Hebrew Humor and Other EssaysChotzner, J. (Joseph)
History
Hebrew Humor and Other Essays
Chotzner, J. (Joseph)
Hebrew wit and humor -- History and criticism
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.
XI
ABRAHAM IBN CHASDAI
AND HIS BOOK “THE PRINCE AND THE DERVISH”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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