A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY HEBREW POET AND PHILOSOPHER

The year 1306 was a fateful one in the annals of the Jews in France. At the beginning of that year Philip IV, surnamed Le Bel, issued an edict of expulsion against all the Jews living in his dominions. The edict practically confiscated all their property, and its terms were so rigorous that any Israelite found on French soil after a certain time became liable to the penalty of death.

Philip's mandate was promptly executed by the royal officers, and some 100,000 Jews were mercilessly driven out from their native land—a land in which their forefathers had resided long before Christianity had become the dominant religion there. In consequence of this expulsion, several famous Jewish seats of learning, such as those at BÉziers, Lunel, and Montpellier ceased to exist. Among the refugees was Yedaya En-Bonet ben Abraham Bedaresi, the subject of the present essay. Yedaya, known also under the poetical pseudonym of Penini, has left no documentary evidence concerning the incidents of his life. The best biography, however, of a man like Yedaya is that which is found in his own works. There is some diversity of opinion among biographers as to the exact date of Yedaya's birth, for while Bartolocci, Wolf, and de Rossi say that he was born in 1298, Steinschneider and Neubauer put the year of his birth between 1255 and 1260, without, however, attempting to fix the year of his death. Graetz, again, maintains that Yedaya was born in 1280, and died about 1340, and that his birthplace was BÉziers and not Barcelona, as some biographers believe^[72-1]. The only indisputable fact in connexion with Yedaya's early education is that he entered the school of Rabbi Meshullam of PÉziers when he was fifteen years old. From Yedaya's numerous writings it is obvious that he was a philosopher and moralist, a Talmudical scholar and an expert in medicine, and above all a clever writer of Hebrew prose and poetry. It is chiefly to his ability in this direction that he owes his prominent position among the Jewish savants of the Middle Ages, and for that reason special attention will have to be paid in the course of this essay to his chief work entitled BechÎnath Olam, “The Examination of the World.” It is true that Graetz finds fault with this poetical composition, which he condemns for its empty grandiloquence and artificiality. But, on the other hand, Munk, in his MÉlanges, p. 495, and Buxtorf, in his Bibliotheca Rabbinica, speak very highly of Yedaya's poetical talent; and the latter calls “The Examination of the World” an excellent literary production. And, indeed, the same opinion will be shared by all those readers of the BechÎnath Olam who, like Munk and Buxtorf, are not prejudiced against it, on the ground that its style is not so pure, elegant, and clear as that met with in some of the writings of the most prominent representatives of the so-called Spanish and Italian schools of Hebrew poetry. It has, in fact, always enjoyed an extraordinary popularity among the Jews; and it is remarkable to notice the comparatively large number of MSS. of the original, and of the commentaries on it, which are to be found in various libraries. It may further be mentioned that it has passed through more than forty-four editions, issued both with and without commentaries, at various times and in various countries, and has been frequently translated into German and into Jargon, while there were Latin, English, French, Italian, and Polish versions as well. It is interesting to note that the eleventh and twelfth chapters of one of the German editions, issued at Prague in 1795 by Moses Kunitz, were rendered into German by Moses Mendelssohn; and that the French translation, published in Paris in 1629 by Ph. d'Aquin, was dedicated to Cardinal Richelieu. The English version, which appeared in London in 1806, was inscribed by its author, Rabbi Tobias Goodman, to “The Most Reverend Solomon Hirschell, Presiding Rabbi of the German Jews”; and the Latin one, which has for its title Examen mundi, R. J. Bedrishitae, latina interpretatione, was done by Uchtman, and issued at Leyden in 1650.

