyaiK

(p. 52—80), a satire on the Progressists, the rich, the Hasidic

rabbis and the Crown rabbis.

Warsaw

1878.

16°. 80 p. 133.

. . . V'l « a n n

btff m o o

T h e collective title of several

of his satiric parodies on the various phases of Jewish life in Russia, containing: (a) "»B r\«TH nUTTI iUrtM no D'ltfn, a parody of a part of the Passover Haggadah, and (b) riDD bv T a p

mn«6

tare, both published in

•vwn, vol. 7, p. 3 7 4 — 3 8 2 ; (c) (nnij?o vbvb l o t )

im,

a parody of a Sabbath hymn, and (d) NBU BHTO, both "Ipan, vol. 2, p. 2 6 — 3 7 .

published in 134.

D'3 p o n IK "'lay IBb On the poverty of Hebrew authors; in ^D"Dn, vol. 3, p. 69, reprinted in his JWp (cf. infra, no. 136), p. 6—7.

135.

nTtf

p"IC

A

miscellaneous

satire;

in W n ,

vol.

8,

p. 71—72. 136.

. . . ("n «a nn now ty) celaneous satire.

JTJn

Vienna 1878.

137.

naitWil n W

138.

íO'"nr6 maurni ni^Ktf

tf mnDD n w p A mis8°.

32 p.

A satire on Jewish extravagance, parodying

part of the Passover Haggadah; in talan vol. 3, p. 400. A satire on the social life of the

Russian Jews; in DVH 1887, nos. 1 1 2 , 224. 139.

( n ^ U D1S1? DVB) p n n ^ s n

Parody of a religious hymn,

dealing ironically with the theme "Might is Right"; in Vipn, vol. 3, no. 76/77.

227

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

K o p e l o w i t z , Nahum Hillel. 140.

6nypn

bv nVTDD A satire on authors and critics, parody-

ing part of the Passover Haggadah; in topil, vol.

3,

no. 72. K a p l a n , Jacob. 141.

(rn-fi)

n r j K Parody of "Die nachtliche Heerschau"

of Joseph Christian Freiherr von Zedlitz; in HJETI TBD (Warsaw 1901), vol. 2, p. 318—319. Kotlar, Abraham. 142.

. . . msDim - b t t b ny... n e n n n p « - j t t r o o o a Taimudic parody consisting of seven chapters, dealing with the life of the Jewish immigrants and the manners of the American people; in "T3v'"lB_Dpt?NB (Pittsburg reprinted separately Ibid. 1893.

1891),

160. 19 p.

A third ed. contains also: ^th riDBV ",TUn„ ^ 1 3 )Bp W t O ty-u - n ^miBi a-6 m w p n m o kyi " f f l D l p N , , . « p n y o « noil vr.pn ] n « nji m i n n -ibd K*nnb i m y ^b1? » m ^ ryrt "wk en-PB op...

nj»n

vx-b

"UWtf\N

.02 yen

y»

... ^33

.¡mrp HOD These are miscellaneous satires- T h e fllDlpK is also called nUO n i t e e .

Warsaw 1898. 8°. 39 p. With

the photograph of the author and letters of approbation (p. 1—4). K o w n e r , Abraham Uri. 143.

D'finai niBinD ubv 3"K

A satiric vocabulary; in his

D'mD (Odessa 1868), p. 15—16. Kozda, Hirsch. 144.

EHnn D^DH IBD A humorous dictionary, pub. under the pseud. 'NIPS pcnY 1 p B1? D^too nnob anti *)D3 roi?3 r o n e s d b u Ms. paper. 6

w p n «= puópEwp ^.i Din: jopri

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

228

German cursive characters.

S q . 8°. [iii] + gf.

A

scur-

rilous attack on a resident of Kremenitz, whom the author calls b y the name of 3t}n3i?D.

Again, the expression

m o i l [ = bjn:$?D I1?] occurs quite frequently in the niDDin.

But perhaps the strongest argument in favor of

Landsberg's authorship m a y be derived from a passage in the necrologue written on him in y^OH 1866, no. 5, which is as follows: mi3J? TTD„ D1B31p 3H3 VDlty -O-a,, ny nn« Krone nil ,D"331B> n-02 vya

u1?

