Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions

674 Pages·2013·107.13 MB·English

by  Raphael Patai

Encyclopedia of
Jewish Folklore
Traditions
and

Raphael Patai, Haya Bar-Itzhak,
Founding Editor Editor
*

Encyclopedia of
Jewish Folklore
and
Traditions

Raphael Patai,
Founding Editor
Haya Bar-Itzhak,
Editor
M.E.Sharpe
Armonk, New York
London, England
Copyright © 2013 by M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
without written permission from the publisher, M.E. Sharpe, Inc.,
80 Business Park Drive, Armonk, New York 10504.

The EuroSlavic and Transroman fonts used to create this work are © 1986–2010
Payne Loving Trust. EuroSlavic and Transroman are available
from Linguist’s Software, Inc., www.linguistsoftware.com
P.O. Box 580, Edmonds, WA 98020-0580 USA, tel. [phone].
On the cover: Seder (dinner on the feast of Passover).
The father is reading passages from the Haggadah. Ukraine XIX century. Anonymous artist.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Encyclopedia of Jewish folklore and traditions / Raphael Patai, founding editor; Haya Bar-Itzhak, editor.
2 v.; p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7656-2025-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Jews—Folklore—Encyclopedias. 2. Jews—Social life and customs—Encyclopedias.
I. Patai, Raphael, 1910–1996. II. Bar-Yitshak, Hayah.
GR98.E56 2012
398.20892’4—dc23 2012042203
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z 39.48-1984.
~
EB (c) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C
ontents
List of Color Plates...............................................vii Bashevis-Singer, Isaac ........................................70
Contributors .........................................................ix Ben Ham’elekh Ve’ha’nazir ..................................72
Introduction .......................................................xiii Ben-Amos, Dan .................................................74
Berdyczewski (Bin-Gorion), Micha Josef ............75
A–Z Entries
Bialik, Haim Nachman .....................................77
Birth .................................................................80
Aaron ..................................................................1
Blessing God .....................................................82
Abraham .............................................................2
Blood Libel ........................................................83
Adam ..................................................................5
Bride Price ........................................................87
Afghanistan, Jews of ............................................9
Bronner, Simon J. ..............................................88
Afterlife .............................................................12
Brother-Sister Marriage .....................................89
Age and the Aged ..............................................18
Bulgaria, Jews of ..............................................90
Agnon, S.Y. ......................................................20
Cahan, Y.L. ........................................................94
Alchemy ............................................................23
Cain and Abel....................................................95
Alexander, Tamar ...............................................25
Canada, Jews of .................................................97
Alphabet of Ben Sira ............................................25
Cemetery .........................................................101
Amulets ............................................................26
Charms, Books of .............................................104
Angel of Death ..................................................28
Chelm, The Wise of .........................................107
Angels ...............................................................31
Circumcision and Birth Ceremony for Girls .....108
Animal Folktales ...............................................34
Costume ..........................................................113
Animals .............................................................37
Czechoslovakia, Jews of ...................................116
An-Ski, S. ..........................................................39
David, King ....................................................118
Anthologies .......................................................41
Death ..............................................................120
Ararat ................................................................50
Demon ............................................................122
Asmodeus ..........................................................51 Demonology ....................................................124
Attias, Moshe ....................................................52 Dialect Stories, Jewish-American .....................125
Ausubel, Nathan ..............................................53 Dreams ............................................................127
Av, Fifteenth of (Tu Be’Av) ................................54 Druyanow, Alter ..............................................129
Av, Ninth of (Tisha Be’Av) ................................55 Dundes, Alan ..................................................131
Ba’al Shem Tov (Besht) ......................................57 Dybbuk ...........................................................133
Badchan (Jester) .................................................60 Edot: A Quarterly for Folklore and Ethnology ........136
Balaam ..............................................................62 Egg .................................................................136
Bałaban, Mayer (Meir) .......................................64 Elijah the Prophet ...........................................138
Bar and Bat Mitzvah ..........................................65 Elisha Ben-Avuyah ..........................................139
Bar Kochba, Shimeon ........................................67 Ellis Island ......................................................140
Bar-Itzhak, Haya ...............................................69 Esther ..............................................................143
iii
iv ContEnts
Esther Scroll ....................................................144 Ibn Ezra, Abraham ..........................................246
Estherke ..........................................................147 Iconography ....................................................247
Ethiopia, Jews of ............................................148 Illuminated Manuscripts .................................248
Eve ..................................................................150 Independence Day ...........................................254
Exemplum .......................................................152 India, Jews of ...................................................255
Fable ...............................................................155 Internet Folklore .............................................258
Folk Art ..........................................................156 Iran, Jews of ....................................................260
Folk Belief .......................................................159 Iraq, Jews of ....................................................264
Folk Dance, Jewish and Israeli .........................162 Isaac ................................................................266
Folk Medicine .................................................167 Israel Folktale Archives ....................................268
Folk Music and Song .......................................169 Isserles, Moses Ben Israel, Rabbi (Rama) ..........268
Folk Narratives in Israel ..................................176 Italy, Jews of ....................................................270
Folk Narratives in Rabbinic Literature ............178 Jacob (Ya’acov) ................................................273
Folk Narratives in the Bible ............................181 Jacobs, Joseph ..................................................274