Curiously enough the editor of the first of the forty-four known editions of the BechÎnath Olam, printed, as some biographers think, at Mantua between 1476 and 1480, was a lady called Estellina, the wife of a certain Abraham Conath. She was assisted in her task by Jacob Levy of Tarascon. The last known edition of the book, or rather the greater part of it, was published only a few years ago by Dr. Harkavy, of St. Petersburg, from a MS. in his possession. Dr. Harkavy is also the owner of a hitherto unpublished commentary thereon, composed in 1508 by Isaac ManÇon of Reggio. In some prefatory lines the author states that he was induced to write the commentary, because he had noticed that many young men in his country were in the habit of learning the original by heart, without knowing anything about its contents.

As regards the style and composition of the BechÎnath Olam, which seems to have been composed by Yedaya after the expulsion of the Jews from France in 1306, it must be admitted at the outset that the general reader will not find them quite in harmony with modern taste. De Lacy, in his Magasin encyclopÉdique, III, p. 321, censures the author for his use of certain Biblical phrases in a sense different to that which they bear in the Bible. But he readily admits that the Church fathers during the Middle Ages, and certain Arabic writers, at all times, have taken the same liberties with the Scriptures and the Koran respectively. The greatest of the Spanish-Jewish poets, not excluding Ibn Gabirol himself, allowed themselves the same licence, while Charizi often made his happiest points by the witty misuse of a familiar Biblical phrase. Despite this defect, it cannot be denied that the BechÎnath Olam possesses a peculiar charm of its own.

Those who are acquainted with the Hebrew Bible, the Midrash, and the Talmud, cannot fail to appreciate the art with which Biblical phrases, used with an occasional striking play on words, are worked into a mosaic. Take, for instance, the following sentences which occur in chapter IX:—

??? ?? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ?????—??? ??? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??????—????? ??? ??? ????? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ????• ????? ???? ???? ??? ???? ?? ????? ??? ????—??? ?? ?????? ?? ????? ????? ???? ??? ?????•

“By no means let thy pride in thy wealth endure, for at any moment a blast may come from God, which will scatter and disperse all thy treasures. Then will vanish as naught the fifty thousand ducats for which thou hast bartered thy soul, and thy former honour and glory will likewise depart at thy sudden reverse of fortune. Or a fire may come down from heaven, and devour thee along with thy five myriads of ducats.”

Here it will at once be seen how cleverly the author uses for his own purpose certain phrases found in the second chapter of 2 Kings in connexion with the prophet Elijah, and how ingenious the play on the word ????? is.

As this peculiar mode of composition is a marked feature of the BechÎnath Olam, a few more examples of a somewhat different kind may be given here for the sake of illustration. In chapter IV we read as follows^[74-1]:—

And again, in chapter XI, the author gives the following description of the four seasons of the year:—

Another conspicuous feature of the BechÎnath Olam is its frequent use of poetical metaphors, which the author employs with great aptitude and force. The eighth chapter of the book in question, beginning with the words: ???? ?? ???? may fitly serve as an illustration of this, and the following free English translation of it will afford the reader at the same time an insight into the general contents of the whole poem. It runs as follows:—

“The world is as a boisterous sea of immense depth and width, and time forms a fragile bridge built over it. The upper end thereof is fastened to the ground by means of weak ropes, and its lower end leads to a place which is shone upon by the rays of the divine light, emanating from God's majesty. The breadth of the bridge is but one short span, and has no balustrade work to save one from falling over it. Over this narrow path, thou, O son of man, art compelled to go, and notwithstanding all thy might and glory, thou canst not turn either to the right or to the left. Now, threatened as thou art on both sides with death and destruction, how canst thou maintain thy courage, and how can thy hands remain firm? In vain dost thou pride thyself on the possession of vast treasures obtained by thee through violence and wickedness; for of what avail are they to thee when the sea rises, and rages, and foams, thus threatening to wreck the little hut (i.e. the body) wherein thou livest? Canst thou boast thou canst calm and subdue the powerful waves, or wilt thou try to fight against them? Drunk with the wine of thy vanity, thou art pushed hither and thither, until thou sinkest into the mighty abyss; and tossed about from deep to deep, thou wilt at last be merged in the foaming waves, and none will bring thee to life again.”