^3 psie nil ,(riDB>

nisbm

"onaipn

jnu t6) Ktjnnoi msDini

"rrcbm nitoprn m s n n n t ^ o « , m ,"ryn ^ » v by i b s k

t o t

There can be but little doubt that the Talmudic parody mentioned

in this passage

y®nv under

discussion.

is identical with

The

"Dlilpn

cribed to him in the necrologue, m a y

the

fi^JD

mi3J> n D „ , have

been

asonly

a modified or enlarged form of the DUlpn TDD of Aaron Berdiczew.

This supposition is based on a statement of

I. B. Levinsohn in his V

Blp^ p. 23, which reads as

follows: W I B ^ »"Nt? "i'jSlpD "J3 "IDK1 .T^D 1J?3 V '1 TIN 13„ "ltysi1? inDn'D "atsn nn:m vby fpmn p n a i [miipn 'D] u n a T h a t " ^ t s n DPI3D,, refers to M. Landsberg is well known (Vid. infra s. v. Levinsohn,

no. 150).

E. Deinard

pos-

sesses another copy of this parody. T h e expression DB1J ¡13^03

is certainly

indicated

in the

fictitious,

same

though

passage,

may

the

date,

be the

1834,

date

of

composition. Levin. 146.

niN^sn niDD C D ny-nto -ijnNpnyoN TB nDB bvf r m n *

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

Vp^n |1B

229

A satire on the Jewish boarding houses

in N e w York City.

N. Y . s. a. [1900?].

8°. 32 p.

L e v i n , Judah Loeb. 147.

J^NDM Kpiyn m^jnn A satire directed in general against the Hasidic rabbis of the house of Karlin, but in particular against the succession to the Rabbinate by the fiveyear-old son of Rabbi A s h e r of Karlin in 1873; pub. over the pseud. K^Tin ]0 i n in TTOH, vol. 6, p. 25—44.

Some

claim the authorship of this parody for M. A . Schatzkes, but the evidence seems W.

to be in favor of Levin.

Schur, rrnnn, vol. I (Chicago

See

1899—1900), no. 2,

Letter of Schatzkes to D o b s e v a g e ; no. 7, Letter of I. J. Weissberg; no. 8, rtBDOTI; no. 11, Letter of P. Turberg; nos. 23—24, Letter of J. L. Levin. L e v i n , Moses Michael. 148.

nnK Dye p i

mini

ctan1?... nisp

nibcn n y m N dj? ] B p

r6sxin to yiDB6 . . . rotso

A

lOTD

satire, in the form

of a liturgy, on the lack of religious sentiment among the prosperous classes; in Ch. J. Minikes' Monthly, Sep. 1902, p. 24—25. L e v i n s o h n , Isaac Baer. 149.

. . . DTDn "it? p

n r w i nrua ante

. . . PNBD r6ae 1BD n n « by

A

. . . D^TTS " ' l i l

fictitious

correspondence

and imaginary conversation between Hasidim about the authorship of JTDD

published over the pseud, pn

•»jnt'loyip 3 ^ n n « Vienna 1830. 8°. 16 p.

Zedner (Cat.

p. 619) erroneously ascribed this parody to Joseph Perl, but the latter only

printed

it

at his own

TJDn, vol. 7, p. 385 note and Natansohn p. 14).

Second

Klin"1

ed. . . .

cost

(See

mJVttin *1BD,

D^KBVpDJJ DJ? D^pHS ' 1 3 1

with

HMO NDS-O Odessa 1867. 8°. [2] + 32 p.

These two books are reprinted in

Blp^ (Warsaw

1878), p. 1 1 8 — 1 5 1 , and again, without the poem NDS"^, in VTDB r f o e (Lemberg 1879), fol. 108—114. 150.

. . . 133 OKI WIN rODD A polemic against Mendel Landsberg in the form of a Talmudic travesty, with notes in

23O

151.

152.

153.

154.

