MELISELDA

The Sabbatean Metamorphosis of a
Medieval Romance

By Gad Nassi

------------------------------------------------------------------

The romance is known as a poetic genre that
recounts legendary histories of heroism of the feudal aristocracy including
general themes of romantic love. It is an accepted fact that the romance was
born and developed in the mid-12th century in France and spread to other parts of Europe including
the Iberian Peninsula.

Besides
its influence on the evolution of European literary creativity, the romance
occupies an important place in Iberian folklore. This folklore constitutes at
the same time an integral part of the folklore of Jewish exiles from that
peninsula. For five centuries it has been one of the main pillars of their
popular literature that contributed to the preservation of their Sephardic
identity.

In this article we shall deal with the
adventurous tale of a Sephardic romance known in its various forms as Melisenda
in Spain,
Beliselda, Melisenda, Bellisent in France, Benisela, Belisera,
Felimina amongst Maghreb Jewry, and Meliselda amongst Ottoman Jews.
A French ballad of the Carolingian period known as Melisenda Insomne is
probably the first known version of the romance that, according to researchers,
also was probably the main source of all its future variations existing in the
folklore of the Sephardic communities in the Eastern Mediterranean and in North Africa.

One of the Castilian versions of the story is
the following:

“Todos estan
durmiendo, ala eksepsyon de Melisenda, la ija del Imperante, ke se esta sin
reposo meneyando i volviendo en su kama, achakes de su amor por el Konte
Ayueles / Salta de su kama, komo la pario su madre, se viste una kamiza
(alcandora) delgada para tomar konseja. Una vieja noble, ke kedo selibatera la
insinua de gozar de su manseves. / Melisenda no tiene menester de otras
palavras para korrer al palasio del Konte Ayueles / En kamino enkontra al
Ferdinandos, el paje de su padre, ke la menasa de avizar a su padre. Melisenda
le demanda de emprestar la su punal para matar alos perros ke no la deshan
durmir, kon elkual mata a Ferdinandos i korre jovialamente en su kamino. / Avre
kon enkantes las puertas de la kamareta onde el konte Ayueles durme i amata las
siete torshas ke la aklaran, en despertando el konte. / Ala pregunta del konte
ke kere saver ken esta en la kamareta, pretende ke es una Moriska, ke arivo por
la mar. / El konte proklama ke aviya jurado de echar se kon kuala mujer ke
demandara sus favores aparte de Melisenda, la ija del Imperante i se echan
endjuntos ala kama. /  Ala
demaniana, el konte dekuvre la verdad i kon repentimiento se adresa ala piedad
del Imperante, ke los pardona…”(1)

The Sabbatean Counterpart

In the 15th century, the romances
were recited for all classes of people in Spain
and Portugal.
Thus, the first generation of Sephardic exiles from those countries brought
with them a large treasury of romances, which were handed down through the
centuries and were preserved until today.

Transmitted orally from generation to
generation, the text and vocabulary were transformed. Parts of the texts
disappeared and new parts were added. However, the basic themes and forms were
mainly conserved. Five different versions relating to the story of the original
romance of Melisenda have been identified in Sephardic folklore.(2)
One of these, collected amongst the Jewish Balkan communities is directly
related to our subject:

Esta noche mis kavalyeros
Ansi traiya su kuerpo

durmi kon una donzella,
komo la inieve sin pizare;

ke en los dias de mis dias,
las sus karas koloradas,

no topi otra komo eya.
komo la leche i la sangre;

Meliselda tiene por nombre,
las sus kaveyikos ruvios

Meliselda galana i bella
paresen sirma de labrare;

A la abashada de un rio
la su frente relusiente

i a la suvida de un varo,                        parese
espejo de mirares;

enkontri kon Meliselda,
la su nariz empendolada,

la ija del imperante,
pendolika de notares;

ke venia de los banios,
los sus mushos korolados,

de los banios de la mare,
merdjanikos de filares;

de lavarse i entrenzarse,
los sus dientes chikitikos,

i de mudarse una kamiza.
perlas d’enfilares.(2, 3)

