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On the semantics of the motif “three hares chasing each other in a circle” on Jewish monuments in Eastern Europe

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 41; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13501674.2011.632581

1743-971X

Boris Khaimovich,

Archaeology and Historical Studies

Abstract "Three hares chasing each other in a circle" is one of the most common and peculiar motifs in the murals of Eastern European wooden synagogues. This motif was not an invention of Jewish craftsmen, but rather was borrowed and adapted by them from European art. In the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century this motif appears in various Ashkenazi ritual objects and on the tombstones of Eastern European Jews in the same region, and even in those places where there were painted synagogues. What is the reason for the appearance of this strange motif on Jewish monuments? On some monuments the motif of the "three hares" paradoxically replaces the "three overlapping fish" which are depicted as the zodiacal sign of the month Nisan. On the tombstones the image hints at the name of the deceased. But its central place in the composition of murals is evidence that this motif has an important universal meaning. This analysis of the motif shows that it became an integral part of an artistic tradition and that its semantics were determined within a well-defined geographical and chronological framework. Keywords: Jewish artthree haresmonumental artEastern European Jewish culturesynagogue art Notes On the motif of "three hares chasing each other in a circle" in European art, see Fredrich, "Die drei methischen Hasen und ihre Verwandten an Kirchen und anderen Geboiden und Hasen in Märchen und Sagen," 339–48. Haman, Tierplastik im Wandel der Zeiten. The Habanes were the Moravian brothers (Christian sectarians) who emigrated from Bohemia to the Carpathian Mountains in the early seventeenth century. See Lochner, Entstehung der Brüdergemeinde in Böhmen und Mähren; on the ceramics of the Habanes see Pisutova, Fajansa. Ettinghausen, "The 'Wade Cup' in the Cleveland Museum of Art, its Origin and Decoration," 327–66. Ibid., 343, Figure L. Ibid., 351 Baer, Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art, 172–3. Bestiarium Latiny, thirteenth-century manuscript, Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS764, fol. 26r. See Zucker, The Moskowitz Mahzor of Joel Ben Simeon, 67 Second New York Agada of Joel Ben Simeon (JTS Ms. 8279, fol. 57v). See Zucker, The Moskowitz Mahzor of Joel Ben Simeon, 65. Expedition Diary, Fond 9, Archive of the Institute of Archeology, Kiev (henceforward AIA). At the time of Elieser Sussman, Brody belonged to the Chervonorussky region of the Polish–Lithuanian kingdom. Stored in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Stored in the museum of the town of Shwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. These tombstones were discovered during exploratory expeditions (1992–2000) by St Petersburg Jewish University and the Centre for Jewish Art of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For example, such a view appears in the Shcerbakivski dairy, fond 9, AIA. Breier et al., Holzsynagogen in Polen, 8–9. Huberman, Living Symbols, 83. Harburger, Die Inventarisation jüdischen Kunst und Kulturdenkmäler in Bayern, vol. 3, 675; vol. 2, 80. Sefer Evronot, Germany, the second half of the seventeenth century, Ms. 906, Hebrew Union College Library, Cincinnati. See Fishof, Written in the Stars, 25. In the Midrash it states that Aman, while trying to destroy the Jews, chose the zodiacal sign of Pisces, since under this sign Moses died. However, he miscalculated, because Moses died and was born under the same sign. "And he [Aman] said, as fish are swallowed, so I will swallow them. But God said to him: the villain, once the fish pouch [others], but another time they are swallowed [by others], and now this man will be swallowed [by others]." Midrash Esther Rabbah, Parasha 7 (Wilna, 1886): אסתר רבה (וילנה), פרשה