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A badchen (also spelled "badchan" or "badhan"; plural: badchonim) (meaning "joker" or "clown") is a scholarly comedian who traditionally entertains before and after Ashkenazic Jewish weddings. They are generally learned men comparable to a maggid or sermonizer.[1] Currently they are only common in the Hasidic world. In Europe during the Middle Ages, there were among the Jewish communities traveling merrymakers who probably originally patterned themselves after the troubadours, but soon developed their own tradition of wedding entertainment with jokes related to Scriptural verses or Talmudic passages.
The badchen was considered a standard part of the wedding party, as de-rigure as the officiating rabbi. An elaborate traditional wedding might also involve a letz (lit. a clown, here a jongleur or musician) and a marshalik (a master of ceremonies).[1]
The badchen has to be able both to provide the energy for a party before and after the ceremony itself and also to make the transition to a more serious tone immediately before the ceremony.[1] To this end his comedy was not of a slap-stick variety but rather verbal with many intricate Talmudic references and in-jokes.
Some famous badchonim include Chaim Menachem (Mendel) Mermelstien (born March 2, 1920 in Munkacz, died November 7, 1985 in New York), considered the father of modern day badchonus,[citation needed] and the present-day performers Yankel Miller and Yoel Lebowits.
The 19th century Broder singers began as badchonim, but began to perform outside of the context of weddings. They, in turn, are usually seen as the forerunners of Yiddish theater.
On the Jewish holiday of Purim many young men undertake to be badchanim during Purim spiels.
Notes
References
- ^ a b c Liptzin, Sol, A History of Yiddish Literature, Jonathan David Publishers, Middle Village, NY, 1972, ISBN 0-8246-0124-6, 22-23.
External links
- This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia article "Badhan" by Cyrus Adler and H. G. Enelow and Joseph Jacobs, a publication now in the public domain.
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