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crease in the numbers of poor and those reduced to begging,
nothing is heard about Jewish mendicants forming a society
and developing their own subculture, as did occur within the
non-Jewish world at that time.
Jewish beggars wandering from place to place are more
frequently found throughout the Middle Ages. In the Cairo
Genizah a large number of letters from beggars complaining
of their misfortunes and seeking support have been found.
The documents indicate that these itinerant poor wandered
from community to community, and from land to land. The
Or Zaru’a (hilkhot Ẓedakah 11) of R. *Isaac of Vienna mentions
that these destitute people customarily equipped themselves
with “documents,” i.e., letters of recommendation which
they would present in their travels as proof of their trustworthiness.
In medieval times there was another class of wanderers
who went from place to place, relying upon the hospitality of
others, namely, the yeshivah students who moved from one
center of Torah study to another. A parallel phenomenon (goliards,
vagrant scholars) is found within the student community
of Christian society of that time.
At the end of the 17th century, a relatively large class of
Jewish beggars, called in non-Jewish sources “Betteljuden,”
and orḥei porḥei (“flotsam and jetsam”) in Jewish literature,
developed throughout Europe, especially in Germany. The size
of this class is not known exactly, but it has been estimated
at as much as 20% of the total Jewish population. Although
the reasons for the formation of this class are still not completely
clear, it is assumed to have resulted from (i) the natural
growth of the Jewish population; (ii) the limited number of
Jews permitted to reside in any individual place by the local
authorities; and (iii) the unstable economic conditions which
brought about drastic changes from extreme wealth to great
poverty. The Betteljuden constituted a section within the large
class of non-Jewish itinerant poor. These Jewish vagabonds,
like their Christian counterparts, eventually united into societies,
religiously intermixed at times, developing their own
subculture. This class became a source of manpower and information
to the bands of thieves which were rampant at that
time. The authorities treated these groups of Jewish mendicants
very harshly. They condemned them for thievery and
for causing diseases and plagues in various places. As a result
of these accusations, local authorities sought to banish
the beggars. The Jewish communities were very ambivalent
vis-à-vis these mendicants. On the one hand, they strove to
obey the local powers-that-be, for they also saw in the beggars
a social danger, not only because of their associations with
thieves, but also because of their licentiousness. Yet, on the
other hand, they not infrequently had feelings of compassion
and brotherliness toward these unfortunates. The manner in
which the communities handled these orḥei porḥei, therefore,
corresponded to their ambivalence toward them. In general,
the community accommodated them in the homes of its residents
for one night (for two nights over the Sabbath), and
afterward sent them along with a sum of money for travel
expenditures. Special lodgings for mendicants, particularly
for the sick among them, were also set up in the hekdesh (“poor
house”). After the Emancipation, with residence restrictions
for Jews lifted, and areas in which Jews were permitted to
work widened, this impoverished class was largely integrated
with other social classes. However, the phenomenon itself did
not disappear from Jewish communal life, and it continued
to exist especially in Eastern Europe, if not to the same extent.
Bibliography: I. Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages
(19322), 331ff., 346f.; Baron, Community, 1 (1942), 131f., 363; 2 (1942),
321–5; Urbach, in: Zion, 16, nos. 3–4 (1951), 1–27; R. Glanz, Geschichte
des niederen juedischen Volks in Deutschland (1968); Scheiber, in:
M. Zohary and A. Tartakower (eds.), Hagut Ivrit be-Eiropah (1969),
268–75.
BEGHI, family of Karaite scholars in Constantinople (15th–17th
centuries). Its members include: ELIJAH AFIDAH (AFDAH)
BEGHI (d. before 1641). Elijah wrote Hilkhot Sheḥitah, on the
rules of slaughtering; Be’ur Asarah Ikkarim, on the ten principles
of Karaite faith; Mikhtav Eliyahu, poems, verse compositions
and tales; several responsa (all these works survived
in manuscripts kept in various libraries). JOSEPH BEN
MOSES (15th–16th centuries). Joseph was the pupil of the Karaite
scholar Abraham *Bali, who in 1505 wrote for Beghi and
his fellow student, Joseph b. Caleb, his Issur Hadlakat Ner be-
Shabbat, on the Karaite prohibition of kindling lights on the
Sabbath. The cordial relationship between the Karaites and
*Rabbanites at that period is attested by Joseph’s correspondence
with Rabbanite scholars. Two letters by Moses b. Jacob
(evidently *Moses of Kiev “ha-Goleh”) to Beghi are preserved.
Joseph wrote Iggeret Sukkah, on Sukkot; Keter Kehunnah, six
homilies; Iggeret Kiryah Ne’emanah especially directed against
the identification of the Karaites with the Sadducees, a work
of literary and historical value since it mentions a number of
earlier Karaite scholars; Iggeret Kelulah, an explanation of a
problem in marriage law. Simḥah Isaac b. Moses Lutzki mentions
two important works of Joseph which are no longer
traceable: Shulḥan Ḥaverim, a book of precepts, and Safah
Berurah, a philosophical work. MOSES BEN BENJAMIN (second
half of the 16th century), wrote Mitzvot Moshe, a book of
precepts including two essays “Ohel Moshe” on the calendar,
and “Masat Moshe” on the Sabbath laws, published in Pinnat
Yikrat by the Karaite *Isaac b. Solomon (1834; non-critical
print, 2 vols., Ashdod 2005). Benjamin also composed liturgical
poems, several of which have been included in the
Karaite prayer book.
Bibliography: A. Neubauer, Aus der Petersburger Bibliothek
(1866), 46n, 122; Danon, in: JQR 15 (1924/25), 337–39; HB, 17 (1877), 12;
Mann, Texts, 2 (1935), 294n, 300, 302; Simḥah Isaac b. Moses (Lutzki),
Oraḥ Ẓaddikim (1966), 98, 99, 107, 109; Z. Ankori, Karaites in Byzantium
(1959), 36n, 58, 279. add. bibliography: M.L. Wilensky, in:
PAAJR 40 (1972) 109–146; M. Polliack (ed.), Karaite Judaism: A Guide
to Its History and Literary Sources, (2003), index.
[Isaak Dov Ber Markon]
260 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3