Judaism and Islam One God One Music 900441262X, 9789004412620

Table of contents :
Contents
Acknowledgments
Figures
Tables
Music Examples
Appendices
Introduction
Chapter 1 The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs
Chapter 2 The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs
Chapter 3 The Paraliturgical Practice and Text: Typical Features Emerging from the Written Sources
Conclusion
Appendix 1 The Religious Occasions in the Two Mṣāḥif
Bibliography
Discography
Online Songs
Online Interviews and Documentary
Formal Interviews (Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem)
Index

Citation preview

Judaism and Islam One God One Music

Brill’s Series in Jewish Studies Founding Editor David S. Katz (Tel-Aviv University) Series Editor Joshua Holo (Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion)

VOLUME 66

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bsjs

Judaism and Islam One God One Music The History of Jewish Paraliturgical Song in the Context of Arabo-Islamic Culture as Revealed in Its Jewish Babylonian Sources By

Merav Rosenfeld-Hadad

LEIDEN | BOSTON

Cover illustration: Judaism and Islam One God One Music, 2019, by Merav Rosenfeld-Hadad and the Baghdadiborn Australian artist Saif Salman. The frame: calligraphy of the word “maqām” (the Arabic musical scale). Inside the frame (from right to left): the word “God” in Hebrew (’Elohim) and in Arabic (Allah). Between the two words, an illustration of the central instrument of Arabic music, the ‘ud, which is shaped with Arabic calligraphy and ornamented with the words “maqam” and “ṭarab” (a highly emotional state incited by music). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Rosenfeld-Hadad, Merav, author. Title: Judaism and Islam, one God one music : the history of Jewish  paraliturgical song in the context of Arabo-Islamic culture as revealed  in its Jewish Babylonian sources / by Merav Rosenfeld-Hadad. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2020] | Series: Brill’s series in  Jewish studies, 0926–2261 ; volume 66 | Revised dissertation (Ph. D.),  St. Edmund’s College (University of Cambridge), 2009. | Includes  bibliographical references (pages 257–280) and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019026746 (print) | LCCN 2019026747 (ebook) |  ISBN 9789004412620 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004412637 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Piyutim–History and criticism. | Jewish religious poetry,  Hebrew–History and criticism. | Synagogue music–Iraq–Baghdad. |  Jews–Iraq–Baghdad–Songs and music. | Arabs–Iraq–Songs and  music–Influence. | Islam–Relations–Judaism. |  Judaism–Relations–Islam. Classification: LCC BM670.P5 R67 2019 (print) | LCC BM670.P5 (ebook) |  DDC 296.4/52—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026746 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026747 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 0926-2261 ISBN 978-90-04-41262-0 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-41263-7 (e-book) Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

To my parents Blanch (née Somekh) and Morris Hadad (1932, Baghdad–2017, Ramat Gan)

⸪

Contents Acknowledgments ix List of Figures xi List of Tables xii List of Music Examples xiii List of Appendices xiv Introduction 1 1 The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs 16 2 The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs 41 3 The Paraliturgical Practice and Text: Typical Features Emerging from the Written Sources 87 4 The Paraliturgical Melody: Characteristics Emerging from Both the 1906 and the 1954 Mṣāḥif 137 Conclusion 184 Appendices 197 Bibliography 257 Discography 281 Online Songs 282 Online Interviews and Documentary 284 Formal Interviews (Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem) 285 Index 286

Acknowledgments Only once in a lifetime one gets to write a first book. I am fortunate in having been supported by numerous institutions and many individuals and it is my pleasant duty to express my utmost gratitude to them. My years as a student at the University of Cambridge, where I earned my doctorate, were a fascinating intellectual journey which was supported by the Cambridge Overseas Trust, the ORS Award Scheme and the Wingate Scholarship, St. Edmunds’ College and the Faculty of Music. My special thanks go to these institutions, which helped me to pursue the research which yielded this book. During these years, I have been privileged to come across many leading scholars in Islamic and Jewish religions, cultures and histories. Their work and personality left a lasting impression on me, but I can list only a few. In the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Professor James Montgomery’s piercing and open approach to medieval Arabic poetry and literature encouraged me to investigate contemporaneous Jewish religious poetry in its Arabo-Islamic cultural context. He honoured me with his scholarly attention, challenged me with his erudition, and helped me to give form to my thoughts. Professor Geoffrey Khan’s unparalleled knowledge of Semitic languages inspired me to explore different linguistic layers, structures and patterns of Hebrew, both in its written and oral traditions and in its historical and cultural contexts. He graciously read my work at its early stages and my book has benefited from his suggestions and constructive remarks. I gained enormously from discussions I had over the years with Dr. Timothy Winter, of the Divinity Faculty. The rigorous demands of his scholarship in Islamic theology and ethics provided important directions in my endeavour to understand Jewish and Islamic traditions within the Middle Eastern cultural domain. Professor David Ford, of the Divinity Faculty, opened for me a wide door to Islamic and Christian scriptures. Attending his project, The Cambridge Interfaith and Scriptural Reasoning Theory Group, allowed me to explore closely Islamic and Christian scriptures and to develop new thinking and a deeper understanding of religious scriptures in general, and of honest intellectual discourse over religious matters in particular. My first introduction in depth to the history and culture of Jews in Arab lands was made through the work of Professor Norman Stillman, of the Center

x

Acknowledgments

for Medieval and Renaissance Studies: Judaic History at the University of Oklahoma. I benefited enormously from his boundless knowledge of ArabJewish history and culture, particularly in the understanding of the complexity and dynamics of the relationship between Arabo-Islamic culture and Jewish life and identity throughout the long centuries within this Diaspora. Thanks are also due to Professor Angelika Neuwirth, of the Department of Arabic Studies at the University of Berlin, who drew my attention to some of her recent works on the Qur’ān, and clarified a few of her concepts regarding qur’ānic studies in general. Her approach to textual analysis helped me in developing a new perspective in the analysis of the paraliturgical text. I also wish to thank several scholars who provided various forms of assistance. In particular, I would like to single out Professor Michael Laskier (Bar-Ilan University), Professor Ephraim Hazan (Bar-Ilan University) and the prominent Arab-Jewish cantor and musician Mosheh Ḥabushah. Whatever training I have acquired as a musicologist, I must credit to my mentor, of blessed memory, Professor Habib Hassan Touma, whose strong and persistent conviction regarding my future in the field of research on Arabic music and culture has founded the fruits of this book. In his last book he wrote me a dedication which expresses the very essence of his life and research and of this present book: To remember and to be remembered. Tel-Aviv, 20 April, 1998

I am particularly grateful to my friend and colleague Dr. Daniel Davies for his intellectual companionship and helpful comments on my work. This book is dedicated to my parents who inspired me with their noble spirits and lives, to write this work, which reflects the fruitful coexistence that Jews and Muslims shared in the past. It is my hope that this book will encourage new scholarly and political thinking on how this shared past can help in creating a shared future at which ‘… hope and history rhyme.’ (Heaney 1990: 77). And I believe ‘that a further shore is reachable from here.’ (ibid.).

Figures 1.1

The title page of the 1954 Miṣḥaf, Sefer Shirim Tehilat-Yesharim Hashalem, Pizmonim, Baqashot Vetishbaḥot [The Complete Book of Songs, in Praise of the Righteous, Songs, Supplications and Praises] (From the library of Rabbi Yitsḥaq Me’ir Refa’el Ḥadad (1896, Baghdad–1968, Tel Aviv)) 17 1.2 The title page of Zmirot Yisra’el [Songs of Israel], second edition, Venice 1599 (University of Cambridge Collection) 30 2.1 The Ḥazaj metre, Hamarnin in Hebrew, in Deror Yiqra’ (the first two lines) 57 2.2 The Wāfir metre, Hamerubeh in Hebrew, in Shefal Ruaḥ (the first line) 66 2.3 The metric pattern in Yihyu Kemots (the first line) 73 2.4 The metric pattern in Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first line) 79 3.1 The title page of the 1906 Miṣḥaf, Sefer Hashirim [The Book of Songs] (From the library of Rabbi Yitsḥaq Me’ir Refa’el Ḥadad (1896, Baghdad–1968, Tel Aviv)) 92 3.2 The original introduction to the 1906 Miṣḥaf 95–96

Tables 1.1 2.1 2.2 2.3

Types of PLSs in the 1954 Miṣḥaf 29 The poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf 44 The rhyming scheme in Najarah’s Yihyu Kemots 73 The rhyming scheme in ’al-Ḥakham’s Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first three stanzas) 79 3.1 The increase in the number of life-cycle songs in the two Mṣāḥif 107 3.2 The Sabbath of Shirah: identical and different PLSs in the two Mṣāḥif 113 3.3 The increase in the number of optional PLSs 115 3.4 The ‘shifting songs’ from the 1906 Miṣḥaf to the 1954 Miṣḥaf 116 3.5 The polythematic structure in Merim Lero’shi 132 4.1 Musical information in the headings of the PLSs: the 1906 Miṣḥaf 139 4.2 Musical information in the headings of the PLSs: the 1954 Miṣḥaf 142 4.3 The metric pattern of Shema‘ Na’ ’Aḥi and Yah ’Eloha Malkhut ‘Alam (the first line) 150 4.4 The rhyming scheme in Shema‘ Na’ ’Aḥi (the first three stanzas) 151 4.5 The rhyming scheme in Yah ’Eloha Malkhut ‘Alam 151 4.6 The metric pattern of ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah and of ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah (the first line) 153 4.7 Syllables per line in ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah and in ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah (the first stanza) 154 4.8 The rhyming scheme in ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah (the first four stanzas) 155 4.9 The rhyming scheme in ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah (the first four stanzas) 155 4.10 The metric pattern of ‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah and ‘Ezer Mitsaray (the first line) 156 4.11 The rhyming scheme in ‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah (the first three stanzas and refrain) 157 4.12 The rhyming scheme in ‘Ezer Mitsaray (the first three stanzas and refrain) 157 4.13 Maqām Ḥusaynī on A and its Ajnās 162 4.14 The melodic phrases and their location in Yihyu Kemots (the first stanza) 165 4.15 The melodic phrases and their location in Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first stanza) 168 4.16 The metric pattern and the melodic rhythm in Yihyu Kemots (the first line) 170 4.17 The metric pattern and the melodic rhythm in Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first line) 171 4.18 Ptiḥot and their Maqāmāt in the two Mṣāḥif 175 4.19 The Maqāmāt presented in the Ptiḥot of both Mṣāḥif 181 A1.1 The 1906 Miṣḥaf 197 A1.2 The 1954 Miṣḥaf 200

Music Examples 4.1 Yihyu Kemots (the first stanza and the refrain) 164 4.2 Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first stanza and the refrain) 167

Appendices 1 The Religious Occasions in the Two Mṣāḥif 197 2 The Biblical Sources of Vayiten Lekha [May God Give You] in the Two Mṣāḥif 209 3 The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf: an Historical, Cultural and Geographical Mapping 211 4 Deror Yiqra’ [The Lord Shall Proclaim Freedom], M(33;78), in Hebrew 249 5 Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Become as Chaff before the Wind], M(14;6), in Hebrew and the Turkish Original 250 6 Barukh ’El Ḥay [Blessed be Our Living God], M(213;318), in Hebrew 252 7 Paraliturgical Songs in the 1906 Miṣḥaf Which Do Not Appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf 254 8 Merim Lero’shi [[Lord Who] Lifts My Head High], M(202;298), in Hebrew 255

Introduction Jews first arrived in the Land of Babylon (roughly equivalent to modern-day Iraq) long before the emergence of Islam. After the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE and their subsequent expulsion at the hands of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (reign 605–562 BCE), those Jews remained in Babylon for almost 2,600 years. During this lengthy period, the land suffered repeated conquests by, and subjection to, a succession of imperial powers. After the Babylonians came the Persians (225–634 CE), the Arab-Muslims (634–1258 CE), the Mongols (1258–1534 CE), the Ottomans (1534–1918 CE) and the British (1918–1932). It was only in 1932 that Iraq won independence, becoming indeed the first Arab state to be admitted into the League of Nations. During the centuries of its existence, experiencing periods of oppression and persecution as well as times of great prosperity, the Babylonian Jewish community always enjoyed autonomous communal life, displaying remarkable cultural cohesion and resilience, no doubt largely due to its strong religious tradition, clear habits of observance, and vigorous spiritual leadership. Everything changed after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948: in 1950–1952, the vast majority of the Babylonian Jews, numbering approximately 120,000, left their ancient homeland to settle in the new Jewish state – many of them abandoning valuable property and assets.1 What they took with them was their precious Judaeo-Arabic cultural heritage. 1

The Paraliturgical Song: Text and Music

One of the most ancient and valuable religio-cultural assets of the Judaeo-Arabic culture in general and of the Babylonians in particular is the Paraliturgical Song (PLS, pl. PLSs). As this study demonstrates, the PLS typically takes the form of a Hebrew religious poem, expressing Jewish values and ethics, which is mixed with idiosyncratic Arabo-Islamic poetic features of form, style and content. This rich poem is frequently set to a melody of an already existing Arabic song and is typically sung at Jewish private and public extra-liturgical 1  The first large influx of Babylonian Jewry to Jerusalem was in 1854, though this was not as extensive as the immigration thereto in 1951, which amounted to approximately 2.5% of the total Jewish population in Israel at that time. Henceforth, the Babylonian Jews will also be referred to as the ‘Babylonians’.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_002

2

Introduction

or paraliturgical celebrations such as Sabbath meals and weddings, respectively. The texts of the PLS, which emerged as early as the ninth century in ‘Abbasid Baghdad and which continues to be written until the present day, are documented in many collections that had been published over the course of many centuries by Arab-Jewish communities throughout the Arabo-Islamic empire, including the Babylonian community. The melodies, on the other hand, were invariably orally transmitted and were never documented in any kind of notation. 2

The Centrality of the Paraliturgical Song in Middle Eastern Judaism

The Middle Eastern Arab-Jewish PLS needs to be distinguished, both in terms of its history and cultural role, from its European counterpart. Both share a distant ancestor in hapiyyut ha’erets yisre’eli [the religious poem of the Land of Israel] of first-century Palestine. Roughly from around the sixth century, however, these two diasporas developed a completely different type of PLS.2 As this book shows, from around the tenth century, Arab-Jewish communities across the Islamic empire, including Muslim Spain, developed their own form of PLS, which took on a central role in every aspect of their religious and cultural lives. The paraliturgical devotion focused on praising the Lord with a strong musical orientation. It was cleverly adjusted to both private and communal celebrations, and hence the PLS fulfilled both individual and collective needs. This adaptability of the genre is vividly reflected in its creative mixture of Jewish and Arabo-Islamic elements. This creative mixture is itself mirrored in the lives of both the individuals who produced the PLS and the communities in which it played such a vital religious and cultural role. Nothing comparable occurred amongst European Jewish communities until the mid-eighteenth century, when members of the new Hasidic movement in Eastern Europe began to adapt simple vernacular shepherds’ songs and love songs – Hungarian, Russian, and Polish – for their own religious purposes. These Eastern European songs never achieved anything like the sophistication of those of the Middle East, nor did they play such an important part in the cultural and religious lives of the local Jewish communities. It is worth noting, however, that while Hasidic songs became widely known and influential in the cultural life of the new State of Israel, the Middle Eastern PLS was for many years effectively marginalised. As a result of socio-political and cultural developments in the country during the 1980s, this genre, which 2  For more about the first-century piyyut, see Chapter 1, Paragraph 4.2.

Introduction

3

in Israel is called ‘piyyut’ [‘hymn’, pl. ‘piyyutim’], became a symbol of a renewed sense of Arab-Jewish identity amongst Jews of Middle Eastern extraction, and consequently gained wider recognition. The revival of the PLS in modern Israel has been remarkable. Ancient PLSs have been widely performed by both religious and non-religious groups while new songs continue to be created. The PLS with both its old and new versions has gained popularity amongst young middle-class audiences with family roots in all parts of the Jewish Diaspora, East and West. Both the artists and their audiences regard these songs as a significant part of their efforts to rediscover their Jewish identity and their ancient Jewish traditions. Today, these songs are performed not only on religious occasions, but also at concerts and other special gatherings. Despite this remarkable revival, the history of the Middle Eastern PLS, and crucially its unique amalgam of Jewish and Arabo-Islamic cultures, remains almost unknown. 3

Encountering the Paraliturgical Song a Thousand Years after Its Birth

This book encounters in contemporary Israel the Jewish PLS a thousand years after its birth along with the descendants of its original creators, the Babylonian Jews. It traces the history of the genre and the poets who contributed to its development. Drawing largely on written collections, the book explores the distinctive religious and cultural ideas and beliefs that are reflected in the PLS, as well as its various textual and musical features. The written sources are considered as both religious and historical documents that must be understood in their Jewish and Arabo-Islamic cultural contexts. The principal sources are two published collections, which are similar in format to prayer books; the first was published in 1906 in Baghdad, and the second was published in 1954 in Jerusalem. Both of them are referred to by the modern Babylonian-Jewish communities as Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥoth [[The] Holy Book of Praises] [pl. mṣāḥif, s. Shbaḥ, respectively] or miṣḥaf for short. These two collections cover the entire known repertoire of the genre including the religious occasions on which the songs were, and still are, performed, and thus, they uniquely open up the tradition of paraliturgical devotion. An underlying premise of this book is that the PLS cannot be fully understood without considering its Arabo-Islamic context, from which it largely drew its inspiration and nourishment. In this book, I attempt – partly through the information provided by the published collections and partly from the formal characteristics of the poems

4

Introduction

themselves – to reconstruct the historical melody of the PLS, as far as it is possible, and to analyse its key features. These songs were intended to be sung rather than read, and most, if not all, were based on Arabic melodies that were known to the poets who wrote the texts. The structure and stylistic qualities of the paraliturgical text reveal much about the internal structure of the paraliturgical melody. In examining the paraliturgical repertoire, I hope to shed light on the much broader question of the nature and role of music in Arabo-Islamic culture. In the future, perhaps, technology will enable us to reconstruct the melodies of the PLS in terms of pitch, sound and rhythm. The PLS mirrors, of course, the strong presence of the Jewish scriptures and a long tradition of rabbinic work: written in Hebrew, it expressed essentially Jewish spiritual values and aspirations. In this book, however I show that the PLS was an open artistic medium through which poets drew heavily on a much wider, non-Jewish cultural milieu. The work of these poets was indeed part of a much larger historical interaction between Judaism and Islam, embracing artistic expression, scholarship, and many other aspects of cultural life from the ninth century onwards. The PLS, both in its textual and musical aspects, as well as in its performance practice, represents a vital synthesis of Jewish and Arabo-Islamic concepts, ideas and aesthetics. I intend to demonstrate that this synthesis itself is a reflection of the individual identities of both the creators of the genre and the worshippers who employed it, and that this is true not only for the centuries of Arabo-Islamic political and cultural dominance, but for the present day as well – long after the ancient Arab-Jewish communities left their Arab-Muslim homelands. 4

The Historical Setting of the Paraliturgical Song

The first encounter of Babylonian Jews with Islam took place in 634 CE, when the Arab-Muslims defeated the Persians and occupied Babylon.3 The Babylonian Jewish community had been an established and thriving spiritual centre of the Jewish Diaspora since 219 CE, as it continued to be until about 1050, when Muslim Spain took over as the principal centre of Jewish intellectual and cultural activity. The Babylonian Jews welcomed the new rulers, regarding them as carriers of another monotheistic religion that, like Judaism, 3  The first encounter between the Jews as a community and Islam was in the second decade of the seventh century, with Muhammad’s arrival to Medina (Yathrib). For more about this encounter, see Stillman (1979: 8).

Introduction

5

believed in one God and his divine law. The Arab-Muslim conquests were indeed viewed as a divine visitation upon wicked and idolatrous Persia. The Arab-Muslims for their part regarded their own religion as the last and best of divine revelations. They acknowledged that Jews had received their own revelation, which was, like their own, embodied in a holy book, and thus regarded them as ‘ahl al-kitāb’ [‘the people of the book’, or ‘the scriptural people’]. As long as Jews obeyed the law of the Islamic state as loyal subjects and duly paid their taxes, they were considered ‘ahl al-dhimma’ [‘the protected people’] entitled to the protection of the Islamic authorities. In 750, the second dynasty of the Islamic empire, the ‘Abbasids, took power in Babylon and founded its new capital of Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris in 762. Baghdad soon became a large cosmopolitan city that would be home to peoples of diverse cultures and creeds.4 The Baghdad Jewish community became the largest in Babylon, and the city became the spiritual and intellectual centre of Diaspora Jewry, embracing the two most important Jewish institutions of rabbinic scholarship, the Sura and the Pumbedita academies. Jews soon adopted the Arabic language for almost all purposes. The transition from Aramaic, their former language and the lingua franca of all the peoples of this area, to Arabic was made easier by the kinship of the two languages, the esteemed status of Arabic in the new ruling Islamic society, and, most importantly, the understanding that adopting Arabic would not create a threat of any kind to their Jewish identity and culture. This was also the period in which the major works of Plato, Aristotle, Euclid and Galen were translated into Arabic – significant cultural events that led to major developments in science, philosophy, theology and the arts. Their shared language and the shared range of new fields of knowledge enabled Muslim and Jewish scholars to conduct a profound intellectual conversation. This interaction facilitated the free flow of ideas across the boundaries of religion and creed, producing similar views and concerns amongst both faiths in matters of social life and religious adherence. It was here in the efflorescent cultural capital of the ‘Abbasids during the ninth and tenth centuries that the first steps were made towards the shaping of the Jewish Paraliturgical Song. The linguistic assimilation of the Jews profoundly affected their scholarly writing during this period, most noticeably in the fields of poetry, liturgy, theology and Jewish halakhic law. Poetry, which was considered as the ultimate art form in Islamic civilisation and as a major intellectual vehicle for expressing philosophical, theological and religious ideas, 4  From now on, all dates are CE unless specifically marked otherwise.

6

Introduction

both in Judaism and Islam, provided a vital meeting place for Arabo-Islamic culture and Jewish values and ideas. Following previous attempts of several Jewish scholars of lesser stature, Sa‘adyah Ben Yosef Ga’on (882, Faiyum (Egypt)–942, Baghdad) was the first spiritual and literary leader in Jewish history to open the doors of Jewish writing and thinking in general and of religious poetry in particular to Arabo-Islamic culture. In his remarkable, varied work, including his poetry, he combined typically Arabo-Islamic literary forms and intellectual concepts with a distinctively Jewish outlook – without in any way compromising his Jewish beliefs.5 Hebrew, which continued to be the sole language of Jewish poetry both religious and secular, brought with it an enormous wealth of associations and allusions largely derived from Jewish scriptures and history. It is in the poetry of Sa‘adyah Ga’on and his immediate successors that we discover the earliest examples of the PLS. Already, we see the complex fusion of Jewish religion with Arabo-Islamic ideas and formal elements that was to remain a distinctive feature of the genre until the present day. The origin of the practice of adapting specifically Arabic melodies to these religious poems, a practice also prevalent in Islamic religious poetry, is still unknown. 5

Arabo-Islamic Influence on the Text and Music of the Paraliturgical Song

Studies in the fields of history and poetry as well as in philosophy confirm that the Arabo-Islamic influence on Hebrew religious poetry was pervasive and enduring.6 It continued for more than a thousand years and took root wherever Muslims were the rulers and Jews were their subjects. It began, as we have seen, as early as the ninth century in ‘Abbasid Baghdad, and later enjoyed a resurgence in Muslim Spain roughly between the tenth and fifteenth centuries. Both periods represent the ‘Renaissance of Islam’. During later periods, when the ascendancy of Islam had ceased, this active influence was still evident in different places across the Ottoman Empire. 5  For the combination of the two faiths in his work in general, see Yahuda (1945: 135). For this combination as reflected in his Tafsīr (the translation of the Torah, the Jewish first five books of the Bible, into Arabic), see Freidenreich (2003: 353). For the Torah, see Chapter 1, Note 26. 6  In history, see Louise (1984), Stillman (1979, 1991, 1997) and Cohen (1994, 2008). In poetry and philosophy, see Altmann (1969), Levin (1986), Scheindlin (1991, 1994), Mirski (1992), Schippers (1994) and Tobi (2000).

Introduction

7

In ‘Abbasid Baghdad, the Arabo-Islamic influence appeared tentatively at first in the combination of the ancient Hebrew hymn with new formal and stylistic elements taken directly from Arabic poetry and ideas borrowed from Islamic theology and philosophy. In Muslim Spain, on the other hand, Hebrew poets felt no obligation to the old Eastern Jewish school, and readily adopted the values and conventions of Arabic poetry and the wider culture. From the sixteenth century onwards – and perhaps even earlier – this crucial influence was also apparent in more popular forms. The Arabo-Islamic influence on Hebrew poetry radically affected the latter’s form, style, content and even language. Indeed, the influence is so strong that some have observed that the Hebrew poetry of this period differs from Arabic poetry only in its language. New preoccupations appeared, the earlier communal themes being replaced by more urgent individual concerns on matters of religious experiences, needs and aspirations. These changes reflected not only the influence of Arabic poetry, but also of the Qur’ān, the Ḥadīth, and Islamic philosophy, theology and mysticism. Hebrew religious poetry can, indeed, only be properly understood in terms of the vital, nourishing influence of Arabo-Islamic culture. This is not, of course, to argue that Hebrew religious poetry is merely an imitation of Arabic poetry, or a simple reflection of Arabo-Islamic culture. The achievement of the Hebrew poets was no less distinguished than that of their Arabic counterparts, and Hebrew religious poetry has continued to be treasured for its own sake up until the present day. The creative influence of Arabo-Islamic culture on the PLS is also evident in the music to which it is set. Furthermore, it is no exaggeration to say that in both the liturgical and paraliturgical worship of Middle Eastern Judaism the music is completely Arabic. This includes the tonal system and the melodies, as well as the vocal rendition, and in the case of the paraliturgical practice, this also includes the instrumental music.7 As early as the 1920s, ethnomusicologists described the influence of Arabic music on Jewish religious and cultural life, most especially when it came to melody and performance practice. Idelsohn (1923) and Lachmann (1929), both pioneering scholars in the study of the musical traditions of Jewish communities living in Arab-Muslim countries, were the first to identify the Arabic influence in religious songs. Later research, particularly in the second half of the twentieth century, explored the influence of Arabic music on the PLS both in communities living in Arab-Muslim countries and those that had

7  For the halakhic rulings on the use of Arabic music in Middle Eastern Jewish worship as decreed after the emigration from Arab-Muslim countries, see Rosenfeld-Hadad (2017).

8

Introduction

immigrated to Israel, the United States and other countries in the West during the early 1950s and in subsequent decades.8 These studies have led to a fuller appreciation of the extent to which the Baghdadi and Ḥalabi [Aleppine] Jewish communities absorbed the dominant Arabo-Islamic culture, including its music, and, more surprisingly, they have shown how this influence continued, and still continues, long after these communities had emigrated. In the Syrian-Jewish community in the United States, for example, the presence of Arabic music remains strong: new trends in this music are followed with interest and enthusiasm. Amongst these communities, the Arabic musical tradition and repertoire is regarded as a natural part of their Jewish cultural identity. In liturgical practice, Arabic music plays an important role: the recitation of the scriptures, for example, is clearly deeply influenced by Islamic practice – most strikingly in the use of the maqām [the Arabic musical scale].9 This is despite the fact that qur’ānic recitation is not considered a musical genre but rather has a status of its own.10 This book can be regarded as a continuation of these earlier studies. It is not concerned with the reciprocal influence of Judaism on Arab culture and indeed on the formation of Islam itself. Lewis (1984: 81) has remarked that in literature, and in poetry in particular, ‘the Muslim influence on the Jews is enormous, and it is almost entirely one way’. This is also certainly true of the melodies of the PLS. 6

The Written Sources of the Paraliturgical Song: Scope, Time and Place

Previous studies in ethnomusicology have usually focused on oral aspects of the PLS, relying on a limited group of informants currently performing an inevitably limited repertoire of songs; in the same way, the textual aspects of the genre have been examined exclusively on the basis of a relatively small number of songs. Research in various branches within Jewish studies have, it is true, examined different literary and historical aspects of the piyyut, which is a broader definition of Hebrew religious poetry that includes both liturgical 8  For the presence of Arabic music in the life of Arab-Jewish communities whilst still in Arab-Muslim countries, see Lachmann (1929, 1940); for those, which immigrated to Israel, see Idelsohn (1923: 5) and Shiloah (1983). For Arab-Jewish communities in the United States, see Shelemay (1998, 2009) and Kligman (1997, 2001). 9  For more on this use, see Kligman (2001: 467). 10  For more on the special perception of qur’ānic recitation in the Muslim world in general and in Egypt in particular, see Nelson (1985: xiv).

Introduction

9

and paraliturgical texts. There has, however, been little attempt to examine the PLS in its wider historical, religious and cultural contexts. In this book, I attempt to do just this. The study of Judaeo-Arabic culture needs urgently to go beyond the ethnographic-folkloristic approach that has prevailed so far. In exploring the paraliturgical tradition, I have attempted to shift the focus from limited oral sources to the important published collections, which, as we have seen, include the entire known repertoire of the genre. This approach, I hope, will result in a much fuller and richer picture of the genre and its history – bringing us closer to the actual experience of the community of worshippers and presenting the PLS as a distinctive religious genre. Above all, I wish to emphasise the creative – one might say inspirational – influence of Arabo-Islamic culture in the historical formation of the Jewish PLS. There is no sense in which this was an independent genre isolated from non-Jewish influence. The emphasis in this book on written sources has, I believe, a special appropriateness. The Jews have always regarded themselves as ‘‘am hasefer’, ‘the people of the book’, equivalent to the Arabic ‘ahel el-kitāb’, which gave the Jews living across the Arabo-Islamic empire a special status as a protected minority. The term is a reminder of the importance amongst diasporic Jews of books – primarily, of course, the Torah, but also those representing the rich tradition of rabbinic literature. Books, small private libraries, accompanied the Jews wherever they went. The powerful hold of such books – written for the most part in Hebrew and covering religious and moral insights and values that were felt to be distinctively Jewish – undoubtedly did much to sustain a powerful sense of Jewish identity. Particularly in Israel, academic Jewish studies have largely overlooked the Arab-Jews and their remarkable cultural tradition. In the case of Israel, the reasons for this are clearly in part political, the result of the exclusivist, nationalistic ideology of the new State of Israel, and the rewriting of Jewish history that took place in the years following independence. Jewish history was, and indeed still is, narrated preponderantly from the perspective of the Jewish experience in Europe, while the history and culture of the Middle Eastern Jews, including their literary traditions, were and continue to be almost entirely left out of account.11 It is no exaggeration to say that Arab-Jewish identity was effectively negated. Arab-Jews had no place in Jewish history. As a result, modern Jewish historical studies take little or no account of the Arab-Jews, while Jewish religious studies almost invariably overlook the rich traditions 11  For more about this leading approach, which is prevalent mostly in Israel, see Pedaya (2015: 9). She calls this approach hahadarah min hasefer, that is, the ‘exclusion [or removal] from the book’.

10

Introduction

of Middle Eastern Judaism. The Arab-Jews are for the most part relegated to the less relevant disciplines of folklore studies and the like. An exception is academic social studies, where in recent years, both in Israel and the United States, several scholars – themselves mostly of Arab-Jewish origin – have carried out serious sociological research into the group.12 In this book, I have attempted to revive the lost Judaeo-Arabic literary tradition, in particular the paraliturgical tradition. The published collections of PLSs, which I examine in detail, enable us to reconstruct the genre’s history and practice in the wider context of the Arabo-Islamic culture, bringing us close to those who created the PLS and those who used the genre in their worship. The 1906 Miṣḥaf brings together the core repertoire of PLSs prevalent amongst the Babylonians at that time and probably a few centuries earlier, and the 1954 Miṣḥaf includes new songs written in the first half of the twentieth century, mostly in Baghdad. Additionally, the later collection reflects the cultural impact of the move to Israel. These two collections are compared to smaller collections of PLSs that were published during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in and outside Baghdad. Reference is also made to two editions of the first published collection of PLSs, namely, the Safed (1587) and Venice (1599) editions of the collection by Israel Ben Mosheh Najarah (1555, Damascus–1625, Gaza), Zmirot Yisra’el [The Songs of Israel]. The phase of Arabo-Islamic civilisation with which I am concerned corresponds to the tenth to twentieth centuries in the Levant – which is, broadly speaking, present-day Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, Iran and Turkey, and Muslim Spain and North Africa. The socio-religious ambiance in these widely spread-out geographical areas can be characterised by an intricate combination, however subtle and balanced, of dīn [religion] and dunyā [world], that is, between religious and secular aspects of life and thinking. Islam, during its first six centuries, shaped with its morals and values the pre-existing foundations of Arab culture. It also established another layer of rules of conduct intended only for its followers, which was formed and regulated chiefly by the laws and spirit of the Qur’ān and the Ḥadīth, the latter consisting of the sayings attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad. Jews and Christians, in this respect, relied on their own holy scriptures. Arabic was, of course, supremely the language of the Qur’ān and the Ḥadīth – the language of Islamic law and theology, and the single liturgical language of Islam. Its study became a religious duty amongst Muslims. Amongst the Jewish and Christian communities in the Levant, however, the widespread adoption of Arabic as a spoken and written language emphatically did not involve the 12  For more about the scholars and their work, see Pedaya (2016: 13).

Introduction

11

abandonment of their own religious beliefs and traditions. Amongst the Jews, the influence of Arabisation was profound; it affected their special religious observance and practice, and it also made possible a high degree of integration with their predominantly Islamic cultural environment. Arabic thinking in such areas as rhetoric, philosophy and aesthetics had a profound influence; the language of formal discourse and the experimentation with new literary genres also reflected the influence of Arab culture. Typically, Arab concepts such as adab, a cultivated refinement of social behaviour, and ḥikma, wisdom, were readily adopted. Jewish PLSs, though written mostly in Hebrew, very much reflect this influence. It is important to add that as well as the published sources on which this book is based, I have also drawn on actual musical performances by leading Baghdadi cantors, as well as individual interviews conducted with members of the Babylonian community in Israel between 2003 and 2017. These added oral sources are intended to support the findings derived from the written sources, which are at the centre of this book. 7

Music in This Book

7.1 The Paraliturgical Melody Inevitably, any study based largely on published sources such as those mentioned above will tend to concentrate on text rather than on music. In the published collections, the melodies of only a few songs are referred to by name, and none is notated. To some extent, the features of a particular melody can be retrieved from the form of its text. Though the melodies themselves are for the most part those of Arabic songs, the actual sound of many of these melodies are inaccessible to us: Arabic melodies were not notated until the twentieth century, and even than only partially. 7.2 Musical Examples Most of the examples in this book of musical performances of the PLS are by two leading cantors, Shlomoh Re’uven Mu‘alem (1905, Baghdad–1989, Israel) and Mosheh Ḥabushah (1961, Jerusalem). Mu‘alem was one of the most prominent cantors amongst Babylonian Jewry in the twentieth century, first in Baghdad, between 1921 and 1951, and, after the emigration, in Israel, until his death. His role in Babylonian cantillation merits a separate study. His collection of songs, documented in about 1977, which I refer to as the Mu‘alem Collection, will be discussed for the first time in this book. This is the largest and most important collection of Babylonian religious music, and Mu‘alem’s distinction as a

12

Introduction

performer, of course, gives it additional significance. The Mu‘alem Collection includes a large part of the liturgical and paraliturgical repertoire performed in Baghdad and later in Israel, as well as in other Babylonian communities in the West. The collection is now held by the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehudah, Israel. A small number of songs from the collection are available online on the website of the National Library of Israel as part of the Music Collection and Sound Archive of the Bella and Harry Wexner Libraries of Sound and Song.13 Ḥabushah is the most prominent present-day Arab-Jewish cantor, and he is much admired within Arab-Jewish communities, including the Babylonian community, both inside and outside of Israel. He was born to Baghdadi parents who immigrated to Israel in 1951. As a grandson of the Baghdadi cantor Gerji Ya’eir (1910, Baghdad–1999, Jerusalem), Ḥabushah became familiar from an early age with the entire Babylonian liturgical and paraliturgical repertoire. According to his own account, he learnt the authentic style of performance from his grandfather and from Mu‘alem.14 In this book, I also discuss performances by other twentieth-century Bagh­ dadi cantors, including Ḥaguli Shumel Darzi (?, Baghdad–1970s, Israel), Salim Shebath (1908, Baghdad–1981, Israel) and Barukh ‘Abdallah ’Ezra‘ (twentieth century, Baghdad), as well as songs performed by Arab-Muslim and ArabChristian artists. Website addresses are given when necessary. A list of all musical examples, sorted by the names of the songs, appears in the bibliography. 8

Interviews and Informants

Between 2003 and 2017, I conducted both collective and individual interviews in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic with members of the Babylonian community in Israel. These remarkable interviews shed important light on the nature of the PLS and its practice, as well as on its significance in the life of the Babylonians in Baghdad and later in Israel. Most of the interviewees were men in their late seventies, who were born in Baghdad: a few fled Iraq in 1949, taking part in the Jewish-Iraqi Zionist underground Tnu‘at Heḥaluts [The Pioneer Movement], but the majority emigrated in 1951 and 1952. As children, some of them studied

13  http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/song/Pages/about-.aspx. 14  For more about Ḥabushah’s art and life, see https://youtu.be/dMIqQgyuhO8 (2018) and https://youtu.be/74jwY2yvT1g (2016).

Introduction

13

in state primary and high schools; for their religious education, they attended Jewish schools in Baghdad. All these elderly men knew a range of PLSs by heart – fondly recalling both the songs themselves and the occasions on which they were performed. The PLS of the Babylonian Jews represents a remarkable example of cultural continuity. Idelsohn describes its significance as follows: The traditional song [PLS] of the Babylonian Jews is of special value. In the first place the Babylonian Jews represent the oldest settlement outside Palestine known to history, a settlement which has continued uninterruptedly and has been subjected to no important influences of other Jewish communities, and it may therefore be assumed that in their traditional song, ancient elements have been preserved. Idelsohn 1923: 515

However, this book tells the story of the Jewish PLS of all Arab-Jewish communities, as they are all familiar with this repertoire and as its practice is as pivotal in their lives as it is in the lives of the Babylonians. 9

The Chapters of this Book

In each of the four chapters of this book, I examine the published sources of the PLS from a different angle and hence present different aspects of the genre. In Chapter 1, I treat the 1954 Miṣḥaf as a religious source. Basing my analysis chiefly on both Jewish halakhic law and the history of Jewish liturgy, I show why, within Judaism, the PLS is an open and flexible genre, and why a more accurate and nuanced definition for this genre is required. In Chapter 2, I regard the 1954 Miṣḥaf as a historical document. Through the discovery of the poets whose work appears anonymously in this collection, I reconstruct the history of the genre between the tenth and mid-twentieth centuries, and show how the wider historical circumstances of Arabo-Islamic civilisation facilitated the open and flexible nature of the PLS. By expanding on the poems of four leading poets of the genre, including the melodies of these poems, I show how the PLS became a synthesis of Jewish and Arabo-Islamic cultures, which mirrors the identity not only of these poets but also of the worshippers. In Chapter 3, I consider the different collections published between 1800 and 1954 as both religious and historical documents. I explore the characteristics 15  Almost uninterruptedly (my italics). See Chapter 2, Paragraph 2.1.

14

Introduction

of the paraliturgical practice, reveal its devotional flexibility and explain its relatively fast adjustment to dramatic historical developments, which the Babylonians had to face during the period under investigation. I then expand on some features of the paraliturgical text and reveal its richness of meaning, which contributes to the flexibility of the paraliturgical devotion and which helped make it suitable for any occasion and at any time. In Chapter 4, I regard the 1906 and 1954 mṣāḥif as both religious and historical documents. I gather the information about the paraliturgical melody and explore its characteristics in the context of Arabo-Islamic culture. These characteristics are then illustrated through an example of the most popular melody mentioned in both mṣāḥif supported by a rendition of the songs by leading Baghdadi cantors. In addition to the strong impression of the main features of the Arabic melody, this example allows for a brief glance at the relationship between the written sources and the actual practice, and at the successive continuation of the practice from diasporic Babylon to Israel. Throughout this analysis, I show that the flexibility that was identified in the texts of the genre and its practice is also typical of its melodies. In the concluding part of this book, I outline the characteristics of the genre from a historical perspective, summarise the major similarities found between the paraliturgical texts and their melodies, and present new insights into Middle Eastern Judaism that are mirrored throughout the paraliturgical realm in the context of its wider Arabo-Islamic cultural milieu. 10

Translation, Transliteration and Scriptural and Rabbinic Quotations

Unless indicated otherwise, the English translations of Hebrew, Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic and Classical Arabic texts are my own: most of these texts have never been translated before. In a few cases, I have added explanatory notes that appear in square brackets. The sources of scriptural quotations and allisions are indicated. Unless stated otherwise, the English translation of biblical texts follows that of the New Jewish Publication Society (JPS) translation, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (1985). The Hebrew transliteration was made according to the system presented in BrillOnline Reference Works, except for the following letters: ‘‫ ’צ‬is transliterated to ‘ts’, ‘‫ ’א‬to ‘’’, ‘‫ ’ש‬to ‘sh’ and ‘‫ ’ש‬to ‘s’. Accentuated letters are not transliterated. The Judaeo-Arabic text was transliterated according to the system presented in The Encyclopaedia of Judaica (1972: 91), with a further effort to better convey the sound of the spoken language in English letters. The Arabic transliteration

Introduction

15

was made according to the system presented in the Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature vol. 1 (1998: xvii). Names of contemporary scholars are generally transliterated according to the individual’s own preference: an exception has been made in the case of the author widely known as ’Avraham Ben Ya‘akov, who has himself adopted the form ‘Abraham Ben-Jacob’. The original terms and terminology of the poetic, religious and musical genres and of Jewish and Islamic festivals in both Arabic and Hebrew are kept, unless otherwise indicated. All the terms are indicated in the text in a form of transliteration followed by translation in square brackets and further explanation if needed. The translation will be capitalised if the Arabic or Hebrew term is capitalised and vice versa, with the same applying to quotation marks (see below). The names of Arabic and Hebrew poems, songs and books are italicised and their English counterparts are not. The original names of poetic genres and metres are capitalised, when these same names are themselves discussed qua words, they are not capitalised and are accompanied by quotation marks. The Baqashah, for example, is a type of poetic genre, and the term ‘baqashah’ is widely used in key studies on Hebrew poetry (see Chapter 1). Translations of poems and biblical verses will appear exactly as they do in their respective sources: this means that one such quotation may begin with a capital letter (if the first letter appears at the start of the verse or line) and another may not (if taken from the middle of the verse or line). In addition, a separate list of all Jewish festivals, with a short explanation of their purpose and meaning, is presented in Appendix 1. The special focus on the scriptural and rabbinic sources embedded in the content of the paraliturgical text is intended to emphasise the extent to which the PLS is rooted in Judaism in general and in Jewish devotional culture in particular.

Chapter 1

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs This chapter shows why the PLS, as a Jewish religious genre, was and still is an open and flexible vessel, which enables the amalgamation of both Jewish and Arabo-Islamic features of form, style and content. As a religious source of the PLS, the 1954 Miṣḥaf offers a wide range of information about the functionalities of the genre within the religious and social settings of Jewish worship in both communal and private life. The texts of the PLS display a myriad of languages, poetic features and musical qualities, some of which are analysed here in the contexts of both Jewish liturgical history and halakhic law. This exploration leads to the conclusion that the distinct characteristic of the PLS stems only from its religious status and qualities, which are defined here for the first time. These, together with the features which will be discussed in Chapter 3 – namely, the lack of any halakhic definition of, or ruling on, the PLS’s practice, unlike the much delineated and strictly regulated liturgy – made this genre uniquely malleable, adaptable and sensitive to both its immediate Jewish and wider Arabo-Islamic contexts. In addition to explicating a new perspective on this genre in light of its unique religious function, this chapter offers a new possible date for the PLS’s emergence and describes the unique relationship between the paraliturgical text and its accompanying music. 1

Historical Outlook

In 1954, only three years after the Babylonians’ immigration en masse to Israel, they published their first edition of PLSs in the book entitled Sefer Shirim Tehilat-Yesharim Hashalem, Pizmonim, Baqashot Vetishbaḥot [The Complete Book of Songs, in Praise of the Righteous, Songs, Supplications and Praises] (see Figure 1.1). The book gathers poems belonging to all the Jewish celebrations on which these songs are performed. The editor and publisher of this collection is Saleḥ Ben Ya‘aqov Mantsur (1895, Baghdad–1987, Jerusalem), who was the son of a prominent Baghdadi leader, Rabbi Ya‘aqov Saleḥ Mantsur (d. 1920, Baghdad). In 1927, Mantsur junior immigrated to Jerusalem; soon after, he became a successful publisher of dozens of prayer books and other religious works, and a leading figure in the community

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_003

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

17

Figure 1.1 The title page of the 1954 Miṣḥaf, Sefer Shirim TehilatYesharim Hashalem, Pizmonim, Baqashot Vetishbaḥot [The Complete Book of Songs, in Praise of the Righteous, Songs, Supplications and Praises] From the library of Rabbi Yitsḥaq Me’ir Refa’el Ḥadad (1896, Baghdad–1968, Tel Aviv)

life of the Babylonians in Palestine.1 As Mantsur’s name is not mentioned in either Ya‘ari’s study (1940) of publishers in Baghdad between 1866 and 1924, or in Ben Ya‘akov’s various comprehensive studies on the Babylonians’ history and culture, it is likely that he started his career as a publisher only after his arrival in Palestine. His books, which are examined here, indicate Jerusalem as the only place of publication. Notwithstanding the fact that in 1954 Mantsur had already been in Jerusalem for twenty-seven years, his miṣḥaf mirrors the strong continuity of the paraliturgical tradition amongst the Babylonians in both Jerusalem and Baghdad. 1  Mantsur’s wife, son and daughter joined him in 1929. I thank Professor Ya’aqov Mantsur (b. 1924, Baghdad), Saleḥ Ben Ya‘aqov Mantsur’s son, for the information about his father and his family.

18

Chapter 1

This is evident in both the body of songs that he had gathered and the occasions on which these songs are performed, as well as in the editorial and the structural features of this collection, which are similarly presented in the 1906 Miṣḥaf. Moreover, the Babylonians’ custom of using a variety of written sources for this practice had also been retained. Alongside the new miṣḥaf, they continued to use the 1906 collection, which includes 284 identical songs but which also offers another 132 songs that do not appear in the 1954 collection. 2

Name and Meaning

‘Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥoth’ [‘[The] Holy Book of Praises’] is a term the Babylonians use for any book that comprises songs of praise to God. The combination of Arabic and Hebrew words in this term reflects what is perhaps the most significant characteristic of the PLS as a genre amalgamating Jewish and Arabo-Islamic cultures and traditions. The word ‘miṣḥaf’ in the Babylonian Judaeo-Arabic vernacular derives from the literary Arabic word ‘muṣḥaf’, which can originally be found in the Qur’ān, and which refers to a physical book of holy scripture of any kind. This word, like many other words, which appears in the Qur’ān, is a loanword from Ethiopic (Nöldeke 1910: 31). In Judaeo-Arabic, miṣḥaf has the same meaning, but it also refers to a codex of the Hebrew Bible, rather than to a scroll. The word ‘shbaḥoth’ [‘praises’, s. ‘shbaḥ’] is the Babylonians’ pronunciation of the Hebrew word ‘shvaḥot’ (or ‘shvaḥim’) [s. ‘shevaḥ’ or ‘shvaḥ’]. This word is similar to the Arabic word ‘tasbīḥāt’ [‘praises’, s. ‘tasbīḥ’], which also has a similar Ethiopic source (Nöldeke ibid., 36). Both the Hebrew and the Arabic words possess the same religious meaning of praising God. The Shevaḥ is described in studies of Hebrew sacred poetry as a type of piyyut [Hebrew hymn, pl. piyyutim], which accompanies the reading of Psalms in the Morning Prayer. Its name was retrieved from the first verse of the blessing cited at the beginning of this group of hymns: ‘Melekh mehulal batishbaḥot’ [‘King extolled with praises’]. This genre was renewed in the period of the late Eastern piyyut during the ninth and tenth centuries. Gradually, a part of the Shevaḥ was transferred to the Sliḥot [Penitential Hymns, s. Sliḥah], a group of hymns practised in the days before Ro’sh Hashanah [the Jewish New Year, lit. ‘Head of Year’] (Schirmann 1997: 704).2 Only the Babylonians use Shbaḥoth as a generic term denoting the PLSs. This is despite the fact that in different collections, especially those published in Palestine before 1948 and 2  For the Jewish New Year, see Appendix 1, Section 3.16.

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

19

in Israel after 1948, the terms ‘pizmonim’ [‘songs with a refrain’, s. ‘pizmon’] or ‘shirim’ [‘songs’] often replaced ‘shbaḥoth’. According to Morris Hadad (1932, Baghdad–2017, Ramat Gan) (12 August 2005), ‘shbaḥ’ was the only term in use in Baghdad and ‘pizmon’ had started to be used only later on in Israel as an additional term. ‘Shbaḥoth’, adds Hadad (ibid.), ‘comes from “leshabeaḥ” [“to praise”], and these songs are intended for praising God’. Similarly, Ben Ya‘akov (1985: 189) describes The Book of Praises as follows: ‘The Book of Songs named Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥoth originated from the word “shbaḥ”, “praise”, because when singing these songs we praise God. And the people who sing these songs are named “Ahl al-Shbaḥoth” [“the Praises’ Owners”]’.3 The Shbaḥ, both as a liturgical hymn and as a non-liturgical song, has a long history amongst the Babylonians. It can be traced back to the tenth century in ‘Abbasid Baghdad, where Jewish poets wrote poetry in praise of God and of distinguished members of the community. Shbaḥoth were sung at social celebrations and ceremonies such as the coronation of ra’shey hagolah [the heads of the diaspora] (Beeri 2000: 94). The members of the Albardany family, whose history is documented from Sa‘adyah Ga’on’s time for a period of three generations, were known as both poets and cantors of Shbaḥoth, which were sometimes called ‘Shirey Tehilah’ [‘Songs of Praise’] (Beeri 2002: 7). The traveller Petaḥyah Ben Ya’aqov of Ratisbon, who set out on his journey from Prague between 1170 and 1180 and visited Syria, Persia, Palestine and Baghdad in 1175, described the religious life of the Babylonian Jews at that time (Pethahiah Ben Jacob 1861: 45).4 When depicting the liturgy and the Morning Prayer of the Babylonians, he uses the term ‘shvaḥot’. It is not completely clear to which particular part of this prayer he is referring, but it is obvious that he was not describing the PLS. Nevertheless, it does show that this term was still prevalent amongst Babylonians at that point in time. 3

Structure and Organisation

The 368 songs and five other passages in the 1954 Miṣḥaf are arranged into thirty-two groups. The first twenty-nine groups comprise songs for specific occasions, while the last three include songs for various occasions.5 The

3  For more about Ahl al-Shbaḥoth and their performance practice, see al-Hanafi (1963: 192). 4  For more about his work, see Appendix 1, Sections 3.11 and 3.12. 5  For the list of all the occasions in the two mṣāḥif, see Appendix 1, Tables 2.1 and 2.2, respectively.

20

Chapter 1

specific occasions are organised according to two types of social settings in which the practice is held: communal and private. The communal celebrations are presented according to their time in the liturgical year, and are subdivided according to the frequency with which they are celebrated. First, there are the Baqashot [Supplications, s. Baqashah], which used to be performed every morning, then, on the weekly practice of the Sabbath, followed by the monthly celebration of the beginning of the Jewish month. The last section covers various festivals which are celebrated once a year, such as Pesaḥ [Passover] and Shavu‘ot [Pentecost].6 The private celebrations include life-cycle events, and they are presented in the following order: wedding, circumcision, Bar Mitsvah. The last three groups of PLSs offer a repertoire of songs, which are not presented under a title of any particular occasion. Two indices of all the songs appear on the first pages of the miṣḥaf. The first is Mafteḥot Hapizmonim ‘Al Seder Hayamim [Index of the Songs According to the Order of the Days [of the occasions]] (Miṣḥaf 1954: 3), with reference to the pages in the miṣḥaf for each occasion. The second index, Mafteḥot [Index [of the Songs]] (Miṣḥaf ibid., 4), presents a list of the songs in alphabetical order based on the first letter of the opening verse or incipit. Next to the opening verse appears a combination of letters that, when decoded into numbers, indicates the location of the poem in the miṣḥaf. 4

The Songs of the Miṣḥaf

4.1 General Outlook The texts of these songs are of varying poetic forms, and most of their authors are not named.7 Most are written in Hebrew, but there are also a few in the

6  For the Baqashot, see, in this chapter, Paragraphs 6 and 6.1. For details about the Sabbath, Pesaḥ and Shavu‘ot, see Appendix 1, Sections 3.2, 3.8 and 3.15, respectively. 7  Each poem is coded in this book in the following form: M(x;y), whereby the letter ‘M’ is an abbreviation for the word ‘miṣḥaf’, ‘x’ denotes the page number on which the poem appears, and ‘y’ the poem number. Both ‘x’ and ‘y’ are decoded from Hebrew letters to numbers. When referring to a group of successive poems M(x–x; y–y), ‘x–x’ denotes the first and last page number of the group, respectively, and ‘y–y’ its first and last poem number. The songs in the 1906 Miṣḥaf are marked in the same manner except for the pages, as only one side of each of the pages is marked. Therefore, each page is also indicated by the letter ‘A’ or ‘B’ denoting the first and second sides of the page, respectively. In cases in which the collection of songs written by Najarah is mentioned, the letter ‘N’, denoting Najarah, appears instead of ‘M’, and the page number is marked in the same way as in the 1906 Miṣḥaf and for the same reason.

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

21

Judaeo-Arabic vernacular, Aramaic, and Turkish, and they are all written in the Hebrew alphabet.8 It is not surprising to find this wide range of languages. Until the third century, prayers were allowed to be recited in any language, and Greek was the most popular. From then on, the dominant language used in the liturgy was Hebrew, with a few Aramaic exceptions, such as the Qadish [Holy], a prayer that is recited at the end of the individual sections of the liturgy or after the burial of a blood relation. The process by which Hebrew replaced Greek as the liturgical language was described by de Lange (2001: 30) as a drastic cultural transformation with far-reaching consequences, most of which remain unknown. And it must be assumed, according to de Lange that a profound educational reform contributed to this change but this too remains terra incognita. It was only in the nineteenth century that the vernacular in each of the communities was reintroduced, and even then they were only introduced into the Reform liturgy. The custom of using a number of languages in the paraliturgical text is prevalent amongst all Jewish communities in the East as well as in the West, and reflects ‘both something of Jewry’s unity and something of its pluralism’ (Shiloah 1992: 157). 4.2 Poetic, Religious and Musical Features The Hebrew poem with religious content known as the piyyut had started to be written as early as the first century. Most scholars define the piyyut primarily in the context of its function and setting in the liturgy. Both its function and its setting can be revealed by two of its devices: the first is the acrostic, which comprises a sequence of letters that spell the successive first letter of each of its verses, and the second is its concluding section, which comprises words leading to the next liturgical part in the prayer (Brody and Schirmann 1974: 12). Additionally, the piyyut can be subdivided into categories according to a number of its aspects, including its structure and its place of origin (Fleischer 1971: 598). Considering the history of the PLS and its practice, as revealed in this book, this genre is viewed here as a particular type of piyyut, namely, as a Hebrew religious poem which is intended for paraliturgical rather than liturgical worship. It is only rarely that a poem belonging to this repertoire appears also in the liturgy. The paraliturgical practice does not include the obligatory and fixed prayers, but rather functions as a complementary worship to the main observance of both communal and private occasions, which are both celebrated mostly outside the synagogue. The communal occasions are usually 8  For the different languages of each of the songs, see Appendix 3, Column 5.

22

Chapter 1

designated for the public celebration of festivals connected to the liturgical year. They mark significant events in the history of the People of Israel as documented in the Bible and in other religious sources, most of which are described as miracles wrought by God as proof of His love for His people.9 The private, or life-cycle, occasions are intended for the celebration of significant personal events in the life of a man and his male offspring, emphasising the core values of the Jewish creed. The 1954 Miṣḥaf presents for the first time a new paraliturgical occasion, Le’avi Habat [For the Father of a Girl], which is dedicated to the celebration of the birth of a baby girl and includes only one song. However, this song, ’Ayumah Mar’ayikh Har’ini [Awesome [Woman] Let Me See Your Face], M(212;316), which describes this baby as a beautiful woman, is intended for her father.10 On both communal and life-cycle occasions, the paraliturgical text focuses on rejoicing and praising God, while amalgamating words of hope for forgiveness, redemption of the nation, and assistance and support of the individual worshipper. Religious occasions, which mark calamities or misfortunes in the history of the nation or personal misfortunes such as death or illness, are not included in this repertoire. It is true that the poetic and musical features of the PLS are also key components in its creation and performance. However, these are also found in other poetic genres, both sacred and secular, and therefore they cannot be considered as the typical features which define the PLS as a distinctive genre. For example, the Arabic poetic genre known as Qiṭ‘a [pl. Qiṭa‘], which is discussed in detail in a later part of this chapter, has not more than ten bipartite lines, with the rhyming scheme ‘aa ba ca da’, (each pair of letters represents one line). ’Ibn Gabirol’s (1020–1057, Muslim Spain) Baqashah, a type of PLS which is also discussed in a later part of this chapter, Shaḥar ’Avaqeshkha [I Shall Earnestly Seek For You [My Lord]], M(44;60), is a Qiṭ‘a. However, it is neither the sole poetic genre of the PLS, nor of the Baqashot. Furthermore, the Qiṭ‘a can also appear in a form of a secular poem with earthly and mundane themes. As to the music, the types, genres and origins of the melodies adapted to the PLSs are almost endless.

9  Excluding one occasion, Leyamim Nora’im Ule‘aseret Yemey Tshuvah [For the High Holy Days and the Ten Days of Repentance], the days between the New Year and the Day of Atonement, which are intended for self-reflection, requesting forgiveness from God, and religious and moral resolutions. The occasion includes seven PLSs M(129–134;176–182). See Appendix 1, Section 3.16. 10  For Mu‘alem’s rendition of this song, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/ song.aspx?songid=253#1,14,1184,24 (n.d.).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

23

4.3 Religious Status and Definition The religious status of the PLS, as a form of practice that is not instructed or regulated by any halakhic law, is the only idiosyncratic feature of this genre.11 It defines the very nature of the genre, regardless of both its poetic and musical characteristics. As such, the PLS differs from the liturgy in the following ways: – The PLS is written only in poetry, unlike the liturgy, which is also written in prose. – The paraliturgical text is not restricted to Hebrew, while in the liturgy the text is written mostly in Hebrew and in special cases in Aramaic. – The PLS does not include the brakhah [benediction, pl. brakhot], which is a pivotal component in liturgical prayer.12 – The paraliturgical text is written to be sung, unlike the liturgical text, which can also be performed in plain recitation or read.13 – The PLS can be performed with or without instrumental accompaniment, while in the liturgy such rendition is forbidden for various reasons. Two of the central ones are that Jews are in a constant state of mourning over the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) and thus all music is prohibited (Talmud Bavli, Sotah 48a).14 The second reason is that on the Sabbath and on a yom ṭov [major holiday], such as Passover and Tabernacles, playing musical instruments is prohibited. This is because when you play instruments, you eventually have to repair them, and repairing objects is one of the thirtynine prohibited forms of work during these days (Mishnah, Mo‘ed, Beitsah 5:2; Mishneh Torah, Zmanim, Hilkhot Shabbat 23:4; and Shulḥan ‘Arukh, ’Oraḥ

11  For the different sources of paraliturgical material which do not indicate any halakhic instruction regarding the practice itself, see Chapter 3, Paragraph 1.1. 12  There are passages which include the brakhah, such as M(182;259), but they are not PLSs. They were added because they are recited just before a celebration of a particular paraliturgical occasion, such as a wedding meal. 13  Many of the PLSs describe the act of praising God through singing and other means, suggesting the involvement of music in this religious practice, such as that sung by choruses M(76B;176), and musical instruments such as the violin and the harp M(160B;385). 14  The Talmud Bavli [Babylonian Talmud] is an authoritative work of Jewish law based on commentaries on and analysis of the Mishnah, the written text of Jewish oral law. It follows the structure of the Mishnah and includes six orders (sdarim, s. seder), each with sixty to sixty-three tractates (masakhtot, s. masekhet). Each tractate is divided into chapters (praqim, s. pereq), and there are 570 in total. They are numbered according to the Hebrew alphabet, and they comprise several verses (mishnayot, s. mishnah) (see the following note). The Talmud Bavli was transmitted orally for centuries prior to its compilation in Babylon in about the fifth century. References to this source are marked here in the following format: Talmud Bavli, tractate name and page number with an indication of its sides, namely, a or b. For more, see Note 17 in this chapter.

24

Chapter 1

Ḥayim, Hilkhot Shabbat, 338 and 339).15 However, in both the liturgical and paraliturgical realms, the use of Arabic music, whether with respect to the vocal, in the liturgy, or with respect to both the vocal and the instrumental, in the paraliturgical practice, was always highly encouraged and praised by many halakhic authorities within the Arabo-Islamic Diaspora (RosenfeldHadad 2017: 178–193). – As will be shown in this book, the performance of a particular PLS on a particular occasion is not fixed. The worshipper can select any number of songs and perform them on any occasion and in any order he chooses. Liturgical practice, on the other hand, comprises fixed prayers in a fixed sequence with almost a fixed version of their respective texts, which are never to be changed. As early as the eighth century, two different schools of rites had developed: the Palestinian, which lasted until the twelfth century, and the Babylonian, which was created by the rabbinic leaders of the Babylonian Sura and Pumbedita 15  The Mishnah [whose title is derived from the verb ‘shanah’, ‘to study’, ‘to learn’, ‘to teach’, ‘to be repeated’] is the first set of Jewish oral rabbinic laws; it is based on the 613 commandments of the Torah and dates to between 536 BCE and 70 CE. It was written down by Rabbi Yehudah Hansi’ in 220 CE, and comprises six orders; each order is divided into seven to twelve tractates, and so there are sixty-three tractates in total. Each tractate is then divided into chapters and verses. The sources of the Mishnah quoted here are coded in the following manner: Mishnah, order name, tractate name, chapter number, and mishnah number.  The Torah comprises the following five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; it is the first part of the Tanakh [the Hebrew Bible]. The meaning of the word ‘torah’ is ‘instruction’, ‘teaching’ or ‘guidance’, and thus the Torah, according to Jewish tradition, is the guidance and teaching imparted to the People of Israel by divine revelation. The common term for the Torah is the ‘Pentateuch’, a word that comes from the Greek word ‘Pentateuchos’, which refers to a work of five volumes.  Mishneh Torah [Repetition of the Torah] was written by the leading rabbi, physician and philosopher Maimonides (1135, Cordoba–1204, Egypt). His monumental work consists of fourteen books covering Jewish law in every aspect of Jewish life and worship. Each of the first seven books (except for the second) includes between three to seven sets of laws (halakhot, s. halakhah), and the rest are dedicated to one particular set. This source is marked here in the following manner: Mishneh Torah, book name, set of laws, chapter number and law number.  The Shulḥan ‘Arukh [Set Table] is a key authoritative work in halakhic law which was written by Rabbi Yosef Ben ’Efrayim Qaro (1488, Toledo–1575, Safed). It comprises four parts, each of which includes a few chapters; each chapter includes a few divisions (simanim, s. siman), and each division contains a few paragraphs (se‘eifim, s. se‘eif). This work includes halakhic ruling regarding prayer, synagogue, the Sabbath and festivals. It is marked here in the following manner: Shulḥan ‘Arukh, part name, chapter name, division number and paragraph number. For more about the prohibition of music in Judaism, see Rosenfeld-Hadad (2017: 180).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

25

academies between the sixth and the eleventh centuries. The Babylonian leaders fixed both the text and the prayer order during the ninth and tenth centuries and provided halakhic instructions for their recitation. In the following centuries, all known versions of the Jewish liturgy amongst various Jewish communities across the Diaspora retained the Babylonian basic structure and its main textual features, but they added texts in different sections of the prayers with details concerning the ritual itself. The invention of printing in the sixteenth century led to the standardisation of the core part of the liturgy and the elimination of most crucial differences between the various Diaspora communities. – The PLS can be sung at any time, unlike the liturgy, in which the service has to be practised at a fixed and well-defined hour of the day and time of the year (see, for example, Mishneh Torah, ’Ahavah, Hilkhot Tfilah, 1: 3–10). – The PLS can be performed by any number of worshippers, unlike the liturgy, in which a minyan [ten men] is the minimum number required to hold a prayer gathering (Talmud Bavli, Megilah 23b). – Women, men and children can take part in the singing of PLSs and participate as equals in terms of their religious status.16 As to women’s singing in public or private spheres, the Babylonian Talmud (Brakhot 24a) was the first to prohibit men from listening to a woman’s voice. This ban, which was mentioned in the context of the liturgy, was debated for centuries by different rabbis. They referred to both the type of voice heard, that is, singing or speech, and the circumstances in which the voice is heard, that is, at home or in public places, as well as to the kinship between the man/men and the woman/women. Shulḥan ‘Arukh in ’Even Ha‘ezer (Hilkhot ’Ishut, 21:2), the part which deals with issues of marriage and divorce, limits the prohibition only to singing, and permits it for the voice of one’s wife and of an unmarried woman at all times except during the liturgy. In the liturgy, women and children are not considered a necessary part of the prayer, since they are not included in the minyan. Furthermore, according to the Mishnah (Nashim, Kidushin 1:7) women are exempt from every mitsvat ‘aseh shehazman gramah [active commandment which is time-dependent], that is, every commandment which instructs the worshipper to actively involve himself in doing something at a particular time – unlike a mitsvat lo’ ta‘aseh [a prohibiting commandment], which instructs the worshipper to avoid doing a certain activity. The Gmara’ (Brakhot 20b) explains that indeed prayers are tantamount to a time-dependent commandment but that, since they are also 16  For the religious status of Syrian women and their role within the paraliturgical realm, see Shelemay (2009: 274).

26

Chapter 1

a means by which the worshipper asks for God’s forgiveness and help, women are also obligated to take part as they also need God’s support.17 Still, as to the number of prayers that women must recite each day, there are a myriad of rabbinic opinions, formed during the long centuries in the Diaspora and then in Israel, that address this topic. Some encourage two prayers a day, and some only one, and preferably Tfilat Shaḥarit [[the] Morning Prayer], while others prescribe only a short version of this prayer. – The PLS can be performed in private and in public places other than the synagogue. The liturgical prayers, on the other hand, are held mostly in the synagogue. These differentiating characteristics of the PLS have had and continue to have far-reaching implications for its role in the religious and cultural lives of ArabJews. My argument here is that this flexibility was one of the major reasons why the PLS became a free and open channel for absorbing Arabo-Islamic cultural trends, amalgamating them with Jewish values and thereby creating a hybridisation of Jewish and Arabo-Islamic religions and cultures. This hybridisation survived the long centuries of diasporic life, and life later on in Israel, and it was and still is emblematic of the religio-cultural life not only of the Babylonians but also of many other Arab-Jewish communities. 5

The Emergence of the Paraliturgical Song

The poems of the miṣḥaf show clearly that the history of the paraliturgical text is not necessarily the history of the PLS. Shiloah (1992: 111) describes the emergence of the piyyut, which he defines as a religious sung poem performed outside the liturgy, and that it is a product of a socio-religious process. He asserts that ‘over the course of time the piyyut broke through the limitations of liturgy and synagogue song and found an accepted niche in public and private ceremonial occasions’. Shiloah, however, does not mention any particular time in the past in which the PLS emerged.

17  The Gmara’, which is the Aramaic name for the Talmud, as described in Note 14 in this chapter, is a large-scale work of rabbinic understanding of the Mishnah. It is presented in the form of discussions that are documented in a series of books organised in accordance with the structure of the Mishnah and thus includes six orders. There are two versions of the Gmara’: the Yerushalmi [from Jerusalem], which was compiled in Israel (in Tiberius and Caesarea) between 350 and 400 CE; and the Bavli [the Babylonian], which was created in Babylon (in Sura and Pumbedita) around 500 CE. This source is marked here like the Babylonian Talmud; see Note 14 in this chapter.

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

27

There are scholars, such as Tietze and Yahalom (1995: 9), who tend to mark the sixteenth century, with the appearance of the poetry of Israel Ben Mosheh Najarah (1555, Damascus–1625, Gaza), as a starting point for the appearance of the genre. This is despite the fact that Najarah’s poems are not radically different from much earlier religious poems. Tietze and Yahalom describe Najarah’s songs as a kind of paraliturgical poetry performed at special pre-dawn rituals of devotion. It is also agreed amongst scholars that the PLS emerged in this period when the service was rapidly being standardised and fixed by the printing press. At this time, new poetry was mainly created for, and nurtured by, Jewish communal and life-cycle events, and it was intended for paraliturgical settings such as the Sabbath, weddings and circumcisions. A few developments in poetry, religious practice and music in ‘Abbasid Baghdad of the first half of the tenth century can perhaps help to determine that the PLS had started to be written and performed in a much earlier period. Two of the most important features of the PLS, namely that it is a sung religious poem which is performed outside liturgical settings and that it amalgamates Jewish and Arabo-Islamic elements of form and content, had started to develop in this period. Both features are evident in the work of the Babylonian leader Sa‘adyah Ben Yosef Ga’on. He was the first to write religious poems intended for private celebrations, such as weddings and circumcisions (Fleischer 1971: 573), and Baqashot (Tobi 2000: 125), and he was the first to combine Jewish values and Hebrew poetic forms with Arabo-Islamic ideas and aesthetics (Tobi 1996: 29).18 Furthermore, in music, the work of Sa‘adyah Ga’on also marks an important stage in the influence of Arabo-Islamic culture on Jewish culture. By following mainly the al-Kindī (801–873, Baghdad) School, as it were, he was the first to bring musical theory into Jewish religious writing. From then on, music became an intellectual challenge to the rabbinic authorities in the Arabo-Islamic cultural milieu (Boehm 1971: 591). Two other key innovations in sung Hebrew religious poetry were introduced by Dunash Ben Labrat (915, Fez–970, Cordoba, and lived in Baghdad), Sa‘adyah Ga’on’s devoted student, who was also a leading poet and musician of that time (I will discuss his work in more detail in Chapter 2). Impressed by the intense engagement of Muslim poets with the creation of strophic Arabic poetry, which would be also easy to sing, Dunash strove to create this same form in his Hebrew poetry. In order to facilitate further the singing of Hebrew poems, he also adapted the Arabic quantitative metre, which gives duration to 18  In fact, Ḥivi Habalkhi (middle of the ninth century, Balkh, Khorasan, modern-day Afghanistan) was the first to write a polemic poem intended for paraliturgical practice, but he was not as influential as Sa‘adyah Ga’on; see Tobi (2000: 125).

28

Chapter 1

the syllables of the words.19 Still, the definite point in the past at which music was added to Hebrew religious poetry and created the paraliturgical genre remains elusive. The poems in the assorted collections mentioned in this book, which were written before the sixteenth century, are regarded here as PLSs despite the uncertainty concerning their original function in Jewish religious practice. Their status as PLSs is bestowed on them by the mere fact that they appear in the written sources of the Babylonians and that they are performed as PLSs. 6

The Four Types of Paraliturgical Song

Characterised by their function within paraliturgical practice, the songs may be regarded as consisting of four main types: – Baqashot Le’ashmoret Haboqer [Supplications for Dawn] are performed at dawn before the Morning Prayer. This type has a parallel religious genre that was prevalent in the early Islamic period called ‘Zuhdiyya’ [‘Ascetic Poem’, pl. Zuhdiyyāt, from the verb ‘zahada’, ‘to renounce’ or ‘to turn away from’]. After the second half of the ninth century, this genre was in decline and new types of mystical poetry became popular.20 Fenton (1982: 125) describes Jewish worshippers taking part in Sufi ceremonies, at which the Zuhdiyyāt were performed, during the very early stages of this type of worship in Islam. Moreover, ‘Oriental Jews’, as Fenton calls them, incorporated into the liturgy in general and the practice of the Baqashot in particular a few elements of these ceremonies. However, he does not give specific examples.21 Both the Jewish and the Islamic genres are affiliated with mystical aspects of worship, which are all intended to create a spiritual union between the worshipper and God: both genres are recited at dawn and present ideas put forward by sages in mystical ceremonies and prayers (Hamori 1990B: 265). – Pizmonim [Songs with a Refrain, s. Pizmon] are performed on various communal or life-cycle occasions. – Pizmonim Shonim [Various Songs with a Refrain] are performed on any occasion. – Ptiḥot [Introductory Songs, s. Ptiḥah] are short songs often sung as the opening section of a group of PLSs performed on any occasion.22 19  For more about the quantitative metre, see Chapter 2, Paragraph 4.1.1. See also Farmer (1943: 9). 20  See Kennedy (1998: 828). See also Chapter 2, Paragraph 5.1.1. 21  For further details, see Fenton (ibid., 124). 22  The title for this type appears in the miṣḥaf as Ptiḥot (Maqāmāt) [Introductory Songs [and] (Arabic Musical Scales)]. From now on, this type will be referred to as ‘Ptiḥot’.

29

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

Table 1.1 gives the locations of these four types in the 1954 Miṣḥaf and the number of songs that each type includes: Table 1.1

Types of PLSs in the 1954 Miṣḥaf

Type

Location

Number of PLSs

Baqashot Le’ashmoret Haboqer Pizmonim Pizmonim Shonim Ptiḥot Qe‘arat Kesef [[The] Silver Bowl]** Total Number of PLSs

M(11–54;1–76) M(54–214;77–319) M(214–228;320–343) M(228–235;344–372) M(236;373)

76 238* 24 29 1 368

* Excluding five passages: M(68;100) and M(231;358), both comprise various combinations of quoted biblical verses (for M(231;358), see also Appendix 2); M(182;259) and M(211;31) both include different benedictions (for M(182;259), see also Appendix 1, Section 3.21); and M(180;256) comprises pronunciations of the Hebrew alphabet in different orders. ** Written by Yosef Ben Ḥanan Ben Natan ’Ezobi (thirteenth century, Provence).

Not surprisingly, these four types are named differently in the 1906 Miṣḥaf.23 Furthermore, in practice they are all called ‘Shbaḥoth’ by the Babylonians. In Najarah’s first edition of Zmirot Yisra’el [Songs of Israel] (Safed, 1587), all the songs of the first part entitled ‘Olat Tamid [Habitual Burnt Offering] are named ‘Pizmonot’ [alternative plural for ‘Pizmon’]. In the second edition (Venice, 1599) (see Figure 1.2), these songs appear under different terms, which are mentioned at the heading of each song, namely Pizmon, Baqashah, etc.24 Furthermore, in this same book Najarah uses two different terms for songs dedicated to the same occasion. For example, in a group of songs intended for the bridegroom, the more folkloristic and traditional songs are called ‘piyyutim’, and the other songs, which are regarded as secular songs, are called ‘Pizmonim’ or ‘Shirim’. ‘Baqashot Le’ashmoret Haboqer’ (‘Baqashot’ in short) and ‘Ptiḥot’ are the only two terms used in the miṣḥaf which have been identified as distinctive terms in leading studies on Hebrew religious poetry, such as those by Schirmann (1997), Fleischer (1975) and Levin (1986). Fleischer (1978: 5) describes ‘Pizmon’ as ‘the 23  See Appendix 1, Table 2.1 and Table 2.2. 24  In the original book located in the Cambridge University Library, there is a handwritten remark that marks 1599 as the date of publication of the Venice edition. However, Davidson (1924–1933: 33) marks the date of publication as 1599–1600 (shin nun tet-shin samekh), and Beeri (1990: 411) marks the date of publication as 1600.

30

Chapter 1

Figure 1.2 The title page of Zmirot Yisra’el [Songs of Israel], second edition, Venice, 1599 University of Cambridge Collection

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

31

most widespread term in Hebrew religious poetry of all times and yet the most unclear’ and discusses its liturgical aspects. 6.1 Baqashot Le’ashmoret Haboqer The seventy-six Baqashot in the miṣḥaf are written mostly in Hebrew, with a few in Judaeo-Arabic, Aramaic and Turkish. The term ‘baqashot’ is widely used in key studies on Hebrew poetry to denote two types of religious poems (Schirmann 1997: 674, 701). The long Baqashah, which is written as prozah piyyutit [poetic or rhymed prose] or as melitsah ḥaruzah [rhymed metaphor], expresses the poet’s view on subjects such as the creation of the world and various philosophical and theological ideas. The first to write in this genre was Sa‘adyah Ga’on; later on in Muslim Spain of the eleventh century, ’Ibn Gabirol also wrote his greatest poem Keter Malkhut [The Kingly Crown] in this genre.25 The short Baqashah was one of the important innovations of the Hebrew poets in Muslim Spain, and was initially developed by the prominent poet Yitsḥaq ’Ibn Mar Sha’ul (also known as Yitsḥaq Ben Levi, early eleventh century). In a later stage in its development, during the eleventh and the twelfth centuries, it was further refined by ’Ibn Gabirol, ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’, Mosheh ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ and Yehudah Halevi.26 This type of Baqashah expresses, in the form of a lyrical, personal and direct appeal to God, the religious world of the individual worshipper, including his regrets over sins and his wishes for God’s forgiveness. Its topic is one of the key issues that occupied the poets of the time (Levin 1986: 92). This genre was strongly influenced by Islamic ideas, which brought about radical changes in Hebrew religious poetry. As a result, its focus shifted from the ‘concerns of the community, toward the inner religious experience of the individual’, with a new emphasis on the cultivation and purification of the soul (Scheindlin 1991: 22). Other themes, such as the nature of God, the Sabbath, and the redemption of the People of Israel, which are essentially derived from Jewish sources, can also appear in this genre. All the Baqashot of this type are written in the metric pattern called Hamerubeh (Wāfir in Arabic), with a single rhyming pattern: U---/U---/U--// U---/U---/U-- (‘U’ denotes a short syllable, and ‘-’ denotes a long syllable).27 They usually carry haruz mavriah [closing rhyme], in which the first part of the first 25  Keter Malkhut is frequently recited as a private devotion after the evening service of The Day of Atonement. For the philosophical aspects of this poem, which was mainly influenced by Islamic Neoplatonism, see Loewe (1989) and Levin (2005). 26  I will discuss these poets in more detail in Chapter 2. For their songs in the miṣḥaf, see Appendix 3. 27  For the three variations of this pattern in the Arabic wāfir, see Stoetzer (1998: 621).