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

the form of the commentary of Rashi; in his ^TH Dlp^' (Warsaw 1878), p. 20—29. See ^"»n 1883, nos. 50, 57- 63. .DiorDKiiKB . . . . . . ni^sKn nbiya pvnn «in D,KD"i p o p D"TDnn Dnmpn nbjns . . . ntroi . . . r m ^ B J . . . ntrr u . . . 1J1D12 A satire on the liasidim in the form of a fictitious correspondence, recording the description, given by a hypnotic subject, of the way in which a well known Zaddik was punished in Purgatory. [Vienna 1830?]. From a letter of B. Blumenfeld to Levinsohn, dated 1832 (quoted in B. Natansohn's nUTDtn "ISO, p. 28) it seems that the DWBT pay and D^Tl were printed separately at the same time and place, i. e. Vienna 1830. For other editions, see above under no. 149. All the editions appeared anonymously, with the following pseudonym at the end of the introduction. p nrtBPDD f l p l idd -one tya trniD p t o "nJ^K w t m D ^ n x p t j » . . . crp^w Ett*VB] A parody in the form of a Hasidic homily on Exodus x. 1; in his HBJ? nbjD pub. by E. Deinard, Kearny 1905, p. 19—20. [rtapn mo" 'B by . . . TTIK piB] A cabalistic parody written by him in early youth, but never published, mentioned in B. Natansohn's n u m n "1BD, p. 28. D'HIpa roDDD NHBDin A satire on Jewish characteristics, parodying the style of the Mishnah; in bX'H DlpV\ P- 31-

Lewinsky, A. L. 155. niViJBSH BJfO A satire on current events in the form of a calendar; in vol. 3, p. 435—446; ibid. vol. 6, p. 268—273. Libowitz, Nehemiah Samuel. 156. TD1 il^N On the decline of Talmudic studies in America, pub. under the pseud, bo'&n N. Y. 1895. 160. 16 p. 157. n^pil *)DM3 A polemic against E. Deinard parodying the style of the liturgy; in his D^ttpi «3D, Newark 1893,

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

158.

231

p. 4 1 — 4 5 ; reprinted in K p n j m t « VUJ01 TUO'n DnßK N. Y . 1901, p. 13—14. nrPDC A polemic a g a i n s t E . Deinard, p a r o d y i n g t h e Biblical s t y l e ; in Dnipa tOB p . 5 — 6 .

L i l i e n b l u m , M o s e s Loeb. A satire on the Pilpulists; in his m bnp, O d e s s a 1870, p. 40—44. L i n e t z k i , I s a a c Joel. 160. . . . "b-nnno J T J „ Qjn o n « rrujrtsnn* A p l e a for self h e l p ; in S p e c t o r ' s 11""tD-]]r l ro«D 1$n, W a r s a w 1887, p. 8 4 - 8 5 . 161. i^sp ^ ] T t . . . l o a f « - v w D'^B r r 6 o f y m - i j n * . . . ^lN'pnsn A satire on Polish J e w s in the form of a calendar. O d e s s a 1872. 21 ,H33"1D3 D'MVl B , "W}? ,V3B by ma

">333 ^DnDci

W3in

H"1

to

KXV1 D^pnson

one

by n m y

HD^ID

B«3j>3t9

,nrr^i3

T h e p a r o d y w a s followed b y a

p o e m b e g i n . : nj>Bt? HiH T33 , 3 3 ^ 3 n ( S e e T3B.1, vol. 3, p. 54). 174 a.

Is t h e m s . still e x t a n t ?

i l i m a n C i y n by A s a t i r e o n R e f o r m J u d a i s m , p a r o d y i n g t h e s t y l e of t h e

Prophets,

written

in

1818, w h e n

n e w s r e a c h e d I t a l y , t h a t a n u m b e r of G e r m a n ities w e r e a b o l i s h i n g H e b r e w v i c e s ; in B ^ i 1133 p t . 2, p .

the

commun-

from the S y n a g o g u e

ser-

159—166.

M. M a l a c h o v s k y , Hillel. 175.

n r 6 D'BSn^

P a r o d y of t h e first P s a l m , on t h e p o v e r t y

of H e b r e w

s c h o l a r s ; in S u w a l s k i ' s r 6 v u n DD33, vol. 3,

p t . 2, p . 3 1 ; r e p r i n t e d w i t h c o r r e c t i o n s in M e i s a c h ' s B^niB D'OEncn, B e r d i t c h e v 1892, p. 7 8 — 7 9 . Mandelkern, 176.

"piy

Solomon. Polemic

vol. 9, p . 1 0 7 — 1 0 8 .

against

M.

Morgulis,

in

Wil,

XIV.

177.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

O F XIX C E N T .

PARODIES

233

D'jwwn ty nUJftPlil A miscellaneous satire, with m a n c u "B^m Ttp n t o in n « ipnn, vol. 3, p. 495—497; reprinted with slight variations in "intWl, vol. 9, p. 107.