ז ד′′ה יא בחודש הראשון Kobi Jehuda ben Avraham, Shut Jehuda Jaalehe, Part 1, siman 309 (Thessaloniki,1893): (בחודש אדר גאולה לישראל (ש′′ת יהודה יעלה חלק א Breish, Shut Chelkas Yaakov, vol. 2, siman 160: ששמחת פורים תביא לנו שמחה לכל השנה ונזכה לביאת משיח צדקנו(שו′′ת חלקת יעקב או′′ח סימן קס ד′′ה יסלח לי) Sefer Mishne Halachot, Sut Mishne Halachot, part 13, siman 90: ונזכה לשמחת פורים בשלוח (מנות) לנו אליהו הנביא לבשרנו ביאת משיח צדקינו(שו′′ת משנה הלכות חלק יג סימן נ ד′′ה והשו′′ת יתן) See Wischnitzer, Symbole und Gestalten der jüdishen Kunst, 134–5. One understands the "two Messiahs" to be Messiah ben David (descendant of the king David) and Messiah ben Joseph (descendant of the tribe of Joseph), which precede the Messiah son of David. The popularity of Messiah ben Joseph was great in the Jewish world in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Presumably, moving the sign of the month of Adar to the month of Nisan was the consequence of the fact that tradition associates the month of Nisan, which falls on the feast of Passover, with the appearance of the Messiah. (On the Passover as a time of arrival of the Messiah, see Midrash Lekakh Tov (Exodus 12:16).) It is not improbable that for this reason the motif of the three hares (which, as we have seen above, became interchangeable with the motif of the three fish) migrated from the symbolism of the month of Adar to the symbolism of the month Nisan. Confirmation of this idea can be found on the tombstones of Satanov decorated with three hares, where the earlier tombstones (1803) refer to the month of Adar, and the later ones (1810 and 1811) to the month of Nisan. (It is interesting to note that at the old Krakow cemetery the tombstone of Mindle, daughter of Meir (1580), who died in the month of Nisan, remained, and was decorated with the image of three overlapping fish.) Besides, in the Chodorov synagogue the medallion with the hares chasing each other in a circle is in contact with the image of Aries, the zodiacal sign of the month of Nisan, the significant month of the Jewish calendar. In the collection of the family Gross (Tel Aviv) is a Passover dish from Germany (1842) on which the zodiacal sign of Pisces and the name of the month of Adar are separated from the zodiacal circle, and placed on the edge of the dish under sign of Aries – the sign of the month Nisan (Fishof, Written in the Stars, 77). The date of this dish is not written in a standard way either – it forms the two words "Sar" (Prince) and the abbreviated words "Kadosh Baruch Hu" (Blessed be He), which are traditionally associated with the titles of the Messiah. Tombstones were set on the grave a year after death. The epitaph on the tombstone of Yehudah, son of Yakov (from Busk, Galicia, 1521), published in Nosonovsky, "Ob epitafiiakh s evreiskikh nadgrobii Pravoberezhnoi Ukrainyi," 107–18. A hint of the associations of the names of the deceased with a quote from Yizkor can be seen in other blocks of the text of the epitaphs. In particular, the epitaph on the tombstone of Rivka says, "And Rivka passed into eternity," and the name of her father, Elieser-Sussman, is followed by the name abbreviation "Long live the memory of him in the future world." It is not uninteresting to note that Rivka, judging from the dates of death, could well be a daughter of the master Elieser Sussman from Brody, who painted the synagogue in Bavaria, using the motif of the "three hares." At the cemetery in Satanov several tombstones of the natives of the city Brody from the end of the eighteenth century remain. Talmud Bavli, Rosh ha-Shana, Perek 1. The synagogues in Gwoździec, Smotrich and Mihalpol. See Khaimovich, "The Jewish Bestiary of the 18th Century in the Dome Mural of the Chodorov Synagogue," 130–86, and "Geral'dicheskii orel v khudozhestvennoi kul'yure vostochnoevropeiskikh evreev," 87–110. Note also that the indirect evidence that the motif on the Jewish monuments is not associated with the expression of loyal senses is the fact that "Jewish heraldic eagles" do not coincide with the symbol of the authority of the state