32

Chapter 1

hemistich rhymes with the last part of the last hemistich. ’Ibn Gabirol also wrote Baqashot in a strophic form, such as Kol Bru’ey Ma‘lah Umatah [God’s Creation in Heaven and on Earth], which appears in the miṣḥaf M(1;11).28 Originally, this type of poem was supposed to be practised at dawn before Shaḥarit [the Morning Prayer] on Sabbaths and festivals by a single worshipper or the cantor alone. In the sixteenth century, it was encouraged by the disciples of the qabbalist [Jewish mystic] leader Isaac Luria (1534, Jerusalem–1572, Safed), who stressed the importance of singing every day, especially after midnight. From the town of Safed, these rituals spread to other Jewish communities. The first Baqashot appeared in Sephardi prayer books from the seventeenth century, and they are presented therein as a daily practice but not as an integral part of the liturgy. Later on, as a result of reduced attendance at prayer at such an early time of the day, they were confined to the Sabbath, except during the month of ’Elul, the sixth month in the Jewish calendar, which is a time of repentance preceding the High Holy Days.29 In Ḥalab (Aleppo) and Damascus, in Morocco, and in other closely related congregations in the twentieth century in Israel, the singing of Baqashot developed into a more independent religious activity.30 The Baqashot in the miṣḥaf seem to correspond in a few aspects to those of the Andalusian type (Muslim Spain). There are short poems with a single rhyme and with themes and the style as described above, and indeed they are performed at dawn. Nevertheless, there are also other poems, which appear in the group of Baqashot but do not have these features, and there are other types of songs, which carry these same characteristics. 6.2 Pizmonim The 238 Pizmonim in the miṣḥaf cover most of the poems and occasions in this collection, and include a variety of poetic forms. Most poems are written in Hebrew, but there are a few in Judaeo-Arabic, in a mixture of Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, or in Hebrew and Aramaic. Schirmann (1997: 696) and Fleischer (1978: 5) agree that the origin of the term ‘pizmon’ is quite obscure and that its use is varied. In Eastern Hebrew religious poetry, mostly that of Babylon and Palestine, until the ninth century, this term marked a kind of 28  For the rendition of this song by Barukh ‘Abdallah ‘Ezra, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/ nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx?songid=885#1,14,2931,693 (1951). I was not able to find any more information about this performer. 29  See Appendix 1, Section 3.16. 30  For the Baqashot gatherings in Jerusalem of the nineteenth century, see Seroussi (1993); for the Baqashot’s role in the life of the Moroccan Jews in Israel, see Seroussi (1985); and for this genre’s tradition in Jerusalem amongst the Ḥalabi community, see Yayama (2003).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

33

refrain: irregular interlocked fixed passages in strophic poems with symmetrical structure. Pizmonim were sung by the congregation or by a chorus with a different text after every stanza. In the period of the late Eastern poetry, during the ninth and tenth centuries, this term was used for passages of the chorus that were added by contemporary poets to older poems in which there was no role for the chorus. In Muslim Spain, from the tenth century onwards, the term was used for poems defined as ‘Me‘eyn-’Ezori’ [‘Quasi-Muwashshaḥ’], in which both the opening strophe and the refrain were called ‘pizmon’ (Schirmann 1997: 696).31 In the course of time, this term became widespread for a strophic piyyut with a refrain, and it is common in both Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions. It can also apply to the refrain in piyyutim in which either the first or the last line of the opening stanza is repeated as a refrain at the end of each stanza. Subsequently, the piyyutim with refrains were called ‘pizmonim’. In a later period, editors used the term ‘pizmonim’ for poems and songs in general. The term often appears on the title page of collections of the poems, particularly those collections printed by communities in Arabo-Islamic countries. The refrain does not appear as such in the poems of the miṣḥaf. However, in most of them it is constructed from different parts of their first stanza, and it is usually presented only by its first words. For example, in ’Ashir La’el [I Shall Sing to God], M(57;80), the refrain is taken from the last line of the first stanza and is marked with its opening word, ‘shimru’ [‘keep’].32 In Yarum Venisa’ [[God] Sits on a High and Lofty Throne], M(109;152), the refrain is taken from the last two lines and is marked with the word ‘’aḥish’ [‘[I shall] speed’].33 6.3 Pizmonim Shonim The twenty-four Pizmonim Shonim in the miṣḥaf are also of assorted poetic forms. They are written in Hebrew, except for two: one in Aramaic and the

31  For more about this genre, see Chapter 2, Paragraph 5.1.2. 32   For Mu‘alem’s rendition, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song .aspx?songid=341#1,14,1285,24 (n.d.). This melody is adapted from the nineteenth-century Ghazal, Qadduka-l-Mayyas Ya ‘Umri [Your Graceful Waist, O My Life [my love]], composed by Mullah ‘Uthmān Al Mauṣili (Mosul, Iraq). For the rendition of the song, see https://youtu.be/FFEO28dbCtI (2014), where it is performed by the prominent Syrian singer Ṣabāḥ Fakhrī (1933, Ḥalab). For Ḥabushah’s rendition with a different melody, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLtnQOsVqTA (2017). 33   For Mu‘alem’s rendition, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx? songid=82#1,14,335,24 (n.d.). For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see https://youtu.be/I5KXhwFrfeY (1986).

34

Chapter 1

other in Judaeo-Arabic.34 The term, as such, is not found in the leading studies on Hebrew religious poetry.35 6.4 Ptiḥot (Maqāmāt) The twenty-nine Ptiḥot in the miṣḥaf are presented in a similar form, in which a name of a maqām appears at the top-left side of each of the poems, denoting the musical mode of its recommended melody. This form of presentation has its roots in Turkish poetry, in which poems called ‘Kar-i Natik’ include the name of one particular maqām in each of their strophes (Seroussi 1990: 301). The Ptiḥot in the miṣḥaf are written in Hebrew, except for two, which are in Aramaic.36 Many are short, comprising not more than twelve lines, have a similar rhyming scheme, usually of one syllabic sound that runs throughout the poem, and are shaped in a metric pattern of eight to twenty-one syllables per line. Najarah wrote the earliest PLSs of this type in both mṣāḥif. The terms ‘ptiḥot’ and ‘ptiḥah’ appear mainly in ethnomusicological literature and in the context of paraliturgical practice. In the tradition of the Ḥalab Syrian Jews living in Israel, the Ptiḥah is performed as an interlude between two successive Baqashot. Its melody is an improvised modulation based on the maqāmāt of these two adjacent Baqashot, and its text is taken from a Psalm or from the last verse of the preceding Baqashah (Shiloah 1992: 151). The custom prevalent amongst the Syrian Jews living in the United States is to perform the Ptiḥah as an opening vocal improvisation to any PLS, much like they do with the Layālī, which is a vocal introduction to an Arabic song that establishes its atmosphere (Shelemay 1998: 12).37 The Babylonians regard this type of song as Maqām and use it as an opening vocal improvisation to any PLS. The use of Ptiḥah for this genre was added later on in Israel and thus appears only in the 1954 Miṣḥaf. Maqām in Arabic music in general, and in Iraqi music in particular, has several meanings. It is a general term for the Arabic musical scale, which is also called nagham, and an abbreviation for the Iraqi indigenous classical genre Al-Maqām Al-‘Irāqī [the Iraqi Maqām]. This genre was cultivated, preserved and passed on orally over 34  The Aramaic song is Leyt ’Eloha [God Only], M(215;323), and the Judaeo-Arabic is Min Y‘lam Min Yidri [Who Would Know, Who Would Make Out], M(226;343). 35  Such as Schirmann (1998), Fleischer (1975) and Levin (1986). 36  The first Ptiḥah is Yaḥev Ḥokhmata’ Leḥakimin [[God] Shall Bestow Wisdom on the Sages], M(232;361). For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see https://youtu.be/MNmNHbiuKxg (2013). This Ptiḥah is followed by the song ’Aḥay Me‘ayin ’Atem [My Brothers, Where Are You From?], M(200;295). The second Ptiḥah is Yishar Ḥeilakh Deḥil Ḥate’in [[May God] Enhance Your Strength [You Who] Fears Sin], M(232;362). Both of them are by Najarah. 37  For more about Layālī, see Touma (1996: 96) and al-Faruqi (1981: 156).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

35

the last 400 years mainly in Baghdad, and is rooted deep in the musical culture of all Iraqis, whether they are Muslims, Jews or Christians (Touma 1996: 55). Up until the twentieth century, when the East started to be exposed to Western culture and to develop a modern lifestyle, the Iraqi Maqām was the chief form of entertainment in the cultural life of the principal cities of Iraq – that is Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk – and was performed both on secular and religious occasions (Scheherazade 2001: 549). The Iraqi Maqām is based on a rich variety of Arabic poetic genres, such as the classical and ancient Qaṣīda [pl. Qaṣaīd], which can have up to one hundred bipartite lines with identical metre, and which is written in classical Arabic with the rhyming scheme ‘aa ba ca da’ (each pair of letters represents one line). Another poetic genre is the indigenous Zuhayrī, which is a sevenline poem with the rhyming scheme ‘aaa bbb a’, and which is mostly written in a language that is often a hybrid of rural and urban Iraqi Arabic dialects. The Zuhayrī, also known as ‘Mawwāl’, was named after the nineteenth-century poet Mulla Jadir al-Zuhayrī, who was one of the first poets to write in this genre (Abu Haidar 1988: 135; Avishur 1994: 18). Like most colloquial verse, it has been handed down orally. Singers frequently take liberties with the genre and sometimes change a word or two, or even a whole line. One of the most widespread performances of the Iraqi Maqām was in the Mawlid al-Nabī [The Prophet’s Birthday Ritual], the ritual practised at the celebration of the birth of the Prophet Muḥammad. This ritual is celebrated on two types of occasions: the first is Mawālīd Faraḥ [Happy Anniversaries], which include celebrations of the birth of the Prophet Muḥammad, and life-cycle occasions with religious significance, such as weddings, circumcisions, and the fulfilment of a wish or a return from Mecca. The second type is Mawālīd Kidir [Sad Anniversaries], which are performed at solemn events (Scheherazade 2001: 49).38 The Iraqi Maqām comprises five main fuṣūl [chapters, s. faṣl]; each is named after the main maqām presented within its frame. Each faṣl includes five to seven maqāmāt, and the performer can choose whether to sing all of them or only a few. Each maqām has a number of vocal and instrumental sections, which are performed alternately. The opening part, also called ‘maqām’, is a vocal presentation of the particular maqām sung to a classical poem. It begins with improvised passages that establish both the musical and the emotional characteristics of this particular maqām. These passages are sung in vocalised syllables or words in Turkish, such as ‘amān’ [‘alas’ or ‘mercy’], in Persian, such 38  For more details regarding these occasions celebrated in Baghdad, see Kojaman (2001: 56).

36

Chapter 1

as ‘yār yār’ [‘my companion’], and in Arabic, such as ‘yā layl’ [‘oh night’] and ‘laylī’ [‘my night’].39 The main features of this vocal introduction also appear in the Ptiḥah. Its melody functions in the same manner described above, and its performance, although not indicated in the text, includes these same words and syllables. All the Ptiḥot in the Mu‘alem Collection demonstrate these characteristics clearly. For example, there is the Ptiḥah ’Eli ’Al Yashuv Dakh Venikhlam [O God[,] Let Not the Downtrodden Turn Away the Ashamed], M(228;344), in maqām Ḥusaynī.40 It is sung with additional words which do not appear in the text, such as ‘amān’ and ‘yār’, as well as the Arabic ‘of of of’, which are syllables expressing agony, and the Persian ‘uddimaan’ [‘people’].41 A more recent rendition of one of the most popular Ptiḥot is Ben ’Adam Lamah Tid’ag ‘Al Hadamim [Man, Do Not Fear the Loss of Money], M(229;349), in maqām Birzawī. It is performed by Ḥabushah (2001) in maqām Rāst.42 In this rendition, the words ‘yā layl’ are replaced with the words ‘ya ’el’ [‘oh Lord’]. Ḥabushah’s explanation for the change is that on public religious occasions it is more appropriate to use these words but that at private celebrations he would use the words ‘yā layl’.43 Najarah, author of almost half of the Ptiḥot in the miṣḥaf, uses the word ‘ptiḥah’ in his book Zmirot Yisra’el (1599) to denote something completely ­different.44 The first part of his book, called ‘Olat Tamid [Habitual Burnt Offering] begins with an introduction in which the word ‘ptiḥah’ appears for the first time: ‘vezo’t ptiḥah nekhoḥah lekhol yavo’ lashir shir veshivḥah’ [‘and this ptiḥah is clear and simple to anyone [who wishes] to sing a song and praise 39  For a performance of this genre by Salim Shebath, see https://youtu.be/43rXLKPB4s8 (recorded 1962, uploaded 2017). Salim Shebath (1908, Baghdad–1981, Israel) was one of the most prominent singers amongst both Muslims and Jews whilst still in Baghdad and later on in his life in Israel. In Baghdad, he was also known as a talented and adored cantor; however, after his immigration to Israel in 1951 Shebath only rarely took part in any cantorial performances. See also Chapter 4, Introduction. 40  Psalms 75:21. For the maqām, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 1. 41  The translation is made according to the closest Persian word, ‘addamaan’. 42  At the end of this Ptiḥah, and the following one, ’Al Tid’ag ‘Al Hadamim M(229;349), appears an acronym with the letters ‫ נ”א‬nosaḥ ’aḥer [different version] followed by another version of these texts. I did not find any explanation for these variations in these texts. For maqām Birzawī, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 18; and for maqām Rāst, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 4. 43  For Ḥabushah’s rendition of this Ptiḥah, see https://youtu.be/IulKsBiQj1I (2001). For more details about this song, see Chapter 4, Table 4.18, Row 18, and Paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2, Example ‘e’. 44  Fourteen out of twenty-nine Ptiḥot. For the list of all the Ptiḥot including Najarah’s, see Chapter 4, Table 4.18, and Appendix 3 M(228–235;344–372).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

37

[God]’] (Najarah 1599: 5B). This is followed by the first song in the book, Ḥasdey Hashem ’Azkir [The Mercy of God I Shall Recall], N(6A;1). It is obvious that the word ‘ptiḥah’ in this context refers to the introductory part of the collection, rather than to a term denoting a specific type of PLS. This word appears next in the heading of the first song of ‘Olat Tamid, which is the Qaṣīda, ’Azamerkha ’Elohey Kol Yetsurim [I Shall Sing to You the God of All Creations], N(6;1). Najarah writes: ‘Ptiḥah beshir veshivḥah beshir shaqul laḥan ma‘on hakol vetsur hakol ve’oro[,] ‘aravi. Rāst.’ [‘Ptiḥah with song and praise in metered song[,] [according to the] melody of [the song] Dwelling Place of All and the Rock and Light of All[,] Arabic [song]. [In maqām] Rāst’]. It is clear here that the word ‘ptiḥah’ refers to the first song as the opening song of the collection.45 In this song, perhaps because it is the first, Najarah puts his full name in its acrostic: ‘’Ani Yisra’el Bar Mosheh Najarah Ḥazaq’ [‘I Am Israel the Son of Moses Najarah [the] Mighty’], unlike many other songs on which his name appears as ‘Israel’. 6.5 The Special Case of the ‘Atābah Among the Ptiḥot, one poem with an unknown poet, Lekha ’Ani Vekhaspi [I and All I Have Are Yours], M(234;370), is marked as ‘Atābah [Reprimand, pl. ‘Atābāt], rather than the recommended maqām for its rendition.46 The Atābah is a popular genre of Iraqi folk song written in Iraqi dialect. It is attributed to the semi-settled Bedouin in Iraq, the Jibur tribe, who live in the Tigris region and around the Euphrates. This strophic poem comprises four lines in each stanza based on the rhyming scheme ‘aaab’, where ‘b’ always rhymes with the word ‘‘atābah’. The genre was very popular in Iraq amongst Muslims and Jews for both secular and religious themes.47 The secular themes are love, lamentations for separation from a lover, and the Bedouin life. The Muslims also employ the ‘Atābah as a religious genre for songs are performed on the Mawlid al-Nabī [The Prophet’s Birthday Ritual] in the extremely emotive part

45  In ‘Olat Tamid, there is a unique presentation of the songs which does not appear in the other parts of his collection. At the top of each of the songs, there appears a passage which has several verses quoted from various biblical, liturgical and other Jewish sources. Some of these passages have no punctuation, and their length is not more than four lines. They appear in all songs except for songs nos. 222, 223 and 225. The function of these passages in the paraliturgical practice has not yet been explored. 46  For Ḥabushah’s rendition of this song, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/ song.aspx?songid=16#1,14,940,11 (n.d.). 47  For the ‘Atābah genre prevalent in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine, see Asmar and Hodd (2001: 316).

38

Chapter 1

of the ritual reserved for the popular vocal form called ‘Frāgīyya’ [‘Songs of Separation’] (Scheherazade 2001: 549).48 The Jews of Baghdad also wrote in the ‘Atābah genre in Hebrew for various religious occasions. Although the typical theme of the ‘Atābah is sadness and grief, it is considered an entertainment song to be performed at weddings and miscellaneous other special events, but not at times of mourning. The traditional ‘Atābah was sung only by men and was usually performed without any instrumental accompaniment.49 In the last period of the Jews in Iraq, during the first half of the twentieth century, both Muslim and Jewish women performed this genre with the accompaniment of the rabābah, a singlestringed instrument. The number of instruments gradually increased into a full Chālghī, which is a typical Baghdadi ensemble of men only. It includes the sanṭūr [hammered dulcimer], the jūzah [four-string bow fiddle with coconut resonator], the daff zinjārī [frame drum with discs set into the frame] and the naqqāra [double kettledrum]. Lekha ’Ani Vekhaspi has the characteristics of ‘Atābah. It comprises nine stanzas, each of four lines and with the typical rhyming scheme ‘aaab cccb’ in which ‘b’ rhymes with the word ‘‘atābah’.50 It is possible though, that this Hebrew poem was written after a famous Arabic ‘Atābah which is yet to be identified. In any case, most of the songs in this genre are sung in maqām Bayāt.51 Qe‘arat Kesef [[The] Silver Bowl], M(236;373), by Yosef ’Ezobi (thirteenth century, Provence), is also marked with ‘Atābah (in its heading and in parentheses), but does not belong to the group of Ptiḥot. It is a Qaṣīda with 127 bipartite lines carrying the typical rhyming scheme of ‘aa ba ca da’. It could be that the melody of certain ‘Atābah was adapted to this text, since its last syllable in each of the hemistichs is ‘ra’, and hence rhymes with ‘ba’. Alternatively, 48  For a recent rendition of one of these Mawlid in Baghdad (2008), see https://youtu.be/ Vw_zZsPaqM0, and for the one in Ḥalab, see https://youtu.be/4AtZNIW2AHY (2012). 49  For a traditional Hebrew religious ‘Atābah Y’a Mosheh N’a [O Moses Please] performed by Ḥabushah with the ‘oud, see https://youtu.be/F8AEYDbMVRo (2012). The Hebrew text was written fairly recently, by Rabbi Shlomoh Salem (Ḥalab, 1897–Jerusalem, 1978), to the Lebanese ‘Atābah Jabalnah [Our Mountain] in maqām Bayāt. For maqām Bayāt, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 2. For the performance of the Arabic song by the Lebanese singers Wadi’ El Ṣafī (1921–2013) and Sabaḥ (1927–2014) (in 2010), see https://youtu.be/ lu018-mw0dI. 50  The words which rhyme with ‘‘atābah’ in the nine stanzas, respectively, are ‘beḥibah’ [‘with affection’], ‘‘arevah’ [‘pleasant’], ‘veseyvah’ [‘old age’], ‘bah’ [‘in it’], ‘haḥashuvah’ [‘the important’], ‘h‘arevah’ [‘the pleasant’], ‘bah’ [‘in it’], ‘qrovah’ [‘close’] and ‘beqirbah’ [‘within her’]. 51  For more about this Ptiḥah, see Chapter 4, Table 4.18, Row 15, and Paragraph 5.2.

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a Holy Book of Paraliturgical Songs

39

perhaps, since the ‘Atābah is always performed in maqām Bayāt, its appearance here means that this PLS should be performed on this same maqām. 7

Music in the Miṣḥaf

In addition to the Ptiḥot, the scant musical information given in the miṣḥaf is scattered over only a few headings of the poems. Each such heading includes a recommended melody of another song, which is indicated by its opening words. Only 15 out of the 371 songs have headings of this type. There are no particular qualities shared by these songs that appear to differentiate them from the other songs in the miṣḥaf. Furthermore, this musical information does not assist in tracing the original songs. However, it reveals the rich sources from which the melodies were borrowed.52 8

Text and Melody in the Paraliturgical Song: Fixed Text and Ephemeral Melody

The fact that Babylonian Jews, like all communities of Arab-Jews, have sung these poems to a variety of melodies for so many centuries – and in fact continue to sing them today – is living proof that this poetry was designed to be sung rather than read. Both the text and the melody of the PLS, as well as the features of its performance practice, represent the dichotomy between their fixed and their ephemeral components, which simultaneously contradict and complement each other. The poetry, which follows strict rules of language, form and style, was written down and transmitted from one generation to another over the course of the last millennium. The case of the paraliturgical melody is far less clear. It is very likely that most melodies were borrowed from Arabic songs. As such, they were based on the Arabic musical system, which is known today to comprise over seventy maqāmāt and approximately one hundred awzān [rhythmic patterns, s. wazn] (Touma 1996: 18, 48).53 As far as we know, a poem was usually written to the melody of an existing Arabic song (Idelsohn 1923: 5). After a passage of time, this melody was replaced by another one, and from time to time another new melody would emerge and be adapted to the same text. The 52  For a full description and analysis of these sources, see Chapter 4, Paragraph 1. 53  The number of maqāmāt is disputed; some scholars believe that the number could be anything up to 150.

40

Chapter 1

tunes were not documented in notation, and were at best, indicated in many manuscripts by the first words of their texts that were given at the head of the poem. Thus, the text was documented so that it would survive and still be practised as a PLS. The melody, although composed under specific musical rules, is not documented in notation and often changes, allowing it to give way to the next new and popular melody of an Arabic love song. It seems as if the ever-changing melodies of a certain poem ironically kept the text forever relevant and thus everlasting. This is perhaps why poems by Shlomoh ’Ibn Gabirol from the eleventh century and poems by Najarah from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, continue to be sung to relatively recent melodies. It would not be much of an exaggeration to assume that each of the poems that are still performed have been sung to dozens of melodies over hundreds of years within all Jewish communities. It appears that the repertoire of melodies of a specific poem creates its musical history and, at the same time, reflects its immortality. But since these melodies were not documented in notation, the musical history of the PLS cannot be reconstructed. However, it does not seem to be the case for melodies adapted to the PLSs from the twentieth century onwards. These relatively new melodies are recorded by the performers themselves and were also documented and analysed in recent studies. Thus, at some point in the future, it will be possible to reconstruct the PLS’s musical history of the last period and to create a historical narrative which perhaps will shed light on its earlier periods. It is interesting to mention the fact that still, at present, none of the published collections of the genre practised by communities of Arab-Jews, in both Israel and the United States, includes notation.

Chapter 2

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a historical document provides literary evidence for a comprehensive and chronological narrative of the PLS, its performers, and its audience. By discovering the genre’s authors in this collection and by exploring their work in both Jewish and Arabo-Islamic religious and cultural contexts, this chapter explains how the PLS became an amalgam of Jewish and Arabo-Islamic cultures. It argues that this cultural hybrid epitomises the core features of the identity of both its authors, i.e. the poets, and its audience, i.e. the worshippers, across the centuries. 1

Revealing the Historical and Cultural Scope of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

1.1 Information in the Miṣḥaf The book offers only limited information about its poets, for most of the songs, even their names, are omitted. The first page mentions in a short paragraph the names of five poets whose work is presented in the collection. These are Shlomoh ’Ibn Gabirol, Yehudah Halevi and ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’, all of whom we know dwelt in Muslim Spain of the eleventh and twelfth centuries; Israel Ben Mosheh Najarah, who lived in various places across the Ottoman Empire of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and Ḥakham Yosef Ḥayim Ben ’Eliah ’al-Ḥakham from Baghdad of the nineteenth century. These poets were mentioned earlier, in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, and in the same location. The headings of the songs, which appear at the top of most poems, give brief information about various literary aspects of the poem and its melody. In a few cases, they also include short stories and tales regarding the circumstances in which the poem was written. An interesting example is the story told in the heading of the song for Purim, Kikhlot Yeyni Tered ‘Eyni Palgey Mayim [When My Wine Runs Out, My Eyes Shed Streams of Water], M(103;142), by ’Ibn Gabirol, which is not verified by any other known source.1 His friend Mosheh Hakhili invited the poet over for Purim dinner, and when the wine was finished 1  It is not certain that ’Ibn Gabirol wrote this poem (Byalik and Ravintski 1924: 167). For Purim, see Appendix 1, Section 3.7. The opening verse of the poem is quoted from Psalms 119:136.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_004

42

Chapter 2

Hakhili had to serve his guests water. ’Ibn Gabirol, who was inspired by this very verse in Psalms, took his goblet filled with water and recited his poem. The literary information can be helpful in poems with headings that denote acrostics, one of the most prevalent devices in Hebrew religious poetry, a device that also appears in a significant number of PLSs. Its sequence of letters spells the successive first letter of each of the verses of the poem, and can include the Hebrew alphabet, biblical quotations, the name of a person, and sometimes even the name of the poet himself. The alphabetical acrostic was a favourite device in post-biblical poetry, i.e. from about 500 BCE to 70 CE. It was initially created for mnemonic purposes, since books were not generally available and the congregation had to recite hymns by heart, which at that time did not have rhymes. In the miṣḥaf, it appears in many of ’al-Ḥakham’s poems, two examples of this device being ‘‘al seder ’alef beit’ [‘according to the alphabetical order’], M(157;217), and ‘‘al seder ’alef beit leharav haga’on harav yosef ḥayim zal’ [‘according to the alphabetical order by the great Rabbi Yosef Ḥayim, may he rest in peace’], M(156;216). The acrostic with biblical quotations appears in several songs, such as ‘siman yeharsem velo’ yivnem ḥazaq’ [‘the acrostic spells the sentence “God shall tear them down, never to rebuild them”’], M(104;144), which is quoted from Psalms 29:5. As early as the sixth century, Hebrew poetry included acrostics that were often based on the poet’s name. At first, poets signed their poems only with their first name, and usually it was a common name such as ’Avraham [Abraham], Yitsḥaq [Isaac] or Yehudah [Judah], names which are still popular and widespread among Jewish men. Examples of three common names in the miṣḥaf are Shlomoh [Solomon] in M(11;1), Mosheh [Moses] in M(194:284) and Ya‘aqov [Jacob] in M(30;34). At a later stage, poets added patronymics, such as Yehudah Ben Ya‘aqov [Judah the son of Jacob], which appears in M(119;162), the names of the places where they wrote the poems, and after a while, poets also added blessings and names of relatives. The word ‘ḥazaq’ [‘strong’ or ‘mighty’] was one of the distinctive ways poets used to boost their rank and status. This feature is typical of the classical period of Hebrew religious poetry, which started sometime before 636, when the Arabs conquered Palestine, and lasted roughly until the end of the eighth century (Fleischer 1975: 128). An example from the miṣḥaf is ‘siman yisra’el ḥazaq’ [‘the acrostic spells the name “Israel the Mighty”’] in M(17;13). On the other hand, in Muslim Spain during the tenth and eleventh centuries, poets such as the Spanish talmudic scholar Joseph Ben Isaac ’Ibn ’Abitur (around the tenth century, born and lived in Mérida, Spain, and died in Damascus) added adjectives of humility to their names. The word ‘haqatan’ [‘the small’, or ‘the humble’] was the most prominent. In the miṣḥaf, this adjective appears in a similar word ‘hatsa‘ir’ [‘the young’, or ‘the small’],

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

43

for example ‘siman yonah hatsa‘ir’ [‘the acrostic spells the name of the “Young Jonah”’], M(27;28). However, these types of acrostics cannot help in identifying the names of the poets, even in cases where the poet added his father’s name, as both are common first names. Apparently, until the eighteenth century, in most areas of the Middle East people did not take family names (Spector-Simon 2003: 355). Indeed, this fact is reflected clearly in the poems of the miṣḥaf. The miṣḥaf also presents acrostics that spell out a full name, possibly of the poet. This type was found in thirty-eight songs, revealing the names of twentynine poets of different times and places.2 Another source of information is the headings of eighty-eight poems, which simply present the name of their author. These songs add the names of another seventeen poets, mostly Baghdadis from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; twenty-nine songs are by Najarah and thirty-five are by ’al-Ḥakham.3 Altogether, only 126 songs in the miṣḥaf are presented with their authors, revealing the names of forty-six poets. 1.2 The External Sources In order to identify the poets of the miṣḥaf, it was essential to search for other written sources. I looked at primary and secondary sources that include the original texts of the songs and that have clear indications regarding their authorship. First, I identified the work of poets whose names were mentioned in the miṣḥaf. Then, I tried to discover the work of their contemporaries or other authors known to have been influenced by these poets. Appendix 3, The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf: A Historical, Cultural and Geographical Mapping, describes the sources and my discoveries therein. It presents a historical and geographical map of the entire collection, and includes further details about each of the 368 poems and five other passages in the order of their appearance in the miṣḥaf. These details appear in the following order: poet’s name, dates and place, poem’s language, occasion on which the song is to be performed, and the primary and secondary sources of the texts and their authors. In cases where the text or its author is in doubt, it describes the different versions of the text in the various sources. I also include in this appendix a special section identifying the PLSs that appear only in this miṣḥaf and not in the 1906 collection, and a few anecdotes regarding some of the poems.4

2  See Appendix 3, Column 7: the poems are marked with an asterisk. 3  See the table in Appendix 3, Column 2. 4  For the special indication, see the table in Appendix 3, Column 1: the poems are marked with an asterisk.

44 2

Chapter 2

The Historical and Cultural Scope of the Miṣḥaf

2.1 The Poets Discovering the names of the poets and establishing their chronological order, reveals that this collection covers one thousand years of Hebrew religious poetry from the tenth century onwards. It includes poems which were written by the most prominent poets of their time, who produced their work within the context of Arabo-Islamic civilisation and who were much inspired by it. Table 2.1 gives a brief yet coherent summary of Appendix 3 with a description of the poets and their times and places: Table 2.1

The poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

Period

Time

Place

Prominent poets

‘Abbasid Baghdad

10th century

Baghdad and Cordoba

Dunash Ben Labrat (915–970)

1

Shlomoh ’Ibn Gabirol (1020–1057) Yitsḥaq Ben Yehudah ’Ibn Ghayyath (1030–1089) Yehudah Halevi (1075–1141) ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ (1089–1164) Maimonides (1138–1204) (not certain) Yitsḥaq Ben Yehudah Hasniri (13th century) Yosef Ben Ḥanan Ben Natan Ha’ezovi (13th century) Aharon Bar ’Avraham Ḥakiman (14th century)

8 1

Muslim Spain 11th–15th Spain centuries

Provence

Baghdad

Ottoman Empire*

16th century

No. of poems

5 7 1 1 1 1

2 Shlomoh Ben Mazal Ṭov (16th century) ’El‘azar Ben Mosheh ’Azkari (1533–1600) 1 1 ’Avraham Maimin (16th century) Israel Ben Mosheh Najarah (1555–1625) 81 Palestine** 1 Shim‘on Lavi’ (d. 1545) Libya 2 Morocco and Tunis Fardji Shawat (16th century) 1 Shma‘yah Qoson (16th century) Morocco Constantinople Safed

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs Table 2.1

Period

The poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf (cont.)

Time

Place

17th–18th Morocco centuries Turkey

Baghdad

18th–20th Baghdad centuries Ḥalab Ḥalab and Egypt Ḥalab Jerusalem

Total

45

Prominent poets

No. of poems 2 1

Ya‘aqov ’Ibn Tsur (1673–1752) Mosheh Ben ’Aharon ’Adhan (17th–18th centuries) David Ben ’Aharon Ḥasin (1727–1792) ’Avraham Ḥayun Bar Shlomoh (18th century)

2 1

61 50

27 Poets (18th–19th centuries)*** Yosef Ḥayim Ben ’Eliyah ’al-Ḥakham (1835–1909) ’Avraham ‘Antabi (1765–1858) Refa’el ‘Antabi (19th century) Mordekhay ‘Abadi (1826–1884) Yitsḥaq ‘Abadi (20th century) Yehezqe’l ‘Ezra’ Ben Rabi Yehoshu‘a Halevi (1852–1942) 53

2 5 6 1 1

247

*

North Africa was under the Ottomans until 1914, and the Middle East was under the Ottomans until 1918. ** Mainly Safed and Gaza, but also Adrianople (Turkey) and Damascus. *** The most prominent poets are Mosheh Halevi (1835–1909) and Rabi ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin (d. 1859), with seven songs each; Saleḥ Matsliaḥ (eighteenth century) with six songs; ‘Ezra’ Ben Rabi ’Eliyahu Sofer (nineteenth century) and Sason Ben Rabbi Mordekhay Mosheh Shindukh (1747–1830) with five songs each; and Shmu’el Ben Yitsḥaq Ḥayim Sha’mi (?–1930), with four songs (see also Note 34 in this chapter).

Altogether, I identified sixty-seven poets, whose work collectively includes 261 poems in the miṣḥaf, that is, 71% of the 368 poems in this collection. The poems written in the period between the tenth and sixteenth centuries remain the most popular amongst all communities of Arab-Jews. In particular, poems by the most prominent poets of the Golden Age of Muslim Spain, during the eleventh and the twelfth centuries, such as ’Ibn Gabirol, Yehudah Halevi and ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’, and poems by Najarah in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The period between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, which

46

Chapter 2

ended with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, is not represented in the miṣḥaf by poets from Muslim Spain. While the thirteenth century marks the decline of Hebrew poetry in Spain, it marks the flowering of Hebrew poetry in Provence, where its quality rose to be on par with that of the Spanish Golden Age. The influence of Spanish-Jewish culture in general and of Hebrew poetry in particular became evident in Provence as early as the twelfth century. This was a period when the cultural separation between the north-eastern parts of Spain and the south-western parts of France was not clear. The leading Spanish-Jewish poet of that time, ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’, visited Provence sometime in the mid-twelfth century, and his visit left a strong impact on the local Jewish community for many generations. Many Spanish-Jewish works in Arabic were translated into Hebrew, and the Spanish School of Hebrew poetry was adapted and further cultivated by the Provençal Jewish poets. I found two poems from Provence in the miṣḥaf. The first was written by the early-thirteenth-century poet Yitsḥaq Hasniri [his last name derived from ‘Snir’, the Hebrew translation for Mont Ventoux, ‘Snow Mountain’ in Provençal, which was near the town of Malaucène, the place where he was born]. He is described by Schirmann (1997: 452) as the first Hebrew poet from Provence whose work achieved the qualities of the Spanish School. In his time, wars between different Christian sects and mainstream Catholicism were harsh and violent. Despite the fact that Jews were not involved in this mayhem, many of them were killed. Hasniri’s poetry reflects the atmosphere of anguish and suffering that beset his community at this time. His poem Ha’el Habitah Ur’eh Tsar ‘Al ‘Am Shafel Yig’eh [O Lord Behold and See a Foe Is Ruling a Helpless People], M(27;28), clearly mirrors this misery. The second prominent poet, who is a contemporary of Hasniri, is Yosef Ben Ḥanan Ben Natan Ha’ezovi or Ha’ezobi. He is also known as ‘Yosef ’Ezobi’ [from ’Ezob, the Hebrew name carried by the Jewish community for Origan, the place where he was born], and it is under this name that he appears in the miṣḥaf. Few of his poems survived, however, of which his Qe‘arat Kesef [[The] Silver Bowl], M(236;373), is the most famous. It is known amongst many Jewish communities and was also translated into Latin in 1512 by the German humanist and scholar of Greek and Hebrew Johann Reuchlin (1455–1522) and around 1560 by the French humanist and notable Hebraist Jean Mercier (1525–1570) (Schirmann ibid., 465). ’Ezobi dedicated this work to his son on the occasion of his wedding, instructing him on how to conduct his life as a married man. The poem is written in the Shirah Limudit genre [didactic or instructional poetry], which was prevalent amongst and favoured by both Provençal and Spanish Jews at the time.

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

47

The presence of Babylonian poets in the collection is evident only from the eighteenth century on. There are 111 songs in the miṣḥaf by twenty-eight Baghdadi poets. It is known that Hebrew poetry continued to be written in Babylon of the post-‘Abbasid Baghdad era, during the twelfth and thirteen centuries, and mainly in the quasi-Muwashshaḥ style – that is, metered and without a maṭla‘ [guide, pl. maṭāli‘], the opening part of the Muwashshaḥ.5 It is also known that after the fifteenth century the poets of the East, especially the Babylonians, continued to write in the Spanish style (Tobi 1981: 51). Yet this period is not represented in the miṣḥaf. One exceptional and fascinating case is the Baghdadi poet of the first half of the fourteenth century ’Aharon Bar ’Avraham Ḥakiman, who lived in the post-golden-era of the ‘Abbasid dynasty. Under Mongol rule, Babylonian Jews had known harassment and persecution, many incidents of which are described in Ḥakiman’s Qinot [laments, s. Qinah]. His poetry reflects a strong link to the school of poets from Muslim Spain. His biblical Hebrew is intense, and his rhyming scheme, form and style attest clearly to his poetic source of inspiration. Many of his poems were dedicated to the contemporary ro’sh hagolah [the head of the Diaspora, pl. ra’shey hagolah] Sar Shalom Ben Pinḥas Ben Hodayah, who was highly esteemed by the Baghdadi Jewish community. Only one of Ḥakiman’s poems appears in the miṣḥaf, and indeed, it is dedicated to this admired leader, Morenu Haqadosh Rabi Sar Shalom [Our Holy Sage the Rashash], M(90;125).6 Another fascinating fact linked to Ḥakiman, which is pertinent to the paraliturgical genre, is his few Muwashshaḥāt that were discovered in the Cairo Genizah by Schirmann (1965: 141). The title of each of these songs includes the name of an Arabic song, the melody of which is recommended for the singing of Ḥakiman’s song. This is another fact that supports the assertion stated above, in Chapter 1, that the PLS was probably prevalent in Jewish practice much earlier than the sixteenth century. A possible reason for the void in Baghdadi Hebrew poetry until the eighteenth century might simply be the lack of documented information on rabbinic scholarship of any sort, including poetry. According to Benayahu (1993: 9), neither books nor manuscripts from this period or even earlier have survived.7 This is because Babylonian manuscripts of religious scholarship in general and of poetry in particular were not copied throughout this period, 5  For the structure of the Muwashshaḥ, see Paragraph 5.1.2 in this chapter. 6  For the celebration of Sar Shalom’s memory, see Appendix 1, Section 5.1. 7  For the fascinating discovery within the Babylonian community in 1931 of one of the most significant manuscripts, which dates to the seventeenth century and which includes poems by ’Ibn Gabirol, Yehudah Halevi, Mosheh ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ and other prominent poets, see Cole (2001: 9).

48

Chapter 2

as was the custom with the Jewish scholarship and poetry of Muslim Spain. However, Rabbi ‘Ezra Dangur, the editor of the 1906 Miṣḥaf, gives another reason for this void in his introduction to Rabbi Tsdaqah Ḥutsin’s book ‘Avodat Hatsdaqah [The Charity Work, 1925]. He writes that for decades the Babylonians did not have any traces of their rabbis’ work in all branches of Jewish rabbinic writing, and that in many cases they did not even know where these rabbis were buried. Dangur explains that this situation is the result of long periods of plagues that on numerous occasions caused Jewish communities in Babylon to flee to safer places whilst leaving their homes and property behind. Dangur recalls the last plague of 1743, and expresses his hope that this one would be the last one the community would ever have to face (Drori 2018: 213). As to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it is even possible to say that a certain kind of renaissance of the Spanish School took place amongst the Babylonian poets of the time. This is evident in the work of three nineteenthcentury poets, namely ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin, whose work appears in the miṣḥaf, Yeḥezqe’l Ḥnin and ’Avraham Mosheh Shmu’el (Rosen-Moked 1982: 132).8 Indeed, and despite the lack of information, some of the strophic poetry of the Babylonian poets, which appears in the miṣḥaf, attests to their acquaintance with Spanish Hebrew, and Arabic poetry in general and the Muwashshaḥ in particular. The picture that emerges from this historical mapping of the Baghdadi poets in the miṣḥaf mirrors the description presented in Yehuda’s study (2013) on the history of Babylonian Jewry in the second millennium. The lacuna that was found here in the paraliturgical realm appears also in other aspects of this ancient and central Diaspora. Yehuda asserts that roughly between the fourteenth and the seventeenth centuries Babylonian Jewry lived through numerous political and economic catastrophes brought about by the three main regional powers namely the Mongols, the Persians and the Ottomans. These powers were interested in Babylon for a whole host of reasons, which revolved around its strategic location between East and West. This region provided commercial viability through overland and riverine trade routes and hence became an important home for many religious centres. While not directly involved in the various wars for domination, the Jews often found themselves caught in the middle of these turbulent events. As a result, many of them were forced to leave their homeland and seek relatively peaceful neighbourly places to live, which mainly consisted of locations in Persia and Syria. Hence, the Baghdadi Jewish community at its lowest point population-wise – that is, at the end of the 8  Seven of ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥenin’s songs were found in the miṣḥaf: M(33;40), M(38;48), M(62;88), M(92;127), M(98;137), M(175;245) and M(216;324).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

49

sixteenth century – had no more than one thousand members with only one synagogue and one rabbi. Around the turn of the fifteenth century and during the sixteenth century, a few political, economic and religious developments in the area sowed the seeds for Babylon’s recovery in general and its Jewish communities’ recovery in particular. Yehuda presents five central reasons for this recovery. The first is the commercial developments that took place at the turn of the fifteenth century when the Portuguese took control over the most important maritime trade route, the one crossing the Persian Gulf, and the second is the establishment in Persia of the Safavid state in 1501, which occupied Baghdad seven years later in 1508. The third reason is the re-occupation of Baghdad and the commercial routes between the Mediterranean Sea and the Far East and Persia by the Ottoman Empire in 1534, and the fourth is the formation of Ḥalab as an international capital of commerce. The fifth and final reason is the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and their arrival in Babylon and the surrounding area. All of these events helped bringing peace and stability to Baghdad and to the surrounding region. Baghdad soon became an international commercial centre attracting a wide variety of different ethnic groups. This new, secure atmosphere eventually led to the much later recovery of the Babylonians during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Yehuda 2013: 20). Two other groups of poets are represented in the miṣḥaf. The first group consists of poets from North Africa who lived between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The sixteenth century is represented by poets such as Shim‘on Lavi, who was from Libya; Fardji Shawat, who was born in Fez, Morocco, and who died in Beja, Tunisia; and Shma‘yah Qoson, who was also from Morocco. Both Libya and Tunisia are represented only from the sixteenth century despite the fact that the close contacts between the Babylonian and Tunisian communities date back to the ninth century. Fardji Shawat, an admired rabbi amongst Tunisian Jews until the present day, was a prominent Moroccan rabbi before he moved to Tunisia, where he became a leading figure in the Jewish community of Beja. The exact date of his migration is unknown. Many stories, legends and songs were written about his miracles and deeds. Tunisian Jews in Israel built a synagogue in his honour in the city of Lod, which is located in central Israel, and each year they celebrate his memory by making a pilgrimage to his tomb in the city of Satur, which is located in the central-eastern part of Tunisia, where, according to their tradition, Shawat is buried (Hazan 1976: 14). The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are represented mostly by the work of three Moroccan poets. The first two are Ya’aqov ’Ibn Tsur, descendant of a family of Spanish Jews expelled from Spain, and Mosheh Ben ’Aharon ’Adhan. Both were rabbinic leaders and prolific writers on halakhic, philosophical and qabbalistic ideas, and both were active and creative poets. ’Ibn Tsur’s

50

Chapter 2

poetry reflects the influence of both the Spanish School and Najarah, which was also combined with his own distinct style. The third poet is the prominent rabbi David Ben ’Aharon Ḥasin. The second group consists of the poets of Ḥalab (Aleppo): ’Avraham ‘Antabi from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Refa’el ‘Antabi and Mordekhay ‘Abadi from the nineteenth century, and Yitsḥaq ‘Abadi from the twentieth century. The presence of these four poets in the miṣḥaf can perhaps affirm the close relationship between the Babylonian and Syrian communities, a relationship which became even closer in the eighteenth century. After a disastrous plague that killed a large number of its members including the leadership, the Babylonians invited the Syrian rabbi from Ḥalab Tsdaqah Ḥutsin (1699–1733) to be the head of their community. I was able to identify the work of his son Mosheh Ḥutsin (d. 1810) in the miṣḥaf.9 The strong bond between these two communities is still evident in Israel and in the United States. Many of them share the same synagogues and have cantors from either Baghdad or Ḥalab. 2.2 Chronological and Geographical Boundaries Lifting the veil of anonymity from the poets of the miṣḥaf reveals a panoramic landscape of time and place. This book encompasses chronological and geographical boundaries that are broad yet carefully defined. It begins in ‘Abbasid Baghdad of the tenth century and ends in modern Baghdad of the twentieth century. The year 960 marks the time when Dunash Ben Labrat, who moved from Baghdad to Spain, wrote his one and only poem in the miṣḥaf Deror Yiqra’ [The Lord Shall Proclaim Freedom], M(55;78). It is also the earliest poem in this collection and the most famous. The significance of this estimated year in both Jewish history and Hebrew poetry can be explained as follows: We do know however that around 960 he [Dunash] went to the West, attracted by the efforts of the Jewish physician and minister Hasdai ’Ibn Shaprut to lure the leading intellects of the East into Abd al Rahaman the Third’s court at Cordoba. It was from there that a poem by Dunash – sung to this day by all traditional Jews – must have entered the … Western or Mughrabi prayer book. Alcalay 1993: 160

The mid-tenth century also marks the beginning of a new period in Jewish history with respect to both music and poetry: 9  P LSs M(94;131) and M(107;148).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

51

By then … music was made a subject of philosophical reasoning; and sung poetry took on a new look through the introduction of Arabo-Islamic metre and aesthetic values connected with it. These developments in the spiritual and artistic fields went hand in hand with most important events and changes in the Near East. The conquest and unification of the Near Eastern countries by Islam brought the local Jewries into a larger world of relative liberty and open-mindedness. Art and science were no longer restricted to the services of certain religious dogmas, and Jews were free to integrate themselves into the material and spiritual realms of the general culture. Boehm 1971: 590

The year 1909 marks the death of Yosef Ben ’Eliyah ’al-Ḥakham (1835–1909), the last prominent poet of the miṣḥaf.10 It was during his lifetime, however, that two major developments in both Islamic and Jewish life had begun. The first was the increasing exposure of both Islamic and Jewish societies to Western culture. Amongst Jewish Middle Eastern communities, this process started around the mid-nineteenth century, when Western European Jewish organisations sought to provide the former with various kinds of aid. One such organisation was Kol Israel Ḥaverim [All Members of the Nation of Israel are Friends], founded in Paris in 1860, which aimed to introduce Western culture, education and modern technologies to Jewish communities in the Middle East. Right after the First World War, Western influence was apparent in Jewish life and culture not only amongst the intellectual and wealthy elite, but also amongst the lower classes.11 The second development in Jewish Middle Eastern life was the rise of the Zionist movement and the beginning of Jewish settlements in Palestine towards the end of the nineteenth century. These events subsequently led to the establishment of the State of Israel and the massive immigration of the majority of Jews from Arabo-Islamic countries to the new State of Israel or to other parts of the Western world. Hence, this period represents the final phase of Judaeo-Arabic culture within the Arabo-Islamic domain, which lasted for more than a thousand years for the Jewish community in Babylon and for many long centuries for other Arab-Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa.

10  The poet Shlomoh Saleḥ (b. 1896, Baghdad) died in Israel in 1961. Although in fact he is the last poet of the miṣḥaf, he was not as significant a figure as ’al-Ḥakham. Only one of his poems appears in the miṣḥaf M(216;325). 11  For more on this topic, see Zohar (2001B: 12).

52

Chapter 2

2.3 The Four Formative Periods in the History of the Paraliturgical Song Within these boundaries of time and place, the miṣḥaf is revealed as a book that conveys the four formative periods of Hebrew religious poetry in general and of the PLS in particular. My book documents the first encounter between the Jewish and the Arabo-Islamic cultures in ‘Abbasid Baghdad during the tenth century; it then moves to Islamic Spain from the eleventh to the fifteenth century before moving to North Africa and returning to Western Asia under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century. This journey ends in Baghdad between the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries, the city where this artistic and religious journey began. Thus, the miṣḥaf documents almost the entire history of Jewish paraliturgical poetry, embracing periods of cultural growth and flowering in Islamic civilisation, as well as periods of decline. It covers all times and places in which Jews created and practised the PLS under the wings of Arabo-Islamic civilisation, which had given birth to this genre and nourished its poetic and musical features through the entire second millennium. The first two periods are the formative and classical periods of medieval Islamic and Judaeo-Arabic cultures. The third period was the last of the great periods of Islamic culture, when the large and creative Jewish communities were scattered across the Ottoman Empire, and the fourth period was the last period of Judaeo-Arabic life in Arab lands. 3

Arabo-Islamic Culture as Reflected in the 1954 Miṣḥaf

It would be almost impossible to portray in the frame of a single book the influence of Arabo-Islamic culture and religion, in all their complexity and variety, on the entire repertoire of PLSs gathered in the miṣḥaf. The aim here is more limited. Instead, I chose the four most prominent poets of the miṣḥaf to represent each of the four periods described above. These poets are also the most significant poets of Hebrew religious poetry. Dunash Ben Labrat (915, Fez–970, Cordoba) represents the first period in ‘Abbasid Baghdad and Shlomoh ’Ibn Gabirol (1020–1057, Muslim Spain) represents the second period in Muslim Spain. Israel Ben Mosheh Najarah (1555, Damascus–1625, Gaza) represents the third period across the Ottoman Empire, mainly in the Middle East but also in North Africa and Ḥakham Yosef Ḥayim Ben ’Eliyah ’al-Ḥakham (1835–1909, Baghdad) represents the last period mostly in Baghdad, which was then still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The work of each of these poets is significant not only in the history of Hebrew religious poetry, but also in demonstrating the impact that

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

53

Arabo-Islamic civilisation had on this poetry. Their poems are most popular amongst Babylonian Jewry as well as amongst other communities of Arab-Jews across the world and amongst some Ashkenazi communities. The four poets were prolific in poetry, and versatile and fruitful in their myriad writings in theology, philosophy, science and rabbinic literature.12 Much of the thoughts and ideas expressed in their work were prevalent in the Islamic theology and philosophy and in the Arabic poetry of their time.13 Most of them have a substantial number of poems in the miṣḥaf, and together their work outlines the entire history of the paraliturgical text. 4

‘Abbasid Baghdad and Dunash Ben Labrat

In 762, during the reign of the caliph al-Manṣūr (754–775), Baghdad grew from a small suburb near the capital of the Sassanid Empire, Ctesiphon, into the capital of the caliphs of the ‘Abbasid dynasty. The small community of Jews, who had lived there from the third century, gradually expanded and became the largest Jewish urban community in the area known today as Iraq. Between the eighth and the tenth centuries, various caliphs implemented different policies for or against the Jews; nonetheless, and despite all the restrictions, many Jews adopted the values, manners and customs of the Arabic culture. By the tenth century, Jews were using Arabic for nearly all forms of writing, both secular and religious (Stillman 1997: 83), and the first blossoms of Arabo-Islamic influence on Jewish life, thinking and writing had started to be apparent. This era coincided with the Golden Age of the ge’onim, which was between the mid-seventh and mid-eleventh centuries. The ge’onim were the heads of the prospering academies of Jewish learning in Sura and Pumbedita, which were located in southern Iraq and which moved at the beginning of the tenth century to Baghdad. This centre of power and culture contributed to the growing importance of the Jewish leaders in Babylon, and Baghdad, the Islamic capital of the ‘Abbasid dynasty, also became the spiritual capital of the Jewish People. It was the place where ra’shey hagolah, the highest authorities on Jewish law, 12  For Dunash’s biography, see Tobi (2000). For ’Ibn Gabirol’s, see Levin (1986) and Stern (1974). For Najarah’s, see Mirski (1962), Yahalom (1991B), Tietze and Yahalom (1995) and Benayahu (1990). For ’al-Ḥakham’s, see Ben Ya‘akov (1994), Stillman (1995), Zohar (2001B) and Shabat (2016: 192). 13  For further discussion on their other works, see Altmann (1969) and (1987), Scheindlin (1991) and (1994), and Stern (1974).

54

Chapter 2

who led and guided most Jewish communities in the Diaspora, lived.14 Here, Hebrew poetry encountered Arabo-Islamic culture, and as early as the ninth century it started to come under its influence. The rich and vibrant cultural and intellectual life in Baghdad attracted Dunash Ben Labrat, a poet, linguist and musician who was a native of Fez. Dunash arrived in this city to study at the feet of Sa‘adyah Ga’on and to absorb much of his literary approach and style. He ultimately created his own unique poetic style, while introducing to Hebrew poetry a few major features taken from and inspired by Arabic poetry. In 960, Dunash moved to Cordoba and became a leading figure in establishing the foundation of the new Spanish School of Hebrew poetry. As the earliest poet whose work appears in the miṣḥaf, Dunash represents the first stage at which Jewish scholarship was influenced by Arabo-Islamic culture and religion, both in the East and in the West, and in this respect, he is described as follows: The poet from the East who opened the door to the Arabic influence on Hebrew poetry, so intensively that it lost its independence and became completely reliant on Arabic poetry while every Jewish poet’s goal was to try his best to follow the footsteps of the Arabic poets. Tobi 2000: 11

4.1 Major Aspects of Arabo-Islamic Influence 4.1.1 The Quantitative Metre One of Dunash’s most significant contributions to Hebrew poetry was the introduction of Arabic poetic metre, the Quantitative Metre, which is based on a distinction between short and long syllables.15 It replaced the Hebrew metric system that was prevalent at that time, and was based on the distinction between stressed and unstressed syllables. Dunash’s innovation is thought to have greatly influenced all subsequent Hebrew poetry, as the metre then became an independent element, overriding both Hebrew grammar and the content of the text. As such, this innovation raised enormous opposition and, ironically, Dunash’s opponents used this very system in their polemical poems 14  For their pre-eminence amongst all Jewish communities both in the Middle East and in Europe, see Fishman (2011). 15  There is still a debate amongst scholars on whether Dunash was the first to write metered poetry in the East. Some evidence shows that Sa‘adyah Ga’on was acquainted with Arabic metre but refused to use it as a matter of principle. Some scholars argue that Dunash’s predecessors, in ‘Abbasid Baghdad of the eighth century, knew this metric system. Their Muslim counterparts introduced it to the Hebrew poets in the court of the Caliph al-Manṣūr. For further information, see Tobi (1995A).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

55

against him. One of them, whose work appears in the miṣḥaf, was Yehudah Halevi.16 The new metre had far-reaching implications for sung poetry. The old metric system had not included any consideration of time. Words were articulated according to the intensity of their syllables rather than their length. Accordingly, singers had to perform varying numbers of syllables of varying length with irregular beat, and melodies for Hebrew poems were therefore in free rhythm. The new metric system, on the other hand, gave length to the syllables and hence created the foundation of metered melodies with flowing rhythms, which were easier for singing. By contrast, with the previous poetic structure, the new metric system made the formal idea of a stanza more prominent, an innovation that helped to bring music into religious practice. Dunash’s invention was difficult to grasp until the time of ’Ibn Gabirol, who furthered its presence in Hebrew poetry, religious as well as secular. Only then and subsequently over many centuries did it spread to other places, such as North Africa, Turkey, Syria, Babylon, Egypt and Yemen. From Dunash’s time onwards, metres based on syllable-counting have ruled Hebrew poetry. 4.1.2 Biblical Language Dunash was not the first to introduce biblical language into Hebrew poetry, but he was the first to use it exclusively (Tobi 2000: 120). Inspired by the Islamic adoration of qur’ānic language and its usage and prominence in Arabic poetry, his predecessor and teacher Sa‘adyah Ga’on was the first to draw the attention of the Hebrew poets to biblical style and vocabulary. He viewed biblical Hebrew as a language that was by no means less rich and powerful than the language of the Qur’ān. Therefore, Sa‘adyah Ga’on encouraged the use of both biblical style and the old paytanic style [poets, from the word ‘paytanim’], which had been prevalent since the third century. The latter included a combination of biblical and new words created by the paytanim according to their special linguistic needs. The Spanish School of Hebrew religious poetry continued Dunash’s legacy and insisted on rigid adherence to the form, syntax and grammar of pure biblical Hebrew. 4.1.3 The Qaṣīda In Cordoba, Dunash was the first poet to write perfect Hebrew Qaṣīda, the most prestigious and classic Arabic genre. Indeed, the Hebrew poets of ‘Abbasid Baghdad were acquainted with this poetic genre and even called their poems Qaṣaīd. However, none of them succeeded in perfecting the classical Qaṣīda 16  Halevi’s songs nos. M(50;70), M(137;188), M(174;243), M(189;270) and M(189;271).

56

Chapter 2

using all its characteristics (Tobi 2000: 51). These were formed in the Jāhiliyya period [the Age of Ignorance], namely, the pre-Islamic period, during which most of the poems were written in the Qaṣīda genre. Later on, in Islamic Spain, ’Ibn Gabirol also adopted and further developed this genre. 4.2 Dunash’s Deror Yiqra’ [The Lord Shall Proclaim Freedom] This song, M(55;78), is sung during the Sabbath meals, especially during the se‘udah ri’shonah [first meal] on Friday evening. It reflects two of Dunash’s inventions, namely, the adoption of Arabic Quantitative Metre and the exclusive use of biblical language. 4.2.1

Hebrew Text and Translation (the First Stanza) ‫דרור יקרא לבן עם בת‬ ‫וינצרכם כמו בבת‬ ‫נעים שמכם ולא יושבת‬ ‫שבו נוחו ביום שבת‬

The Lord shall proclaim freedom for both son and daughter And he shall guard you as the pupil of his eye Your name is pleasant and shall never cease Sit, rest, on the Sabbath day There are a few differences between the version of the poem presented in the miṣḥaf and that in other sources.17 The most significant and interesting one appears in the second line of the third stanza. In different manuscripts, such as the ones presented by Allony (1947: 58), it appears as ‘vegam bavel ’asher gavrah’ [‘And also Babylon which prevailed’]. The version which appears in the miṣḥaf is: ‘vegam ’edom ’asher gavrah’ [‘And also ’Edom which prevailed’]. The word ‘bavel’ [‘Babylon’], which also can be understood as referring to the Muslims, was replaced at some point in time with the word ‘’edom’, a name that often referred to Byzantine Christendom.

17  For the different versions of the text, see Fleischer (2010). For the complete text in Hebrew, see Appendix 4. The acrostic in the first three stanzas carries the name ‘Dunash’ [‘‫]’דונש‬.

57

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs Syllable No. Short/Long Syllable*

1 U

2 –

3 –

4 –

First Line: Second Line:

De Ve-

ror yin-

yiq tsor-

ra’ khem

/

5 U

6 –

7 –

8 –

leke-

ven mo

‘im ba-

bat vat

* ‘U’ denotes a short syllable, ‘–’ denotes a long syllable. In the Arabic version of this metre, the fourth and eighth syllables of each line can be either long or short (Stoetzer 1998: 621). Figure 2.1 The Ḥazaj metre, Hamarnin in Hebrew, in Deror Yiqra’ (the first two lines)

4.2.2 Poetic Characteristics Most scholars call Deror Yiqra’ ‘zemer’ [a ‘song’], and do not relate to its poetic characteristics as such.18 In Dunash’s time, the Qaṣīda had reached its greatest length and was cut into strophes with shorter lines, with each strophe having a unique rhyme. As the first poet to write Hebrew Qaṣīda, it is likely that Dunash was influenced by this development, and what we see here reflects this effect. This can explain the combination of two poetic elements that are highly visible in Dunash’s poem for the first time. Absent is the ḥaruz mavriaḥ [ending rhyme], a similar rhyme at the end of each of the strophes of the poem, and in its stead is the rhyme at the end of each line of the strophe in addition to changes in the rhyme from one strophe to another. The poem has six stanzas; each has four symmetrical lines of eight syllables and each has a similar rhyming scheme ‘aaaa, bbbb, cccc’, etc. Dunash uses the Arabic Quantitative Metre of a type called ‘Ḥazaj’ [‘Hamarnin’ in Hebrew] as described in Figure 2.1. This particular metre entered instantaneously into both secular and religious Hebrew poetry, and the most famous example of it is Deror Yiqra’ (Ratzaby 1996: 47). Dunash uses biblical vocabulary, though in his own style. For example, the first two opening words of the poem Deror Yiqra’ are a variation on three biblical sources, namely, Leviticus 25:10, ‘uqra’atem dror ba’arets’ [‘[and] You shall proclaim release’], Jeremiah 34:8, ‘liqro’ lahem dror’ [‘to proclaim a release among them’] and Jeremiah 34:15, ‘liqro’ dror’ [‘proclaim a release’].19 The poem also demonstrates the change or twist Dunash made in the grammatical form of a few words and thus in their meaning. It seems that he made these adjustments in order to fit the biblical quotations into the new Arabic metre. 18  Allony (1947: 36, 38), Schirmann (1954–1957) in vol. 2 (1954: 40), Fleischer (1975: 412), Ratzaby (1996: 47–51), Breuer (1993: 24), Weinberger (1998: 134) and Schirmann (1997: 126, 128). 19  Other words were retrieved from Ezekiel, Psalms, Zechariah, Numbers, Ruth and Exodus.

58

Chapter 2

For example, in line 3, in the phrase ‘ne‘im shimkhem’ [‘Your name is pleasant’], the word ‘ne‘im’ should be ‘na‘im’, as it appears in Psalm 135:3 ‘zamru lishmo ki na‘im’ [‘sing hymns to His name, for it is pleasant’].20 4.2.3 Content Dunash encourages his people to ‘sit [and] rest’, and expresses the pleasure, enjoyment and benefits of keeping the Sabbath day. Moreover, he mentions with no fear two powerful and sworn enemies of the Jewish People, the empires of ’Edom and Babylon, and even asks for God’s revenge. ’Edom, the nation that encouraged the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem (Psalms 137:7), appears first: ‘derokh purah betokh batsrah’ [‘Tread on the vine [destroy] Bozrah [’Edom]’] (stanza 3, line 1).21 Then, Babylon, the empire that was responsible for the actual destruction (Psalms 137:8), appears in the original text of the song: ‘vegam bavel ’asher gavrah’ [‘And Babylon which became more powerful’] (ibid., line 2). This probably refers to Babylon and its king, Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and in 586 BCE exiled the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon. The clear request for revenge and punishment appears right after that: ‘netots tsaray be’af ve‘evrah’ [‘Destroy my enemies with burning anger’] (ibid., line 3). Dunash ends his request with pleading words to God: ‘shema‘ qoli beyom ’eqra‘’ [‘Hear my prayer [O God] when I cry aloud’] (ibid., line 4). 4.2.4 Melody The heading of the poem does not indicate any melody to which it is performed. The Babylonians have several melodies for this popular song. They are based on maqāmāt such as Bayāt, Hijāz, Sīkāh and Sīkāh Huzām, though their original Arabic songs have yet to be identified.22 In the Mu‘alem Collection, it appears in maqām Lāmi, and Ḥabushah performs this song in maqām Sīkāh.23

20  This word ‘na‘im’ appears another five times in the Bible: Psalms (81:3; 133:1; 147:1), Proverbs (22:18) and the Song of Songs (1:16). 21  ‘Derokh purah’ appears as ‘purah darakhti’ [‘I trod out the vintage alone’] in Isaiah 63:3. Bozrah is a place in ’Edom (Jeremiah 49:22). 22  For four of the most famous melodies, see Shiloah (1983: 62). 23  The scale of maqām Lāmi is B, C, D, E, F, G, A’, B’. For the scale of maqām Sīkāh, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 10. The scale of maqām Sīkāh Huzām is E(hf), F, G, A’(f), B’, C’, D’, E’(hf). For Ḥabushah’s performance, see https://youtu.be/ce08o2hY03I (2013).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

5

59

Muslim Spain and Shlomoh ’Ibn Gabirol

Jewish settlements in Spain developed considerably in the eighth century, a short time after the Muslim conquest, and were in close contact with the Babylonian leadership. The period during the eleventh and twelfth centuries is regarded as the best Jews ever experienced under Islamic governance, as they enjoyed a high degree of religious and civil autonomy. The free religious, political and cultural atmosphere gave rise to a significant Jewish courtier class with a sense of identity, which fused Jewish and Arabo-Islamic values and ideas. Social and intellectual collaborations were common and normal between Jews, Muslims and Christians.24 ’Ibn Gabirol, the Jewish-Spanish poet and philosopher, was born into this religio-cultural atmosphere. He is considered the founder of the new school of religious poetry in Muslim Spain and thus the most important poet of this era.25 More than any other poet, he is responsible for the great change that occurred in Hebrew poetry under the influence of Arabo-Islamic culture and religion.26 His work portrays him as both a follower of Sa‘adyah Ga’on and Dunash Ben Labrat, and, at the same time, as a poet who allowed for the deeper amalgamation of Jewish and Arabo-Islamic cultures. Arab-Jews regard ’Ibn Gabirol as their most prominent poet, and indeed a large number of his poems have been preserved in many of their prayer books. I discovered eight of his poems in the miṣḥaf, which appear on various occasions.27 5.1 Major Aspects of Arabo-Islamic Influence 5.1.1 Islamic Mysticism and Arabic Secular Poetry The Neoplatonic School founded in the third century by Plotinus formulated the idea that the origin of the human soul, before it was united with matter, existed in an eternal and supreme realm, and that its goal was therefore to return to this exalted origin. This idea was adapted and further developed by the Islamic Neoplatonic School that viewed God as the eternal and the supreme. The earliest step was made in Baghdad by the first Muslim philosopher, al-Kindī (801, Kufa–873, Baghdad), who was also a musician, mathematician and physician. 24  For more about the Jewish life in Muslim Spain, including the ‘Muslim–Jewish interfaith utopia’, see Cohen (2002: 194). 25  See also Mirski (1962: 298) and Levin (1986: 92). 26  For a thorough discussion on ’Ibn Gabirol’s radical innovations in Hebrew religious ­poetry, liturgical in particular, under the influence of Arabo-Islamic culture, see Scheindlin (1991). 27  ’Ibn Gabirol’s poems are M(11;1), M(16;9), M(44;60), M(103;142), M(132;179), M(138;189), M(145;199) and M(145;200). See also Appendix 3, col. 1.

60

Chapter 2

His work was followed by that of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ [Pure Brethren], a group of Muslim philosophers in Baṣra, Iraq, of the tenth and eleventh ­centuries.28 Later, this school reached its intellectual fruition in Damascus in the work of the philosopher al-Fārābī (872, Khorasan, modern-day Afghanistan or Fārāb, modern-day Kazakhstan–950, Damascus), who was also a musician, scientist, cosmologist and logician, and in the work of the Persian philosopher Ibn Sīnā (980, Qishlak Afshona, modern-day Uzbekistan–1037, Hamadan, Iran). According to this Islamic school, the return to the source is made through a mystical process of purification through which the human soul releases itself from the physical world and unites in an unconscious manner with the Divine (Levin 1986: 137). The work of this school from the East, and particularly that of Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’, was brought to Muslim Spain by the philosopher Ḥāmid al-Dīn al-Kirmānī (d. 1020?). ’Ibn Gabirol was deeply influenced by their ideas, which are clearly manifested in his work. The Arabic version of his work Meqor Ḥayim [The Source of Life], which lacks any representation of Jewish thinking, is a pure description of his Neoplatonic thinking (Levin ibid., 138). It seems that ’Ibn Gabirol transplanted Neoplatonism into Jewish religious poetry without any feeling of contradiction or split between his religious beliefs and his philosophical outlook. Amongst all the Jewish Neoplatonic philosophers of the Middle Ages, he was the most original and significant, and his ideas shaped the core thinking of Jewish philosophy, theology and qabbalah [Jewish mysticism]. The idea of the unification of the human soul with the Divine or with God also appears in the early Sufi mystical and ascetic poetry, called ‘Zuhdiyyāt’, briefly mentioned in Chapter 1 (Levin ibid., 136). It was developed in the early Islamic period and became the favourite poetic style during the first years of the new Muslim empire, especially at the beginning of the ‘Abbasid dynasty in the eighth century (Stern 1974: 81). In a varied number of rhymes and metered lines, ranging from less than ten to over forty, written in simple language, these poems convey the vigorous attempts of the worshipper to come closer to God. Levin (ibid., 95) states without any equivocation that Sufi mysticism had a strong impact on ’Ibn Gabirol’s life and work. He was the first Hebrew poet to adopt the Zuhdiyyāt genre, including its ideas, not only in his poetry but also in his other work.29 In particular, ’Ibn Gabirol was influenced by the zuhd, the idea of the rejection of material comforts in order to pursue 28  On the influence of Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ on ’Ibn Gabirol, see Katz, Sarah (1991: 40). 29  On the first encounters between Judaism and Sufism, Sufi aspects in Sa‘adyah Ga’on’s work and the Jewish Zuhdiyyāt genre and other Jewish Sufi literature in Babylon, Egypt and Syria between the eleventh and the fifteenth centuries, see Ilan (2012).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

61

personal contemplation and meditation, and eventually adapted this concept as a way of life.30 Lazarus Yafeh (1967: 320) asserts that it would be difficult to understand ’Ibn Gabirol and his work without a deep acquaintance with the world of zuhd and taṣawwuf [Islamic mysticism] originally referring to the ascetic practice of wearing ṣuf [wool]. Cole (2001: 30) raises only briefly the possibility that ’Ibn Gabirol was the first Jewish Sufi. As a Hebrew poet, ’Ibn Gabirol was the first to shape his philosophical and mystical ideas in a form which was strongly inspired by the imagery and prosody of Arabic love poetry. He used this genre as a model for his descriptions of the love between God and the People of Israel, and particularly of the relationship between the individual worshipper and his maker, God. The religious state of the devout worshipper was one of the most important ideas to occupy the Hebrew religious poets of Muslim Spain (Levin ibid., 92). According to Scheindlin (1994: 139), it was completely inspired and influenced by Arabo-Islamic concepts prevalent at that time. In this respect, ’Ibn Gabirol’s act is considered a radical development, as it demanded an absolute abandonment of the early Hebrew hymnology in both form and content. In doing so, he captured the hearts of his successors during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, such as Mosheh ’Ibn ‘Ezra’, Yehudah Halevi, ’Ibn ’Eltaban and ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’. They all continued to write poems in this style and in a form that was not inferior to their master’s. The Jewish sources that also shaped ’Ibn Gabirol’s philosophical ideas were mainly the Talmud Bavli and the Midrash.31 He was influenced by their interpretation of ‘razey hayetsirah’ [‘the secrets of the creation [of the world]’] and, in particular, of Sefer Yetsirah [The Book of Creation], the most significant Hebrew treatise dating from the third or fourth century on cosmology, cosmogony (the origin of the universe), and qabbalistic commentaries. However, the answer to the question regarding which of these three sources of influence was the strongest is not entirely clear at present. Cole (2001: 31) lists various leading studies on the mystical aspects of ’Ibn Gabirol’s work and asserts that ‘the location of ’Ibn Gabirol with any precision in the history of qabbalah [is] an issue still unsolved’.

30  On the earlier influence of Islamic mysticism on Sa‘adyah Ga’on and his contemporaries, see Tobi (2000: 107). 31  For the Talmud Bavli, see Chapter 1, Note 14. The Midrash [commentary] is a compilation of commentaries on the Bible. It includes the two following types of commentaries: aggadic [legend, from the word ‘’aggadah’], which presents, through stories, legends, proverbs and history, a moral or theological idea; and halakhic [Jewish law] that presents the significance and values of biblical law.

62

Chapter 2

5.1.2 The Muwashshaḥ ’Ibn Gabirol was the first Hebrew poet to write Hebrew Muwashshaḥ (pl. Muwashshaḥāt) (Schirmann 1998: 316), which is a strophic poem comprising three parts: the introductory part, called ‘maṭla‘’ [‘a guide’]; the main body of the poem, which usually contains five stanzas; and the final part, called ‘kharja’ [‘exit’, pl. ‘kharajāt’]. Both the maṭla‘ and the kharja include one bipartite line with the same rhyming scheme, ‘ab’. In the main body of the poem, each of the stanzas has two divisions; the first three lines, each called ‘ghuṣn’, carry the special rhyme of the particular stanza (in a three-stanza song): ‘ccc, ddd, eee’. The fourth and last line, called ‘simṭ’, is bipartite and carries the same rhyming scheme as the maṭla‘ and the kharja, that is, ‘ab’. The stanzas are written in classical Arabic, and the kharja is written mostly in vernacular Arabic or mixed with Romance, which is a group of different dialects spoken in the Iberian Peninsula that originate from Latin. According to Stern (1974: 50), the origin of the Muwashshaḥ is still unknown. Alvarez (1998: 563) agrees with Stern; however, he estimates that, according to the known evidence, it could be that the genre was created in Islamic Spain of the late ninth century. Tobi (2000: 180), on the other hand, claims that this genre originated in the East, in the court of ‘Amīr ‘Abdallāh (888–912) with the poet Ibn Mu‘afa al-Qabrī. He makes this assertion despite the fact, mentioned by Alvarez that none of al-Qabrī’s work has survived. The adaptation of the Muwashshaḥ to Hebrew poetry yielded another genre called ‘Shir Me‘eyn-’Ezori’ [‘Quasi-Muwashshaḥ Poem’]. It has a similar form but can appear in different versions, presenting various combinations of structure and rhyming scheme. According to Schirmann (1997: 707), the affiliation between the two types is not certain. He describes Shir Me‘eyn-’Ezori as a genre that was formed and shaped in Muslim Spain; however, he asserts, its early stages of development are evident in the East through the work of Sa‘adyah Ga’on. Gradually, in the course of time, this genre became prevalent also in many branches of the Spanish School. In ’Ibn Gabirol’s time, the Muwashshaḥ was disdained by prominent poets, Jews as well as Muslims, who considered this genre, which was performed by female slaves in taverns, to be sensual and promiscuous. Here also, Schirmann (1998: 316) views ’Ibn Gabirol’s act as courageous. None of his Muwashshaḥāt appear in the miṣḥaf. ’Ibn Gabirol wrote his Muwashshaḥ in the mu‘āraḍa [imitation] technique. It was prevalent in Arabic poetry as early as the Jāhiliyya period; later on in the ‘Abbasid era, it became increasingly widespread, and in Muslim Spain it was used in the Muwashshaḥ genre in particular. The mu‘āraḍa is based on an imitation of a known poem, giving the opportunity to poets to emulate the work of an admirable poet in almost every respect.

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

63

They can exhibit their skills by accepting the poetic standards that he had set and, within this framework, produce their own original and dazzling version of his poem. This is by no means considered plagiarism but rather the opposite; choosing a poem for mu‘āraḍa was an act of respect for the work of a highly esteemed poet. ’Ibn Gabirol was the first to use this technique for imitating Arabic poetry as a source of inspiration. The close contact he and other Hebrew poets such as Mosheh ’Ibn ‘Ezra’, Yehudah Halevi and ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ had during the eleventh and twelfth centuries with their Arabic counterparts who wrote Muwashshaḥāt is attested by numerous cases of mu‘āraḍa that can still be ascertained despite the scarcity of Arabic material. Later on, the mu‘āraḍa was also adapted by Hebrew poets for the imitation of existing Hebrew poems. The mu‘āraḍa technique is still prevalent to the present day amongst authors of Hebrew religious poetry. This method was not restricted to the text of the original poem. It was extended also and even more so to its popular Arabic melody, and thus points out a significant development in the history of the PLS.32 While Dunash’s metrical innovation created the link between Hebrew metered text and melody in general, in Muslim Spain the Hebrew text is strongly and specifically linked to Arabic melody. Thus, it affirms the main function of the paraliturgical material as sung text as well as the source of its melodies as being Arabic melodies. The strong link between Hebrew poems and Arabic melodies is further attested by Hebrew manuscripts of this period, in which the word ‘laḥan’ [‘melody’] appears with the first words of the original song, indicating a recommended melody for the new song (Stern 1974: 48, 78). For example, t­ wenty-five poems by ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ indicate the laḥan of some well-known Arabic Muwashshaḥāt. This same word also appears in the miṣḥaf in a small number of songs, and for the same purpose.33 A perfect mu‘āraḍa – that is, when both the textual features of the poem are imitated and its melody is adapted – ­appears in many songs of the miṣḥaf. For example, it appears in the two songs for 32  This phenomenon exists also in other cultures. In Western music, it is called ‘contrafactum’, and its history is divided into two phases. Before 1450, it applies mostly to new poems which were written to old melodies. This practice can be found in genres such as the plainchant and songs of the trouvère and troubadour, whereby melodies of German songs were adapted to French or Provençal texts. After 1450, contrafactum mostly appears when sacred text replaces secular text. This can be found in the French chanson of the fifteenth century and in Monteverdi’s madrigals in the seventeenth century. Contrafactum ended in art music in the twentieth century, when the uniqueness of a particular work of art became significant. See Flack and Picker (2001). 33  See Chapter 4, Table 4.2, Column 5.

