Abstract
The hitherto unknown early modern Eastern Yiddish adaptation of a well-known European dietetic and medical Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum printed in Poland in 1613, is to be found in the Austrian National Library in Vienna under the Ashkenazi Hebrew title Seyfer derekh eyts ha-khajim. This anonymous treatise written by a Jewish medical doctor reveals a remarkable symbiosis of medical and religious ideas of the great Jewish philosopher and physician Maimonides and typical occidental dietetic and hygienic rules propagated by the Latin genre regimen sanitatis. The Yiddish regimen sanitatis, presented here, is an extraordinary example of the transfer and adaptation of scientific medical knowledge that crosses the boundaries of Jews and Gentiles. In this remarkable attempt, the unknown author, a former student of the renowned medical school of Padua was certainly inspired by the humanistic spirit of that time. It is especially noteworthy considering the fact that medical practices of Jews in Eastern Europe, from where the book originates, are considered to be particularly superstitious and obscure at that time. Seyfer derekh eyts ha-khajim proves the contrary and an analysis of the work challenges many of the widely held assumptions.
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Notes
- 1.
Notwithstanding the annotations of a prominent Jewish bibliographer Moritz Steinschneider regarding the existence of another copy of this old print in the famous Oxford’s Bodleian Library, the only confirmed copy of this work to date can be found in the Austrian National Library in Vienna (Steinschneider 1852–1869, position nr. 3452!). In addition, while Steinschneider has suggested the unnamed place of print might have been Cracow or Prague, it has in fact recently been identified and proven to be Lublin (Poland), for more details see Bendowska (2017).
- 2.
Geller, E. (ed.) (2015). ‘Sejfer derech ejc ha-chajim’. Przewodnik po drzewie żywota [O sposobie zachowania dobrego zdrowia w języku jidysz przez anonimowego żydowskiego doktora w Polsce, w roku 1613 drukiem ogłoszony].[Translation, introduction and critical edition by Ewa Geller]. Warsaw: Muzeum Króla Jana III w Wilanowie. The original Yiddish book is now available also online under: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ158306707 [25.08.2016].
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
More detailed information on the speculation regarding the origin and dissemination of this work are contained in EMG (III,1224f). Apart from the masters of the earliest medical schools in Salerno, Montpellier or Paris, the person most often mentioned as the author is a famous Catalan physician and alchemist Arnald de Villanova (ca. 1235–1331).
- 6.
It is worth noting, that a similar theme is discussed in one of the first known self-help guidebook printed in Poland, namely Problemata Aristotelis. Gadki z pisma wielkiego filozofa [Problemata. Aristotelis. Discourse from the works of a great philosopher]… written by Andrzej Gelber (1535). It is, in contrast, created in the form of questions and answers, for example: ‘Why excess in fare begets ill-health?’ ‘What is the order of supping conducive to vitality when different fare presents?’ (Rostafiński 1893: 61–76). This and similar dietary rules can also be found in many late medieval and Renaissance German medical self-help guidebooks, for example in: Büchlein der Gesundheit, where we can find the following titles of individual chapters: ‘Of the volume of fare, Of the order of supping, What fare a man should eat in harmony with his temperament (complexion), Of the order supping and volume of fare, what is an accurate portions and how much should a man eat, Good lessons on how a man should ready for supping’ etc. (Hagenmeyer 1995: 222–229).
- 7.
This restriction, however, does not apply to the remedies prepared from, for example, lard cf. Geller (2015: 207 ft. 324).
- 8.
In Renaissance Poland, for example, numerous compendia of herbal medicine were written, the most renowned of them being the first herbal written in Polish O ziołach i mocy ich [Of Herbs and their Powers] (1534) by Falimirz, and, the most comprehensive of them, Zielnik Herbarzem z języka łacińskiego zowią… [Herbal, from the Latin Called Liber Herbalis] by Simon Syrenius, published in 1613, the same year as Seyfer derekh eyts ha-khayim.
- 9.
The subject of the author’s attitude towards the health of children is discussed in a separate paper, see Geller (2013b).
- 10.
In this regard the situation in Poland was somewhat different compared to that of other countries, especially the countries of southern Europe (i.e. among Sephardic Jews). This difference has been emphasised by scholars researching this subject. Compare, for example, Efron (2001: 42): “What allowed for this situation to develop in Poland is the fact that precisely because secular knowledge was so undervalued, Jewish physicians had only minimal intellectual impact on Polish Jewry. Supreme intellectual authority in early modern Poland resided with the talmudic scholar. He who knew halakha, not Hippocrates, was assumed pride of place in Jewish society”.
- 11.
Such attitudes, however, were at times challenged, cf. Ruderman (2005:126):”... certain circles in central and eastern Europe pursued scientific learning, especially astronomy, as a desirable supplement to their primary curriculum of rabbinics. [...] Two rabbinic luminaries Mosses Isserles (1525–72) and Judah Loew ben Bezalel (the Maharal, c. 1525–1609) openly encouraged the acquisition of scientific knowledge.”
- 12.
- 13.
For more information on Jewish medical students at European universities see Ruderman (2005: 125–132) and Goody (2010: 2. Chapter). For the particular importance of the educational environment of Padua, for its numerous Jewish students see, inter alia, Warchał (1913), Shatzky (1950), Ruderman (1995: 3. Chapter)), Efron (2001: 13–24, 28), Grözinger (2009: 30).
- 14.
Compare the opinion expressed by one of the ancient Arab scholars quoted in the encyclopaedic biography of Maimonides in EMG (II, 885): ‘Galen’s skill remedied only the body, while that of Abu-Amran [Maimonides’ name in Arabic] endorsed the healing of both the body and the soul. His knowledge not only distinguished him as the most prominent physician of his times but it also cured [his contemporaries] of ignorance and lack of knowledge’ [translated from German by E.G.].
- 15.
I elaborate on this speculation in Geller (2015: 62–64).
- 16.
To compare for example with the Brantspigel (1596) a moralistic treatise addressed to common Yiddish reading public containing also rules of dietetic and hygienic behavior.
- 17.
A good background for a better understanding of this fact is presented by Ruderman (1995:54): “Thus the homeland of Copernicus, at least at first glance, seems an unlikely setting, for a serious interest in scientific matters, even on the part of Jews living near the University of Cracow”.
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Geller, E. (2019). Yiddish “Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum” From Early Modern Poland: A Humanistic Symbiosis of Latin Medicine and Jewish Thought. In: Moskalewicz, M., Caumanns, U., Dross, F. (eds) Jewish Medicine and Healthcare in Central Eastern Europe. Religion, Spirituality and Health: A Social Scientific Approach, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92480-9_2
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