(This
night my cavaliers / I slept with a maiden / whose equal I have never met / in
the best years of my life. / Meliselda is her name, / Meliselda elegant and
beautiful / along the course of a river / and the slope of a hill / I met
Meliselda, / daughter of the emperor / who came to bathe herself / in the
waters of the sea / to bathe herself and refresh herself, / and to change her
garment. / Thus she brings her body / pure as snow / with her rosy face, / like
milk and blood; / her russet hair / like threads of gold; / her gleaming
forehead / like a mirror; / her nose uplifted / like the quill of a scribe; /
her red lips, / like the coral; / and her little teeth, / like pearls.)

It was on a Sabbath day in the month of
December in the year 1655, when Sabbetay Sevi, after reciting the romance of Meliselda
in the Portuguese synagogue of Izmir, declared himself to be the Messiah.(4)
Since then, this romance was included into the liturgy of the community of the
Sabbatean believers.(5)

The Ottoman Experience in the Perspective

of Jewish and Iberian Heritage

In our opinion, the adoption of the Meliselda
romance into the liturgy of the Sabbatean believers may be clarified by
investigating the reasons for using themes of female eroticism in the religious
and mystical traditions of the Ottoman Jews. Three sources appear to be the
basis of this phenomenon. Firstly, the place of female and erotic symbolism in
Jewish heritage. Secondly, the influence of Iberian heritage. Thirdly, the link
with Ottoman mystical music.

For generations, many erotic songs were
composed under the influence of the Song of Songs in the Bible. The
content of this work is entirely secular and is inspired by the praise of
erotic pleasure. However, the Song of Songs has been interpreted as the
expression of God’s love for the people of Israel and was included in Jewish
liturgy.

In ancient times, the image of a feminine deity in the land of Canaan was a well-known phenomenon. This
cult was part of the common heritage of the Hebrews and of those people who
lived in the region. In time this cult disappeared from the religious beliefs
of the Hebrews. However, another conception of female divinity appeared in
their liturgy. Known as the Shechina, this concept was the expression of
the divine presence in its feminine form and was conceived as the expression of
God’s love towards the Jewish people. This divinity was considered in
kabbalistic literature as an emanation of God, which accompanied the Jewish
people and kept watch over it.(6)

In Sabbatean belief, the image of Meliselda
represents the earthly emanation of God, and the conception of union with the Shechina
is considered as the event leading towards redemption. In a collection of
Sabbatean liturgical hymns, a version of Meliselda appears together with
poems about the Shechina presented in a mystical context.(5, 7)

Yakov Frank, the leader of the Sabbatean
movement in Poland,
has also expressed his views on the subject:

“…In a dream…I
saw the goddess who came to me appearing as a beautiful virgin… ‘Be
united from now on and heed me; perhaps the salvation will come
again’….”(8)

A study of the development process of the
mystical and religious music of the Sephardim in the Ottoman
Empire is also necessary in order to clarify this phenomenon.

We know that the Kabbalistic School
in Safed under the guidance of Isaac Luria (1534-1572) was the principal source
of mystical beliefs that developed among the Sephardim. Luria had adapted the
Sephardic genre to the religious liturgy. We know that he composed many
mystical and religious songs.(9)  Israel Nadjara (c.1555-c.1625) who was
born and lived in Safed is considered the founder and most important figure of
Kabbalistic music. His father, Moshe, was one of the pupils of Luria. The songs
of Israel Nadjara, known under the title of Zemiroth Israel (Songs of
Israel) published in Safed, Salonica and in Venice in the 16th century, had an
important and widespread influence among the Jewish communities of the
Mediterranean littoral.

