Piyyut Commentary in Medieval Ashkenaz

412 Pages·2008·6.186 MB·English

by  Elisabeth Hollender

ELISABETH HOLLENDER
PIYYUT COMMENTARY IN MEDIEVAL ASHKENAZ
≥
STUDIA JUDAICA
FORSCHUNGEN ZUR WISSENSCHAFT
DES JUDENTUMS
BEGRÜNDET VON
E. L. EHRLICH
HERAUSGEGEBEN VON
G. STEMBERGER
BAND XLII
WALTER DE GRUYTER · BERLIN · NEW YORK
PIYYUT COMMENTARY
IN MEDIEVAL ASHKENAZ
BY
ELISABETH HOLLENDER
WALTER DE GRUYTER · BERLIN · NEW YORK
(cid:2)(cid:2) Printedonacid-freepaperwhichfallswithintheguidelinesoftheANSI
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ISBN 978-3-11-019664-1
ISSN 0585-5306
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Table of Contents
Table ofContents .......................................................... vii
Acknowledgements......................................................... xi
1 AshkenazicPiyyutCommentary .......................................... 1
1.1 Description ofPiyyutCommentaryas Genre.......................... 2
1.1.1 Piyyut ............................................................ 2
1.1.2 Commentary ..................................................... 5
1.1.3 PiyyutCommentary.............................................. 6
1.2 Compiling,Editing,Copying ........................................10
1.3 BasicPrinciples ......................................................15
1.3.1 Terminology ....................................................16
1.3.2 Procedures ofAnalysis ..........................................18
1.4 TheCorpusStudied..................................................22
2 CommentatorsandCompilers 27
2.1 Commentators .......................................................28
2.1.1 Meir b. IsaacShaliah. Tsibbur ....................................28
2.1.2 Menahem b. H.elbo ..............................................30
2.1.3 Solomon b. Isaac(Rashi) ofTroyes ..............................34
2.1.4 JosephQara .....................................................36
2.1.5 Shemayah .......................................................40
2.1.5.1 Excursus:Authorship of Ms Parma655 onOR ..............41
2.1.6 Eliezer b. Nathan(Raban) .......................................45
2.1.7 Ephraim b. Jacob ofBonn........................................46
2.1.8 Elazar b. Judah ofWorms .......................................49
2.1.9 RarelyQuotedCommentators ...................................50
2.1.9.1 ElyaqimhaLevi .............................................50
2.1.9.2 Meir b. Baruch ofRothenburg ..............................52
2.1.9.3 FurtherCommentators .....................................52
2.2 Compilers ...........................................................53
2.2.1 Aaron b. HayyimhaKohen,Compiler of Ms Oxford1206........53
2.2.2 Daniel b. SolomonhaRophe,Compiler of Ms Pitigliano .........55
2.2.3 JosephhaShalit,Compiler of Ms Parma149 .....................58
3 Linguistic Glosses ........................................................59
3.1 LexicalExplanations .................................................59
3.1.1 BiblicalProoftextswithForms oftheSame HebrewRoot ........60
3.1.2 Synonyms .......................................................61
viii Contents
3.1.3 SemanticExplanations ..........................................62
3.1.4 TranslationsintoAramaic,ComparisonswithTargum ..........63
3.1.5 TranslationsintoVernacularLanguages .........................64
3.1.5.1 RomanceLanguages:Laazim ................................64
3.1.5.2 LashonAshkenaz:Western Yiddish ..........................66
3.1.5.3 Lashon Kenaan:BohemianVernacular .......................66
3.1.5.4 Greek .......................................................67
3.1.6 ReferencestotheMah.beret of Menahem b. Saruq ................69
3.2 ReferencestoVariantReadingsinthePiyyutim ......................74
3.3 Explanation of Kinnuyim ............................................76
3.4 Paraphrases..........................................................77
3.5 LinguisticExplanationsinPiyyutCommentary:Summary ...........78
4 IntertextualReferences ...................................................81
4.1 TheBibleas Hypotext................................................83
4.1.1 ReferencestoBiblicalQuotations ................................83
4.1.1.1 Identification ofBiblicalAllusions:ארקמהןושל ...............84
4.1.1.2 Identification ofBiblicalVerses:אוהקוספ .....................86
4.1.2 ReferencestotheChain ofBiblicalVersesintheQedushta........88
4.2 Rabbinic Hypotexts ..................................................89
4.2.1 ReferencestoBiblicalExegesisinRabbinicLiterature ............91
4.2.2 Identification ofRabbinic Hypotexts by Name...................96
4.2.2.1 Identification ofRabbinic HypotextsasProoftexts ..........96
4.2.2.2 QuotationsfromRabbinic Hypotexts Introduced by Name .98
4.2.2.3 AList of Hypotexts NamedintheCorpusStudied .........101
