A Judeo-Arabic Poetry Rhyming Dictionary Manuscript

In Eastern Europe, a custom developed, that weddings and other happy occasions often included the performance of a Badchen, being a Jewish Comedian who entertained the hosts and the guests, often with scholarly overtones. In North Africa and Yemen though, the hosts would often employ a Meshorer, an expert at Judeo-Arabic poetry who would spontaneously create elaborate poems and songs to entertain his guests. The Meshorer would walk between the guests and form humorous poems using the names of the guests and their features to the delight of all. While Badchenim can still be found at many Hasidic Weddings, the Meshorer has went the way of much of the Judeo-Arabic culture and mostly forgotten with time.

Between some Judeo-Arabic manuscripts I sold this week, I found a comprehensive cheating book for one such Meshorer. In alphabetical order, the manuscript listed rhymes for endless words and common last syllables of words for easy reference. One is left to wonder, who and when the owner of this manuscript performed and the outstanding effort it must have taken to compose such a work.