🆕 כִּי נֵר אֶחֱנֹךְ שַׁעֲשׁוּעִי | Ki Ner Eḥenokh Sha’ashu’i — a shiv’ata piyyuṭ for Shabbat Ḥanukkah by a certain Yoseh

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Yoseh ben Yoseh

Shared on:

14 October 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Tags:

acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Cairo Geniza, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Public Amidah, שבעתא shiv'ata

A shiv’ata, a seven-verse piyyuṭ meant to be interwoven before the ḥatimot of the seven blessings of the Shabbat liturgy, for Shabbat Ḥanukkah. This shiv’ata, built around Proverbs 6:23, is found in two locations in Cairo Genizah fragments, in surprisingly good condition. It is written by a Yoseh (יוסה), who signed his name via the first letters of the concluding verses of each stanza. This may be, but is by no means certain, the famed payṭan Yosi ben Yosi.

Note: “The CAUSE” is used to translate the Divine Name YHVH, based on the philosophical idea of God as the Prime Mover and on the interpretation of the Name as a causative form of the copula – “causes to be.” This translation also uses the plural pronouns They/Their/Them to refer to God as a pluralis majestatis, and to avoid the implications of God being assigned a gender. (Find Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Genesis 1:1 for a discussion of the pluralis majestatis when referring to God.) All divine referents (pronouns, epithets, names) are rendered in unicase.

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
כִּ֤י נֵ֣ר אֶחֱנֹךְ שַׁעֲשׁוּעִי בְּהַלֵּל וּבְתוֹדוֹת שְׁמוֹנָה לְשַׁוְעִי גַּם רַחֲמָיו וַחֲסָדָיו לְהַשְׁעִי יִשְׁעִ֗י מִשְׂגַּבִּי֙ וּמְנוּסִ֔י מֹשִׁעִ֕י׃ (שמואל ב׳ כב:ג)	For a lamp I will dedicate my delight, in hallel and thanksgiving, eight days for my cry, Their compassion and mercy also to show favor to me, My salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior! (II Samuel 22:3)
מִ֭צְוָה דְּלִיקַת נֵרוֹת הַגָּשָׁתָם הִתְנַדְּבוּ מַטּוֹת כְּמִנְיַן גִּישָׁתָם וְאוֹר נְתִיבוֹת גִּשְׁמֵי פְּגִישָׁתָם וְחָיוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א יָמֻ֔תוּ בְּגִשְׁתָּ֖ם׃ (במדבר ד:יט)	Commandment of lighting lamps, bringing them near, The tribes donated by their number coming near, And light of paths, the rains of their meeting, That they live and not die in coming near. (Numbers 4:19)
וְת֣וֹרָה א֑וֹר זִקּוּק עֲלִילָתוֹ חֲנֻכַּת בַּֽיִת הַר נַחֲלָתוֹ טְהוֹרִים בִּקְדֻשָּׁה לְחַלּוֹתוֹ שִׂ֥ימוּ כָ֝ב֗וֹד תְּהִלָּתֽוֹ׃ (תהלים סו:ב)	And Torah light, Their work refined, the dedication of the House, Their inheritance’s mount. Pure ones in holiness entreat Them — Set Their praise as glorious! (Psalms 66:2)
וְדֶ֥רֶךְ יְנַהֵל נְאוֹת אוּלָם כְּשָׂשׂ חֲנֻכּוֹת מֵעוֹלָם לְחִנּוּךְ שְׁבִיעִית הִפְעִילָם הַשְׁקֵ֥ט וָבֶ֖טַח עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ (ישעיה כב:יז)	And the way They will guide to the vestibule’s abodes, as ancient dedications were celebrated, to inaugurate the seventh,^[1] The sabbath. They made them act, tranquility and safety forevermore. (Isaiah 32:17)
חַ֝יִּ֗ים מוֹצְאֵיהֶם מֵאִתּוֹ נָאוֹר עָשׁ כֹּל יָפֶה בְּעִתּוֹ סַמִּים וְנֵרוֹת עֹרְכוּ שְׁעוֹתוֹ חֲנֻכַּ֣ת הַמִּזְבֵּ֗חַ בְּיוֹם֙ הִמָּשַׁ֣ח אֹת֔וֹ׃ (במדבר ז:פד)	Life of those who find them is from Them. The Radiant One made all, beautifully timely.^[2] Find Ecclesiastes 3:11 Spices and lamps were arranged for Their hours, the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed. (Numbers 7:84)
תּוֹכְח֥וֹת עֹז תַּעֲצוּם סוֹדָיו פִּנַּת יִקְרַת בֹּחַן מוּסָדָיו צַחוּת חַשְׁמוֹנִים וְנִסֵּי חֲסָדָיו זַמְּר֣וּ לַיהֹוָ֣ה חֲסִידָ֑יו׃ (תהלים ל:ה)	Rebukes strong, Their council’s might, The precious cornerstone, tested of its foundations, Hasmonean radiance and miracles of Their mercies. Hymn to the Cause, o Their faithful ones! (Psalms 30:5)
מוּסָֽר קָנַֽנִי נְתִיבוֹת שָׁלוֹם רִנּוּן שִׁיר חֲנֻכַּת נְוֵה שָׁלוֹם שַׁאֲלוּ וְדִרְשׁוּ אֶת שְׁלוֹם תּוֹלְדוֹת זֶֽרַע הַשָּׁלוֹם קַוֵּ֥ה לְשָׁל֖וֹם׃ (ירמיה ח:טו)	Discipline^[3] Proverbs 6:23 acquired me, the paths of peace, Cheering song of the dedication of the abode of peace. Ask for and seek the peace of the generations of the seed of peace: Hope for peace. (Jeremiah 8:15)

Source(s)

Bodleian Ms. Heb. d 31 fol. 7a

Ms Evr. Antonin b 1048, p. 7

Notes

Notes
1	The sabbath.
2	Find Ecclesiastes 3:11
3	Proverbs 6:23

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and authors his own original works.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also authors his own original works and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic text, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Yoseh ben Yoseh

Yosi ben Yosi (יוסי בן יוסי or יוסה; fl. ca. 4th-5th c.) was an early payyetan who lived in the land of Israel in late Antiquity. In some sources he is called "Yosi ben Yosi the orphan", on the assumption that only an orphan would receive the same name as his father; however, this assumption is not accurate in relation to all communities at the time. Alternatively, "orphan" was a title of honor, given due to his being "alone" in his skills and accomplishments. According to one tradition, he was a kohen and was given the title of Kohen Gadol. His poetry was rich, but written in relatively simple language. His poems have been compared to those of Yannai and Qalir, but do not have rhyme schemes and do not allude to midrash, though they do have standard meter. Most of his poetry has been lost, but some is preserved in the contemporary Ashkenazic prayer books. Although he was from an era before poets would sign their piyyutim, the Teqiatoth (piyyutim of the special blessings of Mussaf on Rosh Hashanah) of the second day Rosh Hashanah, as well as some of the seliḥot of the night of Yom Kippur are attributed to him in early Ashkenazic manuscripts. Despite this attribution, Shulamit Elizur claims that seliḥot are Babylonian in origin, and if so, Yosi ben Yosi would not have written seliḥot .

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=69498

Associated Image:

man lighting Hanukkah lamp, from Decisions of Isaiah of Trani the Younger (Pisqei Rabbi Yeshayah Aharon), Italy (Bologna), 1374,

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute the work to Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Yoseh ben Yoseh.
Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=69498>.
Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.

ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)