64

Chapter 2

circumcision, Yavo’ Hago’el [The Redeemer Shall Come]. The first, M(201;296), is by the Baghdadi poet Shmu’el Ben Yitsḥaq Ḥayim Sha’mi (?–1930), and the second, M(201;297), with the same incipit, by an unknown poet.34 5.2 ’Ibn Gabirol’s Shefal Ruaḥ [with Lowly Spirit] The Baqashah Shefal Ruaḥ, M(16;9) also appears in the liturgy and is recited in the Morning Prayer of the second day of Ro’sh Hashanah [the Jewish New Year].35 5.2.1

Hebrew Text and Translation36 A ‫אקדמך ברב פחד ואימה‬ A ‫כתולעת קטנה באדמה‬ A ‫הכמוני יהללך ובמה‬ A ‫ועל אחת אני כמה וכמה‬

A ‫לך תגדיל להודות כל נשמה‬

A ‫שפל רוח שפל ברך וקומה‬ ‫לפניך אני נחשב בעיני‬

‫מלא עולם אשר אין קץ לגדלו‬ ‫הדרך לא יכילון מלאכי רום‬ ‫הטיבות והגדלת חסדים‬

With lowly spirit, lowered knee and head In fear I come; I offer Thee my dread. But once with Thee I seem to have no worth More than a little worm upon the earth. O Fullness of the world, Infinity –37 What praise can come, if any can, from me? 34  Sha’mi wrote this song for the birth of his son Yeḥezqe’l ‘Ezra’ Shmu’el, known as Ḥaguli Shumel Darzi (?, Baghdad–1970s, Israel). Darzi became a known cantor and abu shbaḥoth (a shbaḥot singer), both while in Baghdad and later in Israel (Ben Ya‘aqov 1980B: 125). The song became popular amongst the Babylonians, and it has been performed ever since at every circumcision celebration. For more about Sha’mi’s life and activity, see Ben Ya‘aqov (1980A: 422); for his songs, see Ben Ya‘aqov (1965: 304); and for those in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, see Chapter 3, Note 30. As to the second Yavo’ Hago’el, the name ‘Menasheh Barukh Halevi’ appears in the heading of this song; however, the name does not appear in other sources which can verify whether this is the actual name of the poem’s writer. 35  For the original function of this poem in the liturgy, see Fleischer (1975: 51, 397, 401), Schirmann (1997: 691, 704), Breuer (1993: 42, 312, 324) and Scheindlin (1991: 145). 36  Translated by Scheindlin (ibid., 177). 37  A few differences were found between the text in the miṣḥaf and that in the following sources. Zangwill and Israel Davidson (1923: 17): in line 3, instead of the word ‘legodlo’, which can be understood as either ‘fullness of the world’ as it appears in this translation or ‘to his [God’s] greatness’, the word ‘legodlekha’ [‘to your greatness’] appears, referring unequivocally to God’s greatness. Scheindlin (ibid., 176) and Jarden (1971: 20): in line 5, instead of the word ‘lekha’ [‘to You’], the word ‘velekha’ [‘and to You’] appears. In Schirmann (ibid., 235): line 5 is completely different: ‘’ashaḥer ’el bere’shit ra‘ayonay’

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

65

Thy splendour is not contained by the hosts on high, And how much less capacity have I! Infinite Thou, and infinite Thy ways; Therefore the soul expands to sing Thy praise. 5.2.2 Poetic Characteristics The Qaṣīda, the first Arabic poetic form that was introduced into Hebrew religious poetry by Dunash, appears in the miṣḥaf for the first time in ’Ibn Gabirol’s work, and in its shorter version as Qiṭ‘a (pl. Qiṭa‘), Psukah in Hebrew. The Qiṭ‘a is a monothematic version of the often polythematic Qaṣīda that was widely used for Zuhdiyyāt. As previously mentioned the Qiṭ‘a has not more than ten lines, each divided over two hemistichs. In comparison with the classical and sophisticated Qaṣīda, the Qiṭ‘a tends towards simpler diction, less elaborated rhetoric, and greater lyricism. This genre symbolises the real Spanish revolution in Hebrew poetry under the influence of Arabo-Islamic culture, not only through its form, but also through its content, which expresses an intimate and direct appeal to God (Fleischer 1975: 402). Six out of ’Ibn Gabirol’s eight poems in the miṣḥaf, including Shefal Ruaḥ, are Qiṭa‘. Only one poem, M(132;179) is a Murabba‘, a strophic poem with four lines, with a rhyming scheme ‘aaaa, bbba, ccca’, etc. The Murabba‘ shows another aspect of continuity in the chain of Hebrew poets; Dunash’s Murabba‘ appears again in ’Ibn Gabirol’s work and will continue to appear also in Najarah’s poetry. The rhyming scheme of Shefal Ruaḥ is typical of the Qiṭ‘a, that is, ‘aa, ba, ca, da’. In the first line both hemistichs carry the same rhyme, Taṣrī‘ [an internal rhyme], and in the remaining lines the rhyme appears in each second hemistich. The poem is structured on the Arabic metre called ‘Wāfir’, ‘Hamerubeh’ in Hebrew, which has eleven syllables in each hemistich of each line. Figure 2.2 describes this metre in the poem. ’Ibn Gabirol uses myriad sources of biblical quotations and vocabulary.38 In a few places, he quotes the biblical version verbatim. For example, the first two words of the poem Shefal Ruaḥ are taken from Isaiah 57:15 and from Proverbs 17:19 and 29:23. In others, just like Dunash, he makes a few adaptations to fit the words into his poem. An interesting example is the phrase ‘shefal berekh veqomah’ [‘lowered knee and head’ [or stature]’] in line 1, which probably was inspired by Ezekiel 17:6 ‘vaiytsmaḥ vayehi legefen soraḥat shiflat qomah’ [‘[And] [‘I shall earnestly seek the Lord with my first thoughts’] against ‘’asher lishmo tehalel kol neshamah’ [‘All that breathe praise the name of the Lord’]. 38  Such as Isaiah, Proverbs, Ezekiel, Micah, Exodus, Psalms, Leviticus, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles, Numbers, and Job.

66 Syllable No.: Short/Long Syllable:* First Hemistich: Second Hemistich:

Chapter 2 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

U

–

–

–

/ U

–

–

–

/ U

She- fal ru-

aḥ

’A- qa- dem- kha

10

11

–

–

she- fal be- rekh

ve- qo- mah

be-

ve- ’ey- mah

rov fa- ḥad

//

* The Arabic scheme shows the options that this metre offers: u – uu -/ u – uu – / u – – // u – uu – / u – uu – / u –. The sign ‘uu’ denotes either one long or two short syllables. In this case, it denotes one long syllable. Figure 2.2 The Wāfir metre, Hamerubeh in Hebrew, in Shefal Ruaḥ (the first line)

It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature’]. Here, ’Ibn Gabirol separates the words ‘shiflat qomah’ [‘low stature’] and changes the grammatical form of the adjective ‘shiflat’ in feminine, which refers to the vine, into masculine, that is, ‘shefal’, which refers to a male worshipper. He also changes the word ‘qomah’ [‘stature’] to ‘veqomah’ [‘and stature’], and between this pair of words he inserts the word ‘berekh’ [‘knee’], perhaps intended to emphasise the insignificant status of the worshipper. Another example is the pair of words ‘paḥad ve’eymah’ [‘fear and dread’] in line 1 (translated in the poem as ‘In fear … my dread’). Inspired by the words in Exodus 15:16 ‘’eymatah vafaḥad’ [‘Terror and dread’], ’Ibn Gabirol changes the order of the words and adds a slight change in their form: ‘paḥad’ becomes the first word in the pair, and appears without ‘and’, which is added here to the second word ‘ve’eymah’. The meaning remains the same, but ’Ibn Gabirol’s version helps to fit the word ‘ve’eymah’ into the rhyming scheme of his poem, whereby each line ends with the syllable ‘mah’: line 1: ‘ve’eymah’ [‘and dread’]; line 2 ‘ba’adamah’ [‘upon the earth’]; line 3 ‘uvemah’ [‘and with what’]; line 4 ‘vekhamah’ [‘and how much less so’]; and line 5 ‘neshamah’ [‘soul’]. 5.2.3 Content The thoughts, aspirations and ordeals of the individual worshipper are at the centre of this poem. A distinct feature of secular Arabic poetry is reflected in ’Ibn Gabirol’s text through the direct and rather intimate speech of the worshipper to his maker, God. The Neoplatonic idea is also combined here with Islamic mysticism, according to which the human soul has the potential, the ability and the need to unite with the Divine through a spiritual process. The earthly human body gives the worshipper a strong sense of worthlessness (lines 1–2). This human weakness creates a huge chasm between God and

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

67

the worshipper, who nonetheless yearns to reach God. The cosmic gap widely separating the two is expressed in its two extremes: on the one end stands the humble and fearful worshipper who considers himself unworthy (lines 1–5); and on the other end stands the Almighty God with his infinite measures of goodness and greatness (lines 3–5). The worshipper’s need to unite with God and thus to close this huge gap is expressed through a dynamic process of selfstruggle which is described throughout the poem. The last syllable ‘mah’ of each of the lines constitutes the word ‘mah’ [‘what’ or ‘how’]. This word can open a series of questions such as what to do or how to do it, what or how to think, what or how to say, etc. Thus, it creates an impression of the state of emotional turmoil the worshipper is in, which grows even stronger as the appearance of ‘mah’ is so dense; all five verses of the poem end with this syllable. With this emotional unrest, it seems, the answer hides in the question, as ‘mah’ also constitutes half of the word ‘neshamah’ [‘soul’], perhaps suggesting that the way to resolve this perplexing situation is through the neshamah. Indeed, the poem ends with the hope of a devoted lover when he finds the way to reach his beloved, God. This huge gap between the two can be closed only through the soul, which will unite him with God on common ground. It is expressed in the last line through two variations of the same word, ‘gadol’ [‘infinite’ or ‘great’]: ‘vehigdalta’ and ‘tagdil’, used for God and the worshipper, respectively. For God, ‘vehigdalta ḥasadim’ [‘and infinite Thy ways’]; and for the worshipper, ‘lekha tagdil lehodot kol neshamah’ [‘Therefore the soul expands to sing Thy praise’], suggesting that the unification with God can be realised when the worshipper’s soul comprehends God’s infinite kindness and praises him constantly. Scheindlin (1991: 139) asserts that the form and structure of this poem is derived entirely from secular Arabic poems. Furthermore, its content is saturated with Islamic thinking to the extent that ‘the specifically Jewish element of the liturgy is either completely suppressed or drastically reduced, and the theme of love all but disappears’. 5.2.4 Melody In this poem, as in Dunash’s, there is no indication as to the melody to which it is sung. Three tunes are prevalent amongst the Babylonian community in Israel today. The first is in maqām Sīkāh, and it is sung to the tune of Ḥayak Baba Ḥayak [Watch Out My Son Watch Out], a well-known Iraqi song performed by the renowned singer Naẓem Al Ghazālī (1921–1963).39 The second 39  The word ‘Baba’ [‘father’] is also a nickname for a child or a son that means ‘my son’. For the maqām scale, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 10. For the Iraqi song, see https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=eSIXkfI5-oo&list=RDeSIXkfI5-oo&t=283 (2013). Apparently, the Iraqi song is not the original one. A few Iraqi musicians tend to think that it was borrowed

68

Chapter 2

tune a­ ppears in the Mu‘alem Collection in maqām Jahārkāh,40 and the third is sung in maqām Bayāt by Ḥabushah.41 It is likely that all these melodies were prevalent during the same period. What we do not know is which of the three is the oldest and, except for the first tune, what the original Arabic songs were. In any case, this example also demonstrates the continuation of the custom, prevalent amongst the Babylonians, of performing a poem to a variety of melodies. 6

The Ottoman Empire and Israel Ben Mosheh Najarah

For both Muslims and Jews, the year 1492 symbolises the dramatic transition from the fifteenth century to the sixteenth century. For the Muslims, this year marks the fall of their last stronghold in Spain, in Granada. The Ottoman Empire became the next, and to date, the last of the great Islamic world states. In this same year, the Jews were expelled from Spain, a trauma that left its mark on Jewish life for many centuries. A number of places within the Ottoman Empire became the home of large and important Jewish communities, place whose religio-cultural life was shaped by both the already existing Jewish population and the new exiles from Spain. The spiritual crisis of the post-exile experience led to a remarkable engagement in qabbalah [Jewish mysticism], which was accompanied by rituals of singing. The interest in qabbalah echoed the need of the exiles to understand the meaning of this last trauma while forming a new life under the wings of a new hosting empire and hoping for a better future. The void created by the departure from the old, rich Spanish cultural milieu was filled now by Ottoman Turkish culture. In this complex and painful diasporic setting, the work of the rabbi, poet and musician Israel Ben Mosheh Najarah emerged. His new and unique poetic style reflects the influence of both Turkish and Arabic cultures, as well as the strong bond with his predecessors. Najarah’s work symbolises a significant phase in the history of Hebrew religious poetry, inasmuch as it represents, for the first time, a simple and accessible version of the genre. In this respect, his poetry served as a model for an entirely new school of poets, which still exists today. From his time on, there is no Arab-Jewish poet of this genre who has not from a Persian song. For Shefal Ruaḥ performed by Ḥaguli Shmu’el Darzi, see http://web .nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx?songid=109#1,14,740,19 (n.d.). 40  For the maqām scale, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 11. 41  For the maqām scale, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 2, and for his rendition, see Ḥabushah, Ye‘arat Dvash [Honeycomb]. Jerusalem: Gal-Paz (20), (n.d.) and https://youtu .be/yGV4amnsf_A (2017).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

69

been influenced by him. The Babylonians’ admiration for Najarah is expressed through the inclusion of eighty-one of his poems, which I identified, in the miṣḥaf and thus makes him the most popular poet in this collection. 6.1 Major Aspects of Arabo-Islamic Influence 6.1.1 Text Both Arabic secular poetry and mysticism also continued to be conspicuous components in Najarah’s poetry. His work reflects a combination of strong Jewish identity, steeped in Jewish suffering and longing for redemption, and poetic and musical elements taken from the wider cultural environment. The content of his poems is similar neither to Dunash’s untroubled descriptions, nor to ’Ibn Gabirol’s refined expression of the sophisticated and adherent worshipper. Najarah’s main concern is far more crucial; it is the nation’s pain and the memories of its traumatic expulsion that are pressing him to create poetry which will sow the seeds of hope for a better future in the hearts of the exiles. Questions such as the reason for the exile of the Jewish People from their land and the reason for the long and harsh life in the Diaspora also occupied ’Ibn Gabirol, but with much less intensity (Schirmann 1998: 327). An example which reflects the effect of the expulsion on the Jews from Spain in Najarah’s poetry is his Baqashah Yonah Ve’eikh Tirbetsi [Dove, How Can You Lie Down], M(22;21). In the first edition of Zmirot Yisra’el (1587), Najarah asks God to destroy the nation’s enemy (stanza 7, line 2): ‘ubney ’Edom miḥtsi’ [‘And crush the sons of ’Edom’]. According to the Torah (Genesis 25:12–18), ’Edom, considered to be the descendants of Esau, was one of the worst enemies of Israel. The Talmud Bavli (Megilah, 13a) associates Esau and ’Edom with the enemy of Israel at that time, namely, the Roman Empire, which in later periods was associated with Christianity in general, and in Najarah’s time, with the Spanish Christians who were responsible for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. According to Mirski (1962: 275), in this period the poets themselves practised strong censorship in their writing, which lessened the harshness of their work and made their poetic cry quieter and less provoking. Indeed, Najarah himself changed this line in his own text, and in the Venice edition (1599) the poem appears with a change: ‘sone’ vetsar miḥtsi’ [‘Crush [our] sworn enemy’], that is, enemies in general. 6.1.2 Arabic Secular Poetry Najarah, like his predecessor ’Ibn Gabirol, adapted models of Arabic love songs packed with images and metaphors of earthy and sensual love, and also added the Turkish repertoire of songs of this type. He kept this romantic frame while giving the plot a religious meaning. For example, in the poem Yonah Homah

70

Chapter 2

[Humming Pigeon], M(13;4), the nation of Israel is described as a ‘ra‘ayah’ [‘wife’] and ‘yafah’ [‘beautiful’], ‘‘anugah rakah’ [‘soft [and] tender’], however, ‘’umlalah, nafshi umah tishtoḥaḥi’ [‘miserable and in low spirits’]. God promises her salvation and redemption and then asks her to ‘pitsḥi shir ḥedvah ki qolekh na’avah’ [‘sing and rejoice with your beautiful voice’], to ‘‘adayikh tilbeshi’ [‘Wear your beautiful jewellery’], and to ‘tsahali ḥoshqim’ [‘Rejoice in your sensuality’]. Because he, God, ‘yagiha ḥeshkekh’ [‘Shall light your nights and darkness’] and ‘nimlats lo ḥikekh’ [‘Will be happy in your bosom’]. 6.1.3 Islamic Mysticism Najarah’s personal involvement in Jewish and Islamic mystical life is uncertain (Yahalom 1991B: 635). Nonetheless, he continued the tradition of the Spanish School of Hebrew poets and amalgamated in his songs Islamic and Jewish mysticism. He was inspired mainly by the ideas and rituals of the ṭarīqa [order] of the Bektashi Dervishes [members of this religious fraternity], the Muslim mystics from Turkey, who sang sensuous love songs with mystical significance. Additionally, Najarah was influenced by the ideas shaped by the qabbalist Isaac Luria, who contributed new concepts that continued to be pivotal in Jewish mysticism long after his death (Yahalom ibid., 9, 41). 6.1.4 Phonetic Metre Najarah adapted and further endorsed the Mishqal Havarti Foneti [Phonetic-Syllabic Metre], which was also known as the Italian system. This was a metre based on the principle of creating a fixed number of syllables in each line of the poem, with no distinction between their lengths, unlike Dunash’s Quantitative Metre. Najarah’s preference for the Phonetic-Syllabic Metre is heavily reflected in his work, and it is much more prevalent than the Quantitative Metre. In fact, Rabbi Menaḥem de Lonzano (1550, Italy–1623, Jerusalem), a qabbalist and poet who lived in Constantinople, Safed, Venice and Jerusalem, criticised Najarah for this, accusing him of being an ignorant poet who was not knowledgeable enough of the rules of Hebrew grammar (Benayahu 1990: 225).42 It is possible to assume that since most of Najarah’s songs were written to existing Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Greek songs, the simplest way he could adjust the Hebrew language to their form and structure was by using a flexible metric system such as this. From Najarah’s time on, this metre became widespread in the East and almost the only type used by most poets (Beeri 1985: 50). 42  For de Lonzano’s view on the use of Arabic music in Jewish worship, see Rosenfeld-Hadad (2017: 189).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

71

6.1.5 Music The influence of both Arabic and Turkish music on Najarah’s work, as well as Persian and Greek music, derived directly from the original songs which he had chosen to write in the perfect mu‘āraḍa technique. Their presence in his work is of an unprecedented scope. However, tracing these melodies is almost impossible. As to the Turkish melodies, Yahalom (1982: 112) asserts that a great disappointment awaits anyone who wishes to know what the melodies mentioned in the heading of each of the poems in Najarah’s book sounded like. In 1995, together with Tietze, he published a pioneering study, in which they identified the Turkish sources of Najarah’s songs, the names of the songs, and the names of their maqāmāt – however, they did not identify their actual melodies. In Zmirot Yisra’el (1587: 1A), Najarah himself describes these foreign songs as ‘nigunim nokhriyim’ [‘foreign melodies’], and he states clearly that they are not appropriate for poems written in the holy language, Hebrew, because they are ‘divrey ḥesheq vezimah’ [‘words of desire and lechery’]. Nonetheless, he, as his predecessors, continued the tradition of using these types of melodies in his poems. This was probably done, at least in the case of Najarah, out of a wish to attract worshippers to adopt his Hebrew religious songs and reject the foreign and thus forbidden ones. Najarah was also the first to classify and edit his songs according to their maqāmāt and not only according to their religious occasion. As a poet of paraliturgical texts, Najarah’s contribution to paraliturgical singing is also unprecedented, as he was the first to introduce a new textual and musical device, the Ptiḥah, into the paraliturgical tradition. Indeed, half of the Ptiḥot in the miṣḥaf are his.43 6.2 Najarah’s Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Become as Chaff before the Wind] Najarah’s Baqashah, M(14;6), was inspired by the Turkish ghazal La‘l-i Lebin Ki Sordugum [It Is the Ruby of Your Lips That I Am Asking About] by the poet Qazi Burhanuddin (1314–1398) (Tietze and Yahalom 1995: 133).44 43  For further discussion on the Ptiḥot, see Chapter 4, Paragraph 5. See also Appendix 3, Column 1, M(228–235;344–372). 44  I would like to thank Timothy Winter for the information regarding the Turkish title of this poem and its English translation. Another possible translation suggested by Tietze and Yahalom (1995: 133) is ‘With Intended Ambiguity, that I Suck/Kiss’. They rely on Najarah’s collection published by Friedlander (1858), in which Yihyu Kemots appears with a heading indicating this song. The name of this poet in Turkish is spelled Kadi Burhanettin or Kadi Burhaneddin. He was a poet, scholar and statesman who served as a vizier for the Erenta State in Kayseri (central Turkey), and in 1381 founded his own state, nearby, in

72 6.2.1

Chapter 2

Hebrew Text and Translation (the First Stanza and Refrain) ‫ולעובדי בל יבוא חבל‬ ‫ולבל יפול יקשור חבל‬ ‫שר לו תוך קהל וחבל‬ ‫כאילו אינו תוך חבל‬

‫יהיו כמוץ עובדי כמוש‬ ‫איש פסלו יעמוס‬-‫אשר כל‬ ‫ובתוך חיקו אותו יכמוס‬ ‫ובעת צרה יאטם אוזן‬

‫ובאל חי נפל לו חבל‬

‫אשרי עם אל חי גורלו‬

They who worship their god Chemosh45 shall become as chaff46 before the wind And upon the worshippers of Bel47 agony shall come48 Each of whom reveres his sculptured image And to protects it from falling he ties it with rope And in his bosom he hides his false God And sings to it out loud49 But in times of need, this false god shuts its ear As if its devout worshipper is not nearby50 Happy is the people51 of the living God And into the bosom of the living God and his lot they have fallen 6.2.2 Poetic Characteristics Najarah’s poem presents one of the structural variations of the Shir Me‘eyn’Ezori, that is, the Quasi-Muwashshaḥ. It consists of four stanzas, each with lines divided over two hemistichs. The first stanza has five lines, of which the last functions as the refrain and each of the following three stanzas has four lines. Najarah’s rich repertoire of Arabic, Turkish, and other poetic and musical sources resulted in an equally rich repertoire of poetic forms, which demonstrates many types of rhyming schemes even in the frame of one poem. Yihyu Kemots has two sets of rhyming schemes, as described in Table 2.2. The first is Sivas. I would also like to thank Lejla Demiri for this information. For the complete text in Hebrew and the English translation of the original Turkish song, see Appendix 5. 45  Numbers 21:29, Jeremiah 48:46. Chemosh is the god of Moab and ’Edom. 46  Psalms 1:4. 47  Isaiah 46:1. Bel is the chief god of Babylon, known also as Merodakh; see also Even-Shoshan (1977: 334). 48  Isaiah 26:17. 49  Numbers 17:12. 50  Deuteronomy 3:4. 51  Psalms 89:16.

73

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs Table 2.2 The rhyming scheme in Najarah’s Yihyu Kemots

Stanza no.

Line 1

Line 2

Line 3

Line 4

Refrain

1 2 3 4

AB EF JJ LM

AB GF KJ LM

AB HF LJ NM

CB IB JB MB

DB DB DB DB

unique to each of the stanzas, and the second appears in the last word of each of them and rhymes with the last word of each line of the first stanza, which is also the last word of the refrain (B in Table 2.2). The overall structure of the poem and its rhyming scheme are typical of the Shir Me‘eyn-’Ezori, and they appear in many of Najarah’s poems. Yihyu Kemots is written in the Arabic metre called ‘Rajaz’, whose syllables are determined according to the principle of the Phonetic-Syllabic Metre discussed above: each line has sixteen syllables, eight in each hemistich.52 Figure 2.3 illustrates the first line of the poem: Syllable No.: First Hemistich: Second Hemistich:

1 YihUl-

2 yu ‘ov-

3 kedey

4 5 mots ‘ovBel ya-

6 dey vo’

7 Keḥe-

8 mosh vel

Figure 2.3 The metric pattern in Yihyu Kemots (the first line)

Najarah’s language is simple and contains vocabulary that is no longer purely biblical, at least not in comparison to the intensity and sophistication of the language deployed by the Spanish School. An example of the simple vocabulary is the line intended for the refrain of the song (stanza 1, line 5): ‘’ashrey ‘am ’el ḥay goralo uve’el ḥay nafal lo ḥevel’ [‘Happy is the people of the living God; And into the bosom of the living God and his lot they have fallen]. It is based on simple words such as ‘’ashrey’ [‘happy’], ‘‘am’ [‘people’ or ‘nation’] and ‘’el ḥay’ [‘the living God’], common and prevalent also in the liturgy and thus known to many members of any community. It seems that the biblical vocabulary of this song was inspired by Isaiah’s prophesies regarding the idolaters. A few of the words Najarah chooses, such as ‘‘ovdey Bel’ [‘the worshippers of [the god] Bel’], (46:1), and their ultimate fate, ‘yavo’ ḥevel’ [‘agony shall come’] (66:7), suggest this affiliation. 52  It is the third type of Rajaz: U U U -/ U U U -// U U U -/ U U U - (Stoetzer 1998: 621).

74

Chapter 2

6.2.3 Content It appears that Najarah’s main concern is the anguish and suffering of the exiled nation. He feels compelled to encourage his people to hope for a better future and trust their God Almighty, who will eventually come to their rescue and put them out of their miseries. In this respect, the poem reflects the shift from the concerns of the individual worshipper, which occupied ’Ibn Gabirol and his contemporaries, to those of the nation, a development typical of poems written in the post-exile era following the expulsion from Spain. Yihyu Kemots describes the strong bond between God and the People of Israel through a comparison with the type of relationship other nations have with their gods. Israel’s unique and true God is compared to the false and powerless gods of other nations (stanza 2, line 1): ‘ki lo’ ketsurenu tsuram’ [‘Our God is not like their god’]. He is attentive to the hardship of his nation (ibid., line 3): ‘vetsurenu qarov lekhol qor’av’ [‘And our God is close to everyone who asks for his help’]. He is omnipotent (ibid., line 3) – ‘me’od nisa’ varam’ [‘very high and mighty’] – and thus can redeem the nation from its miseries (stanza 4, line 3): ‘veyeromem ‘am baḥar lo yah lisg’ulato le‘olamim’ [[‘And he shall] redeem his chosen people forever’]. The poem envisions a happy destiny for the People of Israel. This will happen when God shall rebuild his Temple and restore the nation in its land (ibid., line 4): ‘yivneh miqdasho kramim’ [‘[And God] shall build his Temple [like a flowering] orchard’] and ‘veyatsmiaḥ ’et tsits novel’ [‘[And] will grow [redeem and bring to the Holy Land] the fading flower [the People of Israel]’]. 6.2.4 Melody There is no indication in the miṣḥaf as to the melody to which Yihyu Kemots is sung. However, in the heading of two other poems, Yihyu Kemots is quoted as the recommended melody for their performance. The first is Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’ [A Day of Good News God Has Exalted for His People], M(103;143) (Psalms 148:14), for Purim, which is also by Najarah. This is in fact the only case indicated in the 1954 Miṣḥaf in which poems that share the same melody were written by the same poet. The second is Barukh ’El Hay [Blessed Be He the Living God], M(213;318), for the Bar Mitsvah, by ’al-Ḥakham.53 Thus, the same melody is adapted to three different religious occasions, which carry different meanings and ideas. This example demonstrates the flexibility of a specific melody to be adapted to varied thematic contents and religious occasions.54 53  For Bar Mitsvah, see Appendix 1, Section 3.22. 54  This melody is broadly discussed in Chapter 4, Paragraph 4.2. The characteristic of the paraliturgical melody is discussed in Chapter 4, Paragraph 4.4.2.

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

75

The only known melody sung by the Babylonians to ‘Yihyu Kemots’ is performed by both Mu‘alem and Ḥabushah in maqām Ḥusaynī.55 7

Baghdad and Ḥakham Yosef Ḥayim Ben ’Eliyah, ’al-Ḥakham

During the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, Iraq was a battleground between the two great empires of the time: the Shiite Persians and the Sunnite Ottomans. The seventeenth century added another catastrophe to those already suffered in Iraq. Plagues that came from the Far East through India and Persia beset the country and took the lives of many people. Only in the midnineteenth century was this problem solved through the aid of international organisations (Rappel 1978: 64). The leadership of prominent rabbis such as the Ḥalab-born Rabbi Tsdaqah Ḥutsin (1699, Ḥalab–1733, Baghdad) and the Baghdadi Rabbi ‘Abdallāh Somekh (1813–1889, Baghdad), who is regarded by the Babylonians as the most admired leader and as the highest halakhic authority, brought significant progress to the life of this community.56 During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jews became influential in Iraq in both commerce and government. One of their major achievements was the foundation of a nation-wide educational system for all Iraqi citizens (Hakak 2005: 15). However, this situation did not last long. From the 1930s onwards, the Zionist movement in Europe was gaining more power, encouraging the settlement of Jews from Europe in Palestine. Its policy created tension between Jews and their Muslim neighbours, which had an immediate and detrimental consequence on Iraqi Jews’ lives, coming to a tragic peak in the Farhud [Pogrom], the massacre and looting of 1941. According to Ben Ya‘akov (1971: 90), between 120 to 180 Jews were killed, and the damage to property was estimated at around one million pounds sterling.57 The immediate cause of this one and only pogrom in the history of the Babylonians is still a matter of debate and needs to be further investigated. However, the prevalent opinion amongst scholars today is that it was provoked by Nazi and Arab-Palestinian anti-Jewish propaganda, which took place during a period of political and governmental instability. Gradually, the Babylonian communities recovered from this trauma and life went back to normal; however, this was not 55  For the scale of maqām Ḥusaynī, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 1. For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see ‘Ye‘arat Dvash’, Jerusalem: Gal-Paz (20), and https://youtu.be/7Ds547EjyPo (2017). See also Shiloah (1983: 40). 56  For more about Somekh’s origin, life and work, see Ben Ya‘akov (1949) and (1965: 150), Stillman (1995: 24) and Zohar (1988) and (2001B: 19, 44 and 62) and Shabat (2016: 113). 57  See also Spector-Simon (2003: 350).

76

Chapter 2

entirely true. Zionism continued to gain some traction amongst Babylonian Jews, and thus provoked frequent protests against them and discriminatory legislation by the Iraqi government. After 1945, the situation grew more precarious, resulting in the mass exodus of the Jews in 1950 and 1951. ’Al-Ḥakham, also known as the ‘Ben ’Ish Ḥay’ [‘Living Man’], was a rabbi, poet and the last spiritual leader of the Babylonian Jews on the eve of their departure from Iraq. Famous for his progressive halakhic ruling,58 his religious leadership was widely recognised by many Jewish communities, Babylonians as well as others in the East and in the West.59 ’Al-Ḥakham was a prolific writer of both rabbinic work and poetry. His halakhic ruling, which was written in Hebrew, marks a significant development in the writing of Babylonian rabbis. This is because rabbinic works in Baghdad, from the Geonic period until his time, were written only in Arabic.60 ’Al-Ḥakham wrote more than two hundred poems, all of which reflect the influence of both the Spanish School and Najarah. The fifty poems of ’al-Ḥakham’s found in the miṣḥaf show his prominence amongst the Babylonians. 7.1 Major Aspects of Arabo-Islamic Influence 7.1.1 Sermons Jewish darshanim [preachers, s. darshan] in all Arab-Jewish communities, including the Babylonian community, were influenced by the special rhetoric and eloquence of the khuṭabā’ [Muslim preachers, s. khaṭīb] (Ben Ya‘akov 1994: 253). In most cases, the prominent khuṭabā’ were leading religious scholars, poets and spiritual figures with pietistic, ascetic and mystical tendencies. Their sermons were intense mixtures of quotations taken from the Qur’ān, the Ḥadīth, proverbs, and poetry drawn from a wide variety of sources. Many of the khuṭabā’ had written works based on their preaching (Meisami 1998B: 594). Most of these qualities are equally typical of ’al-Ḥakham, who was also known as a talented and charismatic khaṭīb. His sermons belonged to a tradition passed on to him by his father, who was the son of the rabbi and leader of the Baghdadi community at the turn of the nineteenth century, Rabbi Mosheh Ḥayim. This tradition had run in the family for generations, and the sermons were regarded by the Babylonians as important events in their socio-religious 58  See Regev (2016). 59  For ’al-Ḥakham’s approach to Ashkenazi ruling, see Zohar (2001B: 47). For his halakhic ethos, see Zohar (2001B: 55). 60  On ’al-Ḥakham’s life and work, rulings and special attention and attitude towards women, see Strikovski (2014).

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

77

lives (Ben Ya‘akov 1994: 259). ’Al-Ḥakham’s speech, in the spoken Arabic of the Babylonian Jews, was simple and clear. He focused mainly on halakhic rulings on issues concerning Jewish daily life and conduct. These were imbued with familiar biblical quotations and stories usually taken from parashat hashavu’a [the reading of the weekly Torah portion], moral sayings, proverbs and popular stories, mostly derived from both Arabic written and oral traditions such as Alf Layla wa-Layla [One Thousand and One Arabian Nights] (Avishur 1994: 112; Zohar 2001B: 40). Hadad describes his recollection of these events, which were told by the elderly members of the Baghdadi community in the 1930s and 1940s: On Saturday, after shaḥarit [the Morning Prayer], the men used to go to the qahwa [coffee shop] and have a cup of tea with sumunayi [special Iraqi bread]. The owner of the qahwa was of course Muslim, and they used to pay him for the drinks and food later on during the weekdays. After spending a pleasant time in the qahwa, they would go home for breakfast, se‘udah shnyah [the second meal of the Sabbath], take a nap, and then go back to the synagogue to hear ’al-Ḥakham’s drashah [sermon] until minḥah [the Afternoon Prayer]. ’Al-Ḥakham could talk for two hours or more, but people could listen to his stories even for five hours. As he was very charismatic, he had a beautiful voice, a rich and fascinating vocabulary mixed with simple language, telling fascinating stories. First, he would quote his source in its original language, which was either Hebrew or Arabic, and then he would translate this source into the Iraqi Judaeo-Arabic dialect. Women especially liked to listen to his talks, because he always addressed them directly and used the Arabic dialect they spoke. Hadad, 1 July 200761

7.1.2 Mysticism ’Al-Ḥakham continued the long tradition of expressing mystical ideas in poetry paved by his predecessors ’Ibn Gabirol and Najarah. As was the case in the work of these earlier poets, the contribution of Islamic and Jewish mysticism to the work of ’al-Ḥakham is yet to be discovered. However, his interest in qabbalah is evident in many of his poems and sermons, wherein he used numerology, 61  For ’al-Ḥakham’s work Qanun el Nisa [The Law for Women], which was dedicated to women and written deliberately in the Judaeo-Arabic dialect, the only language they spoke, see Ilan (2014). For more about his sermons, see Shabat (2016: 194).

78

Chapter 2

and in his halakhic rulings, wherein he described minhag hamequbbalim [the Jewish mystics’ conduct or custom]. In his private life, ’al-Ḥakham was reclusive, having experienced a family calamity. 7.1.3 Arabic Popular Songs It seems that ’al-Ḥakham’s poetic style is similar to his sermonic style in many respects. He was inspired by folk and popular Arabic songs, which were prevalent amongst his community and which, in fact, are prevalent amongst Babylonians down to the present day. These songs include many of the Iraqi indigenous poetic and sung genres, such as the Zuhayrī and the ‘Atāba.62 Through these genres, and with simple and accessible language, both Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, ’al-Ḥakham expressed fundamental Jewish topics in clear fashion. In this way, he, like Najarah, aimed to create songs which were accessible to all members of the community. 7.2 ’Al-Ḥakham’s Barukh ’El Ḥay ’Eloheynu [Blessed Be Our Living God] In Barukh ’El Ḥay, M(213;318), which is intended for Bar Mitsvah celebrations, ’al-Ḥakham uses the mu‘āraḍa technique and emulates Najarah’s Yihyu Kemots. Thus, these two poems are identical in their form, their metre, their rhyming scheme, and, to some extent, in their vocabulary.63 7.2.1

Hebrew Text and Translation (the First Stanza and Refrain) ‫כי לכבודו בראנו‬ ‫תורת אמת נתן לנו‬ ‫במצוותיו קדשנו‬

‫ברוך אל חי אלהינו‬ ‫בעל מצות הביאנו‬ ‫דבר קדשו הודיענו‬

‫מלך יי צבאות‬ ‫ברוך אל חי ההודאות‬

‫אשרי העם עובדי אל חי‬ ‫גדול ועושה נפלאות‬

Blessed be our living God [Who] for his glory created us [Who] brought us to bear [his] [And] gave us the true Torah64 commandments [Who] manifested to us his [And] with his commandments he sacred promise sanctified us

62  For the Zuhayrī, see Chapter 1, Paragraph 6.4. For the ‘Atāba, see Chapter 1, Paragraph 6.5. 63  For the complete text in Hebrew, see Appendix 6. 64  ‘True Torah’ in Malachi 2:6 is translated as ‘proper ruling’.

79

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

Happy is the people65 that worships King and Lord of Hosts the living God Great and performs wonders Blessed be our living God of confessions 7.2.2 Poetic Characteristics Barukh ’El Ḥay is a Shir Me‘eyn-’Ezori with eight stanzas, each of which has three lines, and a refrain with two lines. All the lines in the poem are divided over two hemistichs. In Table 2.3, the poem presents two sets of rhyming schemes, though in a simpler manner than Najarah’s: the first belongs to each of the stanzas, and the second to the refrain: Table 2.3 The rhyming scheme in ’al-Ḥakham’s Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first three stanzas)

Stanzas

Refrain

Stanza no.

Line 1

Line 2

Line 3

Line 1

Line 2

1 2 3

AA DD EE

AA DD EE

AA DD EE

BC BC BC

CC CC CC

Here also, the syllables are determined according to the Phonetic-Syllabic Metre, as are most of ’al-Ḥakham’s and Najarah’s poems in the miṣḥaf. The metric pattern in this song, as in Najarah’s Yihyu Kemots, has sixteen syllables per line, as described in Figure 2.4: Syllable No.: First Hemistich: Second Hemistich:

1 BaKi

2 rukh likh-

3 ’el vo-

4 ḥay do

5 ’ebe-

6 lora-

7 hey’a-

8 nu nu

Figure 2.4 The metric pattern in Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first line)

’Al-Ḥakham’s language demonstrates his vast knowledge of both Jewish scriptures and rabbinic writing. At the same time, he uses a simple vocabulary taken from well-known and frequently recited passages in the liturgy, a few of which also appear in the Bible in such texts as Psalms, Isaiah, Exodus, the Song of 65  Psalms 89:16.

80

Chapter 2

Songs and Proverbs. ’Al-Ḥakham uses a few of Najarah’s phrases and arranges them in similar places in his poem. For example, the phrase ‘Happy is the people’ appears three times in Psalms: once in 89:16, ‘Happy is the people who knows the joyful shout; O Lord, they walk in the light of Your presence’, and twice in 144:15, ‘Happy the people who have it so; happy the people whose God is the Lord’. Another example appears right in the opening words of the poem, with the expression ‘barukh ’el ḥay ’eloheynu’ [‘Blessed be our living God’]. The word ‘barukh’ appears in many places in the Bible (eighty-three times). It also begins every brakhah in the liturgy and in other religious rituals such as before and after eating any kind of food and when lighting candles before and after the Sabbath. The phrase ‘’el hay’ appears only once in the Bible (Joshua 10:3); however, it is widespread both in the liturgy and in many religious songs. The phrase ‘bemitsvotav qideshanu’ [‘With His commandments He sanctified us’] (stanza 1, line 3) is another example of ’al-Ḥakham’s use of simple and known vocabulary. This phrase is also prevalent in many brakhot recited both in the liturgy and in many other forms and occasions of worship. 7.2.3 Content The thirteenth birthday of the Bar Mitsvah boy symbolises a significant stage in the young man’s life as a Jew.66 From this day on, he becomes a committed and responsible adult who must act according to the laws and spirit of the Torah. The poem begins with a description of the nation’s commitment to obey God’s commands, and of its good fortune (stanza 1). In the following six stanzas, the nation conveys wishes and blessings for the ḥatan mitsvot [the Bar Mitsvah groom]. The last stanzas refer to his parents, who will be content with their son’s good deeds, knowing that he will be protected by God and prosper and be blessed amongst his people. The aggadic work ’Avot Derabi Natan [[Tractate] ’Avot [by] Rabbi Natan] (16: 2) conveys the idea that at the age of thirteen a young man develops awareness of moral conduct called ‘hayetser haṭov’ [‘the good inclination’] and the ability to distinguish between what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’.67 This idea is expressed in the third stanza (line 3), ‘venimlaṭ mipaḥ yoqshim’ [‘[the Bar Mitsvah boy] has escaped from the fowler’s trap [the evil inclination]’], and in the fifth stanza (line 1) ‘yetser ksil tse’ yo’mar veyetser ṭov ba’ bigvulo’ [‘Evil inclination, be set 66  See also Appendix 1, Section 3.22. 67  ’Avot Derabi Natan was probably written by Rabi Natan Habavli [Rabbi Nathan the Babylonian] in the Geonic period, 700–900 CE. It is a small tractate of early midrashic exegesis on Pirqei ’Avot [Ethics of the Fathers], which was not included in the Talmud. Pirqei ’Avot is a rabbinic work of ethical teaching of the Mishnaic period 10–220 CE. This source is quoted here in the following manner: ’Avot Derabi Natan, chapter number and verse number.

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

81

apart, and good inclination enter his domain’]. The mystical idea in this poem is expressed through the word ‘’or’ [‘light’], which appears in various forms and symbolises qabbalistic figures. According to the qabbalah, ‘ha’or hane‘elam’ [‘the hidden mysterious light’] is the mystical light of God. ’Al-Ḥakham uses this idea when he describes mystical figures in other songs.68 For example, his poem Ve’amartem Koh Leḥay [And Let Us Say: To Life!], M(113;156), which is dedicated to the most important mystical figure in Judaism, Bar Yoḥay, a midsecond-century tanna’ [rabbinic sage, from Aramaic, a teacher or repeater] who, according to the Jewish tradition, wrote the Zohar and hence became a significant authority in qabbalistic law.69 In this poem, Bar Yoḥay is described with adjectives all conjugated with ’or, suggesting that he has a part of God’s light. Two synonyms for light appear in the second stanza of Barukh ’El Hay, both in the second line. The first is ‘betif’arah’ [‘in glory’ or ‘brilliance’]: ‘’asher ne‘etar betif’arah’ [‘He shall wear the crown of glory [that God gave him]’], and the second is ‘’orah’ [‘light’]: ‘vayilbash kasalmah ’orah’ [‘And he shall clothe himself in light as a garment’]. Both describe God’s light with royal garments – a majestic crown and a dress – suggesting that the Bar Mitsvah boy will be safe, cloaked and protected by God’s holy light. 7.2.4 Melody Yihyu Kemots’s melody is cited in the heading of this poem. The only known melody is performed by both Mu‘alem and Ḥabushah in maqām Ḥusaynī.70 8 Conclusion The Four Central Poems of the 1954 Miṣḥaf in the Context of Their Time and Place The four examined poems represent significant developments in Hebrew religious poetry within and under the influence of Arabo-Islamic civilisation. Furthermore, their themes reflect major events in the history of the Jewish 8.1

68  ’Ibn Gabirol, inspired by Islamic Neoplatonism and Sufism, also uses light as a metaphorical word for mystical experience in its many aspects. For example, in Keter Malkhut, God is described as ‘the Light’. See also Levin (1986: 164). 69  Jewish mystics have recognised the Zohar since the fourteenth century as the most important work of mystical teaching. The main section of this work consists of a mystical commentary on different parts of the Bible presented in the form of discussions by a group of second-century rabbis and scholars in Palestine, which were led by Shim‘on Bar Yoḥay. 70  For a detailed analysis of this melody, see Chapter 4, Paragraph 4.3. For the maqām scale, see Chapter 4, Table 4.19, Row 1. For Mu‘alem’s rendition, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/ nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx?songid=668#1,14,2114,423 (n.d.).

82

Chapter 2

People from before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE until the twentieth century. They also mirror the religio-cultural atmosphere of the time and the place in which they were written. The analysis of a wider range of poems would have created a much more detailed picture of the life and circumstances of the Jewish Diaspora during this long period. However, portraying this historicocultural landscape, which covers different literary, religious, cultural and social aspects of the poems and their most prominent poets, does not weaken this assertion but rather illustrates its validity in a scaled-down setting. The first and second periods of the PLS’s history is represented by poets who were leading philosophers and rabbinic and literary figures of their time. Both periods are considered as heydays not only of Arabo-Islamic civilisation, but also of the Jewish Diaspora. ‘Abbasid Baghdad and Muslim Spain were both the cultural capitals of Judaism and Islam. In this comfortable and almost cosy atmosphere of these two cities, it is not surprising that the almost relaxed Dunash wrote his song for the Sabbath Deror Yiqra’ and that the refined pious ’Ibn Gabirol articulated his Shefal Ruaḥ. Moreover, the mixture of Jewish and Islamic ideas in ’Ibn Gabirol’s poem represents a worshipper who could be Jewish or Muslim. It is likely that this kind of poetry could only be created in a safe environment that allows poets to absorb the thoughts and ideas created by another religion, integrate them into their own beliefs, and still feel themselves as having a strong Jewish identity. This is definitely not the setting in Najarah’s time. It was nearly a century after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and yet the Jews still conducted their religio-cultural lives under the shadow of this traumatic event. Therefore, Najarah’s poem is not as festive as Dunash’s, nor is it steeped in ’Ibn Gabirol’s refined religious individualism. Instead, Najarah addresses the nation with words of support, and offers hope for a better future of redemption and a return to their own land to live as a free nation. ’Al-Ḥakham’s poem follows the path of poetic simplicity paved by Najarah. It echoes the yearning and hope for a better future for the nation, even when celebrating a happy event, such as a Bar Mitsvah. The almost total imitation of Najarah’s poem also reflects the process of stagnation in Hebrew religious poetry, particularly in the paraliturgical genre, which took place from Najarah’s time onwards. Appraising the Richness of the Paraliturgical Song’s Jewish and Arabo-Islamic Components after a Millennium 8.2.1 The Paraliturgical Song Looking at the PLS over the span of a millennium through the work of these four poets leaves no doubt as to the role of Arabo-Islamic culture in its formation. Together, the poetic and the musical features of the PLS reflect a unique hybridity of four elements which might be viewed as clashing. The 8.2

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

83

paraliturgical text merges ideas and thoughts taken from both Jewish and Islamic faiths and cultures. Furthermore, this symbiosis unites another layer of what seem to be contradictory elements, that is, the religious and the secular. The paraliturgical texts present religious ideas and thoughts that are expressed many times through secular and mundane images borrowed from Arabic love songs. These texts are also often sung to the melodies of the original borrowed songs, as is shown clearly in Najarah’s work. The melodies themselves, as being typical of Arabic culture in general, create another layer of dichotomy, as each of them combines elements of measured and unmeasured melodic sections, and pre-composed and re-composed or improvised parts. A further level of contrast exists in the PLS through the juxtaposition of written and oral methods of transmission in a form of documented and fixed texts sung to orally transmitted melodies. All of these four layers of seemingly contrary elements are united again in a poetic form and style created by Arabic ‘arūḍ [prosody] and ‘ilm al-balāgha [rhetoric], and written and expressed in Hebrew, with its own rhetorical, poetic and grammatical rules. 8.2.2 The Poets This chain of extraordinary combinations is not exclusively confined to the genre alone. It also exists in the lives and identities of both its poets and its carriers down through the long centuries in the Arabo-Islamic Diaspora. The biographies of many of the poets attest clearly to their strong and immaculate Jewish piety combined with equally strong integration and intense discourse with the surrounding Arabo-Islamic culture – without any split or feeling of contradiction between the two. 8.2.3 The Carriers Based on interviews I held, between the years 2003 and 2017, with members of the Babylonian community in Israel, all born in Baghdad during the 1930s and 1940s, and all of whom immigrated to Israel between 1949 and 1951, I concluded that the same rich and profound mixture of elements is still a strong component in the identity of the Babylonian Jews. They described themselves as enjoying ‘both worlds’, that is, both the Jewish the Arabo-Islamic cultures. They see these two worlds as one coherent, complete and safe space of existence, lacking any room for contradictions, conflicts or confusion. It seems that the following description that was presented by Hadad reflects the Babylonians’ perception of their identity in this religio-cultural space: Politics changed the relationship between Judaism, Islam and Arabic culture. Judaism and Islam are Siamese twins. We complement each other. We are both Semitic nations with religions that were evolved in the same

84

Chapter 2

piece of land. We both lived in this era before Islam came about, and even then, we had many similar customs. We have the same mentality and we cannot ignore each other, as we are in many aspects extremely similar. The greatest cultural figures in both Judaism and Islam created the most significant work in the Arabic cultural civilisation; they fed each other and contributed to one another many ideas and thoughts. When the Muslims conquered Babylon, the Jews immediately supported them as they, unlike the Persians, also believed in one God. The Muslims, for the same reason, respected the Jews and this strong similarity created the ground for unprecedented coexistence between them, which lasted for so many centuries. Hadad, 11 November 2003

The mixture of Jewish and Arabo-Islamic cultures was described almost in the same breath and as an obvious entity. Jewish identity was expressed as one which comprises a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish People; an allegiance that is bound to their shared history. Hadad said: My father was a Jew, his father was a Jew, my grandfather’s father was a Jew, so I am Jewish too, and my children and their children forevermore will be Jewish as well. We cannot do anything about it, this is our destiny. (ibid.) This sense of belonging is complemented by keeping the spirit and word of the Torah in a manner typical of the masortiyim [traditionalists], unlike the Orthodox observance, which is much stricter, constrained and demanding. Hadad explained the masortiyims’ approach: ‘Religion is meant to lishmor [to keep, to safeguard and preserve] our Jewish identity and culture. They are the most important things, not fanaticism’ (ibid.). The centuries-old characteristics of Middle Eastern Judaism, including the Judaism of the Babylonians, can perhaps best explain this inclusive and open attitude. These typical features remained almost the same even after the dramatic developments in the lives of Arab-Jewish communities, which took place during the last century of their stay in Muslim countries. Both the characteristics and the historical circumstances of their formation are too complex to address here.71 Historical studies as well as studies in the social and religious 71  For the historical background and characteristics, see scholars such as Lewis (1984), Stillman (1979, 1991, 1995, 1997), and Cohen (2008). For Jewish life in Modern Baghdad, see Deshen (1994), Bashkin (2012), and Cohen (2012). For modern Ḥalab, see Zenner (2000)

The 1954 Miṣḥaf as a History Book of Paraliturgical Songs

85

life of Jews in Muslim countries point out three common and central features of these communities. The first is that Jews in Muslim countries, in most periods, enjoyed a relatively peaceful life, and the second is that Arabo-Islamic culture had strong prominence in their lives and in their thought. The third feature is that Jews in Muslim countries enjoyed close relationships with their rabbinic leaders, who maintained a lenient halakhic approach to life. Thus, these communities were able to incorporate into their Jewish lifestyle and values cultural trends from their surrounding Arabo-Islamic milieu and, later on, at the turn of the twentieth century, from Western culture without any notion of contradiction or betrayal of their Jewish identity. Their practice was unlike that of Jewish communities in Europe, in which a dichotomy was made between the Jewish religious and the modern Western lifestyles. All these factors point to the strong sense of belonging that these Jews had, which was coupled with a lack of fear of being converted. Hadad (11 November 2003) described this notion in one short sentence: ‘We are Jewish enough to be Arabs too’. This may explain the reason for the tremendous influence that Arabo-Islamic culture had on these Jews in the past as well as in modern times. They acquired many of their customs and ideas from this culture in the most natural way, but at the same time they did not have any sense of betraying their own identity and heritage as Jews. For them, blending with the Arabo-Islamic cultural environment meant enhancing and intensifying their joy of life. It appears that this coexistence has its long and deep roots in ‘Abbasid Baghdad of the mid-eighth century. The profound assimilation of the ‘Islamicated Jews’ of that time, as Stillman (1997: 86) calls them, who adapted the Islamic ‘mentalité et sensibilité’, never meant total assimilation: ‘This simply could not occur in a traditional hierarchical society in which religion was the hallmark of individual identity, the ultimate goal of individual concern, and the determinant of individual social and political status’. His observation of the past is equally relevant more than a thousand years later. The main characteristics of the traditional and hierarchal society of the Babylonian Jews remained, in essence, almost intact until the eve of their departure from Baghdad, and to some extent many of these characteristics still exist today. Thus, both the set of values and the set of tastes which constitute the identity of the carriers of the PLS, as Jews by religion and Arabs by many aspects of their culture and conduct, comprise, again, another combination of elements which might be understood as clashing. In this respect, the three components of the paraliturgical realm are similar: the PLS, its poets across the centuries, and Zohar (2002). For religious characteristics aspects of Arab-Jewish communities, see Elazar (1984) and Zohar (2001B).

86

Chapter 2

and the worshippers. They all reflect in their very nature an innate coexistence between their Jewishness and the diverse elements existing in their Arabo-Islamic cultural surroundings. It is as if the PLS, in a multi-dimensional manner, epitomises the most typical features of its poets and carriers. It is true, though, that this phenomenon can be found in other artistic products of other cultures at different times. Still, this does not make it less extraordinary, particularly when bearing in mind its intensity, which is rooted in all layers of the paraliturgical realm, its millennium-long existence, and the relatively recent historical and political developments in the relationship between Judaism and Islam.

Chapter 3

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text: Typical Features Emerging from the Written Sources All of the known written sources of the PLS are explored in this chapter as both religious and historical documents. In an attempt to understand the flexible nature of the genre as reflected in its practice and text, special attention is given here to the two largest PLS collections, namely, the 1906 and the 1954 mṣāḥif. This chapter provides a deep analysis of the 1906 Miṣḥaf before comparing it with the 1954 Miṣḥaf by focusing on occasions and songs which are presented in each of them. Additionally, the chapter demonstrates how the structure and content of the paraliturgical text enable the flexible nature of the paraliturgical practice itself. 1

The Paraliturgical Practice before 1906

1.1 Earliest Published Collections of Paraliturgical Songs Leading studies published between 1924 and 2005 on Babylonian religious writings produced in Baghdad, including poetry, show that prior to 1866 rabbinic authors used to send their manuscripts for publication to Livorno or Constantinople, or to the most prestigious printing houses in Venice. Between 1866, the year when the first publishing house in Baghdad was established, and 1951, when most Babylonian Jews immigrated to Israel, the vast majority of religious works were published in Baghdad.1 However, there were still a few authors who, for unknown reasons, printed their work outside Baghdad in places such as Vilna, Vienna, Livorno and Jerusalem. Furthermore, the above-mentioned studies affirm that the first collections of PLSs, of any scope, were published in Baghdad during the second half of the nineteenth century, and that prior to this period printed collections were only produced in Europe. They also reveal that collections of PLSs, which remained in manuscript form, passed from hand to hand from generation to 1  According to Ben Ya‘akov (1965: 410), Barukh Mosheh Mizraḥi established the first printing house in Baghdad in 1853. Nonetheless, up until 1870 it was not authorised and he was mostly engaged in printing the newspaper Hadover [The Speaker] or Dover Meysharim [The Truth Speaker].

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_005

88

Chapter 3

generation, and that many – some publicly and some privately owned – still exist in different parts of the world. Davidson (1924–1933) lists different poems, which appear in books written by poets from myriad places and periods, and are sung in different Jewish communities, including the Babylonian. These books were printed in Europe before and after 1866 and in Baghdad only after 1866. Ya‘ari (1940) gives a list of both the printing houses in Baghdad between 1866 and 1924, and the 300 books they published together.2 Ben Ya‘akov’s supplement (1946) to Ya‘ari’s work comprises a list of an additional thirteen books which were not included in Ya‘ari’s list. In his next study (1965), Ben Ya‘akov gives a list of the printing houses in Baghdad since 1853, relying on Ya‘ari’s work for information on the books they published. In a later work (1970), Ben Ya‘akov lists works containing poems written in Baghdad during the nineteenth century and assorted works of contemporary rabbis. Ten years later (1980A), he gives a list of Babylonian poets who lived in Jerusalem, mainly from the nineteenth century onwards, and he also publishes (1980B: 75–138) a supplementary edition to his previous book, in which he provides further information regarding the publishing scene in Baghdad during the nineteenth century. Benayahu (1993) presents a meticulous inventory of all known manuscripts composed and copied in Baghdad from 1665 onwards. These manuscripts exist in various collections in Israel, Europe and the United States both in national and private holdings. This is the only study which refers to earlier periods. Ben Ya‘akov’s 1994 study completes his contribution to this field of research by presenting a comprehensive list of ’al-Ḥakham’s works, including a detailed compilation of seventy-four of his poems scattered in various collections and a detailed list of more than 200 of his books, which were printed during the second half of the nineteenth century and thereafter in Baghdad, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Bombay, Calcutta, Casablanca, Livorno, Berlin, Warsaw and New York. Hakak (2005) outlines all the publications of Shlomoh Bekhor Ḥutsin (1843– 1892), who owned one of the largest publishing houses in Baghdad between 1888 and 1892. His son Yehoshu‘a then took over the business until 1913. Bekhor Ḥutsin was one of the brightest students of Ḥakham ‘Abdallah Somekh in Slat Zilkhah or Midrash Beit Zilkhah [Zilkhah Synagogue or Zilkhah Yeshiva], which was established by Somekh in 1831, and he was one of the most prominent rabbis in Baghdad in the nineteenth century.3 As early as 1867, Ḥutsin imported 2  In the introduction to his book, Ya‘ari (1940) emphasises the absence and almost total neglect of research on Hebrew book printing in the East, namely, amongst Jewish communities in Arab countries. 3  There are additional versions for the name of this institute: Beit Zilkhah (Zilkhah House) and Midrash Beit Zilkhah (Zilkhah Religious School). Based on the information given by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Me’ir Refa’el Ḥadad (1896, Baghdad–1968, Tel Aviv), his son Morris Hadad

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

89

to Baghdad halakhic works by European rabbinic leaders, works published in Hebrew on world history and science, and journals published both in Europe and in India on Jewish history, Hebrew literature and halakhic rulings. By introducing Western rabbinic works to his community, Ḥutsin greatly influenced the halakhic rulings of the Baghdadi rabbis. From that period onwards, those rabbis included consideration of rabbinic European rulings in their own discussions. They conducted thorough analyses of their arguments, sometimes agreeing, sometimes offering different rulings (Zohar 2001B: 61). 1.2 Types of Collections Some of these books present a set of PLSs written by a single poet and for one specific occasion. For example, the book Seder Haqafot Lesimḥat Torah [The Order of Circuits for the Celebration of the Torah], printed in Livorno in 1875, includes ten songs for this particular occasion, which were all written by ’al-Ḥakham.4 Others include one set of songs, written by different poets, for a specific occasion, such as the book Piyyutim Shel Shabbat Qodesh [Hymns for the Holy Sabbath] printed in Baghdad between 1870 and 1880 (Ya‘ari 1940: 116).5 It includes twelve songs which were probably written by a few poets. The fact that in most songs the names of the poets are not mentioned, except for three songs by contemporary poets – two by Sason Yisra’el (second half of the nineteenth century, Baghdad) and one by ’Elisha‘ ’Eliyahu (end of the nineteenth century, Baghdad) – seems to suggest that the other songs were written by some other and perhaps earlier poets.6 There are also collections which present a set of songs for a number of occasions written by a few poets, such as the book Seder Piyyutim [The Order of Hymns] printed in Baghdad between 1870 and 1880. This collection offers sixteen songs, and only three of them give an indication regarding the occasions on which they are recommended to be performed. The first is Leḥidush Halevanah [For the Renewal of the Month], which, as its title suggests, is recommended to be performed on the first day of (1932, Baghdad–2017, Ramat Gan), and Menashi Somekh (1921, Baghdad–2016, Jerusalem), Slat Zilkhah is the name that was prevalent amongst the Baghdadi Jewish community still in Baghdad. See https://soundcloud.com/user-283620094/menashi-somekh-on-abdallahsomekh (2010). 4  For the circular processions held in the synagogue or elsewhere during Tabernacles, see also Appendix 1, Section 3.19. 5  This is Ya’ari’s estimated date of publication, as the date does not appear in the book itself. This is also the case for the books which will be described in the following collections. For the Sabbath, see Appendix 1, Section 3.2. 6  For more about ’Elisha‘ ’Eliyahu, who was born into a family of poets and rabbis, see Ben Ya‘akov (1965: 306).

90

Chapter 3

the Hebrew month.7 The second song is Le‘ezra’ Hasofer [For Ezra the Scribe], which is recommended for the pilgrimage to the Scribe’s tomb in ‘Uzayr.8 The third and last song is Le’adonenu Yehoshu‘a Kohen Gadol [For Our Master Joshua the High Priest], which is recommended for the pilgrimage to the high priest’s tomb in Baghdad.9 1.3 The Paraliturgical Practice as an Open Form of Worship The lack of one specific corpus and the existence of a voluminous inventory of smaller sets of songs required the simultaneous use of many of such sets for the purpose of paraliturgical practice. This is another aspect of the PLS which mirrors its flexible nature. This strong feature of the genre turns its practice into an open form of devotion that is attentive to the needs, and adaptable to the tastes, of both the individual worshipper and the congregation. In this respect, the PLS differs from other paraliturgical types of worship, such as the Birkat Hamazon [Grace after Meal], which is recited after a meal, and the Hagadah Shel Pesaḥ [Telling of the Passover Story], which is recited on Leyl Haseder [The Evening of Passover].10 Although neither is included in the liturgy, and both can be practised outside the synagogue, at home they are both defined and regulated by halakhic rules (Shulḥan ‘Arukh, ’Oraḥ Ḥayim, Hilkhot Pesaḥ 472–486 and Hilkhot Betsi‘at Hapat Se‘udah Ubirkhat Hamazon 178–201, respectively), which make their practice fairly strict.

7  Called also Ro’sh Ḥodesh [The First of the Month]; see Appendix 1, Section 3.4. 8  The Babylonians are the only community that commemorates ‘Ezra’ Hasofer [Ezra the Scribe], the fifth-century-BCE priest and scribe who was responsible for a number of religious reforms after the Babylonian exile. He is buried in el-E‘ezer (in Judaeo-Arabic) or ‘Uzayr (in Arabic), which is a village near Baṣra in southern Iraq, with both names reflecting Ezra’s name. There are many stories told amongst Iraqi Jews, Muslims and Christians about Ezra and his healing powers and miracles. See also Appendix 1, Section 3.12. 9  Kohen gadol was the chief official in the Temple in ancient Israel. See Appendix 1, Section 3.13. 10  The Hagadah is recited and sung on Passover night. It recounts the story of the exodus of the Jewish People from Egypt and also includes a ritual meal accompanying this telling, the Seder Pesaḥ [Order of Passover]. The Hagadah’s text, like the text of the Birkat Hamazon, comprises narratives and poems, as well as various blessings. For Passover, see Appendix 1, Section 3.8.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

2

91

The 1906 Miṣḥaf

2.1 Historical Significance The editor and publisher of the 1906 Miṣḥaf, Rabbi ‘Ezra’ Dangur (1848–1930, Baghdad), was a prominent talmid ḥakham [religious sage], one of the youngest pupils of Ḥakham ‘Abdallāh Somekh in Slat Zilkhah, and the Ḥakham Bashi [Chief Rabbi] of the Babylonian Jewry between 1923 and 1928.11 Dangur was also a prominent cantor in one of the most prestigious synagogues of Baghdad, Slat Likbiri [The Large Synagogue], between 1897 and 1930, and an active member in the Baghdadi community (Ben Ya‘akov 1965: 45).12 In 1903, he received a licence from the Ottoman authorities to open a printing house which very soon after, in 1904, became the largest in Baghdad and the only one for Hebrew books written both inside and outside of this city (Ya‘ari 1940: 104; Zohar 2001B: 51).13 Approximately 100 books were published in this printing house (Ya‘ari 1940: 131).14 In 1906, Dangur published his collection of PLSs, Sefer Hashirim [The Book of Songs]. Figure 3.1 shows the original title page of Dangur’s miṣḥaf:15 Under this title and in small print, the following words appear: [This] Book of Songs includes songs and praises pleasant and lovely [,] taken from collections of different writers [poets] for every time of [the] year [occasions] edited and arranged in the right order [,] a thing at its 11  For more about Dangur’s rabbinic posts, see Shabat (2016: 274). The word ‘Ḥakham’ is Hebrew, and the word ‘Bashi’ is Turkish. It was a title given to the chief rabbi in all Jewish communities across the Ottoman Empire. This most important post was established in Baghdad in 1849 and ended in 1932. For further information as to the role and status of the Ḥakham Bashi, see Ben Ya‘akov (1965: 156) and Hakak (2005: 14). 12  The name of the synagogue is in Judaeo-Arabic. For further information about this synagogue, see Ben Ya‘akov (1980B: 45) and Idelsohn (1923: 2). 13  As mentioned above, before the establishment of Dangur’s printing house, Shlomoh Bekhor Ḥutsin opened an authorised printing house in Baghdad and was also known as a reliable editor and publisher. Ḥutsin published a collection of about 300 PLSs, Sefer Shirot Vetishbaḥot [Book of Songs and Praises], but unlike Dangur’s miṣḥaf, this book did not include all the religious occasions of the paraliturgical practice. The year of publication of Ḥutsin’s miṣḥaf is not indicated. Both Ben Ya‘akov (1994: 101) and Ya‘ari (1940: 101), as well as Hakak (2005: 273), mention this book without any reference to the year of its publication. However, given that Ḥutsin died in 1892, it is clear that his book was published at least fourteen years earlier than Dangur’s miṣḥaf. 14  For details about these books, see Ya‘ari (1940: 131–148); Ben Ya‘akov (1965: 45, 50, 93, 96, 125 and 200); and Ben Ya‘akov (1980A: 422, 425 and 643). 15  For more about Dangur’s life and work and his role in the Jewish community in Rangoon, see Regev (2015).

92

Figure 3.1 The title page of the 1906 Miṣḥaf, Sefer Hashirim [The Book of Songs] From the library of Rabbi Yitsḥaq Me’ir Refa’el Ḥadad (1896, Baghdad–1968, Tel Aviv)

Chapter 3

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

93

time is good [,] and my pure prayer [is] that you shall be happy and content always [,] you and your offspring [,] may it be the will [of the Lord] amen [.]16 Dangur’s role in the social life of his community makes his miṣḥaf an important document which mirrors the Judaeo-Arabic religio-cultural setting of his time in general and of the paraliturgical scene in particular. However, this miṣḥaf’s historical importance is not only due to Dangur’s social and religious prestige. It is also due to the fact that, based on the collections mentioned in the abovelisted studies, Dangur’s book is the first comprehensive collection of PLSs ever published in Baghdad. It includes an unprecedented number of songs – some 415, including religious texts – for all twenty-six religious occasions on which such songs are performed.17 In this respect, Dangur’s work marks a turning point in the history of the paraliturgical practice of the Babylonian Jews. In 1923, Idelsohn described this book as follows: Recently [1906] a song-collection of 415 numbers appeared in Baghdad. It contains, besides poems by Jehuda Halevi, Dunasch, Ibn Gebirol, and Abraham Ibn Ezr’a, verses by Salomo Ben Mazaltob, Simon Labi, Israel Nagara, Joseph Ezobi (sic) and local Babylonian poets; Nagara is most extensively represented viz. with over 100 pieces of which over 50 are not contained in the song-collections Zemirot Israel and Pizmonim previously published. In [this] collection all the feasts and festivals of the year as well as domestic and other occasion[s] [are] provided for, and it

16  In 1929, the second edition of this miṣḥaf was published in Jerusalem and included a number of new poems written mainly by nineteenth-century Babylonian poets. One of the poets is Yeḥezqe’l ‘Ezra’ Ben Yosef, who was born in Baghdad in 1925, immigrated to Palestine and became a teacher. He is mentioned in Ben Ya‘akov (1980A: 418). Seven of his poems appear also in Ben Ya‘akov (1970), songs nos. 1039, 1064, 1090,1091,1093,1095 and 1109. Another poet is Mordekhay Ḥayim Ben ’Eliyahu Levi, who was born in Baghdad, immigrated to Calcutta, and then, in 1929, immigrated to Palestine. He is mentioned in Ben Ya‘akov (1980A: 418). Only three of his poems appear also in Ben Ya‘akov (1970), songs nos. 1310, 1313 and 1658. 17  The two religious texts comprise quotations of biblical verses. The first one is Vayiten Lekha [May God Give You], M(61B;148); for the sources of its biblical quotations, see Appendix 2. The second passage is Ve’adonay ’Elohim ’Emet [But the Lord is Truly God:], M(407A;167), which includes two verses, which were taken from Jeremiah 10:10 and from Judges 5:3, respectively. Two mistakes have been found in the body of the 1906 collection: the number 400 marks two successive songs, M(165B;400) and M(166A;400), and one song appears twice as M(34B;78) and as M(123B;282).

94

Chapter 3

includes a number of folk-songs. Several poems are taken from a Machzor [prayer book], Venice 1527. Idelsohn ibid., 2

Still, after 1906, small PLS collections intended for specific religious occasions continued to be published. For example, ’Elisha‘ Shoḥet, who opened his publishing house in Baghdad in 1924 and published about sixty books, published in 1928 and in 1932 small collections with an addition: the text of the halakhic law regarding the seven blessings for marriage recited for a bride and her groom as part of their wedding ceremony.18 Another reason for the historical significance of the 1906 Dangur collection stems from the fact that he is the first known rabbinic authority to have addressed the paraliturgical form of worship and its religious importance. It is true that ’al-Ḥakham also addressed the actual practice; however, he did so with only a few words and in a small number of songs. For example, in his book Ml’akh Habrit [The Angel of the Testament] (1975: 198), he recommends that his song ’Av Haraḥaman Lekha Ḥesed Lekha Ḥemlah [O Merciful, Benevolent and Compassionate God], which does not appear in the 1906 and the 1954 mṣāḥif, should be sung on the third meal of the Sabbath (on Saturday night), on Pentecost, and on the New Year.19 ’Al-Ḥakham asserts that these three occasions are most suitable for ’Av Haraḥaman, which is intended to ‘l‘orer haraḥamim’ [‘awaken God’s compassion’]; however, he does not explain why. On the other hand, Dangur in his introductory section expresses his opinion on the paraliturgical practice, although he does not use the latter term at all. His words are by no means intended as a binding halakhic ruling, but rather as a suggestion to worshippers. Apparently, this is not the only publication in which Dangur adds his own opinions on the matters appearing in the books he edited and published. In many of them, he presents his halakhic views and recommendations, which are based on those prevalent in the Baghdadi community and sometimes in other Jewish communities of his day (Zohar 2001B: 51). 2.2 The Introduction to the 1906 Miṣḥaf: Translation Dangur’s description of his aims, views and wishes regarding his collection reveals unique information about the centrality of the paraliturgical devotion in contemporary, and even earlier, Babylonian religio-cultural life. Figure 3.2 shows the original introduction to the miṣḥaf (page numbers are not indicated): 18  For more information about Shoḥet, see Ya‘ari (1940: 104); Ben Ya‘akov (1965: 13); and Hakak (2005: 35). 19  For Pentecost and the New Year, see Appendix 1, Sections 3.15 and 3.16, respectively.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

95

96

Chapter 3

Figure 3.2 The original introduction to the 1906 Miṣḥaf

For the Attention of the Reader Here I have edited for you this book of songs. [They are] subtle [,] pleasing and delightful songs, from collections of books and writers [,] of Rabbi Yehudah Halevi of blessed memory and of Rabbi Shlomoh ’Ibn Gabirol [,] and of Rabbi Israel Najarah the head of the paytanim [poets] and of the ancient Rabbis of Baghdad. And of our contemporary Rabbis [:] Rabbi Ḥakham Yosef Ḥayim may God preserve him. And of Rabbi Sason Yisra’el may God preserve him. And more and more [,] and we set it [the book] for Motsa’ey Shabbat [The End of the Sabbath]20 [, and the passage] Vayiten Lekha [May God Give You] [,] and Pizmonim [songs with refrain] [,] which are written in the sidurim [prayer books] [,] so that nothing will be absent from it [.] And we also printed Shirey Rinah [Songs of Rejoicing] [,] which the pupils of the school here [in Baghdad] used to sing in houses in times of celebrations [,] and in the synagogue be‘aliyat sefer torah laḥatan [in the calling up to the reading of the Torah by the bridegroom] [,] ule’avi haben [and for the father of a newborn son] etc. And more [,] we put at the end of it [of the book] the song Qe‘arat Kesef [[The] Silver Bowl] [,] of Rabbi Yosef ’Ezobi [,] of blessed memory 20  For Motsa’ey Shabbat, see Appendix 1, Section 3.3.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

97

[.] And we set it [the book] according to the days of the year [,] for weekday and for the Sabbath [,] for the Beginning of the Month and Ḥanukah and Purim21 and [other] festivals [,] a thing in its right time is good [.] [We had made all this] in order to spare the reader the search for any song [.] Therefore [,] behold each and every one and bring it [the book] to his home and read [or recite] it with his sons on Sabbaths and on festivals etc. to praise the Lord [,] may he be blessed [,] and to rejoice and be merry [,] and the Almighty God will bless you and you shall be happy and content always [.] And you shall attain merit to rejoice in the reconstruction of our holy Temple and our glory [,] speedily and in our time Amen: [.] These are the words of the owner of the printing house ‘Ezra’ Dangur authentic Sefardi22 Dangur continues on the second page of the miṣḥaf: [And] also to make it [the format and arrangement of the miṣḥaf] easier for the reader who wishes to read [or recite] some other song, which does not belong to the same day [occasion]. We present two indices according to alphabetical order, by which very easily the reader will find his wish. And we introduced this star * beside every song added to the [existing] books of songs in print before us [.] 2.3 Information Revealed in the Introduction 2.3.1 The Presence of Arabo-Islamic Culture The Arabo-Islamic cultural presence revealed in the previous chapters through the songs, their poets and the worshippers is also manifested here. Dangur lists the most prominent poets whose poems appear in his collection, all of whom lived within the Arabo-Islamic cultural domain. This significantly 21  For Ḥanukah and Purim, see Appendix 1, Sections 3.5 and 3.7, respectively. 22  Dangur signed his name on the first page of the miṣḥaf as ‘samekh tet’, an abbreviation for ‘sfaradi ṭahor’ [‘authentic [native] Spanish or Sefardi [Jew]’], a term used as an appellation given to Jews originating in Muslim Spain who were expelled in 1492 and scattered in various places in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. However, only in the eighteenth century did the descendants of these Jews arrive in Baghdad. These Jews went there for financial and commercial reasons after having left Ḥalab and various locations in Persia, where they had settled down right after the expulsion (Yehuda 2013: 51). Therefore, it could be that Dangur was originally from one of these places; however, the exact location is yet to be discovered.

98

Chapter 3

large collection clearly presents the repertoire prevalent in his time and even earlier. However, as the songs had previously been scattered throughout different books and manuscripts, this collection, for the first time, gives a wider picture of the leading poets who contributed to the creation of the paraliturgical genre. Dangur mentions Shlomoh ’Ibn Gabirol and Yehudah Halevi, but gives special attention to Israel Ben Mosheh Najarah and describes him as ‘the head of the poets’. This might explain the reason for the appearance of at least 100 of his songs in this miṣḥaf. In addition, Dangur points out that his collection includes old and new poems written by Babylonian poets in ancient and present times. Yet, none of the old poets’ names are mentioned and they do not appear in the headings of songs in the book itself, though occasionally the name of a poet does appear. As to contemporary poets, Dangur mentions only two: ’al-Ḥakham and Sason Yisra’el (1820–1911), who was also one of the Baghdadi rabbis of his time (Ben Ya‘akov 1980A: 248).23 2.3.2 The Paraliturgical Practice as an Open Form of Worship Dangur does not mention the historical significance of his miṣḥaf, nor does he express any wish to preserve the genre for posterity, which might be expected from a book of such magnitude. Instead, he addresses the worshipper, whom he calls ‘haqore’’ [‘the reader’] and describes his own special editorial contribution to the book. It seems that Dangur’s aim was to further facilitate the paraliturgical practice by creating a collection such that ‘nothing will be absent from it’ and by making the practice accessible to the worshipper: it was his aim ‘to spare the reader the search for any song. Dangur also made the collection flexible so that ‘the reader will find his wish very easily’. To the worshipper who wishes to sing songs according to the occasions for which they are presented in the miṣḥaf Dangur offers an index with a list of all the occasions, their location in his book, and the range of songs they include, namely, from song ‘x’ to song ‘y’, 23  Sason Yisra’el is also mentioned in Ben Ya‘akov (1965: 157 and 169) and in Ben Ya‘akov (1980B: 195 and 205) as a rabbinic authority who was involved in the religious life of the Babylonians. From the blessing mentioned by Dangur for the poet, ‘May God preserve him’, it is clear that he was still active and known when the miṣḥaf was published. Three of his songs were identified in the miṣḥaf. Two of these are for the Sabbath: Shomrey Yom Hashabbat [They Who Keep the Sabbath Day], M(56B;136), and Shomer Shabbat Meḥalelo [He Who Keeps the Sabbath from Desecration], M(56B;137), with the later also appearing in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(61;87). The third is for the Sabbath of Shirah, Shavarti Litsu’ot [I Hope for Deliverance [O Lord]], M(98A;222), which does not appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, and instead another song by Yisra’el appears: Tizkor Zkhut ‘Aqedah [[O Lord] Remember [the] Merit of the Sacrifice [of Isaac]], M(162;225). For the Sabbath of Shirah, see Appendix 1, Section 3.9.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

99

where ‘x’ and ‘y’ are indicated by a letter of the alphabet.24 Or, alternatively, if the worshipper wishes to perform on a certain occasion his own set of songs, Dangur gives him another list, this time, of songs presented in alphabetical order according to their first word and with their serial number in the book, which is also indicated by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Furthermore, if the worshipper wishes to read or recite the paraliturgical text rather than sing it, here again Dangur reassures him that the religious purpose of these songs is to praise the Lord and rejoice in His glory, so they can either be read or sung. Dangur employs two verbs to describe the actual practice of the songs. He mentions the word ‘le’emor’ [‘to say’, or ‘to express in voice’] when he refers to the schoolchildren who took part in this practice; indeed, this is a practice described by Hadad (11 November 2003) as ‘singing’.25 The second verb is ‘liqro’’ [‘to read’, or ‘to recite’], which in this context can be understood as ‘reciting’ in the same way as the recitation of the Torah, which is called ‘liqro’ batorah’. The public recitation of the Torah, mostly in the synagogue, is described in Mishnah Brurah (Hilkhot Qri’at Sefer Torah, 142) as ‘neginat haṭe‘amim’ [‘cantillation according to the biblical special signs’].26 This halakhic source instructs that the tune must emphasise the meaning of the text but may by no means alter any of its content. Dangur uses the verb liqro’ when he addresses the fathers in the community, urging them to teach their sons these songs. And ‘teach’ in this context can be understood both as teaching by reading or reciting as well as by singing. However, when he explains the purpose of the indices, it is clear that ‘liqro’’ means ‘to sing’, in as much as Dangur describes the methods of finding the songs for the actual prevalent practice of singing the songs in various religious festivities. Looking at the Judaeo-Arabic dialect of the Babylonians, it is interesting to note that the verb ‘yiqulon’ [‘to say’ or ‘they will say’] is the verb that is used for the performance of any of the PLSs – that is, yiqulon Shbaḥ or Shbaḥoth. When performing any other song, however, worshippers would (and still) use the verb ‘yighenon’ [‘to sing’ or ‘they will sing’], and indeed the Hebrew verbs ‘le’emor’ used by Dangur is similar in meaning to the Judaeo-Arabic ‘yiqulon’.

