During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there were in France,
Spain, and Italy several Jewish savants whose literary labours did much to
keep alive among Jews generally a taste for Hebrew literature as well as
for philosophy and general science. Among them was Kalonymos ben
Kalonymos, the subject of the present essay. He was born at Arles, a small
town in Provence, in the year 1287, being the son of Kalonymos ben Meir,
who bore the title of _Nasi_ (“the Prince”) and occupied a prominent
position in the local community. The management of civil affairs was at
that time in the hands of the resident archbishop, who confined all the
Jews within a single street, although their predecessors had been
permitted, since the middle of the fourth century, to live wherever they
chose^[103-1]. In this ghetto Kalonymos first saw the light, and there he
also spent a great part of his early youth, devoting much time to the
study of Biblical and Rabbinical lore, as well as the acquisition of the
classical and Oriental languages. He subsequently continued his studies at
a school in the neighbouring town of Salon, under the tuition of Moses of
Beaucaire and Astruc of Noves^[103-2].
As a young student he easily distinguished himself by the translation of
several philosophical, mathematical, and medical books from Arabic or
Latin into Hebrew. King Robert of Naples, who was then living in the south
of France, hearing of his proficiency, commissioned him to go to Rome and
translate some Hebrew books into Latin for him. While Kalonymos was in
Rome he was a great favourite with all who knew him intimately, and, owing
to his fine appearance, his prominent position, and his manifold
accomplishments, he had no difficulty in obtaining entry into the best
Roman society. Several of his contemporaries, and more especially Immanuel
di Roma, a friend of Dante, speak of him in high terms, and bestow upon
him, too, his father's title of _Nasi_.
Whilst in Rome Kalonymos was asked by the leaders of the Jewish community
of Avignon, where he and his parents had lived for some time, to come
thither in order to take a petition to the Pope, who was then residing
there, praying that he would exert his influence in favour of the Jewish
inhabitants of Avignon, for whose extermination the Christian population
had planned a secret plot. It is not known what the result was. Graetz, in
his History of the Jews (vol. VII, p. 305), states that Kalonymos died
about the year 1337, but he does not mention the place of his death.
Kalonymos's chief work is, by general consent, his _Eben Bochan_ (“The
Touchstone”), manuscripts of which are to be found in several libraries,
including those of Munich, Leyden, Paris, and Florence. Printed as an
_editio princeps_ at Naples in 1489, a second edition appeared at Venice
in 1558; it was subsequently published at Sulzbach in 1705, and again at
Fürth (without a date), and also at Lemberg in 1865. In 1878 Dr.
Kayserling edited the late Dr. Meisel's posthumous German translation in
verse, to which he added a brief sketch in German of Kalonymos's life and
principal works.
Among the scholars who have discussed the _Eben Bochan_ may be mentioned
Bartholocci, Wolf, Zunz, Geiger, Gross, Steinschneider, and Neubauer. It
is pretty generally agreed that it was composed about the year 1324, that
is to say, at a comparatively early period of the author's life. This
theory is supported by the fact that it contains passages in which
Kalonymos refers to his youth and unmarried state, and that its style is
in many places marked by a singular freshness and vivacity which is seldom
found in the writings of older men. The work is remarkable for its
conciseness and epigrammatic force, and is further distinguished by the
ingenuity with which Biblical and Talmudical phrases are woven into a kind
of mosaic. It is somewhat similar in style to the _Bechînath Olam_, the
author of which, Yedaya Bedaresi, was Kalonymos's contemporary. But while
Bedaresi never failed to preserve the sternness and dignity peculiar to a
moralizing philosopher, Kalonymos not infrequently relieved the
seriousness of his narrative by flashes of humour and irony. He censures
and ridicules the foibles of his Jewish contemporaries, but confesses at
the same time, more in jest perhaps than in earnest, that he himself was
not quite innocent of the same faults. One of the most humorous parts of
the _Eben Bochan_ is that at which the author makes merry over his own
misfortune in being born a male child of Jewish parents. For as such he
has during all his lifetime to bear the heavy yoke of the six hundred and
thirteen precepts (תרי״ג מצוות), together with various other Talmudical
restrictions. The following free translation will give an idea of the
author's style and mode of expression:—
Oh, hapless sire, distraught with cares,
Whose wife to him male children bears,
For all of them, or rich or poor,
Have only suffering to endure;
This is caused by the Jewish creed,
Whose yoke is hard to bear, indeed.