The ninth and eleventh chapters of the BechÎnath Olam contain some passages which refer to the author's own sufferings, at the time of the expulsion of the Jews from France, and to the cowardice then displayed by some wealthy French Jews, who, in order to be permitted to remain in the country, and to retain their riches, had embraced Christianity. How shamefully these renegades behaved, in the face of the great calamity which had befallen their co-religionists, may be seen from the following passages, which occur in chapter XI:—

The chief fault of the book is the frequent use of Chaldaic and Aramaic words and phrases, a proper translation of which is almost impossible, but these are more than counterbalanced by its many merits.

Another small treatise, composed by the same author when he was eighteen years old, is one that bears the title ????? ?????, and has for its subject “The Defence of Women.” Till about fifteen years ago there was one MS. in existence—that in the Bodleian Library; but Dr. Neubauer published it for the first time in the Jubelschrift (Berlin, 1888), issued by some friends of Zunz on the occasion of his celebrating his ninetieth birthday, under the title of ???? ????, “The Women's Friend” This title is more appropriate than the one it originally bore, for the simple reason that the treatise in question was evidently written by Yedaya in opposition to another, composed in 1208, by the physician Judah ben Sabbatai, under the title of ???? ????, “The Woman-hater.” This treatise, which Yedaya dedicated to two of his friends, viz. to MeÏr and Judah, the sons of Don Solomon Del Infanz, is written in rhymed prose, intermixed with a few short verses. Its style is rather heavy, and all that can be gathered from its subject-matter is this, that a certain king, called Cushan RishataÏm, a great woman-hater, once waged war against an army composed of the friends of womankind, and led by a general named Seria. The latter ultimately defeated the king and his hostile troops, and, out of gratitude for his great victory, he was himself proclaimed king by his own followers. Under his reign a new and happy era opened for the women, who are then wooed and married, and loved more dearly than before; and wedded life is everywhere declared to be the most desirable state of existence.

The ???? ???? closes with the description of the appearance of Judah ben Sabbatai's ghost on earth, and of how it agrees with all Yedaya's statements made there, with the exception of one. Every man, the ghost declares, ought certainly to marry once; but it would be the height of folly on his part if he were to enter again upon the matrimonial state, after his first marriage had turned out a failure.

In passing, it may be mentioned that the same controversy about the merits and demerits of the married state was still carried on in the sixteenth century among some learned Jewish writers in Italy. Among these are most conspicious: Jacob of Fano, who in his poem ???? ???????, “The Shield of the Mighty,” makes a strong attack on women, and Judah Sommo, of Portaleone, who in his treatise ??? ????, “The Women's Protector,” which exists in a MS. in the Bodleian Library, presents himself as a champion of women. To these writers may be added Messer Leon (flourished at Mantua, at the end of the fifteenth century) who, in a commentary on the thirty-first chapter of Proverbs, eulogizes the female sex in general, and a few specially named women in particular. Among them he mentions Laura, the lady-love of the poet Petrarch; and it is interesting to notice the trouble which the author takes to prove that Laura was by no means a myth, as some writers on Petrarch consider her, but that she really existed in person, and was remarkable for her exquisite beauty and grace.

Resuming now our review of Yedaya's literary compositions, especially of those he wrote when he was still very young, we have to refer to a Hebrew hymn of his, well known under the title of ???? ?????, the formal characteristic of which is this, that each word of it begins with the letter Mem (?). Bartolocci, in his Bibliotheca Rabbinica, III, p. 7, gives the same hymn the title of ???? ???, “Praise of God.” This seems to have been Yedaya's first literary attempt, it being generally assumed that it was composed by him at the age of fourteen. His father, Abraham, himself a writer of Hebrew verses of inferior quality, was so delighted with his son's hymn that he sang its praises in a short Hebrew quatrain. Although, from a literary point of view, the Supplication of the Memmin has little to recommend it, it has passed through fifteen editions, and has frequently been translated into German, and once also into Latin by Hil. Prache, who published his version at Leipzig, in 1662.