Folk Narratives in the Middle Ages .................184 Jason, Heda .....................................................275
Folk Narratives, Immigration and Absorption .186 Jerusalem and the Temple ................................276
Folk Narratives, Sephardi ................................187 Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore, Journal ........279
Folk Songs and Poetry, Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) 189 Joha .................................................................280
Folk Songs and Poetry, North African ..............190 Joke .................................................................281
Folk Songs, Israeli ...........................................193 Jonah, Book of .................................................282
Food and Foodways ..........................................195 Joseph .............................................................284
Frenkel, Gizela ................................................197 Kabbalah .........................................................287
Gaster, Moses ..................................................199 Kadman, Gurit ................................................292
Gaster, Theodor H. ..........................................200 Karaites, Eastern European ..............................293
Georgia, Jews of ..............................................201 Ketubbah ..........................................................296
Germany, Jews of .............................................203 Kibbutz, Folklore of ........................................298
Ginzberg, Louis ...............................................206 Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara ......................302
Goldberg-Mulkiewicz, Olga ............................208 Kurdistan, Jews of ...........................................303
Golem .............................................................209 Lag Ba’Omer ...................................................309
Greece, Jews of ................................................211 Lamps and Candles ..........................................311
Grünwald, Max ...............................................216 Languages, Jewish ...........................................313
Haggadah of Passover ......................................218 Languages, Struggle Between ..........................324
Hagiography ...................................................222 Leah ................................................................326
Hair Covering, Women ...................................223 Legend ............................................................327
H³anukkah .......................................................224 Lévy, Isaac Jack ................................................329
H³anukkah Lamp ..............................................228 Lewinski, Yom-Tov ..........................................330
Hasan-Rokem, Galit ........................................231 Lilienthal, Regina ............................................331
Hasidic Tales ...................................................232 Lilith ...............................................................332
Head Covering, Men .......................................233 Lullabies ..........................................................335
Hebron ............................................................234 Ma’aseh Book (Mayse Bukh) ...............................338
Hershele Ostropoler ........................................236 “Ma’aseh Yerushalmi,” The Story of the
Holocaust Folklore .........................................237 Jerusalemite ................................................339
Humor ............................................................239 Magic ..............................................................340
Hungary, Jews of .............................................242 Manger, Itzik ...................................................350
ContEnts v
M÷aq÷ama ...........................................................352 Rabbah bar bar H³annah ...................................436
Marriage ..........................................................354 Rabbinic Literature .........................................436
Meir Ba’al Ha’Nes, Rabbi ................................355 Rachel .............................................................440
Memorial Day .................................................357 Rambam (Maimonides) ...................................442
Menorah ..........................................................358 Rappoport, Angelo Salomon ............................443
Messiah and Redeemer ....................................360 Rebekah ..........................................................445
Mezuzah ...........................................................362 Reshumot ..........................................................446
Midrash ...........................................................364 Riddles ............................................................447
Mimuna Festival ..............................................365 Romania, Jews of .............................................449
Minhag (Custom) .............................................368 Rosh Ha’Shana ...............................................452
Minhag Books (Books of Custom) ....................369 Russia, Jews of .................................................453
Minyan ............................................................370 Ruth ................................................................457
Mizrah³ .............................................................371 Sabar, Shalom ..................................................459
Monsters and Other Mythological Creatures ....371 Sadan, Dov ......................................................459