controlling the territory where the monument was. Thus, the appearance of the two-headed heraldic eagle from the emblem of the Austrian Empire, or the Russian Empire, did not fit into the historical context because Chodorov (1714) and Gwoździec (1729) were in that period a part of Poland, the state emblem of which was the one-headed eagle. Typically, these attributes are different from the traditional attributes of imperial power inherent in earthly empires. The set of the attributes is as follows: lulav and shofar, olive branches, a sword and etrog, and even circumcision forceps (the synagogue of Tirgu-Nyamt, Romania). On the tombstone of Ozarinets the heart and lightning were depicted in the clutches of an eagle, and on the headstone of Nemirov rimons (pomegranates). All these attributes indicate its reference to the autumn holidays when the court of Devine is held over each person and a verdict is delivered. Part of the phrase "Like an eagle who rouses his nestlings, gliding down to his young, so did He spread His wings …" (Deuteronomy 32:11), which metaphorically indicates the relationship between God and the people of Israel. On the Aron Kodesh of the synagogues in Botos¸ani, Hirlau, Roman, Targu-Neamt and Falticheni. On the Aron-Kodesh of the synagogue in Falticheni nestlings are shown under the eagle's wings, illustrating the passage "Also I carried on the eagle's wings and brought you unto myself" (Shemot 19:4). In rabbinic sources, the image of a hare was traditionally viewed in a negative light due to the notion of the hare being a ritually impure animal. ("Certain creatures, such as the hare, were believed to be capable of undergoing sexual metamorphoses in the course of a lifetime" (Schochet, Animal Life in Jewish Tradition, 89).) It would seem, therefore, that the numerous depictions of the hare, whose roots go back to medieval illuminated manuscripts, either have a totally different symbolic significance or represent a purely decorative element. Among the prominent motifs are hounds pursuing hares, as well as grotesque scenes of hares punishing or ruling their enemies. For example, the manuscript Kennicott Bible, Spain, 1476, contains an illustration of hares storming a fortress occupied by a wolf (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Kennicott, 443v). See Narkiss, Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts, plate 17. For various grotesque scenes with images of hares, see Epstein, "The Elusive Hare," 16–39. Along with many others, this scene with hares storming the fortress is borrowed from Christian manuscripts, where it was commonly used as a caricature or parody. It is quite possible that, due to the "reverse" nature of this topsy-turvy world, the hares in medieval Jewish iconography personify the Jews. The likelihood of this interpretation is also indicated by a decorative motif appearing in a manuscript – Joel ben Simeon, Second New York Haggadah, 1454, – in which four hares tied together by their ears mirror four little winged human figures (angels with tzitzit peeking from under their medieval garb) tied together by their hands and feet (JTS Ms. 8279, fols 57v, 58r). It should be noted that in the folklore of Ashkenazi Jews a hare traditionally personifies human timidity. In the purimspiel (the folk Purim plays whose roots reach deep into the medieval culture) that was recorded in the late nineteenth century in Volin, David, mourning the death of Jonathan, cries out that the Almighty has left him "alone with the hares" ("Af vemen hostu micj gelozn? Af dem frajen feld glajx mit ale hozn." Golias-Spiel in Dimshits, Arfyi na verbakh, 63). The text of the epitaphs sheds additional light on the meaning of the image of the hares. In the early eighteenth century, the epitaphs make frequent use of Biblical quotations referring to such characters as Abraham and Job. The most common phrase is: איש ירא אלוקים וסר מרע (one that fears God and eschews evil (Job 1:1)). We also encounter the phrase: חרדה לדבר ה (trembling before the word of the Lord). At the same time, the image of the