20th century, Europe, fictive fool, Germany, Hebrew / Yiddish, primary source, quotes, stories
From a late 20th century novel set in a concentration camp, the story highlights the fearlessness (or recklessness) of court fool types, including in this case, dwarfs. Here a character alludes to the ease with which a dwarf might hide under a table and, in knowing...
20th century, Europe, Hebrew / Yiddish, historical figure, Poland, primary source, quotes, stories
Always up-ending our expectations, no surprise to learn that the ever resourceful Rubinstein, de facto jester in the Warsaw Ghetto, nimbly solved the problem of being single by dressing up as his own wife. He could outwit death, so why not celibacy?’One source...
20th century, Europe, historical figure, Poland, primary source, quotes, stories
Rubinstein was the astonishing, funny and heart-rending fool of the Warsaw Ghetto, bracingly witty, and perhaps as mad as he was brilliant, or just superb at feigning insanity. Here he comes up with a perfect equation to predict that 40 would survive the ghetto....
Hebrew / Yiddish, lexicon
A Yiddish term for entertainer, or more charmingly, ‘merry-maker’, echoing the German fröhlich-macher.In his 1929 book on the history of Polish Jewry Emanuel Ringelblum devoted several paragraphs to a description of groups of late eighteenth century Jewish...
Europe, Hebrew / Yiddish, lexicon
Badkhn (or badchen or badchan) refers to Jewish jesters whose role seems to encompass the fool spectrum from village to itinerant to court, including wedding entertainers. Amos Goldberg says they shared the court jester’s licence to mock and ‘mercilessly...
20th century, bibliography, English, Europe, historical figure, Poland, research
Amos Goldberg’s lecture brought a new jester to my attention. Rubinstein cavorted – you cannot say flourished – in the Warsaw Ghetto between 1941 and 1942. Goldberg presents a detailed and touching picture of this poignant character operating in a...
20th century, Europe, quotes, research
Delighted to encounter these bum revolutionaries, the Jewish jesters who flourished in Eastern Europe, entertaining people at weddings and barmitzvas while stirring things up with their stories.Note the dilemma of the fool – not being taken seriously even when...
20th century, Europe, historical figure, Poland, primary source, quotes, stories
One of the most intriguing and touching fools is Rubinstein, who took it upon himself to act as the jester of the Warsaw Ghetto. Part comic relief, part ‘street philosopher’, part madman, like many archetypal fools he operated at the edge, in some senses...
