Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, בקשות Baqashot, כל ברואי kol beruei, ספר יצירה Sefer Yetsirah
Excerpt: A piyyut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol included in the arrangement of Baqashot before the morning service in the liturgical custom of Sefaradim translated by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola. . . .
Interminable[1]Heb. Thirty-two, according to a cabalistical system in the Book Yetsirah. I have, however, rendered it more according to the spirit than to the letter. are Thy wisdom’s paths.
They who penetrated their mystery can alone relate Thy greatness.
They acknowledge that all are derived from Thee,
And that Thou art the only God and King!
When the mind contemplates the world’s structure,
It finds all but Thee subject to corruption and change;
That everything was numbered and weighed by Thee;[2] i.e. their quantity and quality were fixed and determined at their creation.
And that all derive their existence from One eternal source.
In every extreme of the universe
Thou hast established determined signs.
North, West, East and South, Heaven and Earth,
Attest Thy almighty power on every side.
Their order and union were fixed by Thee;
They all must perish, and Thou alone remain.
Let, therefore, every creature ascribe glory unto Thee,
Since Thou alone, O Father, existent eternally.
This translation of “Kol Beruei” by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola was first published in his Ancient Melodies of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1857).
Heb. Thirty-two, according to a cabalistical system in the Book Yetsirah. I have, however, rendered it more according to the spirit than to the letter.
i.e. their quantity and quality were fixed and determined at their creation.
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)
Co-authors:
Name: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeniשְׁגִיאוֹת 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 translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.) Website:https://aharon.varady.net Profile Link:https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady
Name: David de Aaron de Sola (translation) Bio: David de Aaron de Sola or David Aaron de Sola (1796 – 1860) (Hebrew: דוד אהרן די סולה) was a rabbi and author, born in Amsterdam, the son of Aaron de Sola. In 1818, D.A. de Sola was called to London to become one of the ministers of the Bevis Marks Congregation under Haham Raphael Meldola (who would also later become his father-in-law). De Sola's addresses before the Society for the Cultivation of Hebrew Literature led the mahamad (board of directors of the congregation) to appoint him to deliver discourses in the vernacular, and on March 26, 1831, he preached the first sermon in English ever heard within the walls of Bevis Marks Synagogue (all previous ones being spoken in Spanish or Portuguese). His discourses were subsequently published by the mahamad. Of his style, one observer wrote: "Though a scholar and a thinker, yet he...used the most unpedantic terms and assumed a quiet, colloquial manner. Website:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_de_Aaron_de_Sola Profile Link:https://opensiddur.org/profile/david-de-aaron-de-sola
Name: Shlomo ibn Gabirol Bio: Solomon ibn Gabirol (also Solomon ben Judah; Hebrew: שלמה בן יהודה אבן גבירול Shlomo ben Yehuda ibn Gabirol, Arabic: أبو أيوب سليمان بن يحيى بن جبيرول Abu Ayyub Sulayman bin Yahya bin Jabirul, Latin: Avicebron or Avencebrol) was an 11th-century Andalusian poet and Jewish philosopher. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical exegesis, philosophy, ethics, and satire. Website:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_ibn_Gabirol Profile Link:https://opensiddur.org/profile/shlomo-ibn-gabirol
Featured Image: Title: 1024px-Observable_universe_logarithmic_illustration Caption: "Observable Universe Logarithmic Illustration" by Pablo Carlos Budassi, a CC BY-SA licensed logarithmic scale conception of the observable universe with the Solar System at the center, inner and outer planets, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, Alpha Centauri, Perseus Arm, Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda galaxy, nearby galaxies, Cosmic Web, Cosmic microwave radiation and Big Bang's invisible plasma on the edge.
