אַבְנֵי יְקָר | Avnei Y’qar — a Ḥanukkah piyyut attributed to Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

Shared on:

19 December 2022 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Ḥanukkah

Tags:

זמירות zemirot, acrostic, פיוטים piyyutim, Yemenite Jewry, 12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, rhyming translation

“Avnei Y’qar” is a succint piyyut for Ḥanukkah, traditionally attributed to R. Abraham ibn Ezra, and particularly beloved among Yemenite Jewry. Interestingly, it doesn’t mention the miracle of the oil whatsoever, focusing on the degradation of the land under Seleucid Greek occupation as well as the Hasmonean victory itself. Included is a poetic acrostic translation into English.

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אַבְנֵי יְקָר עַל־הַר צְבִי הִתְפָּרְקוּ	As stones of fame, upon the fairest hill were breached
בָּאוּ יְמֵי שִׁלּוּם עֲדֵי הִתְחַזְּקוּ	Bad days came, we strengthened till requital was reached.
רָמָה יְמִינָם יוֹם יְוָנִים דָּלְקוּ	Riding high, the day the Greeks pursued,
הֵיכָל אֲזַי חָנְכוּ וְנֵרוֹת דָּלְקוּ,	And by the by, they kindled lamps, the Palace renewed.
מִצּוּף יְשׁוּעוֹת אֶל־לְבָבוֹת מָתְקוּ	Honeyed success brought sweetness to their mind,
עַל־זֹאת לְבָרֵךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹדוֹ חָשְׁקוּ	And so to bless the Moniker of Glory they assigned.

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“אַבְנֵי יְקָר | Avnei Y’qar — a Ḥanukkah piyyut attributed to Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

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.

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צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי | Tsam’ah Nafshi, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)

כִּי אֶשְׁמְרָה שַׁבָּת | Ki Eshmerah Shabbat, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (trans. Rabbi David Aaron de Sola, 1857)

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אֲגַדֶלְךָ | Agadelkha, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (ca. 12th c.) translation by Sara Lapidot

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צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי | Tsam’ah Nafshi, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (trans. Avi Shmidman & Tzvi Novick)

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אֱלֹהִים יִסְעָדֵנוּ | Elohim Yisadenu, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (trans. Rabbi David Aaron de Sola, 1857)

אֲגַדֶלְךָ | Agadelkha, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (ca. 12th c.) translation by Anonymous

כִּי אֶשְׁמְרָה שַׁבָּת | Ki Eshmera Shabbat, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (rhyming translation by Israel Abrahams, 1914)

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Ibn Ezra reading stars. A scene of Ibn Ezra practicing Astrology with an Arabic manuscripts being held by the men that flank him to either side. Unknown Miniaturist, French (active circa 1235)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "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