Another short composition belonging to an early period of Yedaya's life is his ??? ?????, “The Book on Paradise,” which was composed by him at the age of seventeen, and appeared for the first time in print at Constantinople, in 1517. It is divided into four chapters, each of which has a different heading, while the fourth chapter is again subdivided into four sections. The principal subjects discussed in these chapters are (a) The worship of God; (b) Friendship and Enmity; (c) The Lack of Stability in the World; and (d) The Desirability of Studying Science after the usual Devotions. After having reached manhood, he wrote several other treatises of a similar description, each of which will be briefly noticed here.

(1) ???? ????, “The Golden Tongue.” This forms part of a commentary (existing as a MS. on the Agada and the Midrashim), and was first printed at Venice in 1599.(2) A MS. bearing the inscription ????? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ??????, Commentary on the Ethics of the Fathers, and on the Agadoth in the Talmud.

(3) ???? ???????, An apologetical Letter. This well-known and often-quoted letter was addressed by Yedaya to Rabbi Solomon ben Adereth (?????), on the occasion of his publicly censuring the Jewish communities of the Provence for their occupying themselves with scientific studies. There a passage occurs which throws some light on the author's own ideas thereon. It was as follows:—

“We cannot give up science; it is as the breath of our nostrils. Even if Joshua were to appear and forbid it we would not obey him; for we have a warranty which outweighs them all, viz. Maimuni, who recommended it, and impressed it upon us. We are ready to set our goods, our children, and our lives at stake for it^[79-1].”

(4) A Liturgical Poem. It is composed of a number of words, each of which begins with the letter Aleph (?), and refers, according to Graetz^[79-2], to the sufferings endured by the French Jews in 1306.

(5) A Treatise on Medicine, based on a similar work composed by the Jewish philosopher Ibn Sina.

(6) ??? ???, “A Treatise on Intellect.” This, too, is based on another book treating of a kindred subject, and bearing the inscription ??? ???? ?????????, the author of which is Al-Fabri. A Latin translation of the latter exists under the title of De Intellectu et Intellecto, Venice, 1595.

(7) ???? ???? ?????, “Opinions on the Material Intellect.”

(8) ????? ????? ????? is a philosophical treatise on the movements of bodies, and has been quoted by Ibn Habib under the title of ??? ???? ????.

(9) ??? ????????, “Treatise on Consolation.”

(10) Is a MS. without any title; but judging from its contents, it seems to correspond with the ??? ?????? ??????? once quoted by the same Ibn Habib.

(11) ???? ?????, “The Desert of Kedemoth.” This is a commentary on the twenty-five propositions placed by Maimonides at the beginning of the tenth chapter of his ???? ??????.

(12) A Hebrew poem, having for its subject the thirteen articles as arranged by Maimonides.

The authorship of the following four compositions is also attributed to Yedaya:—

(1) A Divan, compiled by a member of the family of Bedaresi, that member being, according to Luzzatto, no other than our Yedaya.

(2) ????? ???, “The Pleasure of a King,” is a short treatise on the game of Chess, and has several times appeared in print.

(3) Wolf, in the Bibliotheca Rabbinica, I, p. 403, attributes to Yedaya the authorship of a commentary on another commentary, written by Abraham Ibn Ezra on the Book of Genesis, the former of which exists as a MS. in the Paris National Library.

(4) ???? ??????, “A Letter of Response,” This letter, which was published by Dr. Berliner in 1888, and copies of which are found in various MSS., is attributed to Yedaya by Bartolocci and de Rossi.

Enough has been said to show the industry, which was Yedaya's most striking characteristic. At a time when a man's mind is perturbed by external influences, involving not only his abilities but even his personal safety, it would seem that intellectual work would be impossible: it was, however, at such a time that the bulk of Yedaya's work was undertaken and executed.

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