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581 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

581

agretlnK with Aumistliie. ilcilares this opinion to 1* one of the "diiiiinatie Juiia-oruin fabulir." othere ivvivc the question, anil SIxtiis Scnensls in his " Hlhllothwa Sacra " devotes U) it a spe<-ial liiaiitvr (eil. Colon, l.imi, fol. 344, M'». An alchemic- Interjiretation has been given to "Adam andixjpvnus," by Uull. Menens, "Aiirel VelleiTs Ubil tres, Theatram ohemicuin," vol. v., p. iT.i, AlTfent., llKiO.

halakic writings only " Androgynos " is never "liudprosopin" (bifrons), anrl always in the iiliysiological sen.se of "bisexual." In the Mishnah Bikkiirim, the whole of section iv. is devoted In the

iisc<l,

to the niMuito de.scription of the legal position

and

abnormities of the Androgyuos. In some particulars he is to be treated as a man, in In the others as a woman, as lie partakes of Halakah. both natures; nut so the "tum-tum," an individual whose se. can not be determined. This Androgyiios is a i(jmnion figure in clas.sical tradition. Pliny mentions him (" llistoria Naturalis," vii. '.'A), and Gellius("Noctes Attica', "i.x. Special attention was paid to the Androgy4, 16). nes in the old writers on physiognomy. Compare "Scriptores Physiognomonici Gneci et Latini," ed. Foerster, L<'ipsi"e, 1893, under " Androgyno.s," in In-

dex Gnecus

(ii.

ment

Androgynos

of the

Lampronli

3S).

For the further legal in

Hebrew

in his "Pal.iad Yizhalj," s.i:.

"Lebensaller."

ANDRONICUS COMNENTJS



treat-

law, see Isaac

and Low, M. Ga.

Byzantine em-

peror: bnru iji III:;; a>s;is>iii;Ued at Constantinople in 1185; reigne<l in 118::!-,S"). He wrote a book against the Jews and their religion, with the object of converting them to Christianity. BIBLIOCRAPIIV: Le Beau, i/fafoirf du Bnit-Empirc. book Iv. eh. 2J-2.J: Hertzbenr, (lefch. de» Byzanlinuichen und (Jumiiiiuivheii /fct(7it'/<, pp. 31S-;JU8.

H. K.

ANDRONICUS, SON OF MESHULLAM or

MESSALAM

Lived in the second eeiilury n.C. Jo.sephus ("Ant." .xiii. 3. ^ 4), lie was the representative of the Jews in their religious dispute with the Samaritans, which was held before King Ptolemy VI. Philometor, about the year l.")0 B.C. Andidniciis proved from the Scriptures the historic continuity of the Jewish high priests; and from the great respect which was accordetl the Temple of Jerusalem even by the heathen kings of Asia, he demonstrated how utterly uiij list ilied Was the claim of the Samaritans that Mount Geiizim was the sacred jilace of worship for the Jews. Andronicus is siiid to have argued his case so successfully that the king ordered the execution of Sabbeus anil Theodosius. the two champions of the Samaritans, this being the penalty agreed upon beforehand for the losing party. TJiis latter point in the story, however, is .so incredible that it casts a doubt upon the vali4 : fur the spelllnK Meshullam,

BlBi.lOfiR.»piiv Grillz, (lifrh. F.wald, IlinUini III Im-acl, v.

L. G.

ANECDOTES

One of

Ihe many links that help In IiIfkI .Iiws together thi-oughoul the world is the number of Anecilotes dealing with Jewish life and appealing to Jewish sentiment, and known in one form or another throughout Jewry. For the most jiait they are transmitted by wonl of mouth, and thus they form part of Jewish folk lore. Few have been written (low II. though several of the best known hav<' iM'en utilized by .(ewisli novelists like Franzos and Zangwill. uid others are adaptations or traditional renderings of Talmudic or niidrashie legends. Still others give a Jewish turn to the mass of medieval folk-lore thai spread throughout Europe (see lilDl'Al

Andreas Aner

and

Si.NDiBAD). These longer stories are generally as Mirnxiyot. and liave been collected in the various" Ma 'aseblicher." The moie modern form of Jewi.shanecdt<' rarely extends toany great length or pretends to deal with romantic or legendary evcnt-s. It is usually short and witty, with "a stiiig in its

known

tail."

Most Jewish Anecdotes are steeped in expressions that rentier the .stories pointless to all but those ac((uainted with Jewish technical terms. Addressed to a special audience, these Anecdotes cmbodv terms known only in that particular sphere. Their subject-matter is mainly the foililes of the Jewish character, in much the same way that the weaknesses of common friends form so frequently a topic of conversjition. Jewish Anecdotes, when they deal with the Jew in his .social aspect, naturally treat him almost exclusively in his mercantile dealings, and often give jiroof of the self criticism exercised by the Jew in regard

to his faults

give

rise to

and foibles. Some of these stories proverbial .sayings, the origin of which is often unknown to those "using them. Many Jcw^ish Anecdotes, however, refer to certain typical figures of the Ghetto, most of whom are described at greater length in these pages. There is the SciixoitKKit. the profcssif)nal beggar, whose differentia it is that he considers he is doini: you a favor in allowing you to lend to the Lord thi-ough his personality. Another freijuent hero in Ghetto anecdotage is the SirADii.vN-, or professional marriaL'ebroker, who for a commission will tinda suitable/)<((7t for a marriageable daughter of a rich man, or a wife for the merchant who desires to increase his capital by marriage. The above examples from the various subjects of Jewish Anecdotes will perhaps sulliciently indicate Ihe typical scojie and intimate character that render Ihe.m comprehciisible only to hearers fully acquainted with Jewish life and customs. Other forms, liecause turning ujion an application of some Biblical or Talmudic i)hrasein the original, would require an elaborate commentary to convey their point to an unlearned hearer. It is lemarkable how wide-spread these stories arc. The sjime anecdote, with merely

maybe heard in Wilna. Berlin, LonXew York. Jews, when meeting for the time, often find one of these stories the readiest means of starting a conversation. Even if it be well known, it will lead to other Anecdotes perhaiis not .so familiar; and a friendliness toward both the aneclocal variations,

don, and first

dote and

its

narrator

is at

once aroused.

It is clear,

works of Alharizi and Immanuel Pomi. that similar Anecdotis were current among Jews in the Middle Ages;and the early Yiddish liteniture evinces that the custom was prevalent in the German " Juth'Ugassen." At family gatherings it became usual for froiu the

a certain licensed ji'ster, known as the hiHlhun or nuirulidUik, to enliven the proceedings by narrating Anecdotes. See SciiNOUUElt, SiiADi.iAsi and Siia.mks. BlULtociRAPiiv: Zanewlll's Cliildrni „f tin- <;h,lln and Kino iif Siliiiiiin)!' aiT full i't Aniidotes cunrnt in Ihe I/>n>lon (ihello; Tendlau's Siiiim und I.i{irndin iMnt«llie. When a fugitive announced Ihe plunder of .Sodom and Gomorrah by the kings of the east, Abrain with Ihe confederate ite