badchen

thumb|1902 postcard showing a badkhn addressing a bride at a Jewish wedding A badchen or badkhn (, pronounced and sometimes written batkhn) is a type of Ashkenazic Jewish professional wedding entertainer, poet, sacred clown, and master of ceremonies originating in Eastern Europe, with a history dating back to at least the sixteenth or seventeenth century. The badkhn was an indispensable part of the traditional Jewish wedding in Europe who guided the bride and groom through the stages of the ceremony, acted as master of ceremonies, and sang to the bride, groom and in-laws with the accompaniment of klezmer musicians. They also had a traditional role on holidays such as Hanukkah or Purim. Today they are primarily found in Hasidic communities.

==History== thumb|left|A 1903 postcard showing a badkhn addressing a wedding There is a long history of entertainers at Jewish weddings dating back to the Talmudic era. The traditional role of the Eastern European badkhn evolved from older Medieval and Early Modern Jewish wedding entertainers, such as the lets () or marshelik (, sometimes written marshalik), taking on a recognizable new form in seventeenth century Poland. (Some sources may use the terms badkhn, lets and marshelik interchangeably, whereas others treat them as distinct.) The earlier type of marshelik guided the ceremonies of the wedding in a more serious manner, but the badkhn turned the role into that a of a religiously-informed, moralistic comedian. In this role they also drew on Yiddish Minstrels and Maggids who had been traveling entertainers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The tradition spread across Jewish Eastern Europe and seems to have reached its height of popularity during the nineteenth century.