Two peculiarities derived from Ottoman music
mark the songs of Israel Nadjara. Firstly, he has adopted the forms of the makam
and usul, which are at the basis of Turkish music.(10)
Secondly, he used the love themes that characterize Ottoman mystical
literature.(11)

Hayim Vital, the pupil of Luria, describes the
comportment of Israel Nadjara:

“This person had the habit of
singing with his arms bare. He became drunk while drinking and he ate and sang
at the top of his voice.”(12)

This kind of behavior reminds one of the
ritualistic customs of mystic Ottoman sects, which used to listen to music and
drink in order to attain a state of ecstasy. Probably, this ritual influenced
not only the manner in which Nadjara comported himself but more especially the
tolerance and the approbation felt towards Nadjara and his works.

The poetical form – up to four metric lines in
each stanza – used by Nadjara were adapted to the songs of the Ottoman
Jews entitled maftirim.(12) Similarly, the influence
of the Turkish musical form used by Nadjara was so great that it still continues
to be used in our time and forms one of the most valuable creations of Turkish
Sephardic religious music.

It is reported that the literature of love
romances in medieval Spain are noted for their eroticism in which women,
conscious of their sexuality, function like men and lead the action of the
poems.(13) On the other hand, female eroticism representing
divine love is reported to be a well-known phenomenon in Spain of that period.
In this context, popular and secular songs were used as liturgical hymns among
the Christians. Among these songs known as “a lo divino” we
find “la morenika ke te pones” which was also the probable
source of a song composed by Nadjara.(14)

During the Arabian presence in the Peninsula, the Ibero-Sephardim became accustomed to Arabic
music. This music is set to the same metrical poetry as Ottoman music. This is
probably the principal reason for the adoption of this music by the Sephardic
refugees. Rabbi Shelomo Mazaltov, during the same period as Israel Nadjara,
introduced Ottoman melodies for Hebrew religious hymns and Judeo-Spanish songs.
A musical genre known as piyutim that was a repertory of religious hymns
and poetic songs was inspired by the Arab-Andalusian musical tradition of
medieval Spain and was
imported to the Ottoman Empire. This musical
genre constituted the basis of the Ottoman-Jewish musical tradition known as maftirim
that was developed in Edirne
and is used until our own day. The texts of these hymns, modeled on the hymns
of Nadjara, are also evident in the traditional Ottoman mystical religious
hymns known as ilahi.

This was the special characteristic of all
Jewish religious music, which developed in the Ottoman
Empire. Classical Turkish music and traditional Turkish-Jewish
music were part of the same Ottoman musical heritage. Throughout its history
many Jewish composers and singers, who were active at the same time in Ottoman
and Jewish circles, contributed in an important way to the formation of this
heritage. For example, let us mention the name of Ishak Fresko Romano
(1761-1808) who was the musical teacher of Sultan Selim III.(15)

Ottoman music was considerably influenced by
the mystical music of the dervishes known for their humanistic and liberal
attitude. Many composers, singers and musicians who belonged to the non-Muslim
minorities contributed actively to the development of this music. Abraham Danon
clearly mentions the major role of Ottoman mystical music in the development of
the liturgical music of the Ottoman Sephardim.(16)

According to Galante, the composer Abraham
Levi Hayat, known as Misirli, studied under teachers belonging to the dervish
order such as Hodja Karami Efendi.(17) Similarly, Rabbi Avram
Mandil (1820-1883) known as Haham Aga used to sing in a tekke(18)
of the Mevlevi mystical order in Galata, Istanbul
and was the teacher of the mystic Sheikh Ayatullah.(19)

Moshe Vital testifies that there is proof of
strong links between the Jewish musicians in Turkey and the dervishes:

