rs. In his time synagogue poetry reached the zenith of
perfection, and even in the solemn admonitions of ritualistic
literature, humor now and again asserted itself. One of Gabirol's
contemporaries or successors, Isaac ben Yehuda ibn Ghayyat, for
instance, often made his whole poem turn upon a witticism.

Among the writers of that age, a peculiar style called "mosaic"
gradually grew up, and eventually became characteristic of neo-Hebraic
poetry and humor. For their subjects and the presentation of their
thoughts, they habitually made use of biblical phraseology, either as
direct quotations or with an application not intended by the original
context. In the latter case, well-known sentences were invested with new
meanings, and this poetic-biblical phraseology afforded countless
opportunities for the exercise of humor, of which neo-Hebraic poetry
availed itself freely. The "mosaics" were collected not only from the
Bible; the Targum, the Mishna, and the Talmud were rifled of sententious
expressions, woven together, and with the license of art placed in
unexpected juxtaposition. An example will make clear the method. In
Genesis xviii. 29, God answers Abraham's petition in behalf of Sodom
with the words: "I will not do it for the sake of forty," meaning, as
everybody knows, that forty men would suffice to save the city from
destruction. This passage Isaac ben Yehuda ibn Ghayyat audaciously
connects with Deuteronomy xxv. 3, where forty is also mentioned, the
forty stripes for misdemeanors of various kinds:

"If you see men the path of right forsake,
To bring them back you must an effort make.
Perhaps, if they but hear of stripes, they'll quake,
And say, 'I'll do it not for forty's sake.'"

This "mosaic" style, suggesting startling contrasts and surprising
applications of Bible thoughts and words, became a fruitful source of
Jewish humor. If a theory of literary descent could be established, an
illustration might be found in Heine's rapid transitions from tender
sentiment to corroding wit, a modern development of the flashing humor
of the "mosaic" style.

The "Song of Songs" naturally became a treasure-house of "mosaic"
suggestions for the purposes of neo-Hebraic love poetry, which was
dominated, however, by Arab influences. The first poet to introduce the
sorrow of unhappy love into neo-Hebraic poetry was Moses ibn Ezra. He
was in love with his niece, who probably became the wife of one of his
brothers,