Immanuel the Roman
Encyclopedia
Immanuel ben Solomon ben Jekuthiel of Rome (Immanuel of Rome, Immanuel Romano, Manoello Giudeo) (1261, Rome
– 1328, Fermo, Italy) was an Italian
-Jewish scholar and satirical poet
. He was a member of a prominent, wealthy family and occupied an important position in Rome, possibly secretary or treasurer of the Jewish community there. He preached on Yom Kippur
and delivered discourses on special occasions. In 1325 he lost his entire fortune and was obliged to leave his home. All his friends deserted him and, "bowed by poverty and the double burden of age," he wandered through Italy until he found refuge in 1328 in Fermo in the march of Ancona
at the home of a patron named Daniel, who provided for his old age and enabled him to devote himself to poetry.
Immanuel's studies consisted not only of biblical
and talmud
ic literature, but also mathematics
, astronomy
, medicine
, and Islam
ic and Christian
philosophy
. He had an excellent memory and spoke Italian
, Arabic
, Latin
and perhaps some Greek
. He especially devoted himself to writing verse, encouraged in this by his cousin Judah Romano, one of the foremost Jewish philosophers of his time. Immanuel, whose poetic gifts appeared at an early age, devoted himself to the study of rhyme, took lessons in versification, and read the works of the foremost Jewish and Christian poets. Among his teachers he mentions Benjamin ben Joab and his cousin Daniel. He may also have been a pupil of Zerahiah ben Shealtiel Hen.
ism (see Hebrew alphabet
) popular at that time, is lost. A second work, Even Bohan ("Touchstone") concerns biblical hermeneutics, dealing with the different meaning of verbs in different constructions, with the addition, omission, and interchange of letters, and with other linguistic
questions. More important are his biblical commentaries, which cover all the books of the Bible, though some have since been lost. Following his Jewish and Christian contemporaries, he interpreted the Bible allegorically
, symbol
ically, and mystic
ally, endeavoring to find in it his own philosophical and religious views, though not disregarding the simple, literal meaning, which he placed above the symbolic. The sole value of his commentaries lies in the fact that his wide range of reading enabled him to make the works of other exegetes and philosophers accessible to his contemporaries and countrymen.
and Italian, but only a few of his Italian poems have survived. In a truly national spirit, they portray and satirize the political and religious conditions of that time. Immanuel was held in high regard by his contemporaneous Italian poets. Two Italian sonnets referring to his death have been preserved, which place him as a poet beside Dante
. In fact, Immanuel knew Dante's works and drew upon them. His Italian and Hebrew poems are both full of traces of Dante's style and themes.
from Italian literature
into Hebrew, and in this respect he is justified in saying that he excelled his models, the Spaniards, because he introduced alternate rhyme instead of single rhyme. He also excelled in his inventiveness and humor. In his old age, during his sojourn in Fermo, he collected his Hebrew poems in the manner of Yehuda Alharizi
, producing a diwan
(collection of poetry) entitled Mehaberot. Out of gratitude to his generous friend, he put these poems in a setting that made it appear as if they had been composed entirely during his stay with him in Fermo and as if stimulated by him, though they were really composed at various periods.
The poems deal with all the events and episodes of Jewish life and are replete with clever witticisms, harmless fun, caustic satire, and at times, frivolity. The Hebrew idiom in which Immanuel wrote lends an especial charm to his work. His parodies of biblical and talmudic sentences, his clever allusions and puns, and his equivocations are such gems of diction that it is almost impossible to translate his poetry into another language.