"All the cantors I have mentioned [Shem-Tov
Chikiar, Salomon and Isaac Algazi, Eliyahu Hacohen] were strongly influenced by
the dervishes' songs. The [dervishes] is a sect of religious Muslims in Turkey,
with a long history of great religious influence, whose worship rituals consist
of singing and instrumental performance that wonders the listeners' ear, and
also by dancing for an hour or two. And what dances?! Whirling rhythmically on
the two toes of their feet without loosing their equilibrium. One of these
sects, called the Mevlevi Dervishes, has amidst its ranks individuals who know
how to sing and play wonderfully and exceptionally. I remember that as a child,
I used to run away from home every Friday at noon (when I was not at school) to watch the dervishes'
ceremonies at their mosques, and hear their beautiful melodies... Frequently,
other Jewish music-lovers from Izmir
used to attend [these ceremonies] to listen and enjoy... Each dervish knew not
only how to sing properly, but also the art of Muslim song to its perfection.
He would know the makams perfectly and his throat was created only for
ornamented [singing]. From them our cantors learned their beautiful melodies
and introduced them into our synagogues.”(20)

A final aspect in the study of the Sabbatean
metamorphosis of the Meliselda romance is the possibility of a link between the
feminine eroticism of Jewish mysticism and the eroticism of Ottoman mystical
artistic creativity.(21, 22) Eroticism in general and
mystical love in particular in Ottoman poetry generally finds its expression in
a masculine figure, not always clearly differentiated from feminine attributes.

Even if they are not openly expressed, the
feminine erotic elements of this image may exist in its contextual
implications.  If we realize that
erotic-mystic love cannot be isolated from eroticism in general and from its
feminine features, the existence of this link in its non-verbal and symbolic
form cannot be denied.

In our view, all these components - the
Jewish, Ibero-Arab, Ibero-Christian, Sephardic and Ottoman aspects - transmit
an authentic and unique character to the integration of the Meliselda romance
within the context of Sabbatean lore. These aspects reflect at the same time
the relevance of a multi-dimensional approach in the study of the Sephardic
heritage.

----------------------------------------------

(1)    Armistead, Samuel G.,
”Melisenda and the Chansons de Gestes”, La
Coróníca,  27, 1

(Fall, 1998), 55-68.

(2)     These versions, including the one that
appears in the text are mentioned by Manuel

Alvar  (Lopez), who
attributes them to Jews of Salonica, Turkia, Tetuan, Alcazarquivir

and the Balkans. See Manuel Alvar, Poesia Tradicional de los Judios
Espaňoles,

(Mexico: Editorial Porrua, S. A., 1966),  24-28.

(3)    Damian, Alonso Garcia, Literatura
Oral del Ladino, Entre los Sefardíes de Oriente a

Través del Romancero, (Madrid: 1970), 85.

(4)    This was reported by Thomas Coenen,
who was a witness to the events linked to the

declaration of Sevi’s Messianism.
However, the version of the romance is slightly

different, the visage of Melisalda being
described “shining as a sword” (briando komo

una espada); Only the first six verses appear in the text, indicating
that this romance has

a continuation. See Thomas Coenen, Tzipiot Shav shel ha-Yehudim
kefi sheHitgalu be

Dmutu
shel Shabtai Zvi [False Hopes of the Jews as Manifested in the Image of
Shabtay

Zvi], (Jerusalem: Dinur Center, 1998), 56.

(5)    A
version of the romance appears in a manuscript of songs and paeans belonging to
the

community of Sabbatean believers. See Moshe Attias, Kansoniero
Yehudi-Sefaradi,

(Yerushalayim: Hamahon leHeker Yahadut Saloniki , 1972), 356-357.

(6)     Patai, Raphael,
“The Goddess Cult in the Hebrew-Jewish Religion” in On
Jewish

Folklore, (Detroit, Michigan: Wayne
State  University Press, 1983),
56-68.

(7)     See Shirot
veTishbohot shel haShabtayim [Songs and Paeans of the Sabbeteans], Copied and
Translated from a manuscript by Moshe Attias, Remarks and Commentaries by   Gershom Scholem, Preface by Yitzhak
Ben Zvi, (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1948).

(8)    Lenowitz, Harris; Sokolow, Nahum, Yacob
Frank, ca 1726-1791,  (Berkley, CA:

Tree/Tzaddikim, 1978), 25.

