Badchen
Encyclopedia
A badchen or badkhn is a Jewish comedian with scholarly overtones who entertained guests at weddings among the Ashkenazim of Eastern Europe. Today they are found in all countries with Chassidic populations, including the United States, performing their shtick at weddings.
The badchen was considered a standard part of the wedding party, as de rigueur as the officiating rabbi
. An elaborate traditional wedding might also involve a letz (lit. a clown, here a jongleur or musician) and a marshalik (a master of ceremonies).
The badchen has to be able both to provide the energy for a party before and after the ceremony itself and also to make the transition to a more serious tone immediately before the ceremony. To this end his comedy was not of a slap-stick variety but rather verbal with many intricate Talmud
ic references and in-joke
s.
Following the Council of Vilna on July 3, 1661, a decree was issued banning merry-making, including the setting of limitations on wedding celebrations, public drinking, fire dances, masquerades, and Jewish comic entertainers. The badchen was exempted from the decree.
Some famous badchonim include Chaim Menachem (Mendel) Mermelstien (born March 2, 1920 in Munkacz, died November 7, 1985 in New York), considered the father of modern day badchonus, and the present-day performers Yankel Miller and Yoel Lebowits
.
The 19th-century Broder singer
s began as badchonim, but soon started to perform outside of the context of weddings. They, in turn, are usually seen as the forerunners of Yiddish theater.
On the Jewish holiday of Purim
many young men undertake to be badchonim during Purim spiel
s.
The badchen was considered a standard part of the wedding party, as de rigueur as the officiating rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
. An elaborate traditional wedding might also involve a letz (lit. a clown, here a jongleur or musician) and a marshalik (a master of ceremonies).
The badchen has to be able both to provide the energy for a party before and after the ceremony itself and also to make the transition to a more serious tone immediately before the ceremony. To this end his comedy was not of a slap-stick variety but rather verbal with many intricate Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic references and in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
s.
Following the Council of Vilna on July 3, 1661, a decree was issued banning merry-making, including the setting of limitations on wedding celebrations, public drinking, fire dances, masquerades, and Jewish comic entertainers. The badchen was exempted from the decree.
Some famous badchonim include Chaim Menachem (Mendel) Mermelstien (born March 2, 1920 in Munkacz, died November 7, 1985 in New York), considered the father of modern day badchonus, and the present-day performers Yankel Miller and Yoel Lebowits
Yoel Lebowits
Yoel Lebowits is an American Hasidic entertainer, comedian, singer, and actor. Lebowits is the son of the Nikolsburger Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yechiel Mechel Lebovits, and lives in Monsey, New York...
.
The 19th-century Broder singer
Broder singer
The Brodersänger or Broder singers, from Brody in Ukraine, were Jewish itinerant performers in Austrian Galicia, Romania, and Russia, professional or semiprofessional songwriters and performers, who from at least the early 19th century sang and danced, often in comic disguises, and who performed...
s began as badchonim, but soon started to perform outside of the context of weddings. They, in turn, are usually seen as the forerunners of Yiddish theater.
On the Jewish holiday of Purim
Purim
Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...
many young men undertake to be badchonim during Purim spiel
Purim spiel
A Purim Spiel, or Purimshpil, meaning a Purim play—shpil means 'game' or ' play' in Yiddish. .A Purim Spiel is usually a comic dramatization, as a traditional type of Jewish play, or informal theatrical production, with participants, usually children, wearing costumes that depict the characters in...
s.