Its many laws and regulations,
Which are unknown to other nations,
Every Hebrew must observe,
With watchful eye, and straining nerve;
E'en though he shares in public functions,
He still must follow their injunctions,
Which, I would tell you, have been seen
To be six hundred and thirteen.
But this is not the only feature,
Which makes the Jew a hapless creature:
For he must shun all jest and play,
And brood o'er folios night and day,
Mosaic and Rabbinic lore,
And books, which he may think a bore.
The Bible is not half enough:
Glosses there are and other stuff,
In which he erudite must be,
Especially in theology,
In all the Talmud may relate,
In authors' quarrels and debate,
In things particularly small,
Of no significance at all.
And if in an enlightened age
He'd fain become a cultured sage,
He must cram full his suffering head
With languages, alive and dead,
With ethics, logic, and philosophy,
Astronomy also and theosophy,
And cabbalistic learning too,
And history, old as well as new,
And fill his overloaded brain
With metaphysics' idle strain.
Oh, truly wretched and forlorn
Is every Jewish son that's born;
Miserable is all his life,
Full of toil, and pain, and strife.
Thank Heaven, life is very brief;
And death soon brings a swift relief!
Kalonymos then goes on to say that, had Providence decreed that he should
be born a girl, his existence on earth would have been much more pleasant.
Happier, I would surely be,
If from this manhood I were free,
And entered on life's weary whirl,
As a lucky-fated girl;
Then my life would be as bright
As is a star in summer night.
And when full grown, I ne'er would shirk
From doing all a woman's work;
From early morn till late at night,
When shine the moonbeams' silvery light,
I'd spend the hours in peaceful knitting,
Contented to be ever sitting
Amidst a busy, smiling crowd
Of girls that sing and laugh aloud.
When nights were dark, we'd talk together
Of dress, and bonnets, and the weather;
And then we'd gossip too apace
Of all that happens in the place,
And end the evening's conversation
With jests, and tales of sweet flirtation.
As time went on, I would not tarry,
But some fit husband I would marry,
Who, I am sure, would ne'r decline
To give me sweets and luscious wine,
And would enhance his sweet embraces
With gifts of gems and costly laces.
Oh, heavenly Father, who—'tis told—
Didst work great miracles of old,
How truly grateful I should be,
If thou hadst but created me
A girl, devoid of worldly care,
And blessed with beauty ripe and rare.
Alas! it is of no avail
My hapless fortune to bewail;
Heaven has willed that I, a man,
Must even end as I began,
Until grim death, a timely friend,
Brings to my woes the wished-for end.
Thus will I bear with patient grace
What still befalls the Jewish race,
And not forget those wondrous pages,
Composed of old by worthy sages,
Wherein 'tis said that we must bless
Heaven in woe and happiness;
And humbly then these words I say
(With silent protest and dismay),
“O Lord, I thank thee ('tis not scorn)
That I was _not_ a woman born^[107-1].”
There are other similar passages in the _Eben Bochan_, in some of which
the author ridicules, for instance, the way in which his fellow
religionists were in the habit of celebrating the various feasts in the
Jewish calendar. They entirely overlooked, he says, the moral significance
attached to these days by their religion, but considered them to have been
specially ordained for the sake of feasting and merry-making. Even the New
Year's Day and the Day of Atonement were not spent by them in sincere
devotion, but rather in quarrelling with each other about petty religious
usages, to which they attributed much greater weight than they deserved.
Kalonymos elsewhere directs his attention to the prevailing faults of his
neighbours. The objects of his satire are: the wealthy but ignorant Jewish
snob; the conceited would-be literary genius; the questionable Talmudical
and Hebrew scholar; and, lastly, the Jewish hypocrite, the man who essays
to appear outwardly religious, while his heart is full of roguery. The
latter is described by our author as follows:—
A hypocrite is strange of race,
Who, with his sanctimonious face,
Would fain appear in others' view
As good, benevolent, and true;
Who never cares a bit or bothers
About the pleasant vice of others.
But though he sets up as a saint,
And boasts that none has made complaint
Of any dark or base transactions
In business or in other actions,
Yet do not on his word rely,
Remember “the spider and the fly.”
For cunning is the hypocrite,
With shrewd and money-making wit,
And plays his game to great perfection,
Whene'er he can escape detection;
He robs and steals whene'er he can,
And strips the shirt off the poorest man.
His words may be as sweet as honey,
But never trust him with your money;
For once he's got it—to be plain—
You'll never see your own again.