24  For example, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet denotes 1, the second 2, the third 3, etc. up to twenty-two. 25  For Hadad’s description, see, in this chapter, Paragraph 2.3.3. 26  Mishnah Brurah [Clarified Teaching] is a halakhic work based on the first part of Shulḥan ‘Arukh. It was written by Rabbi Yisra’el Me’ir Hakohen Meradin (1838–1933, Lithuania), who was known also as ‘Haḥafets Ḥayim’ [‘He Who Yearns for Life’]. It is quoted here in the following manner: Mishnah Brurah, chapter name and division number. For Shulḥan ‘Arukh, see Chapter 1, Note 15.

100

Chapter 3

Still, it remains to be discovered why the verb ‘lashir’ [‘to sing’] is not used, particularly in light of the fact that Najarah himself, in his introduction (1599: 1A), uses the word ‘singing’ to describe the use of this genre in the devotional realm.27 It could be perhaps because of the formal prohibition against singing outside the liturgy, as it was considered as an act of commemorating the destruction of the Temple (Rosenfeld-Hadad 2017: 180). It is interesting to note here that Maimonides in his Mishneh Torah (Zmanim, Hilkhot Ta‘anit 5:14) describes this prohibition and gives his commentary on this law while using the verb ‘lomar’ in the phrase ‘lomar divrey tushbaḥot ’o shir shel hoda’ot la’el’ [‘to say words of praises or songs of exaltations (both are PLSs) to God’]. A similar distinction between reading and reciting, on the one hand, and singing, on the other, also exists in Islam. The rendition of the qur’ānic text is regarded as one that reflects the divine nature of the text and that first and foremost preserves the sound of the revelation as it was transmitted to the Prophet Muḥammad. Hence, performing this text is considered as a separate art form. It is called ‘qirā’a’ [‘reading’ or ‘reciting’], and the person who reads or recites this text is called ‘qāri’’. This is akin to the Torah reading, which is called ‘liqro’ batorah’ [‘to read the Torah’], as mentioned above, and to the person who reads the Torah, who is called ‘ba‘al qore’’ [‘the reader of the Torah’]. Music and singing in Arabo-Islamic culture refer to the other genres of utterance, that is, to both religious and secular songs. It seems that in both Judaism and Islam the idea of combining melody with vocal artistry does not necessarily involve music and singing as such, although in Islam this dichotomy is much more emphasised.28 Another fact that can explain the use of the verb ‘liqro’’ in the context of singing the PLS is the strong correlation between music and speech, which exists in Arabo-Islamic culture in general. Musicians, including Jewish musicians and cantors, use the Arabic verb ‘qowl’ [‘to say’], which is identical to the Hebrew verb ‘le’emor’, to denote singing. Hence, singing a musical phrase would be yiqūl jumlah [to utter a sentence]. Similarly, the singer of the Iraqi Maqām is also called ‘qāri’’ [‘a person who reads or recites’]. Whatever the case may be, Dangur’s use of the words ‘shirim’ [‘songs’] and ‘pizmonim’ [‘songs with refrain’], both of which are intrinsically considered as musical genres, rather than the word ‘shirah’ [‘poetry’] leaves no doubt that these songs were predominantly intended for singing. Furthermore, in the case of the paraliturgical realm, as indicated above, there is no halakhic ruling on where, when and how to sing the PLS. However, across the centuries 27  For Najarah’s exact words, see, in this chapter, Paragraph 4.2. 28  For further explanation on the Islamic view, see Nelson (1985: xv).

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

101

both in the Arabo-Islamic Diaspora and later in Israel, this genre has enjoyed the strong support of many rabbinic authorities, who encouraged the use of Arabic music to sing these songs.29 In his quest to create a ‘user friendly’ collection, Dangur also adds the passage Vayiten Lekha [May God Give You], which is recited in the rituals after ‘Arvit [the Evening Prayer] on Saturday night, as an opening passage for the occasion Motsa’ey Shabbat [The End of the Sabbath]. For those who adhere to this practice, Dangur promises an appealing reward: God shall bless His people with everlasting happiness and contentment, and rejoice in the rebuilding of the holy Temple – the house of glory. It is possible that Dangur, as a leading figure in the Baghdadi community, is encouraging this religious activity by presenting many options of practice as a way of responding to the unsettling changes that had emerged earlier. During the second half of the nineteenth century, rabbinic leadership detected the first signs of forsaking religious observance, which had become more apparent in Dangur’s time. As a result, religious authority was weakened and various problems within community life started to surface. It seems that Dangur attributes to the paraliturgical practice the virtue of creating pleasant and enjoyable religious qualities, and that his doing so stems from his wish to attract as many members of the community as possible. The fact that Dangur focuses on the PLS, the various options for its performance, and its religious significance and merits, rather than referring equally to the occasions themselves, creates the impression that the particular occasion on which a song is performed is of secondary importance. It seems that the PLS’s function as a vehicle specially designated for praising the Lord at all times is the chief goal of the genre, and the occasions included in the miṣḥaf create the religious platform for this purpose. 2.3.3 Orality and Scripturality in the Paraliturgical Realm The teaching methods derived from Dangur’s words and his information about the added songs show that both orality and scripturality played a significant role in the paraliturgical tradition. He describes two ways of teaching PLSs to the younger generation: the first is at home by their fathers, and the second is at school by their teachers. Dangur mentions that he included in his collection also the repertoire that was sung at Baghdadi schools: ‘And we also printed Shirey Rinah [Songs of Rejoicing] [,] which the pupils of the school here [in Baghdad] used to sing in houses in times of celebrations [,] and in the synagogue’. These songs were taken from a collection, Shirey Rinah [Songs 29  See Rosenfeld-Hadad (2017).

102

Chapter 3

of Rejoicing], which was edited specifically for schoolchildren who studied at Talmud Torah schools in Baghdad.30 Hadad, who was a pupil in Baghdad during the 1940s, remembers that children who were discovered by their teachers to have a good voice were taught the Shbaḥoth by a special teacher in afternoon classes held in the synagogue a few times a week. As one of these talented boys, he describes the methods of teaching as follows: The teacher used to sing every single verse of the songs, and the children repeated this verse after him. Even though the books were open and ready for us to read, the most important element of the learning was repeating the singing of the teacher, verse by verse and many times. The teacher paid great attention to the pronunciation of the words we sang and was very strict about it. He used to tell us that a letter that is not pronounced properly will go up to heaven and ‘tishtaki ‘eind bore’ ‘olam’ [‘will complain to God Almighty, the Creator of the Universe’].31 The teaching of the Shbaḥoth was more intense at times of festivals and celebrations, because we used to perform in the synagogue as well. It was a great honour for a boy to belong to the group of singers that used to get more than their fair share of attention from all members of the congregation. Hadad, 11 November 200332

According to Hadad, the teaching was based on a combination of written and oral methods, whereby the books were used for the reading of the text, but the proper pronunciation of the words and the melody were taught orally. This is also reflected in the text of the poems presented in Dangur’s miṣḥaf, which appear without vocalisation marks.33 This method is similar to the ancient way of teaching the recitation of the Torah: the most important reading of scripture

30  For more about this collection, see Ben Ya‘akov (1980A: 422). One of the poets of this collection is Shmu’el Ben Yitsḥaq Ḥayim Sha’mi, who has four songs in the 1954 collection: M(190;273), (190;274), M(201;296) and M(202;299). See also Chapter 2, Note 34. 31  The words ‘tishtaki ‘end’ are in Judaeo-Arabic, and the words ‘bore’ ‘olam’ are in Hebrew. 32  Mansour (1991: 190) describes another method of oral teaching. When children learnt the Hebrew alphabet, they had to cite the letters in the following way: the letter ‘’alef’ ‘‫ ’א‬, the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, has four heads; the letter ‘vav’ ‘‫ ’ו‬, the sixth letter, is a needle; the letter ‘tet’ ‘‫’ט‬, the ninth letter, is one whose leg is in its stomach; the letter ‘vav’ ‘‫’ו‬, the sixth letter, is a needle; the letter ‘tet’ ‘‫’ט‬, the ninth letter, is one whose leg is in its stomach; the letter ‘yud’ ‘‫’י‬, the tenth letter, is your younger sister; and the letter ‘lamed’ ‘‫’ל‬, the twelfth letter, is a camel’. 33  In comparison to a much earlier collection of PLSs, in Najarah’s Songs of Israel (1599), where all songs are vocalised.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

103

in Judaism, which is regarded as one of the oldest and most distinctive features of the Jewish liturgy in the past as well as in the present. Evidence as to how old this method of teaching is amongst the Babylonians can be found in the work of the traveller Petaḥyah Ben Ya‘aqov of Ratisbon, who, as mentioned in Chapter 1, visited Baghdad in 1175. He describes the Torah reading skills amongst the Babylonians (as well as the Jewish communities in Syria and Iran) and asserts that: There is no one so ignorant in the whole of Babylon, Assyria, Media, and Persia, but he knows the twenty-four books, the punctuation, the grammar, the superfluous and omitted letters, for the precentor (sic) does not read the law, but he that is called up to the scroll of the law reads himself. Pethahiah Ben Jacob of Ratisbon 1861: 15

The language of the Torah is considered to be sfat haqodesh [the holy language], God’s own words, and therefore the proper reading is most crucial. The Torah, written on scrolls, has neither vocalisation nor punctuation marks nor accents of biblical recitation. Therefore, the reading skills are taught by a special teacher through oral methods, and they are acquired through a long process of study. Just as with the teaching and learning of the PLSs, the teacher first recites a word with the right pronunciation and then the student repeats this word. From a word, the teacher moves on to a whole sentence using the same method. The importance of the proper reading also derives from the halakhic status of the ba‘al qore’ [the reader of the Torah]. This is because he has the responsibility towards the other worshippers lehotsi’ yedey ḥovah [to fulfil the religious obligation] of reading the Torah on behalf of each male member of the congregation. As to the PLS repertoire itself, although the exact process by which a new song was admitted into the practice is yet to be discovered, it is quite clear that it was usually through oral transmission.34 Dangur’s introduction serves as firm evidence for this assertion. He draws attention to the songs that are marked with an asterisk in the alphabetical index and describes them as songs which are added to the existing and known books of songs. Dangur does not elaborate on whether these added songs are completely new or whether they are known from any other source, written or oral. From his words ‘beside every song added to the [existing] books of songs in print before us’, it is possible to conclude that ‘before us’ means in Baghdad at present and that the added 34  See also Shelemay (1998: 116).

104

Chapter 3

songs are being printed for the first time in Baghdad as opposed to simply being newly printed songs. In support of this conclusion about the added songs, Dangur wished to encourage the use of the miṣḥaf and to make the practice inviting and pleasant to worshippers. Given this purpose, it would not be reasonable that out of 415 songs in his collection he would choose 149 that were completely unknown. On the contrary, it is more likely that Dangur chose the best-known and most popular songs for his collection. These were songs which had possibly been known partly from other published collections outside Baghdad and partly through oral transmission, and which had been performed long before they were printed in his miṣḥaf. A close look at the songs affirms this assertion, though only partly. Many of those with identified authors are by Babylonian poets, mainly from the nineteenth century on, and therefore it is likely that their songs were known to the Babylonians. There are also songs which were written much earlier, such as Najarah’s sixteen songs published in the two editions of his Zmirot Yisra’el (1587 and 1599).35 The songs were widespread and prevalent amongst many Arab-Jewish communities, including the Babylonians, and each community also published a large number of these songs in assorted collections. The musical information given in a few of the headings of the 149 added songs also affirms that they were a part of the paraliturgical tradition earlier than their appearance in the collections printed in Baghdad.36 For example, there is the song ‘Oz Dar Rumah [[The] Lord Majestic on High], M(93B;209), for Passover, and the song Shir Ḥadash [A New Song], M(96B;217), for Shabbat Shirah [The Sabbath of Shirah]. The melody recommended for ‘Oz Dar Rumah is that of Shir Ḥadash. As only the name of the poet of ‘Oz Dar Rumah is known, ‘Ezra’ Sason Re’uven (nineteenth century, Baghdad), it is difficult to establish which of the songs is the oldest.37 However, it would not have been reasonable to recommend a melody of an unknown song. Therefore, it is almost certain that Shir Ḥadash was already known from other written or oral sources and that it was perhaps even more popular because Shir Ḥadash appears again in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(94;130) and ‘Oz Dar Rumah does not.

35   Najarah’s songs are: M(41B;100), M(54B;141), M(145A;340), M(81B;186), M(59A;141), M(50A;121), M(46B;112), M(50B;142), M(147A;346), M(115A;255), M(56A;134), M(46B;113), M(42B;102), M(146B;445), M(24B;51) and M(45B;110). 36  For more about the musical information in the headings, see Chapter 4, Paragraph 1.2. 37  No further information about ‘Ezra’ Sason has been found in studies on religious poetry and rabbinic works of Babylonian poets and rabbis. The name ‘Shmu’el’ appears in the heading of Shir Ḥadash.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

105

The picture becomes clearer in the following example. There are two songs which are also printed for the first time in Dangur’s collection, but whose poets are known to be popular, poets whose work was published earlier in many other collections: Shokhenet Basadeh [[She Who] Dwelt in the Field], M(120B;270), for Tabernacles, by ’Ibn Gabirol, and ’Asader Shavḥa’ [I Shall Compose Praises [for the Lord]], M(93A;208), for Passover, by ’al-Ḥakham. The heading of ’Asader Shavḥa’ indicates that it can be sung to the melody of Shokhenet Basadeh. It is quite clear in this case that the 800-year-old song by one of the most prominent poets of the genre was more widespread than the later one. 2.3.4 The Concept of Time A few aspects of the genre which are mentioned in Dangur’s introduction or which are conspicuous by their absence show Dangur’s interest in the present. He does not express any wish to document the repertoire for posterity, nor does he express any wish to preserve the work of the most prominent poets of the genre by indicating their names in the body of his collection. Instead, he put considerable effort into making the genre more accessible for the present worshipper. The past and the future are evoked only as means of emphasising the religious importance of this practice. The past is recalled by mentioning the names of previous poets of the genre who were significant figures in Judaism, an approach that no doubt promotes the special religious status of the practice and hence its importance. The glorious future is mentioned as a promised reward for the devoted worshippers who praise the Lord. However, praising the Lord at the present time is the most important aim and purpose of the practice, and all other times are channelled into the present. 3

The Paraliturgical Practice after 1906: a Comparison between the 1906 and the 1954 Mṣāḥif

3.1 The Babylonian Community between 1906 and 1954 In addition to the religious and literary significance of the two mṣāḥif, they also reflect important historical developments. The near half a century separating the dates of their publications was a pivotal period in the history of the Babylonian Jews. During this time, they underwent a series of dramatic changes and lived through a succession of traumatic events which culminated in the 1951 return to their ancient homeland, Israel. This transition produced further significant changes in their cultural and religious life as well as in their identity. In Baghdad, they lived as a minority

106

Chapter 3

group: Jews in their religion (i.e. beliefs, prayers, rituals) and Arabs in many of their daily customs. In the new state, as a part of the newly created society, they underwent a process of secularisation due to a policy set by the governing authorities, who were aiming in 1948 to create a modern Westernised and secular society and a new identity for its citizens, an Israeli rather than a specifically Jewish religious one. This policy was carried out by encouraging Western ethical values and thinking at the expense of Jewish religious outlook and conduct, the very things that had preserved Jewish identity throughout long centuries of turmoil and hardship in the Diaspora, both in the Middle East and in Europe. Consequently, Jewish religion and tradition took on a different meaning and hence a different status and function in emerging Israeli society. The new citizens of Israel, including the Babylonians, adopted Israeli identity by replacing their religious creed with nationalist and political ideology. Thus, in a sense, Judaism was replaced by ‘Israelism’ (a term that I am coining here to denote this new identity) and religion was not regarded as a quintessential component of Israeli identity.38 3.2 Aim and Aspects of Comparison The aim in the following comparison between the two mṣāḥif is to explore the impact that these historical changes had on the paraliturgical devotional practice of the Babylonians through two aspects of the repertoire: the first consists of the occasions offered by each of the mṣāḥif, and the second consists of the songs presented in each of them. 3.3 Occasions and Their Songs in Both Mṣāḥif: General Outlook The 1906 and 1954 mṣāḥif cover essentially the same religious occasions. However, since in some cases the occasions are named or arranged differently, the two mṣāḥif include twenty-six and thirty occasions, respectively.39 The reason for the different names given to some of the occasions and their arrangements is not entirely clear. In a few cases, it seems that Mantsur made alterations under the influence of prominent members of the Ḥalabi community in Jerusalem, a community that was located adjacent to the Baghdadi community and that had longstanding and close connections and ties with the 38  However, this policy did not survive for long. In later periods, it raised a large number of crucial questions concerning the new identity and concerning the relationship between Judaism, ‘Israelism’ and diasporic traditions and cultures. This is still a matter of continuing debate in Israeli society, which keeps creating new approaches to define the values and lifestyle of the ‘new Jews’. 39  For the occasions in both mṣāḥif, see Appendix 1, Tables 2.1 and 2.2, respectively.

107

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

latter while still in the Arabo-Islamic Diaspora.40 The similarity between the occasions and their scope confirm that they constitute the core observance of Jewish practice. Many of the same occasions in the two mṣāḥif have a similar, though not identical, repertoire of songs. In cases where there are differences, it is mostly because Mantsur added poems by contemporary Babylonian poets and because, in other cases, poems by earlier poets replaced poems by more recent poets. As to the number of songs presented for each of the occasions, there is a decline in their scope in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, resulting in a total of 373, as compared with the 415 in the 1906 Miṣḥaf (including other religious passages in both mṣāḥif). This decrease is mostly evident in the number of songs for communal occasions, except for three events celebrated during the festival of Tabernacles.41 A possible explanation for this decline may stem from the fact that the Babylonians’ need for communal songs which reinforce their corporate religious identity as a minority in the Diaspora became less central when they lived in Israel, where Jews were in the majority. On the other hand, the 1954 Miṣḥaf shows a significant increase in the number of songs for life-cycle occasions, as described in Table 3.1: Table 3.1

The increase in the number of life-cycle songs in the two Mṣāḥif

Occasion*

1906

1954

Lebrit Milah [For Circumcision] Pizmonim Laḥatan [For the Bridegroom] Lebar Mitsvah [For Bar Mitsvah] Total

15 16 2 33

23 33 3 59

* For the occasions, see Appendix 1, Sections 3.20, 3.21 and 3.22, respectively.

40  For the longstanding ties between these communities, which had started as early as the fourteenth century and continued successively throughout the centuries, see Yehudah (2013: 19). See also Chapter 2, Paragraph 2.1. 41   The three events are: in the 1906 miṣḥaf: Hosha‘na’ Raba’ [the Seventh Day of Tabernacles], M(125A–128A;287–295); Simḥat Torah [the Celebration of the Torah], M(128A–132A;296–304); and Haqafot [Circuits [the Celebration of the Torah]], M(132A– 149A;305–351). In the 1954 Miṣḥaf, they are Hosha‘na’ Raba’, M(142–147;194–202); Simḥat Torah, M(147–154;203–211); and Haqafot, M(154–182;212–258). For details regarding these events, see Appendix 1, Sections 3.18 and 3.19, respectively.

108

Chapter 3

It is highly likely that the Babylonians’ need to celebrate personal events in their own traditional way became stronger after their immigration to Israel, and this increase reflects their wish to hold on to their culture and its customs and to keep both of them central in their lives.42 One finding that can support this explanation for the increase has to do with the number of pilgrimage occasion songs, which, together with some other communal occasions, remained almost unchanged in the 1954 Miṣḥaf. Originally, pilgrimage occasions were celebrated at the yearly visit to the various tombs of holy figures buried in Iraq, two important examples being the tomb of Ezekiel the Prophet in Chefel (the name of the place is in Judaeo-Arabic), south of the town Ḥillah in central Iraq, and the tomb of Ezra the Scribe in el-E‘ezer (Judaeo-Arabic) or ‘Uzayr (Arabic), which is a village near Baṣra in southern Iraq.43 However, they are still celebrated despite the fact that the actual pilgrimages are no longer possible, since Jews are not allowed to enter Iraq. Although most occasions are presented in both mṣāḥif, there are still a few that appear only in one of them. As to the PLSs they include, there is a substantial number of songs that appear in only one of the mṣāḥif: there are 132 that are only in the 1906 Miṣḥaf and 89 that are only in the 1954 Miṣḥaf. 3.4 Occasions That Appear Only in the 1906 Miṣḥaf There are two such occasions: 1. Shabbat Parah [The Sabbath of the Red Heifer], in which the special biblical description of the red heifer and the ritual of purity are read.44 This occasion includes two songs that do not appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf: ’E‘erokh Shirah Vetehilah [I Shall Hold Singing and Praise], M(85A;193), and ’Aḥaber Shirah Brurah [I Shall Compose Clear Praise], M(87B;198). 2. Leshabbat Haḥodesh Venisan [For the Sabbath of the Month and [the Month of] Nisan], which includes seven songs M(89A–91A;199–205); all

42  See, further in this chapter, Paragraph 4.1.2. 43  Communal occasions of this type in the 1906 Miṣḥaf are two songs for Ezekiel M(103A– 103B;228–229); five songs for ‘Ezra’ M(104A–106A;230–234); one song for Joshua the High Priest M(106A;235); and six songs for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel M(106B– 109B;236–241). In the 1954 Miṣḥaf, there is one song for Ezekiel M(116;159); four songs for ‘Ezra’ M(117–120;160–163); and the last two occasions have an identical number of songs, M(120;164), and M(121–126;165–170), respectively. For Jerusalem and the Land of Israel, see Appendix 1, Section 3.14. For Ezekiel the Prophet and Ezra the Scribe, see Appendix 1, Sections 3.11 and 3.12, respectively. See also Note 8 in this chapter. 44  For Shabbat Parah, see Appendix 1, Section 4.1.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

109

these songs except for one appear in the 1954 collection; however, they appear on the following three different occasions:45 a. Passover, with the following songs: Melekh Go’el Umoshi‘a [[O Lord,] King of Redemption and Deliverance], by Mosheh Ḥutsin (d. 1810, Baghdad), M(89A;199) as M(107;148); Nakhon Libo [His Heart Is Firm]46 by Nisim Matsliaḥ (eighteenth to the nineteenth century, Baghdad), M(89B;200) as M(108;149); Yo’mru Ge’uley Hashem [The Redeemed of the Lord Shall Say],47 by Najarah, M(90B;203) as M(108;151); and Yarum Venisa’ [[The Lord] Sits on a High and Lofty Throne], by Najarah, M(91B;205) as M(109;152).48 b. Leshabbat Hagadol [For the Great Sabbath] with the song Shabbat Zeh Shabbat Hagadol [This is the Great Sabbath], by Sason Ben Rabi Mordekhay Mosheh Shindukh (1747–1830, Baghdad), M(89B;201) as M(106;147).49 c. Tu Bishvat [The Fifteenth Day of Shvat, the New Year for the Trees] with the song ’Az Yeranen ‘Ets Haye‘arim [On That Day the Tree of the Forest Shall Rejoice], by ’al-Ḥakham, M(90A;202) as M(91;126).50 The song Ge’uley ’El Tnu Shevaḥ [The Redeemed of the Lord Extol Him], M(90B;204), does not appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf. 3.5 Occasions That Appear Only in the 1954 Miṣḥaf There are seven such occasions, and none of the songs for occasions 1, 3 and 6 below appear in the 1906 Miṣḥaf: 1. Morenu Haqadosh Harashash Zal [Our Holy Sage Sar Shalom Ben Pinḥas of Blessed Memory], with one song Ḥanenu ’Adon [Show Us Favour O Lord], M(90;125), by ’Aharon Bar ’Avraham Ḥakiman (first half of the fourteenth century, Baghdad).51 2. Tu Bishvat [The Fifteenth Day of Shvat, The New Year for the Trees] with one song ’Az Yeranen ‘Ets Haye‘arim [On That Day the Tree of the Forest 45  Nisan is the first month of the Jewish calendar. For Leshabbat Haḥodesh Venisan, see Appendix 1, Section 4.2. 46  Nakhon libo (Psalms 114:7). For the rendition of the song by Ḥabushah, see https://youtu .be/IHDWq8G-x0Q (2012). 47  Yo’mru Ge’uley Hashem (Psalms 107:2). 48  For the rendition of the song by Ḥabushah, see https://youtu.be/I5KXhwFrfeY (2012). 49  For Leshabbat Hagadol, see Appendix 1, Section 5.4. 50  Shvat is the eleventh month of the Jewish calendar, and it is also called ‘Ro’sh Hashanah La’ilanot’ [‘The New Year for the Trees’]. For Tu Bishvat, see Appendix 1, Section 5.2. For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see https://youtu.be/8odc9LGCsUA (2016). 51  Harashash is an abbreviation of harav sar shalom [the rabbi Sar Shalom]. For this occasion, see Appendix 1, Section 5.1. ‘Show us favor (sic.) O Lord’ (Psalms 123:3).

110

3.

4.

5.

6. 7.

Chapter 3

Shall Rejoice], M(91;126), which, as mentioned above, is by ’al-Ḥakham and appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(90A;202), for Leshabbat Haḥodesh Venisan [For the Sabbath of the Month and [the Month of] Nisan]. Leshiv‘ah Be’adar [For the Seventh of ’Adar] with two songs Tsa‘aqah Yokheved Beqol Mar [Jochebed Cried Loudly and Bitterly], M(95;132), and ’Ashreikha Har Ha‘eivrim [O Happy Are You, the Hebrews’ Mountain], M(95;133), by ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ (1089–1164, Muslim Spain).52 Leshabbat Hagadol [For the Great Sabbath] with one song Shabbat Zeh Shabbat Hagadol [This Sabbath is the Great Sabbath], M(106;147), which, as mentioned above, is by Sason Ben Rabi Mordekhay Mosheh Shindukh (1747–1830, Baghdad), and appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf also for Leshabbat Haḥodesh Venisan. Lerabi Me’ir Ba‘al Hanes [For Rabbi Me’ir Master of the Miracle] with one song ’Eqaḥ Reshut [I Shall Take a Permission], M(109;153), which appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf for the occasion Lelag Ba‘omer [For the Thirty-Third Day of the Counting of the ‘Omer], M(99A;224).53 Lerabi ‘Aqiva’ [For Rabbi ‘Aqiva’] with one song Zkharanu ’El Leṭovah [O Our Lord Remember It to Our Credit],54 M(116;158), by ’al-Ḥakham.55 Le’avi Habat [For the Father of a Newborn Baby Girl] with only one song ’Ayumah Mar’ayikh Har’ini [Awesome [Woman] Let Me See Your Face], M(212;316).56 This song appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(19A;36), as Shbaḥ, namely, Baqashah, which is presented for Monday.

3.6 Occasions in the Two Mṣāḥif under Different Names 3.6.1 The Shbaḥot and the Baqashot The songs performed at dawn before the Morning Prayer are called ‘Shbaḥot’ in the 1906 Miṣḥaf and ‘Baqashot’ in the 1954 Miṣḥaf. This terminological change was probably made under the influence of the Ḥalabi community in Jerusalem, amongst which this term was prevalent for this type of devotional activity. However, as indicated in Chapter 1, the Babylonians still refer to these specific songs as ‘Shbaḥoth’. Far more significant differences were 52  ’Adar is the twelfth month of the Jewish calendar. For this occasion, see Appendix 1, Section 5.3. 53  For Rabi Me’ir Ba‘al Hanes and Lelag Ba‘omer, see Appendix 1, Sections 5.5 and 3.10.1, respectively. ‘Omer is a sheaf of corn. 54  A variation of Nehemiah 5:19. 55  For this occasion, see Appendix 1, Section 5.6. 56  For this occasion, see Appendix 1, Section 5.7. For Mu‘alem’s rendition, see http://web.nli .org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/Song.aspx?SongID=253#1,14,1184,24 (n.d.).

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

111

found in both the number of Shbaḥot and their arrangement in the two mṣāḥif. In the 1906 Miṣḥaf, there are 123 Shbaḥot, M(5A–51B;1–123), which are arranged according to the days of the week: twenty songs for each day from Sunday to Thursday, and twenty-three for Friday. In the 1954 Miṣḥaf, there are only seventy-six Baqashot, M(11–54;1–76), and they all appear under one title: Baqashot Le’ashmoret Haboqer [Baqashot for Dawn].57 The smaller scope of the songs in the 1954 Miṣḥaf might suggest a change in their practice. Indeed, according to Hadad and to Guhari (?, Baghdad–2004, Tel Aviv) (11 November 2003), due to changes in people’s lifestyle in Israel, and to the working hours in particular, only men who immigrated to Israel when they were in their sixties or older would practise Baqashot at dawn every day of the week. This is because most of them were retired and thus could maintain the routine they had followed in Baghdad. At present, the earlier version of the practice has almost disappeared and remains as the religious territory only of some particularly devout worshippers, many of whom possess a strong mystical inclination. For the wider worshippers, this practice now takes place each year mainly between Passover (around April) and Pentecost (which take place each year roughly between mid-May to mid-June). 3.6.2 Rabi Shim‘on Bar Yoḥay and Lag Ba‘omer There are minor differences in the grouping principles of these two occasions in the mṣāḥif. The set of songs for Rabi Shim’on Bar Yoḥay [Rabbi Shim‘on Bar Yoḥay], M(101A–103A;226–227), and the set of songs for Lag Ba‘omer [The Thirty-Third Day of the Counting of the ‘Omer], M(99A–101A;224–225), which appear in the 1906 Miṣḥaf under these two different titles, are gathered in the 1954 Miṣḥaf under one title, Pizmonim Lelag Ba‘omer, M(111–116;154–157).58 These two headings mark the same occasion: in the 1906 Miṣḥaf it is named after both the important figure connected with this event, Rabbi Shim‘on Bar Yoḥay, and the date of celebration in the Jewish calendar, while in the 1954 Miṣḥaf it is named only after its date. Here again, probably under the Ḥalabi influence, these two occasions were united into one.

57  For more about these Shbaḥot, see, in this chapter, Paragraph 3.12. 58  For Rabi Shim‘on Bar Yoḥay, see Appendix 1, Sections 3.10.1 and 3.10.2.

112

Chapter 3

3.6.3 Pizmonim for Tfilin and Pizmonim for Bar Mitsvah The occasion called ‘Tfilin’ [‘Phylacteries’] in the 1906 Miṣḥaf is called ‘Bar Mitsvah’ in the 1954 Miṣḥaf.59 The first marks the fact that the young man, from now on, must put on phylacteries every morning, and the second commemorates the fact that at this stage in his life he must obey the rules and spirit of the Torah. 3.7 Songs Presented for the Same Occasions in Both Mṣāḥif 3.7.1 Ro’sh Ḥodesh In the 1906 Miṣḥaf, there are four songs for Ro’sh Ḥodesh [The First of the Month], which marks the beginning of the Jewish month: Sha‘ar Haraḥamim [The Gate of Compassion], M(71A;163);60 Ḥodesh Yeshu‘ah Ḥadesh Li [A Month of Deliverance Renew for Me [O Lord]], M(71B;164); Shiru La’el Nevonay [Sing to the Lord My Sages], M(72A;165);61 and Simḥu Na’ Bevirkat Halevanah [Rejoice in the Blessing of the New Moon], M(72A;166). They all appear also in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, and in exactly the same order: M(83;115), M(84;116) by Najarah, M(85;117), and M(85;118) by ’al-Ḥakham. However, with an additional song Ro’sh Ḥodesh Leyisra’el [First of the Month for the People of Israel], M(86;119), also by ’al-Ḥakham.62 3.7.2 Shabbat Shirah Shabbat Shirah [The Sabbath of Shirah], titled in both mṣāḥif as ‘Pizmonim Leshirah’ [‘Pizmonim for Shirah’], and only four of the eight songs which appear in the 1906 Miṣḥaf appear also in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, though in a different order. The rest of the songs do not appear anywhere in the 1954 Miṣḥaf. Table 3.2 describes this occasion and its songs in both mṣāḥif:

59  Tfilin [Phylacteries, from tfilah, a prayer] consist of two black leather boxes containing scrolls with biblical verses: one is wrapped around the arm, hand and finger, and the other is worn above the forehead. The custom symbolises God’s redemption of the People of Israel from Egypt. It is practised at Shaḥarit [Morning Prayer] every day, except for Sabbath and Holidays. 60   For Mu‘alem’s rendition, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx? songid=215#1,14,294,24 (n.d.). 61  For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see https://youtu.be/_F7xTzR19hs (2017). 62  For Ḥabushah’s rendition for Ro’sh Ḥodesh Leyisra’el, see https://youtu.be/NNhUnT6Asjo (2016).

113

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text Table 3.2 The Sabbath of Shirah: identical and different PLSs in the two Mṣāḥif

Song no.

1906

1954

1

(*) Yashir Yisra’el [The People of Israel Shall Sing [to the Lord]], M(96A;216), by Najarah (*) Shir Ḥadash ’Ashir [I Shall Sing a New Song], M(96B;217) (*) Mimitsrayim Hotsi’ Ha’el [The Lord Brought Israel Out from Egypt], M(97A;218), by Mosheh Ḥutsin (d. 1810, Baghdad)** ‘Amkha Hotsi’ Beyad Ramah [The Lord Took His People Out with Mighty Hand], M(97A;219) (*) ’Ashir La’el Ga’o Ga’ah [I Will Sing to the Lord, for He Has Triumphed Gloriously], M(97B;220), by Mosheh Halevi (19th century, Baghdad)*** ’Ashirah Beshirat Mosheh [I Shall Join Moses and Sing to the Lord], M(97B;221) Shavarti Litsu’ot [I Hope for Your Deliverance, [O Lord]], M(98A;222)**** ’El Shokhen Shamayim [The Lord Dwells on High], M(98B;223)*****

(*) Yashir Yisra’el, M(92;128) (*) ’Ashir La’el Ga’o Ga’ah, M(93;129) (*) Shir Ḥadash ’Ashir, M(94;130)

2 3

4 5

6 7 8 (*) ** *** **** *****

(*) Mimitsrayim Hotsi’ Ha’el, M(94;131)

Identical songs. Exodus 18:1. Exodus 15:1. A variation of Psalms 119:166. A variation of Isaiah 33:5.

This example demonstrates, through the repertoire of songs for one single occasion, how open and flexible the paraliturgical practice is in all its aspects: the number of songs, the order of their presentation in the collections, and, probably, their performance. 3.8 Songs That Appear Only in the 1906 Miṣḥaf There are 132 songs of this type.63 Of these songs, the largest groups are as follows: thirty-eight Shbaḥot for Dawn; sixty-five for assorted communal occasions; twenty for life-cycle occasions, and nine Shirey Rinah [Songs of 63  For the detailed list of the songs, see Appendix 7.

114

Chapter 3

Rejoicing], that is, songs for any occasion. There is one special song, Tsar Hashev Ki Naṭash Malki [The Foe Is Back for My Lord Has Forsaken Me], which appears twice in the 1906 Miṣḥaf for two different occasions: as Shbaḥ for Wednesday, M(34B;78), and again as Pizmon for Tabernacles, M(123B;282). 3.9 Songs That Appear Only in the 1954 Miṣḥaf Many of the ninety songs that appear only here were written by poets from the nineteenth century onwards.64 Of these songs, the largest groups are as follows: ten Baqashot; thirty-nine for various communal occasions; twenty-seven for different life-cycle occasions; four from the group of Various Pizmonim, and ten Ptiḥot. 3.10 Optional Songs in Both Mṣāḥif These songs are not presented for any of the occasions, but rather appear in two groups titled ‘Shirey Rinah’ [‘Songs of Rejoicing’], M(160B–166A;385–400) and ‘Maqāmāt’ [‘Arabic Musical Scales’], (or ‘Ptiḥot’), M(166A;400–414), in the 1906 Miṣḥaf; and ‘Pizmonim Shonim’ [‘Various Pizmonim’], M(214–228;320–343), and Ptiḥot or Maqāmāt, M(228–235;344–372), in the 1954 Miṣḥaf.65 Here again, because the Ḥalabi community in Jerusalem, and elsewhere for that matter, calls this group of PLSs ‘Ptiḥot’, it might be that the change was made due to the impact that the Ḥalabi custom had on the Babylonians. This category of songs is concluded in both mṣāḥif with Qe‘arat Kesef [[The] Silver Bowl], M(168B;415) in the 1906 Miṣḥaf and M(236;373) in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, which is also the last song in both collections.66 Table 3.3 shows the significant increase in the number of these optional songs in the 1954 Miṣḥaf and demonstrates yet again the flexibility of the paraliturgical practice:

64  The fact that a specific PLS appears in the 1954 Miṣḥaf and not in the 1906 Miṣḥaf does not necessarily mean that this was its first publication. It is quite possible, as in the case in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, that it was previously published in Baghdad or elsewhere in other smaller collections. This is perhaps the reason why Mantsur, unlike Dangur, does not mention this matter. For the list of these songs, see Appendix 3, Column 1 (songs marked with an asterisk). 65  The two songs in the 1906 Miṣḥaf are marked mistakenly with the same number, 400. See Note 17 in this chapter. 66  The two collections also open with the same song, the Baqashah Kol Bru’ey Ma‘lah Vamaṭah [All Creatures in Heaven and on Earth] by ’Ibn Gabirol, M(5A;1) and M(11;1), respectively.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

115

Table 3.3 The increase in the number of optional PLSs

1906 occasions

No. of songs

Shirey Rinah [Songs of Rejoicing] 16 Maqāmāt [Arabic Musical Scales] 15 Qe‘arat Kesef [[The] Silver Bowl] Total

1 32

1954 occasions

No. of songs

Pizmonim Shonim [Various Pizmonim] Ptiḥot (Maqāmāt) [Arabic Musical Scales] Qe‘arat Kesef [[The] Silver Bowl]

24 29 1 54

3.11 Other Passages The biblical passage Vayiten Lekha [May God Give You], M(61B;148), which appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf for the first time, is also added by Mantsur in 1954, M(68;100). In addition, he presents for the first time another passage, The Seven Blessings for the Bridegroom, M(182;259), which opens the occasion titled ‘Pizmonim Laḥatan’ [‘Pizmonim for the Bridegroom’], M(182–199;259–292). 3.12 Songs Presented for Different Occasions: the ‘Shifting Songs’ The ‘shifting songs’, namely, songs which are presented for a particular occasion in one miṣḥaf and shift to another occasion in the other, appear to be quite common; out of the 284 identical songs in both mṣāḥif, 103 appear for different occasions. This phenomenon is quite strong amongst the Baqashot, more so than in any other group of songs. Many of the 123 Shbaḥot or Baqashot which appear in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(5A–51B;1–123) moved in the 1954 Miṣḥaf to other occasions. Table 3.4 gives a few examples of this dynamic: 4

Religious Characteristics of the Paraliturgical Practice Emerging from the Two Mṣāḥif

4.1 Open and Flexible Form of Worship The malleable features of the paraliturgical practice emerging from the comparison between the two mṣāḥif are similar to those obtained through the earlier sources of the genre, preceding 1906, and to those derived from the religious and historical features of the 1954 Miṣḥaf as explored in the previous chapters of this book.

116

Chapter 3

Table 3.4 The ‘shifting songs’ from the 1906 Miṣḥaf to the 1954 Miṣḥaf

1906 The Song

Location

Occasion

’Ayumah Mar’ayikh Har’ini [Awesome [Woman] Let Me See Your Face] Yedid Ḥaneni [[O Lord] Have Mercy on Me] Merim Lero’shi Shlaḥ Laḥofshi [[Lord Who] Lifts My Head High] Yiqod ’Esh Lehavim [[My Thoughts] Shall Burn a Burning [in Me] Like that of Fire]

M(19A;36) Shbaḥot for Monday M(24B;50) Shbaḥot for Tuesday M(32B;71) Shbaḥot for Wednesday M(35A;79) Shbaḥot for Wednesday

1954 Location

Occasion

M(212;316) Pizmonim for the Father of a Newborn Baby Girl M(203;301) Pizmonim for Circumcision M(202;298) Pizmonim for Circumcision M(235;371) Ptiḥot

4.1.1 Simultaneous Use of Various Paraliturgical Sources After 1954, the PLS continued to be an open form of worship that relied on an unfixed repertoire of songs scattered across various collections and performed in considerable variations on different occasions. The appearance of the 1954 Miṣḥaf on the paraliturgical scene did not render the 1906 Miṣḥaf irrelevant when it came to the practice of PLSs. On the contrary, it enriched the known repertoire and helped to create a vast collection of 505 songs: 284 identical songs, 132 songs which appear only in the 1906 Miṣḥaf and 89 songs which appear only in the 1954 Miṣḥaf.67 Hadad described the simultaneous use of both mṣāḥif in the following way: My father [Rabbi Yitsḥaq Me’ir Refa’el Ḥadad] and his friends loved this miṣḥaf [1906] because they used it all their lives, and it has songs which do not appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf. People usually bring the two mṣāḥif to the celebrated occasion and choose songs from both of them. Hadad, 3 September 2003

67  Added to these is a substantial number of PLSs scattered in other collections, which are still included in the active repertoire, such as songs for Ezra the Scribe and Ezekiel the Prophet by Rabbi Shlomoh Bekhor Ḥutsin (1843–1892, Baghdad), which appear in various collections. For the list of collections in which many of these songs appear, see Hakak (2005: 73).

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

117

The Mu‘alem Collection also shows that the active repertoire of PLSs comprises songs from both mṣāḥif. One example out of many is the song Shirah Yanuv Pi Zimrah [My Mouth Shall Produce Songs and Hymns [to the Lord]], which appears only in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(76B;176). The interesting aspect of this song is its melody, which shifts from one collection to the other. In the Mu‘alem Collection, it is shared by another two songs, which appear only in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, both for the Sabbath: ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah Tits‘aqah [How Long Will [the] Dove Cry Aloud?], M(63;89),68 by ’al-Ḥakham, and ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah [O My Strength, I Wait for You], M(62;88),69 by ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin (d. 1859, Baghdad).70 This simultaneous use of different collections for the practice represents the long and continuous tradition of Babylonian Jewry, which, though flexible in its use within the paraliturgical arena, kept its core essence unchanged not only after 1906 in Baghdad, but also almost half-a-century later in Israel and, in fact, up to the present time. 4.1.2 Adjustment to the New Cultural Environment Another aspect of flexibility emerging from this comparison is reflected in the decrease in the number of Baqashot and songs for communal occasions, on the one hand, and the increase in the number of songs for life-cycle occasions, on the other. This, coupled with the intact practice of the pilgrimage occasions, without the actual visit to the original tombs, show the paraliturgical devotion as one which was able to adjust to a new cultural environment and one which, at the same time, was able to retain its core essence and function within the Babylonian community. This religio-cultural elasticity mirrors the semi-transculturation process that Babylonian Jews went through during their first period in the new Westernised state and their attempt to resolve the seemingly conflicting elements between their special Judaeo-Arabic religion and culture and the new secular and Western culture.71 In this context, it is imperative to bear in mind that the 68  For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/Song.aspx? SongID=67#1,14,28,11 (n.d.). 69  For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see https://youtu.be/MU2qBhEQj3o (2017). 70  ‘O My Strength, I wait for You’ (Psalms 59:10). 71  Transculturation is a concept formulated by Ortiz (1995: 97). It embraces both the process of acquiring a new culture and ‘uprooting’ the previous one, as well as the process of creating a new culture, which Ortiz defines as ‘neoculturation’. He formed this concept in the context of Cuba’s historical development in the last four centuries, during which it had absorbed many waves of immigrants and thus was constantly influenced by countless and diverse cultures. In the case of the Babylonians, I regard this process as

118

Chapter 3

Western influence on Arab-Jewish communities, including the Babylonian, which had started during the nineteenth century, when they were still in Muslim countries, made their transition into modern times easier for them than it otherwise would have been. The same cannot be said for its influence on European-Jewish communities. The process of adjustment of Arab-Jewish communities to the new lifestyle, which involved changes in their religious concepts and practice, was gradual. It developed from within their tradition itself, as it was led by the rabbinic authorities of these communities. Unlike the Western rabbinic establishment, nineteenth-century Arab-Jewish rabbis saw the importance of adjusting Jewish life to the new social, political and technological developments taking place at the time. Their communities continued to respect their religious status, albeit in a way that restricted their authority to religious matters. Nonetheless, the members of these communities in no way disrespected or rejected religious life and values, and did not consider religiosity something opposed to the modern lifestyle of the West. As a result, rabbis’ responses to the challenges of the new Western ideas did not cause friction between traditional Jewish identity and modernism, as was the case in Jewish communities in the West, but rather created a new symbiosis between the two (Stillman 1995: 2; Zohar 2001B: 355; Picard 2007: 30). It seems that this same tendency and notion of combining different cultures, rather than embracing the new and deserting the old, also guided the Babylonians in their new state. And what we see here, in the way they preserved the paraliturgical tradition, is in fact another manifestation of the same outlook and attitude. At a later stage, roughly from the early 2000s onwards, the genre and its practice would further develop and evolve into its modern and latest phase, which would include a different kind of amalgamation. This time, it would be an amalgamation between the rich and long-lasting Arabo-Islamic and Judaeo-Arabic cultures and the new Israeli culture. It is true that, fairly soon after their arrival in Israel, the Babylonians became an integral part of the new society. However, Western and secular as it was, their identity as Jews from the East who view their religion as a pivotal component of their lives, remained strong, and the need to find a bridge between the two cultures became crucial. Their response to the new cultural setting can be therefore understood not only as a religious commitment to their longlasting Judaeo-Arabic culture, but also as an adherence to, and love for, this culture and its unique heritage. Their ancient religious legacy constituted, for centuries, their identity as Arab-Jews, though this was never stated as such. semi-transculturation, as they fashioned their new cultural life by combining the past and the present cultures, rather than adopting the new and forsaking the old.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

119

Now that they were back in their original homeland, they wished to integrate their Arabo-Islamic legacy with new cultural components and thereby identify themselves as new Israelis.72 4.1.3 The ‘Shifting Songs’ Another significant change that emerges from the comparison between the two mṣāḥif and reflects the flexibility of the genre is the phenomenon of the ‘shifting songs’. The unfixed location of the songs in the two mṣāḥif suggests a wide range of performing possibilities for a particular occasion. Thus, a single occasion can be celebrated each time with different songs and different numbers of songs, and with different song order arrangements. 4.2 The Paraliturgical Time Considering the strict features of the liturgy, the most significant form of worship in Judaism, the phenomenon of the ‘shifted songs’ is remarkable. Liturgy in Judaism is strongly time-oriented: all prayers are classified according to their specific time of practice during the day, the day of the week, and the month of the Jewish calendar. It seems that four types of time are represented in the Jewish liturgy: real time, seasonal time, historical time and personal time. Real time is set for each of the prayers that is determined and regulated by strict halakhic rules. Only after the full and precise execution of these rules can the worshipper claim to have fulfilled his duty of prayer. Seasonal time is set by the cycle of the various communal festivals that were celebrated in ancient Israel, when the nation lived in its own land. Festivals such as Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles were originally celebrated as agricultural and seasonal festivals in the spring, summer and autumn, respectively. During these holidays, Jews went on pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem, where they participated in various celebrations and rituals. These festivals also commemorated three significant events in Jewish history and thus represented also historical time in Jewish worship and liturgy. After the destruction of the Temple and the expulsion from the land, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles continued to be celebrated at the same times of the year. However, they were now observed in a new manner defined by the rabbinic authorities, a manner which commemorated the festivals mainly by special prayers, ceremonies and customs. Thus, from this time on major holidays commemorate significant events in Jewish history narrated 72  For the impact of the emigration on the Baghdadi intellectual as well as on intellectuals from other Arab-Jewish communities, see Snir (2012: 174).

120

Chapter 3

through stories that combine religious beliefs and myths with historical facts documented in external sources. The prayers of these festivals recount altogether the history of the Jewish People from a religious perspective. The earliest event is the covenant between Abraham, the father of the nation, and God. In the name of this covenant, God redeemed Abraham’s offspring from slavery in Egypt, gave them the Torah, and led them through the desert to become a free nation living in its own land. The nation sinned and was therefore punished by God. It was exiled from its land, and lived thereafter in the Diaspora dispersed, depressed and oppressed, longing and yearning for the day of the ge’ulah [redemption]. Thus, Passover symbolises the exodus of the nation from slavery in Egypt (i.e., the Exodus) and its transition into a free nation. Pentecost signifies God’s gift to his chosen people, the Torah, and Tabernacles symbolises God’s providential care of His People in the desert. Other types of festivals, such as Ḥanukah and Purim, commemorate other miracles that happened to the Jewish People in historical time. Personal time is quite unique, as the communal affiliation and the sense of belonging to the Jewish nation are not at the centre of the worshipper’s attention, although they are mentioned and considered as intrinsic parts of his wellbeing. The focus is on the individual’s deeds and life during the past Jewish calendrical year. It is set by two festivals celebrated at the beginning of every such year, Ro’sh Hashanah [The Jewish New Year] and Yom Kipur [The Day of Atonement].73 Their liturgical repertoire together with the special liturgy for the ten days between these two festivals, namely Sliḥot [Penitential Hymns, s. Sliḥah], is intended precisely for this purpose. These prayers give the worshipper the opportunity to reflect on his actions towards both his fellow humans and towards God, to express remorse and regret, to ask for God’s forgiveness, and to promise not to sin ever again. The concept of time in the paraliturgical realm is entirely different. Both real time and seasonal time, as well as historical time and personal time, as they relate to the performing of the songs according to the particular occasion they are supposed to commemorate, are merely one unbinding suggestion offered by the editor of a particular collection, and they could be different in another. Since the same songs can be performed on various occasions, they turn all these times and festivals into a single religious celebration. In this way, the PLS unites all four types of time commemorated by these occasions into one: paraliturgical time – that is, the ‘here and now’. In this infinite time, all occasions are viewed as equally important and relevant platforms for the main purpose of the paraliturgical practice, namely, praising the Lord. And since all 73  For these two festivals, see Appendix 1, Section 3.16.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

121

times are merged into one, praising the Lord is suitable at all times and equally signifies all the values commemorated on each of these occasions. The timelessness of the paraliturgical practice is mirrored clearly in the first known collection of PLSs by Najarah, Zmirot Yisra’el (second edition, 1599). In his introduction to the first and largest part of his collection, ‘Olat Tamid [Habitual Burnt Offering], with its 225 songs (out of the 346 songs in the entire collection) which are not dedicated to a specific occasion, Najarah states the purpose of these songs and their role:74 In a whisper and in clear language, and in various exultations, for any time, with no limited time [,] but every day on which every man will wish in his heart to praise the Lord with his mouth and his lips, in song and in singing [,] [the worshipper] will persevere [,] and proclaim and read [praises of God] ‘Olat Tamid. Najarah ibid., 1A

Three conclusions can be drawn from Najarah’s introduction. The first is that the main purpose of the songs is to praise the Lord; the second is that the songs can be sung at all times, with no restrictions whatsoever; and the third, which derives from the first two, is that the particular occasion on which the songs can be performed is of a lesser importance than their main purpose of praising God at all times. Indeed, in the first part of Najarah’s collection, the songs are not intended for any particular occasion. This type of song also exists in the 1906 and the 1954 mṣāḥif, but on a rather smaller scale, as Songs of Rejoicing and as Various Pizmonim, respectively. Songs from this part of Najarah’s collection appear in the two mṣāḥif – forty-eight and thirty-seven songs, respectively – and in each of them the songs are presented for various occasions. Furthermore, there are songs which appear in both collections, but which are not always presented for the same occasions. The following song examples illustrate this phenomenon: 1. Yehalelkha Niv Sfatay [My Saying Shall Extol You], N(6A;2), appears in both mṣāḥif as a Baqashah: M(44A;107) and M(40;53), respectively. 2. Yigaleh Kevod Malkhutkha [Extolled Be the Majesty of Your Kingship], N(1B;3), appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(44B;108), as a Baqashah, but in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(224;339), as Najarah suggested, namely, in the group of Various Pizmonim.

74  For the original Hebrew text, see Chapter 1, Paragraph 6, Figure 1.2.

122

Chapter 3

3.

Yah Ribon ‘Alam [God Almighty], N(7A;4), appears in both mṣāḥif as a Baqashah: M(8B;10) and M(15;8), respectively.75 4. Yonati Ziv Yif‘atekh [The Brightness of Your Splendour My Dove], N(25B;55), appears in 1906, M(141B;331), as a Shbaḥ for the Celebration of the Torah, and in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(225;341), in the group of Various Pizmonim, again as suggested by Najarah. These four examples are even more striking when bearing in mind that these three collections together represent a repertoire performed for 350 years and a practice, which is probably even older. In the second part of Najarah’s collection, ‘Olat Shabbat [The Sabbath Offering], the fifty-four songs are intended for every Sabbath of the liturgical year and are listed according to the parashah (the weekly portion of the reading from the Torah) read at a particular Sabbath. No song from this part was found in both mṣāḥif. The third part, ‘Olat Ḥadash [New Offering], comprises sixty-seven songs which are intended for specific occasions. Six of these songs appear in both mṣāḥif: three remained for the same occasions and three moved to other occasions: 1. The Same Occasions: a. For the First of the Month: Ḥodesh Yeshu‘ah Ḥadesh Li [A Month of ­Deliverance Renew for Me [O Lord]], N(98A;1); in the mṣāḥif, M(71B;164) and M(84;116), respectively.76 b. For Purim: Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’ [[The] Day the Horn Exalts God’s People], N(106A;7); in the mṣāḥif, M(81A;185) and M(103;143), respectively. c. For the Celebration of the Torah: Hineh ’El Yeshu‘ati [Behold the God Who Gives Me Triumph], N(131B;57); in the mṣāḥif, M(134B;313) and M(158;220), respectively. 2. Changed Occasions: a. Yashir Yisra’el [Israel Shall Sing], N(112B;14) is a song for Passover in ­Najarah’s collection, and a song for [the Sabbath of] Shirah in both the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(96A;216), and in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(92;128).77 b. Yeḥidati Bo’i [My One and Only Come [Lie With Me]], N(122B;39), is a Baqashah in both Najarah’s collection and in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(50A;121). In the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(225;340), it is presented in the group of Various Pizmonim. 75  For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see https://youtu.be/quv3FLyXBuQ (1986). 76  For the First of the Month, see Appendix 1, Section 3.4. 77   For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song .aspx?songid=3051#1,14,6533,11 (n.d.).

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

123

c.

Yiftaḥ ’Ish Yado [A Strong Man Helps Openhandedly [All the Poor and Deprived]], N(135A;87), appears as a song for the Sabbath in Najarah’s collection, as a Baqashah in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(45B;111), and in the group of Various Pizmonim in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(217;327). It seems that it does not make any difference whether Najarah intended a specific song for a specific occasion or not. In any case, both his presentation of the songs for the different occasions and his comments are regarded as suggestions rather than as imperative instructions. This is because even when he clearly indicates a specific occasion for a song, we can still find this same song presented for another occasion in at least in one of the mṣāḥif. Had Najarah addressed the worshippers as a rabbinic authority, rather than as a pious poet, instructing them to keep his original arrangement of the songs for each of the occasions, it is highly likely that these changes would not have been possible. 5

Religious and Literary Characteristics of the Paraliturgical Text Emerging from the Two Mṣāḥif

5.1 Multiplicity of Meanings It is likely that one of the main factors that facilitate the performance of a specific PLS on several occasions is the multiple meanings of its text. The richness of diverse meanings enables a single song to carry a plethora of connotations and accounts that together evoke various associations and reflect a range of different values. This wealth of meaning derives first and foremost from the major linguistic source of the paraliturgical text, namely, biblical Hebrew. It is stated, for example, in Midrash Rabah (Bamidbar 13:15) that ‘shiv‘im panim latorah’ [‘the Torah has seventy faces’ namely, ‘meanings’], that is, there are seventy ways of understanding the Torah. And in fact, this statement itself is open to numerous interpretations and meanings. For example, the song ’Ayumah Mar’ayikh Har’ini [Awesome [Woman] Let Me See Your Face], which, as shown above, appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(19A;36), as a Shbaḥ for Monday and in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(212;316), as a Pizmon dedicated to the father of a newborn baby girl. The text of the first stanza, saturated in biblical quotations, is as follows: Awesome [woman] let me see your face78 And let me hear your sweet voice 78  ‘Let me see your face’ (Song of Songs 2:14).

124

Chapter 3

You have captured my heart79 with your eyes Let me in [,] my own [,] my bride80 The song is replete with erotic metaphors describing an attractive woman who has a soft voice and beautiful eyes; she is pure as a dove and faultless as the date palm. Her body tastes like superb wine, the qualities of which are everlasting splendid flavour and scent. As part of a Baqashah for early dawn, these images and metaphors represent the relationship between God and the People of Israel. The beautiful woman symbolises the Jewish nation, and her remarkable traits are expressed by her bridegroom and lover, God. The marriage symbolises God’s redemption of the nation by returning it to the Promised Land and restoring the worship in his reconstructed Temple. This interpretation is based on the metaphors presented in the song, of which most are borrowed or quoted from the Song of Songs. Traditional Jewish interpretations consider this book to be an allegorical representation of the relationship between God and the People of Israel as that between husband and wife. The following phrases bear this out: ‘libavtini’ [‘You have captured my heart’], (stanza 1, line 3), (Song of Songs 4:9); ‘mah ṭovu miyayin dodayikh’ [‘How much more delightful your love than wine’], (stanza 5, line 2), (ibid., 4:10); and ‘tsuf dvash siftotayikh kalah’ [‘Sweetness drops from your lips, O bride’], (ibid., line 4), (ibid., 4:11). As a song for a newborn baby girl, this text carries a different meaning. The images and metaphors are understood as wishes for the baby to grow up and become a beautiful and desirable woman; these wishes are all intended for one purpose: marriage. The idea is expressed clearly in the last two lines of the fourth stanza: ‘ḥushi na’ qumi bimherah. Nasis kimsos ḥatan ‘al kalah’ [‘Quick, hurry up. Rejoice as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride’]. In addition, the word ‘kalah’ [‘bride’] appears five times in this relatively short poem, as the last word of each of the stanzas, emphasising the most important and predetermined destiny of this small baby, which is to be a bride and then a married woman. Another example is ‘Et Dodim Kalah [Time for Love [My] Bride], which appears in both the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(118B;264), and the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(135;185), as a song for Tabernacles.81 A quick glance at other sources spanning more 79  Song of Songs 4:9. 80  ‘My own my bride’ (Song of Songs 4:9). 81  Some sources argue that this song was written by Rabbi Ḥayim Ben Sahal, who was from the tenth century and who lived in Jerusalem and was a Karaite. The Karaites believe that the Torah, which was handed down to Moses by God, is the only authority in both Jewish

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

125

than 300 years, in which the song appears, shows the range of potential meanings that it conveys to be quite impressive.82 In Seder Shiv‘ah83 Haqafot Lesimḥat Torah [The Order of the Seven Circuits for the Celebration of the Torah] (Baghdad, ḥet shin daled, an abbreviation of ḥaserah shnat defus [the year of publishing is missing]), the song (no. 14) appears as a Pizmon Lehaqafot Lesimḥat Torah [Pizmon for Circuits for the Celebration of the Torah]. In ’Eimrey No‘am, Shirim Ufizmonim Utfilot Utḥinot [Words of Delight, Poems and Songs and Prayers and Supplications] edited by Yosef Shalom Galyago (1628–1630, Amsterdam), the song (no. 82) appears as a Pizmon for a Wedding. And in Baqashot Yerushalem, Baqashot Le’ashmoret Haboqer [Jerusalem’s Baqashot, Baqashot for Early Dawn] (1913, Jerusalem), the song (no. 47) appears as a Baqashah. Here again, the first stanza can demonstrate the fascinating range of meaning that this text holds: Time for love [my] bride come to my garden The vine has flowered84 my pomegranate is in bloom The rain is over the winter is past85 Arise my darling desire has prevailed Let us go into the open let us lodge in the desert There I will give my love to you the delight of my eyes The text is saturated with metaphors quoted from the Song of Songs. With tender words expressing images taken from the world of nature, the lover describes the beauty of his desired bride and the strong emotions she evokes in him. He sees her teeth as snow, her tongue as milk and honey, her eyes as doves, and her lips as cords of silk. His love is everlasting, never ceasing and never forgotten, resistant to heavy storm and flood. A few examples of quotations from the Song of Songs reveal the rich use of this source: ‘parḥah hagefen’ [‘the vines had blossomed’; ‘the vine has flowered’], (stanza 1, line 2), (Song of Songs 6:11 and 7:13, respectively); ‘henets rimoni’ [the pomegranates were in bloom], (ibid., line 2), (ibid., 6:11); ‘netse’ hasadeh’ [‘Let us go into the open’], (ibid., line 5), (ibid., 7:12); ‘sham ’eten dodi lakh’ [‘There I will give my love to you’], (ibid., line 6), (ibid., 7:13); ‘yafit vena‘amt’ [‘How fair you are, how beautiful!’], halakhah and theology. Therefore, they do not follow any rabbinic work that interprets the Torah, such as the Mishnah and the Talmud. 82   For Mu‘alem’s rendition, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/Song.aspx? SongID=71#1,14,579,24 (n.d.). 83  Shiv‘ah as written in the text needs to be sheva‘. 84  Song of Songs 7:13. 85  Song of Songs 2:11, a variation of the original verse.

126

Chapter 3

(stanza 2, line 1), (ibid., 7:7); ‘dvash veḥalav taḥat leshonekh’ [‘Honey and milk Are under your tongue’], (ibid., line 2), (ibid., 4:11); and ‘‘eynayikh yonim’ [‘With your dove-like eyes!’; ‘Your eyes are like doves’], (stanza 3, line 2), (ibid., 1:15 and 4:1, respectively). The beautiful woman and her enthusiastic lover as well as their close relationship are understood as a metaphor for three different ideas commemorated on these three occasions. As a song performed on Tabernacles, the festival of Simḥat Torah [‘Celebration of the Torah’], the Torah is being described as a bride.86 This metaphor appears several times in talmudic and midrashic literature. For example, in the Talmud Bavli, we read the following: Moses commanded [to] us the Torah; it is [an] inheritance for [the] assembly of Jacob. Now, do not read: morashah [an inheritance]; rather, pronounce the word as if it spelled: me’orasah [a betrothed one]. Berachot 57a87

A similar description is also given in Midrash Rabah (Shmot 33:7 and 41:5).88 Therefore, ‘Et Dodim Kalah in this context is understood as a metaphor for the Torah and the People of Israel, respectively. As a song for a wedding, the association between the bride as the beautiful woman and her lover, the groom, is obvious. As a Baqashah, the metaphor here again, and as in many other Baqashot, refers to the People of Israel and God, respectively. 5.2 The Polythematic Structure within a Unifying Theme More often than not, the paraliturgical text with its multiplicity of meaning is shaped in a special thematic configuration that comprises a polythematic structure within a unifying theme. The polythematic structure embraces several discrete themes that are presented in different sections of the song, each with a different length (from one single line to an entire stanza and even longer). These themes express numerous requests and hopes, which the nation or the individual worshipper addresses to God. The nation recalls and recounts God’s deeds and the miracles that he has performed for His People in their glorious past, laying out its present hardship in the Diaspora and expressing keen 86  For Simḥat Torah, see Appendix 1, Section 3.19. 87  See Chapter 1, Note 14. 88  Midrash Rabah Shmot includes commentaries on Exodus, the second book of the Bible. The sources of the Midrash quoted here are decoded in the following manner: Midrash Rabah, biblical book, parashah [division] number, and siman [paragraph] number. See also Chapter 2, Note 31.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

127

wishes for a better future. The future is expected to be as idyllic as the past was before the exile to Babylon: in the Promised Land with the restored Temple. The individual worshipper appeals to God and asks for his assistance and protection. The unifying theme always contains praises of God, a theme that identifies this religious genre as such, and a theme after which the genre was named by the Babylonians as ‘Shbaḥoth’. It epitomises the assorted themes presented in the song through the one single prism of glorifying God. The dominance of the praises in the text gives a strong impression that they are the main reason and justification for the various themes presented; this suggests that, because God is all-powerful and omnipotent, he was, is, and forever will be capable of bringing salvation to the nation or to the individual worshipper.89 5.3 Context-Related and Independent Meaning This structural configuration of the paraliturgical text produces two levels of meaning. The first is the context-related meaning that is conceived each time by the specific occasion on which a particular song is performed. Then, the different themes in its text are interpreted according to the ideas celebrated on this particular occasion. The second level of meaning exists independently of any particular occasion. It is created by the unifying theme of the song, namely, the praises of God, which is always understood in the same manner, whether it is expressed by the nation or by the individual worshipper. The reasons and aspirations for praising God are varied and can be expressed in different forms and ways. An example of praising God’s deeds for His People are widespread in the song Yom Yom ’Odeh La’el [Every Day I Shall Praise the Lord], M(126;171), for Pentecost.90 The People of Israel thank God for choosing them as his nation and praise his actions that helped them acquire their unique status by giving them the Torah. The first stanza illustrates this type of praise: Day by day I praise The Lord who has chosen us 89  Scholars of Qur’ānic Studies hold the view that the sūra [a chapter in the Qur’ān] also comprises a few themes all integrally linked to one central topic or idea which runs across them, joining them with a shared meaning and thus knitting them into one connected discourse. As a result, these scholars broadly share the methodological approach of dividing the sūra into sections according to its themes and then establishing a unifying thematic link between them. For the different approaches these scholars offer, see Mir (2004: 204). For the possible deeper resemblance between Judaism and Islam that this similarity suggests, see the concluding part of the book. 90  For Ḥabushah’s rendition, see https://youtu.be/EExpmCCFSsU (2015).

128

Chapter 3

Of all the peoples he selected us as his treasured people91 On Mount Sinai he bequeathed us his Torah [And] he announced to us his holy ten commandments Another example of praising God’s deeds, this time for the exodus of the nation from Egyptian slavery, is the song Mimitsrayim Hotsi’ Ha’el [From Egypt God Took [Us] Out], M(94;131), for the Sabbath of Shirah by Mosheh Ḥutsin (d. 1810, Baghdad). Here, the Exodus, including God’s deeds and miracles in this event, is described with words of praise and exaltation, which is illustrated in the following first and fifth stanzas of the song: The Lord brought his people out of the land of Egypt With his mighty power92 Then Moses [and] the Israelites sang This song to the Lord93 And we shall praise him forever As he drowned [our] enemy deep in the sea And then triumph everlasting94 [For the] Israelites [who] won through the Lord In most cases, the praise itself is associated with a specific request and can appear before or after the request is expressed. An example of praise attached to a request and, in fact, placed between two requests, both of which are expressed by the community, can be found in the first stanza of the song Matay Dod Ḥish Tifdeni [How Soon My Lord Shall You Redeem Me?], M(166;232), for the Celebration of the Torah. Here, the nation asks God for deliverance and redemption from its anguished life in the Diaspora (line 1) and for his protection (lines 3–5), and in between the two requests it praises Him (line 2): How soon my Lord shall you redeem me I will praise you [my] rock with a song of my thoughts In your faithfulness [O Lord] keep me safe Be good to me95 and revive my spirit again96 Lead me on the path of Zion 91  Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2 and 26:18. 92  Deuteronomy 5:6. 93  Exodus 15:1. 94  Isaiah 45:17. 95  A variation of Psalms 13:6, 131:2 and 142:8. 96  A variation of Psalms 71:20.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

129

This text can be also understood as a request addressed to God by the individual believer who asks for personal redemption and help. Another example is Melekh Raḥman [[O Lord] King of Compassion], M(194;284), by Refa’el ‘Antabi (1830, Ḥalab–1919, Egypt), which appears in Pizmonim for the Bridegroom.97 Words of praise are presented right at the beginning of the song (the first part of line 1), which is followed by a request for protection (end of line 1), redemption of the nation (line 2), and the reconstruction of Jerusalem as its everlasting capital (line 3): [O Lord] king of compassion, please keep And redeem the people who depend on your faithful care98 And build O Lord my rock, [the] eternal and desired city [Jerusalem] And in it you shall be honoured The appeal can also be expressed by the individual worshipper who asks for God’s help and support. For example, the first two stanzas of the following Baqashah ’Elohey ‘Oz Tehilati [The God of the Stronghold of My Praise], M(25;24). Here, the request for a cure expressed by the worshipper (stanza 1, lines 2–4) appears in between the praises (ibid., line 1 and stanza 2): The God of the stronghold of my praise Heal me [O Lord] and let me be healed And give a cure for my sickness So that I will not die and perish I will praise you Lord for as long as I live Amongst my kin and friends And I will greatly increase my praise [to you] With a sweet voice and beautiful words However, it is important to note that there are also songs that express very clearly, and in an unequivocal manner, one particular occasion – such as the thirteen songs for Purim, M(96–106;134–146). In most of them, both the reasons for celebrating this occasion and the main protagonists of the miraculous story of Purim, as well as their deeds, are mentioned. An example of this is the song Purim Purim Purim Lanu Barukh ’Asher Baḥar Banu [Purim, Purim, Purim Is for Us, Oh Blessed Is the Lord Who Has Chosen Us], which is M(80A;182) in the 1906 Miṣḥaf and M(97;136) in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, by Yosef Shalom Galyago 97  For Ḥabushah’s rendition in the Ḥalabi version, see https://youtu.be/H9Vwu4GSaQY (2015). 98  Psalms 147:11.

130

Chapter 3

(seventeenth century, Salonika and Amsterdam), which leaves no doubt as to the occasion for which it was written.99 6 The Merim Lero’shi Paradigm Merim Lero’shi [[Lord Who] Lifts My Head High] illustrates the polythematic structure within a unifying theme. The song appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(32B;71), as a Shbaḥ for Wednesday and in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, M(202;298), as a Pizmon for circumcision.100 6.1

The Translated Text [Lord who] lifts my head high Set [me] free The beloved of my soul Bring [me] out to abundance O Lord my deliverer Restore my Temple My stately tabernacle Perfect in its splendour And my rejoicing gladness Vindicate me My rock and my fortress Take revenge on my enemies With festering sores O Lord my deliverer …101 My tears dried up [But] my eyes did not falter From my hunger for you Vows are paid to you102 O Lord my deliverer …

99  For Mu‘alem’s rendition, which includes the Ptiḥah Lekha ’Ani Vekhaspi [I and All I Have Are Yours] M(168A;414) and M(234;370), see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/ Pages/Song.aspx?SongID=159#1,14,3364,24 (n.d.). For this Ptiḥah, see Chapter 4, Table 4.18, Row 15, and Paragraph 5.2. 100  For the complete text in Hebrew, see Appendix 8. 101  After the first stanza, the refrain is not reproduced in full. 102  A variation of Psalms 65:2.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

131

[My Lord shall] rise like a lion103 [My Lord shall] rise up against my fierce enemies [My Lord shall] gather in the world With an outstretched hand104 O Lord my deliverer … [My Lord shall] light my darkness105 [My Lord shall] prepare my path My king shall give me – Strength and resourcefulness106 O Lord my deliverer … [My Lord], have pity and have mercy107 Comfort Zion108 And send comfort Yinon and Elijah109 O Lord my deliverer … Sacrifices of well-being110 And precious gifts And aromatic incense111 The fat of the land112 and Elijah O Lord my deliverer …

103  Numbers 23:24, refers to the People of Israel. 104  A variation of Deuteronomy 4:34. 105  I I Samuel 22:29. 106  Job 12:16. 107  A variation of Jeremiah 21:7. 108  A variation of Isaiah 41:3. 109  Both are symbolic names of the messiah. ’Eliyah is also another name given to Elijah the Prophet (ninth century BCE), who is called ‘’Eliyahu Hatishbi’ [‘Elijah the Tishbite’] (II Kings 1:3). His life is recounted in I Kings 17–19 and 21, and II Kings 1–2. The word ‘Yinon’ also appears in Psalms 72:17 with another meaning, ‘endure’: ‘while the sun lasts, may his name endure’. 110  This is a type of sacrifice which was made in the Temple. It is mentioned six times in the Bible: Leviticus 16:5; Joshua 22:23; I Samuel 10:8; Proverbs 7:14; and II Chronicles 30:22 and 33:16. 111  Exodus 40:27 and 30:7; and Leviticus 17:12. 112  Genesis 45:19.

132

Chapter 3

My offerings of food113 And my precious gift114 And the assembly of my people115 The people chosen by the Lord116 O Lord my deliverer … 6.2 Structure Each of the eight stanzas of the song has four lines, except for the first, which contains nine lines, and the last five of which construct the refrain. Table 3.5 describes the themes and their appearance in the stanzas of the poem: Table 3.5 The polythematic structure in Merim Lero’shi

Section no.

Stanza: line no(s).

Theme of stanza

Theme no.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1:1–4 1:5–9 (including refrain) 2 3 4 5, 6 7, 8:1–2 8:3–4

Yearning for Freedom Return to the Homeland Revenge on the Enemy Endurance of the Exile Revenge on the Enemy Redemption Service in the Temple The Chosen People

1 2 3 4 3 5 6 7

Altogether, the song comprises eight sections with seven different themes. Each theme expresses a significant tenet in Judaism, which also appears, in one way or another, in many other songs. All seven themes are united by words of praise of the Lord expressed in various images and metaphors interwoven within each of them. 6.3 Multiplicity of Meaning As a Shbaḥ of supplication performed at dawn, this poem describes an appeal made by the individual believer to his God expressing personal requests and wishes. Thus, the first two themes presented in the first stanza, namely, the request for freedom and for return to the homeland, can be understood as a 113  Numbers 28:2. 114  Exodus 20:21. 115  A variation of Psalms 7:8. 116  A variation of Psalms 135:4.

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

133

personal wish for the freedom of his soul to reach a state of fulfilment and serenity. The enemies described in the second and fourth stanzas are his personal rivals, on whom he asks God to take revenge. The grief and pain conveyed in the third stanza reveal his own suffering and anguish, from which he pleads with God to release him. The request for redemption in the fifth and sixth stanzas, expressed by the pious believer, does not concern his own personal fate alone. As a keen believer, he perceives his personal fate as being intrinsically tied to the fate of his people. Therefore, he implores God for the redemption of the nation through the return to Zion, the restoration of the Temple and its service, and by the coming together of the nation as the Chosen People of God, as described in the sixth, seventh and final stanzas of the song. Merim Lero’shi is also performed during the circumcision ritual that commemorates the eternal covenant between God and His People, and confirms that it is kept by both sides: the nation, which circumcises its newborn males, and God, who will soon redeem the nation and restore its life in the promised land of Canaan. As such, this song expresses two quintessential tenets of Judaism concerning the trilateral relationship between God, the People of Israel, and the land of Canaan. The first is the everlasting covenant between God and the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish People, which is expressed through the unconditional obedience of Abraham to God’s command to sacrifice his son: Such shall be the covenant between Me and you and your offspring to follow which you shall keep: every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And throughout the generations, every male among you shall be circumcised at the age of eight days. Genesis 17:10–13

The second tenet is God’s promise to Abraham and his offspring that the land of Canaan will be theirs in perpetuity: I will maintain My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring to come, as an everlasting covenant throughout the ages, to be God to you and to your offspring to come. I assign the land to your sojourn in to you and your offspring to come, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding. I will be their God. Genesis 17:7–8117

117  It also appears in Exodus 6:4.

134

Chapter 3

Hence, this ceremony is regarded not only as an act of joining the infant child to this covenant with God, but also as a special event on which this strong bond is commemorated by the entire community. The appeals to God for freedom, a return to the land, revenge on the enemy, and deliverance are all made on behalf of the nation and by virtue of the covenant itself. By fulfilling its part through the act of circumcision, the nation manifests and proves its faithfulness to God, and thus asks him to keep his part by restoring its life in Canaan. The story of the offering of Isaac to God made by Abraham, the pious father of the nation, is expressed metaphorically in the seventh and the eighth stanzas of the poem through the reference to the sacrificial service in the restored Temple, which is described in detail. Another aspect of the covenant appears in the song through reference to Elijah the Prophet, who is regarded both as the ‘mevaser hage’ulah’ [‘the harbinger of the redemption’] of the People of Israel (Zohar, Trumah 154a) and as the patron of circumcision (ibid., Lekh Lekha 93a).118 As the messenger of the redemption, his appearance in the sixth and the seventh stanzas, which describe the deliverance of the nation and the service in the restored Temple, is reinforced by the use of the two names of the messiah himself, Yinon and ’Eliyah. As a patron of this occasion, Elijah’s role is significant. According to Jewish belief, his spirit is present at all circumcisions. This is because he complained to God that the Children of Israel had abandoned the covenant: ‘for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant’ (I Kings 19:10), which is explained by some biblical commentators as forsaking the custom of circumcision. Therefore, according to the Zohar (Lekh Lekha ibid.), God promised Elijah that in every circumcision of a Child of Israel or, as God calls them, ‘my sons’, he is invited to bear witness to their ardent loyalty to the covenant. This is the reason why amongst many Jewish communities it is the custom to place the baby boy before the circumcision on a chair, which is called ‘hakise’ shel ’eliyahu hanavi’ [‘the chair of the Elijah the Prophet’], as an integral part of the ceremony and as a symbol of this belief.119 The unifying theme is interwoven within the various topics of the song, and the praise of the Lord appears either before or after a request or plea. For example, the first theme (stanza 1, lines 1–4), which expresses the yearning

118  For the Zohar, see Chapter 2, Note 69. The sources of the Zohar are quoted here in the following manner: Zohar, parashah [division] name, and page number with an indication of its sides, namely, a or b. 119  For more about this custom prevalent amongst the Babylonians, see Ben Ya‘akov (1993: 33).

