ABITTJB (I f'linui.
('
Father
11)
viii.
is
Good
")
A
Benjamite
.
JOSEPH BEN ISAAC BEN
ABITUB,
STANS IBN
Talimulist anil
litiir.i.'ical
poet,
who,
ac cmdii];.' In slalciiRnts niaile by Moses ben Ezra, and atcordinjr to one of Abitur's own acrostic poems,
was boru in Merida about the befrinninj; of the tenth lie died in Damascus about the year 970. century. The weird Aliilur is most pnibalily derivable from the Arabic Ahi 'I'/iur: yet it also ajipears in a variety DIJTPX. which Mciri The name Slans also occurs distorts into Din'3X [ It is found in the older autlioriin ditTerent forms. " ties and in Moses ben Ezra's " Kitab alMul.iadarah as DNLDJt;*. and is also written DSJC'J*. DJXCD. DJDND- The identiticatiou of Aliilur with .lose ben .lose, a poet earlier than Saadia, has long been recognized as envmeous.
of shapes, such as
From
mn'n and
Jlerida, .bitur
went
to Cordova,
which was
destined to lieconic his dwellinLTplace. where he sat at the feel of IJidibi Mii.ses, " the prisiiiieiiif Ban." and became one of ids most distinu'uished pupils. Upon Kalilii Moses' death, the Contest
with
congregation elected Ins son, Rabbi Ilanok, as his successor; but Abitur.who had a following, though a smaller one. In the struggle which also aspired to the position. ensued the calif Al-I.Iakim favored llaiiok, who, in order to silence and intirnidale his opponents, e.xcominunicated them. A further attempt to secure the califs favor resulted in an intimalinn to Abitur that it was advis)il)le that he should leave the country. Embittered by these experiences and l)y he burden of e.vcomnuinieation, Abitur went abi-oail to seek repose and, if possible, con.solation and vindicjition; but nowhere did he seem to lind favor Itabbi Samuel Cohen In a letter written in <if Fez wmdd not even .see him. Aramaic tin' homeless wanderer in vain set f(irth that the sentence of excommunication was both unjust
Hanok.
I
and illegal; Samuel was not to be moved. Even the gaon then in othee at Babylon the tradition that
—
was
—
Hat) Ilai is chronologically impossible considered that Habbi Ilanok's sentence must be respected, and accordingly denied Abiluran interview. it
Abisha?
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
67
Abitur's last effort having failed, he lost all hope of obtaining the jiosition at Cordova; but this harsli treatment servid imly to make him more resigned In his fate. At this time, however, a change took place in his prospects; for a certain silk manufacturer of Cordova. Jacob ibn Gail, a friend and former patron of the exile, was a|)poinled sujueme hc>ad of llie Jewish emnmunities from "Segelmesa unto the Dduro." He hastened to ilepose llanok and to cause the heads of the ciingregation to invite Abitur to return and becume the nd)bi of Cordova. But AbilurdreliniMJ Uic liiviliitinn and vigorously condemned 111' wrong intended to Hanok. "a man whose ei|ual I'oiild not be found from Scpharad [Spain] to Baby-
Abitur, Joseph ben Isaao
maisins. Of thiscommentarj'onlya few f ragmen t3 are known, and these resemble the ilidrash in style. But it was in the field of poetry that Abitur especially distinguished himself. Alharizi relates that Abitur was the tirst in Sjiain to ci>m])o.sc a Ma'amad. There exist a few fragments of it, to which the printed 'Abodah (poem on the sacrificial service for the Day of Atonement) belongs. In contents, the
poem resembles other piyutim or liturgical poems. After an introduction declaring the praise of God, the poet reheai-ses. in the 'Abodah ]>roper, the Biblical history from the Creation down to Aaron, and adds a deserijition of the sjicriticial services in the Temple on the Day of Atonement, according to the de.scriiitions of the'Bible and the Talmud. The distinguishing features of Abitur's "Abodah features in which lie far excels other poets are the skilfully involved form and the manifold rimes and acrostics which he employs. The iioem consists of twenty-three stroidies, each of four stanzas; each stjinza of two halves, again divided into halves; the strojdie thus contains ei.irht verses, and each stanza four half verses, which rime on the [ilan a e, b d. The strophes may jiroperly be sjiid to proceed in alphabetical order, since each strophe with its eight verses or lines begins with one of the twenty-two letters (see the strophe printed below, which begins with Aleph). while the last strophe (the twenty -third) contains the author's name, given acrostically. This system is furlhereomplieated by the internal arrangement of the verses, llieir words, and the .system of rimes. As to the former, the first, third, and fifth verses contain the strophe-letter twice; that is. initially in its tirst two words; whereas in the second, fourth, sixth, and seventh, the strophe-letter appears only once, initially. The lett«>r of the next strophe is indicated initially in the second word of the .seventh verse and in the first word of the eighth. The rime is set by the second word of the first half-verse (a), for the ending of the second half- verse (/<) and the end of the stanza (rf) while the riming of the third half-verse (<•) is left ojien. Thus the second word of each stanza rimes with the last word of the same and with the first word of the next st^mza. The climax of the whole .system is reached in the manipulation of the fourth half- verse of every stanza, which not only rimes but consists of a Biblical quotation of file re(|UireiI number of feet. The whole Abodah (omilting the introduction) is preceded by two verses, which are constructed on the .Slime plan. In illuslnition of the foregoing description the opening of the 'Abodah is here presented;
— —
.
.
rhn II finx V"""' 73' ^y> a'^iyii II rim jin a->s3 i.s
r
-^N
-.•!.'«
Bij'
ihn -i ino '-a ijrsnn aii Snj .inN-irPi inn 'n anponi mtcc ik
I
II
I
The few responsa which have been preserved show us that Abitur was considered by his contemporaries an authority in Talmudiilaw. His diction is tinired with .ramaie. of which language he seems to have been viry fond; for exam|>le, his conunentary on the I'salms is full of
t '-
1 '^
II
lonia."
I'nfortunately. very few of the literary productions of Abitur have been preserved, owing in some degree, no doubt, to the sentence of Abitur's excommunication under which he snfLiterary fered. 'Pliere is a radii inn reeorded by .braliani ibn Daml llial he Inins 'Work. laleil into Amliie part of llie six Orders of the Mishnah for the libniry of the calif Al Hakim,
—
—
O'^oji
OVN
.3'n*-N
irs
'Va yin'M
Kio
II
-)"Kn II
.icw-ya'
pnjn Dv
nyasa
Sd <Ba inv2
1^2
3
n""
ov
II
II
>b:
mn-
'"13'
.i<ins'i
—
a'n'-S
ins
"'
IP^II
DON
^
wr^H
•>
^-3
—
isii!
n-aip
i-iyi
m ."yia
x^U
'jih icira
II
'•'•s
.npn3i-n;i3."a) n3;n3
II
"•jr aiy .ir'<ra
iciJt
" "'
8
a lover of i-ulture.
Am
All these siOf imposi-d shackles of the rime arc borne by the piH't with the greatest eas(>; all difliNovel wonl-forculties lire admirably .surniounted. Illations and conipanilively few inslanees of harshness of expres.sion are peculiarities inherent in the
