Creator Bio
Elye Bokher
1469–1549
Elye Bokher (Elijah ben Asher Levita) was a Hebrew grammarian as well as a scholar and poet. He was born in Neustadt, Germany, and after Jews were expelled from his hometown, he moved to northern Italy, first living in Padua, then in Venice and Rome. He later returned to Germany before finally returning to Venice, where he died. During his years in Rome, Levita lived under the roof of the Renaissance humanist and cardinal Egidio da Viterbo, who was his patron. Levita wrote extensively in Hebrew and in Yiddish in various genres: poetry, prose, and treatises on grammar, dictionaries, and more.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
Note to the Reader: Masoret ha-masoret
This is to announce to all interested in my book that when the head of the printers, the princely Daniel Bomberg, the Christian, decided to print the Twenty…
Primary Source
Bovo d’Antona (Bovo of Antona)
We should praise God eternally and proclaim His wonders, for He is revered and venerated by pious souls. He is powerful both on earth and in Heaven. His praise is unfathomable, no one can laud Him…
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Pariz un Viene (Paris and Vienna)
Here I begin; listen to me, great and small.
Once there was a mighty king—as in the stories begun by girls. His peer in virtue was not to be found. He had a land that was stately indeed. He…
Primary Source
Sreyfe-lid (The Song about the Burning)
Nothing else makes me really rage
as when a poor man does something [wrong]
he is lost here and there
everyone would happily drink his blood.
But what the rich do here
is always all right
people let…
Primary Source
Di sreyfe fun Venedig (The Great Fire of Venice)
Now I would also like to sing a bit,
With my poor voice,
Of things that have happened recently,
Which everyone ought to know:
Of the plague and pestilence,
That have happened here this time
In the…