The Paraliturgical Practice and Text

135

for freedom, combines two praises of God (ibid., lines 1 and 3, respectively), which are then followed by two requests (ibid., lines 2 and 4, respectively). The second theme, the return to the homeland, which appears in the same stanza, is a request for restoring the Temple, which symbolises the return to the homeland (ibid., lines 5–9). This scheme changes with the third theme of the song, which is presented in the second stanza: the revenge on the enemy. It opens with a request for vengeance (stanza 2, line 1), presents the praise of God (ibid., line 2), and then follows with another request for revenge (ibid., lines 3–4). Wherever the praises appear and whoever expresses them, they all create a strong sense of the unification of all the themes in the song, and they are understood in the same way on any of the occasions on which the song is performed. It is true that God’s praises can be understood also in the specific context of each of these occasions. For example, the praise ‘my deliverer’ in a Baqashah can be understood as meaning that God is the protector of the individual worshipper; on the other hand, in a song for circumcision, God is perceived as the protector of both the nation and the newborn baby boy. However, in both cases, God’s attribute as a deliverer is unchangeable: he can both protect the individual person and the whole nation. In the paraliturgical text, God’s qualities are unchanging and are always viewed in the same manner regardless of who the beneficiary is. 7

Conclusion: Flexibility in the Paraliturgical Practice and Text

While Chapter 1 investigated the religious status of the genre, which allows the PLS to be open and flexible, and while Chapter 2 looked at its consequent ability to amalgamate Jewish and Arabo-Islamic values and aesthetics, the present chapter explored the practice and the text of the genre and added two more dimensions that demonstrate the genre’s mutability. The manner in which the paraliturgical repertoire is edited in the different collections, including Dangur’s introduction, and the comparison between the two largest PLS collections show how flexible and open the paraliturgical practice truly is. It turns out that this flexibility emanates from the paraliturgical text itself, which embraces an extraordinary potential of meanings. Hence, the ability of the genre to adjust both to historical circumstances and to different religious occasions is almost limitless. In early-twentieth-century Baghdad, it seems that the fear of secularisation demanded Dangur’s attention and action, and thus he decided to create a user-friendly PLS collection with an unprecedented introduction saturated

136

Chapter 3

with words of encouragement, reassurances, and blessings for the dedicated worshipper and his family. Later in Israel, when the need for communal identity was less crucial, but the strong need to preserve the long-lived and precious culture of the past remained, Mantsur edited a collection that possesses an augmented number of songs for life-cycle celebrations and that keeps the pilgrimage repertoire despite the fact the Jews could no longer make the actual pilgrimage to holy tombs scattered across Iraq. Many times, Mantsur also adjusted some of the names of the PLS types and occasions to those which were prevalent in his time, particularly in Jerusalem amongst the nearby thriving Ḥalabi community, which had strong ties with the Babylonian community for centuries. The plethora of meanings which the paraliturgical text embraces coupled with the concept of paraliturgical time as expressed in Dangur’s introduction as being ‘the always and the here and now’ allow the ‘shifting songs’ phenomenon. ‘Shifting’ refers to the ability of most songs to be performed on or at any occasion chosen by the worshipper or the community. Furthermore, a deeper examination of the paraliturgical text reveals a special textual configuration which further demonstrates the flexibility of the genre. The multiplicity of meaning is shaped in a polythematic structure within a unifying theme, which creates two types of meanings. The different themes in the text create a context-related meaning that can be adjusted to any celebrated religious occasion, and the unifying theme always conveys, in any context and on any occasion, one independent meaning of praising the Lord. This theme carries the name of the genre, Shbaḥ. In some respects, it is therefore quite understandable why the PLS did not receive any special attention from the halakhic authorities. The special editorial features of the different collections and the richness of meaning in of the paraliturgical texts make it clear that the genre is open to be practiced in many different ways. The following chapter sets out to explore whether this flexibility can also be found in the paraliturgical music as reflected in the musical information that is provided in the PLS collections.

Chapter 4

The Paraliturgical Melody: Characteristics Emerging from Both the 1906 and the 1954 Mṣāḥif The Babylonians’ love for Arabic music in general and for religious music in particular was described by one community member as follows: In our neighbourhood, there were a number of synagogues. More often than not, most people went to these synagogues because they loved music. They used to find out who was going to be the ḥazan [cantor] who would be delivering the prayer on a particular Saturday, or on any festival, and in which of the synagogues, and decide accordingly which of them to attend. The performance of the ḥazan could hold a large number of worshippers mesmerised for hours by his singing, even during the hottest days of the summer, one example being Birkat Kohanim [The Priestly Blessing].1 Shlomoh Re’ven Mu‘alem used to recite the prayer with a certain maqām and Salim Shebath, who was both a great qāri’ maqāmāt [singer of maqāmāt] and kohen [Jewish priest], used to answer back in the same maqām or any other maqām he found suitable at that specific moment.2 This short prayer was performed over a period of a quarter of an hour, if not more, hypnotising all members of the congregation. Hadad, 21 January 2006, Tel Aviv

1

Musical Information in the Headings of the Paraliturgical Songs

1.1 Scope and Content The headings of a small number of songs, eight in the 1906 Miṣḥaf and fifteen in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, recommend the melody of a known song by citing the opening words of its lyrics. Six songs in the 1906 Miṣḥaf do not appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, and thirteen songs in the 1954 Miṣḥaf do not appear in the 1  A prayer that is recited in Shaḥarit [the Morning Prayer] for the Sabbath and that comprises the following short verses quoted from Numbers 6:24–26: ‘The Lord bless you and protect you! The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you! The Lord bestow His favour upon you and grant you peace!’ 2  For Shlomoh Re’ven Mu‘alem, see Introduction, Paragraph 7.2. For Salim Shebath and his rendition of the Iraqi Maqām, see Chapter 1, Note 39.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_006

138

Chapter 4

1906 Miṣḥaf.3 Altogether, there are only twenty-one poems with musical information in their headings, and the reason for their appearance in these particular songs is unclear. In all of these songs, the information takes the same form: it opens with the word ‘laḥan’ [‘melody [of]’], and then gives a name of a song. One example is Laḥan Yihyu Kemots [[The] Melody [of] Yihyu Kemots]. The word ‘laḥan’ had started to appear in the headings of Hebrew religious songs during the last phase of Eastern Hebrew poetry during the ninth and tenth centuries. It was borrowed from Arabic, since there was no Hebrew word to denote the new type of liturgical melody in this period (Boehm 1971: 594).4 The similar type of heading found in the first major Byzantine hymn genre, the Kontakion, might be the source of the Hebrew type (Fleischer 1978: 190). This hymn was prevalent from the late fifth century to the seventh century and was chanted by a singer and choir. It comprises a prooimion or koukoulion [an introduction] that is followed by a varying number of oikoi [stanzas] that are connected to the introduction by a refrain. The stanzas are linked by an acrostic as well as by their shared and complex metrical structure, which is based on patterns of corresponding stressed syllables. The opening stanza of the Kontakion indicates its melody and metrical pattern, which differ from those of the introduction and the other stanzas. The Kontakion carries an acrostic that incorporates the name of the melodos [poet-composer], the liturgical occasion of the poem or the letters of the alphabet (Jeffreys 1991: 1148). Later on, in the eleventh century, we find manuscripts of Hebrew religious poems with headings that include the word ‘laḥan’ and the name of a song, which is usually mentioned in Hebrew. In later periods, this term was sometimes replaced by another word such as ‘leno‘am’ [‘in honour of’], or ‘leṭa‘am’ [‘for the purpose of’], followed by a song title in Arabic, Spanish, Greek or Turkish, which appeared much more frequently (Schirmann 1997: 681). 1.2 Headings with Musical Information in the 1906 Miṣḥaf Table 4.1 describes the eight songs in the 1906 Miṣḥaf with such headings:

3  See in this chapter, Table 4.1, Column 2, songs which are marked with **, and Table 4.2, Column 2, songs which are marked with *. 4  The word ‘laḥan’ does not appear in the Bible, but neither do other words that can denote a similar meaning, such as ‘musiqah’ [‘music’] or ‘manginah’ [‘melody’]. The closest word in meaning that can be found is ‘shir’ [‘song’]. It appears mostly in Psalms, and it appears there more than twenty-five times and in various combinations, such as ‘shir ḥadash’ [‘a new song’] (33:2) or ‘shir hama‘alot’ [‘a song of ascents’] (120:1).

’Aḥber Shirah Brurah [I Shall Compose a Clear Song], M(87B;198); Hebrew**

’Asader Shavḥa’ [I Shall Set in Order Praise], M(93A;208); Aramaic

‘Oz Dar Rumah [[The] Lord Majestic on High] (a variation of Psalms 21:14), M(93B;209); Hebrew**

3

4

Purim

2

Najarah

Najarah Laḥan Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Become as Chaff before the Wind], M(7A;6); Hebrew Unknown The Sabbath of Laḥan ‘Aley ‘Ayin ‘Ezra’ Sason (first half of the the Red Heifer [My Eye], M(155B;372); Hebrew 19th century, Baghdad) ’Al-Ḥakham Passover Laḥan Shokhenet Basadeh ’Ibn Gabirol [([She Who] Dwells in the Field)], M(120B;271); Hebrew Unknown -“Laḥan Shir Ḥadash ‘Ezra’ Sason [A New Song], M(96B;217); Re’uven Hebrew (first half of the 19th century, Baghdad)***

Poet

Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’ [[The] Day the Horn Exalts God’s People], M(81A;185); Hebrew*

Recommended melody; language

1

Occasion

Poet

The headings

Row Song; language no.

The songs

Table 4.1 Musical information in the headings of the PLSs: the 1906 Miṣḥaf

Paraliturgical; The Sabbath of Singing

Paraliturgical; Tabernacles (Hosha‘na’ Raba’)

Paraliturgical; For the Bridegroom

Paraliturgical; Baqashot

Source; occasion

The Paraliturgical Melody

139

‘Ezra’ Zakari (19th century, Baghdad)

Laḥan Zeh ’Eli [He Is My Lord], M(125A;287); Hebrew Laḥan Maziqah [Music]; Arabic****

Laḥan Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Become as Chaff before the Wind], M(7A;6); Hebrew -“-

Recommended melody; language

The headings

Paraliturgical; Baqashot

-“-

Paraliturgical; Tabernacles (Hosha‘na’ Raba’) Arabic secular song

Najarah

-“-

Unknown

-“-

Source; occasion

Poet

* This song appears in Najarah’s collection ‘Olat Ḥadash [New Offering] for the third part of Zmirot Yisra’el (1599). In its heading, Najarah writes ‘Laḥan yoshev tehilot tsur maḥasi; turki pizmon leyom purim’ (‘[The] melody [of the song] Yoshev Tehilot Tsur Maḥasi [[The Holy One] Enthroned by the Praise [of Israel], My Sheltered Rock]; [according to] a Turkish [melody/song] [,] Pizmon for the Day of Purim’). The opening line of the song is inspired by Psalms 22:4. ** Songs that do not appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf. *** He is also the poet of the song in row 2 in the table, but he appears in the miṣḥaf under these two names, each representing the acrostic of the song. **** The titles of the Arabic songs in this table and in the following tables are transliterated from Judaeo-Arabic as they appear in both mṣāḥif.

8

7

-“-

Pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Prophet Ezekiel Rejoicing in the Law (Tabernacles) Songs of Rejoicing

Unknown

6

-“-

Najarah

5

Yad Uzro‘a ’El Ḥay ‘Uzi [With a Mighty Hand and Outstretched Arm the Living God Is My Strength], M(95B;214); Hebrew** Shalom ‘Alav [Peace Be Upon Him], M(103B;229); Hebrew** ‘Anu Shirim Umahlalim La’el [Respond with Songs and Exultation to the Lord], M(148B;351); Hebrew** ‘Azreynu ’Avinu [Help Us Our Lord], M(161B;388); Hebrew**

Occasion

Poet

Row Song; language no.

The songs

Table 4.1 Musical information in the headings of the PLSs: the 1906 Miṣḥaf (cont.)

140 Chapter 4

The Paraliturgical Melody

141

1.2.1 Poets and Language Most of the relatively new songs are by Baghdadi poets from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and most of the older songs are by poets from much earlier periods: the eleventh and twelfth centuries in Muslim Spain and the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the Ottoman Empire. Both the new and the old songs are in Hebrew, except for ’Asader Shavḥa’ (Table 4.1, row 3), which is written in Aramaic, and ‘Azreynu ’Avinu, which is written in Hebrew but inspired by the Arabic song Maziqah [Music] (ibid., row 8). 1.2.2 Sources of the Melodies Most melodies are taken from the paraliturgical repertoire (ibid., rows 1–7), namely from songs of other occasions which also appear in this miṣḥaf. Only one song has a melody of a named Arabic song (ibid., row 8), however, with a description that is too vague to trace. 1.3 Headings with Musical Information in the 1954 Miṣḥaf The same musical features appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, which also adds borrowed melodies from the liturgy itself. Table 4.2 describes the fifteen songs of this category. 1.3.1 Poets and Language Like the 1906 Miṣḥaf, all the new songs are mostly by Baghdadi poets of the last diasporic generation, namely, of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The only exception is Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’ [[The] Day the Horn Exalts God’s People] (Table 4.2, row 6) by Najarah. The fact that all the songs but one are relatively new might explain the reason for their headings. However, the nine songs by ’al-Ḥakham demonstrate the weakness of this possibility. This is because at least another forty of his songs appear in the miṣḥaf without any reference to their melodies. In addition, there are some other contemporaries of ’al-Ḥakham, whose songs appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf without any musical information in their headings. Songs with a shared melody can be by the same poet, such as Najarah’s Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’ and Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Be as Chaff before the Wind] (ibid., row 6). They can also be by two different poets: either contemporary (ibid., row 12) or from different periods (ibid., rows 2, 8, 11, 13 and 14). No language barrier has been found in the texts of these songs. The same melody can be sung to words of two different languages: Hebrew and Arabic (ibid., rows 1, 5 and 15) or Hebrew and Aramaic (ibid., rows 2 and 8).

5

4

3

2

1

Poet

Occasion

’El Melekh Haqadosh [God [the] Holy King], M(64;91); Hebrew* Qum Yedidi [Up My Friend], M(98;137); Hebrew*

-”-

The Sabbath

Purim ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin (d. 1859, Baghdad)

-”-

‘Ad ’Ana’ Yonah Tits‘aqah ’Al-Ḥakham [How Long Will [the] Dove Cry Aloud], M(63;89); Hebrew*

Baqashot ‘Aluvah Dvuyah [Poor and Yitsḥaq Ben Rabi Ill], M(51;71); Hebrew* Saleḥ Mkamal (1876, Baghdad–1952, Jerusalem) -”Shim‘on ’Aharon Shema‘ Na’ ’Aḥi [Please ’Aghasi (1851–1914, Listen, My Brother], Baghdad) M(53;75); Hebrew*

Row Song; language no.

The songs

Table 4.2 Musical information in the headings of the PLSs: the 1954 Miṣḥaf

Liturgical; New Year, the Month of ’Elul, and the Day of Atonement -“-

Arabic Secular Song

‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin (d. 1859, Baghdad)

Unknown Laḥan Ranu ‘Alal Bitha [All of You] Sing About the Fair [Lady]]; Arabic

Unknown

Paraliturgical; Baqashot

Najarah

Laḥan Yah ’Eloha Malkhut ‘Alam [God is [the] Lord of the Universe)], M(45;61); Aramaic Laḥan ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah [[O Lord] My Strength, For You I Wait] M(62;88); Hebrew** Laḥan Ḥon Taḥon [[O Lord] Have Compassion]; Hebrew

Arabic Secular Song

Source; occasion

Unknown

Poet

Laḥan ’Al Badawiyah [The Bedouin]; Arabic

Recommended melody; language

The headings

142 Chapter 4

9

’Asader Shavḥa’ [I Shall Set in Order Praise], M(108;150); Aramaic Tehilat ’El Yedaber Pi [My Mouth Shall Utter Praise to the Lord], M(129;175); Hebrew*

-”-

Passover

-”-

8

Laḥan Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Become as Chaff before the Wind], M(14;6); Hebrew Laḥan ‘Ezer Mitsaray [[My] Rescuer from My Foes], M(96;135); Hebrew

Recommended melody; language

Paraliturgical; Baqashot

Paraliturgical; Purim

Najarah

‘Ezra’ Ben Sason Ben ‘Ezra’ (first half of the 19th century, Baghdad) ’Ibn Gabirol

Paraliturgical; For Sabbath of the Month and Nisan

Paraliturgical; Tabernacles

Source; occasion

Poet

The headings

Laḥan Shokhenet Basadeh [[She Who] Dwelt in the Field], M(138;189); Hebrew Najarah Laḥan Ge’uley ’El Tnu Pentecost Shevah [The Redeemed of the and the Ten Commandments Lord Extol Him], M(90B;204); Hebrew

-”-

’Al-Ḥakham

7

Purim

Najarah

6

Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’ [[The] Day the Horn Exalts God’s People], M(103;143); Hebrew ‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah [[They] Who Worship God with Devotion], M(105;146); Hebrew*

Occasion

Poet

Row Song; language no.

The songs

Table 4.2 Musical information in the headings of the PLSs: the 1954 Miṣḥaf (cont.)

The Paraliturgical Melody

143

The High Holy Days and The Ten Days of Repentance

-“-

’Al-Ḥakham

-”-

Yitbarakh Shem Ha’el [Blessed Shall Be the Name of the Lord], M(132;181); Hebrew*

’Eli ’Atah Lekha Ya’etah [You Are My God for that Is Your Due] (Jeremiah 10:7), M(133;182); Hebrew*

’El Neqamot ’Adonay [God of Retribution] (Psalms 94:1), M(173;242); Hebrew*

10

11

12

Rejoicing Yitsḥaq Ben Rabi Saleh Mkamal (1876, in the Law (Tabernacles) Baghdad–1952, Jerusalem)

Occasion

Poet

Row Song; language no.

The songs

Unknown

Laḥan ’Atah Ga’alta [You Redeemed]; Hebrew

Source; occasion

Paraliturgical from the Hagadah [the Telling of the Passover Story]; Passover Liturgical; The Yehudah Laḥan Yedey Rashim Halevi (1075– Morning Prayer [The Hands of the Poor]; 1141, Muslim of the First Day Hebrew of the New Year Spain) and the Day of Atonement; Paraliturgical; Laḥan Ve’amartem Koh Leḥay ’Al-Ḥakham The Thirty-Third [And Let Us Say: To Life!] Day of the ‘Omer (I Samuel 25:6), M(113;156); Hebrew

Poet

The headings Recommended melody; language

Table 4.2 Musical information in the headings of the PLSs: the 1954 Miṣḥaf (cont.)

144 Chapter 4

Laḥan Qumu Ṣalu [Stand Up and Pray [to the Lord]], M(51;72); Arabic

Laḥan Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Become as Chaff before the Wind], M(14;6); Hebrew Laḥan ‘Et Sha‘arey Ratson [When the Gates of Favour]; Hebrew

Recommended melody; language

Source; occasion Paraliturgical; Baqashot

Liturgical; The First Morning Prayer of the New Year Paraliturgical; Baqashot

Poet Najarah

Yehudah Ben Shmu’el ‘Abbas*** (12th century) Unknown

The headings

* Songs that do not appear in the 1906 Miṣḥaf. ** Psalms 59:10. *** ‘Abbas was a scholar and rabbi from Fez, Morocco, who moved to Baghdad later on in his life. This hymn is prevalent amongst all Middle Eastern Jewish communities. For more about the hymn and its poet, see Beeri (1990: 314).

15

Shlomoh Saleh (1896, Various Pizmonim Baghdad–1961, Israel)

Various Pizmonim

-”-

14

Bar Mitsvah

’Al-Ḥakham

13

Barukh ’El Ḥay [Blessed Be Our Living God], M(213;318); Hebrew* Shim‘u Beyt Ya‘aqov Zo’t Lezikaron [Remember [My Word] For Posterity O House of Jacob], M(214;320); Hebrew* Shuvi Nafshi [Be at Rest, Once Again, O My Soul] (Psalms 116:7), M(216;325); Hebrew*

Occasion

Poet

Row Song; language no.

The songs

Table 4.2 Musical information in the headings of the PLSs: the 1954 Miṣḥaf (cont.)

The Paraliturgical Melody

145

146

Chapter 4

1.3.2 Sources of the Melodies As in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, the paraliturgical repertoire shows that melodies can be borrowed from songs which belong to the same occasion (ibid., rows 2, 7 and to some extent 11) or to other occasions (ibid., rows 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13). Most of the borrowed melodies are taken from the 1954 Miṣḥaf (ibid., rows 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13 and 15). However, in this category, though on a small scale, the 1954 Miṣḥaf also demonstrates the simultaneous use of both mṣāḥif by indicating the name of a melody borrowed from a song that appears only in the 1906 Miṣḥaf (ibid., row 9). Further evidence for borrowed melodies that belong to the same occasion can be found in the Mu‘alem Collection. For example, there is the song Shivṭey Yah [God’s Tribes], M(148;205), by ’al-Ḥakham, for Celebration of the Torah, which is sung to the melody of another song for the same occasion, Simḥu Na’ Besimḥat Hatorah [Rejoice in the Celebration of the Torah], M(156;216), also by ’al-Ḥakham, and the Baqashah Shefal Ruaḥ [With Lowly Spirit], M(16;9), by Shlomoh ’Ibn Gabirol, which is sung to the melody of another Baqashah, Yah Ribon ‘Alam [God the Creator of the Universe], M(15;8), by Najarah. Amongst the melodies taken from songs that belong to other occasions, here also the most prevalent melody is Najarah’s Baqashah Yihyu Kemots, which is borrowed for Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’ (ibid., row 6), also by Najarah, which is for Purim, and for Barukh ’El Ḥay (ibid., row 13) [Blessed Be Our Living God] by ’al-Ḥakham, which is for the Bar Mitsvah. The three songs as well as the occasions signify quite different religious values and ideas. The Baqashah Yihyu Kemots is performed at early dawn, before the Morning Prayer, as a religious practice of meditation and contemplation. On the other hand, Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’, as a song for Purim, a festival of humour and ridicule, evokes a completely different emotional and spiritual disposition. According to the Talmud Bavli, it is the only festival in which inebriation is encouraged and is clearly instructed: ‫אמר רבא מיחייב איניש לבסומי בפוריא עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך‬ ‫מרדכי‬

Rava’ said: One is obliged to become intoxicated [with wine] on Purim, until one does not know [the difference] between [“] cursed is Haman [”] and [“] blessed is Mordechai [”]. Talmud Bavli, Megilah 1: 7: 25

5  This quotation appears also in the liturgical hymn Shoshanat Ya‘aqov [Lily of Jacob], which is sung after the reading of the Book of Esther on Purim. Haman and Mordekhay are two

The Paraliturgical Melody

147

The song Barukh ’El Ḥay is performed at the Bar Mitsvah, a solemn occasion in a young man’s life. The song Yad Uzro‘a ’El Ḥay ‘Uzi [With a Mighty Hand and Outstretched Arm the Living God Is My Strength], M(95B;114), in the 1906 Miṣḥaf (Table 4.1, row 5) shares the same melody and adds another occasion, Passover, which, yet again, represents and commemorates another event in Jewish history and conveys some other religious values. The Mu‘alem Collection also affirms the existence of this type of melody. For example, there are two cases of songs which appear in the two mṣāḥif without any information about their melodies: a. A melody shared by three songs belonging to two different occasions: Matay Yevusar ‘Am [When the Nation Will Hear the News [of Redemption]], M(143;196), by ’El‘azar Ben Ya‘aqov Habavli (1195–1250, Baghdad), for Hosha‘na’ Raba’ [the Seventh Day of Tabernacles]; Shalom Leven Dodi [Well With My Beloved], M(145;200), by ’Ibn Gabirol, also for Hosha‘na’ Raba’; and Yehi Shalom Beḥelenu [Peace Shall Be Upon Us], M(199;293), for the circumcision ceremony.6 b. A melody shared by two songs for two different occasions: Bish’ar Smaḥot Shirim Ta‘anu [At Times of Delight Exult [the Lord] with Songs of Praise], M(147;203), for Rejoicing in the Law, and Ki ’Eshmerah Shabat [Because I Keep the Sabbath], M(54;77), by ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ (1089–1164, Muslim Spain), for the Sabbath. Another paraliturgical source was found in the song Yitbarakh Shem Ha’el [Blessed Shall Be the Name of the Lord], M(132;181), (Table 4.2, row 10) by ’al-Ḥakham for Yamim Nora’im [The High Holy Days]. It is sung to the melody of ’Atah Ga’alta [You [God] Redeemed], which appears in the Hagadah [the Telling of the Passover Story] and is sung on the first night of Passover.7 An additional example, which appears in the Mu‘alem Collection, is the famous song for Motsa’ey Shabat [The End of the Sabbath [namely, Saturday evening]], Hamavdil Beyn Qodesh Leḥol [[Blessed Is] He Who Separates the Holy from the Profane], by the Spanish rabbi, philosopher and poet ’Ibn Giyat (Ghayyath in Arabic) (1038–1089). It appears in both mṣāḥif – M(62B;149) and M(70;101), respectively – without any mentioned melody.8 However, in the Mu‘alem ­Collection, it is sung to the same melody as the hymn for Passover which also important characters in the story of Purim: the first conspired to destroy the People of Israel and the second made a plan to save them. 6  For Hosha‘na’ Raba’, see Appendix 1, Sections 3.18 and 3.20, respectively. 7  For the High Holy Days, see Appendix 1, Section 3.16. For the Hagadah, see Chapter 3, Note 10. 8  In the index of the 1906 Miṣḥaf, Hamavdil Beyn Qodesh Leḥol appears as M(112B;249), which is, in fact, the Shbaḥ Yode‘a Kol Ta‘alumah [[He] Who Knows Every Secret] for Pentecost. It is possible that the editor mistakenly confused the letter ‘kof’ ‘‫ ’ק‬with the letter ‘resh’ ‘‫’ר‬. For the End of the Sabbath, see Appendix 1, Section 3.3.

148

Chapter 4

appears in the Hagadah, Ve’amartem Zevaḥ Pesaḥ Hu’ Le’adonay [You Shall Say, It Is the Passover Sacrifice to the Lord].9 The liturgy, as a source for paraliturgical melodies, can be found in four songs (ibid., rows 3, 4, 11 and 14), all of which are by ’al-Ḥakham, and they all cite melodies taken from hymns which appear in the prayers for the New Year and for the Day of Atonement.10 Amongst Hasidic groups, there is a custom of borrowing melodies from hymns that are recited in Tfilat Ne‘eilah [the Concluding Prayer] of the Day of Atonement and singing them with some other texts, which are performed on weddings. Two reasons are given for this custom: the first is that the day of marriage is considered to be as significant as the Day of Atonement, since the bride and the bridegroom ask for God’s forgiveness, and the second is that the mixture of one musical type on two different occasions is conceived as a sort of entertainment. This custom is also prevalent amongst the Yemenite Jews. For example, the melody sung to the hymn Mipi ’El [From God’s Mouth], which is performed on the occasion of Rejoicing in the Law in the synagogue, is also sung at weddings. However, the Yemenites explain this phenomenon differently. It is indeed the same melody that is sung on both occasions, but in the synagogue, it is sung in a much more upright manner, which is more elaborated and ornamented than the manner in which it is sung at weddings, thus reflecting its special liturgical context. In any case, the time at which this particular custom emerged in both communities is still unknown.11 Najarah, in his collection of songs She’erit Yisra’el [The Surviving Few of Israel] (Venice, c. 1599), also cites the melody of ‘Et Sha‘arey Ratson [When the Gates of Favour] for his song Yah Pri Zamoti Ḥalomi Ḥomes [O Lord, the Fruit of My Shameful Behaviour Destroys My Well-Being] (Davidson 1929: 305, song no. 1053). He adds: ‘‫‘[ ’ואנו אומרים אותו בניגון מיצרי‬And we say [sing] it with the Egyptian tune’].12 It is quite likely that the melody in Najarah’s time and the one performed by the Babylonians are not the same. Nonetheless, this example shows that in principle melodies from the liturgy were borrowed for paraliturgical texts at least as early as the sixteenth century. Arabic secular songs were also found in three PLSs (ibid., rows 1, 5 and 15). However, except for Qumu Ṣalu [Stand Up and Pray [to the Lord]] (row 15), the 9  ‘You Shall Say, “It is the Passover Sacrifice to the Lord”’ (Exodus 12:27). 10  The exact date on which these hymns were incorporated into the liturgy is still unknown. To my knowledge, no exhaustive studies of melodies in the Babylonian liturgy have been undertaken. However, as a form of worship which is subject to strict halakhic rules, it is very likely that the repertoire of its melodies is much more fixed and rigid than and thus significantly different from, those of the paraliturgical practice. 11  For further information, see Sharvit (1987: 134). 12  The date of publication of She’erit Yisra’el is not indicated in the work. For more details about this collection and the way it was discovered, see Benayahu (1990: 256).

149

The Paraliturgical Melody

original Arabic songs of the other two PLSs have not yet been traced. Qumu Ṣalu is fully adapted from the Islamic religious song in the Taḥmila genre. The song was composed by the Iraqi Sufi Mullah ‘Uthman Bin Hajj Abdallah al Mauṣili (1854–1923), who was a gifted and prolific composer, singer, instrumentalist, author, poet and qur’ānic reciter. The Judaeo-Arabic text is almost identical to the Arabic one. This is the only PLS in both collections to have adapted the entirety of an Islamic version of a religious song. 2

The Textual Structure of the Songs That Share the Same Melody

These songs are of various forms; their structure, rhyming scheme and metric pattern can be completely different, similar or identical. 2.1 Songs with a Different Structure The Baqashah Shema‘ Na’ ’Aḥi [Please Listen, My Brother] by ’Aghasi cites the melody of Najarah’s Baqashah Yah ’Eloha Malkhut ‘Alam [God is [the] Lord of the Universe] (ibid., row 2).13 The first stanzas of both songs with their respective translations,14 transliterations and texts are as follows: Shema‘ Na’ ’Aḥi Behold my brother and listen To the voice of my rebuke For [I give you] my good advice Scarcer than fine gold16

Shema‘ na’ ’aḥi (5)15 Leqol tokhaḥi (5) Ki mah ṭov liqḥi (5) Mipaz yeqarim (5)

‫שמע נא אחי‬ ‫לקול תוכחי‬ ‫כי מה טוב לקחי‬ ‫מפז יקרים‬

Yah ’Eloha Malkhut ‘Alam We praise you [O Lord] the Kingship of the world is yours

Yah ’eloha malkhut ‘alam malkhuteh (11)

‫יה אלה מלכות עלם‬ ‫מלכותיה‬

And your power is ever-lasting

Verav ‘im kol dar vedar shultaneh (10)

‫ורב עם כל דר ודר‬ ‫שולטניה‬

13  ’Aghasi’s song does not appear in the 1906 Miṣḥaf. Najarah’s song, however, appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(8A;9), and is presented on the same occasion, which is instead referred to as ‘Shbaḥot Le’ashmoret Haboqer’ [‘Praises for Dawn’]. 14  The translation of Yah ’Eloha is based mainly on Jastrow’s dictionary (1903). 15  In parentheses: the numbers of syllables in each line. The transliteration of this PLS and the following ones is based on the performed text rather than the written one. 16  ‘I will make people scarcer than fine gold’ (Isaiah 13:12).

150

Chapter 4

Swiftly and soon he [God] shall Hu’ yifroq ba‘agal bring deliverance for his people ‘avdeh bar ’amteh (11)

‫הוא יפרוק בעגל‬ ‫עבדיה בר אמתיה‬

He whose burning anger brings terror and dread

Di ra‘yonohei yivahaluneh (10)

At times of distress shall break through [and bring] salvation

Be‘idan ‘aqteh yatsit tsloteh (10)

‫בעדן עקתיה יצית‬ ‫צלותיה‬

He shall give me sons and spread Yafish li beney ḥayey to me long life and ample umezoneh (11) sustenance

‫יפיש ליה בני חיי ומזוני‬

‫די רעיונוהי יבהלוניה‬

He shall send his Messiah who will bring friendship

Yishlaḥ meshiḥeh di vey re‘uteh (10)

‫ישלח משיחיה די ביה‬ ‫רעותיה‬

[May] he establish his kingdom and bring deliverance

Yamlikh malkhuteh yatsmaḥ Purqaneh (10)

‫ימליך מלכותיה יצמח‬ ‫פורקניה‬

At first sight, these two songs give the impression that they share only a loose affinity with one another, but a closer look reveals their textual similarities. Indeed, ’Aghasi’s song comprises eighteen short stanzas of four lines each, and most of these lines contain five syllables. Najarah’s song, on the other hand, has only four stanzas, with each comprising eight lines, most of which have ten syllables. These proportions show that the stanzas in Najarah’s song are double the size of the stanzas in ‘Aghasi’s song both with respect to number of lines and to number of syllables. Table 4.3 shows the metric pattern of the first line of both songs: Table 4.3 The metric pattern of Shema‘ Na’ ’Aḥi and Yah ’Eloha Malkhut ‘Alam (the first line) Syllable no.

1

4

5

Shema‘ Na’ ’Aḥi S H E - M A ‘ N A ’

’A -

ḤI

Syllable no.

4

5

1

Yah ’Eloha YA H Malkhut ‘Alam

2

3

2

3

’E -

LO - HA MAL -

6

7

8

9

10

11

KHUT

‘A - L A M M A L - K H U - T E H

151

The Paraliturgical Melody

The refrain is not indicated in ’Aghasi’s song as such, and was identified in Mu‘alem’s rendition as comprising the entire first stanza. In Najarah’s song, the refrain is indicated in the text itself by the word ‘yishlaḥ’ [‘He shall send’] at the end of the second and fourth stanzas, which is the first word of the last two lines of the first stanza. The rhyming scheme in each of the songs looks different, as shown in Tables 4.4 and 4.5: Table 4.4 The rhyming scheme in Shema‘ Na’ ’Aḥi (the first three stanzas)

Stanza 1 2 3

Refrain AAAB CCCB DDDB

AAAB AAAB

Table 4.5 The rhyming scheme in Yah ’Eloha Malkhut ‘Alam

Stanza

Refrain

1 2 3

A A A A A A AA BCBCBCCA BCBCBCCA

AA AA

4

CCCCCCCA

AA

However, the basic scheme is similar: most stanzas have their own rhyme, but, in each, the last line ends with the same rhyme as the last line of the first stanza, which is also the last line of the refrain. The structural similarities of these two songs are fascinating in consideration of the fact that they were written in different languages, that is, Hebrew and Aramaic, respectively. 2.2 Songs with a Similar Structure The song for the Sabbath ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah Tits‘aqah [How Long Will [the] Dove Cry Aloud] by ’al-Ḥakham (Table 4.2, row 3) is recommended to be sung to the melody of another song for the Sabbath, ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah [[O Lord] My Strength, For You I Wait] by Ḥnin.17 The first stanzas of both songs with their respective translations, transliterations and Hebrew texts are as follows: 17  Neither ’al-Ḥakham’s song nor Ḥnin’s appear in the 1906 Miṣḥaf.

152

Chapter 4

‘Ad ’Anah Yonah Tits‘aqah How long [the] dove will ‘Ad ’anah18 yonah tits‘aqah (8) cry aloud Far from its desired land

Mibeit ḥemdatah reḥoqah (8)

‫עד אנה יונה‬ ‫תצעקה‬ ‫מבית חמדתה‬ ‫רחוקה‬

Exiled and disdained Golah vesurah (5) Scattered [and] wronged Pzurah ’asurah ‘ashuqah (8)

‫גולה וסורה‬ ‫פזורה אסורה‬ ‫עשוקה‬

For you O Lord it is utterly Lekha ’adonay shoqeqah (8) longing

‫לך יי שוקקה‬

Please quickly send [her your] help

Maher ushlaḥ na’ lah ‘ezrah (8)

‫מהר ושלח נא לה‬ ‫עזרה‬

A high and mighty wall O Lord establish for your people A high and mighty wall O Lord build for your people Manifest the majesty of your kingship Radiate your glory from your holy Temple

Ḥomah tamah ramah ḥay yased lakh (10)

‫חומה תמה רמה‬ ‫חי יסד לך‬

Ḥomah tamah ramah ḥay beneh lakh (10)

‫חומה תמה רמה‬ ‫חי בנה לך‬

Galeh malkhutakh (5) Ukvodakh beveytakh ta’irah (9)

‫גלה מלכותך‬ ‫וכבודך בביתך‬ ‫תאירה‬

‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah [O Lord] my strength for you I wait How awesome is your holy Sabbath

‘Uzi ’eleikha ’eshmorah (8)

For your blessing upon your people is plentiful

Ki ‘al ‘amekha birkatekha miyadekha ‘ashirah (16)

Shabat qodshekha mah nora’ (8)

18  In the miṣḥaf, the word ‘’anah’ is mistakenly written ‘’ana’’.

‫עזי אליך אשמורה‬ ‫שבת קדשך מה‬ ‫נורא‬ ‫כי על עמך ברכתך‬ ‫מידך עשירה‬

153

The Paraliturgical Melody

I shall recount your abundant Zekher rav ṭuvkha ’ezkerah (8) goodness

‫זכר רב טובך‬ ‫אזכרה‬

To praise your name I choose

Lehodot shimkha ’evḥarah (8)

‫להודות שמך‬ ‫אבחרה‬

My eyes my heart my spirit [O Lord] are the work of your hands

‘Eyni libi ruḥi ḥay po‘alakh (10)

‫עיני לבי רוחי חי‬ ‫פעלך‬

[With] my eyes my heart my spirit [O Lord] I shall sing to you

‘Eyni libi ruḥi ḥay ’ashir lakh (10)

‫עיני לבי רוחי חי‬ ‫אשיר לך‬

Amongst the loyal congregation with melodies of joyous voices and praises [of the Lord]

Biqhal ’emunim venigunim birnanim vezimrah (15)

‫בקהל אמונים‬ ‫ונגונים ברננים‬ ‫וזמרה‬

‘Ad ’Anah Yonah consists of eight stanzas; the first comprises six lines, and the remaining seven each have five lines. The refrain appears right after the first stanza and comprises four lines. It is indicated in the text by the word ‘ḥomah’ [‘wall’] at the end of the second stanza, and with the words ‘ḥomah tamah’ [‘mighty wall’] at the end of the fifth and eighth stanzas. ‘Uzi ’Eleikha comprises seven stanzas, all of which have five lines. The refrain appears right after the first stanza and comprises three lines. It is indicated in the text by the words ‘‘Eyni libi ruḥi’ [‘My eyes my heart my spirit’] at the end of each of the following stanzas. The metric pattern of the songs is quite similar, as shown in Tables 4.6 and 4.7: Table 4.6 The metric pattern of ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah and of ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah (the first line)

No. syllables

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

‘Ad ’Anah Yonah ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah

‘A D

’A -

NAH

YO -

NAH

TITS -

‘A -

QAH

‘U -

ZI

’E -

LEI -

KHA

’E S H -

MO -

RAH

154

Chapter 4

Table 4.7 Syllables per line in ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah and in ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah (the first stanza)

Line no. in stanza 1 2 3 4 5 6

Line no. in refrain

1 2 3 4 Total no. of syllables

‘Ad ’Anah Yonah

‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah

No. of syllables per line

No. of syllables per line

8 8 5 8 8 8 10 10 5 9 79

8 8 16 8 8 10 10 15 83

Most lines in both songs have an almost identical number of syllables. And where this is not the case, there is a compensation of syllables later on in the stanza (line 3 in ‘Uzi ’Eleikha is almost completely compensated by the extra line 6 in ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah) or in the refrain (line 3 in ‘Uzi ’Eleikha is almost completely compensated by the extra four lines in ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah), and thus the total number of syllables per poetic unit ends up being quite similar. A comparison of the actual words in these songs shows that ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah repeats two words from Ḥnin’s song ‘ḥay’ [O Lord] and ‘lakh’ [to You [God]], which are also positioned in the same place in the refrain. Another similarity can be found in the last syllable of each of the stanzas in both songs, namely, ‘ra’, a feature which gives an identical phonetic sound to the main structural components of both songs. Unlike the previous example, the rhyming scheme of these two songs is quite similar. Each stanza carries its own unique rhyming scheme, and the refrain in each of the songs has its own rhyming pattern, where its last syllable also rhymes with the last syllable of each of the stanzas. Tables 4.8 and 4.9 describe the rhyming schemes of the two songs:

155

The Paraliturgical Melody Table 4.8 The rhyming scheme in ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah (the first four stanzas)

Stanza

Refrain AABAAB DDDDB EEEEB FFFFB

1 2 3 4

CCCB CCCB CCCB CCCB

Table 4.9 The rhyming scheme in ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah (the first four stanzas)

Stanza 1 2 3 4

Refrain

AAAAA CCCCA DDEDDA FFFFA

BBA BBA BBA BBA

2.3 Songs with an Identical Structure The song ‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah [[They] Who Worship God with Devotion] (Table 4.2, row 7) by ’al-Ḥakham is recommended to be sung to the melody of ‘Ezer Mitsaray [[My] Rescuer from My Foes] by ‘Ezra’ Ben Sason, and both are to be sung for Purim.19 The first stanzas of both songs with their respective translations, transliterations and Hebrew texts are as follows: ‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah

The faithful worshippers of the Lord Soon shall blossom like the lily20 And they shall come with shouting to Zion21

‘Ovdey ha’el be’emunah (8) ḥish yifreḥu kashoshanah (8) Uva’u tsiyon berinah (8)

‫עובדי האל באמונה‬ ‫חיש יפרחו כשושנה‬ ‫ובאו ציון ברנה‬

19  ’Al-Ḥakham’s song does not appear in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, and Ben Sason’s appears also as a Shbaḥ for Purim M(78A;179). 20  ‘Blossom like a lily’ (Hosea 14:6). 21  ‘Isaiah 35:10.

156

Chapter 4

I shall sing [to the Lord] a new song22’Ashir shir ḥadash (5) The name of the Lord shall be Yitromam shem yah magnified on earth be‘alma’ (8) Magnified and sanctified [be his yigdal yitqadash (5) great name]

‫אשיר שיר חדש‬ ‫יתרומם שם יה‬ ‫בעלמא‬ ‫יגדל יתקדש‬

‘Ezer Mitsaray

You are [my] rescuer from my foes My rock wherein I take shelter23 Be my redeemer also now I shall sing [to the Lord] a new song24 You shall blot out the memory of Amalek25 may your name be sanctified

‘Ezer mitsaray hayita (8)

‫עזר מצרי היית‬

Sitri umagini ’atah (8)

‫סתרי ומגני אתה‬

Heyeh li go’el gam ‘atah (8) ‫היה לי גואל גם עתה‬ ’Ashir shir ḥadash (5) ‫אשיר שיר חדש‬ Timḥeh ’et zekher ‘amaleq

‫תמחה את זכר‬ ‫עמלק‬ ‫שמך יתקדש‬

shimkha yitqadash (13)

In this case, there is only one minor structural difference between the two songs: ‘Ovdey Ha’el comprises seven stanzas and ‘Ezer Mitsaray ten. In both songs, each stanza comprises four lines and the last line in each of the stanzas carries the same text, which is also the same in both songs: ’Ashir shir ḥadash [I shall sing [to the Lord] a new song]. The refrain in ‘Ovdey Ha’el has two lines and the refrain in ‘Ezer Mitsaray only one; however, both refrains end with the same word, ‘yitqadash’ [‘sanctified’]. The structure and the metric pattern of both songs as well as their rhyming scheme are also identical. Table 4.10 gives the metric pattern of the first lines of both songs: Table 4.10 The metric pattern of ‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah and ‘Ezer Mitsaray (the first line)

No. syllables

1

2

3

4

‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah ‘Ezer Mitsaray

‘O V ‘E -

DEY ZER

HA MI -

’E L BE T S A - R AY

22  ‘I shall sing a new song’ (Isaiah 42:10). 23  ‘Wherein I take shelter’ (II Samuel 22:3). 24  ‘I shall sing a new song’ (Isaiah 42:10). 25   Deuteronomy 26:19.

5

6

7

8

’E HA -

MU YI -

NAH TA

157

The Paraliturgical Melody

Tables 4.11 and 4.12 describe the rhyming scheme of both songs: Table 4.11 The rhyming scheme in ‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah (the first three stanzas and refrain)

Stanza no.

Stanza

Refrain

1 2 3

AAAB DDDB EEEB

CB CB CB

Table 4.12 The rhyming scheme in ‘Ezer Mitsaray (the first three stanzas and refrain)

Stanza no.

Stanza

Refrain

1 2 3

AAAB CCCB DDDB

B B B

The three examples presented above show that the most significant textual feature shared by two songs with the same melody is their metric pattern. It seems that a similar or identical metre creates a correlation between the syllables of the text and the tones and rhythm of the melody, and, on a larger scale, between the textual phrase and the melodic phrase. This will be further illustrated in some detail below in Paragraph 4.4.1. 3

Special Features of the Paraliturgical Melody Emerging from the Headings of Both Mṣāḥif

Like the paraliturgical text, the paraliturgical melody as such is not characterised by any special musical features. Thus, and as previously asserted, the PLS cannot be defined by either its text or its melody. However, the paraliturgical melody carries some other special characteristics, which mirror the practice and its unique religious features.

158

Chapter 4

3.1 The Flexible Melody Bearing in mind the strong affinity between the text and the music of the PLS, namely, as a religious poem intended for singing, the poor and limited musical information in both mṣāḥif is quite surprising. This is even more unexpected when comparing the repertoire under discussion with that of Najarah’s Zmirot Yisra’el (1599). The first part, ‘Olat Tamid, gives fairly detailed information. Each song has a heading, which indicates three details: the name of the song whose melody is recommended; its musical source, such as Arabic or Turkish; and its maqām. However, given that Najarah’s book was one of the earliest collections of PLSs, if not the first, it is likely that he provided this information out of a wish to make the rendition of his new songs clear and easy to sing. Nonetheless, detailed as these melodies may have been, they did not survive, and more than three hundred years later his songs, as we know most of them today from the collections under discussion and from other similar collections, are sung to completely different melodies. It is likely that, during the long intervening centuries of practice, the original melodies of Najarah’s songs were replaced a number of times by melodies which were borrowed from the surroundings of the various Jewish communities that performed his songs. This custom can perhaps explain the reason for the poor information given in both mṣāḥif about the melodies, which, one may assume, were not intended to last a long time. It is clear, though, that this rather limited information in the mṣāḥif cannot help in tracing the original melodies. Thus, it cannot contribute to the understanding of the purely musical characteristics of the paraliturgical melody, if there are such, or to the notion of what it originally sounded like. However, this apparent drawback can actually be regarded as a having a silver lining. Poor and vague as it might be, this information nevertheless includes sources of borrowed melodies for the PLSs – sources which can help us understand some of the religious and aesthetic features of these melodies as produced and recited their Arabo-Islamic cultural environment. In this culture, melodies are not documented in notation. They are based on the maqām, which creates their melodic scaffolding. However, within this maqāmic frame, each of these melodies is improvised or, to some degree recomposed, every time it is performed, mirroring the emotional dynamic and atmosphere created between the performer and the audience. Hence, it could be said that Arabic melodies are socially and emotionally oriented to the extent that other musical and aesthetic parameters are almost totally subject to the needs of the performer and the audience. For this reason, the relationship between a specific text and a specific melody is not necessarily fixed, but is rather contingent to the specific social and emotional context created at the time of the actual performance.

The Paraliturgical Melody

159

The scarce information in the written sources of the PLS precisely reflects this musical orientation, as it suggests a high degree of freedom to choose, borrow and adapt various types of melodies without any restriction. Indeed, the musical information that does exist in both mṣāḥif supports this assertion and also shows how deeply embedded this cultural concept is in the paraliturgical practice. Thus, the paraliturgical melody is regarded as an open and free component of the genre, which is entirely subject to the worshipper’s taste and choice. The option of borrowing any melody, coupled with the finding that one particular melody can be performed on several occasions, with various texts – and thus contents, poetic genres, languages, and periods of creation – demonstrates, yet again, the embedded flexibility of this genre. Thus, both the paraliturgical text and its melody are equally suitable for performance at any time. However, as indicated previously, this flexibility is possible first and foremost due to the religious status of this genre as one which is not restricted by any specific halakhic rulings.26 3.2 The Unifying Melody The diverse sources for borrowed melodies reveal another major characteristic of the paraliturgical melody as a unifying element of the versatile religio-cultural components that make up the PLS. This type of melody merges secular and religious aspects taken from its cultural milieu. Secular melodies of Arabic songs are borrowed for Hebrew sacred texts intended to be sung on Jewish religious occasions. The melody also unites the liturgical and the paraliturgical practices, as melodies can be borrowed from liturgical hymns, and, within the paraliturgical practice, from songs for the same occasion or different occasions and from different types of practices which, unlike the PLS, are subject to halakhic law. 3.3 The Fixed Sources of the Melody The melodies indicated in the headings are almost fixed in the two mṣāḥif. The magnitude of this finding can perhaps be better understood when taking into account the historical circumstances of their recipients, the Babylonian Jews. Between 1906 and 1954, three major developments took place in the cultural, social and political lives of Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Middle East. Two of them, as previously described in Chapter 2, were the growing exposure to Western culture and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. 26  See Chapter 3, especially Paragraph 2.3.2.

160

Chapter 4

The third development, which is significant in this context, is that the first radio station in the Arab world was established in Egypt in the early 1930s and that it soon started to broadcast music to other countries in the Middle East, including Iraq. All three of these developments exposed Babylonian Jewry, in a relatively short period, to new repertoires of songs: Egyptian, European and Israeli. This vast exposure might have contributed to the existing repertoire of paraliturgical melodies.27 However, despite these dramatic changes, the 1954 Miṣḥaf, in this respect, remained untouched. This is even more interesting in the light of three much earlier collections of songs from Turkey, which were also produced in a span of approximately fifty dramatic years. They were created by another Jewish community, which also experienced transition and which was also forced to move from one country to another in the Diaspora. All three were published in Qushtah [Constantinople] by the first, second and third generations of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. Despite the relatively short time between their publications, they show some significant changes in the sources of borrowed melodies for their songs. In the first collection, compiled in 1523, the names of the melodies mentioned in the headings of the songs show that they were borrowed mostly from songs in Hebrew and Spanish. In the second collection, from 1545, edited by Shlomoh Mazal Ṭov (d. 1545), one third of the melodies recommended for these songs were Turkish.28 The third collection, from 1575, edited and published by Menaḥem de Lonzano, shows that two thirds of the melodies were taken from Turkish sources (Yahalom 1982: 105).29 These sources show that the Jewish exiles gradually absorbed much of their cultural environment, including its music, and that consequently Turkish melodies became a dominant source for their religious songs. In the case of the Babylonians, the fixed repertoire and the nature of this practice can perhaps be understood as their response to their new cultural environment. They both mirror the Babylonians’ attempt to preserve their ancient culture, which was different from that offered and encouraged by the establishment of the new Jewish state. This conclusion can only be cautiously 27  The vast majority of the Israeli songs of this particular period were strongly influenced by Russian folk songs. 28  Mazal Ṭov was the first to publish Baqashot with headings citing names of Spanish songs as recommended melodies for their performance. He is mentioned in Boehm (1971: 613). 29  For further details regarding the titles of the collections and their content, see Yahalom (ibid., 105). Yahalom also mentions the fact that Menaḥem de Lonzano apologised for adapting these melodies, explaining that his reason for choosing these melodies was that he believed that their emotional qualities had the ability to conquer his heart and help him to confess his sins and repent.

The Paraliturgical Melody

161

drawn, as we do not know how the three main developments mentioned above affected the oral repertoire of melodies. A brief examination of a few melodies in the Mu‘alem Collection, however, will show that both Egyptian and Iraqi secular songs, mainly written during the last period before the massive immigration to Israel – namely, the 1920s, 1930s and even the 1940s – have indeed entered the melodic repertoire of the PLS and have remained the same ever since. This phenomenon perhaps reflects a new, modern and updated function of the paraliturgical melody, as the option to choose any melody for certain PLS and to replace it with another was always prevalent in the Arabo-Islamic ­Diaspora. Now, when the PLS was removed from its natural cultural milieu to a new environment, Western in its nature and very different in many aspects from its authentic cultural habitat, the need to preserve the latest version of the genre in its original setting seems to have been strong. 4

The Paraliturgical Melody: the Paradigm of Yihyu Kemots

4.1 The Sources of the Melody and Its Poems Inspired by the Turkish song La‘l-i Lebin Ki Sordugum [It Is the Ruby of Your Lips That I Am Asking About], Najarah also adapted its melody in maqām Ḥusaynī (Tietze and Yahalom 1995: 133). This is very unlikely to be the melody known today; however, it is also in maqām Ḥusaynī. As was shown above, Yihyu Kemots’s melody illustrates the flexibility of a certain tune, in the paraliturgical realm, to fit various songs of different structure and content (Table 4.1, rows 1, 5 and 6; and Table 4.2, rows 6 and 13). Based on the known poets behind this group of songs, namely, Najarah and ’al-Ḥakham, this melody also shows stylistic consistency in the main features of the texts, which remained almost unchanged over the last three hundred years. In other words, this melody shows another way in which Najarah influenced Hebrew religious poets for centuries after his death. The following example presents the melodies of Najarah’s Yihyu Kemots and ’al-Ḥakham’s Barukh ’El Ḥay, which are notated according to Mu‘alem’s rendition.30

30   For the texts of these songs and their analysis, see Chapter 2, Paragraph 6 and Paragraph 7, respectively. For Ḥabushah’s rendition of Yihyu Kemots, which is very similar to that of Mu‘alem, see https://youtu.be/7Ds547EjyPo (2017). For Mu‘alem’s rendition of Barukh ’El Ḥay, see http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song .aspx?songid=668#1,14,2114,423 (n.d.).

162

Chapter 4

4.2 The Melody of Yihyu Kemots The following melodic analysis of Yihyu Kemots is based on the concept that the maqām usually covers two ajnās [types, s. jins, from the Greek genos] of tetrachords, pentachords, trichords, or any combination thereof. Accordingly, the melody of Yihyu Kemots is set to maqām Ḥusaynī on A, with the lower tetrachord jins Bayāt on A, and the upper tetrachord jins Rāst on D. It stays primarily on the upper jins with a small twist in its last part, and then concludes through a move to the lower jins of the maqām. Table 4.13 describes maqām Ḥusaynī on A and its ajnās: Table 4.13 Maqām Ḥusaynī on A and its Ajnās

Ascending Descending Lower jins Bayāt on A Upper jins Rāst on D

A

B(hf)*

C

D

E

G

A

B(hf)

C

D D

F(hsh)** F natural

E

F(hsh)

G

A’

* Half-flat. ** Half-sharp.

This method of analysis is not the only prevalent approach in Arabic music theory. Abu Shumays (2013: 235) offers an alternative way to understand the maqām, which he describes as ‘a network of pathways among ajnās, rather than simply a scale or set of scales divided into tetrachords.’ This approach, according to Abu Shumays, can close the existing gap between the conventional understanding of the maqām and what is played and heard in practice. Indeed, the following analysis of Yihyu Kemots demonstrates the existence of a gap between the scale of maqām Ḥusaynī and its actual rendition, particularly in the first three melodic phrases. However, the present method of analysis is well suited to Yihyu Kemots due to its relatively short and simple melody. Something to bear in mind about maqām Ḥusaynī is that there are various versions of its scale, which refer differently to both its location on the musical scale – and hence its tonal content – and its ajnās. Many musicians will simply describe Ḥusaynī as maqām Bayāt on D that focuses on the fifth scale degree A’ and that has a half-flat sixth scale degree B’. Scholars of Turkish/Ottoman music, the source of the original melody of Yihyu Kemots, describe Ḥusaynī or Ḥüseynî as a scale that begins on A’. It comprises a lower jins Ḥüseynî, which is a pentachord that starts on A’ with the following intervals ¾; ¾; 1; 1 and continues with its upper jins Ușșak, which is a tetrachord that starts on E’ with the intervals 1; ½; 1. In the descending form of maqām Ḥusaynī, jins Ușșak replaces F’ sharp

The Paraliturgical Melody

163

(eviç in Turkish) with F’ natural. It is interesting to note here that in the context of Yihyu Kemots, as mentioned above, Najarah was influenced by the Bektashi tariqa [order]. And indeed, amongst the Bektashi dervishes, Ușșak was and still is one of the most used maqāmāt. This is due to its ability to express lyrical and emotional Sufi texts (Islam and Zelenkovska 2014: 83). However, scholars of Arabic music, such as Muallem (2006: 212) and Abu Shumays (ibid., 237), hold the opinion that Ḥusaynī starts on D and comprises two tetrachords of jins Bayāt, each with the intervals ¾; ¾; 1, with the first starting on D and the second starting on A’. According to Abu Shumays, this version is more consistent with both the Turkish and Iraqi traditions as well as with the older Syrian Muwashshaḥ tradition. His view reflects the richness of opinions on the maqām prevalent today in Arabic music scholarship. Another prevalent version of the Arabic Ḥusaynī31 also divides this maqām into a lower jins tetrachord Bayāt on D. However, the upper jins is a tetrachord of jins Rāst on G with the intervals 1; ¾; ¾.32 As shown in the following analysis, Mu‘alem’s rendition of the song, which is based on the version presented in Table 4.13, appears to include an amalgam of all the versions I have mentioned.33 It is presented and analysed here mainly because the melody clearly adheres to the characteristics of the upper jins Rāst on D rather than to another Bayāt. Example 4.1 gives the notation of the first stanza and refrain. Table 4.14 describes the musical phrases of Yihyu Kemots and their location in the poem. The tune comprises four melodic phrases, through all of which A’, the typical and distinctive tone of Ḥusaynī, is prominent. The first two present the upper jins of Ḥusaynī, jins Rāst on D, with the tetrachord D–G, while exploring its maqāmic range. The emphasis on the lower and upper tones of jins Rāst is created mostly through a leap from D to G with subtle ornamentation, which features E as the dominant of Ḥusaynī and A’ as its tonic, respectively. The third phrase moves with a small twist to a secondary jins of Ḥusaynī, jins Kurd on E.34 It presents another melodic theme, which further emphasises the dominant of Ḥusaynī, E, and leads in a descending move to the lower jins of Ḥusaynī, jins Bayāt, whilst turning F half-sharp into F natural. The fourth phrase ends 31  Such as http://maqamworld.com/maqamat/bayati.html. 32  For the various approaches to, and analyses of, central maqāmāt in Arabic music in general, and of maqām Ḥusaynī in particular, see Abu Shumays (ibid., 237). 33  This is also reflected in Ḥabushah’s rendition of this song: https://youtu.be/7Ds547EjyPo (2017). 34  The secondary ajnās can be found in most of the maqāmāt. They are based on the inner tones of the maqām and can clarify its structure and possible modulations (Muallem ibid., 89).

164

Chapter 4

Example 4.1 Yihyu Kemots (the first stanza and the refrain)

the melody with the typical Ḥusaynī characteristic, which includes the strong presence of A. The first melodic phrase (bars 1–4) is set to the first line of the poem. It establishes in two parts, the upper jins of Ḥusaynī, namely jins Rāst D–G, with its typical F half-sharp.35 Each of these parts also comprises two sections. The 35  It is not clear why F sharp rather than F half-sharp appears in both Mu‘alem’s and Ḥabushah’s renditions. In any case, this can be viewed as another indication of the

165

The Paraliturgical Melody Table 4.14 The melodic phrases and their location in Yihyu Kemots (the first stanza)

Melodic phrase

Maqām and Jins

Phrase no. Bar no.

1 1 2 3 4

1–4 5–8 9–beginning of 13 End of 13–most of 16 End of 16–20

Poem* Line no. Line no. of stanza of refrain

Upper jins Rāst on D Upper jins Rāst on D Upper jins Rāst on D Secondary jins Kurd on E Lower jins Bayāt on A

1 2 3 4 5

1**

* Each line in the poem comprises two parts. ** The refrain is created by the fifth line of the first stanza.

first part (bars 1 and 2) begins with a leap from D to G, presenting the tonal borders of this jins while ornamenting G with its lower and upper neighbouring tones. The second section (bar 2) presents a moderate descent from G to D, which is ornamented also by the neighbouring tones of G but in a different manner. The second part (bars 3 and 4) first includes the same melodic development – an ascent from D to G with a subtle ornamentation of G – and then (bar 4) shows the descent from G but with an end on the dominant, E, leading to the second rendition of this same phrase (bars 5–8), which is set to the second line of the poem. The second melodic phrase (bar 9–the beginning of bar 13), still on the upper jins of Ḥusaynī, is set to the third line of the poem. It begins with the same leap from the tonic D to the upper tone of the jins, G, which is embellished in the same way as it was presented in the first phrase (bars 1, 3 and 5). The following three bars (10–12) continue to highlight the presence of G by its neighbouring tones (bars 10 and 12) and by its repetition (bar 11). In both phrases, the presence of A’ is constantly noticeable. combination of the Iraqi with the Turkish versions of Ḥusaynī, and, in fact, it demonstrates the gap between theory and practice described above by Abu Shumays. Another possible explanation could be the fact that Arabic music does not use an equal-tempered 24-tone schema; hence, the intonation of quartertones differs not only from one maqām to another, but also in the actual performance of the tune, and, in fact, this transcription, as any other transcription of Arabic music, is an approximation of the actual performed melody. For more about the special case of F sharp, see Abu Shumays (ibid., 236).

166

Chapter 4

The third melodic phrase (end of bar 13–most of bar 16) is set to the fourth line of the poem. With a slight shift in the focus of the maqāmic range of the upper jins of Ḥusaynī, that is, D–G to E–A’, this phrase introduces new tonal content. Thus, E–A’ can be interpreted as the upper jins of Ḥusaynī, either according to the Turkish version in the form of jins Ușșak, or according to the Arabic version presented by Muallem and Abu Shumays as jins Bayāt. This is because in the descending form of both ajnās, F sharp and F half-sharp, respectively, become F natural. In the second option, namely, as jins Bayāt, the descending form of this jins becomes jins Kurd on E. In this case, it is possible to understand this phrase as a subtle modulation of jins Kurd created by the descending form of Ḥusaynī. Hence, the dominant E of Ḥusaynī takes another role as the tonic of Kurd. It is emphasised by its repetition (end of bar 13) and by a vivid ascent from E to A’, replacing the frequent ascent from D to G, which led the melodic movement of the two previous phrases. The ascent from E to A’, with support from D (bar 14), followed by a moderate and successive descent back to E, again through D (end of bar 14), leads back to E (bar 15). The next accentuation of E (bar 15) appears through a leap from E to A’ and back with the help of the F of jins Kurd, rather than the F half-sharp of jins Rāst. This move also prepares E for its following role as a neighbouring tone which, together with F, sets the stage for the first appearance of D as the upper tone of jins Bayāt on A. The last bar (beginning of bar 16) presents a move of moderate ascent and descent within the range of Kurd on E, which leads at the end of this bar to D, the pivot tone that ends Bayāt on A and begins Rāst on D (end of bar 16). The fourth and last melodic phrase (end of bar 16–bar 20) is set to the last line of the first stanza, which is also the refrain of the song. The first bars (end of bar 16 and bars 17 and 18) emphasise D, the upper tone of the lower jins Bayāt on A (bar 17), while highlighting its presence first (end of bar 16 and bar 17) by ornamenting D with its upper and lower neighbouring tones, and second (bar 18) by making a leap from D to G (a reminder of jins Rāst) before making a successive descent back to D with F natural, which conti­ nues to the C and B half-flat of jins Bayāt. The melody reaches its lower regis­ ter and with it displays the clearer presence of Ḥusaynī. Indeed, the last two bars (19 and 20) take the maqām further into its lower jins Bayāt on A. This lower range creates an intensive descent to the typical tonic of Ḥusaynī, namely A. Bar 19 presents a leap from A to D, the lower and upper borders of jins Bayāt, with B rather than B half-flat, which again, reflects the gap between theory and practice. This move is preceded by a moderate descent to A with the typical Ḥusaynī prolongation of A as the concluding tone of the song.

The Paraliturgical Melody

167

Example 4.2 Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first stanza and the refrain)

4.3 The Melody of Barukh ’El Ḥay Example 4.2 gives the notation of the same melody set to Barukh ’El Ḥay. Mu‘alem’s rendition is a half-tone lower than his Yihyu Kemots and was transposed to the same range to enable an easier comparison between the two versions of the melody: The four melodic phrases of Yihyu Kemots appear also in Barukh ’El Ḥay, and represent the same melodic narrative described above, except for the third

168

Chapter 4

phrase, which keeps the tonal range of Kurd, however with the tonal content of Rāst and its typical F sharp rather than with F natural. Table 4.15 describes these phrases and their location in the poem: Table 4.15 The melodic phrases and their location in Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first stanza)

Melodic phrase

Maqām and Jins

Phrase no. Bar no.

1 1 2 3

1–4 5–8 9–12 13–16

4

17–20

Poem* Line no. Line no. of stanza of refrain

Upper jins Rāst on D 1 Upper jins Rāst on D 2 Upper jins Rāst on D 3 Tonal range of secondary jins Kurd on E with tonal content of jins Rāst on D Lower jins Bayāt on A

1 2

* Each line in the poem comprises two parts.

Additionally, as illustrated in Table 4.15, there is one structural difference between the two songs and thus the setting of the melodic phrases to their text. In Yihyu Kemots, the first four lines constitute the first stanza and include the first three melodic phrases. The last and fifth line of the stanza constructs the refrain and includes the fourth and last phrase of the tune. Here, the stanza comprises only three lines, which include the first two melodic phrases, and the refrain, which has two lines, includes the last two melodic phrases of the song. 4.4 The Flexible Melody It is true that the focus of this book is on the written rather than on the oral sources of the PLS. It is also true that the characteristics of the genre deriving from its various and rich oral sources merit a separate study. However, the actual melody of the most popular tune indicated in both mṣāḥif mirrors the textual and musical features found in the written sources of the genre. This similarity cannot be overlooked here. The following description of these features is restricted to the particular melody examined here. Nonetheless, bearing in mind the centrality of these songs in the paraliturgical realm, it is likely that they are no less pertinent to many other melodies in the paraliturgical repertoire.

The Paraliturgical Melody

169

4.4.1 The Melodic Phrase The four-phrased melodic structure of both songs shows that a particular phrase can be set to several lines within a stanza (lines 1 and 2 of both songs) or, with a small twist, to both a line within a stanza and a line within a refrain (line 4 in Yihyu Kemots and line 1 in the refrain of Barukh ’El Ḥay, respectively). A key element that enables the flexibility of the melodic phrase is the strong correlation between the metric pattern of the text and the rhythm of the melody, despite the binary structure of the former and the ternary arrangement of the latter.36 Tables 4.16 and 4.17 demonstrate this correlation in the first line of each of the songs and show the range of possible rhythmic durations for a single syllable, such as 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16. Mu‘alem choses to elaborate the syllables located in the same place in both songs in the following metric scheme: 3, 5, 8, 12 and 13 (the underlined numbers in both tables). The close correlation between the metre of the text and the melodic rhythm is discussed by Stern (1975: 154) when he analyses the relationship between the Hebrew text and music in the Muwashshaḥ, the poetic origin of the poems under discussion, which are the quasi-Muwashshaḥāt or Shirim Me‘eyn-­’Ezoriyim. He describes the affinity between these two elements as stronger than any other poetic component of the Muwashshaḥ, such as its rhyming scheme or even its content. This is also affirmed by Tietze and Yahalom (1995: 14) when they discuss the close relationship between text and music in Najarah’s song. Idelsohn (1923: 22) points out the reason for this strong affinity, when he describes ‘music in the Synagogue’, namely, liturgical music amongst communities who lived in the Arabo-Islamic cultural domain: ‘Already with the introduction of the metres of Arabic poetry their melodies were also introduced. The Hebrew poets even composed according to the rhythm of particular melodies and indicated the name of the song to the melody (laḥan) of which they desired their poem sung’.37 However, Idelsohn (1967: 124) asserts, in some cases and particularly in synagogue music, the strong attraction to popular melodies resulted in a type of melody which ‘emancipated itself from the metrical impress of the poetry [of the original song]’. Thus, two types of relationships between the poetic metre and the melodic rhythm had emerged: ‘Frequently poets would be inspired by certain melody to write a poem according to its rhythm; others would adjust their verses to favourite tunes then in vogue, even when the poetical meter did not exactly fit the musical rhythm’.

36  For the metric patterns of the two songs, see Chapter 2, Figures 2.3 and 2.4, respectively. 37  See also Idelsohn (1992: 124).

1

11

UL-

9

1

Syllable no.

The melodic rhythm: ¾ (example 4.1, bars 1 and 2)

Second hemistich, syllables performed

Syllable no.

The melodic rhythm: ¾ ¾ (example 4.1, bars 3 and 4)

* This is a transliteration of the performed text.

2

10

‘O V -

2

2

Y I H - YU

First hemistich, syllables performed*

11

DEY

3

K-

E-

3

12

BE-

3

4

MOTS

EL

Table 4.16 The metric pattern and the melodic rhythm in Yihyu Kemots (the first line)

1

13

YA -

1

5

‘O-

A-

A-

VE-

A-

2

14

VO’

2

6

DEY

15

ḤE-

7

KE-

3

16

VEL

3

8

MO-

SH

170 Chapter 4

LIKH-

KI

1

The melodic rhythm: ¾ (example 4.2, bars 3 and 4) 2

10

* This is a transliteration of the performed text.

9

Syllable no.

Line 1: second hemistich, syllables performed

2

12

The melodic rhythm: ¾ (example 4.2, bars 1 and 2)

2

1

Syllable no.

RUKH

BA-

Line 1: first hemistich, syllables performed*

11

VO-

3

’E-

’E L

3

12

DO-

3

4

ḤAY

O

Table 4.17 The metric pattern and the melodic rhythm in Barukh ’El Ḥay (the first line)

1

13

BE-

1

5

’E-

E-

’E-

2

14

RA-

2

6

LO-

15

’A-

7

H E Y-

3

16

NU

3

8

NU-

U

The Paraliturgical Melody

171

172

Chapter 4

As illustrated here, both songs belong to the same poetic genre, which allows for a variety of formations. Indeed, they reflect this richness through their different number of stanzas, verses and rhyming schemes. The only common poetic component is their metric pattern, which facilitates the use of the same melody. However, it seems that the melody has another feature which allows its free and rather flexible adaptation to many types of text. This will be discussed in the following section. 4.4.2

The Independent and the Context-Related Components of the Melody The features of flexibility in the paraliturgical text and melody, which were found in the written sources of the genre and explored in the previous chapters, are reinforced here by the melodic renditions of the most popular tune indicated in both mṣāḥif. This melody is found to be flexible enough to fit different songs of different forms and contents. Moreover, the aesthetic shape of the text that allows this flexibility, namely, the polythematic structure within a unifying theme, which was revealed in the text of many of the songs, is also found in this melody. This also includes the independent and context-related meanings. The polythematic structure of the melody derives from the maqāmic narrative of Ḥusaynī, which is told in four episodes through its different ajnās, including its secondary jins Kurd and the refined turn in the melodic version of Barukh ’El Ḥay. The unifying theme is the upper jins of Ḥusaynī, namely, Rāst D–G and its lower and upper neighbouring tones E and A’, respectively, which create the secondary jins Kurd. The tonal range of Rāst marks the borders of most episodes. It provides identical tonal content to the first two episodes, which then create a dramatic tonal tension in the last two episodes. This is because in the third episode in Yihyu Kemots this content changes from jins Rāst to the secondary jins Kurd, which appears in the descending form of Ḥusaynī. However, in Barukh ’El Ḥay it remains in the tonality of Rāst, and in the last episode this tonal content moves to the lower jins Bayāt. Each of these episodes introduces a discrete maqāmic moment expressing one defined, independent and unique tonal idea, and presenting a new aspect of this same tonal range and thus adding another dramatic event to the maqāmic narrative. The context-related aspect of the melody derives from its various renditions. The melody under discussion shows that each performance presents a few subtle changes in the same melody, with each change resulting in a different melodic version. For example, bars 3 and 4 are set to the second hemistich of line 1 in both songs. The rendition of the melody in Yihyu Kemots is

The Paraliturgical Melody

173

more vivid than in Barukh ’El Ḥay. It presents (bar 3) both a relatively extreme leap from the lower end of the jins to its highest end and the embellished G. In Barukh ’El Ḥay, on the other hand (bar 3), the melody focuses only on the embellished G. Yihyu Kemots (bar 4) also shows the descent back to the lower part of the jins through its full tonal range, whereas in Barukh ’El Ḥay (bar 4) it is limited mostly to the neighbouring tones of the tonic note. Another example is the melody set to the second hemistich of line 3 in both songs (bar 12 of both songs), the first part of which is more embellished in Yihyu Kemots. The last and most noticeable example is phrase 3 in both songs (bars 13–16). The reason for these differences is not clear, as both the content of the text and its syllables do not indicate a special characteristic that can justify them. Whether or not and to what extent the melody is also influenced by the meaning of the text, the sound of its syllables or a combination of the two is yet to be discovered. However, it is clear that different renditions of the same melody created different contexts and atmospheres, which then resulted in different versions of this same melody. The context-related component in the musical rendition is deeply rooted in Arabic music. It is reflected in the performance itself and in the vocabulary used for both the artist and his or her audience. A typical performance is characterised by an ongoing and highly emotional musical dialogue between the artist and the audience that reflects the special circumstances and context of their musical encounter. It can last for what may seem like an eternity and hence inspires a feeling of timelessness in both parties. More often than not, the artist would present only the first musical phrase, before the audience, if satisfied, would express aloud its pleasure and delight with a set of special and deeply emotional phrases such as ‘Allah Allah’ [‘[Oh] God], ‘ya‘eni’ [‘my eyes’], and ‘ya ruḥi’ [‘my soul’]. The artist, in turn, would further adjust his or her performance while tailoring the melody to the mood of his or her audience and to the atmosphere, which they were both in the process of creating together. This togetherness produces what in Arabic is called ‘ṭarab’, that is, a highly emotional state aroused by the music and led by the performer. As far as I know, this word does not have a parallel in English or any other language.38 A talented performer, a muṭrib or muṭribah [female form] is measured by his or her ability to entice the ṭarab feelings in his or her audience. However, the performer and the audience bestow ṭarab upon each other. Without close collaboration and coordination between these two parties, ṭarab cannot be achieved for either of them. For example, the Lebanese singer Ṣabāḥ Fakhrī once described 38  For the history of the term and the different definitions of ṭarab, see Racy (2003: 5).

174

Chapter 4

what this challenge entails. He explained that his ḥaflah [concert] is long because it actually starts only after an hour of singing during which he will try different styles to figure out or assess the musical taste and mood of his audience. The process of studying and ascertaining his audience’s preferences involves ‘continued visual surveillance, which enables him to constantly monitor the audience’s reactions and to fashion or adjust the repertoire accordingly’ (Racy 2003: 65). In principle, this type of interaction between the performer and the audience can take place in both religious and secular spaces, though in slightly different ways. Hence, it is quite clear why Arabic music functions in both the religious and the secular spaces as a means to absorb the atmosphere created by the participants in any event and to reflect their specific circumstances, contexts and dispositions. The independent aspect of the melody is reflected in its unifying theme, which is the upper jins of maqām Ḥusaynī, namely jins Rāst and each of the first three episodes that it constitutes.39 Each of these episodes presents a melodic phrase, and these phrases are based on almost the same maqāmic borders, though they have a different tonal content and therefore a different narrative. Hence, each of them is the independent component of the melody, a self-contained thematic unit presenting the pure musical content of one clear maqāmic idea. Each of them can be reiterated a few times for a number of lines in a stanza or in a refrain, according to the length of the song, without interrupting the flow of the melody as a whole. This pivotal characteristic allows one single melody to be independent of one particular structure and length, and thus to fit songs with various forms and with different content – songs which are performed on a whole host of occasions. 4.4.3 The Paraliturgical Melody The question of to what extent the musical features found here reflect other melodies adapted to the paraliturgical text can find one possible answer in Touma’s description (ibid., 40) of the Arabic melody, which is the main source for the paraliturgical melodies, including the one under discussion. He characterises it as one which comprises melodic passages all based on a particular 39  Touma (1996: 42) describes the emotional content of the tonal structure of the maqāmāt. He asserts that every maqām ‘possesses’ a special emotional content, which is determined by both its tonal nucleus comprising its three main tones, and its ‘maqām row’ or scale. This concept is also described by Racy (ibid., 203). He refers to the emotional aspect as ‘ṭarab’, which he translates as ‘ecstasy’, and he explains its various cultural and musical functions. Racy defines ṭarab as ‘the emotions aroused by the music itself’. Both Touma and Racy refer to this emotional content as being purely musical.