There are twenty-seven poems all together, including satires and letters, prayers and dirges, on a great variety of themes, both serious and humorous. A vision entitled "Ha-Tofet ve-ha-Eden" ("Hell and Paradise), at the end of the diwan (poem 28) is a sublime finale, the seriousness of which is tempered by lighter passages, the humorist asserting himself even when dealing with the supernatural world. In it, the poet recounts how, as an old man of sixty, he was overcome by the consciousness of his sins and the fear of his fate after death, when a recently deceased young friend, Daniel, appeared to him, offering to lead him through the tortures of Hell
to the flowering fields of the blessed. There then follows a minute description of Hell and Heaven
. It need hardly be said that Immanuel's poem is patterned in idea as well as in execution on Dante's Divine Comedy. It has even been asserted that he intended to set a monument to his friend Dante in the person of the highly praised Daniel, for whom he found a magnificent throne prepared in Paradise. This theory, however, is untenable, and there remains only that positing his imitation of Dante. Though the poem lacks the depth, sublimity, and significant references to the religious, scientific, and political views of the time, which have made Dante's work immortal. Nevertheless, Immanuel's poem is not without merit. His description, free from dogmatism, is true to human nature. It takes a humane point of view and is tolerant toward those of a different belief, something one looks for in vain in Dante, who excludes all non-Christians as such from eternal felicity.
Despite several printings of the diwan as a whole and the final poem individual, and despite some attempts at translation, the book is little known or disseminated. His contemporaries even censured Immanuel as a wanton scoffer, because he is occasionally flippant even in religious matters. He fared worse with later critics, and Yosef Karo
, author of the Shulchan Aruch
codex of Jewish law, forbade the reading of his poems altogether. This stricture is due to the strong admixture of the lascivious, frivolous, and erotic found in the poems. Never has Hebrew poetry appeared so bold and wanton until the modern period, notwithstanding that his work contains poems filled with true piety and even with invitations to penitence and asceticism.
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
– 1328, Fermo, Italy) was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-Jewish scholar and satirical poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. He was a member of a prominent, wealthy family and occupied an important position in Rome, possibly secretary or treasurer of the Jewish community there. He preached on Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
and delivered discourses on special occasions. In 1325 he lost his entire fortune and was obliged to leave his home. All his friends deserted him and, "bowed by poverty and the double burden of age," he wandered through Italy until he found refuge in 1328 in Fermo in the march of Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
at the home of a patron named Daniel, who provided for his old age and enabled him to devote himself to poetry.
Immanuel's studies consisted not only of biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic literature, but also mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic and Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. He had an excellent memory and spoke Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and perhaps some Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. He especially devoted himself to writing verse, encouraged in this by his cousin Judah Romano, one of the foremost Jewish philosophers of his time. Immanuel, whose poetic gifts appeared at an early age, devoted himself to the study of rhyme, took lessons in versification, and read the works of the foremost Jewish and Christian poets. Among his teachers he mentions Benjamin ben Joab and his cousin Daniel. He may also have been a pupil of Zerahiah ben Shealtiel Hen.
Works
Immanuel's varied scientific activity corresponded with his wide scholarship, though he confined his activity exclusively to Jewish subjects. With the exception of an introductory poem, his first work, dealing with the letter symbolSymbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism (see Hebrew alphabet
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...
) popular at that time, is lost. A second work, Even Bohan ("Touchstone") concerns biblical hermeneutics, dealing with the different meaning of verbs in different constructions, with the addition, omission, and interchange of letters, and with other linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
questions. More important are his biblical commentaries, which cover all the books of the Bible, though some have since been lost. Following his Jewish and Christian contemporaries, he interpreted the Bible allegorically
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
, symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ically, and mystic
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
ally, endeavoring to find in it his own philosophical and religious views, though not disregarding the simple, literal meaning, which he placed above the symbolic. The sole value of his commentaries lies in the fact that his wide range of reading enabled him to make the works of other exegetes and philosophers accessible to his contemporaries and countrymen.