4.2.3 AnonymousAttributionstoRabbinic Hypotexts ...............103
4.2.4 Paraphrases ofRabbinic Hypotexts .............................104
4.3 Additional Hypotexts ...............................................108
4.3.1 TargumOnqelos ...............................................108
4.3.2 Targum Yerushalmi ............................................108
4.3.3 Sefer Yosippon .................................................109
4.3.4 SeferEldadhaDani .............................................110
4.3.5 SeferTeh.inot ...................................................111
5 MedievalElementsinPiyyutCommentary ..............................113
5.1 BibleCommentaryas Hypotext .....................................113
5.1.1 ReferencetoKnown MedievalExegesis ofBiblicalQuotations ..114
5.1.1.1 PshatExegesis .............................................114
5.1.1.2 BibleCommentariesasSourcesforCompiledExplanations 117
5.1.2 Commentators Mentioned by Name............................118
5.1.2.1 Rashi ......................................................119
5.1.2.2 Jacob b. SaulhaNazir ofLunel .............................120
5.1.2.3 DavidQimh.i...............................................122
5.1.2.4 Elazar b. Judah ofWorms ..................................124
5.2 EsotericPiyyutExegesis ............................................127
Contents ix
5.2.1 Gematria .......................................................130
5.2.2 ReferencestoSefer Yetsirah ....................................132
5.2.3 Referencesto HekhalotLiterature ..............................134
5.2.4 Names ofAngelsandAngelicLiturgy ..........................134
5.3 ResponsestoChristianity ...........................................136
5.4 EncyclopedicExplanations(Realia) .................................142
6 PoetsandPoeticsinPiyyutCommentary ................................147
6.1 HebrewTermsthatDescribePoeticActivity ........................148
6.2 AnecdotesfromtheLives ofPayyetanim............................151
6.3 Praise ofElazar birabbiQallir .......................................157
6.4 Explanations ofPoeticTechniques ..................................160
7 Methods ofCompilation.................................................171
7.1 TheUse ofLongerUnits ............................................171
7.2 MultipleExplanations ..............................................174
7.2.1 Marked MultipleExplanations .................................175
7.2.2 Unmarked MultipleExplanations ..............................184
7.3 Insertions bytheCompilers .........................................187
7.4 Marginal Notes .....................................................190
7.5 UnmarkedAlternation ofDifferentSources .........................195
7.6 CombiningRabbinic Hypotexts .....................................200
7.7 Summary: Methods ofCompilation .................................203
8 Models ofCompilation:Structureand Intention .........................205
8.1 The“Sufficient”Commentary.......................................206
8.1.1 TheSufficient Narrative ........................................208
8.2 TheEclecticCommentary ...........................................209
8.3 ThePrinciple ofCompleteness ......................................212
8.4 The MidrashicAnthology ...........................................214
8.5 The NarrativeThread ...............................................215
8.5.1 Disregarding Historical Narrative ..............................217
8.6 TheOmnisignificantCommentary ..................................220
8.7 The Index ofSources ................................................222
8.8 TheLexicalCommentary ...........................................223
9 Conclusions,Questions,andPerspectives ...............................225
10 Bibliography ...........................................................233
10.1 Manuscripts .......................................................233
10.2 Tools ..............................................................236
10.3 SourcesandEditions...............................................237
10.4 Studies ............................................................240
11 Index...................................................................249
x Contents
HebrewEditions
1 Ms Moscow615 onרשוכברשאםיריסא ....................................... *3
2 Ms Oxford1206 onחתרומועורקבלבךננחליתיתא .............................. *9
3 Ms KaufmannA400 onםירשואמעשירוא ...................................*15
4 Ms Parma655 onםירישוןנרקיפא ..........................................*41
5 Nürnberg Mah.zor onףלחרוצןיא ..........................................*87
6 Ms KaufmannA400 onםיידירוהטףיסויץמוא ...............................*93
7 Ms Hamburg152 onרסומםייחחרוא........................................*99
8 Ms Vatican422 onהדוקפםויתא...........................................*117