175

The Paraliturgical Melody

maqām, each with one or more phases of various lengths. Each phase covers a particular tonal level based on one or two central tones, which are repeated at least three times and ornamented by their neighbouring tones. The melody develops gradually from phase to phase, from the lower to the higher registers of the maqām, reaches its climax, and ends. Each melodic passage presents a new event that can be either independent or combined with the previous material (ibid., 39). Although the melody under discussion remains mostly in the same tonal environment, it still corresponds almost perfectly to Touma’s description. Thus, it can be cautiously concluded that in many aspects the melody under discussion represents the paraliturgical melody in general and demonstrates its chief characteristics. 5

Musical Information in the Ptiḥot of the Two Mṣāḥif

The Ptiḥah is the only type of PLS in both mṣāḥif that clearly indicates the strong affinity of this genre with Arabo-Islamic culture in general and with Arabic music in particular. This is because one of its musical functions, as an opening part of a set of successive songs performed on a particular occasion, is in fact prevalent almost in all Arabic musical genres, both vocal, which are called ‘Layālī’ and instrumental, which are called ‘Taqasīm’. It is also because the Ptiḥah clearly indicates the maqām of the recommended melody. 5.1 Ptiḥot and Their Maqāmāt Table 4.18 describes the location of the Ptiḥot in both mṣāḥif and their maqāmāt: Table 4.18 Ptiḥot and their Maqāmāt in the two Mṣāḥif Row Ptiḥah

1

2

Poet

’Eli ’Al Yashuv Dakh Unknown [O Lord Please Don’t Leave My Lowly Plea Unanswered] Le‘et Zemer Zman [A -”Time For Praising the Lord]

In 1906

In 1954

Maqām 1906*

Maqām 1954*

M(166A;400)

M(228;344)

Ḥusaynī

Ḥusaynī

M(166A;401)

M(228;346)

Bayāt

Bayāt

176

Chapter 4

Table 4.18 Ptiḥot and their Maqāmāt in the two Mṣāḥif (cont.) Row Ptiḥah

Poet

In 1906

In 1954

Maqām 1906*

Maqām 1954*

3

Najarah

M(166B;402)

M(229;348)

Nawā

Nawā

Unknown

M(166B;403)

M(230;353)

Rāst

Rāst

Najarah

M(166B;404)

M(233;364)

Ḥijāz

Ḥijāz

-”-

M(166B;405)

M(233;365)

Ṣabā

Ṣabā

-”-

M(167A;406)

M(232;362)

Awj and Mukhālif

Awj and Mukhālif

Biblical text

M(167A;407)

M(231;358)

‘Ajam

‘Ajam

Najarah

M(167A;408)

M(232;363)

Sīkāh (or Segāh)

Sīkāh (or Segāh)

-”-

M(167A;409)

M(231;359)

Jahārkāh** Jahārkāh

-”-

M(167B;410)

M(232;361)

-”-

M(167B;411)

M(232;360)

Zunjurān*** Sharqī

Unknown

M(167B;412)

M(229;350)

Ṣufyān

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 11

12 13

Haleluyah Ki Ṭov [Halleluiah, [For the Lord] Is Good]a Yafah Yif‘atekh [The Beauty of Your Splendour, [O Lord]] Yotsri ’Ori [O Lord,] My Creator My Light] ’Elohay Neshamah Shenatata Bi [O My Lord the Soul You Gave Me] Yishar Ḥeylakh [[May the Lord] Make Your Ramparts Smooth] Va’adonay ’Elohim ’Emet [But the Lord Is Truly God] (Jeremiah 10:10) Yifraḥ Katamar [[The People of Israel] Shall Bloom Like a Date Palm] Yefeh Qol [You Have a Sweet Voice] Yahev Ḥokhmeta’ [The Lord Gives the Wise their Wisdom] (Daniel 2:21) Yedidim La’el [Those Who Love God] ’Al Tid’ag Leshe‘avar [Banish the Worries of the Past]b

Iṣfahānī

Manṣūrī

177

The Paraliturgical Melody Table 4.18 Ptiḥot and their Maqāmāt in the two Mṣāḥif (cont.) Row Ptiḥah

Poet

In 1906

In 1954

Maqām 1906*

Maqām 1954*

14

-”-

M(167B;413)

M(233;366)

Ṭāhir

Ṭāhir

-”-

M(168A;414)

M(234;370)

‘Atāba****

‘Atāba

15

16 17

18

19

20 21

22

23

24

25 26

Be‘et Tir’eh Zman Holekh [As Time Passes By] Lekha ’Ani Vekhaspi [I and All I Have Are Yours]c Yisra’el ‘Am ’El [Israel Is the People of God] Yisamer Se‘arat Bsari [My Hair Shall Bristle] ’Al Tid’ag ‘Al Hadamim [Do not Fear the Loss of Money] Dam Kvodi Yehi Dayo [The Blood of My Honour Is Sufficient] Yaḥid ’Atah [You Are the One] ’El ḥaviv Slaḥ [Forgive Me My Beloved Lord] Refa’ Tsiri [Cure My Pangs]

Najarah

M(228;345)

Ḥusaynī

-”-

M(229;347)

Bayāt

Unknown

M(229;349)

Birzawī

Dahud Tsemaḥ (1847–1902, Baghdad) Unknown

M(229;351)

Khanabāt*****

M(230;352)

Maṣlāwiyya

Yitsḥaq ‘Abadi (20th century, Ḥalab) Refa’el ‘Antabi (1830, Ḥalab– 1919, Egypt) Retseh Shiri [Favour -”My Praise [My Lord]] Haqets Yah [Put an -”End to My Miseries O Lord] ’Elhay [O Lord O Najarah God] ’El Beḥasdekha [Lord Unknown in Your Faithfulness]

M(230;354)

Rāst

M(230;355)

-”-

M(231;356)

-”-

M(231;357)

-”-

M(233;367)

Nahāwand

M(233;368)

Māhūr

178

Chapter 4

Table 4.18 Ptiḥot and their Maqāmāt in the two Mṣāḥif (cont.) Row Ptiḥah

27

28 29

Poet

Yiqod ’Esh Lehavim Najarah [[My Thoughts] Shall Ignite a Burning [in Me] Like that of Fire] Tsirey Nedod [[The] -”Grief of Roaming] Qamti Be’ishon Unknown Laylah [I Rise in the Dust of Evening]

In 1906

In 1954

Maqām 1906*

Maqām 1954*

M(235;371)

-

M(235;372)

-

M(234;369)

-

*

The transliteration of the names of the maqāmāt is made from their Arabic and not from their Hebrew spelling, as it appears in both mṣāḥif. There are a significant number of differences described in the literature regarding the maqāmāt, their names, scales and various modulations. I identified four main schools: the Egyptian, the Iraqi, the Turkish and the Syrian, the last of which is quite similar to the Lebanese school. ** Also called ‘Jahārgāh’. *** In the miṣḥaf, the name appears mistakenly as ‘Zanjana’. Also called ‘Zanjarān’. **** ‘Atāba is the name of the poetic genre of the song. The actual maqām is Bayāt. ***** In the miṣḥaf, the name appears mistakenly as ‘Karnabat’. a For Ḥabushah’s rendition in maqām Iṣfahānī, see https://youtu.be/MEs3cZOsB9s (2013). For the maqām, see in this chapter, Table 4.19, Row 12. b For more about the text of this Ptiḥah and the one in Row 18, see Chapter 1, Note 42. c For the ‘Atāba, see Chapter 1, Paragraph 6.5.

5.2 Scope and Content The 1906 Miṣḥaf presents fifteen Ptiḥot sung to fifteen different maqāmāt. Two maqāmāt are indicated in the Ptiḥah Yishar Ḥeylakh (Table 4.18, row 7). The last Ptiḥah, Lekha ’Ani Vekhaspi (ibid., row 15) is marked with its poetic genre as ‘Atāba rather than its musical scale. The reason for this identification is unclear. It could be that because the ‘Atāba genre is always performed to maqām Bayāt, this word came to be synonymous with maqām Bayāt. The 1954 Miṣḥaf includes twenty-nine Ptiḥot, and adds another seven new maqāmāt to the 1906 repertoire. Fifteen of them also appear in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, mostly with the same maqām. There are also four Ptiḥot with no indication of maqām (ibid., rows 15, 27, 28 and 29). The maqām indicated in each of the Ptiḥot which appear in the two collections is identical, except for two (ibid., rows 12 and 13).

The Paraliturgical Melody

179

5.3 Poets Almost half of the Ptiḥot in both mṣāḥif are by Najarah: eight in 1906 and thirteen in 1954. He is also the earliest poet of this category of songs.40 The rest of the known poets are nineteenth- and twentieth-century Baghdadi and Ḥalabi poets. Hence, there is a clear gap of three hundred years between the known poets of the Ptiḥot. 5.4 Textual Features Most of the Ptiḥot in both mṣāḥif are characterised by two textual components that make them ideal for opening songs and solo singing.41 They are all relatively short and do not have a textual phrase indicated as a refrain. It is true that there is a large number of other PLSs that do not have this device in the text itself and whose refrain can only be identified through their musical rendition. However, this characteristic is more prevalent amongst the Ptiḥot than in any of the other groups of songs whose rendition, as performed in the Mu‘alem Collection, does not include a refrain. For example, the PLS for the New Year, Sha‘ar Haraḥamim [The Gate of Mercy], M(83;115), which appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(71A;163) as a song for Ro’sh Ḥodesh [The Head of the Month], has a third verse that functions as the refrain of the song. It is possible that these two distinctive characteristics are the reason for the reappearance of all the 1906 Miṣḥaf’s Ptiḥot, as such, in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, and that they are the reason for the small number of Ptiḥot in the 1954 Miṣḥaf which appear for other occasions in the 1906 Miṣḥaf. There are only three such Ptiḥot and they are all by Najarah: Yisra’el ‘Am ’El appears as a song for Tabernacles, M(122B;276), (Table 4.18, row 16); Yiqod ’Esh Lehavim appears as Baqashah for Thursday, M(35A;79), (ibid., row 27); and Tsirey Nedod appears also as Baqashah but for Tuesday, M(24A;47), (ibid., row 28). 6

The Flexibility of the Ptiḥah

6.1 Performance Function Both mṣāḥif include a relatively small repertoire of Ptiḥot. All are presented in the category of optional opening songs, that is, without any indication of the sets of songs following their performance, nor any occasion for their 40  For further details about the poems in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, see Appendix 3 from poem M(228;344) onwards. 41  Similar to the first part of the Iraqi Maqām, in which a solo singer opens this long and complex piece. See also Chapter 1, Paragraph 6.4.

180

Chapter 4

performance. This special function of the Ptiḥah does not preclude its rendition as an ordinary song performed with other PLSs. The three Ptiḥot in the 1954 Miṣḥaf that appear as songs for other occasions in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, regardless of their small number demonstrate that this option is possible. Here again, the flexibility of the genre is revealed through another aspect of its practice: any Ptiḥah can serve both as an opening song for any combination of performed songs for any occasion, and as a regular song performed within a set of other songs, also for any occasion. Hadad describes this dual function of the Ptiḥah: Only a real qāri’ maqāmāt [a professional singer of the Iraqi Maqām] can sing Ptiḥah in the right way. Often, at a Bar Mitsvah or Brit [circumcision ceremony], a member of the family asks the qāri’, as an act of respect for his talent, to sing a Ptiḥah. It could be at the beginning of the event or at some point during the event. If the qāri’ chooses a Ptiḥah with a sad maqām, for some reason, it could be that a beloved member of the family is no longer among the living, or he is away and could not come to celebrate the occasion with the family. He [the qāri’] will always end his performance with another Shbaḥ based on a happy maqām, never a sad one. For example, if he chooses to sing [the Ptiḥah] ’Elohay Neshamah Shenatata Bi [O My Lord the Soul You Gave Me, M(233;365)] in maqām Ṣabā [considered a sad maqām], he will then continue with ’El ’Eliyahu [To Elijah, M(71;102)] in maqām Ḥusaynī, which is a happy maqām, and ask the audience to join him. He can also choose a nice maqām such as Manṣūrī and sing [the Ptiḥah] ’Al Tid’ag [Do Not Fear M(229;349)]. Then, he will continue with another song also in Manṣūrī as they do usually in a Pasta42 in the Iraqi Maqām, and ask the audience to join him. Hadad, 21 January 2006

6.2 The Repertoire of Maqāmāt and Its Potential Renditions Table 4.19 shows the twenty-two maqāmāt in the Ptiḥot of both mṣāḥif. The maqāmāt presented here are based mainly on the descriptions given by Touma (ibid.), Kojaman (2001), Muallem (ibid.), Racy (ibid., 98) and el-Mahdi (1972). In cases where there are differences, Touma’s version is the one presented here:

42  Pasta in Judaeo-Arabic, or Basta or Pesta in Arabic, is a song with a fixed metre performed at the end of each presentation of the maqām within the faṣl, a chapter in the Iraqi Maqām. See also Touma (ibid., 57).

181

The Paraliturgical Melody Table 4.19 The Maqāmāt presented in the Ptiḥot of both Mṣāḥif

No. Maqām 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Ḥusaynī

Ascending Descending Bayāt Ascending Nawā Ascending Rāst Ascending Ḥijāz Ascending Descending Ṣabā Ascending Awj Ascending Mukhālif Ascending ‘Ajam Ascending Sīkāh Ascending Descending Jahārkāh Ascending Iṣfahānī Ascending Zunjurān Ascending Sharqī Ascending Ṣufyān Ascending Manṣūrī Ascending Ṭāhir Ascending Descending Birzawī Ascending Khanabāt Ascending Maṣlāwiyya Ascending Nahāwand Ascending Descending Māhūr Ascending Descending

Octave scale of the Maqām* D

E(hf)

F

G

A’

D C C D

E(hf) D D E(f)

F E(f) E(hf) F(sh)

G F(sh) F G

A’ G G A’

D B(hf) E(hf) C E(hf)

E(hf) C F D F

F D G(f) E(f) G

G(f) E(hf) A’(hf) F A’

F C C C B(hf) G D

G D D(f) D C A’(hf) E(hf)

A’ E E E(hf) D B’(f) F

B’(f) F(sh) F F E(hf) C’(f) G

A’ F B’(hf) G B’(hf) B(f) C’ G G G F D’ A’

D D A C

E(hf) E(hf) B(hf) D

F F C E(f)

G G D F

C

D

E(hf) F

* (hf): half-flat; (f): flat; (sh): sharp.

B’(hf) B(f) B’(f) A’(f) A’ B’(f)

C’

D’

B’(f) G

C’ B’ B’(hf) C’ C’ (sh) C’ A’

D’ C’ C’ D’ D’ D’ B’(hf)

A’ C’

B’(f) D’

C’ E’(hf)

E’ B’(hf) B’(f) B’(hf) A’ F’ C’

F’ C’ C’ C’ B’(hf) G’ D’

C’ C’ G B’(f) B B’(hf) B’(f)

D’ D’ A’ C’

D’ A’ A’ A’ G E’(f) B’(hf) B’(f) A’ B’(f) A’ B’(hf) E(hf) F G A’(f) G

A’

C’

182

Chapter 4

The most prevalent maqām in both mṣāḥif is Rāst; it appears in five different Ptiḥot (Table 4.18, rows 4 and 21–24). Two other maqāmāt, Ḥusaynī and Bayāt, each appear in two different Ptiḥot (ibid., rows 1 and 16, and 2 and 17, respectively). No special relationship has been found between a particular Ptiḥah and its cited maqām. The maqāmāt in both mṣāḥif represent almost half of the total number of fifty maqāmāt known in Iraqi music, including the seven maqāmāt aṣliyya [major maqāmāt]: Bayāt, Hijāz, Rāst, Nawā, Sīkāh, ‘Ajam and Ṣabā and the group of maqāmāt far‘iyya [derived maqāmāt or the secondary group of maqāmāt], which constitute all the rest of the maqāmāt mentioned here. An example of the latter is Maqām Mukhālif, which is used almost exclusively in Iraq and has only one jins while ascending or descending (Table 4.19, row 8). It is important to note here that the total number of Iraqi maqāmāt has always been subject to change. New maqāmāt may be introduced and others may be dropped, but in general the total number is around fifty. Abu Haidar (1988: 130) mentions fifty-four maqāmāt that are prevalent in Iraqi music, approximately thirty of which are sung to a text written in classical Arabic and the rest of which are sung to a text written in colloquial Arabic. The rich repertoire of maqāmāt coupled with the options for their rendition reveals another aspect of flexibility of the genre. A certain Ptiḥah can appear with two different maqāmāt indicated differently in the two mṣāḥif (Table 4.18, rows 12 and 13). It can also appear with two different maqāmāt indicated together in the same place (ibid., row 7). A Ptiḥah can appear without any indication of maqām (ibid., rows 15, 27, 28 and 29), and a few Ptiḥot can share the same maqām (ibid., rows 4, 21–24). Furthermore, despite great similarities between the two mṣāḥif in their indicated maqāmāt for each of the Ptiḥot, there are still quite a large number of Ptiḥot which appear without any indication of the recommended maqām. Additionally, even Ptiḥot with indicated maqām or maqāmāt are performed more often than not in another different maqām, one example being Ḥabushah’s rendition of the following Ptiḥot: a. Haleluyah Ki Ṭov (ibid., row 3) is performed in maqām Iṣfahānī: https://youtu.be/MEs3cZOsB9s (2005); b. Yahev Ḥokhmeta’ (ibid., row 11) is performed in maqām Sīkāh: https://youtu.be/MNmNHbiuKxg (2013); c. Yedidim La’el (ibid., row 12) is performed in maqām Ṣabā: https://youtu.be/Py5LAo0gz_A (2010); d. ’Al Tid’ag Leshe‘avar (ibid., row 13) is performed in maqām Sīkāh: https://youtu.be/B7MoB1_4j3w (2013) and in maqām Ḥusaynī as a Ptiḥah for Yihyu Kemots: http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx?songid=49# 1,14,3000,212 (n.d.); and

The Paraliturgical Melody

183

e.  ’Al Tid’ag ‘Al Hadamim (ibid., row 18) is performed in maqām Rāst: https:// youtu.be/IulKsBiQj1I (2001). A comparison of the maqāmāt of three of the Ptiḥot that were presented in Najarah’s Zmirot Yisra’el (1599) in the first part Olat Tamid shows this flexible and rich use of maqāmāt to be deeply rooted in the genre. The first is Tsirey Nedod (ibid., row 28), which appears in the 1954 Miṣḥaf with no maqām and which appears in Najarah’s collection, N(12B;19), in maqām Rāst. This same song appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(24A;47), as a Baqashah for Tuesday. The second Ptiḥah is Yifraḥ Katamar, M(167A;408) and M(232;363), respectively (ibid., row 9). It appears in both mṣāḥif in maqām Sīkāh, and in Najarah’s collection, N(18B;36), in maqām Dūkāh.43 And the third and last Ptiḥah is Yiqod ’Esh Lehavim (ibid., row 27). It appears in the 1906 Miṣḥaf, M(35A;79), as a Baqashah for Thursday, does not indicate any maqām in the 1954 Miṣḥaf, and in Najarah’s collection, N(76A;215), indicates maqām Uzzāl.44 7

The Paraliturgical Melody: Conclusion

Similar to the paraliturgical text, the paraliturgical melody is found to be a flexible component of the genre. It can be borrowed from any musical source existing in its cultural surroundings, and one particular melody can be adapted to many types of texts with different structures and contents that are performed on different occasions. Furthermore, the structural features of the content of the text that enable its multiple meanings are found also in the tonal content of the actual melody, a feature which allows it to be adapted to texts of various forms. Additionally, the musical information revealed through the Ptiḥot shows another aspect of flexible nature of the genre. The Ptiḥot can function both as introductory part to a PLS and as an ordinary PLS, and their recommended repertoire of maqāmāt offers endless options for performance. However, at the same time, this repertoire does not limit the performance of the Ptiḥot to this particular set of maqāmāt. Altogether, the musical information revealed by both the heading of the songs and the Ptiḥot, as well as the similarities between the textual and musical features of the PLS, reveals a flexible genre that is suitable for performance on most religious occasions, if not on all occasions – religious and secular.

43  M  aqām Dūkāh’s scale is: A – B(f) or B(hf) – C – D(f) – E or E(hf) – F – G – A’. 44  M  aqām Uzzāl’s scale is: D – E(f) – F(sh) – G – A’(f) – B’ – C’ – D’.

Conclusion The written sources of the PLS have been shown in this book to be evocative and potent collections of religious songs. As both historical documents and holy books of religious practice, they capture the entire history of the PLS and provide authentic and unique testimony to its cultural milieu and its religious, poetic and musical characteristics. Furthermore, these sources tell the story of the people involved in the creation and practice of the PLS, namely, its poets and its recipients, respectively, both within and outside the AraboIslamic cultural domain. By revealing through these sources the characteristics of the PLS in the context of both Judaism and the wider Arabo-Islamic cultural milieu, this book offers a new perspective on the PLS, which ultimately provides a novel explanation for the longevity and centrality of the genre in Middle Eastern Judaism and the significant contribution of this branch of Judaism to Jewish history and culture. 1

Historical, Cultural and Musical Characteristics of the Paraliturgical Song

As historical documents, the 1906 and the 1954 mṣāḥif, supported by the earlier and smaller collections of the genre, present an authentic and complete account of the paraliturgical text between the tenth and the twentieth centuries. Findings that were scattered in a variety of studies in literature and poetry, philosophy, history, music and religion, referring to different aspects of the genre in different periods and places, are gathered here and affirmed by these sources of the genre, adding new evidence and insights regarding its prominence in Jewish life and worship, and its relationship with its wider surroundings. ‘Abbasid Baghdad and Muslim Spain of the tenth century, as seen through Dunash’s work, serve as the background for the events in the history of the PLS. He enthusiastically adapts the structural and stylistic features of Arabic poetry and writes the first Hebrew religious Qaṣīda. He fully applies the quantitative metre, and borrows the idea of using the Qur’ān as a source of inspiration and vocabulary for Arabic poetry by employing the Hebrew Bible for the same purpose. Muslim Spain of the eleventh century represents the second period of the genre as seen through the work of several significant poets, most of them were led by ’Ibn Gabirol. ’Ibn Gabirol embraces Dunash’s innovations and

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_007

Conclusion

185

opens up Hebrew religious poetry to the influence of its Arabo-Islamic cultural surroundings. He writes the first Hebrew religious Muwashshaḥ, which together with its derivative, the Hebrew Shir Me‘eyn-’Ezori, add another two poetic forms of writing to the PLS. In the Qiṭ‘a form, ’Ibn Gabirol employs concepts and ideas strongly inspired by Islamic mysticism, mainly Sufism, which are described in his work as the intimate and refined appeal of a worshipper, who can be either Jewish or Muslim, to his creator. Both Dunash and ’Ibn Gabirol were stirred by the high levels of cultural output of their times. They enjoyed a peaceful life in the Diaspora, which was supported by an atmosphere of intellectual efflorescence typical of the heyday of Islamic civilisation, and this is clearly reflected in their work. However, this idyllic atmosphere drastically changed during the third period of the genre, which lasted from the sixteenth century until the eighteenth century and which saw poetic activity flourish throughout the Ottoman Empire. The most prominent poet of this period was Najarah, whose work reflects his efforts to lift the spirit of a nation that had to come to terms not only with the first traumatic exile from its land in 586 BCE, but also to make sense of the painful expulsion from Spain in 1492. Najarah purposefully simplifies the form, metre and vocabulary of the PLS, and mainly uses the poetic version of the Shir Me‘eyn-’Ezori. He thereby turns the elitist features of the genre into a more popular and accessible form of worship intended for wider use by all members of the community. With his straightforward form and style, he continues, as his predecessors had done, to use mystical themes. In order to bestow comfort and hope upon his agonised nation, Najarah mixes Jewish ideas, mainly formed by the qabbalist Isaac Luria, with Sufi concepts and blends them into Arabic, Turkish and other foreign and popular songs of his time. Najarah was the last innovative poet of the genre. From his time onwards, Hebrew religious poets retained his style and added only a few minor local poetic and musical elements taken from their wider surroundings. The fourth period of the PLS took place between the eighteenth century and twentieth century, when the genre was active mainly in Baghdad and in various parts of Syria. The most prominent poet of this period was ’al-Ḥakham, who continued in Baghdad to preserve the poetic legacy of the past, particularly that of Najarah. He further simplifies the language, and he uses mystical ideas in his songs along with tales and sayings that he takes from various Arabic literary and oral sources that were prevalent in the surrounding popular culture of his time. The Arabo-Islamic cultural ambiance of the PLS is reflected not only in its influence on the poets, but also in its influence on the genre’s poetic, musical and devotional features. At the same time, however, the PLS poeticised Jewish

186

Conclusion

life in the Diaspora by both recording significant events and developments in Jewish history and communicating religious values concerning personal and communal affairs. Significant events in Jewish history were recorded in the text at times in a dynamic manner adjusting its content to the new circumstances. Some of the changes were made by the poets themselves, as in Najarah’s Dove, How Can You Lie Down M(22;21). Realising that the conditions of his time required further caution, he changed the early version of this song by blurring the identity of the Jews’ enemy that was responsible for their expulsion from Spain. In other songs, these changes were made by others, possibly the editors of the different collections, as was the case in Deror Yiqra’, M(55;78), and for a similar reason. The adjustment of the genre to new circumstances is also reflected in the repertoire itself. For example, Mantsur’s omission of the song Send Us Help at Any Time M(161A;386), dedicated to the Ottoman ruler, mirrors the fact that this ruler was no longer relevant to the Babylonians in their new state. Similarly, the increasing number of songs for life-cycle occasions and the decreased number of songs for communal celebrations show that Babylonians’ private traditional celebrations in Israel became more prevalent than public ones. The religious values expressed in the PLS concern both the personal affairs of the worshipper, as ’Ibn Gabirol’s Shefal Ruaḥ M(16;9) shows, or the nation’s affairs, as both Dunash’s Deror Yiqra’ and Najarah’s Yihyu Kemots M(14;6) show. ’Al-Ḥakham’s Barukh ’El Ḥay M(213;318), on the other hand, shows a combination of both personal and national affairs. Notwithstanding the dearth of musical information found in the two largest collections of PLSs, they can still provide us with two pivotal features of the paraliturgical melody, which is revealed here as a pure product of its AraboIslamic cultural environment. Names of melodies cited in a few songs show a rich repertoire of borrowed tunes, which can be taken from any possible source that was known to the worshipper. These tunes also show that one particular melody is cited in two, and sometimes three, different songs of different form and content that are associated with diverse occasions. The latter feature can also be found in the Mu‘alem Collection, which includes examples of songs performed on various occasions that share the same melody, and so in this way we can see the plethora of performance possibilities for any adapted melody. As these sources cover more than one hundred and fifty years of paraliturgical practice, they confirm that this flexible form of worship was prevalent amongst the Babylonians both before and after their immigration to Israel. The picture that emerges from these sources is that the PLS epitomises the lives and identities of its poets and the worshippers within Arabo-Islamic civilisation. All are characterised by a religio-cultural hybridity of Jewish and

Conclusion

187

Arabo-Islamic cultures, which mirrors the unique and long-lasting synergy between Jewishness and Arabness. Although the poets were influenced by their cultural ambiance and amalgamated aspects of its aesthetics and ideas in their poetry, their Jewish identity was beyond any doubt or question. It seems that this combination of cultures was both inspiring and enriching. Furthermore, the same conclusion emerged from interviews with members of the Babylonian community, who are the carriers of this genre. They felt strongly about their Jewish identity but, at the same time, and with the same enthusiasm, they expressed their love for Arabo-Islamic culture. In fact, their identity reflects a deep notion that they, as Jews living in the Arabo-Islamic Diaspora, felt Jewish enough to be Arabs too. 1.1 Aspects for Further Exploration 1.1.1 The Emergence of the Paraliturgical Song A few questions concerning the historical aspects of the genre await to be uncovered in future research. The most crucial one is when exactly the PLS, as we know it today, emerged. We do not know whether the earliest texts, which appear in these collections, one of which is Dunash’s Deror Yiqra’, indicate also the age of this repertoire as such. It is not clear why this song is the earliest and what, if any, significance it holds. The prevalent assumption at present, suggested by previous studies, that the genre emerged in the sixteenth century can be challenged if we bear in mind three major developments in ‘Abbasid Baghdad very close to Dunash’s time. Sa‘adyah Ga’on starts to write religious songs for worship outside the liturgy; a strong affiliation between poetic forms and music had begun to take its course; and a process of transition from orality to scripturality had started in both Judaism and Islam. However, if the sixteenth century is eventually verified as the starting point of the genre, a further investigation of the earlier texts is needed. Such investigation will have to focus on the process through which PLSs found their way into paraliturgical practice, and, if they had any previous function in Jewish worship, what the nature of that function was. 1.1.2 The Paraliturgical Melody The earliest melodies of both the cited songs and the other songs of the repertoire have yet to be found. The consensus amongst the elderly members of the Baghdadi community in Israel is that many of the melodies in the paraliturgical repertoire were taken from the repertoire of the Iraqi Maqām that was prevalent in Baghdad of their time. Hence, the use of both the written and the oral sources of the genres, and the Mu‘alem Collection in particular, as well as interviews with members of the Babylonian community may assist

188

Conclusion

in finding the missing melodies, most of which are from the last period of the Jewish presence in Iraq – that is, between the start of the nineteenth century and the middle of the twentieth century. In addition, a few questions regarding the cited melodies remain open for further investigation, including why they appear only in these particular songs and, if the melodies in this genre are often changed, why there are still cited melodies in a few of the songs. Assuming that the poet himself was the one who originally chose the melody for his song, are the cited melodies in the 1906 and 1954 collections, and the other known melodies of the other songs in these collections, the originals? And if they are not, when were they changed, why, and by whom? 2

Religious Characteristics

The comparison made in this book between the various PLS collections has revealed that identical songs can appear on different occasions and that identical occasions can cover different sets of songs. In addition, it has shown that the two largest collections contain indices that enable direct access to the songs regardless of the occasions on which they appear. Finally, this comparison has led to the conclusion that there is no one particular way to perform the paraliturgical text. It can be sung in a myriad ways, and it is the worshipper himself who decides which song to perform on which occasion. It happens to be that this open and flexible form of practice of the PLS – which is the reason for its constant relevance – is made possible first and foremost by its religious status. The PLS is not defined and regulated by any halakhic rules; therefore, the genre facilitated an open form of worship, which could freely absorb and adapt various cultural trends prevalent in its wider Arabo-Islamic surroundings. 3

Similar Features in the Text and Music of the Paraliturgical Song

Another reason for the genre’s flexibility has to do with its linguistic and poetic features. The paraliturgical text carries the potential of being understood in different ways, owing to both the prevalence of Biblical Hebrew, which offers manifold interpretations, and its thematic structure, which comprises one fixed motif and a variety of other motifs that are context-dependent. The former is a motif that appears in all songs and carries one independent meaning of praising the Lord. The latter, on the other hand, vary from one song to another and create a context-related meaning, since the themes can be understood

Conclusion

189

according to the ideas and values commemorated on the particular occasion at which the song is performed. Thus, each performance of the song yields a new and different meaning. The fixed theme is interwoven within the various and changeable themes and unifies them into one inclusive meaning, symbolising the very essence of the genre as Shbaḥ: a song of praises to the Lord. This very plethora of meanings, in and of itself, can create another stratum of individual and communal interpretations and thus unite the private or the individual and the public or the communal religious spheres into one single space. The independent and context-related aspects of the PLS’s texts are mirrored in the independent and context-related aspects of its melodies, which are all based on the Arabic maqām and its ajnās, and hence are manifested in different ways. The independent aspect derives from the melodic structure, which comprises a succession of self-contained thematic units. Each unit covers a musical content of one defined maqāmic idea that is based on a particular jins of the maqām. As such, the same melody can be easily adjusted to songs of various structures, lengths, and contents belonging to many occasions. The context-related aspect is created by the specific rendition of the melody with a specific text and is enhanced by the specific social and religious contexts of this rendition. Together, these components bring about some other subtle changes of their own and thus form another version of this same melody. Hence, it appears that, in the paraliturgical realm, which includes both the text and the music, all times unite into one, all contexts unite into one, and all meanings unite into one: all are channelled into the ‘present’ and the ‘forever’ in which praising the Lord is always pertinent. 4

Scripturality and Orality in the Paraliturgical Song

The paraliturgical text and paraliturgical music merge in their forms of documentation and their methods of transmission and practice of scriptural and oral traditions, respectively. The written collections attest to the fact that the paraliturgical text is a living text whose usage involves a strong element of orality through a chain of open engagement with the songs. The poets write the poems, with or without the intention to dedicate them for a particular religious occasion. The editors collect these poems and present them in a particular order, which they find suitable. The worshipper learns the songs through oral methods and, yet again, decides on which occasion and with what melody to perform them. The paraliturgical music, on the other hand, is far less balanced in this respect, as its role and function are ingrained in the oral tradition.

190 5

Conclusion

Jewish Scriptures and Other Sources in the Paraliturgical Text

The translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Judaeo-Arabic texts into English for the first time was one of the many pleasant surprises that these texts had in store for me. In attempting to translate them in a manner that reflects the intellectual, emotional and religious state of mind of the poets, the need to identify the Jewish sources of their poems became crucial. A deep philological excavation for linguistic treasures has revealed rich vocabulary, quotations and ideas derived from biblical, talmudic, midrashic, qabbalistic and other Jewish scriptures and sources. During different periods, various layers of these Jewish sources, including their idiosyncratic Hebrew, were employed, adapted, changed and shaped by the poets of the PLS, according to their own needs, in a fascinating manner. A general outlook springing from a preliminary investigation of this aspect is that in early periods, when the genre was a central vehicle of conveying religious and theological ideas, the use of these sources was intense. From Najarah’s time onwards, the paraliturgical language was flattened and tended to be simpler. Increasingly, the vocabulary was taken from popular liturgical texts, which were known to a larger part of the community. Aramaic appeared only from Najarah’s time onwards, and Judaeo-Arabic became popular amongst Babylonian poets from the eighteenth century onwards. 6

The Paraliturgical Song as a Unifying Element

The PLS revealed in this book is a unique and strong religious and artistic form that integrates into a single coherent frame a myriad of complex components that often seem contradictory. Its text conveys Jewish and Islamic ideas merged with religious and secular imageries, which are all shaped by Arabic and Hebrew linguistic conventions and moulded into the poetic aesthetics of these two languages. This rich text is sung mostly to Arabic melodies, which can be either measured or unmeasured, or both, and are either pre-composed or re-composed – that is, improvised. All these components unite the oral and written traditions and bring together private and public spaces under one religious roof. This characteristic represents a pivotal concept shared by both Judaism and Islam. In Judaism, it is named yiḥud ha’el and in Islam it is known as tawḥīd; both have the same meaning, which is the unity and oneness of God, who created a world of diversity. In both faiths, this concept reflects a spiritual process

Conclusion

191

that begins with the recognition that there is diversity in the world and that God created all the disparate elements of the world and integrated theme into one coherent entity. This key idea, which suggests that multiple and diverse elements are integrated into one single being, is echoed in the wider Arabic cultural milieu in many other aspects of life and thinking, including the arts. It was demonstrated in this book also through the PLS’s poets and the worshippers who integrated into their way of life and thinking both the Jewish and the Arabo-Islamic cultures in a remarkable way. Their history shows that the integration of these two cultures was enriching and rewarding and that this harmonious coexistence of the past has the power to inspire us to strive for a similar coexistence in the future. 7

The Concept of a Rule and Its Implementation in Both JudaeoArabic and Arabo-Islamic Cultures

It seems that the flexibility and context sensitivity of the PLS reflect a specific pattern of thinking, which is constructed in a form of a rule that is founded on a set of unchangeable values, mirroring Jewish spirit and aiming to shape and regulate worshippers’ conduct. This rule is formulated and re-formulated many times, and each time within a particular context in which it is carried out. Identifying the rule and understanding its function and purpose in Jewish life creates amongst worshippers the ability to apply this same rule in other different contexts without changing, distorting or damaging its core value and goal. In other words, the religious rule that stands behind the PLS refers to the worshipper’s conduct towards God through sung praises. The genre is fully intended for praising the Lord through singing on religious occasions outside the liturgy and, in fact, at all times. It is re-formulated by different editors who produced various versions for the paraliturgical repertoire, each of which creates different contexts for this rule by arranging the songs in a different manner. Understanding the purpose of the PLS qualifies the worshipper to choose any occasion on, or context in which he wants to sing these songs. He can adapt the option suggested by one of the editors, or create his own. It appears that in the paraliturgical realm circumstances change, but the value and its rule remain the same. The ‘what’, that is, the values and morals reflected and carried out by this genre, is more important than the ‘when’, that is, the occasions on which and the timing according to which it is performed. It does not matter on which exact occasion the PLS is performed: the most important thing is praising God. This rule is the heart and soul of the PLS. It

192

Conclusion

seems that every component of the genre is tailored to illustrate and geared towards facilitating its aim in different contexts, which is a design that perhaps makes its significance clearer for the worshipper and thus easier to adhere to. The PLS’s assemblage of flexibility and context sensitivity that makes the rule of praising God forever relevant is an inherent characteristic of the PLS. It can explain why the PLS has survived for so many centuries and never ceased to be relevant. The ability of the genre to adjust to changed circumstances and contexts is revealed in this book not only within the realm of the paraliturgical practice, but also in the different historical settings of time and place in which it was created and practised. In the attempt to understand the nature of the PLS both within its own culture and in the context of its wider cultural habitat, this assertion raises another avenue for future research. It concerns the concept of a rule, whether religious or secular, and its status and function in both cultures. This concept can be traced in many aspects of life and thinking in the Arabo-Islamic culture. However, I will focus here on Arabic music because it is one of the central pillars of Arabo-Islamic culture and, furthermore, it is most pertinent to our discussion. Flexibility and context sensitivity are also strong features in this style of music, and they both reflect the concept of a rule and, similarly, mirror its forms of execution. To begin with, it is important to point out the fact that in both cultures, text and music are strongly linked. The close tie between the two is deeply rooted in the traditions and languages of ancient Semitic societies, as well as in their advanced musical cultures, from which both Arabic and Hebrew proceeded. One piece of evidence for this link lies in the fact that approximately 95% of Arabic music that was fully adopted by Arab-Jews is predominantly vocal – that is, it is music composed for texts. Additionally, while both the Arabic and Hebrew languages each have a long and rich written tradition, Arabic music, which is common to both cultures, remained oral. These facts, taken as a whole, make it likely that there was a strong compatibility between text and music that lasted up until the present day. This strong connection was clearly demonstrated in Chapter 3 in the case of Hebrew texts and Arabic music. Another central feature of Arabic music is its function within both AraboIslamic and Judaeo-Arabic cultures. Whereas in Western culture, musical experience can be separated from actual life, on occasions such as classical music concerts, in Arab cultures, both Jewish and Muslim, music always accompanies the life of its carriers and functions as a part of their activities. In other words, whereas in Western culture people often adjust themselves to the musical event, in the Arabo-Islamic and the Judaeo-Arabic cultures it is the music that often adapts itself to people’s lives. In these cultures, people listen

Conclusion

193

to music when they eat, work, play and talk. Music is only rarely experienced as a separate event, distant from the mundane and routine parts of life itself. A concert, as it is known and experienced in the West, has traditionally rarely taken place in these cultures. Since Arabic music functions as an integral part of life, the clear distinction between the composer and the performer is not as sharp as it is in Western music. The boundaries between the two are quite flexible. A composer can create a melodic contour for a particular text; however, the performer can adjust this melody to both the time and place in which the song is performed, as well as to his particular audience. Furthermore, adding the special role of the audience in the musical experience, music also functions as a form of communication. A specific performance mirrors a specific dialogue between the performer and the audience. The communication between the two parties is both physical and verbal. With gestures, such as clapping hands, whistling and shouting while standing or seating, the audience expresses a rich vocabulary of words of adoration and admiration for the performer, as described in Chapter 4. In this lively dialogue, which can last for hours, both parties share with one another and adjust to each other’s expectations, emotions and enthusiasm. Subtlety is the core characteristic of this dialogue, as both sides are strongly attuned to each other and are extremely sensitive to every syllable of the text carried out by every single sound of the melody. In the performance itself, the move from one note to the next creates the dynamic of this dialogue, which is extremely intense and loaded. This dynamic can change not only from one artist to another, but also when the same artist performs for the same audience in a different time and in a different place. Any change in one of the specific parameters of a specific rendition of a specific song will result in another version or re-composition of the song. Additionally, the special structure of Arabic musical genres and the convention that stands behind their actual rendition allow the melody to be a compatible and effective medium for the text that it conveys, and hence further strengthens its function as a dynamic and sensitive channel of communication between the artist and the audience. By and large, Arabic music focuses on the movement and flow from one note to the next, rather than presenting, at one specific event, a large piece like a symphony or sonata, which is common practice in Western music. This small-scale attention to detail is geared towards conveying subtleties of sounds and syllables in a strong and powerful manner, which creates an equally powerful emotional state amongst both the performer and the audience. It is true that Arabic music also offers larger genres, such as the Iraqi Maqām with its five very long chapters, as discussed in Chapter 1, and the Egyptian Waṣlah, which comprises eight movements.

194

Conclusion

However, more often than not, musicians perform, for hours, only a section of these large forms and this would be welcomed and appreciated by their audiences just the same, because the musical dialogue is the most important thing for them. The flow from one note to the next is also facilitated by the special structure of the maqām itself and by the methods of its performance. The relatively large options of intervals that the maqām offers due to its half-flat and half-sharp tones, and the ajnās of the maqām and their role in the melody, as demonstrated in Chapter 4, create a richness of possibilities to further elaborate and expand a particular melodic contour and turn its rendition into a subtle and sophisticated form of communication between the artist and the audience. All of these strong features of Arabic music seem to reflect a rule that suggests that Arabic music is first and foremost a form of expression and communication between the artists and their audiences, rather than a reflection of the poet’s and the musician’s talent and need to express themselves, as it is often perceived in the Western culture. This human–musical interaction is more important than a specific melody and by far more important than the documentation of its specific rendition. This is just like the rule that stands behind the PLS, which focuses on the act of praising God at all times and hence the occasion on which a specific song is performed is much less important, let alone the specific melody and its composer. It seems that both the PLS and Arabic music reflect a cultural environment which produces context-oriented rules that conceive contexts as an integral part of the rules themselves. This concept is created with the understanding that a rule is not an isolated, remote and abstract perception concerning proper human conduct, but rather an integral part of the dynamic of human life and thinking. Thus, rules can be adjusted to many changes in human condition, and still keep the core values they represent. Through their flexible ability to respond effectively to different circumstances and contexts in life, these rules almost always seem to ‘automatically’ update themselves and, in doing so, they turn out to be everlasting. Therefore, the need for change in these rules is almost negligible, and thus their role and function within this culture and its people is highly appreciated and thus preserved. Hence, the PLS was and still is a central genre in Middle Eastern Judaism, and Arabic music still functions first and foremost as an active, lively, strong and direct form of communication between artists and audiences. Finding an explanation for the concept of a rule and its implementation in both the Judaeo-Arabic and the Arabo-Islamic cultures will involve deeper investigation not only into these two cases, but also into other central aspects of these two cultures that for many centuries shared common values and ideas

Conclusion

195

in many aspects of daily and spiritual life, and in the arts. One of the crucial questions, though far more complex than the others, which this similarity evokes is whether there is a common concept lying in a deeper stratum of both cultures, which influenced them to develop this concept and create a common cultural sphere, or whether they independently established this concept. Or, alternatively, did the hosting Arabo-Islamic culture influence the Jewish culture? In any case, the direction for further enquiry which emerged from the present study refers to the meaning, purpose and function of a defining rule, principle or convention in these cultures. The similarity between the PLS and Arabic music can also offer a possible direction for further exploration into the large question of why Arabic music was never written down in notation or in any other form of written system. The major features of Arabic music described above seems to suggest that this music was never intended to be documented in writing in the first place. This is due to its function within its own culture and amongst its people as a unique and dynamic form of human communication. It is true that Arab-Muslim scholars have described numerous aspects of the music, such as its ability to arouse certain emotions or its healing virtues. However, the actual melodies, up until the twentieth century, were never documented, and even then, they were documented only partially and with a system that was mostly based on the language of Western notation, including its inherent concept of an accurate and precise documentation of a musical composition – an approach that is much less relevant to the core essence of Arabic music. It is equally true that these features of Arabic music can be found in the music of other cultures. However, the combination of these parameters and their intensity are unique to Arabic music and hence should be considered when looking at possible answers for this enigmatic feature of the notation. This question is pertinent to our discussion not only because the PLS and Arabic music share the same concept that explains their core function in their own respective cultures, but also because Arabic music, more than any other aspect of the paraliturgical genre, is an intrinsic part of the PLS. Therefore, exploring the role and function of Arabic music on its own terms and in its own context will equally help in learning more about the deeper Jewish and Arabo-Islamic strata of the PLS. My proposed direction for further explorations and discoveries will help in further understanding the relationship between Judaism and Islam and the significant potential for growth, collaboration and coexistence that they hold. This potential, for the past century or so, lingered unused, neglected and replaced by destructive forces in both cultures that have made their strong mark and have obliterated any traces of the past long and relatively peaceful

196

Conclusion

coexistence between Judaism and Islam and their peoples – a coexistence that was demonstrated in this book through the PLS’s poets and the worshippers who integrated into their way of life and thinking both the Jewish and the Arabo-Islamic cultures in a remarkable way. Their history shows that the integration of, and collaboration between these two cultures was enriching and rewarding. It clearly reveals that this long and fruitful past coexistence has the power to inspire us to bring all these cultural artefacts and many of the perceptions they represent, into our present and to create a better future for all of us, both inside and outside the troubled Middle East.

Appendix 1

The Religious Occasions in the Two Mṣāḥif 1 Introduction – Both the titles of the occasions and their order in the mṣāḥif, as well as the number of songs each of the occasion comprises, are presented here as they appear in the body of the text and not in their indices (which have been found to contain some errors). – For occasions or festivals that have known names in English, the English term will appear and the Hebrew one will be mentioned in square parenthesis; otherwise, and in the following sections, a transliteration of the name accompanied by a translation is given. – A short description of each of the occasions appears in sections 3, 4 and 5, which are indicated in the first column of tables A2.1 and A2.2. – The description of the occasions is intended to provide the reader with the necessary details relevant to this book: namely, the time in the Jewish calendar of the occasions (this is according to the biblical tradition that considers the month of Nisan to be the first month of the Jewish year) and the idea or event they commemorate. Occasions that were described in the body of the work are mentioned here only briefly. – The last three lines in tables A2.1 and A2.2 indicate songs that are not classified according to a religious occasion.

2

The Occasions in Both Mṣāḥif

Table A1.1 The 1906 Miṣḥaf

Section no.

Occasion Name of occasion no.

No. of PLSs

Location in the Miṣḥaf

3.1 -”-”-”-”-

1 -”-”-”-”-

20 20 20 20 20

M(5A–12A;1–20) M(12B–21A;21–40) M(21A–28B; 41–60) M(28B–35B;61–80) M(35B–42A;81–100)

Shbaḥot for Sunday Shbaḥot for Monday Shbaḥot for Tuesday Shbaḥot for Wednesday Shbaḥot for Thursday

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_008

198

Appendix 1

Table A1.1 The 1906 Miṣḥaf (cont.)

Section no.

Occasion Name of occasion no.

No. of PLSs

Location in the Miṣḥaf

-”3.2 3.3

-”2 3

23 24 15

M(42B–51B;101–123) M(51B–61A;124–147) M(61B–71A;148–162)

3.4

4

4

M(71A–72B; 163–166)

3.5 3.6

5 6

7 3

M(72B–75B;167–173) M(75B–77A;174–176)

3.7 4.1

7 8

20 2

M(77A–87A;177–196) M(87A–88B;197–198)

4.2

9

7

M(89A–91B;199–205)

3.8 3.9

10 11

10 8

M(92A–96A;206–215) M(96A–99A;216–223)

3.10.1

12

2

M(99A–101A;224–225)

3.10.2

12

2

M(101A–103A;226–227)

3.11

13

2

M(103A–103B;228–229)

3.12

14

5

M(104A–106A;230–234)

3.13

15

1

M(106A–106B;235)

Shbaḥot for Friday Shbaḥot for the Sabbath Shbaḥot for the End of the Sabbath Shbaḥot for the First of the Month Shbaḥot for Ḥanukah Shbaḥot for the Sabbath of the Sheqels Shbaḥot for Purim Shbaḥot for Sabbath of the Red Heifer Shbaḥot for the Sabbath of the Month and [the Month of] Nisan Shbaḥot for Passover Shbaḥot for [the Sabbath of] Shirah Shbaḥot for the ThirtyThird Day of the Counting of the ‘Omer Shbaḥot for Rabbi Shim‘on Bar Yoḥay Shbaḥot for Ezekiel the Prophet, may his merit protect us amen Shbaḥot for Ezra the Scribe, may his merit protect us amen Shbaḥot for Our Master Joshua the High Priest, may his merit protect us amen

199

The Religious Occasions in the Two Mṣāḥif Table A1.1 The 1906 Miṣḥaf (cont.)

Section no.

Occasion Name of occasion no.

3.14

16

3.15

17

3.16

18, 19

3.17 3.18

20 21

3.19

22

3.19

23

3.20 3.21

24 25

3.22

26

Shbaḥot for Jerusalem, may it rebuilt speedily, and the Land of Israel Shbaḥot for Pentecost and the Ten [Commandments] Shbaḥot for the New Year and the Ten Days of Repentance Shbaḥot for Tabernacles Shbaḥot for the Evening of Hosha‘na’ Raba’ Shbaḥot for the people who are called up to the reading of the Torah, for the Day of Celebration of the Torah Shbaḥot for the Celebration of Hasho’evah and Haqafot Shbaḥot for Circumcision Pizmonim for the Bridegroom Pizmonim for Tfilin Songs of Rejoicing Maqāmāt The Silver Bowl

No. of PLSs

Location in the Miṣḥaf

6

M(106B–109B;236–241)

9

M(109B–113B;242–250)

8

M(113B–116B;251–258)

28 9

M(116B–125A;259–286) M(125A–128A;287–295)

9

M(128A–232A;296–304)

47

M(232A–149A;305–351)

15 16

M(149A–153B;352–366) M(154A–159A;367–382)

2 16 15 1

M(159A–160B*;383–384) M(160B–166A;385–400) M(166A–168B;401–415) M(168B–172B**;416)

* At the head of page 159A there appears (probably by mistake) the title of the previous occasion. ** Printing error of skipping the ten pages between 170A–179B.

200

Appendix 1

Table A1.2 The 1954 Miṣḥaf

Section Occasion Name of occasion no. no.

No. of PLSs

Location in the Miṣḥaf

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 5.1

1 2 3 4 5 6

76 23 15 5 5 1

M(11–54;1–76) M(54–68;77–99) M(68–83;100–114) M(83–86;115–119) M(86–90;120–124) M(90–91;125)

5.2

7

3.6

8

3.9

9

5.3 3.7 5.4

10 11 12

3.8 5.5

13 14

3.10.1

15

5.6

15

3.11

16

3.12

17

Baqashot Pizmonim for the Sabbath For the End of the Sabbath For the First of the Month Pizmonim for Ḥanukah Our Holy Sage Harashash, of blessed Memory For the Fifteenth Day of Shvaṭ For the Sabbath of the Shekels Pizmonim for [the Sabbath] of Shirah For the Seventh of ’Adar Pizmonim for Purim Pizmon for the Great Sabbath Pizmonim for Passover For Rabbi Me’ir Ba‘al Hanes, may his merit protect us amen, Twenty-Ninth of the ‘Omer Pizmonim for the ThirtyThird Day of the Counting of the ‘Omer Pizmon for Rabbi ‘Aqiva’, may his merit protect us amen Pizmon for Ezekiel the Prophet, may his merit Protect us amen Pizmonim for Ezra the Scribe

1

M(91–92;126)

1

M(92;127)

4

M(92–94;128–131)

2 13 1

M(95–96;132–133) M(96–106;134–146) M(106–107;147)

5 1

M(107–109;148–152) M(109–111;153)

4

M(111–116;154–157)

1

M(116;158)

1

M(116–117;159)

4

M(117–120;160–163)

201

The Religious Occasions in the Two Mṣāḥif Table A1.2 The 1954 Miṣḥaf (cont.)

Section Occasion Name of occasion no. no. 3.13

18

3.14

19

3.15

20

3.16

21, 22

3.17 3.18

23 24

3.19

25

3.19

26

3.21

27

3.20 5.7

28 29

3.22

30

Pizmonim for Joshua the High Priest, may his merit protect us amen Pizmonim for Jerusalem, may it rebuilt speedily, and the Land of Israel For Pentecost and the Ten Commandments For the High Holy Days and the Ten Days of Repentance Pizmonim for Tabernacles For the Evening of Hosha‘na’ Raba’ For the Celebration of the Torah, for the people who are called up to the reading of the Torah For the Celebration of Hasho’evah and Haqafot Seven Blessings for the Bridegroom Pizmonim for the Bridegroom Pizmonim for Circumcision Pizmon for the Father of a Newborn Baby Girl Pizmonim for Bar Mitsvah Various Pizmonim Ptiḥot (Maqāmāt) The Silver Bowl

No. of PLSs

Location in the Miṣḥaf

1

M(120–121;164)

6

M(121–126;165–170)

5

M(126–129;171–175)

7

M(129–134;176–182)

11 9

M(134–142;183–193) M(142–147;194–202)

9

M(147–154;203–211)

47

M(154–182;212–258)

1 33

M(182–183;259) M(183–199;260–292)

23 1

M(199–211;293–315) M(212;316)

3 24 29 1

M(212–214;317–319) M(214–228;320–343) M(228–235;344–372) M(236;373)

202

Appendix 1

3

Occasions in Both Mṣāḥif

3.1

Baqashot [Baqashot Le’ashmoret Haboqer]

3.2

The Sabbath [Shabat]

3.3

The End of the Sabbath [Motsa’ey Shabat]

3.4

The First of the Month [Ro’sh Ḥodesh]

3.5

Ḥanukah

3.6

The Sabbath of the Shekels [Shabat Shqalim]

3.7

Purim

Sung at dawn, before the Morning Prayer.

A holy and blessed day on which work is forbidden as, according to the Bible, on this day God rested after he created the world in six days.

The end of the Sabbath, Saturday night, is celebrated through the Havdalah [separation], a short prayer in which a blessing describing the distinction between the sacred day of the Sabbath and the secular week days is recited.

The first day of every month in the Jewish calendar is marked by the appearance of the new moon, that is, in a shape of a crescent. It is announced in the synagogue on the Sabbath prior to its observance, commemorating also the original announcement procedures of the new moon prevalent in the period prior to 358 CE, the time when the Jewish calendar was fixed.

An eight-day celebration in the month of Kislev (the ninth month in the Jewish calendar), commemorating the liberation of the Temple in Jerusalem, in the second century BCE, from the Hellenistic king Antiochus the Fourth.

The Sabbath before the first of ’Adar (the twelfth month in the Jewish calendar), commemorating the custom prevalent in the time of the Temple according to which every adult male over the age of twenty had to pay half a shekel for the Temple’s service cost. It was announced on the first day of ’Adar and was payable during this month.

Celebrated on the fourteenth day of ’Adar, this festival commemorates the deliverance of the Jews of the ancient Persian Empire from Haman, a high-ranking vizier who conspired to annihilate them. The story is recorded in the Bible in the Book of Esther, which is read on Purim.

The Religious Occasions in the Two Mṣāḥif

3.8

Passover [Pesaḥ]

3.9

The Sabbath of Shirah [Shabat Shirah]

203

This is the first of the three yearly pilgrimage festivals, namely, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, during which, in ancient Israel, the Israelites used to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem to participate in rituals and ceremonies with the priests. These three festivals are also agricultural in nature: Passover celebrates the beginning of the new planting season, Pentecost, the first harvest (late spring) and Tabernacles, the last harvest (before the winter rains). Passover is celebrated on the fifteenth of Nisan (the first month of the Jewish calendar) and lasts for seven days. It commemorates the exodus from Egypt and the liberation from slavery, as well as the historical pilgrimage to the Temple.

The Sabbath on the tenth day of the month of Shvaṭ (the eleventh month in the Jewish calendar) during which the reading of the Torah includes Shirat Hayam [the Song of the Sea] (Exodus 13:17–17:6), which according to the Bible (ibid.), was sung by Moses and the People of Israel at the Red Sea after God released them from Egypt.

3.10.1 The Thirty-Third Day of the Counting of the ‘Omer [Lag Ba‘omer]

This is the only day of the seven-week period between Passover and Pentecost on which the semi-mourning customs observed throughout this period are lifted. The reason for the emergence of this occasion is unclear. One of the explanations is described in the Talmud Bavli (Yevamot 62b): the twenty-four thousand students of Rabbi ‘Aqiva’ (see Section 5.6), the most prominent tana’ [rabbinic sage, pl. tana’im] from the turn of the second century, were killed in a plague which stopped on the thirty-third day. Two of the five survivors were Rabbi Me’ir Ba‘al Hanes (see Section 5.5) and Rabbi Shim‘on Bar Yoḥay (see Section 3.10.2).

3.10.2 Rabbi Shim‘on Bar Yoḥay

In addition to the reason described in Section 3.10.1, according to Jewish tradition, Bar Yoḥay wrote the Zohar and therefore is regarded as an important figure in qabbalistic law.

3.11

Ezekiel the Prophet [Yeḥezqe’l Hanavi’]

Around Pentecost, in the month of Sivan (the third month in the Jewish calendar), the Babylonian Jews used to make a pilgrimage to what is believed to be the tomb of the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel was exiled to Babylon along with king Jehoiachin of Judah and a large number of Jews from Jerusalem, by the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 BCE, and according to Jewish tradition he had started prophesying in Babylon.

204

Appendix 1

His tomb has been a place of pilgrimage for both Jews and Muslims. The twelfth century traveller Rabbi Petaḥyah Ben Ya’aqov of Ratisbon described the tomb: … for there is a people in the neighbourhood of Babel which does not respect the king’s authority. It lives in the desert; and is called Charamim (note 48, p. 88: Charamim is probably derived from the Arabic charam, meaning a thief. We do not know what particular tribe is here alluded to) because it robs and plunders every nation. They only believe in the God of Ezekiel, and thus all the Ishmaelites call them. About a day’s or half a day’s journey from Baghdad in the desert is the grave of the prophet Ezekiel. It is in the possession of the Charamim. The city is about a mile from the grave. The Jews possess the keys. Round the grave of Ezekiel there is a wall, and a large town, and a large enclosure. The Jews open the wicket, which is so low that those entering have to crawl on hands and feet. On the festival of Tabernacles people from all countries resort hither, when the entrance becomes enlarged by itself, so that they can enter it even on camels. About 60,000 or 80,000 Jews meet there, besides Ishmaelites. Tabernacles are erected in the enclosure of Ezekiel. Afterwards the entrance shrinks to its former dimensions. All can see that. Vows and free-will offerings take place over his grave. And whoever is barren, or whose cattle is barren, makes a vow, or prayer over his grave. Pethahiah Ben Jacob 1861: 25

The occasion celebrated after the immigration to Israel, commemorates this event.

3.12

Ezra the Scribe [‘Ezra’ Hasofer]

Sometime after Pentecost, another pilgrimage, originally celebrated by the Babylonian Jews still in Iraq, is commemorated. This time, it is to the tomb of Ezra the Scribe. The traveller Petaḥiah Ben Ya’aqov of Ratisbon describes the tomb in the twelfth century: Ezra the Scribe is buried on the boundary of the land of Babylon. When the pillar of fire is over his grave, the structure erected on it is not visible, on account of the brightness over his grave. Pethahiah Ben Jacob 1861: 51

3.13

Our Master Joshua the High Priest [Le’adonenu Yehoshu‘a Kohen Gadol]

A few figures in Jewish history named Yehoshu‘a Ben Yehotsadaq Kohen Gadol were found in this study. The one most likely to be described in the poem is a priest who lived in 537 BCE and together with Zerubavel Ben Shalti’el led an immigration of fifty thousand Jews from Babylon to Israel. He is buried in Baghdad and pilgrimage to his tomb was not restricted to a particular date (Ben Ya‘akov 1980A: 9).

The Religious Occasions in the Two Mṣāḥif

3.14

Jerusalem and the Land of Israel [Yerushalayim Ve’erets Yisra’el]

3.15

Pentecost and the Ten Commandments [Shavu‘ot Ve‘aseret Hadibrot]

205

Before the immigration to Israel, the pilgrimage of the Babylonian Jews to Jerusalem and other holy places in Palestine used to take place sometime between Passover and Pentecost. Apparently, this custom had begun in the sixteenth century, after the Ottomans defeated the Persians and conquered Babylon in 1534 (except for the period 1623–38, when the Persians conquered Babylon again). Then, both Babylon and Palestine were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and travelling from one part of the empire to the other was permitted (Tobi, Barnai and Bar-Asher 1981: 45).

The second of the three pilgrimage festivals is celebrated on the sixth day of the month of Sivan (the third month in the Jewish calendar). Pentecost commemorates the pilgrimage to the Temple, the conclusion of the grain harvest, and the bringing of the first fruits to the Temple. It also commemorates the revelation on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1–16) and matan Torah [the giving of the Torah or the Ten Commandments] to the People of Israel (Deuteronomy 4:9–14 and 5:1–28), (see also Section 3.8).

3.16

The New Year/High Holy Days [Yamim Nora’im], and the Ten Days of Repentance [Ve‘aseret Yemey Tshuvah]

The New Year is celebrated on the first day of the month Tishrey (the seventh month in the Jewish calendar), and the Day of Atonement is celebrated on the tenth day of this month. The Ten Days of Repentance are the days between these two festivals, and the whole period is called Yamim Nora’im. The Day of Atonement is the most important of Jewish festivals, which is also observed with a twenty-five-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer.

3.17

Tabernacles [Sukot]

3.18

Hosha‘na’ Raba’

The last of the three pilgrimage festivals is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the month Tishrey (the seventh month in the Jewish calendar) and during the following seven days. It also commemorates the People of Israel’s forty years of wandering in the desert and camping in booths (see also Section 3.8).

This occasion is celebrated on the seventh day of Tabernacles, usually in the synagogue, where seven circuits are made by the worshippers holding their bundles of branches of lulavim [willows] and reciting special text called Hosha‘anot (from Psalm 118:25) while the scrolls of the Torah are removed from the ark. This occasion commemorates the ceremony, in the days of the Temple, in which the willow was involved and the same text was recited. According to Jewish tradition, this is the day of the final sealing of God’s judgment, which began at the New Year.

206 3.19

Appendix 1

The Celebration of the Torah [Simḥat Torah]; for the People Who Are Called Up to the Reading of the Torah [Le‘aliyah Latorah]; Hasho’evah and Haqafot [the Circuits of the Torah]

This occasion occurs on the eighth day of Tabernacles, Shmini ‘Atseret [the Eighth Day of Assembly], marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of the public reading of the Torah and the beginning of a new cycle. The scrolls are taken out of the ark, and the worshippers make seven circuits of the synagogue with them, accompanied by singing and dancing [Haqafot]. Many worshippers are also called up to the reading of the Torah. Hasho’evah or Simḥat Beyt Hasho’evah [the Celebration of the Sho’evah] is celebrated during each of the six evenings of Tabernacles (days 2–7) and refers to its agricultural aspects. According to the Talmud, this is the time when God judges the world for giving rainfall. Thus, this celebration is meant both to invoke God’s blessing for rain, and to commemorate the service which used to be performed every morning of this festival in the Temple for this purpose.

3.20

Circumcision [Brit Milah]

3.21

The Seven Blessings for the Bridegroom [Sheva‘ Brakhot Laḥatan]; Pizmonim for the Bridegroom [Laḥatan]

A ceremony performed on the eighth day of life of a baby boy. The act of the circumcision itself symbolizes the covenant between God and Abraham’s offspring, and as such, it is regarded as the most important sign of loyalty to Judaism.

In the Iraqi tradition, both the blessings and songs are recited and sung respectively, on the Sabbath preceding the day of the actual marriage ceremony.

3.22

Tfilin [Phylacteries] or Bar Mitsvah

4

Only in the 1906 Miṣḥaf

4.1

The Sabbath of the Red Heifer [Shabat Parah]

According to the halakhah, when a Jewish boy reaches the age of thirteen he becomes responsible and accountable for his own actions, one to whom the commandments of the Torah apply, that is Bar Mitsvah. Thus, from this point in his life, he must obey Jewish law.

It is celebrated on the Sabbath preceding the Sabbath of the Month, the Sabbath before the first of the month of Nisan (the first month of the Jewish calendar). On this Sabbath, the reading of the Torah includes the description of the Red Heifer and the purification qualities of its ashes. Purification in the time of the Temple was important

The Religious Occasions in the Two Mṣāḥif

207

for anyone who wished to participate in the sacrificial ritual of Passover, which took place in the Temple.

4.2

The Sabbath of the Month [Shabat Haḥodesh] and [the Month of ] Nisan

This is the last Sabbath before the first of the month of Nisan (the first month of the Jewish calendar), in which according to Jewish tradition God liberated the People of Israel from the Egyptians.

5

Only in the 1954 Miṣḥaf

5.1

Our Holy Sage Harashash [Morenu Haqadosh Rabi Sar Shalom]

5.2

The Fifteenth Day of Shvaṭ [Ṭu Bishvaṭ]

5.3

The Seventh of ’Adar [Shiv‘ah Be’adar]

5.4

For the Great Sabbath [Leshabat Hagadol]

He lived in the first half of the fourteenth century in Baghdad and was then ro’sh hagolah [the head of the Diaspora], a title that had been conferred upon rabbinic leaders in Babylon from the sixth century BCE until the twelfth century CE (Ben Ya‘akov 1980B: 84). The day of his death is commemorated on the tenth day of Shvaṭ (the eleventh month in the Jewish calendar).

This occasion originally had no religious significance, and the Talmud does not describe any celebration or liturgical observance associated with the fifteenth of Shvaṭ (the eleventh month in the Jewish calendar). It is only since the seventeenth century, and partly under the influence of the qabbalists of Safed, who saw a strong affinity between mankind and trees, that this special celebration emerged. In this month, marking the approaching end of winter in the land of Israel, it is celebrated among Jewish communities of the East with the eating of fifteenth different fruits, accompanied by reading of various passages from the Bible, the Talmud and the Zohar.

According to Jewish tradition, it was on this day that Moses was born, and died 120 years later. A special prayer is recited and pious Jews fast.

This is the Sabbath before Passover and it chiefly commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and the coming of Elijah, the Messiah. The Messiah is not mentioned explicitly in the Bible. However, there are several references in the Bible to ’aḥarit hayamim [The Latter Days] which is considered as the time of the Messiah, such as Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15, and Isaiah 11:2–5.

208

Appendix 1

5.5 Rabbi Me’ir the Master of the Miracles [Rabbi Me’ir Ba‘al Hanes]

This occasion is celebrated on the fourteenth of ’Iyar (the second month in the Jewish calendar), which is also the twenty-ninth day (out of the forty-nine days between the second day of Passover and Pentecost) of the counting of the ‘Omer [sheaf of corn], by pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Me’ir, who is buried, according to Jewish tradition, on mount Meron, located in the northern part of Israel. Rabbi Me’ir was one of the most prominent tana’im who lived in the time of the Mishnah (70–200 CE). He is known also as ba‘al hanes [the Master of Miracles] a name which was given to him only in the eighteenth century.

5.6 Rabbi ‘Aqiva’

He was a leading tana’ [rabbinic sage, pl. tana’im] from the later part of the first century and the beginning of the second century, who contributed significantly to Jewish law and is considered as one of the earliest founders of rabbinical Judaism. His memory is commemorated also on Lag Ba‘omer (see sections 3.10.1–3.10.2).

5.7

The Father of a Newborn Baby Girl [Le’avi Habat]

This is an occasion which marks the birth of a baby girl.

Appendix 2

The Biblical Sources of Vayiten Lekha [May God Give You] in the Two Mṣāḥif

Quotation no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14

Text*

Biblical source

‘And God give you … blessed be they who bless you.’ ‘May El Shaddai bless you … which God assigned to Abraham.’ ‘The God of your father who helps you … on the brow of the elect of his brothers.’ ‘He will favor you and bless you … upon all your enemies.’ ‘Blessed shall you be in the city … and blessed shall you be in your goings.’ ‘The LORD will ordain blessings for you … LORD your God is giving you.’ ‘The LORD will open for you His bounteous store … but debtor to none.’ ‘O happy Israel! … and you shall tread on their backs.’ ‘But Israel has won through the LORD … in all the ages to come!’ ‘And you shall eat your fill … and My people shall be shamed no more.’ ‘And the ransomed of the LORD shall return … while sorrow and sighing flee.’ ‘Yea, you shall leave in joy … and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.’ ‘Behold the God who gives me triumph! … for great in your midst Is the Holy One of Israel.’ ‘In that day they shall say: … let us rejoice and exult in His deliverance!’

Genesis 27:28–29 Genesis 28:3–4 Genesis 49:25–26 Deuteronomy 7:13–15 Deuteronomy 28:3–6 Deuteronomy 28:8 Deuteronomy 28:12 Deuteronomy 33:29 Isaiah 45:17 Joel 2:26–27 Isaiah 35:10 Isaiah 55:12 Isaiah 12:2–6

Isaiah 25:9

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_009

210

Appendix 2

(cont.)

Quotation no.

Text*

Biblical source

15

‘Heartening comforting words: it shall be well … and I will heal them.’ ‘Then the spirit seized Amasai … and placed them at the head of his band.’ ‘Say as follows: ‘To life! … greetings to you and to all that is yours!’ ‘Blessed is he who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD alone.’ ‘May the LORD grant strength to His people; … the LORD bestow on His people wellbeing.’

Isaiah 57:19

16 17 18 19

I Chronicles 12:19 I Samuel 25:6 Jeremiah 17:7 Psalms 29:11

* Translation: Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (1985). The texts given here present only the opening and ending words of each of the quotations.

The name of the person who assembled these biblical verses into one passage is unknown. The text comprises quotations from eight different biblical sources. All of them express the same divine blessings for good fortune, redemption, salvation and peace. Within each of these quotations, verses which refer to the enemies of the People of Israel, describing their horrendous fate, are omitted. One striking example is the fifth and sixth quotations: Deuteronomy 28:3–6 and 28:8. Verse 7, which is omitted, refers to the enemies of the People of Israel: ‘The LORD will put to rout before you the enemies who attack you; they will march out against you by a single road, but flee from you by many roads’. The reason for this omission remains to be discovered.

Appendix 3

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf: an Historical, Cultural and Geographical Mapping Notes: 1. 2.

First column: poems marked with an asterisk do not appear in the 1906 miṣḥaf. Second column: poems marked with an asterisk are the ones which the name of their author was not found in any source that can provide information as to their time and place. The names of the poets are transliterated from Hebrew. 3. Fourth column: the abbreviations used are Muslim Spain – M.S.; Ottoman– Empire – O.E.; Constantinople – Cons. 4. In the seventh column, the sources presented for each of the poems with identified authorship refer to the following details: 4.1 The sources in which the text and the name of the poet appear. 4.2 The source which gives information regarding the time and place in which the poet lived. This source appears only in the first time the poet is mentioned. 4.3 Davidson’s reference D(year: page: number of poem), also gives a list of other sources in which the poem appears. 4.4 Poems marked with an asterisk attached to the source ‘1954 miṣḥaf ’ are the ones which the name of their author is spelled by their acrostic. 4.5 Najarah’s reference N(year and part: page) from his Zmirot Yisra’el (Venice 1599) comprises three parts, thus: ‘Olat Tamid [Habitual Burnt Offering] is marked with A; ‘Olat Shabat [Sabbath Burnt Offering] with B; and ‘Olat Ḥadash [New Burnt Offering] with C. 5. ’Al-Ḥakham’s poems do not appear in Davidson’s reference, except for one: ’Asader Shavḥa’ (1924:314:6903), M(108;150) in the miṣḥaf. ’Al-Ḥakham’s name appears as Yosef Ḥayim.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_010

Poet

’Ibn Gabirol ’Avraham Maimin

Unknown Najarah

Saleḥ Matsliaḥ

Najarah

Unknown Najarah

’Ibn Gabirol ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’

Najarah

11:1 11;2

12;3 13;4

14;5

14;6

15;7 15;8

16;9 16;10

16;11

M.S. SafedPalestine

Place

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza 1020–1057 M.S. 1089–1164 -”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza 18th century Baghdad

1020–1057 16th century

Period

-”-

Hebrew -”-

-”Aramaic

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

Hebrew -”-

Language

-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

Baqashot -”-

Occasion

The Poets of the Miṣḥaf: a Historical, Cultural and Geographical Mapping

M(X;Y)



Jarden (1971:20) Levin (1975:43) D(1924:21:418) N(1599A:62)

D(1924:366:8089) N(1599A:4)

Ben Ya‘akov (1970:21) D(1930:319:244) D(1929:326:1452)

Jarden (1971:566) 1954 miṣḥaf* Nulman (1993:66) Davidson (1924:177:3837) D(1930:488:1740) D(1929:351:2010)

Source

212 Appendix 3

-”-”’Al-Ḥakham

Najarah

-”-”‘Ezra’ Ben Rabi Eliyahu Sofer Unknown Najarah

-”-”Shma‘yah Qosona Unknown Najarah

-”-

17;12 17;13 18;14

20;15

20;16 21;17 21;18

22;21 23;22 24;23 25;24 26;25

26;26

22;19 22;20

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”-”Morocco

O.E.

-”-”Baghdad

O.E.

-”-”Baghdad

Place

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, Gaza -”-”16th century

1555, Damascus–1625, Gaza -”-”19th century

-”-”1835–1909

Period

-”-

-”-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-”Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic Hebrew

Language

-”-

-”-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-

Occasion

D(1929:411:3323)

N(1599A:49) N(1599A:2) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1924:206:4507) N(1599A:23)

D(1929:416:3431) Najarah (1599A:78) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:250) D(1930:388:215) D(1924:234:5091) D(1929:414:3393)

D(1929:416:3431)

N(1599A:97) D(1929:272:297) Ben Ya‘akov (1994:105,114)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

213

-”Unknown Zraḥyah Halevib

Najarah Mosheh Halevi

Najarah

30;33 30;34 31;35

31;36 32;37

32;38

O.E.

Baghdad

-”Provence

Place

O.E. Baghdad

Provence

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza

1555–1625 1835–1909

12th century

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

1555–1625

Najarah Mikha’el Kohen* Najarah

28;30 29;31 29;32

27;29

-”-”Yitsḥaq Ben Yehudah Early 13th century Hasniri Mosheh Halevi 1835–1909

26;27 27;28

Period

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

Aramaic

-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

Aramaic Hebrew

Language

Baqashot

-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-

Occasion

D(1929:435:3833) D(1929:283:555) Maizlish (1990:47) D(1929:219:269) Schirmann (1997:431) N(1599A:88) 1954 miṣḥaf*; Ben Ya‘akov (1980A:188); D(1930:71:55) D(1929:244:485)

D(1929:442:3994) Fleischer (1975:411) D(1929:119:63) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1980B:188,92) D(1930:101:718) N(1599A:47) D(1930:170:2162) D(1929:438:3903)

Source

214 Appendix 3

Yosef Ben Sha’ul*c

Rabi ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin Unknownd ‘Ezra’ Ben Rabi Eliyahu Sofere Najarah

-”-

-”-

-”-”Rabi ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin Mosheh Halevi

33;39

33;40

35;44

36;45

36;46 37;47 38;48*

38;49

35;43

34;41 34;42

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

Baghdad

Baghdad

Izmir

Place

1835–1909

-”-”d. 1859

-”-

-”-

-”-”Baghdad

-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

19th century

d. 1859

1570–1653

Period

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Turkish Hebrew

-”-

Hebrew

Language

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-

Occasion

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:250) D(1929:4:77) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:53) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:35) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:109) D(1929:283:552) D(1929:481:373) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:127) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1924:319:7020)

1954 miṣḥaf* D(1929:453:4230) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:117) D(1930:279:692)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

215

Mosheh Zakut Mosheh Halevi

Najarah

-”-

-”-

-”Yitsḥaq Dabaḥ*

Najarah

-”Shabta’y Ḥaviv Ben ’Avishay* ’Ibn Gabirol

39;50 39;51*

40;52

40;53

41;54

42;55 42;56

43;57

43;58 44;59*

44;60

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

Italy Baghdad

Place

-”-

-”-

1020–1057

M.S.

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

-”-

-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

17th century 1835–1909

Period

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

Language

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

Occasion

Jarden (1971:79) D(1930:443:822)

N(1599A:47) D(1929:483:433)

1954 miṣḥaf D(1929:327:1485) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:52) D(1930:62:1356) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1929:276:380) D(1929:128:270)

D(1929:361:2211) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1930:188:2565) N(1599A:2)

Source

216 Appendix 3

Poet

Najarah

Mordekhay ‘Abadi

-”-

’Avraham ‘Antabi

Najarah

-”Unknown Najarah

-”-

Yehudah Halevif

M(X;Y)

45;61

45;62*

46;63*

46;64

47;65

48;66 48;67 49;68

50;69*

50;70*

(cont.)

Place

-”-

-”-

1075–1141

M.S.

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

1765–1858

-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza 1826–1884 Ḥalab

Period

-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Hebrew

Aramaic

Language

-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Occasion

1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:69) Brody (1971:35)

1954 miṣḥaf Najarah (1599A:25) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1930:100:691) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1930:191:2638) 1954 miṣḥaf* Ben Ya‘akov (1965:107,126) D(1924:92:1989) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:67) N(1599A:67) D(1924:71:1530) D(1929:413:3362)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

217

Yitsḥaq Ben Rabi Saleḥ Mkamal

Unknown ’El‘azar Ben Mosheh ’Azkari Najarah Shim‘on ’Aharon ’Aghasi Unknowng ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’

Dunash Ben Labrat

Sason Ben Rabi Mordekhay Mosheh Shindukhh

51;71*

51;72* 52;73

55;78

55;79

53;76 54;77

52;74 53;75*

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

SafedPalestine O.E. Baghdad

1533–1600

915, Fez–970, Cordoba ‘AbbasidBaghdad and M.S. 1747–1830 Baghdad

1089–1164

M.S.

Baghdad and Jerusalem

1876, Baghdad–1952, Jerusalem

1555–1625 1851–1914

Place

Period -”-

Occasion

Ben Ya‘akov (1970:252) Ben Ya‘akov (1994A:91) D(1929:74:1650)

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”Pizmonim for the D(1929:471:194) Sabbath -”Allony (1947:57) D(1929:113:342)

-”-”-

Nulman (1993:365) D(1929:277:407) 1954 miṣḥaf; N(1599A:65) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1965:204)

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:397)

Source

-”-”-

-”-”-

Judaeo-Arabic -”Hebrew -”-

-”-

Language

218 Appendix 3

Poet

Mosheh Halevi

Unknown -”Najarah

-”-”Mosheh Halevi

Sason Yisra’el

Rabi ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin ’Al-Ḥakham

-”-

M(X;Y)

57;80

57;81 58;82 59;83

59;84* 60;85 61;86*

61;87

62;88

63;89*

64;90*

(cont.)

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

d. 1859

1835–1909

-”-

-”-”Baghdad

O.E.

