Tanz des Marschelik, Spassmacher (1902 postcard)

A ''badchen'' or ''badkhn'' ( yi, בּדחן) is a type of

Ashkenazic Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

wedding entertainer, poet, sacred clown, and master of ceremonies originating in Eastern Europe, with a history dating back to at least the seventeenth century. The ''badchen'' was an indispensable part of the traditional Jewish wedding in Europe who guided the bride and groom through the stages of the ceremony, act as master of ceremonies, and sing to the bride, groom and in-laws with the accompaniment of klezmer musicians. They also had a traditional role on holidays such as

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...

. Today they are primarily found in Chassidic communities.

History and description

There is a long history of entertainers at Jewish weddings dating back to the Talmudic era. The traditional role of the Eastern European ''badchen'' evolved from older Medieval and Early Modern Jewish wedding entertainers, such as the ''lets'' () or ''marshalik'' (), taking on a recognizable new form in the seventeenth century

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. (Some sources may use the terms ''badchen'', ''lets'' and ''marshalik'' interchangeably, whereas others treat them as distinct.) The earlier type of ''marshalik'' guided the ceremonies of the wedding in a more serious manner, but the ''badchen'' turned the role into that a of a religious-informed, moralistic comedian. In this role they also drew on Yiddish

Minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer ...

s and

Maggid A maggid ( he, מַגִּיד), also spelled as magid, is a traditional Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories. A chaplain of the more scholarly sort is called a '' darshan'' (). The title of '' ...

s who had been traveling entertainers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The ''badchen'' was expected to generate energy for a party before and after the ceremony, and also to bring guests along in the transition to a more serious tone immediately before the ceremony. He would speak and sing in

Couplets A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...

, weaving in references to the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

and

Tanach The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

The role of the ''badchen'' was also to guide the bride and groom through the various ritual and customary stages of the traditional wedding. These often began with a procession of the wedding party through the streets to the home of the bride, with the accompaniment of the klezmer band and occasionally the ''badchen''. A further procession would take place later in the morning to the place where the wedding was to take place. The next stages often focused on the bride. In various places this phase would be called ''Bazetsn di kale'' (seating of the bride), ''kale bazingn'' (singing for the bride) ''kale badekns'' (bridal veiling), while the ''badchen'' sang couplets punctuated by accompaniment by the klezmer musicians. Of these couplets would include descriptions of a wife's responsibilities combined with phrases such as "''kalenyu, kalenyu, veyn, veyn, veyn''" (oh dear little bride, weep, weep weep). After that, the klezmer band would escort the couple to the courtyard of the Synagogue for the legal part of the ceremony. Another stages was the ''mazltov'' or ''mitzvah'' dance where the ''badchen'' called up each woman present to embrace the bride, had men symbolically dance with the bride via a handkerchief, or other ritual forms to announce honored guests. The ''badchen'' also sang more lighthearted couplets during the wedding feast. Aside from weddings, ''badchens'' have also traditionally had roles in other ceremonies or holidays, such as such as

, and for

Bris The ''brit milah'' ( he, בְּרִית מִילָה ''bərīṯ mīlā'', ; Ashkenazi pronunciation: , "covenant of circumcision"; Yiddish pronunciation: ''bris'' ) is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism. According to the Book of Genesis, ...

(circumcision). With the rise of urbanization and the

Haskalah The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...

, the role of the ''badchen'' (and their partners the klezmer musicians) declined in importance in Jewish life in the second half of the nineteenth century. Some modern cultural critics in the early Twentieth century even disdained their art form, such as Saul M. Ginsburg and Pesach Marek who called the ''badchen'' a "mere mood manipulator at weddings" who "richly deserved the low status accorded to him in society". Judah Leib Cahan said that their arcane humor contributed to the "dry atmosphere" of petit-bourgeois Jewish life.

Contemporary ''badchens''

Today the tradition of ''badchens'' exists mainly in Chassidic communities. The modern tradition was largely developed by Chaim Menachem Mermelstien (born 1920 in Munkacz, died November 7, 1985, in New York City), considered the father of modern-day ''badchonus.'' Rav Shlomo Yaakov Gelbman (1953–2015) was another modern ''badchen'' and historian in the

Satmar Satmar (Yiddish: סאַטמאַר, Hebrew: סאטמר) is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynasty ...

community. Current performers include Yankel Miller and Yoel Lebowits.

Popular culture

Various forms of modern Jewish entertainment which arose in the Nineteenth century were created by former Badchens, or drew on aspects of the tradition, including

Yiddish song Yiddish song is a general description of several genres of music sung in Yiddish which includes songs of Yiddish theatre, Klezmer songs, and "Yiddish art song" after the model of the German Lied and French mélodie. The Yiddish language and song F ...

, Yiddish poetry,

Yiddish Theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revu ...

, and Broderzingers. The so-called "father of Yiddish poetry",

Eliakum Zunser Eliakum Zunser (Eliakim Badchen, Elikum Tsunzer) (October 28, 1840 – September 22, 1913) was a Lithuanian Jewish Yiddish-language poet, songwriter, and ''badchen'' who lived out the last part of his life in the U.S. A 1905 article in ''The New ...

, was a former ''badchen''. Satirical Yiddish songs of the late Nineteenth century also drew on the tradition of the Badchen, especially in their use and parody of liturgical music, and many pioneering Yiddish-language recording artists of the early Twentieth century were former ''badchens'', including Solomon Smulewitz and Frank Seiden. As well, an early genre of Yiddish-language recorded music involved parodies of the ''badchen's'' traditional performances by Yiddish Theatre actors such as Gus Goldstein, Julius Guttman,

Molly Picon Molly Picon ( yi, מאָלי פּיקאָן; born Malka Opiekun; February 28, 1898 – April 5, 1992) was an American actress of stage, screen, radio and television, as well as a lyricist and dramatic storyteller. She began her career in Yidd ...

, H. I. Reissmann, and the aforementioned Seiden and Smulewitz. With the

Klezmer revival Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was some renewed interest in ''badchen''-style singing among klezmer bands. The revival band

Kapelye Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for ...

included songs in that style on their albums Future And Past (1981) and Kapelye's Chicken (1987). The group

Budowitz Budowitz are a klezmer band incorporating 19th century instruments and themes from the folk music of Bessarabia, Galicia and Bukovina, into their music. Its members live in Hungary, Germany and the United States. The band is named after 19th Ce ...

, in their attempt to recreate a Nineteenth century Jewish wedding sound, also included ''badchen''-style performances on their albums Mother Tongue (1997) and Wedding without a Bride (2000).

References

External links

YIVO Encyclopedia article "Badkhonim"
*{{JewishEncyclopedia, article=Badhan, url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=86&letter=B, author=

Cyrus Adler Cyrus Adler (September 13, 1863 – April 7, 1940) was an American educator, Jewish religious leader and scholar. Early years Adler was born to merchant and planter Samuel Adler and Sarah Sulzberger in Van Buren, Arkansas on September 13, 186 ...

and H. G. Enelow and

Joseph Jacobs Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916) was an Australian folklorist, translator, literary critic, social scientist, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Jacobs ...

17th-century establishments in Poland Ashkenazi Jewish culture Jewish religious occupations Jewish theatre Purim Wedding ceremony participants Medieval performers Entertainment occupations