אָמוֹן יוֹם זֶה | Amon Yom Zeh, an introduction to the Azharot of ibn Gabirol by David ben Elazar ibn Paquda (ca. 12th c.)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=31770

Date: 2020-05-26

Last Updated: 2020-05-26

Categories: Shavuot

Tags: 12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, Azharot, Decalogue, Har Sinai, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, theophany, התורה the Torah, פיוטים piyyutim

Excerpt: A poetic introduction to the Azharot of Solomon ibn Gabirol read in the afternoon of Shavuot by Sefaradim. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אָמוֹן יוֹם זֶה נָֽחֲלוּ עַם זֶה עַל יַד חוֹזֶה אִישׁ הָֽאֱלֹהִים׃	Truly this day did this people inherit, at the hand of the seer, the man of Elohim.[1] i.e. Mosheh, viz Deuteronomy 33:1.
נוֹטֶה עֲלִיָּה וְיוֹסֵד נְשִׁיָּה לְךָ דֻֽמִיָּה תְּהִלָּה אֱלֹהִים׃	Unto you who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth; unto you, Elohim! praise is due.
יוֹם נִגְלֵֽיתָה וְדָת הוֹרֵֽיתָ מְאֹד נַעֲלֵֽיתָ עַל כׇּל־אֱלֹהִים׃	On the day that you revealed yourself, and taught us your Instruction, you were greatly exalted above all deities!
דְּבַר אֵל שָֽׁמְעוּ עַם נוֹשָֽׁעוּ וְחָלֽוּ וְזָֽעוּ מִפְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים׃	The decree of El they heard, the people were saved and they trembled and shook before you, Elohim.
וְהִפְלִיא עֵצָה גְּדוֹל הָֽעֵצָה לְעָם חֵן מָצָא בְּעֵינֵי אֱלֹהִים׃	The Master Planner[2] Jeremiah 32:19. alternately, “Great in Plans.”  gave excellent council to a people who found grace in your sight, Elohim!
יְקָרָה נְעִימָה תּוֹרָה תְּמִימָה לְהַנְחִיל אֲיוּמָּה בָּא הָֽאֱלֹהִים׃	Precious and pleasant — the perfect Torah you came to bestow upon your people, Elohim!
דָּת הֽוֹדִיעָם וְקוֹל הִשְׁמִיעָם רְאוּ הֲשָֽׁמַע עָם קוֹל אֱלֹהִים׃	Your edict announced and your voice heard: “Had ever a people heard the voice of Elohim?”
בְּאָזְנֵי הֲמוֹנַי דִּבֵּר בְּסִינַי הֲלֹא אֲנִי יְיָ וְאֵין עוֹד אֱלֹהִים׃	In the ears of the multitude proclaimed on Sinai, “Surely I am YHVH, and beside me there is no deity.”
נְטֹשׁ זָר וּפִסְלוֹ וְצֵא תֹּֽאמַר לוֹ הֲיַֽעֲשֶׂה לּוֹ אָדָם אֱלֹהִים׃	Reject the strange [deity] and their image, and go forth and say: “Can a person make for themselves a deity?”
אֶת שֵׁם הָאֵל לַשָּׁוְא אַל תּוֹאֵל כִּי עַל כׇּל־אֵל גָּדוֹל אֱלֹהִים׃	Swear not by the name of El falsely: for El is exalted above all deities.
לְכַבֵּד שַׁבָּת רוּץ נָא בְחִבַּת כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים׃	Hasten with delight to honour the Shabbat, for thereon Elohim rested and ended the work of creation.
עַנֵּג אֽוֹמְנִים בְּטוּב מַֽעֲדַנִּים וְתַֽאֲרִיךְ שָׁנִים לִפְנֵי אֱלֹהִים׃	Cherish your parents with choice tenderness, that your years may be prolonged before Elohim.
זְרֵה שֽׁוֹפְכֵי דָם וְאַל תְּהִי בְסוֹדָם כִּי הָֽאָדָם בְּצֶֽלֶם אֱלֹהִים׃	Cast out those who shed blood, and join not their counsel; for the Earthling is formed b’tselem Elohim.
רַחֵק זִמָּה וּמֹֽאזְנֵי מִרְמָה פֶּן בְּאַף וְחֵמָה יִפְקֹד אֱלֹהִים׃	Remove far from you lewdness and dishonest business,[3] Proverbs 20:23, alternately “false dealings.”  lest with wrath and indignation Elohim visit you.
בְּרֵֽעֲךָ לֹא תֵֽעֲנֶה שָׁוְא כְּמִתְאַנֶּה כִּי שֵׁשׁ שָׂנֵא יְיָ אֱלֹהִים׃	Bear not false witness against your neighbour, nor seek strife with them; for that is one of the six abominations according to YHVH Elohim.
קִנְיַן אָח לֹא תַחְמוֹד גַּם לֹא תִּתְאָו אֲשֶׁר לוֹ נָתַן אֱלֹהִים׃	Covet not your neighbour’s possession, nor desire that which he Elohim has given him.
וְהָעָם חָֽרְדוּ וְתָֽמְהוּ וּפָֽחֲדוּ וַיַּגִּֽידוּ פּֽוֹעַל אֱלֹהִים׃	And the people shook and trembled and were afraid, and they recounted the wondrous works of Elohim.
דִּבְּרוּ בְכֹֽשֶׁר נְדִֽיבֵי־יֽוֹשֶׁר נַעֲשֶׂה כׇל־אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֱלֹהִים׃	Rightly proclaimed, then, those already upright: “We will do all that Elohim has commanded.”
הֲמֽוֹנֵי עַם זוּ בְּדָת אֵל שִׂמְחוּ עִלְזוּ לְכוּ חֲזוּ מִפְעֲלוֹת אֱלֹהִים׃	Exult ye multitude of this People;[4] A nickname specifically for Yisrael, from Exodus 19:13-16 and Isaiah 43:21. A people one can point out, as with a finger. –Jacob Chatinover  in the edict of El, rejoice! and go and behold the wonderful works of Elohim.
חַי גּֽוֹאֲלֵנוּ זְקֹף יָדֵֽינוּ וְחִישׁ הַרְאֵֽנוּ בְּיֵֽשַׁע אֱלֹהִים׃	And you, our living Redeemer! exalt our power: and quickly show us the salvation of the Elohim!