hare begins to appear on tombstone reliefs. In some Podolia tombstones, inscriptions referring to the person as a "God-fearing man" appear along with the hare. On the tombstone of Yitzhak Cohen (Satanov, 1757), the hare is placed twice in the centre of the design (see figure 14 in Khaimovich, "The Jewish Bestiary of the 18th Century"). In one instance the hare is flanked by griffins, while in the other it is placed beneath the blessing gesture of a high priest. The epitaph describes the deceased as איש ירא אלוקים (a God-fearing man). It is safe to assume that, in the given context, the hare is assigned the traditional image of a timid creature, but here the timidity is of another sort, connoting fear of the Lord. The image of the hare on the tombstone from the mid eighteenth century, most likely, personified "a man trembling [before God]" (hared). This meaning follows from the text of the epitaphs which usually accompanies this image. (Note that the ninth-century Christian theologian Rabanus Maurus gives a similar interpretation of the hare. See Migne, Patrologiae Latina: Rabanus Maurus, 129.) This motif correlated with another popular motif on tombstone decorations – the imperial eagle grasping two storks – whose iconography is similar to that of the eagle with two hares. Among anthropomorphic animals and birds, the stork is assigned a special role in Jewish tradition. The stork is one of the most common images appearing on tombstones, for it personifies the righteous man (Ish Hesed). Rabbi Hisda's account cited in the Talmud explains that the bird's name in Hebrew – hasidah – means "a pious man" because the stork resembles one in its behavior ("R. Hisda said: 'The hasida is the white stork. And why is it called hasida? Because it shows kindness (hasidut) to its companions'" (Talmud Bavli, Hullin, 63a)). On the tombstone of Rabbi Yehuda ben Gershon (Medzhibozh, 1751), an eagle rests on storks (see figure 15 in Khaimovich, "The Jewish Bestiary of the 18th Century"). The epitaph reads, "a God-fearing man" who "engaged in pious deeds day and night." Yehuda ben Shmuel ha-Hasid, Sefer Hasidim (Sudilkov, 1826), 166. Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says, "seven joys of righteous people will greet the 'Shekhinah' in the future world." See in Sefer Yalkut Shimoni, Dvarim, Parashat Ekev, remez 872 (Piotrkow, 1938). ר′ שמעון בן יוחאי אומר לשבע שמחות פניהן של צדיקים עתידין להקביל פני שכינה לעולם הבא (ילקוט שמעוני תורה פרשת עקב רמז תתעב) "But righteous people will bring 'Shekhinah' to the Land (of Israel)." Sefer Midrash Rabah al Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah, Parasha 5 (Warsaw, 1876) אבל הצדיקים השכינו שכינה לארץ, (שיר השירים רבה (וילנא) פרשה ה ד′′ה [א] באתי לגני ) "Such seven groups of righteous people which will greet the 'Shekhina' in future world." Midrash Wayikra Rabbah, Parasha 30 (Jerusalem, 1953–60) אלו שבע כתות של צדיקים שעתידים להקביל פני שכינה (ויקרא רבה (וילנא) פרשה ל ד′′ה ב ד′′א ולקחתם) See Elderly, The House of the Living, 106 Note, for example, that according to the Midrash, God welcomes the righteous in Paradise with the words of the Yizkor prayer (see Midrash Haggadah, Shabbat 1:52b (Lvov, 1815)). The analogy between the sons of Israel and the fish in the sea (see Midrash Rabbah 97:2 (Warsaw, 1930)). The considered examples indirectly bear evidence that in the traditional perspective of the masters of this period the semantics of three overlapping fish correlated with the three hares chasing each other in a circle. Presumably, it is not by chance that both motifs are also symmetrical and balanced in the murals in the Chodorov synagogue. It is not improbable that they both illustrate the words of the Yizkor prayers, where both forefathers and foremothers are mentioned. It is well known that fish in the Jewish tradition have strong associations with fertility and numerous progeny. However, no less clearly, the image of the hare is also associated with fertility. "Like an eagle who rouses his nestlings, gliding down to his young, so did He spread His wings" (Deuteronomy 32:11).