Baghdad

Place

1820–1911

1555, Damascus–1625, Gaza -”-”1835–1909

1835–1909

Period

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-

Hebrew

Language 1954 miṣḥaf*; D(1924:360:7945) D(1924:348:7684) D(1924:230:5007) N(1599A:27)

Source

N(1599A:50) D(1929:379:2611) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1930:84:329) Pizmonim for the 1954 miṣḥaf* Sabbath Ben Ya‘akov (1965:157) D(1930:84:329) -”1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:109) D(1930:255:165) -”1954 miṣḥaf BenYa‘akov (1994:108,110) -”1954 miṣḥaf BenYa‘akov (1994:103,110)

-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

Occasion

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

219

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Yehoshu‘a Mantsur* Unknown -”Biblical Text

65;92*

65;93

66;94*

66;95*

67;96

67;97

70;101

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Period

Yitsḥaq Ben Yehudah 1030–1089 ’Ibn Ghayyath

-”-

64;91*

68;98 68;99 68;100

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

M.S.

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Place

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Language

-”-”For the End of the Sabbath -”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Occasion

Nulman (1993:153) D(1929:147:741)

D(1929:438:3904) D(1930:68:215) See Appendix 2

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:103) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:101,111) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:101) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:113) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:103) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:111) D(1929:336:688)

Source

220 Appendix 3

’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ Ya‘aqov Manuy

Unknown ’El‘azar Ben Ya‘aqov Habavlii Unknown ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ Unknown ’Al-Ḥakham

-”-”-”-”-

Saleḥ Matsliaḥ

71;102 72;103

73;104 73;105

77;110 78;111* 79;112 80;113

81;114

74;106 75;107 76;108 77;109

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

18th century

-”-

-”-”-”-”-

Baghdad

1835–1909

-”-”-”-”-

M.S.

Baghdad

-”-”-

Place

1089–1164

1195–1250

1089–1164 13th century

Period

-”-

-”-”Judaeo-Arabic -”-

-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-

Language

-”-”-”For the End of the Sabbath -”-

-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-

Occasion

Benayahu (1993:167) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:45)

D(1930:186:2521) D(1930:449:924) D(1924:264:5795) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:104,111) Ben Ya‘akov (1994:103) Ben Ya‘akov (1994:107) Ben Ya‘akov (1994:114) Ben Ya‘akov (1994:114)

D(1924:162:2453) 1954 miṣḥaf*; D(1929:34:776) Nulman (1993:94) D(1929:225:60) Ratzaby (1991:23,161)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

221

Unknown

Najarah

Unknown ’Al-Ḥakham -”-

Najarah

Unknown -”Rabi Yosef Ben Rabi Sleiman Ma‘atuq Unknown ’Aharon Bar ’Avraham Ḥakiman ’Al-Ḥakham

83;115

84;116

85;117 85;118 86;119*

86;120

88;121 89;122 89;123j

91;126

90;124* 90;125

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

Place

Baghdad -”-

First half of the 14th century 1835–1909

d. 1905

-”-

Baghdad

Baghdad

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza

1835–1909 -”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza

Period

-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

Hebrew

Language

Davidson (1929:264:150) D(1929:296:843) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:246)

1954 miṣḥaf; N(1599C:98) D(1930:455:1056) Ben Ya‘akov (1994:108,112) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:111) D(1929:418:3479)

D(1930:504:2050)

Source

-”Our Holy Sage Ben Ya‘akov (1980B:84) Harashash Schirmann (1965:139) For the Fifteenth Ben Ya‘akov (1994:101,109) Day of Shvaṭ

Pizmonim for Ḥanukah -”-”-”-

-”-”-”-

For the First of the Month -”-

Occasion

222 Appendix 3

Mosheh Halevi

Unknown Mosheh Ḥutsin

Unknown

’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ Unknown

‘Ezra’ First half of the 19th Ben Sason Ben ‘Ezra’ century

94;130 94;131

95;132*

95;133* 96;134

96;135

1089–1164

d. 1810

Baghdad

M.S.

Baghdad

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza 1835–1909 Baghdad

93;129

92;128

-”-

d. 1859

Rabi ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin Najarah

92;127*

Place

Period

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Language

For the Seventh of ’Adar -”Pizmonim for Purim -”-

-”-”-

Pizmonim for Shirah -”-

For the Sabbath of the Shekels

Occasion

1954 miṣḥaf* Ben Ya‘akov (1970:282) D(1930:262:324)

D(1924;382;8446) D(1930:448:910)

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:112) D(1930:254:157) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599C:113) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1924:360:7947) D(1930:451:967) 1954 miṣḥaf* Ben Ya‘akov (1965:120; 1970:90); D(1930:153:1811) D(1930:325:371)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

223

Sha’ul Halevi

’Ibn Gabirol

Najarah

Unknown -”’Al-Ḥakham

101;139 102;140

102;141

103;142

103;143

104;144* 105;145 105;146*

99;138

Rabi ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin ’Avraham Ḥayun Bar Shlomoh Unknown Najarah

98;137 O.E. Turkey

M.S.

1835–1909

Baghdad

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza

1020–1057

Language

-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Occasion

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”Hebrew, Aramaic and Judaeo-Arabic Hebrew -”-

-”-”-

-”-

Salonika and Hebrew Amsterdam Baghdad -”-

Place

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza 19th century Baghdad

18th century

d. 1859

Yosef Shalom Galyago 17th century

97;136

Period

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

1954 miṣḥaf* Ben Ya‘akov (1970:443) D(1929;299:901) 1954 miṣḥaf D(1929:474:242) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599C:107) D(1929:394:2961) D(1929:336:1681) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:110,111)

1954 miṣḥaf* D(1924:105:2237) D(1924:168:;2152) D(1929:336:1678)

1954 miṣḥaf* D(1930:298:41) D(1930:336:155)

Source

224 Appendix 3

Poet

Sason Ben Rabi Mordekhay Mosheh Shindukh

Mosheh Ḥutsin

Nisim Matsliaḥ

’Al-Ḥakham

Najarah

-”-

Unknown

M(X;Y)

106;147

107;148

108;149

108;150

108;151

109;152

109;153

(cont.)

-”-

-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

1835–1909

18th–19th centuries

-”-

-”-

1747–1830

d. 1810

Place

Period

-”-

-”-

Hebrew

Aramaic

-”-

-”-

-”-

Language

For Rabbi Me’ir Ba‘al Hanes, Twenty-Ninth of the ‘Omer

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Pizmonim for Passover

Pizmon for the Great Sabbath

Occasion

1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:62) D(1924:335:7366)

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:255) Ben Ya‘akov (1994A:92) D(1930:418:322) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:88) D(1930:142:1576) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:71) D(1930:212:333) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:105) D(1929:260:58)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

225

Poet

Shim‘on Lavi’

Rabi Fardji Shawat

’Al-Ḥakham

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

M(X;Y)

111;154

112;155

113;156

115;157*

116;158*

116;159

117;160

(cont.)

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

1835–1909

16th century

d. 1545

Period

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Fez, Morocco and Beja, Tunis Baghdad

Libya

Place

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Hebrew

Aramaic

-”-

Language

Ben Ya‘akov (1994:102,107)

Hazan (1976:237)

1954 miṣḥaf* Tobi, Barnai and Bar-Asher (1981:132,183)

Source

Pizmon for Ezekiel the Prophet Pizmonim for Ezra the Scribe

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:104,7)k

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:110)

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:109) Pizmon for Rabbi 1954 miṣḥaf ‘Aqiva’ Ben Ya‘akov (1994:108:111)

-”-

-”-

Pizmonim for the Thirty-Third Day of the Counting of the ‘Omer -”-

Occasion

226 Appendix 3

Yehudah Ben Ya‘aqov 19th century

Unknown

’Al-Ḥakham

David Ben ’Aharon Ben Ḥasin

Unknown -”’Abraham Salamah*

119;162

120;163

120;164

121;165

122;166* 123;167 123;168

1727–1792

1835–1909

-”-

-”-

118;161

Period

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

Morocco

Baghdad

-”-

-”-

Place

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Language

-”-”-”-

Pizmon for Joshua the High Priest Pizmonim for Jerusalem

-”-

-”-

-”-

Occasion

1954 miṣḥaf* Hazan (1991:708) Tobi, Barnai and Bar-Asher (1981:185); D(1924:78:1695) D(1924:318:6997) D(1930:54:1172) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1924:348:7681)

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1965:163)

Ben Ya‘akov (1994:101,105,109) 1954 miṣḥaf* Benayahu (1993:212) Ben Ya‘akov (1965:189) D(1930:42:907) D(1924:110:2329)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

227

Poet

’Al-Ḥakham

Unknown -”-

Nisim Matsliaḥ

’Al-Ḥakham

-”-

-”-

Sason Ben Rabi Mordekhay Mosheh Shindukh

Unknown -”-

M(X;Y)

125;169*

125;170 126;171

127;172

127;173

128;174

129;175*

129;176

130;177 131;178

(cont.)

-”-”-

1747–1830

-”-

-”-

Baghdad

Baghdad

Place

-”-

-”-

1835–1909

18th–19th centuries

1835–1909

Period -”-

Occasion

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:102) Ben Ya‘akov (1980B:224) D(1924:340:1760)

Source

Judaeo-Arabic -”Hebrew For Pentecost and the Ten Commandments -”-”Ben Ya‘akov (1970:71) D(1930:08:251) -”-”1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:106) -”-”1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:112) -”-”1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:112) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:255) -”For the High Ben Ya‘akov (1994A:93) Holy Days and the Ten Days of D(1930:433:651) Repentance -”-”D(1929:86:1912) -”-”D(1929:246:560)

-”-

Language

228 Appendix 3

’Al-Ḥakham

-”-

Mosheh Ben ’Aharon 17th–18th centuries Morocco ’Adhan Najarah 1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza Unknown ’Al-Ḥakham 1835–1909 Baghdad

-”-

132;181*

133;182*

134;183

136;187*

135;185 136;186

135;184

Najarahm

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza 1835–1909 Baghdad

M.S.

132;180

1020–1057

’Ibn Gabirol

Place

132;179

Period

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Hebrew

Language

-”-

-”-”-

For the High Holy Days and the Ten Days of Repentance Pizmonim for Tabernacles -”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Occasion

D(1930:294:1008) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:106,109) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:109,110)

D(1929:287:629)

D(1930:241:122)n

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:103)

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:109)

Jarden (1971:555)l D(1930:444:842) Ratzaby (1991:164)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

229

Poet

Yehudah Halevi

’Ibn Gabirol

Saleḥ Matsliaḥ

-”-o

Najarah

Sason Ben Mordekhay Mosheh Shindukh

’El‘azar Ben Ya‘aqov Habavlip

Unknown

M(X;Y)

137;188

138;189

138;190

138;191

139;192

139;193

142;194

143;195

(cont.)

-”-

Baghdad

-”-

M.S.

Place

1195–1250

-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza 1747–1830 Baghdad

-”-

18th century

1020–1057

1075–1141

Period

-”-

For the Evening of Hosha‘na’ Raba’ (for Abraham) Hosha‘na’ Raba’ (for Isaac)

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Occasion

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Language

D(1930:419:363)

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:257) Ben Ya‘akov (1994A:95) D(1924:185:4004) Ratzaby (1991:23,161) D(1928:206:31)

Brody (1971:128) D(1929:353:2040) Jarden (1971:323) D(1930:432:637) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:45) D(1930:317:201) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:43) D(1930:318:228) N(1599A:51)

Source

230 Appendix 3

’El‘azar Ben Ya‘aqov Habavliq ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’

Shlomoh Ben Mazal Ṭovr ’Ibn Gabirol

-”-

Shlomoh Ben Mazal Ṭov ’Avraham ’Ibn ‘Ezra’

Unknown

143;196

144;198

145;199s

145;200

146;201

147;203

146;202

144;197

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

1089–1164

16th century

-”-

1020–1057

16th century

O.E. Cons. M.S.

-”-

O.E. Cons. M.S.

M.S.

Baghdad

1195–1250

1089–1164

Place

Period

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Language

For the Celebration of the Torah,w (for Kohen, [Priest])

Hosha‘na’ Raba’

-”(for Jacob) -”(for Moses) -”(for Aaron) Hosha‘na’ Raba’ (for Joseph) -”(for Pinḥas – son of ’El‘azar) -”-

Occasion

Ben Ya‘akov (1965:83) D(1930:433:648)v 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1930:324:50) D(1929:81:1777)

Ratzaby (1991:161) D(1930:194:2725) Levin (1975:84) D(1924:366:8101) Ben Ya‘akov (1965:83) D(1930:453:990) Jarden (1971:468)t D(1930:503:2046) Jarden (1971:324)u D(1930:463:1224)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

231

Poet

-”-

’Al-Ḥakham Unknown

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

M(X;Y)

148;204

148;205 149;206

150;207

151;208*

152;209

153;210

153;211

(cont.)

1835–1909

Period

Baghdad

Place

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

Language -”(for Levite) -”-”(for Joseph) Celebration Of the Torah (for the Bridegroom of Me‘onah)x (for the Bridegroom of the Torah) -”(for the Bridegroom of Bere’shit)y -”(for the Mafṭir)z -”-

Occasion

D(1929:340:1757)

D(1930:480:1563)

D(1924:360:7956)

D(1924:207:4538)

Ben Ya‘akov (1994:112)

D(1930:19:418)

Source

232 Appendix 3

-”’Al-Ḥakham Unknown ’Al-Ḥakham Najarah

-”-

Unknown -”-

155;215 156;216* 157;217 157;218 157;219

158;220

160;221 160;222

Baghdad

M.S. and Egypt

Place

1835–1909 Baghdad 1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

1835–1909

Mosheh 1138, Cordoba–1204, Maimon- Maimonides Fostat, Egypt Unknown

155;213

155;214

-”-

154;212

Period

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Language

Source

-”-”-

-”-

For the Celebration of the Sho’evah and Haqafot -”-”-”-”-”-

D(1930:116:1035) Ben Ya‘akov (1994:112) D(1929:349:1946) 1954 miṣḥaf 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:72) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599C:132) D(1924:226:4907)

D(1929:310:1115)

D(1930:94:559) For the Celebration of the Sho’evah and Haqafot -”D(1924:166:553)

Occasion

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

233

-”’El‘azar Kohen* Sason Yisra’el

Unknown -”-”-”-”-”-”’Al-Ḥakham

Ya‘aqov Bar Yonah* ’Al-Ḥakham

Najarah

161;223 162;224 162;225

164;226* 164;227 165;228 165;229 165;230 165;231 166;232 167;233

168;234*

169;236

168;235

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad

Place

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza

1835–1909

1835–1909

1820–1911

Period

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-”-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-

Language

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-”-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-

Occasion

D(1924:294:796) D(1924:144:068) D(1930:194:2718) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:101) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1929:146:719) 1954 miṣḥaf; Ben Ya‘akov (1994:107,110) D(1929:404:3164)

D(1924:51:1069)

D(1930:454:1024) D(1929:307:1105) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1965:157; 1970:348); D(1930:525:209)

Source

234 Appendix 3

’Al-Ḥakham -”-

-”-

-”Unknown Yitsḥaq Ben Rabi Saleḥ Mkamal

Yehudah Halevi

Unknown Rabi ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin Ya‘aqov ’Ibn Tsur

169;237 170;238

171;239

172;240 173;241 173;242

174;243

174;244* 175;245

175;246

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

1673–1752

d. 1859

Morocco

Baghdad

Baghdad and Jerusalem M.S.

1876, Baghdad–1952, Jerusalem

1075–1141

-”-

-”-

Baghdad -”-

Place

-”-

-”-

1835–1909 -”-

Period

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-

Language

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-

Occasion

Tobi, Barnai and Bar-Asher (1981:185); Bar-Tikva (1988:21); D(1929:484:457)

1954 miṣḥaf* D(1929:354:2058) D(1924:53:1110) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:118) D(1929:294:794)

Ben Ya‘akov (1994:108,110) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:108,111) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:113) Ben Ya‘akov (1994:113) D(1929:335:1655) 1954 miṣḥaf

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

235

Poet

Ya‘aqov ’Ibn Tsur

Yeḥezqe’l ‘Ezra’ Ben Rabi Yehoshu‘a Halevi ’Al-Ḥakham

-”-

-”-

-”-

Unknown Rabi Fardji Shawat

M(X;Y)

175;247

176;248

176;249*

177;250*

177;251*

178;252*

179;253 179;254*

(cont.)

16th century

-”-

-”-

-”-

1835–1909

1852–1942

1673–1752

Period

Fez, Morocco and Beja, Tunis

-”-

-”-

-”-

Baghdad

Jerusalem

Morocco

Place

Occasion

Source

Hebrew

Bar-Tikva (1988:21) For the D(1929:484:457) Celebration of the Sho’evah and Haqafot -”-”1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:377) D(1929:377:2559) -”-”1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:107,111) -”-”1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:103) -”-”1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:104,111) -”-”1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:112) -”-”D(1929:96:149) Judaeo-Arabic -”Hazan (1976)aa with Hebrew

Language

236 Appendix 3

Ben Tsiyon Ḥazan

Unknown -”-”The seven Blessingsab

Unknown

’Evyatarac

Unknown Shim‘on Ben Rabi Nisim Shim‘on -”-

Unknown

180;255*

180;256* 181;257 181;258* 182;259*

183;260

183;261

184;262 184;263

185;265

185;264

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”-

19th–20th centuries

BaghdadJerusalem -”-

Yemen

Baghdad

19th century

15th century

Place

Period

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-”-

Hebrew

Language

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-”The Seven Blessings for the Bridegroom Pizmonim for the Bridegroom -”-

-”-

Occasion

Ratzaby (1991:161) D(1924:273:5993) D(1929:206:32) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:394) D(1930:93:530) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:394) D(1930:483:1638) D(1929:248:581)

D(1933:99:1692)

D(1924:163:3499) D(1924:342:7548)

1954 miṣḥaf* Ben Ya‘akov (1965:191; 1970:443)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

237

-”-

‘Ezra’ Ben Rabi ’Eliyahu Sofer Shmu’el Ben Yitsḥaq Ḥayim Sh’ami -”’Evyatar

189;271

189;272

190;274 190;275

190;273

Unknown Yehudah Halevi

188;269 188;270

-”15th century

-”Yemen

-”-

Baghdad

19th century

(?–1930)

-”-

M.S.

Baghdad

Baghdad

Place

-”-

1075–1141

18th century

Unknown Saleḥ Matsliaḥ

187;267 187;268

Period

18th century

Poet

186;266ad Saleḥ Matsliaḥ

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-

Hebrew

Language

Source

-”-”-

-”-

-”Ratzaby (1991:161) D(1924:399:8802)

Ben Ya‘akov (1965;304)

Pizmonim for the 1954 miṣḥaf Bridegroom Ben Ya‘akov (1970:32) D(1930:317:209) -”D(1929:430:3742) -”Ben Ya‘akov (1970:42) D(1930:311:53) -”-”Brody (1971:4) D(1929:281:499) -”1954 miṣḥaf D(1929:413:3354) -”Ben Ya‘akov (1970:250) D(1930:273:553)

Occasion

238 Appendix 3

196;288* 197;289* 198;290 198;291*

1826–1884

Ḥalab

Ḥalab

1765–1858

195;285* 195;286* 196;287*

Unknown -”’Avraham ‘Antabi Unknown -”Mordekhay ‘Abadi Unknown

Ḥalab and Egypt

19th century

Place

Ḥalab

Period

19th century

Poet

David Shama’y Natan* 191;277* Unknown 192;278* -”192;279 -”193;280* -”193;281 Mordekhay ‘Abadi 194;282* Unknown 194:283* -”194;284*ae Refa’el ‘Antabi

191;276*

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”-”-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-”-”-”Judaeo-Arabic Hebrew

Arabic Hebrew -”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

Occasion

Language

D(1929:24ḤḤ8:580) D(1930:171:2196) D(1929:223:11)

D(1930:482:1622) D(1930:85:351) Ben Ya‘akov (1965:107; 190) D(24:244:5321)

Shrem (1986:168)

D(1930:85:351) D(1929:404:3165)

D(1933:99:1698) D(1929:146:708)

1954 miṣḥaf* D(1929:215:168)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

239

Unknown

Rabi Yosef Ben Rabi Sleiman Ma‘atuq Shmu’el Yeḥezqe’l ‘Ezra’ Shmu’el Ben Yitsḥaq Ḥayim Sh’amiaf Unknown -”Shmu’el Ben Yitsḥaq Ḥayim Sh’ami

199;293

200;294

203;300* 203;301

201;297* 202;298 202;299

201;296*

-”Unknown

Refa’el ‘Antabi

199;292*

200;295*

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”-

(?–1930)

(?–1930)

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

20th century

-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Baghdad

d. 1905

-”-

-”-

1954 miṣḥaf* Ben Ya‘akov (1980A: 468) D(1930:394:866) D(1929:325:1440)

Source

-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

D(1929:276:385)

D(1930:180:2408) Ben Ya‘akov(1965;304) Ben Ya‘akov (1970:373) D(1930:450:950)

1954 miṣḥaf* Ben Ya‘akov (1980B:125)

D(24:117:2483)

Pizmonim for Circumcision -”Ben Ya‘akov (1970:246) D(1929:435:3840)

Occasion

Language

-”-

Ḥalab and Egypt

Place

-”-

19th century

Period

240 Appendix 3

Unknown ’El‘azar Hakohen Ben ’Aharon* Unknown -”-

205;304 206;305

208;309* 208;310* 209;311 209;312* 210;313*

207;308

‘Ezra’ Ben Rabi ’Eliyahu Sofer Mordekhay ‘Abadi -”Unknown -”Yeḥezqe’l ‘Ezra’ ’Aslan

-”David Ben ’Aharon Ḥasin

203;302* 204;303

206;306* 207;307

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

Ḥalab -”-

Baghdad

19th–20th centuries

Baghdad

Morocco

Place

-”-”-

19th century

1727–1792

Period

-”-”-”-”-”-

-”Hebrew and JudaeoArabicag Hebrew

-”-”-

-”-”-

Language

-”-”-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-

Occasion

D(1930:85:360) D(1930:76:151) D(1929:373:2479) D(1929:75:1681) 1954 miṣḥaf; Ben Ya‘akov (1970:473; 1980A:305)

Ben Ya‘akov (1970:250)

1954 miṣḥaf* Hazan (1991:580) D(1924:321:7066) D(1924:392:8661) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1924:199:4352) D(1924:22:442) D(1924:16:321)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

241

Poet

-”-ah Unknown -”-

-”-

’Al-Ḥakham

Unknown ’Al-Ḥakham

‘Ezra’ Zakari

Shmu’el Shim‘on*

Najarah Rabi ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther Ḥnin

M(X;Y)

210;314* 211;315 212;316

212;317*

213;318

213;319 214;320*

214;321

215;322

215;323 216;324

(cont.)

1555–1625 d. 1859

19th century

1835–1909

1835–1909

-”-

Period

O.E. Baghdad

-”-

Baghdad

Baghdad

-”-

Place

Occasion

Aramaic Hebrew

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-

-”-

-”Various Pizmonim -”-

Judaeo-Arabic -”Hebrew -”-”For the Father of a Newborn Baby Girl -”Pizmonim for Bar Mitsvah -”-”-

Language

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:105,7)ai D(1929;39;883) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:112) 1954 miṣḥaf* Ben Ya‘akov (1965:306) D(1930:284:806) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1930:458:1106) D(1930:34:752) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1970:126)

D(1929:349:965)

Text with blessings D(1924:127:2701)

Source

242 Appendix 3

Shlomoh Saleḥ ’Al-Ḥakham

Najarah

-”-”’Aharon ‘Azri’el

Unknown Najarah

-”-

-”-

-”-

216;325*

217;327

218;328 219;329 219;330

220;331 221;332

221;333

222;334

222;335

217;326*

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”-

-”-”-

-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

-”-”Baghdad and Jerusalem

O.E.

Baghdad and Israel Baghdad

1896, Baghdad–1961, Israel 1835–1909

1555, Damascus–1625, Gaza -”-”19th century

Place

Period

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Language

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Occasion

1954 miṣḥaf; N(1599A:70) D(1929:361:2202) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1965:181; 1980A:18); D(1924:379:8382) D(1929:293:763) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:61) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:48) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:50) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:62)

1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1965:305) 1954 miṣḥaf Ben Ya‘akov (1994:108) 1954 miṣḥaf; N(1599C:135)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

243

Poet

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Unknown -”Najarah

Unknown

M(X;Y)

223;336

223;337

224;338

224;339

225;340

225;341

226;342

226;343* 228;344* 228;345

228;346

(cont.)

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Place

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Period

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Occasion

-”-

-”-

Judaeo-Arabic -”Hebrew Ptiḥot -”-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

-”-

Language

D(1930:59:1275)

D(1924:226:4897) D(1929:454:4238)

1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:35) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:61) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:53) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:3) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599C:123) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:55) 1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:49)

Source

244 Appendix 3

Poet

Najarah

-”Unknown -”Dahud Tsemaḥ

Unknown -”Yitsḥaq ‘Abadi Refa’el ‘Antabi

-”-aj -”Biblical text

Najarah

-”-”-

M(X;Y)

229;347*

229;348 229;349 229;350 229;351*

230;352* 230;353 230;354 230;355*

231;356* 231;357* 231;358

231;359

232;360 232;361

(cont.)

Place

Ḥalab Ḥalab and Egypt -”-”-

Baghdad

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-”-”-

-”-”-

20th century 19th century

1847–1902

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-

Period

-”Aramaic

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-”-

-”-

Language

-”-”-

-”-

-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-”-

-”-

Occasion

D(1929:285:584) D(1929:310:1168)

D(1930:401:1032) D(1929;160;1020) Jeremiah 10:10 and Judges 5:3 D(1929:413:3362)

D(1929:412:3332) 1954 miṣḥaf* D(1930;400;1001)

D(1929:326:1460) D(1929:38:846) D(1924:189:4113) 1954 miṣḥaf*; Ben Ya‘akov (1965:305;1970:420)

D(1929:400:3098)

Source

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

245

Unknown -”-”Najarah

233;368* 234;369* 234;370 235;371

a b c d

-”-”-”-”-

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza

-”-”-”-”-

Place

-”-”-

-”-”-”-”-

-”Hebrew -”-”-”-”-

Language

My gratitude to Professor Ephraim Hazan for the information about the author of this poem. Not certain. Not certain. The poem carries an acrostic with the name ‘Ovadyah.

235;372 236;373

-”-”-”-”Unknown Najarah

232;362 232;363 233;364 233;365 233;366 233;367*

Period

1555, Damascus–1625, O.E. Gaza -”-”-”Yosef Ben Ḥanan Ben 13th century Provence Natan Ha’ezoviak

Poet

M(X;Y)

(cont.)

-”The Silver Bowl

-”-”-”-”-

-”-”-”-”-”-”-

Occasion

1954 miṣḥaf N(1599A:76) 1954 miṣḥaf; N(1599A:19) 1954 miṣḥaf Davis (1971:1104) (1929:44:1010)

D(1924:163:3497) D(1930:344:338)

D(1929:386:2768) N(1599A:36) D(1929:362:2243) D(1924:206:4501) D(1929:53:1225) D(1929:53:1225)

Source

246 Appendix 3

e According to Davidson, the name of the poet is ‘Ezra’ ’Eliyah. f ’Ibn Gabirol has a poem that opens with the same words, see Jarden (1971: 543). g There are different opinions as to the authorship: some think it was written by ’Ibn Gabirol, others attribute it to Rav Sherirah Gaon (c. 900–1001) and others still to Rav Hai Gaon (939–1038), see Nulman (1993: 7). h Four of his poems, which do not appear in the miṣḥaf, are written in the Arabic poetic genre called urjuza, see Ben Ya‘akov (1970: 15). i Not certain. j Najarah has a poem that opens with this verse, see Davidson (1929: 461) no. song 4377. This phenomenon is evident in the work of Najarah himself, who quoted first verses of poems by Yehudah Halevi. For example, songs M(221;332) and M(222;334), which quote Halevi’s songs, respectively, see Brody (1971: 196, 231). k In the miṣḥaf, this poem opens with slightly different words. l A few differences were found in the Jarden edition. m Not certain. n My gratitude to Professor Ephraim Hazan for the information about the author of this poem. o Ben Ya‘akov (1965: 209) mentions a song with a similar opening Tsur Ram ‘Al Kol Ramim ’El Ḥay Ha‘olamim [The Lord Is Exalted Above All Heights, Ever Lasting [and] Living God] by Rabi Saleḥ Ben Rabi David Ḥay, who was a teacher in Midrash Talmud Torah [School of Torah Learning] in Baghdad at the end of the nineteenth century and wrote a number of songs. None of his songs appears in the miṣḥaf. p Not certain. q Not certain. r Ben Ya‘akov (1965: 83) and Beeri (1985: 50–70, 57 and 66 in particular), mention that he had a printing house in Kushta around 1546. His work influenced Najarah’s, see also Beeri (1990: 311–4, and 415 in particular). s Only the first stanza of the original poem appears in the miṣḥaf. t There are a few differences in the Jarden edition. u There are few differences in the Jarden edition. v Davidson asserts that many sources mistakenly attributed this poem to Shlomoh ’Ibn Gabirol because the rest of the name, that is, ‘Ben Mazal Tov’, was missing. w For the full name of the occasion, see Appendix 1, Table 2.2 occasions nos. 25 and 26, and Section 3.19. x The word ‘Me‘onah’ [dwelling, residence] is quoted from Psalms 91:9: ‘mime‘onah ’elohey qedem’ [‘the Most High-As your haven’]. y The word ‘Bere’shit’ [‘in the beginning’] is the first word in the Bible: ‘when God began to create’ (Genesis 1:1) z ‘Mafṭir’ [finishes] is the last person called up to the reading of the Torah.

The Poets of the 1954 Miṣḥaf

247

aa Not certain. However, there are two strong reasons for this assumption: his first name, Fardji, which is quite a rare name among Hebrew poets and very popular among Tunisian Jews, appears in the heading of the song; and the Judaeo-Arabic language of the poem sounds like the North African dialect of Judaeo-Arabic rather than the Baghdadi. See also Hazan (1976: 13). ab The only place in the miṣḥaf with brakhot [blessings]. ac Except for his name, nothing much is known about him. It is only a guess that he lived in Yemen, as his style is more Babylonian than Yemenite and his name is not prevalent among Yemenite Jews, see Ratzaby (1991: 161). ad ’Ibn ‘Ezra’ has a poem that begins with the same words, see Levin (1975: 365). ae The song is dedicated to his student Rabbi Mosheh ’Ashqar Hakohen (nineteenth century, Ḥalab and Argentina) for his wedding. af The song is dedicated to the poet’s son who became one of the known cantors both in Baghdad and later, in Israel. ag The first five stanzas are in Hebrew and the last stanza is in Judaeo-Arabic. ah Not certain. The poem carries an acrostic with the name Yeḥezqe’l ‘Ezra’, which also appears in its heading. ai Ben Ya‘akov (1994: 107) does not mention that this poem appears also in the 1954 miṣḥaf. Davidson (1933: 404) mentions ’Al-Ḥakham as Yosef Ḥayim. According to this name ’Al-Ḥakham has only one poem Asader Shavḥa’ [I Shall Proclaim a Praise], see also Davidson (1924: 314) poem no. 6903, and in the 1954 miṣḥaf M(108;150). aj Not certain. Songs nos. 355–357 carry acrostics with the name Refa’el, who could be Refa’el ‘Antabi (19th century Ḥalab and Egypt), or Refa’el Der‘i (nineteenth–twentieth centuries, Morocco). However, as the poetic style of these songs is very similar to that of M(230;355), it is very likely that they are by ‘Antabi. ak His name in the miṣḥaf is Yosef ’Ezobi or ’Ezovi. The first to publish this poem in a collection of PLSs was Rabbi Shlomoh Bekhor Ḥutsin (1843–1892, Baghdad) in his Sefer Shirot Vetishbaḥot [Book of Songs and Praises] (the year of publication is not mentioned in the book), see Hakak (2005: 24). Ḥutsin was one of ‘Abdallah Somekh’s most talented students, and one of the most important halakhic authority in Baghdad of the nineteenth century, see Zohar (2001B: 49, 54 and 61).

248 Appendix 3

‫‪Appendix 4‬‬

‫‪Deror Yiqra’ [The Lord Shall Proclaim Freedom],‬‬ ‫‪M(33;78), in Hebrew‬‬ ‫דרור יקרא לבן עם בת‬ ‫וינצרכם כמו בבת‬ ‫נעים שמכם ולא ישבת‬ ‫שבו נוחו ביום שבת‬ ‫דרוש נוי ואולמי‬ ‫ואות ישע עשה עמי‬ ‫נטע שורק בתוך כרמי‬ ‫שעה שועת בני עמי‬ ‫דרוך פורה בתוך בצרה‬ ‫וגם אדום אשר גברה‬ ‫נתוץ צרי באף ועברה‬ ‫שמע קולי ביום אקרא‬ ‫אלהים תן במדבר הר‬ ‫הדס שטה ברוש תדהר‬ ‫ולמזהיר ולנזהר‬ ‫שלומים תן כמי נהר‬ ‫הדוך קמי חי אל קנא‬ ‫במוג לבב ובמגנה‬ ‫ונרחיב פה ונמלאנה‬ ‫לשוננו לך רנה‬ ‫דעה חכמה לנפשך‬ ‫והיא כתר לראשך‬ ‫נצר מצות אלהיך‬ ‫שמר שבת קדשך‬

‫‪© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_011‬‬

‫‪Appendix 5‬‬

‫‪Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Become as Chaff before‬‬ ‫‪the Wind], M(14;6), in Hebrew and the Turkish‬‬ ‫‪Original‬‬ ‫יהיו כמוץ עובדי כמוש ‬ ‫אשר כל‪-‬איש פסלו יעמס ‬ ‫ובתוך חיקו אותו יכמס ‬ ‫ובעת צרה יאטם אזן ‬ ‫אשרי עם אל חי גורלו ‬

‫ולעובדי בל יבוא חבל‬ ‫ולבל יפול יקשור חבל‬ ‫שר לו תוך קהל וחבל‬ ‫כאלו אינו תוך חבל‬ ‫ובאל חי נפל לו חבל‬

‫שמע ישראל והבן ‬ ‫צורם תוך חיקם ורחוק ‬ ‫וצורנו קרוב לכל‪ -‬‬ ‫מי בשחק ידמה אליו ‬

‫כי לא כצורנו צורם‬ ‫משועתם ומשברם‬ ‫קוראיו מאד נשא ורם‬ ‫ומי כמוהו בתבל‬ ‫אשרי עם אל חי גורלו ‬

‫רועה אליל ישאה ו‬ ‫ורוענו נושא עולם ‬ ‫הן לא ייעף ולא ייגע ‬ ‫זה אלי הוא ואנוהו ‬

‫ועל כתף יסבלהו‬ ‫ואין תומך בימינהו‬ ‫בוטח בשמו אשרהו‬ ‫עלי עשור ועלי נבל‬ ‫אשרי עם אל חי גורלו ‬

‫אל ישפט תבל בצדק ‬ ‫ישמיד עם טובם כחדק ‬ ‫וירומם עם בחר לו יה ‬ ‫יבנה מקדשו כרמים ‬

‫ובאל חי נפל לו חבל‬

‫ובאל חי נפל לו חבל‬

‫ובמשרים ידין עמים‬ ‫עובדי אלילים אלמים‬ ‫לסגלתו לעולמים‬ ‫ויצמיח את ציץ נובל‬ ‫אשרי עם אל חי גורלו ‬

‫ובאל חי נפל לו חבל‬

‫‪© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_012‬‬

Yihyu Kemots [[ They ] Shall Become as Chaff before the Wind ]



The Turkish Text (Translation: Lejla Demiri, First Stanza) Let me ask of your red-lips, where is the blood of my heart? I see only your blood; where is the blood of my heart? Although her heart is like a killer of my heart, Her body makes me utter these melodies. Do understand how she became a ruler over my Egyptian heart, With her slanting eyes that are like ornaments. Her neck is as if made of camphor, Her cheek has the aroma of a rose, her hair is like sesame. With the fire of her love she conquers every heart that enters her domain. With her hair-locks she takes the rebellious heart captive, making it obey her.

251

‫‪Appendix 6‬‬

‫‪Barukh ’El Ḥay [Blessed be Our Living God],‬‬ ‫‪M(213;318), in Hebrew‬‬ ‫ברוך אל חי אלהינו ‬ ‫בעל מצות הבאנו ‬ ‫דבר קדשו הודיענו ‬

‫כי לכבודו בראנו‬ ‫תורת אמת נתן לנו‬ ‫במצותיו קדשנו‬

‫אשרי העם עובדי אל חי ‬ ‫גדול ועושה נפלאות ‬ ‫חתן מצות וחק תור ‬ ‫ה‬ ‫אשר נעטר בתפארה ‬ ‫על זאת אשירה השירה ‬

‫ישמח יום זה בעטרה‬ ‫וילבש כשלמה אורה‬ ‫בקול שמחה ובקול זמרה‬

‫אשרי העם עובדי אל חי ‬ ‫גדול ועושה נפלאות ‬ ‫יום זה נמנה בין אנשים ‬ ‫לעשות כל המעשים ‬ ‫ושלח רצוצים חפשים ‬

‫מלך יי צבאות‬ ‫ברוך אל חי ההודאות‬

‫ויהי בלב שלם סכו‬ ‫להיות לו עזר ולתמכו‬ ‫בארחותיו ומהלכו‬

‫אשרי העם עובדי אל חי ‬ ‫גדול ועושה נפלאות ‬ ‫יצר כסיל צא יאמר לו ‬ ‫הפלא יי חסיד לו ‬ ‫לנהלו ולהשכילו ‬

‫מלך יי צבאות‬ ‫ברוך אל חי ההודאות‬

‫בעסק קדש קדשים‬ ‫אשר קהלות אל עושים‬ ‫ונמלט מפח יוקשים‬

‫אשרי העם עובדי אל חי ‬ ‫גדול ועושה נפלאות ‬ ‫ישלח לו האל מלאכים ‬ ‫להנהילו ולהדריכו ‬ ‫ויורה לו יושר דרכו ‬

‫מלך יי צבאות‬ ‫ברוך אל חי ההודאות‬

‫מלך יי צבאות‬ ‫ברוך אל חי ההודאות‬

‫ויצר טוב בא בגבולו‬ ‫וישכון בתוך אהלו‬ ‫עשות בישר פעלו‬

‫‪© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_013‬‬

‫‪253‬‬

‫] ‪Barukh ’ El Ḥay [ Blessed be Our Living God‬‬ ‫אשרי העם עובדי אל חי ‬ ‫גדול ועושה נפלאות ‬ ‫מצותו ברה כחמה ‬ ‫כגבור ואיש מלחמ ‬ ‫ה‬ ‫ותהי משכרתו שלמה ‬

‫נאוה יקרה ונעימה‬ ‫עושה בעז ותעצומה‬ ‫על אחת כמה וכמה‬

‫אשרי העם עובדי אל חי ‬ ‫גדול ועושה נפלאות ‬ ‫חזק לבו בגבורי ‬ ‫ם‬ ‫יצא מכלל נערים ‬ ‫ועם גדולים ויקרים ‬

‫מלך יי צבאות‬ ‫ברוך אל חי ההודאות‬

‫מלך יי צבאות‬ ‫ברוך אל חי ההודאות‬

‫להתהלך במשרים‬ ‫נקרא גברבן גברים‬ ‫ישיר אמרים ודברים‬ ‫אשרי העם עובדי אל חי ‬ ‫גדול ועושה נפלאות ‬

‫בננו זה מה טוב טעמו ‬ ‫ויהיה אלהיו עמו ‬ ‫ויתברך בתוך עמו ‬

‫מלך יי צבאות‬ ‫ברוך אל חי ההודאות‬

‫ישמח בו אביו ואמו‬ ‫יגדל כנהר שלומו‬ ‫חיה יחיה יגדל שמו‬

‫אשרי העם עובדי אל חי ‬ ‫גדול ועושה נפלאות ‬

‫מלך יי צבאות‬ ‫ברוך אל חי ההודאות‬

Appendix 7

Paraliturgical Songs in the 1906 Miṣḥaf Which Do Not Appear in the 1954 Miṣḥaf

Song Poem; no. page no.

Song no.

Poem; page no.

Song Poem; no. page no.

Song Poem; no. page no.

Song Poem; no. page no.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

46B;112 46B;113 47A;114 47A;115 47B;117 48B;118 49A;119 49B;120 52A;126 55A;132 56A;134 56A;135 56B;136 57B;139 58A;140 59B;142 60B;144 61A;147 97B;158 71A;162 74B;171 74B;172 75B;173 76A;175 76B;176 77B;178 81B;186 82A;187 82B;188 83B;190

61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90

91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

121 158B;381 122 182A;382 123 159B;384 124 161A;386 125 161B;388 126 162A;389 127 162B;391 128 164A;395 129 154B;396 130 164A;397 131 165A;399 132 165B;400

10A;14 10A;15 10B;16 11B;19 12A;20 18B;34 20A;39 20B;40 21A;41 22B;44 25A;52 25B;53 25A;54 26A;55 26B;56 27B;57 27B;58 28B;61 32A;70 33A;74 34A;75 34A;76 34B;78 36B;83 38A;88 40B;97 41A;99 41B;100 42B;102 45A;109

84A;191 84B;192 87A;197 87B;198 90B;204 92A;207 93B;209 84A;210 94A;211 95A;213 95B;214 96A;215 87A;219 97B;221 98A;222 103B;229 104A;231 107B;237 109A;241 111A;245 111B;246 111B;247 112A;248 112B;249 113A;250 116A;258 117A;260 118A;263 119A;266 119B;267

119B;268 121B;273 121B;274 122B;277 123A;279 123B;282 124A;284 125A;288 143A;335 145A;340 146B;344 147A;346 158B;351 149B;354 150B;356 151A;357 151A;358 151B;359 151B;360 152A;361 152A;362 152B;363 153A;365 153B;366 155B;372 156A;373 157A;376 157B;377 158A;378 158A;379

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_014

‫‪Appendix 8‬‬

‫‪Merim Lero’shi [[Lord Who] Lifts My Head High],‬‬ ‫‪M(202;298), in Hebrew‬‬ ‫מרים לראשי‬ ‫שלח לחפשי‬ ‫ידידות נפשי‬ ‫הוצא לרויה‬ ‫אנא גואלי‬ ‫בנה היכלי‬ ‫משכן זבולי‬ ‫הדרת כלילי‬ ‫ושמחת גילי‬ ‫ריבה את ריבי‬ ‫צורי משגבי‬ ‫נקם לאיבי‬ ‫מכה טריה‬ ‫דמעי כלו‬ ‫עיני לא כלו‬ ‫מיחל כלו‬ ‫לך דומיה ‬

‫אנא גואלי…‬

‫כלביא יקום‬ ‫משנאי ינקום‬ ‫יאסף כל היקום‬ ‫ביד נטויה‬ ‫יגיה חשכי‬ ‫יכונן דרכי‬ ‫יתן לי מלכי‬ ‫עז ותושיה ‬

‫אנא גואלי…‬

‫‪© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412637_015‬‬

‫‪256‬‬

‫‪Appendix 8‬‬ ‫חמל ורחם‬ ‫ציון תנחם‬ ‫ושלח מנחם‬ ‫ינון ואליה ‬ ‫זבחי שלמים‬ ‫ומתן דמים‬ ‫וקטרת סמים‬ ‫חלב ואליה‬ ‫קרבני לחמי‬ ‫ומתן דמי‬ ‫ועדת לאמי‬ ‫עם בחר לו יה‬

‫אנא גואלי…‬

Bibliography Abu Haidar, Farida, ‘The Poetic Content of the Iraqi-Maqām’, Journal of Arabic Literature, 19/2 (1988): 128–41. Abu Shumays, Sami, ‘Maqam Analysis: A Primer’, Music Theory Spectrum, 35/2 (2013): 235–55. Alcalay, Ammiel, After Jews and Arabs: Remaking Levantine Culture (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993). Alcalay, Ammiel, ‘Intellectual Life’, in Michael Menachem Laskier, Reeva Spector Simon and Sara Reguer (eds.), The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), pp. 85–112. Allen, Roger, The Arabic Literary Heritage: The Development of its genres and Criticism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998). Allen, Roger, An Introduction to Arabic Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). Allony, Nehemya, Dunash Ben Labrat: Poems (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kuk, 1947). In Hebrew. Altmann, Alexander, Three Jewish Philosophers: Philo: Selections; Saadya Gaon: Book of Doctrines and Beliefs; Jehuda Helvi: Kuzari (New York: Harper and Row, 1965). Altmann, Alexander, Studies in Religious Philosophy and Mysticism (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969). Altmann, Alexander, ‘The Ladder of Ascension’, in Maurice R. Hayoun, Ivan G. Marcus and Peter Schäfer (eds.), Text and Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Judaism, vol. 2 (Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr and Paul Siedeck, 1987), pp. 34–59. Alvarez, Lourdes, ‘Muwashshaḥ’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 2 (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 563–66. Alvarez Pereyre, Frank, ‘Towards an Interdisciplinary Study of Jewish Oral Traditions’, Yuval 6 (1994): 11–33. Anees, Munawar Ahmad and Alia N. Athar, Guide to Sira and Ḥadīth Literature in Western Languages (London-New York: Mansell Publishing Limited, 1986). Arberry, A.J., Arabic Poetry: A Primer for Students (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965). Ashtor, Eliahu, ‘Hisdai (Hasdai) Ibn Shaprut’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 8 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 533–34. Ashtor, Eliahu, Aaron Klein and Jenny Machlowitz Klein (eds. and joint trans.), The Jews of Moslem Spain, 2 vols (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979). Asmar, Sami W. and Kathleen Hodd, ‘Modern Arab Music: Portraits of Enchantment from the Middle Generation’, in Sherifa Zuhur (ed.), Colors of Enchantment: Theatre,

258

Bibliography

Dance, Music and the Visual Arts of the Middle East (Cairo and New York: The American University in Cairo Press, 2001), pp. 307–31. Avenary, Hanoch, ‘Gentile Songs as a Source of Inspiration for Israel Najara’, in Encounters of East and West in Music (Tel-Aviv: Dept. of Musicology, Tel-Aviv University, 1979), pp. 186–93. [Originally published in Hebrew in Fourth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Paper 2, Jerusalem, 1968]. Avishur, Yizhak, ‘Iraqi-Jewish Songs of Pilgrimage to the Tombs of Saints in JudaeoArabic’, Studies on History and Culture of Iraqi Jewry, 2 (1982): 151–92. In Hebrew. Avishur, Yizhak, ‘Women’s Folk Songs in Judaeo-Arabic from Jews in Iraq’, Studies on History and Culture of Iraqi Jewry, 4 (1987): 185–93. In Hebrew. Avishur, Yizhak, Men’s Folk Songs in Judaeo-Arabic from Jews in Iraq (Or-Yehuda: The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Centre Research Institute of Babylonian Jewry, 1994). In Hebrew. Avishur, Yizhak, ‘The Oral and Written Hebrew Sources in the Judaeo-Arabic’, Mikedem Umiyam, 7 (2000): 327–46. In Hebrew. Avishur, Yizhak, ‘The Literary Writing in Judaeo-Arabic’, in Hayim Sa‘adon (ed.), Jewish Communities in the East in the nineteenth and twentieth Centuries (Jerusalem: Van Leer Institution, 2002), pp. 87–100. In Hebrew. Avi-Yonah, Michael, ‘Lag ba‘Omer’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 11 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 1390–1. ’Avot Derabi Natan, http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/avot/16-2.htm. In Hebrew. al-‘Azami, Muhammad Mustafa, The History of the Qur’ānic Text, from Revelation to Compilation (Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, 2003). Azzam, Nabil Salim, ‘Muhammad ‘Abd al-Wahhab in Modern Egyptian Music’, Ph.D. diss. (Los Angeles: University of California, 1990). Badawi, Mustafa, ‘Abbasid Poetry and its Antecedents’, in Julia Ashtiany, T.M. Johnstone, J.D. Latham, R.B. Serjeant and G. Rex Smith (eds.), Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: ‘Abbasid Belles-Letters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 146–66. Badillos, Sáenz, ‘The Muwassah in the Sacred Poetry of Solomon Ibn Gabirol and Judah Halevi’, in Binyamin Bar-Tikva and Ephraim Hazan (eds.), Piyyut in Tradition, vol. 1 (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1996), pp. 53–60. In Hebrew. Baneth, D.H., ‘Poetry and Prose under the ‘Abbasid Rule’, in Hava Lazarus Yafe (ed.), Studies in the History of the Arabs and Islam (Tel-Aviv: Reshafim Publishing House, 1967) pp. 333–44. In Hebrew. Bar-Tikva, Binyamin (ed.), Liturgical Poems of Rabbi Ya‘aqov Ibn-Zur (Jerusalem: Misgav Yerushalayim Institute for Research on the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage, 1988). In Hebrew. Bar-Tikva, Binyamin, Liturgical History of Rabbi Yitzhak Hasniri (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1996).

Bibliography

259

Bashkin, Orit, New Babylonians: A History of Jews in Modern Iraq (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2012). Bashkin, Orit, Impossible Exodus: Iraqi Jews in Israel (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2017). Bauer, T., ‘Jāhiliyya’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 1 (London: Routledge, 1998), p. 406. Beeri, Tova, ‘The Phonetical-Syllabic Meter in Medieval Hebrew Poetry’, in Ezra Fleischer (ed.), Jerusalem Studies in Hebrew Literature, vol. 8 (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1985), pp. 50–70. In Hebrew. Beeri, Tova, ‘Olat Hadash for Rabbi Israel Najarah – Themes and Content’, Asufot, 4 (1990): 311–4. In Hebrew. Beeri, Tova, ‘Liturgy and Piyyut in Tenth- and Eleventh-Century Babylon’, in Binyamin Bar-Tikva and Ephraim Hazan (eds.), Piyyut in Tradition, vol. 2 (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2000) pp. 85–96. In Hebrew. Beeri, Tova, The “Great Cantor” of Baghdad: The Liturgical Poems of Joseph Ben Ḥayyim Al-Bardani (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute for Study of Jewish Communities in the East, Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi and the Hebrew University, 2002). In Hebrew. Beeston, A.F.L., ‘Background Topics’, in A.F.L. Beeston, T.M. Johnstone, R.B. Serjeant and G.R. Smith (eds.), Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: Arabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), pp. 1–22. Benayahu, Meir, Copyright, Authorization and Imprimatur for Hebrew Books Printed in Venice (Jerusalem: Machon Ben-Zvi, 1971). In Hebrew. Benayahu, Meir, ‘Rabbi Israel Najarah’, Asufot, 4 (1990): 203–84. In Hebrew. Benayahu, Meir, Hebrew Books Composed in Baghdad and Books Copied there (Jerusalem: Yad Harav Nissim and the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Centre, 1993). In Hebrew. Ben-Sasson, Menahem, The Emergence of the Local Jewish Community in the Muslim World Qayrawa’n, 800–1057 (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1997). In Hebrew. Ben-Shammai, H., ‘Jewish Thought in Iraq in the 10th Century’, in Ronald L. Nettler (ed.), Studies in Muslim-Jewish Relations, vol. 3 (United Kingdom: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1997), pp. 15–32. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, ‘Supplement to the “Hebrew Printings in the East”’, Kiryat Sefer Bibliographical Quarterly of the Jewish National and University Library Jerusalem, 22/3–4 (1946): 82–3. In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, Rabbi ‘Abelallah Somekh (Jerusalem: Matmon Press, 1949). In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, A History of the Jews in Iraq from the End of the Gaonic Period (1038 CE) to the Present Time (Jerusalem: The Ben-Zvi Institute the Hebrew University, 1965). In Hebrew.

260

Bibliography

Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, Hebrew Poetry of Baghdadi Jewry Collected and Selected Poems (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute the Hebrew University, 1970). In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, ‘Baghdad’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 4 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 86–91. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, Holy Tombs in Babylon (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Quq, 1973). In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, The Jews of Iraq in the Land of Israel: From Ancient to Modern Times (Jerusalem: Rubin Mass, 1980A). In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, The Jews of Iraq in Modern Times (Jerusalem: Kiriath-Sepher, 1980B). In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, Hebrew and Aramaic in the Language of the Jews of Iraq (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Institute the Hebrew University, 1985). In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, Babylonian Jewish Customs, Jewish Annual Life in Babylon, vol. 1 (Jerusalem: The BNE Issakhar Institute, 1993). In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, Collected Songs Essays Books Sermons and Sources of Tales of Rabbi Yosef Hayim (Jerusalem: Haktav Institute, 1994). In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, The Life and Writings of R. Sasson Shinduch (Jerusalem: Haktav Institute, 1994A). In Hebrew. Ben Ya‘akov, Avraham, and Hayyim J. Cohen, ‘Iraq’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 8 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 1444–52. Bernstein, Marc S., Stories of Joseph (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2006). Bernstein, Shimeon (ed.), The Collected Liturgical Poetry of Mosheh Ibn Ezra (Tel-Aviv: Masada, 1957). In Hebrew. Boehm, Yohanan, ‘Music’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 12 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 554–626. Bondanella, Peter E., Umberto Eco and the Open Text: Semiotics, Fiction, Popular Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997). Böwering, Gerhard, ‘The Concept of Time in Islam’ in Proceeding of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 141/1 (1997): 55–66. Böwering, Gerhard, ‘Chronology and the Qur’ān’, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, vol. 1 (Leiden: Brill, 2001), pp. 316–35. Böwering, Gerhard, ‘Time’, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, vol. 5 (Leiden: Brill, 2006), pp. 278–90. Bowker, Johan (ed.), Oxford Concise Dictionary of World Religions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). Brann, Ross, The Compunctious Poet Cultural Ambiguity and Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991). Brann, Ross, ‘Judah Halevi’, in María Rosa Menocal, Raymond P. Scheindlin and Michael Selles (eds.), The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: The Literature of Al-Andalus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000A), pp. 265–81.

Bibliography

261

Brann, Ross, ‘The Arabized Jews’, in María Rosa Menocal, Raymond P. Scheindlin and Michael Selles (eds.), The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: The Literature of Al-Andalus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000B), pp. 435–54. Breuer, Zeev Z., The Liturgical Poetry of Salomon Ibn Gabirol Content and Form (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1993). In Hebrew. Brody, Heinrich (ed.), The Entire Collection of Poems of Yehudah Halevi, vol. 1, 2nd edn (Farnborough: Gregg International Publishers, 1971). In Hebrew. Brody, Heinrich and Jefim Schirmann (eds.), Secular Poems of Shlomoh Ibn Gabirol (Jerusalem: Shoken, 1974). In Hebrew. Brody, Robert, The Geonim of Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998). Burgansky, Israel, ‘Simeon Bar Yohai’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 14 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 1551–3. Byalik, Hayim and Yitshak Hayim Ravitski, The Songs of Shlomoh Ibn Gabirol, Part 1 (Tel Aviv and Berlin, 1924). Carmi, T. (ed. and trans.), The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (New York: Penguin Books, 1981). Chittick, William C., ‘Spectrums of Islamic Thought Sa‘īd al-Dīn Faraghānī, on the Implications of Oneness and Manyness’, in Leonard Lewisohn (ed.), The Legacy of Mediaeval Persian Sufism (London and New York: Khaniqahi-Nimatullahi Publications, 1992), pp. 203–17. Clines, A. David (ed.), The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, 7 vols (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995). Cohen, Chaim, ‘Poetry’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 538. Cohen, Eric and Amnon Shiloah, ‘Major Trends of Change in Jewish Oriental Ethnic Music in Israel’, Popular Music, 5 (1985): 199–223. Cohen, Judith, ‘Musical Bridges: The Contrafact Tradition in Judaeo-Spanish songs’, in Frederick Gerson and Anthony Percival (eds.), Cultural Marginality in the Western Mediterranean (Toronto: New Aurora Editions, 1990), pp. 121–27. Cohen, R. Mark, ‘Medieval Jewry in the World of Islam’, in Goodman Martin, Jeremy Cohen and David Sorkin (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 193–218. Cohen, R. Mark, Under Crescent and Cross The Jews in the Middle Ages (Princeton University Press, 1994, 2nd ed. 2008). Cohen, R. Mark, ‘Historical Memory and History in the Memories of Iraqi Jews,’ Mikan Journal for Hebrew and Israeli Literature and Culture Studies, 11 (2012): 110–37. Cole, Peter (trans.), Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2001).

262

Bibliography

Crystal, David, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 2nd edn (Oxford: Basic Blackwell, 1987). Dan, Joseph, ‘Mysticism in Jewish History, Religion and Literature’, in J. Dan and Frank Talmage (eds.), Studies in Jewish Mysticism (Cambridge, Mass: Association for Jewish Studies, 1978), pp. 1–14. Dan, Joseph, ‘Sefer Yetsirah’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 618. Dangur, ‘Ezra’ (ed.), The Book of Songs (Baghdad: ‘Ezra’ Dangur Printing House, 1906). In Hebrew. Danielson, Virginia, ‘The Qur’ān and the Qasīdah: Aspects of the Popularity of the Repertory Sung by Umm Kulthum’, Asian Music, 19/1 (1987): 26–46. Danielson, Virginia, ‘Min al-Mashāyikh: A View of Egyptian Musical Tradition’, Asian Music, 22/1 (1990): 113–7. Danielson, Virginia, ‘Shaping Tradition in Arabic Song: The Career and Repertory of Umm Kulthūm’, Ph.D. diss. (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1991). Danielson, Virginia, The Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic Songs, and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997). David, Abraham, ‘Najara, Israel Ben Moses’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 12 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1972), pp. 798–9. Davidson, Israel, Thesaurus of Mediaeval Hebrew Poetry, 4 vols (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1924–1933). In Hebrew. Davis, Eli, ‘Ezobi, Joseph Ben Nathan’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 6 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), p. 1104. Davis, Ruth Frances, ‘Songs of the Jews on the Djerba: A Comparison between Two Surveys’, Musica Judaica, 7/1 (1985): 23–33. Davis, Ruth Frances, ‘Some Relations between Three Piyyutim from Djerba and Three Arabic Songs’, The Maghreb Review, 11/5–6 (1986): 134–44. Davis, Ruth Frances, ‘Middle East and Central Asia: “Maqām”, “Makom”’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 16, 2nd edn (London: Macmillan, 2001), pp. 831–7. Davis, Ruth Frances, ‘Music of the Jews of Djerba, Tunisia’, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol. 6 (New York; London: Routledge, 2002), pp. 523–31. Deshen, Shlomo, ‘Baghdad Jewry in Late Ottoman Times: The Emergence of Social Classes and of Secularism,’ AJS Review, 19/1 (1994): 19–44. Deshen, Shlomo and Walter P. Zenner (eds.), Jewish Societies in the Middle East: Community, Culture and Authority (Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1982). Dobrinsky, Herbert, Treasury of Sephardic Laws and Customs (New York: Yeshiva University Press, 1986).

Bibliography

263

Drori, Itamar, ‘Elijah’s Pocket and Everyday Miracles: On the Miracle Settings in the Work of Rabbi Yosef Hayim of Baghdad’, Hador the Hebrew Annual of America, (2018): 208–17. Eco, Umberto, Semiotic and the Philosophy of Language (London: Macmillan, 1984). Ehrenkreutz, Stefan, ‘Medieval Arabic Music Theory and Contemporary Scholarship’, Arabic Studies Quarterly, 2/3 (1980): 249–65. Eisenstadt, S.N., ‘Modernization without Assimilation – Notes on the Social Structure of Jews in Iraq’, Pe‘amim, 36 (1988): 3–6. In Hebrew. Elazar, Daniel J., ‘Sephardim and Ashkenazim: The Classic and Romantic Traditions in Jewish Civilization,’ Judaism, 33/2 (1984): 146–59. Elbogen, Ismar, Jewish Liturgy a Comprehensive History, 2nd edn (Tel-Aviv: Dvir, 1972). In Hebrew. Encyclopaedia Hebraica, ‘Judah Halevi’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 10 (1972): 355–62. d’Erlanger, Rodolphe, La Musique Arabe, vol. 5 (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1949). Even-Shoshan, Avraham, A New Concordance to the Bible (Jerusalem: Kiryat Sefer Publication House, 1977). In Hebrew. Even-Shoshan, Avraham, Even Shoshan’s Dictionary, 6 vols (Tel-Aviv: ‘Am ‘Oved, Kineret Zmorah Bitan and Yedi‘ot ’Aharonot Sfarim, 2004). In Hebrew. Farmer, H.G., Sa‘adyah Gaon on the Influence of Music (London: A. Probsthain, 1943). Farmer, H.G., A History of Arabian Music: to the Thirteenth Century (London: Luzac & Co., 1967). Farmer, H.G., Historical Facts for the Arabian Musical Influence, 2nd edn (Hildeshein and New York: Georg Olms Verlag, 1970). al-Faruqi, Isma’il R. and Lois Lamia al-Faruqi, The Cultural Atlas of Islam (London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1986). al-Faruqi, Lois Ibsen, ‘Muwashshaḥ: A Vocal Form in Islamic Culture’, Ethnomusicology, 19/1 (1975): 1–29. al-Faruqi, Lois Ibsen, ‘The Status of Music in Muslim Nations: Evidence from the Arab World’, Asian Music, 12/1 (1979): 56–77. al-Faruqi, Lois Ibsen, An Annotated Glossary of Arabic Musical Terms (West Port, Conn.: Greenwood, 1981). al-Faruqi, Lois Ibsen, ‘Music Musicians and Muslim Law’, Asian Music, 17/1 (1985): 3–36. al-Faruqi, Lois Ibsen, ‘Structural Segments in the Islamic Arts: The Musical “Translation” of a Characteristic of the Literary and Visual Arts’, Asian Music, 16/1 (1987): 59–82. Fawzi, S., ‘The Jewish Academy in ‘Abbasid Iraq: Jewish Cultural and Spiritual Life’, Studies in Muslim-Jewish Relations, 1 (1993): 189–204. Fenton, Paul, ‘Les Baqqashot d’orient et d’occident’, Revue des Etudes Juives, 134/1–2 (1975): 101–27. Fenton, Paul, ‘A Jewish Sufi on the Influence of Music’, Yuval, 4 (1982): 124–30.

264

Bibliography

Finkelstein, Louis (ed.), The Jews: Their History, Culture, and Religion, 3rd edn (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1960). Finnegan, R., ‘Oral and Literate Culture’, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences, vol. 16 (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2001), pp. 10887–91. Firestone, Reuven, ‘The Qur’ān and the Bible: Some Modern Studies on Their Relationship’, in John C. Reeves (ed.), Bible and Qur’ān Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality, vol. 24 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), pp. 1–22. Fishman, Talya, Becoming the People of the Talmud Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Cultures (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011). Flack, Robert and Martin Picker, ‘Contrafactum’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 6, 2nd edn (London: Macmillan, 2001), pp. 367–9. Fleischer, Ezra, ‘Girdle-Like Strophic Patterns in the Ancient Piyyut’, Hasifrut, 2/1 (1969): 194–207. In Hebrew. Fleischer, Ezra, ‘Piyyut’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 13 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 573–602. Fleischer, Ezra, ‘The Influence of Choral Elements on the Formation and Development of the Piyyût Genres’, Yuval, 3 (1974): 18–47. In Hebrew. Fleischer, Ezra, Hebrew Liturgical Poetry in the Middle Ages (Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 1975). In Hebrew. Fleischer, Ezra, ‘Inquiries Concerning the Origin and Etymology of Several Terms in Medieval Hebrew Poetry’, Tarbiz, 47/3–4 (1978): 185–196. In Hebrew. Fleischer, Ezra, ‘Saadya Gaon’s Place in the History of Hebrew Poetry’, Pe‘amim, 54 (1993): 4–17. In Hebrew. Fleischer, Ezra, Hebrew Poetry in Spain and Communities under its Influence (Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute, 2010). In Hebrew. Fletcher, Peter, World Musics in Context: a Comprehensive Survey of the World’s Major Musical Cultures (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). Freidenreich, David M., ‘The Use of Islamic Sources in Saadiah Gaon’s “Tafsīr” of the Torah, The Jewish Quarterly Review, 93 (2003): 353–95. Friedlander, M.H. (ed.), Hymnen des R. Israel Najarah (Wien: L.K. Zama ski Ditatmarsh, 1858). Gardet, Louis, ‘Religion and Culture’, in P.M. Holt, Ann K.S. Lambton and Bernard Lewis (eds.), The Cambridge History of Islam, the Further Islamic Society and Civilization, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), pp. 569–603. al-Ghazali, Muhammad, A Journey through the Qur’ān: Themes and Messages of the Holy Qur’ān (London: Dar Al-Taqwa, 1998). Glatt-Gilad, David A., ‘Ezra’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 247–8. Goitein, S.D., Jewish Education in Muslim Countries Based on Records from the Cairo Geniza (Jerusalem: The Ben-Zvi Institute, 1962). In Hebrew.

Bibliography

265

Goitein, S.D., ‘On the Pilgrim’s Way to Ezechiel’s Tomb’, Studies on History and Culture of Iraqi Jewry, 1 (1981): 13–8. In Hebrew. Goitein, S.D., A Mediterranean Society, 4 vols (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988). Goldschmidt, Ernst Daniel and Amnon Shiloah, ‘Bakkashah’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 4 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 116–7. Goldstein, David, Hebrew Poems from Spain (New York: Schocken Books, 1966). Golè, Ezra Y., ‘M. Zulay’s “Poetic School” of Rav Se‘adya Gaon’, Tarbiz, 34/4 (1965): 382–97. In Hebrew. Gruner, Zvi, ‘The Maghreb and the Geonic Academies in Iraq as Reflected in Responsa Literature (Ninth to Eleventh Centuries)’, Pe‘amim, 38 (1989): 49–57. In Hebrew. Gȕnther, Sebastian, ‘Literacy’, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, vol. 3 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), pp. 188–92. Guttmann, Julius, Philosophies of Judaism: The History of Jewish Philosophy from Biblical Times to Franz Rosenzweig (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964). Gwynne, Rosalind Ward, Logic, Rhetoric and Legal Reasoning in the Qur’ān: God’s Arguments (London: Routledge Curzon, 2004). Habermann, Abraham Meir, ‘Pizmon’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 13 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 602–3. Haddad, Heskel M., Jews of Arab and Islamic Countries (New York: Shengold, 1984). Hakak, Lev, Building of Modern Hebrew Creativity in Babylon (Or-Yehudah: The Institute for Research on Iraqi Jewry, 2003). In Hebrew. Hakak, Lev, The Collection Essays of Rabbi Shlomo Bekhor Hutsin (Tel-Aviv: Hakibburz Hameuchad, 2005). In Hebrew. al-Ḥakham, Yosef Ḥayim ben ’Eliyah, The Angel of the Testament, David Ben Rabi Ya‘aqov Yosef Ḥayim (ed.) (Jerusalem: Vered Printing House, 1975). In Hebrew. Hamori, Andras, On the Art of Medieval Arabic Literature (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974). Hamori, Andras, ‘Love Poetry (ghazal)’, in Julia Ashtiany, T.M. Johnstone, J.D. Latham, R.B. Serjeant and G. Rex Smith (eds.), Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: ‘Abbasid Belles-Letters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990A), pp. 202–18. Hamori, Andras, ‘Ascetic Poetry (Zuhdiyyāt)’, in Julia Ashtiany, T.M. Johnstone, J.D. Latham, R.B. Serjeant and G. Rex Smith (eds.), Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: ‘Abbasid Belles-Letters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990B), pp. 265–74. Hamori, Andras, ‘Al-Mutanabbī’ in Julia Ashtiany, T.M. Johnstone, J.D. Latham, R.B. Serjeant and G. Rex Smith (eds.), Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: ‘Abbasid Belles-Letters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990C), pp. 300–14. al-Hanafi, Jalal, Dictionary of the Baghdadi Dialect, vol. 1 (Baghdād: Maṭba‘at ’al-‘Ānī, 1963). In Arabic.

266

Bibliography

al-Hanafi, Jalal, The Baghdadi Singers and the Iraqi Maqām (Baghdād: Wizārat ’al’Irshād, 1964). In Arabic. al-Hanafi, Jalal, Dictionary of the Baghdadi Dialect, vol. 2 (Baghdad: Al-Mashni Press, 1966). In Arabic. Harel, Yoram, ‘The Ousting of the Hakham Bashi Sasson ha-Levi as an Indicator of Social Struggles in the Jewish Community of Baghdad’, Zion, 66/2 (2001): 201–25. In Hebrew. Havazelet, Meir, ‘Meir Ba‘al Ha-Nes, Tomb of’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 11 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), p. 1. Hazan, Ephraim, The Poems of Fardji Shawat Critical Edition with Introduction and Commentary (Jerusalem: The Ben-Zvi Institute, 1976). In Hebrew. Hazan, Ephraim, ‘The Personal Poems of Rabbi David Hasin’, in Judith Dishon and Ephraim Hazan (eds.), Studies in Hebrew Literature and Yemenite Culture: Jubilee Volume Presented to Yehuda Ratzaby (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1991), pp. 279–99. In Hebrew. Heaney, Seamus, The Cure at Troy (Derry: Field Day, 1990). Hodgson, Marshall, The Venture of Islam, 3 vols (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974). Hoffman, Lawrence A., ‘Haggadah of Pesah’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 278–8. Hourani, Albert, A History of the Arab People (London: Faber and Faber, 1991). Hrushovski, Benjamin, ‘Prosody, Hebrew’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 13 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 1195–240. Ibn Khaldûn, The Muqaddimah: an Introduction to History, trans. Franz Rosenthal (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul in association with Secker and Warbury, 1967). Idel, Moshe, Kabbalah: New Perspectives (Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv: Shoken, 1993). In Hebrew. Idelsohn, Abraham Zvi, Thesaurus of Hebrew Oriental Melodies, Songs of the Babylonian Jews, vol. 2 (Leipzig: Breitkopf and Hartel, 1923). Idelsohn, Abraham Zvi, Jewish Music in its Historical Development (New York: Schocken Books, 1967). Idelsohn, Abraham Zvi, Jewish Music in its Historical Development, 3rd edn (New York: Dover Publications, 1992). Ilan, Nahem, ‘Thoughts on the Beginning of Jewish Sufi Literature’, Pe‘amim, 129 (2012): 147–60. In Hebrew. Ilan, Nahem, ‘Qanun al Nisa (The Law for Women) His Only Work for Women in Judaeo-Arabic’, in Strikovski, Aryeh (ed.), Rabbi Yosef Hayim Ba‘al Ben ’Eish Ḥay, Daf Letarbut Yehudit series, vol. 281 (Jerusalem: Ministry of Education, Religious Education, 2014), pp. 41–4. In Hebrew.

Bibliography

267

Islam, Aida and Stefanija Leshkova Zelenkovska, ‘Between Social Transformation and Continuity: Bektashi Sufi Music Tradition in the Republic of Macedonia’, Review of European Studies, 6/2 (2014): 80–4. Jacobi, Renate, ‘Nasīb’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 7, new edn (Leiden: Brill, 1993), pp. 978–83. Jacobi, Renate, ‘The Origins of the Qaṣīda Form’, in Stephan Sperl and Christopher Shackle (eds.), Qaṣīda Poetry in Islamic Asia and Africa, vol. 1 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996), pp. 21–34. Jacobi, Renate, ‘Qaṣīda’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 2 (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 630–3. Jacobs, Louis, ‘Liturgy’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 11 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 392–404. Jarden, Dov, The Liturgical Poetry of Rabbi Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 2 vols (Jerusalem: Dov Jarden, 1971). In Hebrew. Jarden, Dov, The Liturgical Poetry of Rabbi Yehuda Halvi, 2 vols (Jerusalem: Dov Jarden, 1978). In Hebrew. Jastrow, Marcus, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (London: Luzac and Co.; New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903). Jayyusi, Salma K., ‘Umayyad Poetry’, in A.F.L. Beeston, T.M. Johnstone, R.B. Serjeant and G.R. Smith (eds.), Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: Arabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), pp. 387–432. Jeffreys, Elizabeth M., ‘Kontakion’, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, vol. 2 (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 1148. Jones, Alan, ‘Orality and Writing in Arabia’, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, vol. 3 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), pp. 587–93. Kahen, Claude, Islam (Tel-Aviv: Dvir, 1995). In Hebrew. Kartomi, Margaret J., ‘The Processes and Results of Musical Culture Contact: A Discussion of Terminology and Concepts’, Ethnomusicology, 25/2 (1981): 227–49. Kartomi, Margaret J. and Stephan Blum (eds.), Music-Cultures in Contact, Convergences and Collisions (Basel, Switzerland: Gordon and Breach, 1994). Katz, Israel J., ‘Contrafacta and the Judaeo-Spanish Romancero: A Musicological View’, in Joseph V. Ricapito (ed.), Hispanic Studies in Honour of Joseph H. Silverman (Newark, Del.: Juan de la Cuesta, 1988), pp. 169–87. Katz, Ruth, ‘The Singing of Baqqashot by Aleppo Jews’, Acta Musicologica, 40 (1968): 65–85. Katz, Sarah, ‘The Dependence of Sholomo Ibn Gabirol on the Musical Theory of His Time’, Pe‘amim, 47 (1991): 29–53. In Hebrew.

268

Bibliography

Kazzaz, Nissin, The Jews in Iraq in the Twentieth Century (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 1991). In Hebrew. Kemal, Salim, ‘Philosophy and Theory in Arabic Poetics’, Journal of Arabic Literature, 20/2 (1989): 128–47. Kennedy, P.F., ‘Zuhdiyya’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 2 (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 828–9. Keyte, Hugh and Andrew Parrott, The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992). Kilpatrick, H., ‘The Transmission of Songs in Mediaeval Arabic Culture’, in U. Vermeulen and D. De Smet (eds.), Philosophy and Arts in the Islamic World: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Congress of the Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants (Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 1998), pp. 73–82. Kligman, Mark Loren, ‘Modes of Prayer: Arabic Maqāmāt in the Sabbath Morning Liturgical Music of the Syrian Jews in Brooklyn’, Ph.D. diss. (New York: New York University, 1997). Kligman, Mark Loren, ‘The Bible, Prayer, and Maqām: Extra-Musical Associations of Syrian Jews’, Ethnomusicology, 45/3 (2001): 443–79. Kligman, Mark Loren, ‘Music’, in Michael Menachem Laskier, Reeva Spector Simon and Sara Reguer (eds.), The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), pp. 224–34. Kligman, Mark Loren, ‘Arab Music and Aesthetics as a Basis for the Liturgical Structure of the Sabbath Morning Service of the Syrian Jews in Brooklyn, New York’, Music Judaica, xviii (2005–2006), pp. 87–105. Kligman, Mark Loren, Maqām and Liturgy (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2009). Kojaman, Yehezkel, The Maqam Music Tradition of Iraq (London: Y. Kojaman, 2001). Krenkow, F., ‘Ḳaṣīda’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 2 (Leiden: Brill, 1924), p. 796. Lachmann, Robert, Music des Orients (Breslau: F. Hirt, 1929). Lachmann, Robert, Jewish Cantillation and Song in the Isle of Djerba (Jerusalem: Azriel Press, Archives of Oriental Music the Hebrew University, 1940). de Lange, Nicholas, Hebrew Scholarship and the Medieval World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001). de Lange, Nicholas, Judaism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). Lazarus Yafeh, Hava, ‘Mysticism in Islam’, in Hava Lazarus Yafeh (ed.), Studies in the History of the Arabs and Islam (Tel-Aviv: Reshafim, 1967), pp. 316–32. Lenhardt, Peter, ‘Acrostics’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997A), p. 15. Lenhardt, Peter, ‘Baqqashah’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997B), p. 98.

Bibliography

269

Lenhardt, Peter, ‘Liturgy’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997C), pp. 422–3. Lenhardt, Peter, ‘Maḥzor’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997D), p. 435. Levin, Israel, ‘I Sought the One Whom My Soul Loveth: A Study of the Influence of Erotic Secular Poetry on Hebrew Religious Poetry’, Hasifrut, 3/1 (1971): 116–49. In Hebrew. Levin, Israel (ed.), The Religious Poems of Abraham Ibn Ezra, 2 vols (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1975–1982). In Hebrew. Levin, Israel, Mystical Trends in the Poetry of Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Tel-Aviv: Habermann Institute for Literary Research, 1986). In Hebrew. Levin, Israel, Keter Malkhut: By Rabbi Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Tel-Aviv: Tel-Aviv University Press, 2005). Levine, R.M. and J.C. Sebe Bom Meihy, ‘Oral History’, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences, vol. 16 (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2001), pp. 10891–7. Lewis, Bernard (ed. and trans.), Islam from the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople (London: Macmillan, 1976). Lewis, Bernard, The Jews of Islam (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984). Lewis, Bernard, The Middle East: A Brief History of the Past Two Thousand Years (New York: Scribner, 1995). Lewis, Bernard, ‘Reflection on Islamic Historiography’, Middle Eastern Lectures, 2 (1997): 69–80. Lewis, Bernard (ed. and trans.), Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hebrew Poems (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001). Lewisohn, Leonard (ed.), The Legacy of Mediaeval Persian Sufism (London: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1992). Loeb, L.D., ‘The Jewish Musicians and the Music of Fars’, Asian Music, 4/1 (1972): 3–14. Loewe, Raphael, ‘Ibn Gabirol’s Treatment of Sources in the Kether Malkhuth’, in S. Stein and R. Loewe (eds.), Studies in Jewish Religious and Intellectual History Presented to Alexander Altmann of the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday (London and Atlanta: University of Alabama Press, 1979), pp. 183–94. Loewe, Raphael, Ibn Gabirol (London: Peter Halban Publishers, 1989). de Lonzano, Menahem, Songs and Supplication (Constantinople, 1575). In Hebrew. Louvish, Misha, ‘Aliyah’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 633–5. Maalouf, Shireen, History of Arabic Music Theory Change and Continuity in the Tone System, Genres, and Scales (Kaslik-Lebanon: Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik, 2002). Mahdi, Muhsin, Ibn Haldūn’s Philosophy of History: A Study in the Philosophic Foundation of the Science of Culture (London: G. Allen and Unwin, 1957).

