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:—
אפס כי לא תהיה תפארת הממנות נמשכת—עוד מעט ויצאה רוח אלהים לבזור
רכושיך—ויהיו כלא היו חמשים אלפי זהב אשר בקנינם מכרת נפשך• תתהפך הזמן כמעט
רגע לקחת חן וכבוד מעל ראשך—תרד אש האלהים מן השמים ותאכל אותך ואת חמשיך•
“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
חמשיך 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]:—
Thy belongings in sooth are but passion and lust,
Thy strength sinks asunder like light crumbling dust;
Thy treasures, like thorns, are surrounded with stings,
Thy most precious possessions are but worthless things,
Thy pride is enkindled like flames in the night,
Thy riches, like insects, soon hasten to flight.
And again, in chapter XI, the author gives the following description of
the four seasons of the year:—
The lovely Spring gives me no peace,
For constant cares disturb my ease.
The Summer, too, is full of pain,
Its glow and heat are but my bane.
The Autumn has no charms for me,
From cold and ills I ne'er am free.
When Winter brings its snow and frost,
Oh, then I am undone and lost^[75-1].
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: התבל ים זועף 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:—
What care they for those gloomy envoys of fate?
They dance all the night, and they rise very late.
Feasting they love, and high play and flirtation,
And laughter, and pleasure, and wild dissipation.
They look upon evil, of whatever sort,
As a mirth-causing jest, and an innocent sport^[76-1].
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 צלצול כנפים, 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 אוהב נשים, “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 שונא נשים, “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 אוהב נשים 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 שלטי הגבורים, “The Shield of
the Mighty,” makes a strong attack on women, and Judah Sommo, of
Portaleone, who in his treatise מגן נשים, “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 בקשת הממין, the formal
characteristic of which is this, that each word of it begins with the
letter _Mem_ (מ). Bartolocci, in his _Bibliotheca Rabbinica_, III, p. 7,
gives the same hymn the title of תהלה לשם, “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 ספר הפרדס, “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) לשון הזהב, “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 פירוש מסכת אבות ופירוש אגדות בתלמוד,
Commentary on the Ethics of the Fathers, and on the Agadoth in the Talmud.
(3) אגרת התנצלות, An apologetical Letter. This well-known and
often-quoted letter was addressed by Yedaya to Rabbi Solomon ben Adereth
(רש״בא), 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_ (א), 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) כתב הדת, “A Treatise on Intellect.” This, too, is based on another
book treating of a kindred subject, and bearing the inscription ספר השכל
והמושכלות, 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) הדעת בשכל החמרי, “Opinions on the Material Intellect.”
(8) המאמר בהפכי המהלך is a philosophical treatise on the movements of
bodies, and has been quoted by Ibn Habib under the title of כתב הפכי
האנח.
(9) כתב ההתעצמות, “Treatise on Consolation.”
(10) Is a MS. without any title; but judging from its contents, it seems
to correspond with the ספר הצורות המיניות once quoted by the same Ibn
Habib.
(11) מדבר קדמות, “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 מורה נבוכים.
(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) מעדני מלך, “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) אגרת התשובה, “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.
Footnotes:
[72-1] Cp. Graetz's _Gesch. d. J._, VII, p. 277.
[74-1]
החוקים מחשכים—וכלי הנשקים שקים,
הפנינים צנינים—והשושנים קמשונים,
הרהבים להבים—והזהובים זבובים•
[75-1]
1 האביב לא יאנה השקימני—כאובות במכאובות חדשים יבקעני—
2 הקיץ יקוץ בחיי במצוקות יציקני—יקיצני משנת מנוחה מקטב מרירי—
3 החורף יחרפני למות יחרף לבבי מהיות שלו בפגעי—
4 הסתיו יסית צנה וסגריר לבלעני חנם•
[76-1]
לא האמינו לשמועתו—אורבי מחולות—אוהבי כלילות—חושׁקי יעלות—נושקו אילות—שוחרי
עדניו—סוחרי רנניו—חשבוהו כמהתל—ויהי כמצחק בעיני חתניו•
[79-1] Cp. Miss Löwy's translation of Graetz's _Gesch. d. J._, IV, p. 42.
[79-2] _Gesch. d. J._, VII, p. 269.