Verse
The originality that Immanuel lacked as a scholar, he possessed as a poet. In his verse this is given free play, and his poems assured him a place in history. A product of his time, in sympathy with the social and intellectual life of medieval Italy, he had acquired the then-prevalent pleasing, easy, humorous, harmlessly flippant tone and the art of treating questionable subjects wittily and elegantly. He composed in both HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
and Italian, but only a few of his Italian poems have survived. In a truly national spirit, they portray and satirize the political and religious conditions of that time. Immanuel was held in high regard by his contemporaneous Italian poets. Two Italian sonnets referring to his death have been preserved, which place him as a poet beside Dante
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
. In fact, Immanuel knew Dante's works and drew upon them. His Italian and Hebrew poems are both full of traces of Dante's style and themes.
Hebrew Poems
Immanuel introduced the form of the sonnetSonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
from Italian literature
Italian literature
Italian literature is literature written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian....
into Hebrew, and in this respect he is justified in saying that he excelled his models, the Spaniards, because he introduced alternate rhyme instead of single rhyme. He also excelled in his inventiveness and humor. In his old age, during his sojourn in Fermo, he collected his Hebrew poems in the manner of Yehuda Alharizi
Yehuda Alharizi
Yehuda Alharizi, also Judah ben Solomon Harizi or al-Harizi was a rabbi, translator, poet and traveller active in Spain in the Middle Ages . He was supported by wealthy patrons, to whom he wrote poems and dedicated compositions.He was a rationalist, conveying the works of Maimonides and his...
, producing a diwan
Diwan (poetry)
-Etymology:The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan , which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register. The Persian word derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe...
(collection of poetry) entitled Mehaberot. Out of gratitude to his generous friend, he put these poems in a setting that made it appear as if they had been composed entirely during his stay with him in Fermo and as if stimulated by him, though they were really composed at various periods.
The poems deal with all the events and episodes of Jewish life and are replete with clever witticisms, harmless fun, caustic satire, and at times, frivolity. The Hebrew idiom in which Immanuel wrote lends an especial charm to his work. His parodies of biblical and talmudic sentences, his clever allusions and puns, and his equivocations are such gems of diction that it is almost impossible to translate his poetry into another language.
There are twenty-seven poems all together, including satires and letters, prayers and dirges, on a great variety of themes, both serious and humorous. A vision entitled "Ha-Tofet ve-ha-Eden" ("Hell and Paradise), at the end of the diwan (poem 28) is a sublime finale, the seriousness of which is tempered by lighter passages, the humorist asserting himself even when dealing with the supernatural world. In it, the poet recounts how, as an old man of sixty, he was overcome by the consciousness of his sins and the fear of his fate after death, when a recently deceased young friend, Daniel, appeared to him, offering to lead him through the tortures of Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
to the flowering fields of the blessed. There then follows a minute description of Hell and Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
. It need hardly be said that Immanuel's poem is patterned in idea as well as in execution on Dante's Divine Comedy. It has even been asserted that he intended to set a monument to his friend Dante in the person of the highly praised Daniel, for whom he found a magnificent throne prepared in Paradise. This theory, however, is untenable, and there remains only that positing his imitation of Dante. Though the poem lacks the depth, sublimity, and significant references to the religious, scientific, and political views of the time, which have made Dante's work immortal. Nevertheless, Immanuel's poem is not without merit. His description, free from dogmatism, is true to human nature. It takes a humane point of view and is tolerant toward those of a different belief, something one looks for in vain in Dante, who excludes all non-Christians as such from eternal felicity.
Despite several printings of the diwan as a whole and the final poem individual, and despite some attempts at translation, the book is little known or disseminated. His contemporaries even censured Immanuel as a wanton scoffer, because he is occasionally flippant even in religious matters. He fared worse with later critics, and Yosef Karo
Yosef Karo
Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for all Jews pertaining to their respective communities...
, author of the Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch
The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...
codex of Jewish law, forbade the reading of his poems altogether. This stricture is due to the strong admixture of the lascivious, frivolous, and erotic found in the poems. Never has Hebrew poetry appeared so bold and wanton until the modern period, notwithstanding that his work contains poems filled with true piety and even with invitations to penitence and asceticism.