Yannai on Genesis: An Invitation to Piyyut (Monographs of the Hebrew Union College) 9780878204649, 2010032068, 0878204644

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       Yannai on Genesis: An Invitation to Piyyut

Yannai on Genesis An Invitation to Piyyut

Laura S. Lieber

H U C P C

©  by the Hebrew Union College Press Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lieber, Laura Suzanne. Yannai on Genesis: an invitation to piyyut / Laura Lieber. p.cm – (Monographs of the Hebrew Union College; no. ) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN –––– (alk. paper) , Yannai—Criticism and interpretation, . Piyyutim—Criticism, Textual. . Bible. O.T. Genesis—Commentaries. . Sabbath—Liturgy—Texts. 5. Judaism—Liturgy—Texts. I. Title. BM.PL  .'—dc 

Printed on acid-free paper in the United States of America Typeset by Posner and Sons Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel Distributed by Wayne State University Press  Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI  Toll-free ---

C Acknowledgments

viii

Part One An Introduction to the Poet and his Works and this Project



Issues of Text and Translation



. “Anatomy of a Qedushta”



How Form Shapes Meaning and Meaning Shapes Form

. “Inscribed by a Learned Tongue”



The Language of Aesthetics and Biblical Intertextuality

. “New Wine—In New Bottles?”



Yannai in the Byzantine World

. “Threads of the Tapestry”



Selected Topics from Yannai's Qedushtaul (Poem One, lines –)

which we have translated as: She was like a garden locked // and she was sealed like fountain locked She cried out and knocked upon the latches of the lock // O Gracious One to grant her from her husband, a child. Although the original Hebrew is deceptively simple, much is lost in translation. For example, the English version sacrifices the acrostic (the embedded letters heh, vav, zayin, and het), the rhyme ( >ul), the rhythm of . the four-word stichs, and the richly resonant sound of the alternating "ah" and "oo" vowels. It also fails to replicate the thick sound of the >ayin, which subtly emphasizes the sound na >ul ("locked") that concludes the first three stichs, and the unexpected final word, >ul ("child")—the potent semantic antithesis of Sarai's "locked" (infertile) status. All elements of form are not lost in translation, however. The English rendering does convey the presence of "lock/locked" in each stich of the first three stichs (if not the pun on "child," which concludes the stanza), and this lends the English a cadence that is faithful at least to the outlines of the Hebrew original. Similarly, the phrase translated here as “latches of the lock” creates alliteration not found in the Hebrew (kapot ha-man >ul), but this sound helps suggest the general sense of alliteration present in the

Issues of Text and Translation



original. Similarly, we are fortunate that in English "knock" and "lock" rhyme, as this also creates a resonance with Yannai's Hebrew version. Even if na>ul ("lock") and dafqah ("knock") do not actually rhyme, other words in the lines do rhyme. In sum, the English does not try to replicate the actual form of the Hebrew—as if that were possible—but rather to create an English work faithful to the sense and the ambiance of the Hebrew. The translation also anticipates several of the key intertexts and subtexts that undergird the language of the stanza. In places where the biblical verse is quoted in the body of the poem as an intertext or by the present author in the footnotes, the translation of the biblical verse harmonizes with the language of the poem, so as to obscure the relationship as little as possible. Here the key verse, cited as an intertext following the unit, is Song :: “A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a fountain locked, a spring sealed.” This biblical language is readily apparent in the language of the poetic stanza: the "garden," "fountain," "locked" and "sealed" are all present, albeit reorganized to create the end-rhyme and acrostic that the poet needs. More subtly, however, this stanza relies on the language of two verses not cited as intertexts but included among the footnotes: Song : (“Hark, my beloved knocks!”), only with the poet reversing the genders and Sarai knocking at God's door rather than the male lover knocking at his lover's gates; and Song : (“I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, upon the latches of the lock”), where the lock is opened, but too late. When God opens the lock, however, it is not—even for the ninety-year-old Sarai—too late. Additional brief examples illustrate our efforts to preserve the poet's allusiveness while also conveying the sense of his lines. In the second unit of his qedushta for Gen :, we have translated Yannai as: Pure women, and wise, free of disdain // the pure one, in his wisdom, called them to council (Poem Two, lines –)

This language emphasizes the tact and subtlety necessary for Jacob and his wives to successfully deceive the vengeful Laban. It praises Rachel, Leah, and Jacob in terms of “wisdom” (literally, “discretion” or “modesty,” from the root ts-n->). This line difficult to translate because it relies on a verse  The first three units of a qedushta are followed by lists of biblical verses quoted in full, which I have called “intertexts.” See the discussion in Chapter One.