Though he seems pious night and day,
And ne'er forgets his prayers to say,
And still performs his meet devotion,
With bended head and endless motion,
Yet, friend, as well as e'er you can,
Avoid this crafty, godless man,
Whose piety is dissimulation,
To God a base abomination.
Well may he sit with downcast look,
With eyes glued to his Hebrew book,
And shake his body to and fro
His splendid holiness to show.
But yet, in truth, his heart within
Is hard as stone, and black with sin;
And he is ever a sad disgrace
To Jewish creed and Jewish race.
The prevailing tone of the _Eben Bochan_ is, however, serious. The author
refers to the cruel persecutions which the Jews suffered in the years 1320
and 1321, being occasioned by the Shepherds and Lepers, as well as to the
burning of the Talmud at Toulouse, which took place in the year 1319, at
the instigation of a certain person named Bernard Gui. And elsewhere,
again, in the same book, he appears in the capacity of a moralizing
philosopher, impressing his readers with the necessity of making good use
of their life, as it is so very short and uncertain. On one occasion he
uses a beautiful metaphor, which is, indeed, not quite original^[109-1],
but nevertheless striking. It runs as follows:—
“The world is like a vast and endless sea, upon which there floats a small
and fragile little boat—namely, man. It is of artistic make and form, and
looks as if it were the work of a master-hand. It is steered by the power
of the divine spirit that directs its course, and keeps it constantly
moving onward and onward, together with its heavy load of cargo—that is,
man's actions during his life. After having started from the coast where
it first came into existence it moves ever forward till it reaches the
opposite coast, where there lies a new realm called Eternity, which
consists of vast regions that shine with eternal light and splendour, and
also of others that are enveloped in everlasting darkness. And God, the
ruler of the universe, sits there on his throne, surrounded by his mighty
messengers, the angels, to judge every newcomer. Now, O Son of Man! it
will entirely depend on the nature of the cargo that thou hast landed on
the opposite coast—namely, thy deeds in thy past life, whether thou wilt
be sent to the regions that glow with eternal light, or to those in which
darkness reigns supreme.”
Towards the end of the book Kalonymos states that he composed it in honour
of ten friends. Their names are as follows:—
1. Abraham Caslari, who lived at Bezalu, near Perpignon, and was an
eminent physician and author of several medical books. 2. Maestro Benedit,
who lived at Arles, and was famous as a linguist and astronomer. He was
also physician-in-ordinary to Queen Joan, the wife of King Andrew of
Hungary. 3. Don Jonah Cavalier. 4. Don Todros Isaac, of Girone. 5. Don
Judah des Cartel. 6. Don Bonafoux Shealtiel. 7. Don Bonsenor Gracian. 8.
Don Chasdai Crescas. 9. Don Samuel Beneviste, who, according to
Kayserling, was physician-in-ordinary to Don Pedro IV, king of Aragon. 10.
Don Astruc Crespin.
Kalonymos says at the end of the _Eben Bochan_ that he finished it when he
was eighty-three years old (בן שלש ושמונים שנה), while it is generally
supposed that he died at the age of fifty. The only explanation that can
be given of this discrepancy is, that the copyist of the manuscript may
have put down by mistake that number for בן שלשים ושמונה =38, which
would just be the time when Kalonymos was staying at Rome.
Less popular, though not less humorous, than the _Eben Bochan_ is
Kalonymos's _Massecheth Purim_, the whole title of which in Hebrew is
given as follows:—
ספר מגלת סתרים וספר מסכת פורים
It would appear that it was intended by the author to be a parody on the
manner in which Rabbis generally conducted discussions and debates on
trivial questions, as described in the Talmud, with special reference to
the rites and usages connected with the Feast of Purim. It was obviously a
harmless Purim prank, yet some ultra-orthodox Rabbis^[111-1] took it
seriously, and declared it to be an heretical work. Its want of popularity
among Jewish readers in past centuries, and the limited number of its
editions, must be attributed to this. It has only been printed three times
altogether, first at Pesaro in 1507, then at Venice in 1552, and lastly at
Vienna in 1871.
The Rabbis may have had yet another reason for their objections to the
work, as the author advocates therein some slight reforms in the ritual of
Purim. He puts, for instance, in the mouth of one of the disputants the
question: Why should it be forbidden to read the _Megillah_ on Purim in
the vernacular, being a language that is generally better understood, by
Jews and Jewesses alike, than Hebrew? Should an objection (he goes on to
say) be made to such a procedure on the plea that the Book of Esther
contains the word ככתבם, which means “according to their (the Jews’) own
writing,” this obstacle could easily be removed by having the vernacular
translation written in Hebrew characters.
