Issachar, Simḥah
ISSACHAR, SIMḤAH
ISSACHAR, SIMḤAH (15th century), Hebrew poet who lived in the German Rhineland. Issachar was one of the few medieval German poets who wrote secular poetry. He was the first known German author of rhymed prose. A maqāma by him was published by A.M. Habermann (see bibliography), its subject being debates between opposites standing before the king on their importance. The debaters are the wise man with the fool, the wealthy man with the poor man, truth with falsehood, the good inclination with the evil, day with night. The sole manuscript contains only five debates, and at the end is marked: "I did not find any more in the copy." It appears, however, that there were additional debates, such as the sick man and his visitor, the dry with the wet, the old man with the youth, beauty with ugliness. As is usual in the maqāma, there are more than 20 short rhymed poems; the name Issachar appears in many of them as an acrostic.
bibliography:
Habermann, in: ymḤsi, 2 (1936), 91–116; Stock, in: ks, 14 (1937–38), 84–86.