אוֹחִיל יוֹם יוֹם | Oḥil Yom Yom (As Every Day I Hope) — a poem to honor the holy city of Tiberias on 7 Elul by David bar Aharon ben Ḥassin

A piyyut of the 18th century by R. David Ḥassin, one of the greatest composers of Morocco. In this piyyut, dedicated to the city of Tiberias and recounting its praises, we tour Tiberias and the graves of the tannaim and amoraim there, and come to the place of Maimonides’ burial according to tradition. From the dead, the composer moves on to tell the prose of the living – R. Ḥayyim Abulˁafia, who renewed Jewish settlement in Tiberias to where he had moved with his students in the year 5500 [1740], doing much to revitalize the Jewish settlement and build the city, for which R. David Ḥassin praises and blesses him at the conclusion of the poem. This poem was very beloved and merited widespread circulation, and is found in poetry books of many different Mizraḥi communities. This poem has also merited a number of imitations and adaptations, testifying to its great popularity. The most well-known imitation is a poem by the Israeli diaspora-emissary R. Eliyahu Ḥazzan, who arrived at Morocco, came across this song, and composed an imitation, also called “As Every Day I Hope” — except R. Eliyahu Ḥazzan’s song is dedicated to Jerusalem and tours around it.

Categories:

Purim Sheni, Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

18th century C.E., 56th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, הבדלות havdalot, Maghrebi Jewry, Meknes, Morocco, Old Yishuv, פיוטים piyyuṭim, פזמונים pizmonim

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and David ben Aharon ibn Ḥassin

שֶֽׂרַח בַּת־אָשֵׁר | Seraḥ bat Asher — a havdalah piyyuṭ by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

In the style of the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ recited by some communities every Havdalah, a piyyuṭ in honor of Seraḥ bat Asher, retelling the events of her life according to the midrashim. This is not the first time I’ve written a Havdalah piece on Seraḥ, the distaff counterpart to Elijah in the midrash. She also inspired this shorter song. Like the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ, this is in three-line rhyming stanzas with a repeated refrain. Unlike it, it is in a tashraq reverse alphabetical acrostic, followed by an authorial tag — this time using a matronymic.

Categories:

Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Acrostic signature, הבדלות havdalot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Psychopomp, reverse acrostic, Seraḥ bat Asher, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Motsaei Shabbat

אֶת כּוֹס יְשׁוּעוֹת | Et Kos Yeshu`ot, a Havdalah song by Elyaqim

הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Bein Ḳodesh l’Ḥol (abridged), a piyyuṭ attributed to Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi (ca. 11th c.)

הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Bein Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyuṭ attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (rhymed translation by Alice Lucas, 1894)

הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Ben Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyuṭ attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (German translation by Franz Rosenzweig 1921)

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

אוֹחִיל יוֹם יוֹם | Oḥil Yom Yom (As Every Day I Hope) — a poem to honor the holy city of Tiberias on 7 Elul by David bar Aharon ben Ḥassin

שֶֽׂרַח בַּת־אָשֵׁר | Seraḥ bat Asher — a havdalah piyyuṭ by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer