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According to Joseph Judah Chorny’s On the Caucasian Jews, this acrostic piyyuṭ was customarily used as an epithalion before a wedding. He writes, “Before morning light, the bride is led to the groom’s house accompanied by many women and men, all carrying lit wax candles in their hands, and singing this song along the way.” Variants of this piyyut are found throughout the greater Sephardic world, generally in an abbreviated and slightly altered form. In Syria it is sung during the haqafot for Simḥat Torah, while in Livorno Sephardic practice (and subsequently in most Eastern Sephardic maḥzorim) it is a Shavu’ot piyyut. . . .
This is a variation of Mipi El in Hebrew with a Judeo-Arabic translation found in the Seder al-Tawḥid for Rosh Ḥodesh Nissan, compiled by Mosheh Asher ibn Shmuel in 1887 in Alexandria. . . .
This piyyut tells the story of Naomi and Ruth through an imagined dialogue. Naomi, aged and alone, is taken aback by Ruth’s unwavering attachment. Ruth explains that it is with Naomi—and her faith—that she finds the truth and authenticity she longs for. It can also be read as an allegorical dialogue between the Torah and the people of Israel, you insist on remaining loyal to her. פתרונו כפול: פשוטו על נעמי ורות ורומז לתורה עם כנסת ישראל. . . .