Yannai on Genesis: An Invitation to Piyyut

quoted subsequently as an intertext: Mic :, which is usually translated as “He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what the Lord seeks from you: nothing except doing justice, keeping loyalty, and walking humbly (ve-hatsne>a lekhet) with your God.” In this case, in order to convey the resonance between the poetic line and its biblical subtext, I resorted to altering the translation of the biblical verse (a change significant enough to be mentioned in the notes) in order to highlight the intertextuality. This translation of Micah, while unusual, reflects the way that the biblical language would have been “heard” in the context of the poetic stichs that preceded it. Among all the other things this line does, it offers an interpretation of Micah in which “humility” is transformed into wisdom—not only articulating but enacting the deftness and discretion needed to complete successfully a boldly necessary scheme. The awkward translation highlights Yannai's exegetical move. In some cases, English barely manages to convey the richness of Yannai's language. He alludes to biblical texts, but they are read through the lens of rabbinic interpretation—either exclusively or in a way that creates meaningful ambiguity. We see this in the qedushta to Gen :, where we find a line that I have rendered as: In cunning he came / yet he did not—such a sin!—con him; but as for the con-man, who came with his "game": "The con-man shall not enjoy his game." (Poem Five, lines –).

These lines are, in situ, amply footnoted. As I note in the commentary to this passage, the translation "cunning" (mirmah) attempts to capture the ambiguity of the Hebrew: “deceitfulness” (as in the biblical text itself) and “wisdom” (as in, for example, the targumic rendering of the verse). Similarly, the Hebrew underlying the word "game" could also have been translated as "prey"—but that translation would have sacrificed the grimly serious "playful" nuance of the original. It is a happy coincidence that, in so many places, English is able to supply words that capture at least some of the same complicated nuances as Yannai's deft and clever Hebrew. And yet, it is impossible to render in English the ambiguity of the verb in the first stich: àáåä (pronounced "huva'"). On the one hand, this verb seems obviously passive (a hofal), meaning “he was brought” and suggesting that Rebecca brought Jacob in (and that she is therefore the agent of guilt). At the same time, in rabbinic and payyetanic idiom, the hofal can



Issues of Text and Translation

have an active connotation, which would implicate Jacob directly. Furthermore, it is possible that in an oral context, sixth-century listeners may have heard the active phrase àá àåä (hu ba'). We chose to translate the ambiguous term simply “he came.” In the end, the translation reflects the overall sense of the passage, and notes must convey some of the knottier nuances. Finally, there are numerous passages where Yannai truly exploits the formal possibilities of Hebrew to their richest potential. In these places (particularly the units called “r'hitim, which are often intricately patterned), where form is so much a part of the unit's structure, English cannot adequately render even a fraction of the Hebrew's complexity. Nonetheless, I have attempted, as much as English would allow, to write lines that convey some of the sensation of the original, even if ultimately footnotes are necessary to understand the true complexity of a passage. Indeed, while English does not lend itself as easily to the rhymes and resonances of Hebrew, it is capable of its own rich and playful sound. A few examples will suffice to demonstrate both the challenge of Yannai's Hebrew in such passages and the techniques used to retain some elements of the original in translation. The first rahit for Yannai's qedushta for Gen : employs a structural device in which he repeats the final word of one line as the first word of the next, within the context of a densely alliterative acrostic. A transliteration of the first three lines (reflecting the letters alef, bet, and gimmel) reads as follows: (alef) ahadim ahudim imrah ahat . . . avilei adamah bizu (bet) bizu bevitahon . bituyam bealotekha , where, as B1 notes, divine assertions of “Mine” always means “forever.”