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This translation of David ben Elazar ibn Paquda’s introduction to ibn Gabirol’s Azharot was adapted from that of Hakham Rabbi Moses Gaster’s translation appearing in his maḥzor for Pesaḥ and Shavuout, Seder haTefilot vol. 5 (1906). Mainly I wanted a simpler translation that hewed more closely to the text. Many thanks to Javob Chatinover for looking over my work and adding notes and citation references. –Aharon Varady

David ben Elazar ibn Paquda’s authorship can be found in his signature acrostic.

Source(s)

 

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Notes[+]

Notes

1	i.e. Mosheh, viz Deuteronomy 33:1.
2	Jeremiah 32:19. alternately, “Great in Plans.”
3	Proverbs 20:23, alternately “false dealings.”
4	A nickname specifically for Yisrael, from Exodus 19:13-16 and Isaiah 43:21. A people one can point out, as with a finger. –Jacob Chatinover

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (translation)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (translation)
  Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer translator for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his translations, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot Naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also transcribes prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes for the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
  Website: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-nissen-varady/
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-n-varady
• 
  Name: Moses Gaster
  Bio: Moses Gaster (17 September 1856 – 5 March 1939) was a Romanian, later British scholar and rabbi, the Ḥakham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish congregation, London, a folklorist, and a Hebrew and Romanian linguist. In Leipzig, he received his PhD in 1878, followed in 1881 with his Hattarat Hora'ah (rabbinical diploma) from the Jewish Seminary in Breslau. Before his expulsion from Romania in 1885 by the government of Ion Brătianu for his early Zionist organizing, he was lecturer on the Romanian language and literature at the University of Bucharest (1881–85), inspector-general of schools, and a member of the council for examining teachers in Romania. He also lectured on the Romanian apocrypha, the whole of which he had discovered in manuscript. His history of Romanian popular literature was published in Bucharest in 1883. Gaster was a central figure of Hibbat Zion in Romania and played a central role in the 1882 establishment by Jews from Moineşti of the Samarin (Zamarin) settlement, known since 1884 as Zichron Ya'akov. In England, in 1886 and 1891, he held a lectureship in Slavonic literature at the University of Oxford. In 1895, at the request of the Romanian government, he wrote a report on the British system of education, which was printed as a "green book" and accepted as a basis of education in Romania. In 1887 Gaster was appointed hakham of the Sephardic or Spanish and Portuguese Congregation in London, in which capacity he presided over the bicentenary of Bevis Marks Synagogue. He was a member of the councils of the Folklore, Biblical, Archaeological, and Royal Asiatic societies, writing many papers in their interest. He was the only ordained rabbi ever to become president of The Folklore Society, in 1907–1908. He became vice-president of the First Zionist Congress in Basel, and was a prominent figure in each succeeding congress. The first draft of the Balfour Declaration was written at the Gaster home on 7 February 1917 in the presence of Chaim Weizmann, Nahum Sokolow, Baron Rothschild, Sir Mark Sykes and Herbert Samuel. In 1925, Gaster was appointed one of the six members of the honorary board of trustees (Curatorium) of the Yiddish Scientific Institute (YIVO) in Wilna, alongside Simon Dubnow, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Edward Sapir, and Chaim Zhitlowsky.
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Gaster
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/moses-gaster
• 
  Name: David ben Elazar ibn Paquda
  Bio: David ben Elazar Paquda (also, Pakuda, Baqoda; first half of the 12th century), was a Spanish payyetan (possibly the cousin of Baḥya b. Joseph ibn Paquda). Al-Ḥarizi praises David's verses twice in the third maqāma of his Taḥkemoni: "none as bright and hot as the songs ben Bakoda begot"; "and Rabbi David ben Bakoda – skill is his prelude, praise his coda." Numerous liturgical poems by him have been preserved. According to Zunz, David's authorship is firmly established in the case of 14 poems by the appearance of his full name in acrostics or in superscriptions; more than 20 other poems in various Spanish nusḥaot, which are signed simply "David" are for the most part also to be regarded as his compositions. One of David's peculiarities, which he shares with Yemenite Hebrew poets, is the scriptio plena spelling of his name (דויד). David has been rightly characterized as a conservative liturgical poet. This is shown in his technique: he uses the syllabic meter more than the quantitative one (used only in two bakkashot), and sometimes he does not use any meter; he prefers monorhymed compositions to the strophic ones. He does not employ the novelties of Andalusian-Hebrew liturgical poetry; he prefers old paytanic structures and very simple forms. (via his entry in encyclopedia.com)
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/david-ben-elazar-ibn-paquda

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