Month .............................................................372 Safed, Legends of .............................................460
Moses ..............................................................373 Samael .............................................................463
Mother (H³annah, Miriam) and Her Samaritans .......................................................464
Seven Sons ...................................................377 Sambation .......................................................467
Moykher Sforim, Mendele ...............................379 Samson and Delilah .........................................469
Museums (Vernacular) in Israel ........................382 Sarah ...............................................................471
Museums, Jewish .............................................383 Satan ...............................................................472
New Year Cards ...............................................386 Schwarzbaum, Haim........................................473
Noah ...............................................................387 Sea ...................................................................475
North Africa, Jews of .......................................389 Seamen Tales and Traditions ............................476
Noy, Dov .........................................................394 Seder Plate .......................................................477
Olswanger, Immanuel .....................................397 Segel, Benjamin Wolf ......................................479
Oring, Elliott ..................................................397 Sehrane ............................................................480
Oseh Pele ...........................................................398 Shabazi, Shalom ...............................................482
Papercut ..........................................................399 Shabbat ...........................................................483
Parable ............................................................400 Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks) ..........................487
Passover ...........................................................402 Shenhar, Aliza..................................................489
Patai, Raphael .................................................405 Shimeon Bar Yoh³ai ..........................................490
Peretz, Isaac Leib ............................................407 Shiviti-Menorah .............................................491
Pinto, Rabbi Haim ..........................................409 Shofar ..............................................................492
Plants ..............................................................412 Sholem Aleichem.............................................496
Poland, Jews of ................................................415 Shtetl ..............................................................499
Pope, Jewish ....................................................423 Shtyyah Stone ..................................................501
Prayer ..............................................................424 Shvat, Fifteenth of (Tu Be’Shvat) ......................502
Prochownik, Abraham .....................................425 Simchat Torah Flags .......................................505
Proverb ............................................................427 Siporin, Steve ..................................................507
Psalms .............................................................428 Solomon, King ................................................508
Purim ..............................................................430 Spain, Jews of ..................................................510
Purimshpil ......................................................432 Stones ..............................................................515
Qinah (Lament) ................................................435 Sukkot .............................................................517
vi ContEnts
Symbols ...........................................................520 Writing ...........................................................564
Tamar ..............................................................522 Yassif, Eli ........................................................567
Tobit, The Book of ..........................................523
Yeda Am .........................................................568
Tombstones .....................................................525
Yemen, Jews of ................................................568
Torah Ark ........................................................530
Yom Kippur ....................................................571
Torah Ceremonial Objects ...............................534
Yosef dela Reina, The Story of .........................573
Torah Ornaments .............................................538
Zipporah .........................................................575
Trachtenberg, Joshua .......................................541
Tribes, Ten Lost ...............................................542
Appendices
Turkey, Jews of ................................................544
Sources, Definitions, and Abbreviations
Tzitzit .............................................................548
The Hebrew Bible ....................................579
United States, Jews of ......................................549
Wahl, Saul .......................................................556 Rabbinic Literature ..................................581
Wandering Jew ...............................................557 Medieval Compilations .............................583

Western Wall ..................................................559 Anthologies of Jewish Folklore ....................585
Women in Rabbinic Literature ........................561
Wonder Tale ....................................................562 Index ................................................................I-1
L C P
ist of oLor Lates
Volume 1 (following page 142):
Aaron as High Priest, from The North French Hebrew Miscellany (folio 113b), written and
illustrated in northern France, ca. 1278.
Balaam and the angel. Manuscript illustration from the Rutland Psalter, ca. 1260.
Cain and Abel, from the Sarajevo Haggadah.

Traditional image of Jerusalem embroidered with polychrome wool on punched paper. Jerusalem,
ca. 1900.
David with the head of Goliath. Detail from “Three Rabbis of Old / Dayyeinu” (Łód´z, 1935).
From the Szyk Haggadah.
Memorial plaque. Poland, ca. 1867–1880.
Queen Esther begs King Ahasuerus for clemency toward the Persian Jews. Page from Megillat
Esther, biblical book of Esther, read during the Purim Festival. Persian written in Hebrew letters,
eighteenth century.
Illustration of the four questions to be asked at the Passover Seder. From the Szyk Haggadah.
Ketubbah. Iran, 1859.
Volume 2 (following page 458):
Ashrei, the first word in Psalms 1:1, Italy, fifteenth century.
Painted papercut, by Moshe ben Aharon. Poland, ca. 1875.
Embroidered Sabbath tablecloth showing the Western Wall. Jerusalem, 1928.
New Year card with a Taslich scene. Likely Polish, 1910s.
Adar poster. Paper cutout from Germany.
Farewells of Abou Zayd and Al Harith before the return to Mecca. Illustration by Al-Wasiti, from
al-Hariri’s M÷aq÷amat (Assemblies or Entertaining Dialogues), Baghdad, ca. 1240.
“Moses Receives the Torah from Sinai.” Illustration to the first chapter of “Avot,” Italy.
Ornamental plate showing Samson tearing down the pillars of the Temple. Ceramics painted with
gold rim, Hebrew inscription, from Bohemia.
King Solomon judges two harlots who claim the same child. From The North French Hebrew
Miscellany (folio 518a), written and illustrated in northern France, ca. 1278.
vii