Jewish Parody and Allegory in Medieval Hebrew Poetry in Spain r 231courtly, and chaste love, advocated by some earlier Arab writers and later
Hebrew poets, the reader must remember that Masos and Sippor are now
married and therefore entitled to indulge in conjugal love, should they
wish to do so. This would be of no interest to any outsider. It is more likely
that Jacob ben Elazar is parodying the “abstinence” and “continence” ad-
vocated by those who believe in mystic love, who believe in the “slavery of
love” rather than in its realization.^72 Sahar’s name signifies the full moon,^73
whereas Kima’s name symbolizes the Pleiades, a cluster of stars that meta-
morphosed into the seven daughters of Aethra and Pleione, the seven
sisters. Hence Kima’s allegorical handmaidens at her beck and call in her
and Sahar’s “dance of love.”^74
Throughout Mahbarot Seven and Nine, Jacob ben Elazar has used im-
ages of war and affection, portraying and parodying love as a veritable
battlefield, fought by both men and women. Might this warfare between
the sexes hint at Israel’s (and the Jews’) exile because of their baseless
hatred as they quarreled and quibbled with each other, abandoning
God’s teachings? Yefefia, Yemima, and Yoshefe dwell harmoniously, as
did their ancestors, arguably, in the early days of Israelite history. Hence
there seems to be little sermonizing or moralizing in their tale. Sahar and
Kima, however, quarrel incessantly, indulging in “love spats” (ll. 522–35)
once their love has been consummated. Kima, like Sippor, may have been
disappointed in her marriage, and she therefore derides its physical as-
pect: “The lust of the obscene is obscenity” (ve-khol hesheq benei naval
nevala, ll. 314–16) or “the spirit (ruah) of love arouses evil, but the spirit of
wisdom (hokhma) tantalizes” (ll. 480–82).^75 Since Jacob ben Elazar only
hints at external elements for Israel’s woes, such as the aristocracy’s fall
from power along with its eventual restoration, could he be alluding to
the eventual reconciliation of his fellow Jews if they follow God, the com-
mandments, and the paths of wisdom and excellence? Since our author’s
works are imbued with the pursuit of wisdom and the honing of the in-
tellect, it is possible that he is reaching out to his fellow Jews to abandon
the fleshly pursuits of foreigners and take up once again the vocation of
Jewish living. Moreover, since Jacob ben Elazar has endowed Kima with
the desire for wisdom, it is through her words that he has introduced a
didactic, but also entertaining, quality into his poetry.^76 He has created
Kima as the proactive partner in this love story, as one who carries the
greater part of poetry making, who is empowered not only by her body
but also by her voice. She is also the initiator of morality, introducing