Bah.tawi Baliurim
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
BAHTAWI,
YA'AKTJB
ABTJ
JOSEPH,
THE BABYLONIAN:
Karaite scholar; flourished in the ninth century. He was called "the teacher of the diaspora," and esteemed for his brilliant intellect. None of his works has survived but many of them are known by quotations made by Karaite writers. Solomon b. Yeruham, in his " Mukaddimah " (Introduction to the Decalogue), mentions Bahtawi's "Sefer ha-Mizwot" (Book of Precepts);
and Jephet ben Ali
Book of Daniel
in
his
commentary upon the commen-
refers to Bahtawi' s Biblical
Bahtawi was known chiefly as " ha-medakdek " (the grammarian), and his etymologies are quoted by the Karaite lexicographer David b. Abraham Alfasi. Bacher identifies him with Abu Ya'akub Joseph ben Noah, but this is questioned by taries.
Poznanzki. Bibliography
Pinsker, in Lilsftute, Kadmnniuot, p. 110, German p. 61 Geiger, in Jtirt. Zeit&ihr'ift, v. 177 Poznanzki, in Jew. Quart. Rev. viii. 698; Bacher, in Rev. Et. Juives, xxx.
251.
k.
I.
BAHUR (mm;
plural
Br.
Dmm, BAHURIM):
"A
youth," particularly a student of the Talmud among the Ashkenazic Jews; called also "yeshibah
bahur
(academy youth), and
"
in
Yiddish, " orem
In Biblical Hebrew the word signifies an adult but unmarried youth in NeoHebrew also a young married man (Ruth R. iv. 10 "Bahurah," the feminine, is also employed to designate a young married woman, Gen. R. lxxi. 9). From the end of the fourteenth century, however, "Bahurim " has become the standard expression for students of the Talmud, who were generally youthful. In the responsa of MaHaRIL, No. 96, the word " Bahur " seems to be a title of honor for married men also; and Rabbenu Tarn, in "Sefer ha-Yashar," ed. Rosenthal, Num. xxvii., beginning, even applies to a boher
"
(poor
young man).
certain great scholar the expression
Compare
"Bahur zaken."
also "'Shibbale ha-Leket," pp. 55, 267.
From
the fourteenth century, descriptions of the of the Bahur are numerous, and they afford valuable information not only concerning the condition of Talmud-study in those days, but also of the The social and intellectual life of the Jews at large.
life
persecutions after the Black Death (1348) decimated flourishing Jewish communities; the pestilence itself, massacre, conversion to Christianity, and emigration made terrible inroads into their numbers. Under such circumstances those parents were few indeed who could provide their children with that careful religious education
many
The Itinerant
Bahur.
which had been customary among them their own needs and the uncer;
tainty of
their
position
effectually
preventing this. Moreover, the academies and study-houses for adult use, which had been, in happier days, a part of every Jewish community in Germany, were closed. It was under such conditions that the wandering life of the Bahur came into existence: he journeyed from town to town; traversing various countries, and halting now and again to sit at the feet of some scholarly rabbi. This vagabond life entailed the utmost poverty, and many such students were exposed to assault and murderous attack by the way nevertheless, they
444
devotedly begged their way from the Rhine to Vienna, from North Germany to Italy. But such a life was not of a nature to exert the best moral or scholarly influence over young men and many found the chief attraction in its adventurousness. Even when a Bahur settled permanently in a town, in order to prosecute his studies earnestly, In his relahis life became by no means enviable. tion to his teacher, who was usually the rabbi of the town, nothing was left to be desired the rabbi was always considerate and tender toward his pupils, who, on their part, evinced the greatest reverence His relations to the members of for their " master. "
- .
the
community were not always
so genial
as,
for
when so mild a man as the Maharil excommunicated a member of the congregation for eminstance,
ploying an insulting expression to a Bahur. This who had never beiore laid a ban upon any one, felt compelled to uphold the honor of the Bahurim by such an extreme measure. The Bahurim were generally lodged in the Bahurim-house, an institution usually found, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, in every city whose rabbi had, by his learning, proved an attracThe cost of their maintion to itinerant students. tenance was defrayed by voluntary contributions, from every quarter, although it is not clear whether they received their meals in the Bahurim-house or, as in later times, were sent for their daily food to the rabbi,
tables of the
more
affluent
members
of the
commu-
Gildemann's endeavor to throw light upon this point ("Geschichte des Erziehungswesens," iii. 87) Frequently the rabbis lived is hardly satisfactory. with the Bahurim, exerting thus a very beneficial influence upon them; and when they did not actually dwell together, the students were repeatedly invited to the rabbi's table on special occasions. On the last day of Passover, on the first of Pentecost, and on Purim, the Bahurim and some members of the congregation were always invited to a little nity.
festive gathering at the rabbi's house.
To
these
meals witty and sagacious questions from the field of their studies lent special zest; and on Hanukkah the Bahurim were encouraged to launch all manner of riddles, rimes, and anecdotes. The special "Scholars' Feast" was, however, Lag Ba-'Ombr (the 33d of the 'Omer), when trips into the country
were made amid much rejoicing and merrymaking; for the students never permitted themselves to feel
overcome by the earnestness of
their
Talmudic stud-
a degree that would deprive them of all taste for the jovial and happy side of life. They were the custodians of Jewish wit, too few expressions of which have, unfortunately, been preserved, but that distinguished itself in ingenious and surprising applications of Bible verses and Talmudic passages to passing circumstances, and of which some specimens have been published by Briill, from a manuscript, in his "Jahrbuch" (ix. 16-19). From these applications gradually developed those numerous parodies which arose in Neo-Hebrew literature. There were, of course, black sheep among these Bahurim, who distinguished themselves by excesses in one way or another and occasioned much sorrow to the community; some, indeed, were even guilty of setting up shameful opposition to their teachers
ies to