Incidentally we learn from the _Massecheth Purim_ that the Jews then
living in Palestine were well-to-do farmers, and that those living in
France and Italy frequently indulged in a certain game called סקקרי,
which, according to Steinschneider, is equivalent to the Italian term _il
schachiere_, and means the chess board^[111-2]. We likewise gather from
the book that the Rabbis of that time allowed dancing, provided that the
dancers chose their partners from their own sex. It is interesting to
notice, in passing, the variety of dishes which the Jewish ladies of those
times were in the habit of preparing for the festivals. Kalonymos
mentions, by way of example, the wife of the president of a certain
Italian Jewish community, called Kardinalith קרדינלית, who used to begin
making the preparations at least a fortnight before the advent of any
Jewish festival. Graetz's supposition^[112-1], that the lady in question
was a Cardinal's daughter, is not supported by any historical evidence.
The third original work of Kalonymos is entitled _The Letter of Response_
(אגרת התשובה), addressed to the well-known Jewish philosopher Don
Bonafoux Ibn Caspi (1280–1340), in which the latter's commentary on the
Bible is critically reviewed, and especially his leaning to what is now
called “the higher criticism”. Kalonymos expresses the opinion that it is
unwise and even dangerous to meddle with the ideas which people may have
formed in early life regarding the sacred volume, and that Ibn Caspi's
commentary on it was therefore doing more harm than good. Incidentally we
learn from _The Letter of Response_ that the writer was at the time of
penning it a struggling youth, while Caspi was a man of affluence and
position. It should, perhaps, also be mentioned that it existed at Munich
in manuscript form till 1879, and that it was then published for the first
time by the late Dr. Perles of Munich, under the title of _Kalonymos'
Sendschreiben an Josef Caspi_.
The fourth and last original work of Kalonymos is entitled _The Book of
Kings_ (ספר מלכים), and deals chiefly with arithmetic, geometry, and
astrology. It has hardly any intrinsic value at the present time as a
scientific book, but deserves to be noticed because it was one of the few
books which, as its title seems to indicate, was expressly written for the
use of King Robert of Naples. It has never been printed, but exists as a
MS. in Munich, where it was discovered some little time ago by
Steinschneider^[112-2].
Kalonymos also made translations of works in various languages, the titles
of some of which will be quoted at the end of this essay. One of these,
however, deserves special mention. That is the אגרת בעלי חיים, which
consists of a free Hebrew translation of part of an Arabic work then in
circulation under the title of _The Treatises of the Righteous Brethren_,
and was edited by a certain Abalzapha^[113-1]. It is a fairy tale,
containing a dialogue between men and beasts, in the presence of the king
of birds, in which the question is discussed, whether man has a right to
dominate over the world or not^[113-2]. Kalonymos invests this theme with
a Jewish colouring by giving the chief part of the discussion to a Hebrew
from the East, who is determined to prove by argument that the confessors
of his own creed, at least, occupy a higher rank in the world than the
animals. The former, he says, are the progeny of a noble line, and Moses
and the other prophets have furnished them with numerous wise laws and
regulations as to their proper conduct in life. They have, besides,
temples and synagogues to pray in, as well as preachers and precentors to
listen to, and their feasts and fasts afford them recreation for body and
mind. In these advantages and pleasures, says the Hebrew in conclusion,
the winged creatures do not participate, and it is therefore evident that
they were destined by their Creator to be ruled by his chosen race.
The king of the birds replies that the Hebrew's arguments prove the
reverse of what they were intended to prove. For the very fact that the
confessors of the Jewish creed need laws and preachers, penitential and
fast-days, shows clearly enough that they are not free from sin; and this
being so, they have certainly no right to claim superiority over the
winged creatures whose life is distinguished by simplicity and innocence.
To them the whole universe is one gigantic temple wherein they sing daily
praises to their Creator with a pure heart and clear conscience. They need
no preachers to admonish them, nor do they require fasts to obtain
absolution for their transgressions. Finding, as they do, food and shelter
in the fields and gardens, on mountains and in the valleys, they are
always cheerful and happy without the aid of prescribed festivals, but
their happiness is often disturbed by the wickedness of man, who has no
right whatever to treat them as inferior to his own species.