178.

. . . HKl IDt A panegyric on Gottlober's ~llt< IpDH, parodying the hymn "IpTH Xk btb ¡TTIN of R. Shemaiah (Zunz, Literaturgesch. p. 495); in "Ipan, vol. 7, no. 2, p. 55. Mandelstamm, Benjamin. 179. rovasa rraie1? n^an roan -TO mote A parody of A . B. Lebensohn's poem HBtD tSHpn mats'? n b y a n "W Qltn lyiQ1?, pt. 2, p. 82—83), written to commemorate the dedication of the synagogue "BHpn nVlB" built by the liberal wing of the Jews of Wilna in 1841 (?). Ibid, p. 88—89. 180.

M a r a c h o w s k y , Moses. . . . -no -ijwm^n u n «

B*S l y r B J ^ n ]«B «Tun

tn*

120.

A miscellaneous satire. Warsaw 1885. 34 p. Mark, G. 181. nj»n bib) D ^ n vbvb m i n * Advertisement in the form of the Passover Haggadah. N. Y . 1902. [8 p.] Markon, Chayim Judah Loeb. 182. ('no^pKD a m t r t r \n n«D) D n i B r o r BVB A liturgic parody, with 'wrp "pn p^nynn n«n niBDini nm«a„ '^"IID DrrOK deploring the decline of Hebrew scholarship and enumerating forty-two renowned scholars since the time of Elijah Wilna; in vol. 4 (1879), p. 621—28. Mausche Nahr (Pseud.). 183.

"Die Lore-Lei. A prose parody of Heine's "Lorelei"; in Gedichte und Scherze in Jüdischer Mundart, no. 17 (Berlin s. a.). Mausche W o r s c h t (Pseud.). 184. *Das Lied vum Lokschen• Parodie of Schiller sein Lied vun de Glock. In jiddisch-deitschem Dialekt un mit Er7 T h e s e pseudonyms

IHpKO

Jiff c m

are formed by transposing the letters of his Dame

234

185.

STUDIES IN JEWISH PARODY

klärungen . . . Amsterdam 1853. 8°. (See Roest, JV3 IBDn, p. 267, no. 3900). * Koppelche und Ltebeche, noach Schillersche sein Kabale und Liebe Verarbeitet. Hamburg 1854. 8°. (See Cat Van Biema, p. 205, no. 3539). Meisach, Joshua. See also above J. L. Gordon n^JB DSI9.

186.

187.

. . . D^D-TBD 1« e n n 1XW Wilna 1898. 12°. 32 p.

A

humorous

dictionary.

Melamed, Abraham Solomon. n-win DTs-rm D^ty niDDini .ybtvb ny D'nmD rüDD man w v n nYDöi tnw n y ibdu on^yi ts>"in "pDBi a n n o D.T-itijn orrmtro D.T"un rnni nnnjn D-nnion ba nbyinb With n w nbiy p-lp »WB Dy Q^rriD «nBDin Berdychev 1900. Sq. 8°. 56 p. A satire on merchants, brokers, store-keepers and middle men, in the form of a Talmudic treatise.

Melamed, Joseph Elhanan. , 31TD1 wn "Oa A satire on Jewish life in Russia, in the style of the Zohar; in Vlpn, vol. 3 (1878), nos. 76/77, 78. 189. NTGB "OH pty A satire on the mismanagement of communal affairs among the Jews of Russia, pub. over the pseud. YtO and ]tn pD^D jin^K]; ibid. nos. 6, 8/9.

188.

190.

191.

Mendelson, Moses of Hamburg. BHn n n nab Dil BHn na» ppn A satire on Samuel Holdheim for advocating the abolition of Saturday and the substitution of Sunday as a day of rest. In Litbl. d. Or. 1846, p. 537—38; revised and reprinted under the title Enn " i n nabl »nn na» ppn in his ban "JS (Amsterdam 1872), p. 173—174. Möhr, Abraham Mendel tmn« nnati nma» roawm nib«» D'HlB^ ,piYp ,mspn .nnton nn« pnisb n^a-iyo nn abn . . . nibynn -ran ,Dmsn in1? ntya nbsn , n v m ,nuy»in nbx n i ] . . . nibnn » i t b ny omsb nionpK .nmsa

U ntsnn ,nnsr mbvb

XIV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF XIX CENT. PARODIES

235

niTD a