427
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
breast. In Poland there is no truce of the Badge, but only of the hat, while in Crete up to the present day some of the houses of Jews were marked with the "O."
Bibliography: Ulysse Robert, Les Siynes (VInfamk, 1891, in
Paris, oJ his article in 94-102, with insig-
which he reproduces the substauce
Revue dcs Etudes
Juives,
vi. 81-95,
vll.
nificant additions. Robert (jives lull and elaborate references lor all the above statements, which summarize his main conclusions.
A.
J.
BADGER, ROCK.
See Coney.
BADGER SKINS. See Tahasii. BADHAN (from the Talmudic word
ma, "to cheer up, make laugh ") A merrymaker, professional jester, whose business it is to entertain the guests at a marriage-feast with drollery, riddles, and anecdotes. Whether they existed in Talmudic times is not certain. Two men are reported to have represented themselves as such: "We are merrymakers (" badduhi ") and cheer up the sad. Wheresoever we see two men at enmity, we try to make peace between them " (B. Ta'an. 22a). See Marriage, Wedding Festivities. In the Middle Ages we find among the Jews traveling merrymakers, who probably patterned themselves after the troubadours, and took the place of former voluntary entertainers at weddings. Their task was by jest, music, and humorous song to provoke joviality. The name given them originally in Jewish writings is "lezin," a term which occurs in " Asufot," by R. Elijah b. Isaac of Carcassonne, who lived in the early part of the thirteenth century. The jesters were obliged to possess not only comic ability, but also a certain deal of learning, since those jokes were appreciated most which were connected with Scriptural verses or Talmudic passages.
in vogue largely in the clouds of persecution, however, continued to gather round the Jews, merriment was discouraged. R. David Levy in his
Such scholarly comedians were the Middle Ages.
As
(Golden Rows), which appeared about the year 1680, inveighs against wedding festivities, "
Ture Zahab
"
and against the fashion of engaging lezin in partic" At some marriage banquets," he complains, ular. " there is a custom of intoning the Kaddish, 'which is a sin, for naught is permissible on such occasions save A sin more grievthe recital of the grace of God. ous, however, is to engage lezin who try to amuse the guests with jests on Scriptural verses and holy " words. Happy the man who abstains from such Similar advocates of sober(Orah Hayyim, § 560.) '
!
ness at wedding-feasts based their opposition to merriment at such gatherings on the Mishnaic report that with the siege of Jerusalem bridal processions were shorn of their festive nature, and that with the fall of the Holy City they assumed even the hue of mourning (Sotah ix. 13). Meantime, the wed-
was styled "marshallik," a word which not a corruption of "mashallik," derived from the Hebrew "mashal" (= proverb, anecdote), but represents, no doubt, the old German "Marschalk," or ding-jester is
"Marshall" (compare Grimm, " Worterbuch, " p. 1674, " Schalk, Schalknarr "). In the seventeenth s. mi. century, marshalliks prevailed in Poland and were not held in high esteem, as is clear from a query also
Badg-e
Badis
addressed to R. .lair
Hayyim Bacharach,as who was musical to
to
whether
befitted a scholar
forego his dignity and play at a wedding. Bacharach stigmatized the professional jester as "a man playing the fool in order to provoke laughter such a wedding is called a seat of scoffers, for it is not real rejoicing, but hilarity and folly " (Respousa, § 205). In the early days the services of the Badhan were mainly called in at weddings, where the Badhan amused the guests by jests of a somewhat broad character, while the more serious discourse was given by the rabbi. In Russia he tended to combine both functions, delivering the address to the bridegroom and bride as well as amusing the whole company at table. The jests were often put in the form of riming lines, and with the advance of the new Hebrew poetry in the nineteenth century a change came over the work of the Badhan which caused him to pass from a folk-poet to a regular, however humble, member of the literary gild. The chief person concerned in this change was Eliakum Zunser, who applied to the verses of the Badhan the new forms of poetry introduced by Ehrenkranz and Broder. Zunser had a good voice and introduced the custom of singing his own or other people's compositions, so that nowadays the Badhan is required to be as much a singer as a wit. Zunser has been the founder of quite a school of badhanim. Thus in America, where the conditions of life are easier, they are called in on all occasions of rejoiit
cing,
and often receive comparatively high fees. Kohut, Aruch Complctum, and Jastrow,
Bibliography:
ma
Guedemann, Oeschichte s.v. desErziehuiii/swesens, iii. 139; Berliner, Aug dem Innern Lehen, p. 34 2d ed. (191X1), pp. 57, 58 Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ayes, p. 198; Wiener, Yiddish Literature Roemer-Biichner, Die LustUtmacher hei den Hochzeiten der Juden S. A. Hirsch, in Jew. Quart, Rev. xiii. 6(11 et seq. For a modern portrayal ol the Badhan, compare the character of Breekeloft in Zangwill's Children of the Ghetto. H. G. J. a. Dictionary of the Talmud,
E.—
BADIS
(Mu?affar Nasir)
Oldest son of
King
In of Granada, whom he succeeded in 1038. a struggle with the Berbers, who wished to make his younger brother, Bologguin, king, he was supported by the Arabs and by his vizier, Samuel ibn Nagdela. After his accession to the throne, however, Badis feared a conspiracy on the part of the Arabs and de-
Habus
termined to exterminate them.
He planned
to
have
the Arabs in his capital slain when they assembled The vizier, Joseph ibn in the mosque on a Friday.
Nagdela— who had succeeded
his father, Samuel, as
Badis' vizier and counselor— tried in vain to dissuade him from the act. Joseph had to promise to keep the design a secret but in order to avert the danger from the Arabs, he advised several noble Arabian families not to visit the mosque on that Friday. warning was taken, and few Arabs appeared in
The
the mosque. Though Badis accused Joseph of having broken his promise, he was finally convinced that this had been the best course of action. The king was a drunkard, and Joseph managed of the Berall state affairs, thus arousing the hatred conspired bers, who spread the report that he had In conseagainst Badis with the king of Almeria.
quence of the accusation, Joseph was murdered, whether by the Berbers or by Badis himself is
