DAWN OF THE SPANISH ERA
Chasdai Ibn Shaprut.--Menachem and Dunash, Chayuj and
Janach.--Samuel the Nagid.
If but a small part of what Hebrew poets sang concerning Chasdai Ibn
Shaprut be literal fact, he was indeed a wonderful figure. His career
set the Jewish imagination aflame. Charizi, in the thirteenth century,
wrote of Chasdai thus:
In southern Spain, in days gone by,
The sun of fame rose up on high:
Chasdai it was, the prince, who gave
Rich gifts to all who came to crave.
Science rolled forth her mighty waves,
Laden with gems from hidden caves,
Till wisdom like an island stood,
The precious outcome of the flood.
Here thirsting spirits still might find
Knowledge to satisfy the mind.
Their prince's favor made new day
For those who slept their life away.
They who had lived so long apart
Confessed a bond, a common heart,
From Christendom and Moorish lands,
From East, from West, from distant strands.
His favor compassed each and all.
Girt by the shelter of his grace,
Lit by the glory of his face,
Knowledge held their heart in thrall.
He showed the source of wisdom and her springs,
And God's anointment made them more than kings.
His goodness made the dumb to speak his name,
Yea, stubborn hearts were not unyielding long;
And bards the starry splendor of his fame
Mirrored in lucent current of their song.
This Chasdai, the son of Isaac, of the family of Shaprut (915-970), was
a physician and a statesman. He was something of a poet and linguist
besides; not much of a poet, for his eulogists say little of his verses;
and not much of a linguist, for he employed others (among them Menachem,
the son of Zaruk, the grammarian) to write his Hebrew letters for him.
But he was enough of a scholar to appreciate learning in others, and as
a patron of literature he placed himself in the front of the new Jewish
development in Spain. From Babylonia he was hailed as the head of the
school in Cordova. At his palatial abode was gathered all that was best
in Spanish Judaism. He was the patron of the two great grammarians of
the day, Menachem, the son of Zaruk, and his rival and critic, Dunash,
the son of Labrat. These grammarians fought out their literary disputes
in verses dedicated to Chasdai. Witty satires were written by the
friends of both sides. Sparkling epigrams were exchanged in the
rose-garden of Chasdai's house, and were read at the evening assemblies
of poets, merchants, and courtiers. It was Chasdai who brought both the
rivals to Cordova, Menachem from Tortosa and Dunash from Fez. Menachem
was the founder of scientific Hebrew grammar; Dunash, more lively but
less scholarly, initiated the art of writing metrical Hebrew verses. The
successors of these grammarians, Judah Chayuj and Abulwalid Merwan Ibn
Janach (eleventh century), completed what Menachem and Dunash had begun,
and placed Hebrew philology on a firm scientific basis.
Thus, with Chasdai a new literary era dawned for Judaism. His person,
his glorious position, his liberal encouragement of poetry and learning,
opened the sealed-up lips of the Hebrew muse. As a contemporary said of
Chasdai:
The grinding yoke from Israel's neck he tore,
Deep in his soul his people's love he bore.
The sword that thirsted for their blood he brake,
And cold oppression melted for his sake.
For God sent Chasdai Israel's heart to move
Once more to trust, once more his God to love.
Chasdai did not confine his efforts on behalf of his brethren to the
Jews of Spain. Ambition and sympathy made him extend his affection to
the Jews of all the world. He interviewed the captains of ships, he
conversed with foreign envoys concerning the Jews of other lands. He
entered into a correspondence with the Chazars, Jews by adoption, not by
race. It is not surprising that the influence of Chasdai survived him.
Under the next two caliphs, Cordova continued the centre of a cultured
life and literature. Thither flocked, not only the Chazars, but also the
descendants of the Babylonian Princes of the Captivity and other men of
note.
Half a century after Chasdai's death, Samuel Ibn Nagdela (993-1055)
stood at the head of the Jewish community in Granada. Samuel, called the
Nagid, or Prince, started life as a druggist in Malaga. His fine
handwriting came to the notice of the vizier, and Samuel was appointed
private secretary. His talents as a statesman were soon discovered, and
he was made first minister to Habus, the ruler of Granada. Once a Moor
insulted him, and King Habus advised his favorite to cut out the
offender's tongue. But Samuel treated his reviler with much kindness,
and one day King Habus and Samuel passed the same Moor. "He blesses you
now," said the astonished king, "whom he used to curse."
"Ah!" replied Samuel, "I did as you advised. I cut out his angry
tongue, and put a kind one there instead."
Samuel was not only vizier, he was also Rabbi. His knowledge of the
Rabbinical literature was profound, and his "Introduction to the Talmud"
(_Mebo ha-Talmud_) is still a standard work. He expended much labor and
money on collecting the works of the Gaonim. The versatility of Samuel
was extraordinary. From the palace he would go to the school; after
inditing a despatch he would compose a hymn; he would leave a reception
of foreign diplomatists to discuss intricate points of Rabbinical law or
examine the latest scientific discoveries. As a poet, his muse was that
of the town, not of the field. But though he wrote no nature poems, he
resembled the ancient Hebrew Psalmists in one striking feature. He sang
new songs of thanksgiving over his own triumphs, uttered laments on his
own woes, but there is an impersonal note in these songs as there is in
the similar lyrics of the Psalter. His individual triumphs and woes
were merged in the triumphs and woes of his people. In all, Samuel added
some thirty new hymns to the liturgy of the Synagogue. But his muse was
as versatile as his mind. Samuel also wrote some stirring wine songs.
The marvellous range of his powers helped him to complete what Chasdai
had begun. The centre of Judaism became more firmly fixed than ever in
Spain. When Samuel the Nagid died in 1055, the golden age of Spanish
literature was in sight. Above the horizon were rising in a glorious
constellation, Solomon Ibn Gebirol, the Ibn Ezras, and Jehuda Halevi.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHASDAI.
Graetz,--III, p. 215 [220].
DUNASH AND MENACHEM.
Graetz.--III, p. 223 [228].
JANACH.
_Encycl. Brit._, Vol. XIII, p. 737.
CHAYUJ.
M. Jastrow, Jr.--_The Weak and Geminative Verbs in Hebrew by
Hayyûg_ (Leyden, 1897).
HEBREW PHILOLOGY.
Steinschneider.--_Jewish Literature_, p. 131.
CHAZARS.
_Letter of Chasdai to Chazars_ (Engl. transl. by Zedner,
_Miscellany of the Society of Hebrew Literature_, Vol. I).
Graetz.--III, p. 138 [140].
SAMUEL IBN NAGDELA.
Graetz,--III, p, 254 [260].