In the introduction to the אגרת בעלי חיים and elsewhere Kalonymos
censures the extravagant mode of living which prevailed among his wealthy
Jewish contemporaries. He stigmatizes their intense fondness for display,
which asserted itself so strongly as to arouse the envy and hatred of the
general population, and frequently with lamentable results.
Kalonymos was therefore not merely a laughing philosopher like Democritus,
but a stern moralist who ridiculed certain objectionable characteristics
of the Jews, indicating thereby the way to self-restraint and good taste.
There is also an interesting remark to be found in the אגרת בעלי חיים,
which is to the effect that in Kalonymos's time the Greek philosophers
were reputed to have made frequent use of the books on philosophy composed
by Jewish writers^[114-1].
A few remarks have still to be made on Kalonymos's style. He writes partly
in plain and partly in rhymed prose, without, however, much elegance in
either. His excessive fondness for idiomatic phrases taken from the
Talmud, which he misapplies with extraordinary ingenuity, results in puns,
plays on words, especially on proper names. The following example will
give an idea of the nature of the whole. It does not, however, bear
translation, as the idiomatic point of the Hebrew cannot be reproduced in
English. In the _Eben Bochan_ there is a chapter wherein Kalonymos
ridicules the way in which the Hebrew grammarians of his time quarrelled
in regard to the importance which should be assigned to the accents
(טעמים) attached to the Hebrew text of the Bible. Some of them were
regarded in the light of the cabbala, and were believed to contain the
most profound secrets regarding the present and future world. Kalonymos
writes about these disputants as follows:—
אני ראיתי מחלוקה גדולה
בענין _קדמא ואזלא_
וריב גדול עד שהדם נשפך
בענין _שופר מהפך_
ומהם אומרים מעת משה ספרא רבא בישראל קביר
לא נהיה סוד עמוק כמו לפני _דרגא תביר_.
An instance of his plays on words may be given. He noticed that some of
his neighbours did not abstain from drinking great quantities of wine
during the so-called ten penitential days. He therefore gives them two
Hebrew names by which some of Haman's sons are known, viz. פרשנדתא and
המדתא. These names are composed of the words פרש־דתא and המם־דתא,
which mean respectively “to be separated from, and, to distort, the law,”
and they thus depict epigrammatically and wittily the religious character
of the objects of Kalonymos's satire.
In addition to the אגרת בעלי חיים Kalonymos also translated several
other works and treatises composed by other authors in the Arabic, Greek,
and Latin languages, which deal chiefly with medicine, mathematics, and
astronomy. A detailed description of them will be found in the interesting
book entitled _Les Écrivains Juifs français du XIV^e siècle_, p. 424, by
Neubauer. One of these translations, entitled אגרת בסדור קריאת החכמות,
contains the significant remark that it was made by Kalonymos by command
of King Robert of Naples. The king is there designated by the curious name
of “The New Solomon.”
There are likewise some few books and treatises in existence, treating of
various subjects, the authorship of which is attributed to Kalonymos.
Among these may specially be mentioned a Hebrew translation of a circular
letter sent by the above-named king to the Jewish community of Aix,
containing the intelligence of his son's death.
Footnotes:
[103-1] Cp. Anibert, _Mémoires historiques_, II, 201, 397.
[103-2] Cp. Kalonymos's letter, entitled אגרת התשובה, which he addressed
to Ibn Caspi, and to which reference will be made later on.
[107-1] Cp. The Daily Morning Prayer for the Israelite, in which the
well-known blessing occurs:
ברוך • • • שלא עשני אשה•
[109-1] Cp. _Choboth Ha-lebaboth_, by Bachya ben Joseph Ibn Bakoda, and
בחינת עולם by Yedaya Bedaresi, in which a similar metaphor is used.
[111-1] One of them was Moses ben Isaiah Wengrow, author of a book called
ברית משה, in which the _Massecheth Purim_ is declared to be a most
dangerous book.
[111-2] Cp. Steinschneider, _Schach bei den Juden_, Berlin, 1873. See also
I. Abrahams's _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_, chap. XXII, p. 388.
[112-1] Cp. Graetz, _Geschichte der Juden_, VII, p. 306.
[112-2] Cp. Geiger, _Zeitschrift_, VIII, p. 118.
[113-1] According to Steinschneider (ibid.) his correct name is אבואן
אלצפא.
[113-2] The book under review is also mentioned by Joseph Albo in his work
עקרים, III, 2.
[114-1] Cp. Dukes, _Philosophisches aus dem zehnten Jahrhundert_, p. 21.