270

Bibliography

el-Mahdi, Salah, La Musique Arabe (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1972). Maizlish, Yitshak, ‘Unknown and Personal Petition by Rabbi Zrahyah Halevi’, in Yehudit Dishon and Efrayim Hazan (eds.), Pirkei Shirah: From the Hidden Treasures of Jewish Poetry (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1990), pp. 47–60. In Hebrew. Malachi, Zvi and Hanna David, Studies in the Work of Shlomo Ibn-Gabirol (Tel-Aviv: TelAviv University, 1985). In Hebrew. Mansour, Jacob, The Jewish Baghdadi Dialect: Studies and Texts in the Judaeo-Arabic Dialect of Baghdad (Or-Yehudah: The Institute for Research on Iraqi Jewry, 1991). Mantsur, Saleh (ed.), The Complete Book of Songs, in Praise of the Righteous Songs, Supplications and Praises (Jerusalem: Saleh Ben Rabbi Ya‘aqov Mantsur, 1954). In Hebrew. Marcus, Scott Lloyd, ‘Arab Music Theory in the Modern Period’, Ph.D. diss. (Los Angeles: University of California, 1989A). Marcus, Scott Lloyd, The Middle East on the Eve of Modernity: Aleppo in the Eighteenth Century (New York: Columbia University Press, 1989B). Matkon, Y. (ed.), Poems by Rabbi Shlomoh Mazal Tov (Tel-Aviv: Dvir, 1923). In Hebrew. McAuliffe, Jane Dammen, ‘Text and Textuality: Q. 3:7 as a Point of Intersection’, in Issa J. Boullata (ed.), Literary Structures of Religious Meaning in the Qur’an (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 2000), pp. 56–76. Mckinney, Robert, ‘Ibn Al-Rūmīs Contribution to the “Nautical Rahīl” Tradition: The Expression Of Meaning through Form and Structure’, Journal of Arabic Literature, 29/3–4 (1998): 95–135. Meisami, Julie Scott, ‘The Uses of the Qaṣīda: Thematic and Structural Patterns in a Poem of Bashshār’, Journal of Arabic Literature, 16/1 (1985): 40–60. Meisami, Julie Scott, ‘Sufism’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 2 (London: Routledge, 1998A), pp. 740–2. Meisami, Julie Scott, ‘Oratory and Sermon’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 2 (London: Routledge, 1998B), pp. 593–4. Meyer, Leonard, Music, the Arts and Ideas (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967). Midrash Rabah (Jerusalem: Mahadurat Vilnah, 1984). In Hebrew. Mir, Mustansir, ‘The Sūra as a Unity a Twenty Century Development in Qur’ān Exegesis’, in Colin Turner (ed.), The Koran Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies, Translation and Exegesis, vol. 4 (London and New York: Routledge Curzon, 2004), pp. 198–209. Mirski, Aharon, ‘The New Poems of Rabbi Israel Najara’, Sefunot, 6 (1962): 259–302. In Hebrew. Mirski, Aharon, From the Duty of the Hearts to their Poetry (Jerusalem: The Magnes, Hebrew University, 1992). In Hebrew. Mishnah Brurah, Sefer Mishnah Brurah by Rabbi Meir Ben Rabbi Aryeh Zeev Hakohen of Radi (Jerusalem, 1973). In Hebrew.

Bibliography

271

Mishneh Torah, Mishneh Torah Larambam (Jerusalem: Maqor, 1975). In Hebrew. Monroe, James, ‘The Historical Arjūza of Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, a Tenth-Century HispanoArabic Epic Poem’, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 91/1 (1971): 67–95. Monroe, James, Hispano-Arabic Poetry (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974). Morage, Shlomo, ‘Hebrew as Language of Elite Culture’, Pe‘amim, 23 (1985): 9–21. In Hebrew. Motzki, Harald, ‘Muṣḥaf’, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, vol. 3 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), pp. 463–6. Motzki, Harald, ‘Alternative Account of the Qur’ān Formation’, in Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Qur’ān (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 59–75. Muallem, David, The Scale and the Maqam in the Arabic Musical System (Kfar-Savah, Israel: Or Tav, 2006). In Hebrew. Najarah, Israel Ben Moses, Songs of Israel (Safed, 1587). In Hebrew. Najarah, Israel Ben Moses, Songs of Israel, 2nd edn (Venice, 1599). In Hebrew. Najarah, Israel Ben Moses, The Surviving Few of Israel (Venice, after 1599). In Hebrew. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Ideals and Realities of Islam (London: Allen and Unwin, 1966). Nelson, Kristina, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985). Nettl, Bruno, Theory and Method in Ethnomusicology (New York: Free Press, 1964). Neubauer, Adolph (ed.), Mediaeval Jewish Chronicles and Chronological notes (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985). Neubauer, Eckhard, and Veronica Doubleday, ‘Islamic Religious Music’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 12, 2nd edn (London: Macmillan, 2001), pp. 599–610. Neusner, Jacob, The Study of Ancient Judaism (New York: Ktav, 1981). Neusner, Jacob, Song of Songs Rabbah an Analytical Translation, 2 vols (Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press, 1989). Nicholson, Reynold A., The Mystics of Islam (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1914). Nicholson, Reynold A., A Literary History of the Arabs, 2nd edn (Richmond: Curzon Press, 1993). Nöldeke, Theodor, Neue Beiträge Zur Semitischen Sprachwissenschaft (Strassburg: Verlag Von Karl J. Trübner, 1910). Nöldeke, Theodor, ‘The Koran’, in Colin Turner (ed.), The Koran Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies, Translation and Exegesis, vol. 1 (London and New York: Routledge Curzon, 2004), pp. 72–94. Nulman, Macy, ‘The Musical Service of the Syrian Synagogue: Its Structure and Design’, Journal of Jewish Music and Liturgy, 2 (1977–1978): 34–57. Nulman, Macy, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer Ashkenazic and Sephardic Rites (Northvale, New Jersey, London: Jason Aronson Inc., 1993).

272

Bibliography

Ortiz, Fernando, Cuban Counterpoint Tobacco and Sugar, trans. Harriet De Onís, 2nd edn (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1995). Padwick, Constance, Muslim Devotions: A Study of Prayer-Manuals in Common Use (London: S.P.C.K., 1969). Paret, Rudy, ‘The Qur’ān’, in A.F.L. Beeston, T.M. Johnstone, R.B. Serjeant and G.R. Smith (eds.), Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: Arabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), pp. 186–227. Pearl, Chaim, ‘Shabbat Parah’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997A), p. 597. Pearl, Chaim, ‘Shabbat Sheqalim’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997B), p. 597. Pearl, Chaim, ‘Shabbat ha-Gadol’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997C), pp. 597–8. Pearl, Chaim, ‘Shabbat Shirah’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997D), p. 597. Pearl, Chaim, ‘Shabbat ha-Ḥodesh’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York And Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997E), p. 597. Pedaya, Haviva, The East (Hamizrah) Writes Itself (Tel Aviv: Gome, 2015). In Hebrew. Pedaya, Haviva, Return of the Lost Voice (Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2016). In Hebrew. Pethahiah Ben Jacob of Ratisbon, Travels of Rabbi Petachia of Ratisbon, trans. Abraham Benisch, 2nd edn (London: Longman and Co., Paternoster Row, 1861). Petuchowski, Jacob, Theology and Poetry: Studies in the Medieval Piyyut (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978). Picard, Ariel, The Philosophy of Rabbi Ovadya Yosef in an Age of Transition (Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2007). In Hebrew. Pines, Shlomo, ‘Gabirol, Solomon Ben Judah, Ibn’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 7 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 235–45. Poché, Christian, ‘Arab Music: Art Music after 1918: Theory (a) Mode and Modality’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 1, 2nd edn (London: Macmillan, 2001), pp. 813–4. Pris-Horev, Yhudah (ed.), Rabbi Yisrael Najarah: Songs of Israel (Tel-Aviv: Mahbarot Lesifrut, 1946). In Hebrew. The Qur’ān, trans. M.A.S. Abdel Haleem (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). Racy, A. Jihad, ‘Records Industry and Egyptian Traditional Music, 1904–1932’, Ethnomusicology, 20/1 (1976): 23–48. Racy, A. Jihad, ‘Musical Aesthetics in Present-day Cairo’, Ethnomusicology, 26/3 (1982): 391–406. Racy, A. Jihad, ‘The Waṣlah: A Compound-Form Principle in Egyptian Music’, Arab Studies Quarterly, 5/4 (1983): 396–403.

Bibliography

273

Racy, A. Jihad, Making Music in the Arab World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). Rappel, Yoel, ‘Introduction’, in Yoel Rappel (ed.), From the East and the West: The Piyyut Tradition (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan Press 1978), pp. 31–70. In Hebrew. Ratzaby, Yehudah, ‘Alien Melodies in Hebrew Music’, Tazlil, 6 (1966): 8–13. In Hebrew. Ratzaby, Yehudah, Text and Studies in Oriental Liturgical Poetry (Jerusalem: Misgav Yerushalayim Institute for Research on the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage, 1991). In Hebrew. Ratzaby, Yehudah, ‘Traces of the Meter in the Melodies of Sephardic Piyyutim’, in Binyamin Bar-Tikva and Ephraim Hazan (eds.), Piyyut in Tradition, vol. 1 (RamatGan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1996), pp. 47–51. In Hebrew. Reeves, John C., ‘Some Explorations of the Intertwining of Bible and Qur’ān’, in John C. Reeves (ed.), Bible and Qur’ān Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality, vol. 24 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), pp. 43–60. Regev, Shaul, ‘Paying the Piper and Calling the Tune: the Disagreement between R. Ezra Dangoor and the Leaders of Rangoon’, Pe‘amim, 142–143 (2015): 219–56. In Hebrew. Regev, Shaul, ‘Guidelines and Decries Ruled by Rabbi Yosef Hayim (the Ben ’Eish Ḥay) in Babylon: Between Halakhah and Qabbalah’, in Avi Elkayam and Havivah Pedaya (eds.), Halamish Lemaayno Mayim: Studies in Qabbalah, Halakhah, Customs Thought, Presented to Professor Halamish (Jerusalem: Karmel Press, 2016), pp. 516– 41. In Hebrew. Rejwan, Nissim, The Last Jews in Baghdad Remembering a Lost Homeland (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994). Renard, John, Seven Doors to Islam: Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996). Robbins, Vernon K. and Gordon D. Newby, ‘A Prolegomenon to the Relation of the Qur’ān and the Bible’, in John C. Reeves (ed.), Bible and Qur’ān Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality, vol. 24 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), pp. 23–42. Rosen-Moked, Tova, ‘On the History of Hebrew Girdle Poetry in the East’, Pe‘amim, 13 (1982): 125–145. In Hebrew. Rosen, Tova, ‘The Muwashshaḥ’, in María Rosa Menocal, Raymond P. Scheindlin and Michael Selles (eds.), The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: The Literature of Al-Andalus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 165–89. Rosenfeld-Hadad, Merav, ‘Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥot – The Holy Book of Praises of the Babylonian Jews: One Thousand Years of Cultural Harmony between Judaism and Islam’, in Michael M. Laskier and Yaacov Lev (eds.), The Convergence of Judaism and Islam: Religious, Scientific, and Cultural Dimensions (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2011), pp. 241–271.

274

Bibliography

Rosenfeld-Hadad, Merav, ‘“There on the Poplars [Arabs] We Hung Up [Rely On] Our Lyres [Jewish Music]”: Rabbi ‘Ovadyah Yosef’s Halakhic Rulings on Arabic Music’, in Yousef Meri (ed.), Muslim-Jewish Relations in Past and Present: A Kaleidoscopic View (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2017), pp. 172–205. Roth, N., ‘Sacred and Secular in the Poetry of Ibn Gabirol’, Hebrew Studies, 20–21 (1979– 1980): 75–9. Russell, R., ‘Ḳaṣīda’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 4, new edn (Leiden: Brill, 1978), pp. 713–6. Sa‘adyah, Gaon, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions, trans. Samuel Rosenblatt (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1948). Sa‘adyah, Gaon, Kitāb Uṣūl al Sh‘ir al ‘Ibrānī, ed. and trans. Nehemya Allony (Jerusalem: The Academy of the Hebrew Language, 1969). In Hebrew. Salman, Nina and Heinrich Brody (trans. and eds.), Selected Poems of Jehudah Halevi (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1928). Sarna, Nahum M. and Yehuda Arye Klausner, ‘Acrostic’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 229–32. Scheherazade, Qassim Hassan, ‘Iraq: Art Music and Related Traditions: Iraqi Maqām’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 12, 2nd edn (London: Macmillan, 2001), pp. 546–56. Scheindlin, Raymond P., Wine, Women, and Death: Medieval Hebrew Poems on the Good Life (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1986). Scheindlin, Raymond P., The Gazelle: Medieval Hebrew Poems on God, Israel, and the Soul (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991). Scheindlin, Raymond P., ‘Ibn Gabirol’s Religious Poetry and Sufi Poetry’, Sefarad, 1 (1994): 109–42. Schimmel, Annemarie, As Through a Veil: Mystical Poetry in Islam (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982). Schippers, Arie, Spanish Hebrew Poetry and the Arabic Literary Tradition (Leiden: Brill, 1994). Schippers, Arie, ‘Psalms’, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, vol. 4 (Leiden: Brill, 2004), pp. 314–8. Schirmann, Jefim, The Hebrew Poetry in Spain and in Provence, 2 vols (Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv: Mosad Bialik and Dvir, 1954–1957). In Hebrew. Schirmann, Jefim (ed.), New Hebrew Poems from the Genizah (Jerusalem: The Israeli Academy of Science and Humanities, 1965). In Hebrew. Schirmann, Jefim, ‘Ibn Abbas, Judah Ben Samuel II’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 8 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971A), pp. 1151–2. Schirmann, Jefim, ‘Ibn Abiture’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 8 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971B), pp. 1152–3.

Bibliography

275

Schirmann, Jefim, The History of Hebrew Poetry in Christian Spain and in Southern France, 2nd edn (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press and Ben-Zvi Institute, 1997). In Hebrew. Schirmann, Jefim, The History of Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain, 2nd edn (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1998). In Hebrew. Schleifer, Eliyahu, ‘Idelsohn’s Scholarly and Literary Publications: An Annotated Bibliography’, Yuval, 5 (1986): 53–180. Schoeler, Gregor, ‘Muwashshaḥ’, Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 7, new edn (Leiden: Brill, 1993), pp. 809–12. Schoeler, Gregor, ‘Oral Composition’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 2 (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 592–3. Schwartz, Baruch J., ‘Torah’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 696–8. Segev, Tom, David Ben Gurion A State at All Costs (Moshav Ben Shemen: Keter Sfarim, 2018). In Hebrew. Sells, Michael, Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Qur’an, Mi’raj, Poetic and Theological Writings (New York: Paulist Press, 1996). Sells, Michael, ‘A Literary Approach to the Hymnic Sūras of the Qur’ān: Spirit, Gender, and Aural Intertextuality’, in Issa J. Boullata (ed.), Literary Structures of Religious Meaning in the Qur’an (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 2000), pp. 3–25. Sells, Michael, ‘Sounds, Spirit, and Gender in Sūrat Al-Qadr’, in Colin Turner (ed.), The Koran Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies Style and Structure, vol. 3 (London and New York: Routledge Curzon, 2004), pp. 127–58. Seroussi, Edwin, ‘Politics Ethnic Identity and Music in Israel: The Case of the Moroccan Bakkashot’, Asian Music, 17 (1985): 32–45. In Hebrew. Seroussi, Edwin, ‘Rabbi Israel Najara: Moulder of Hebrew Sacred Singing after the Expulsion from Spain’, Asufot, 4 (1990): 285–310. In Hebrew. Seroussi, Edwin, ‘The Beginnings of Baqqashot Poetry in Jerusalem in the Nineteenth Century’, Pe‘amim, 56 (1993): 116–20. In Hebrew. Shabat, M. Mosheh, Rabbinic Academies in Baghdad, their Formation and Long Lasting Impact, vol. 1 (Jerusalem, 2016). In Hebrew. Shapiro, Alexander, ‘Provence’, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 13 (Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971), pp. 1259–64. Shapiro, Marc, ‘Shulḥan ‘Arukh’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 642. Sharkey, Heather J., A History of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Middle East (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017). Sharpe, L., ‘Book and Book Making’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 1 (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 154–60.

276

Bibliography

Sharvit, Uri, ‘The Oral Music Traditions of Jewish Communities’, Pe‘amim, 31 (1987): 132–153. In Hebrew. el-Shawan, Salwa, ‘Al-Mūsīḳa al-‘Arabiyyah: A category of Urban Music in Cairo, Egypt, 1927–1977’, Ph.D. diss. (New York: Columbia University, 1980). el-Shawan, Salwa, ‘Traditional Arab Music Ensembles in Egypt since 1967: “The Continuity of Traditional Within a Contemporary Framework”’, Ethnomusicology, 28/2 (1984): 71–88. el-Shawan, Salwa, ‘Some Aspects of the Cassette Industry in Egypt’, The World of Music, 29 (1987): 32–48. Shelemay, Kay Kaufman, ‘Syrian Pizmonim in Brooklyn’, Pe‘amim, 97 (1996A): 96–110. In Hebrew. Shelemay, Kay Kaufman, ‘The Ethnomusicologist and the Transmission of Tradition’, The Journal of Musicology, 14 (1996B): 35–51. Shelemay, Kay Kaufman, Let Jasmine Rain Down Songs and Remembrance Among Syrian Jews (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1998). Shelemay, Kay Kaufman, ‘The Power of Silent Voices: Women in the Syrian Musical Tradition’, in Laudan Nooshin (ed.), Music and the Play of Power in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia (United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2009), pp. 269–88. Shiloah, Amnon, ‘L’epitre sur la musique des Ikhwan al-Safa’, Revue des Etudes Islamique, 1 (1964): 125–62. Shiloah, Amnon, ‘L’epitre sur la musique des Ikhwan al-Safa’, Revue des Etudes Islamique, 2 (1966A): 159–93. Shiloah, Amnon, ‘Melody and Meter in the Kuzari’, Tazlil, 6 (1966B): 5–8. In Hebrew. Shiloah, Amnon, The Epistle on Music of the Ikhwan al-Safa (Tel-Aviv: Tel-Aviv University, 1978). In Hebrew. Shiloah, Amnon, ‘The Arabic Concept of Mode’, Journal of American Musicological Society, 34/1 (1981): 19–42. Shiloah, Amnon, The Musical Tradition of Iraqi Jews (Or-Yehuda: The Institute for Research on Iraqi Jewry, 1983). Shiloah, Amnon, ‘Revival and Renewal: Can Jewish Ethnic Tradition Survive the Melting Pot?’, Musica Judaica, 10/1 (1987–88): 59–69. Shiloah, Amnon, Jewish Musical Traditions. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1992). Shiloah, Amnon, Music in the World of Islam: A Socio-Cultural Study (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995). Shivtiel, Avihai, ‘Arabisms in Hebrew’, in K. Dévényi and T. Iványi (eds.), Proceedings of the Arabic and Islamic Sections of the 35th International Congress of Asian and North African Studies Part One, 1–7 July 1997 (Budapest: Eötvös Lovánd University, 1998), pp. 57–62.

Bibliography

277

Shouby, E., ‘The Influence of the Arabic Language on the Psychology of the Arabs’, The Middle East Journal, 5/1 (1951): 284–302. Shrem, Gabriel (ed.), Song and Praise Adoration and Singing, 5th edn (Brooklyn, New York: Sephardic Heritage Foundation and Magen David Publication Society, 1986). In Hebrew. Shulhan ‘Arukh. Shulhan ‘Arukh by Rabbi Joseph Caro, Zvi H. Preisler and Rabbi Samuel Havlin (eds.) (Jerusalem: Ketuvim Publishers, 1993). In Hebrew. Smith, John Arthur, Music in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity (Surry: Ashgate, 2011). Snir, Reuven, ‘Who Needs Arab-Jewish Identity? Fragmented Consciousness, “Inessential Solidarity,” and the “Coming Community”’ (Part 1), Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, 1/2 (2012): 169–88. Snir, Reuven, Who Needs Arab-Jewish Identity? Interpellation, Exclusion, and Inessential Solidarities (Leiden, Netherlands, Boston [Massachusetts]: Brill, 2015). Solis-Cohen, Solomon and H. Brody (eds. and joint trans), Selected Poems of Moses Ibn Ezra (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1945). Spector-Simon, Reeva, ‘Iraq’, in Michael Menachem Laskier, Reeva Spector Simon and Sara Reguer (eds.), The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), pp. 347–66. Speight, Marston R., ‘Narrative Structures in the Ḥadith’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 59/4 (2000): 265–71. Sperl, Stefan, ‘Islamic Kingship and Arabic Panegyric Poetry in the Early 9th Century’, Journal of Arabic Literature, 8/1 (1977): 20–35. Stern, M., Hispano-Arabic Strophic Poetry (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974). Stern, M., ‘Imitations of Arabic Mwashshḥāt in the Hebrew Poetry in Spain’, in Jonah David (ed.), Studies in Medieval Hebrew Poetry (Tel-Aviv: Tel-Aviv University Press, 1975), pp. 153–73. In Hebrew. Stillman, Norman A., The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Sourcebook (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1979). Stillman, Norman A., Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991). Stillman, Norman A., Sephardi Religious Responses to Modernity (Australia: Harwood Academic Publishers GmbH, 1995). Stillman, Norman A., ‘The Commensality of Islamic and Jewish Civilizations’, Middle Eastern Lectures 2 (Tel-Aviv: Tel-Aviv University Press, 1997), pp. 81–94. Stoetzer, W., ‘Prosody’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 2 (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 619–22. Stone, Ruth M., Theory for Ethnomusicology (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008).

278

Bibliography

Strikovski, Aryeh (ed.), Rabbi Yosef Hayim Ba‘al Ben ’Eish Ḥay, Daf Letarbut Yehudit series, vol. 281 (Jerusalem: Ministry of Education, Religious Education, 2014). In Hebrew. Sturrock, John (ed.), Structuralism and Since: From Levi-Strauss to Derrida (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979). Sumi, Akiko Motoyoshi, Description in Classical Arabic Poetry: Waṣf, Ekphrasis, and Interarts Theory (Leiden: Brill, 2004). Talmud Bavli, Yisroel Simcha Schorr and Chaim Malinowitz (eds.) (Brooklyn, N.Y.: Mesorah Publications, 1997–2003). In Hebrew and English. Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia and Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1985). Tietze, Andreas and Jose, Ottoman Melodies Hebrew Hymns a Sixteenth Century CrossCultural Adventure (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1995). Tobi, Yosef, ‘New Poems of Babylonian Poets from the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries’, in Shmuel More (ed.), Studies in the History and Culture of Iraqi Jewry (Or-Yehudah: Institute for Research on Iraqi Jewry, 1981), pp. 51–72. In Hebrew. Tobi, Yosef, ‘The Duty of the Hearts and the Poetry of the Hearts’, Pe‘amim, 56 (1983): 140–9. In Hebrew. Tobi, Yosef, ‘The Encounter between Hebrew Poetry and Arabic Poetry in the East in the Tenth–Eleventh Centuries’, Pe‘amim, 62 (1995A): 6–41. In Hebrew. Tobi, Yosef, ‘The Reaction of Rav Sa‘adia Gaon to Arabic Poetry and Poetic’, Hebrew Studies, 36 (1995B): 35–53. Tobi, Yosef, ‘Rav Sa‘adya Gaon – The First Philosophical Poet of the Jewish People’, in Binyamin Bar-Tikva and Ephraim Hazan (eds.), Piyyut in Tradition, vol. 1 (RamatGan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1996), pp. 29–46. In Hebrew. Tobi, Yosef, Proximity and Distance: Medieval Arabic and Hebrew Poetry (Haifa: Haifa University Press and Zmorah-Bitan, 2000). In Hebrew. Tobi, Yosef, Jacob Barnai and Shalom Bar-Asher, History of the Jews in the Islamic Countries: Modern Times until the Middle of the Nineteenth Century (Jerusalem: The Zelman Shazar Centre of Furtherance of the Study of Jewish History, 1981). In Hebrew. Touma, Habib Hassan, The Music of the Arabs (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1996). Twinah, Na‘eim, ‘To the Memory of Salim Shebath’, Naharde‘a Journal of the Center of Babylonian Tradition, 4 (1989): 32. In Hebrew. Vajda, Georges, ‘Nouveau Fragments Arabes du Commentaire du Dunash b. Tamim Sur le Livre de la Création’, Revue des Etudes Juifs, 113 (1954): 193–4. Vajda, Georges, L’amour de Dieu Dans la Théologie Juive du Moyen Age (Paris: J. Vrin, 1957). Van Gelder, G.J.H., ‘Mu‘āraḍa’, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, vol. 2 (London: Routledge, 1998), p. 534.

Bibliography

279

Wansbrough, John, Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977). Warkov, Esther, ‘Revitalization of Iraqi-Jewish Instrumental Tradition in the Persistent Centrality of an Outsider Tradition’, Asian Music, 17/2 (1986): 9–31. Weinberger, Leon J., Jewish Hymnography: a Literary History (London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 1998). Welch, Alford T., ‘Formulaic Features of the Punishment-Stories’, in Issa J. Boullata (ed.), Literary Structures of Religious Meaning in the Qur’an (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 2000), pp. 77–116. Werblowsky Zwi, R.J. and Geoffrey Wigoder (eds.), The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997). Werner, Eric, ‘Jewish Music: Liturgical, Synagogue Tradition’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 9, 2nd edn (London: Macmillan, 2001), pp. 623–4. Wieder, Naphtali, Islamic Influences on Jewish Worship (Oxford: East and West Library, 1947). In Hebrew. Wigoder, Geoffrey (ed.), The New Encyclopedia of Judaism (New York: New York University Press, 2002). Wilde, Clare E., ‘Praise’, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, vol. 4 (Leiden: Brill, 2004), pp. 213–5. Woolfson, Marion, Prophets in Babylon: Jews in the Arab World (London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1980). Write, Owen, ‘Middle Eastern Song-Text Collections’, Early Music, 24/3 (1996): 455–66. Ya‘ari, Abraham, Hebrew Printings in the East, India and Baghdad, Part 2 (Jerusalem: At the University Press, 1940). In Hebrew. Yahalom, Yosef, ‘Hebrew Poetry in the Arabic Sphere of Influence between East and West’, Pe‘amim, 2 (1979): 22–8. In Hebrew. Yahalom, Yosef, ‘Rabbi Israel Najarah and the Revival of Hebrew Poetry in the East after the Expulsion from Spain’, Pe‘amim, 13 (1982): 96–124. In Hebrew. Yahalom, Yosef, The Poetic Language of the Ancient Piyyut (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1985). In Hebrew. Yahalom, Yosef, ‘The Kharja in the Context of its Muwaššḥ’, in Alan Jones and Richard Hitchcock (eds.), Studies on the Muwaššh and the Kharja: Proceedings of the Exeter International Colloquium (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991A), pp. 29–36. Yahalom, Yosef, ‘Hebrew Mystical Poetry and Its Turkish Background’, Tarbiz, 60/4 (1991B): 625–48. In Hebrew. Yahuda, A.S., ‘Our Rabbi Sa‘adyah Ga’on and the Arabic Milieu’, in ‘Ever Ve‘arav (New York, 1945), pp. 135–49. In Hebrew. Yayama, Kumiko, ‘The Singing of Baqqashot of the Aleppo Jewish Tradition in Jerusalem: The Modal System and the Vocal Style’, Ph.D. diss. (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 2003). In Hebrew.

280

Bibliography

Yehuda, Zvi, The Jews of Babylonia in the Second Millennium CE (Or Yehuda: The Babylonian Heritage Center Research Institute of Babylonian Jewry, 2013). In Hebrew. Zangwill, Israel and Israel Davidson (eds. and joint trans.), Selected Religious Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1923). Zenner, Walter P., A Global Community: The Jews from Aleppo Syria (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2000). Zimhoni, Dafna, ‘The Beginning of Modernization among the Jews of Iraq in the Nineteenth Century until 1914’, Pe‘amim, 36 (1988): 7–34. In Hebrew. Zohar, Sefer Zohar Hadash, Mosheh Margaliot (ed.) (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kuk, 1978). In Hebrew. Zohar, Zvi, ‘The Attitude of Rabbi Abdallah Somekh towards Changes in the Nineteenth Century as Reflected in His Halakhic Writings’, Pe‘amim, 36 (1988): 90–107. In Hebrew. Zohar, Zvi, ‘The Halakhic Literature of the Sages of Iraq in Modern Times’, Pe‘amim, 86 (2001A): 4–50. In Hebrew. Zohar, Zvi, The Luminous Face of the East (Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2001B). In Hebrew. Zohar, Zvi, A Socio-Cultural Drama in Mandatory Aleppo (Jerusalem: The Dinur Center, 2002). In Hebrew. Zubaidi, A.M., ‘The Impact of the Qur’ān and Ḥadīth on Medieval Arabic Literature’, in A.F.L. Beeston, T.M. Johnstone, R.B. Serjeant and G.R. Smith (eds.), The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: Arabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), pp. 322–43. Zulay, Menahem, The Liturgical Poetry of Sa‘adya Gaon and his School (Jerusalem: Schocken Institute for Jewish Research of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1964). In Hebrew.

Discography Ḥabushah, Mosheh. Ye‘arat Dvash (Honeycomb). Jerusalem: Gal-Paz (20). The Mu‘alem Collection. 1977. Unpublished collection of liturgical and paraliturgical songs, and recitation of various biblical passages. Or-Yehudah: The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Centre.

Online Songs ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah Tits‘aqah, M(63;89), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/ Song.aspx?SongID=67#1,14,28,11, Ḥabushah Mosheh (n.d.). ’Al Tid’ag ‘Al Hadamim, M(229;349), https://youtu.be/eoD5l2b-b3c, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2012). ’Al Tid’ag Leshe‘avar, M(229;350), https://youtu.be/B7MoB1_4j3w, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2013), and http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx?songid=49#1, 14,3000,212, Ḥabushah Mosheh (n.d.). ’Ashir La’el, M(57;80), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx?song id=341#1,14,1285,24, Mu‘alem Shlomoh Re’uven (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=kLtnQOsVqTA, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2017). ’Ayumah Mar’ayikh Har’ini, M(212;316), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/ Pages/song.aspx?songid=253#1,14,1184,24, Mu‘alem Shlomoh Re’uven (n.d.). ’Az Yeranen ‘Ets Haye‘arim, M(90A;202), M(91;126), https://youtu.be/8odc9LGCsUA, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2016). Barukh ’El Ḥay, M(213;318), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song .aspx?songid=668#1,14,2114,423, Mu‘alem Shlomoh Re’uven (n.d.). http://web.nli.org .il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx?songid=668#1,14,2114,423, Mu‘alem Shlomoh Re’uven (n.d.). Ben ’Adam Lamah Tid’ag ‘Al Hadamim, M(229;349), https://youtu.be/IulKsBiQj1I, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2001). Deror Yikra’, M(55;78), https://youtu.be/ce08o2hY03I, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2013). ‘Et Dodim Kalah, M(118B;264), M(135;185), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/ Pages/Song.aspx?SongID=71#1,14,579,24, Mu‘alem Shlomoh Re’uven (n.d.). Haleluyah Ki Ṭov, M(229;345), https://youtu.be/MEs3cZOsB9s, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2005). ‘Ḥayak Baba Ḥayak, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSIXkfI5-oo&list=RDeSIX kfI5-oo&t=283, Naẓem Alghazālī (2013). Iraqi Maqām, https://youtu.be/43rXLKPB4s8, Shebath Salim (1962, uploaded 2017). Kol Bru’ey Ma‘lah Umatah, M(1;11), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/ song.aspx?songid=885#1,14,2931,693, Barukh ‘Abdallah ‘Ezra (1951). Jabalnah, https://youtu.be/lu018-mw0dI, Wadi’ El Ṣafī and Sabaḥ (2010). Lekha ’Ani Vekhaspi, M(234;370), Ḥabushah Mosheh (n.d.). Mawlid al-Nabī, https://youtu.be/Vw_zZsPaqM0, Baghdad (2008); https://youtu .be/4AtZNIW2AHY Ḥalab (2012). In Arabic. Melekh Raḥman, M(194;284), https://youtu.be/H9Vwu4GSaQY, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2015).

Online Songs

283

Nakhon Libo, (M89B;200), M(108;149), https://youtu.be/IHDWq8G-x0Q, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2012). Purim Purim Lanu Barukh ’Asher Baḥar Banu, M(80A;182) and M(97;136), http:// web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/Song.aspx?SongID=159#1,14,3364,24, Mu‘alem Shlomoh Re’uven (n.d.). Qadduka-l-Mayyas Ya ‘Umri, https://youtu.be/FFEO28dbCtI, Fakhrī Ṣabāḥ (2014). Ro’sh Ḥodesh Leyisra’el, M(86;119), https://youtu.be/NNhUnT6Asjo, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2016). Sha‘ar Haraḥamim, M(71A;163) and M(85;115), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/ Song/Pages/song.aspx?songid=215#1,14,294,24, Mu‘alem Shlomoh Re’uven (n.d.). Shefal Ruaḥ, M(16;9), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx?song id=109#1,14,740,19, Ḥaguli Shum’el Darzi (n.d.). https://youtu.be/yGV4amnsf_A, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2017). Shiru La’el Nevonay, M(72A;165) and M(85;117), https://youtu.be/_F7xTzR19hs, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2017). ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah, M(62;88), https://youtu.be/MU2qBhEQj3o, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2017). Y’a Mosheh N’a, https://youtu.be/F8AEYDbMVRo, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2012). Yah Ribon ‘Alam, N(7A;4), M(8A;10) and M(15;8), https://youtu.be/quv3FLyXBuQ, Ḥabushah Mosheh (1986). Yaḥev Ḥokhmeta’ Leḥakimin, M(232;361), https://youtu.be/MNmNHbiuKxg, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2013). Yarum Venisa’, M(91B;205) and M(109;152), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/ Pages/song.aspx?songid=82#1,14,335,24, Mu‘alem Shlomoh Re’uven (n.d.). https:// youtu.be/I5KXhwFrfeY, Ḥabushah Mosheh (1986). Yashir Yisra’el, M(91B;216) and M(92;128), http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/ Pages/song.aspx?songid=3051#1,14,6533,11, Ḥabushah Mosheh (n.d.). Yedidim La’el, M(232;360), https://youtu.be/Py5LAo0gz_A, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2010). Yihyu Kemots, M(14;6), https://youtu.be/7Ds547EjyPo, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2017). Yom Yom ’Odeh La’el, M(126;171), https://youtu.be/EExpmCCFSsU, Ḥabushah Mosheh (2015).

Online Interviews and Documentary Ḥabushah Mosheh, https://youtu.be/74jwY2yvT1g, (2016, Cambridge, UK). In English. Ḥabushah Mosheh, https://youtu.be/dMIqQgyuhO8, (2018, Tel Aviv). In Hebrew. Ḥabushah Mosheh, https://youtu.be/hKMCj4Mnss4, (2019, Tel Aviv). With English subtitles. Somekh Menashi, https://soundcloud.com/user-283620094/menashi-somekh-on -abdallah-somekh, (2010, Jerusalem). In Arabic.

Formal Interviews (Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem)

By the Author

Ḥabushah, Mosheh. 14 November 2014, Jerusalem. Hadad, Morris. 15 August 2003; 28 August 2003; 3 September 2003; 11 November 2003; 12 August 2005; 21 January 2006; 1 July 2007. Tel Aviv. A group of participants, 11 November 2003: Hadad Morris, Ya‘aqov Guhari, Refa’el Guhari, Re’uven Hengali, Salim Hengali, ’Avraham Hengali, Ya‘aqov Darwish, Nisim Aghai, ’Eliyahu Somekh, ’Aharon Somekh, Sami Somekh. All in Tel Aviv.



By Others

Ḥabushah, Mosheh. 15 December 2003, Jerusalem, Or-Yehudah: The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Centre. The name of the person who conducted this interview is not mentioned. Mu‘alem, Shlomoh Reu’ven. 2 November 1977, Tel Aviv, Or-Yehudah: The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Centre, by Ruth ‘Atar.

Index Page numbers in italics refer to an illustration. A suffix t indicates a table, and n indicates a footnote. For example, 165n35 means note 35 on page 165. The abbreviation PLS is used for ‘paraliturgical song’. Songs and poems are indexed under their Hebrew titles. The transliteration system used is described on page 14. ‘Abadi, Mordekhay 50 ‘Abadi, Yitsḥaq 50, 177t ‘Abbas, Yehudah Ben Shmu’el 145t ‘Abbasid Baghdad 5, 6–7, 19, 27–28, 44t, 53–58, 82, 85, 184, 187 Abu Shumays, Sami 162, 165n35, 166 acrostics 21, 37, 42–43, 56n17, 138, 211 ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah Tits‘aqah [How Long Will [the] Dove Cry Aloud?] 117, 142t, 151–155 ’Adhan, Mosheh Ben ’Aharon 49 ’Aghasi, Shim‘on ’Aharon 142t, 149–151 ’Aḥber Shirah Brurah [I Shall Compose a Clear Song] 139t Albardany family 19 Alcalay, Ammiel 50 Allony, Nehemya 56 ’Al Tid’ag ‘Al Hadamim [Do not Fear the Loss of Money] 36n42, 177t, 183 ’Al Tid’ag Leshe‘avar [Banish the Worries of the Past] 176t, 182 ‘Aluvah Dvuyah [Poor and Ill] 142t Alvarez, Lourdes 62 ‘Antabi, ’Avraham 50 ‘Antabi, Refa’el 50, 129, 177t ‘Anu Shirim Umahlalim La’el [Respond with Songs and Exultation to the Lord] 140t Arabic 5, 10–11, 14–15, 18, 192 Arabo-Islamic influence 4–8, 27–28, 31, 184–187 in the 1906 Miṣḥaf 97–98 in the 1954 Miṣḥaf 52–53, 81–86 ‘Abbasid Baghdad and Dunash Ben Labrat 53–58 Muslim Spain and ’Ibn Gabirol 59–68 Ottoman Empire and Najarah 68–75 Baghdad and ’al-Ḥakham 75–81 on music 7–8, 71, 161, 175 Aramaic 21, 34n34, 34n36, 141, 190

’Asader Shavḥa’ [I Shall Compose Praises [for the Lord]] 105, 139t, 143t, 211 ’Ashir La’el [I Shall Sing to God] 33 Ashkenazic tradition 33 ‘Atābah [Reprimand, pl. ‘Atābāt] 37–39, 178 ’Atah Ga’alta [You [God] Redeemed] 147 audiences 158, 173–174, 193–194 ’Av Haraḥaman Lekha Ḥesed Lekha Ḥemlah [O Merciful, Benevolent and Compassionate God] 94 ’Avot Derabi Natan [[Tractate] ’Avot [by] Rabbi Natan] 80 ’Ayumah Mar’ayikh Har’ini [Awesome [Woman] Let Me See Your Face] 22, 110, 123–124 ‘Azreynu ’Avinu [Help Us Our Lord] 140t Babylonian Jews (‘Babylonians’) between 1906 and 1954 105–106, 107–108, 117–119, 159–161 history 1, 4–6, 47–50, 53–54, 75–76, 105–106 identity of 83–86, 117–119, 186–187 use of term shvaḥot 18–19 Baghdad 18th–20th centuries 45t, 47–49, 75–81, 185 ‘Abbasid Baghdad 5, 6–7, 19, 27–28, 44t, 53–58, 82, 85, 184, 187 publishing in 87, 88, 91–94 Baqashot [Supplications, s. Baqashah] 20, 28, 29, 31–32, 34, 110–111, 115, 117 examples 22, 69, 71–76, 121–123, 124–126, 149–151, 179, 183 Baqashot Yerushalem, Baqashot Le’ashmoret Haboqer [Jerusalem’s Baqashot, Baqashot for Early Dawn] 125

Index Bar Mitsvah 74, 78–81, 107t, 112, 146, 147, 180, 206 Barukh ’El Ḥay [Blessed Be He the Living God]  74, 78–81, 82, 145t, 147, 167–168, 169, 171t, 172, 173, 186, 252–253 Bar Yoḥay, Shim‘on 81, 111, 203 Be‘et Tir’eh Zman Holekh [As Time Passes By]  177t Ben ’Adam Lamah Tid’ag ‘Al Hadamim [Man, Do Not Fear the Loss of Money] 36 Benayahu, Meir 47, 88 Ben-Jacob, Abraham see Ben Ya‘akov, ’Avraham Ben Levi, Yitsḥaq 31 Ben Sahal, Ḥayim 124n81 Ben Sason, ‘Ezra’ 155–157 Ben Ya‘akov, ’Avraham (Abraham Ben-Jacob)  17, 19, 75, 87n1, 88, 91n13, 93n16 Ben Ya’aqov, Petaḥyah 19, 103 Ben Yosef, Yeḥezqe’l ‘Ezra’ 93n16 biblical language 55, 57–58, 65–66, 79–80, 123–126, 131–132, 190 see also Torah, recitation of biblical passages 93n17, 101, 115, 176t Birkat Hamazon [Grace after Meal] 90 Bish’ar Smaḥot Shirim Ta‘anu [At Times of Delight Exult [the Lord] with Songs of Praise] 147 Boehm, Yohanan 51 books, importance in Jewish community 9 brakhah [benediction, pl. brakhot] 23 Bridegroom, Pizmonim for the 107t, 115, 129, 206 Brit Milah see circumcision Burhanuddin, Qazi 71 cantors 11–12, 19, 32n28, 36n39, 64n34, 137 see also Ḥabushah, Mosheh; Mu‘alem, Shlomoh Re’uven; musical performances Celebration of the Torah see Simḥat Torah circumcision 64, 107t, 130–135, 180, 206 Cole, Peter 61 communal celebrations 20, 21–22, 107, 108, 117 concerts (in Western culture) 193, 194 Constantinople 160 content of PLSs

287 exemplified through four poets 81–82 ’al-Ḥakham’s Barukh ’El Ḥay 80–81 Dunash’s Deror Yiqra’ 58 ’Ibn Gabirol’s Shefal Ruaḥ 66–67 Najarah’s poetry 69, 74 religious and literary characteristics  123–135, 136, 188–189 context-related aspects of the PLS 127–130, 172–174, 188–189 context-related rules 191–196 contrafactum 63n32 Damascus 32 Dam Kvodi Yehi Dayo [The Blood of My Honour Is Sufficient] 177t Dangur, ‘Ezra 48, 91–101, 103–104, 105, 135–136 Darzi, Ḥaguli Shumel 64n34 Davidson, Israel 64n37, 88, 211 de Lange, Nicholas 21 Demiri, Lejla 72n44, 251 Deror Yiqra’ [The Lord Shall Proclaim Freedom] 50, 56–58, 82, 186, 187, 249 Dunash Ben Labrat 27–28, 52–58, 184, 185 see also Deror Yiqra’ Eastern European songs 2 Eastern Hebrew religious poetry 32–33 ’Eimrey No‘am, Shirim Ufizmonim Utfilot Utḥinot [Words of Delight, Poems and Songs and Prayers and Supplications] 125 ’El‘azar Ben Ya‘aqov Habavli 147 ’El Beḥasdekha [Lord in Your Faithfulness]  177t ’El ḥaviv Slaḥ [Forgive Me My Beloved Lord]  177t ’Elhay [O Lord O God] 177t ’Eli ’Al Yashuv Dakh Venikhlam [O God[,] Let Not the Downtrodden Turn Away the Ashamed] 36, 175t ’Eli ’Atah Lekha Ya’etah [You Are My God for that Is Your Due] 144t ’Eliyahu, ’Elisha‘ 89 ’El Melekh Haqadosh [God [the] Holy King]  142t ’El Neqamot ’Adonay [God of Retribution]  144t

288

Index

Ptiḥot [Introductory Songs, s. Ptiḥah] 28, ’Elohay Neshamah Shenatata Bi [O My Lord 29, 34–37, 71, 114, 115t, 175–183 the Soul You Gave Me] 176t Qaṣaīd [s. Qaṣīda] 35, 38, 55–56, 57 ’Elohey ‘Oz Tehilati [The God of the Qiṭa‘ [s. Qiṭ‘a] 22, 65 Stronghold of My Praise] 129 Shbaḥot(h) [praises, s. Shbaḥ] 18–19, End of the Sabbath [Motsa’ey Shabbat] 101, 110–111 147–148, 202 Shirim Me‘eyn-’Ezori [Quasi-Muwashshaḥ ‘Et Dodim Kalah [Time for Love [My] Bride]  Poems] 33, 47, 62, 72–73, 79, 169, 185 124–126 Shvaḥot [praises, s. Shevaḥ, Shvaḥ] 18–19, ‘Et Sha‘arey Ratson [When the Gates of 110–111 Favour] 148 Sliḥot [Penitential Hymns, s. Sliḥah] 18, Ezekiel the Prophet 108, 116n67, 203–204 120 ‘Ezer Mitsaray [[My] Rescuer from My Foes]  Zuhayrī (Mawwāl) 35 155–157 Zuhdiyyāt [Ascetic Poem, s. ’Ezobi, Yosef: Qe‘arat Kesef [[The] Silver Bowl]  Zuhdiyya] 28, 60–61 29t, 38–39, 46, 114 Al Ghazālī, Naẓem 67 ’Ezra‘, Barukh ‘Abdallah 12, 32n28 Gmara’ [Aramaic name for the Talmud]  Ezra the Scribe [‘Ezra’ Hasofer] 90n8, 108, 26n17 116n67, 204 Great Sabbath, For the [Leshabbat Hagadol]  109, 110, 207 Fakhri, Ṣabāḥ 173–174 Father of a Newborn Baby Girl, For the [Le’avi Greek language 21 Guhari, Ya‘aqov 111 Habat] 22, 110, 123–124 Fenton, Paul 28 Ḥabushah, Mosheh 11–12, 36, 58, 68, 75, 81, festivals see occasions for performing PLSs 164–165n35, 182–183 Fifteenth Day of Shvaṭ [Ṭu Bishvat] 109–110, Hadad, Morris 19, 77, 83–84, 88–89n3, 99, 207 102, 111, 116, 137, 180 First of the Month [Ro’sh Ḥodesh] 89–90, Ha’ezovi, Yosef Ben Ḥanan Ben Natan see 112, 122, 179, 202 ’Ezobi, Yosef Fleischer, Ezra 29–31, 32 Hagadah [Telling of the Passover Story] 90, 147, 148 Galyago, Yosef Shalom 125, 129–130 Hakak, Lev 88, 91n13 genres 28–39 ’al-Ḥakham, Ḥakham Yosef Ḥayim Ben ‘Atābah [Reprimand, pl. ‘Atābāt] 37–39, ’Eliyah 52–53, 75–81, 88, 89, 185 178 in the 1906 Miṣḥaf 112 Baqashot [Supplications, s. in the 1954 Miṣḥaf 41, 52–53, 109–110, 112, Baqashah] 20, 28, 29, 31–32, 34, 141, 211 110–111, 115, 117 acrostics used by 42 examples 22, 69, 71–76, 121–123, on paraliturgical worship 94 124–126, 149–151, 179, 183 ‘Ad ’Anah Yonah Tits‘aqah [How Long Will Murabba‘ 65 [the] Dove Cry Aloud?] 117, 142t, Muwashshaḥāt 47, 62–64, 169, 185 (see 151–155 also Shirim Me‘eyn-’Ezori below) ’Asader Shavḥa’ [I Shall Compose Praises Pizmonim Shonim [Various Songs with a [for the Lord]] 105, 139t, 143t, 211 Refrain] 28, 29, 33–34, 114, 115t, ’Av Haraḥaman Lekha Ḥesed Lekha 121–123 Ḥemlah [O Merciful, Benevolent and Pizmonim [Songs with a Refrain, s. Compassionate God] 94 Pizmon] 19, 28, 29–31, 32–33, 111, 112

Index Barukh ’El Ḥay [Blessed Be He the Living God] 74, 78–81, 82, 145t, 147, 167–168, 169, 171t, 172, 173, 186, 252–253 ’Eli ’Atah Lekha Ya’etah [You Are My God for that Is Your Due] 144t ’El Melekh Haqadosh [God [the] Holy King] 142t ‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah [[They] Who Worship God with Devotion] 143t, 155–157 Shim‘u Beyt Ya‘aqov Zo’t Lezikaron [Remember [My Word] For Posterity O House of Jacob] 145t Shivṭey Yah [God’s Tribes] 146 Simḥu Na’ Besimḥat Hatorah [Rejoice in the Celebration of the Torah] 146 Tehilat ’El Yedaber Pi [My Mouth Shall Utter Praise to the Lord] 143t Ve’amartem Koh Leḥay [And Let Us Say: To Life!] 81 Yitbarakh Shem Ha’el [Blessed Shall Be the Name of the Lord] 144t, 147 Ḥakiman, ’Aharon Bar ’Avraham 47, 109 Ḥalab (Aleppo) 32, 50 Ḥalabi community in Jerusalem 106–107, 110 halakhic law PLS not regulated by 23–26, 90, 100–101, 159 recitation of Torah 99 Haleluyah Ki Ṭov [Halleluiah, [For the Lord] Is Good] 176t, 182 Halevi, Menasheh Barukh 64n34 Halevi, Yehudah 41, 55 Hamarnin metre 57 Hamavdil Beyn Qodesh Leḥol [[Blessed Is] He Who Separates the Holy from the Profane] 147–148 Hamerubeh metre (Wāfir in Arabic) 31–32, 65, 66 Ḥanukah 202 Haqets Yah [Put an End to My Miseries O Lord] 177t Hasidic tradition 2, 148 Hasniri, Yitsḥaq 46 Ḥayak Baba Ḥayak [Watch Out My Son Watch Out] 67 Ḥayim, Yosef see al-Ḥakham, Ḥakham Yosef Ḥayim Ben ’Eliyah

289 Ḥazaj metre 57 Hebrew language 14–15, 21, 190 see also biblical language historical setting of the PLS 4–6, 50–54, 59, 68–69, 75–76, 105–106, 184–185 Ḥivi Habalkhi 27n18 Ḥnin, ‘Abdallāh Ben Rabi Khther 48, 117, 142t, 151–155 Ḥnin, Yeḥezqe’l 48 Hosha‘na’ Raba’ [the Seventh Day of Tabernacles] 147, 205 Ḥutsin, Mosheh 50, 109, 128 Ḥutsin, Shlomoh Bekhor 88–89, 91n13, 116n67 Ḥutsin, Tsdaqah 48, 50, 75 ’Ibn ‘Ezra,’ ’Avraham 41, 46, 63, 110, 147 ’Ibn Gabirol, Shlomoh 52–53, 56, 59–68, 184–185 Keter Malkhut [The Kingly Crown] 31, 81n68 Kikhlot Yeyni Tered ‘Eyni Palgey Mayim [When My Wine Runs Out, My Eyes Shed Streams of Water] 41–42 Kol Bru’ey Ma‘lah Umatah [God’s Creation in Heaven and on Earth] 32, 114n66 Meqor Ḥayim [The Source of Life] 60 Shaḥar ’Avaqeshkha [I Shall Earnestly Seek For You [My Lord]] 22 Shalom Leven Dodi [Well With My Beloved] 147 Shefal Ruaḥ [with Lowly Spirit] 64–68, 82, 146, 186 Shokhenet Basadeh [[She Who] Dwelt in the Field] 105 ’Ibn Giyat (Ghayyath in Arabic) 147–148 ’Ibn Mar Sha’ul, Yitsḥaq 31 ’Ibn Tsur, Ya’aqov 49–50 Idelsohn, Abraham Zvi 7, 13, 93–94, 169 Ikhwān al-Ṣafa’ [Pure Brethren] 60 imitation [mu‘āraḍa] technique 62–64, 71, 78 indices of songs 20, 98–99, 147n8 interviews and informants 12–13, 83–86 Iraq 1, 37–38, 108, 182 Iraqi Maqām [Al-Maqām Al-‘Irāqī] 34–36, 179n41, 180, 187, 193–194 Islam see Arabo-Islamic influence; Islamic Mysticism; Muslim Spain; Qur’ān

290 Islamic Mysticism 28, 59–61, 66–67, 70, 185 Israel (modern state) 1, 2–3, 9–10, 51, 105–106, 107–108, 111, 117–119 ‘Israelism’ 106 Jarden, Dov 64n37 Jerusalem and the Land of Israel [Yerushalayim Ve’erets Yisra’el] 108n43, 205 Joshua the High Priest 90, 204 Judaeo-Arabic 14, 18, 34n34, 77, 99, 190 Keter Malkhut [The Kingly Crown] 31, 81n68 Ki ’Eshmerah Shabat [Because I Keep the Sabbath] 147 Kikhlot Yeyni Tered ‘Eyni Palgey Mayim [When My Wine Runs Out, My Eyes Shed Streams of Water] 41–42 Kojaman, Yehezkel 180 Kol Bru’ey Ma‘lah Umatah [God’s Creation in Heaven and on Earth] 32, 114n66 Kontakion hymn genre 138 Lachmann, Robert 7 Lag Ba‘omer [The Thirty-Third Day of the Counting of the ‘Omer] 110, 111, 203 languages (generally) see Arabic; Greek; Hebrew; Judaeo-Arabic languages used for PLSs 20–21, 31, 32, 33–34, 35–36, 141, 190 see also vocabulary Le’adonenu Yehoshu‘a Kohen Gadol [For Our Master Joshua the High Priest] 90, 204 Le’avi Habat [For the Father of a Newborn Baby Girl] 22, 110, 123–124 Le‘et Zemer Zman [A Time For Praising the Lord] 175t Le‘ezra’ Hasofer [For Ezra the Scribe] 90 Leḥidush Halevanah [For the Renewal of the Month] 89–90 Lekha ’Ani Vekhaspi [I and All I Have Are Yours] 37–39, 177t, 178 Lerabi ‘Aqiva’ [For Rabbi ‘Aqiva’] 110, 208 Lerabi Me’ir Ba‘al Hanes [For Rabbi Me’ir Master of the Miracle] 110, 208 Leshabbat Hagadol [For the Great Sabbath]  109, 110, 207 Levi, Mordekhay Ḥayim Ben ’Eliyahu 93n16 Levin, Israel 60

Index Lewis, Bernard 8 Libya 49 life-cycle occasions 20, 22, 27, 107–108, 117, 180 liturgy concept of time in 119–120 PLS differences from 23–26 as source for PLS melodies 148 Lonzano, Menaḥem de 70, 160 Luria, Isaac 32, 70, 185 el-Mahdi, Salah 180 Maimonides 24n15, 100 Mansour, Jacob 102n32 Mantsur, Saleḥ Ben Ya‘aqov 16–18, 106–107, 114n64, 115, 186 Al-Maqām Al-‘Irāqī [Iraqi Maqām] 34–36, 179n41, 180, 187, 193–194 maqāmāt [Arabic musical scales, s. maqām]  39 in the melodies of Deror Yiqra’ 58 in the melody of Barukh ’El Ḥay 167–168, 172, 174 in the melody of Yihyu Kemots 162–166, 172, 174, 175 of Ptiḥot 34–37, 175–178, 180–183, 181t and recitation of scriptures 8 structure and performance 194 Matay Dod Ḥish Tifdeni [How Soon My Lord Shall You Redeem Me?] 128–129 Matay Yevusar ‘Am [When the Nation Will Hear the News [of Redemption]] 147 Matsliaḥ, Nisim 109 Mawlid al-Nabī [The Prophet’s Birthday Ritual] 35, 37–38 Mawwāl (Zuhayrī) genre 35 Mazal Ṭov, Shlomoh 160 Melekh Raḥman [[O Lord] King of Compassion] 129 melodies of PLSs 11 for Barukh ’El Ḥay 74, 81, 167–168, 172, 174 borrowing of 63–64, 71, 158 for Deror Yiqra’ 58 ephemeral nature of 39–40, 158–159, 195 fixed sources of 159–161 flexibility of 74, 117, 158–159, 168–175, 179–183, 186, 193–194 further research aspects 187–188

Index headings in the 1906 Miṣḥaf 137–141, 139–140t headings in the 1954 Miṣḥaf 39, 74, 141–149, 142–145t lack of documentation 39–40, 158–159, 195 for Shefal Ruaḥ 67–68 terminology 138 textual structure and 149–157 as unifying element 159 unifying themes of 172, 174 for Yihyu Kemots 74–75, 161–175 Meqor Ḥayim [The Source of Life] 60 Merim Lero’shi [[Lord Who] Lifts My Head High] 130–135, 255–256 metre, metric patterns Hamerubeh (Wāfir in Arabic) 31–32, 65, 66 Ḥazaj [Hamarnin] metre 57 Phonetic-Syllabic Metre (Italian system) 70, 73, 79 Quantitative Metre 27–28, 54–55, 57 Rajaz metre 73 rhythm and 169, 170t, 171t songs sharing the same melody 150–151, 153–154, 156–157 Midrash 61, 126 Mimitsrayim Hotsi’ Ha’el [From Egypt God Took [Us] Out] 128 Mipi ’El [From God’s Mouth] 148 Mirski, Aharon 69 Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥoth [The Holy Book of Praises] 1906 91–105 introduction 3, 10 Arabo-Islamic influence on 97–98 compared with the 1954 Mṣāḥif 105–115, 121–123 Dangur’s introduction 94–101, 95–96, 103–104, 105, 135–136 historical significance 91–94 indices to songs 98–99, 147n8 melodies for information in song headings  137–141, 139–140t information in the Ptiḥot 175–179 occasions covered in 106–109, 110–112, 122–123, 197–199t, 202–207 optional songs 114, 115t, 121, 179–180

291 poets of 97–98, 139–140t, 141, 179 purpose of 98–101 shifting songs 115, 116t, 119 simultaneous use with the 1954 miṣḥaf 116–117 songs only in 113–114, 117, 254t teaching methods described in 101–105 concept of time in 105 title page 92 Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥoth [The Holy Book of Praises] 1954 16–40, 41–86 introduction 3, 10 Arabo-Islamic influence on 52–53, 81–86 ‘Abbasid Baghdad and Dunash Ben Labrat 53–58 Muslim Spain and ’Ibn Gabirol 59–68 Ottoman Empire and Najarah 68–75 Baghdad and ’al-Ḥakham 75–81 chronological and geographical boundaries 50–51 historical outlook 16–18 indices of songs in 20 literary information in 41–43 melodies for 39–40, 58, 67–68, 71, 74–75, 81 information in song headings 39, 74, 141–149, 142–145t information in the Ptiḥot 175–179 M(x;y) coding used in this book 20n7 name and meaning 18–19 occasions covered in 22, 106–108, 109–112, 122–123, 200–201t, 202–206, 207–208 optional songs 114, 115t, 121, 179–180 poets of 41, 42–43, 44–45t, 44–50, 83, 141, 142–145t, 179, 211–248t shifting songs 115, 116t, 119 simultaneous use with the 1906 miṣḥaf 116–117 songs of (overview) 20–26 songs only in 114, 117 structure and organisation 19–20 title page 17 types of paraliturgical song 28–39 Mishnah 24n15 Mishnah Brurah [Clarified Teaching] 99 Mishneh Torah [Repetition of the Torah]  24n15, 100

292 Mishqal Havarti Foneti [Phonetic-Syllabic Metre] 70, 73, 79 Mizraḥi, Barukh Mosheh 87n1 Mkamal, Yitsḥaq Ben Rabi Saleḥ 142t, 144t Morenu Haqadosh Harashash Zal [Our Holy Sage Sar Shalom Ben Pinḥas of Blessed Memory] 109, 207 Morocco 49–50 Motsa’ey Shabbat [The End of the Sabbath]  101, 147–148, 202 Mu‘alem, Shlomoh Re’uven 11–12, 75, 81, 137, 163, 164–165n35, 167, 169 Mu‘alem Collection 11–12, 36, 58, 68, 117, 146, 147–148, 161, 179, 186 Muallem, David 163, 166, 180 mu‘āraḍa [imitation] technique 62–64, 71, 78 Muḥammad, Prophet 35, 37–38 Murabba‘ genre 65 music Arabic 192–196 Arabo-Islamic influence on 7–8, 27–28, 71, 161, 175 Babylonians’ love for 137 emergence of the PLS 26–28, 187 information in headings of PLSs 39, 74, 137–149 instrumental 23–24, 38 radio broadcasts 160 vocal 23n13, 24, 99–101, 100 see also melodies of PLSs musical instruments 23–24, 38 musical performances 11–12, 172–174, 180, 192–194 see also cantors Muslim Spain 31, 33, 42, 44t, 45–46, 59–68, 82, 184–185 Muwashshaḥāt 47, 62–64, 169, 185 see also Shirim Me‘eyn-’Ezori mysticism 28, 59–61, 66–67, 68, 70, 77–78, 81, 185 Najarah, Israel Ben Mosheh 27, 41, 52–53, 68–75, 185 in the 1906 Miṣḥaf 98, 109, 112 in the 1954 Miṣḥaf 112 N(x;y) coding used in this book 20n7, 211 ’Elhay [O Lord O God] 177t

Index ’Elohay Neshamah Shenatata Bi [O My Lord the Soul You Gave Me] 176t Haleluyah Ki Ṭov [Halleluiah, [For the Lord] Is Good] 176t, 182 Ptiḥot [Introductory Songs, s. Ptiḥah] 34, 36–37, 71, 176–179t, 183 She’erit Yisra’el [The Surviving Few of Israel] 148 Tsirey Nedod [[The] Grief of Roaming] 178t, 179, 183 Yad Uzro‘a ’El Ḥay ‘Uzi [With a Mighty Hand and Outstretched Arm the Living God Is My Strength] 140t, 147 Yah ’Eloha Malkhut ‘Alam [God is [the] Lord of the Universe] 149–151 Yahev Ḥokhmeta’ [The Lord Gives the Wise their Wisdom] 176t, 182 Yah Pri Zamoti Ḥalomi Ḥomes [O Lord, the Fruit of My Shameful Behaviour Destroys My Well-Being] 148 Yah Ribon ‘Alam [God the Creator of the Universe] 146 Yedidim La’el [Those Who Love God] 176t, 182 Yefeh Qol [You Have a Sweet Voice] 176t Yifraḥ Katamar [[The People of Israel] Shall Bloom Like a Date Palm] 176t, 183 Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Become as Chaff before the Wind] 71–75, 78, 82, 141, 146, 161–175, 186, 250–251 Yiqod ’Esh Lehavim [[My Thoughts] Shall Ignite a Burning [in Me] Like that of Fire] 178t, 179, 183 Yisamer Se‘arat Bsari [My Hair Shall Bristle] 177t Yishar Ḥeylakh [[May the Lord] Make Your Ramparts Smooth] 176t, 178 Yisra’el ‘Am ’El [Israel Is the People of God] 177t, 179 Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’ [A Day of Good News God Has Exalted for His People] 74, 139t, 141, 143t, 146 Yonah Homah [Humming Pigeon] 69–70 Yonah Ve’eikh Tirbetsi [Dove, How Can You Lie Down] 69, 186 Yotsri ’Ori [[O Lord,] My Creator My Light] 176t

Index Zmirot Yisra’el 29, 30, 36–37, 69, 71, 100, 102n33, 104, 121–123, 158, 183, 211 Nakhon Libo [His Heart Is Firm] 109 Neoplatonism 59–60, 66–67 North Africa, poets of 49–50 occasions for performing PLSs 19–20, 21–22, 101, 119–123, 197–208 in the 1906 Miṣḥaf 106–109, 110–112, 122–123, 197–199t, 202–207 in the 1954 Miṣḥaf 22, 106–108, 109–112, 122–123, 200–201t, 202–206, 207–208 communal celebrations 20, 21–22, 107, 108, 117 private (life-cycle) occasions 20, 22, 27, 107–108, 117, 180 see also individual occasions oral transmission 101–105, 189 Ortiz, Fernando 117n71 Ottoman Empire 44–45t, 68–75, 185 Our Holy Sage Harashash [Morenu Haqadosh Rabi Sar Shalom] 109, 207 Our Master Joshua the High Priest [Le’adonenu Yehoshu‘a Kohen Gadol] 90, 204 ‘Ovdey Ha’el Be’emunah [[They] Who Worship God with Devotion] 143t, 155–157 ‘Oz Dar Rumah [[The] Lord Majestic on High] 104, 139t paraliturgical songs introduction 1–12 before 1906 87–90 content (see content of PLSs) context-related aspects 127–130, 172–174, 188–189 emergence of 26–28, 187 flexibility of concept of a rule and its implementation 191–196 melodies 74, 117, 158–159, 168–175, 186, 193–194 paraliturgical practice and text 90, 113, 114–119, 120–123, 135–136, 188–189 the Ptiḥah 179–183 reasons for 188–189, 193–194

293 history, four formative periods of 52, 184–185 multiplicity of meanings 123–126, 132–135, 188–189 music information in headings 39, 74, 137–149 religious status of 23–26, 188 teaching of 101–105 textual structure of 149–157, 179 types of 28–39 (see also genres) as unifying element 190–191 unifying theme of praise 127–128, 132, 134–135, 136, 188–189 see also melodies of PLSs; Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥoth [The Holy Book of Praises] 1906; Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥoth [The Holy Book of Praises] 1954 paraliturgical time 105, 119–123, 189 Passover 90, 109, 119–120, 122, 147–148, 203 Pedaya, Haviva 9n11 Pentecost 119–120, 127–128, 205 performances 11–12, 172–174, 180, 193–194 performers 11–12, 19, 32n28, 36n39, 64n34, 137 see also Ḥabushah, Mosheh; Mu‘alem, Shlomoh Re’uven; performances Peṣach see Passover philosophy, Muslim 59–61 Phonetic-Syllabic Metre (Italian system) 70, 73, 79 pilgrimage occasions 90, 108, 117 piyyutim [hymns, s. piyyut] 3, 18, 21–22, 26, 33 Piyyutim Shel Shabbat Qodesh [Hymns for the Holy Sabbath] 89 Pizmonim for the Bridegroom 107t, 115, 129, 206 Pizmonim Shonim [Various Songs with a Refrain] 28, 29, 33–34, 114, 115t, 121–123 Pizmonim [Songs with a Refrain, s. Pizmon]  19, 28, 29–31, 32–33, 111, 112 poetry, Arabic 35, 61, 69–70 poetry, Hebrew see genres; Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥoth [The Holy Book of Praises] 1906; Miṣḥaf al-Shbaḥoth [The Holy Book of Praises] 1954; paraliturgical songs

294 poets Albardany family 19 in pre-1906 collections 89 of the Ptiḥot 175–178t, 179 in the1906 Miṣḥaf 97–98, 139–140t, 141, 179 in the1954 Miṣḥaf 41, 42–43, 44–45t, 44–50, 83, 141, 142–145t, 179, 211–248t see also Dunash Ben Labrat; ’al-Ḥakham; ’Ibn Gabirol; Najarah praise to God, as unifying theme 127–128, 132, 134–135, 136, 188–189 preaching 76–77 private celebrations 20, 22, 27, 107–108, 117, 180 Provence 46 Ptiḥot [Introductory Songs, s. Ptiḥah] 28, 29, 34–37, 71, 114, 115t, 175–183 published collections (pre-1906) 87–90 Purim 41–42, 74, 122, 129–130, 146, 155–157, 202 qabbalah [Jewish mysticism] 61, 68, 77–78, 81, 185 al-Qabrī, Ibn Mu‘afa 62 Qamti Be’ishon Laylah [I Rise in the Dust of Evening] 178t Qaṣaīd [s. Qaṣīda] 35, 38, 55–56, 57 Qazi Burhanuddin 71 Qe‘arat Kesef [[The] Silver Bowl] 29t, 38–39, 46, 114 Qiṭa‘ [s. Qiṭ‘a] 22, 65 Quantitative Metre 27–28, 54–55, 57 Qumu Ṣalu [Stand Up and Pray [to the Lord]]  148–149 Qum Yedidi [Up My Friend] 142t Qur’ān 8, 18, 55, 100, 127n89 Qushtah [Constantinople] 160 Rabbi ‘Aqiva’ 110, 208 Rabbi Me’ir the Master of the Miracles [Rabi Me’ir Ba‘al Hanes] 110, 208 Rabbi Shim‘on Bar Yoḥay 81, 111, 203 Racy, A. Jihad 180 Rajaz metre 73 reading, reciting 8, 99, 100, 102–103 Refa’ Tsiri [Cure My Pangs] 177t Rejoicing in the Law see Simḥat Torah

Index religious status of PLS 23–26, 188 Retseh Shiri [Favour My Praise [My Lord]]  177t Re’uven, ‘Ezra’ Sason 104, 139t rhyming schemes ‘Atābah [Reprimand, pl. ‘Atābāt] 37, 38 Iraqi Maqām 35 Muwashshaḥāt 62, 169 Qiṭa‘ [s. Qiṭ‘a] 65 Shirim Me‘eyn-’Ezori [Quasi-Muwashshaḥ Poems] 72–73, 79, 169 songs sharing the same melody 151, 154–155, 156–157 Ro’sh Hashanah [Jewish New Year] 64–68, 120, 179, 205 Ro’sh Hashanah La’ilanot [The New Year for the Trees, Shvaṭ] 109–110, 207 Ro’sh Ḥodesh [The First of the Month] 89– 90, 112, 122, 179, 202 rules, context-related 191–196 Sa‘adyah Ga’on 6, 27, 54n15, 55, 62, 187 Sabbath 32, 56–58, 101, 122, 123, 151–155, 202 see also Leshabat Hagadol Sabbath of Shirah [Shabbat Shirah] 112–113, 128, 203 Sabbath of the Month and [the Month of] Nisan [Shabbat Haḥodesh Venisan]  108–109, 110, 207 Sabbath of the Red Heifer [Shabbat Parah]  108, 206–207 Saleḥ, Shlomoh 51n10, 145t Salem, Shlomoh 38n49 Scheindlin, Raymond P. 61, 64n37, 67 Schirmann, Jefim 32, 46, 47, 62, 64–65n37 Seder Haqafot Lesimḥat Torah [The Order of Circuits for the Celebration of the Torah] (Livorno, 1875) 89 Seder Piyyutim [The Order of Hymns]  89–90 Seder Shiv‘ah Haqafot Lesimḥat Torah [The Order of the Seven Circuits for the Celebration of the Torah] (Baghdad) 125 semi-transculturation 117–119 Sephardic tradition 32, 33 sermons 76–77 Seven Blessings for the Bridegroom, The 115, 206

Index Seventh of ’Adar [Shiv‘ah Be’adar] 110, 207 Sha‘ar Haraḥamim [The Gate of Mercy] 179 Shabbat Haḥodesh Venisan [The Sabbath of the Month and [the Month of] Nisan]  108–109, 110, 207 Shabbat Parah [The Sabbath of the Red Heifer] 108, 206–207 Shabbat Shirah [The Sabbath of Shirah]  112–113, 128, 203 Shaḥar ’Avaqeshkha [I Shall Earnestly Seek For You [My Lord]] 22 Shalom ‘Alav [Peace Be Upon Him] 140t Shalom Leven Dodi [Well With My Beloved]  147 Shalom Sharabi, Sar [Harashash] 109, 207 Sha’mi, Shmu’el Ben Yitsḥaq Ḥayim 64, 102n30 Shawat, Fardji 49 Shbaḥot(h) [praises, s. Shbaḥ] 18–19, 110–111 Shebath, Salim 36n39, 137 She’erit Yisra’el [The Surviving Few of Israel]  148 Shefal Ruaḥ [with Lowly Spirit] 64–68, 82, 146, 186 Shema‘ Na’ ’Aḥi [Please Listen, My Brother]  142t, 149–151 shifting songs 115, 116t, 119 Shiloah, Amnon 21, 26 Shim‘u Beyt Ya‘aqov Zo’t Lezikaron [Remember [My Word] For Posterity O House of Jacob] 145t Shindukh, Sason Ben Rabi Mordekhay Mosheh 109, 110 Shirah Yanuv Pi Zimrah [My Mouth Shall Produce Songs and Hymns [to the Lord]] 117 Shirey Rinah [Songs of Rejoicing] 101–102, 114, 115t, 121 Shir Ḥadash [A New Song] 104 Shirim Me‘eyn-’Ezori [Quasi-Muwashshaḥ Poems] 33, 47, 62, 72–73, 79, 169, 185 Shiv‘ah Be’adar [The Seventh of ’Adar] 110, 207 Shivṭey Yah [God’s Tribes] 146 Shmu’el, ’Avraham Mosheh 48 Shoḥet, ’Elisha‘ 94 Shokhenet Basadeh [[She Who] Dwelt in the Field] 105

295 Shulḥan ‘Arukh [Set Table] 24n15 Shuvi Nafshi [Be at Rest, Once Again, O My Soul] 145t Shvaḥot [praises, s. Shevaḥ, Shvaḥ] 18–19, 110–111 Simḥat Torah [Celebration of the Torah]  122, 126, 128–129, 146, 147, 148, 206 Simḥu Na’ Besimḥat Hatorah [Rejoice in the Celebration of the Torah] 146 singing 23, 25, 99–101 Sliḥot [Penitential Hymns, s. Sliḥah] 18, 120 Somekh, ‘Abdallāh 75, 88 Stern, M. 62, 169 Stillman, Norman A. 85 structure, textual 149–157, 179 Sufism 60–61, 185 Sukot see Tabernacles synagogue music 169 Tabernacles 107, 114, 119–120, 124–126, 205, 206 Talmud Bavli [Babylonian Talmud] 23n14, 61, 69, 126, 146 ṭarab [emotional state aroused in audience]  173–174 tawḥid [unity and oneness of God]  190–191 teaching PLSs 101–105 Tehilat ’El Yedaber Pi [My Mouth Shall Utter Praise to the Lord] 143t textual structure 149–157, 179 Tfilin [Phylacteries] see Bar Mitsvah themes of PLSs see content of PLSs Thirty-Third Day of the Counting of the ‘Omer, The [Lag Ba‘omer] 110, 111, 203 Tietze, Andreas 27, 71, 71n44, 169 time, concept of 105, 119–123, 189 Tobi, Yosef 54, 62 Torah 24n15, 123 celebration of [Simḥat Torah] 122, 126, 128–129, 146, 147, 148, 206 recitation of 8, 99, 100, 102–103 Touma, Habib Hassan 174–175, 174n39, 180 transculturation 117–119 translations (in this book) 14, 190 transliteration (in this book) 14–15 Tsar Hashev Ki Naṭash Malki [The Foe Is Back for My Lord Has Forsaken Me] 114

296 Tsemaḥ, Dahud 177t Tsirey Nedod [[The] Grief of Roaming] 178t, 179, 183 Ṭu Bishvat [The Fifteenth Day of Shvaṭ, the New Year for the Trees] 109–110, 207 Tunisia 49 Turkish influence 71, 160, 162–163 unifying elements 159, 172, 174, 190–191 see also praise to God, as unifying theme United States, Syrian-Jewish community 8, 34 ‘Uthman Bin Hajj Abdallah al Mauṣili 149 ‘Uzi ’Eleikha ’Eshmorah [O My Strength, I Wait for You] 117, 151–155 Va’adonay ’Elohim ’Emet [But the Lord Is Truly God] 176t Vayiten Lekha [May God Give You] 101, 115, 209–210 Ve’amartem Koh Leḥay [And Let Us Say: To Life!] 81 Ve’amartem Zevaḥ Pesaḥ Hu’ Le’adonay [You Shall Say, It Is the Passover Sacrifice to the Lord] 148 vocabulary 57–58, 65–66, 73, 79–80, 190 Wāfir metre (Hamerubeh in Hebrew) 31–32, 65, 66 weddings 38, 126, 148 see also Pizmonim for the Bridegroom Western influence 51, 85, 106, 117–119 Western music 192–193, 194, 195 Winter, Timothy 71n44 women 25–26, 38, 77 Ya‘ari, Abraham 17, 88, 89n5, 91n13 Yad Uzro‘a ’El Ḥay ‘Uzi [With a Mighty Hand and Outstretched Arm the Living God Is My Strength] 140t, 147 Ya’eir, Gerji 12 Yafah Yif‘atekh [The Beauty of Your Splendour, [O Lord]] 176t Yafeh, Lazarus 61 Yahalom, Yosef 27, 71, 71n44, 160n29, 169 Yah ’Eloha Malkhut ‘Alam [God is [the] Lord of the Universe] 149–151

Index Yahev Ḥokhmeta’ [The Lord Gives the Wise their Wisdom] 176t, 182 Yaḥid ’Atah [You Are the One] 177t Yah Pri Zamoti Ḥalomi Ḥomes [O Lord, the Fruit of My Shameful Behaviour Destroys My Well-Being] 148 Yah Ribon ‘Alam [God the Creator of the Universe] 146 Yamim Nora’im [The High Holy Days] 147, 205 Yarum Venisa’ [[God] Sits on a High and Lofty Throne] 33 Yavo’ Hago’el [The Redeemer Shall Come] 64 Yedidim La’el [Those Who Love God] 176t, 182 Yefeh Qol [You Have a Sweet Voice] 176t Yehi Shalom Beḥelenu [Peace Shall Be Upon Us] 147 Yehoshu‘a Kohen Gadol [Joshua the High Priest] 90, 204 Yehuda, Zvi 48–49 Yemenite tradition 148 Yerushalayim Ve’erets Yisra’el [Jerusalem and the Land of Israel] 108n43, 205 Yifraḥ Katamar [[The People of Israel] Shall Bloom Like a Date Palm] 176t, 183 yiḥud ha’el [unity and oneness of God] 190–191 Yihyu Kemots [[They] Shall Become as Chaff before the Wind] 71–75, 78, 82, 141, 146, 161–175, 186, 250–251 Yiqod ’Esh Lehavim [[My Thoughts] Shall Ignite a Burning [in Me] Like that of Fire] 178t, 179, 183 Yisamer Se‘arat Bsari [My Hair Shall Bristle] 177t Yishar Ḥeylakh [[May the Lord] Make Your Ramparts Smooth] 176t, 178 Yisra’el, Sason 89, 98 Yisra’el ‘Am ’El [Israel Is the People of God]  177t, 179 Yitbarakh Shem Ha’el [Blessed Shall Be the Name of the Lord] 144t, 147 Yom ’El Qeren ‘Amo Nisa’ [A Day of Good News God Has Exalted for His People] 74, 139t, 141, 143t, 146

Index Yom Kipur [The Day of Atonement] 120, 148, 205 Yom Yom ’Odeh La’el [Every Day I Shall Praise the Lord] 127–128 Yonah Homah [Humming Pigeon] 69–70 Yonah Ve’eikh Tirbetsi [Dove, How Can You Lie Down] 69, 186 Yotsri ’Ori [[O Lord,] My Creator My Light]  176t

297 Zakari, ‘Ezra’ 140t Zangwill, Israel 64n37 Zionist movement 51, 75–76 Zmirot Yisra’el (Najarah) 29, 30, 36–37, 69, 71, 100, 102n33, 104, 121–123, 158, 183, 211 al-Zuhayrī, Mulla Jadir 35 Zuhayrī (Mawwāl) genre 35 Zuhdiyyāt [Ascetic Poem, s. Zuhdiyya] 28, 60–61