(9)    “Luria, Yithak Ben Shlomo”,
HaAntsiklopedia haIsraelit haKlalit, II, (Jerusalem:

Keter, 1990), 309.

(10)  Seroussi, Edwin “The Turkish Makam
in the Musical Culture of the Ottoman Jews:

Sources and Exemples”
in Israel
Studies in Musicology, 1991, V, 50-52.

(11)  Yahalom,
Yossef,  “Shirat haKabala
vehaReka haTurki Shela” [Kabbalistic Songs and their Turkish Background]
in Dimuy, V-VI, (1993), 88-96.

(12)   Seroussi, Edwin “Rabi Israel
Nadjara Meatzev Zmirat haKodesh Aharey Girush

Sefarad”
[Rabi Israel Nadjara, the
Composer of Sacred Songs after the Expulsion from Spain]
in Asufot, IV, Jerusalem,
1990, 285-310. The original melodies of Nadjara’s songs have not retained
their identity across the centuries and were altered in the course of
time.

(13)  Deyermond, Alan, “La Sexualidad en
la Épica Medieval Espaňola”, Nueva Revista de

Filologίa Hispánica, XXXVI, 2, (1988): 767-86.

(14)  Reported by Seroussi, op. cit.,  Rabi Israel Nadjara … 299-300.

(15)  Anıl, Avni, Anılar
ve Belgelerle Musikimiz Sözlüğü [The Dictionary of our Music through
Memories and Documents], I, (Istanbul: Doyuran, 1981). Quoted by  Pamela J. Dorn Sezgin, “Hakhamim,
Dervishes, and Court Singers: the Relationship of  Ottoman Jewish Music to Classical
Turkish Music” in The Jews of the Ottoman Empire,  Ed. Avigdor Levy, (Princeton: Darwin
Press, 1994), 576-75.

(16)  Danon, Abraham, “Recueil de
Romances Judéo-Espagnoles Chantées en Turquie”, in Revue
des Etudes Juives, 32; 33 (Paris: 1896)102-23, 263-75; 33, 255-68. Quoted by Edwin Seroussi, Mizimrat
Qedem, The Life and Music of R. Isaac Algazi from Turkey, (Jerusalem: Renanot,
1989), 33.

(17)  Galante, Avram, Histoire des Juifs de
Turquie, II, (Istanbul: Isis, 1985), 114-115. Quoted by Edwin Seroussi, op. cit., Mizimrat…,
1989), 33.

(18)   Turkish
word for the gathering place of dervishes. This tekke is known as
Galata Galip Dede Mevlevihanesi.

(19)   Galante,
Avram, Türkler ve Yahudiler: Tarihi ve Siyasi Tetkik [Jews and Turcs: a Historical and
Political Study, (Istanbul: Tan, 1947). Quoted by Dorn Sezgin, op. cit.
The use of the title Aga denotes clearly the affiliation of Rabbi Mandil
to this order.

(20)   Vital, Moshe, “Hartzaah beVeida
haRishona shel haHazanim vehaMenatzhim beEretz Israel
beYerushalayim” [Lecture given at the First Conference of Cantors and
Conductors in Israel, Jerusalem], June, 1939,
1-4. Quoted by Edwin Seroussi, op. cit., Mizimrat…, 33-34.

(21)   Tietze,
Andreas and Yahalom, Joseph, “Ottoman Melodies Hebrew Hymns, A 16th

Century Cross-Cultural Adventure”, Bibliotheca Orientalis
Hungarica, Ed. Györg Hazai, (Budapest: Akademia Kiado, 1995), 46-201.

(22)   Çobanoğlu, Özkul,
“Osmanlı Devleti’inde Kültürel Etkileşim Bağlamında
Türk

Edebiyatı ve Musevi Kültürü” [Turkish Literature and Jewish
Culture in the Context of Interactive Culture in the Ottoman Empire], Tiryaki,,VI, 42, (Istanbul: 2000), 33-36.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------