(ä)



()

Yannai on Genesis

[.Then he said to Joseph, `Lo…'/] “The father whom your soul loves “He is sick 9 “Because of (his) love for you which is like a flame, “He was drawn down by the bonds of love “He is deteriorating and declining, near death “He desires you and says, `This time I will die'” “The Judge, who releases the children of death “Precious in his eyes is the death of the righteous “Your parent, yea, he is gathered unto his people “And good is the blessing that shall be added to his people.” He took his two sons with him so that he could bless them with prophecy and prosperity. Hot fever flushed the face of the father and weakness seized hold of his hands But the sick one, when he heard, “Here he is!” gathered strength seeking renewed strength in his blessings “He who bore you and dandled you on his knees “Is burdened by illness and now bent in his knees.” Joseph, when he heard this, lent his strength to his knees to help him bestow the blessing to those born on his knees “The one who bore you yearns to behold you “His soul is faint and weak” Therefore he did not dawdle when he went up and his sons he brought up with him “He who loved you most of all his sons “He is sick and calls to you, of all of sons” He bequeathed to his sons a blessing like the greatest of his sons for the sons of ones sons are like sons “Your parent approaches the end of his days  For the language of this line, see Song : (B1) and Hos : (R); the interpretation recalls GenR : (B1), discussed in the notes of the qedushta for Gen . Earlier, the langage described how God led Joseph to Egypt. Here Jacob's love for his son leads him into exile.  “Drawn to”—to Egypt. The language of the final stich draws on Prov : and, even more closely, Eccl : (citations in B1); the implication is that now, after this final illness, Jacob is ready to die.  I.e., mortals. See Ps : (R).  Based on the use of ç÷ (which appears to be an imperative) as a perfect in Ezek :, I

Qedushta for Genesis :



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have followed B2 (a revision of his opinion in B1), which construes this line as the beginning of the poet's narration. Alternatively, it could be construed as continuing the speech of the anonymous messenger: “Take his two `sons' in with him / so that he may bless them9” The reference to Ephraim and Manasseh as Jacob's “sons” rather than grandsons would suggest that Jacob was understood as adopting his grandsons.  Joseph supported his weakened father as he struggled to sit up and bless Ephraim and Manasseh.  Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

(å)



Yannai on Genesis

“And he is soon to dwell with his fathers” He went up, and those who came forth from his loins to establish upon them inclusion in his blessing “God had a fate—He who sets fates for all— “For your father, who shares the fate of all” “The Rock of all all things are like all others “What is fair, in due time, He does for all “The one who called you here has been called; “his summons to die has come “And who is so strong, that he can live and never die?” He hurried to behold him with a hopeful face as if he were finding the face of God's own Presence He who kept the commandment for which the reward is the breath of life: honoring the father who loved you with all the love of his every breath He leaned close to receive his last breath and to give praise to the Lord of every breath

()

And thus, .Manasseh and Ephraim…/ Truth you declared to With strength is crowned the head of The dignity of the firstborn's belonged to But You said: My first born is

Manasseh Ephraim Manasseh Ephraim

 The language of this stich draws on Jer : and Ps :. The combination creates a sense of transience and yet also ease.  This epithet for God (ìëä øåö) appears to be unique, although “Rock” is common; as B2 notes, one aspect of the name “Rock” is “creator” (taking it from the root ø¯ö¯é; see j. Hag. a; SifD ). If this is the case, the epithet means “Creator of All,” a more common. place attribution, albeit still an unusual coinage.  Eccl : (R).  That is, the one who has summoned you is being summoned by death; it could also have the connotation of “named,” but Rachel named Joseph, not Jacob. The word àø÷î (called) may also pun on the word äø÷î (“fate”), as in Eccl :: the one who has summoned you is fated to die.  See Ps : (B1).  See b. Ned. a, “Rabin also said in Rab's name: From where do we know that the Divine Presence rests above an invalid's bed? From the verse, `The Lord sets Himself upon the bed of languishing' (Ps :).” The translation here follows the MS, which has the word äæ (lit. “as if he were finding this, the presence of the visage”). Zulay (cited by both R and B1) emends the text to read åéæ (“the splendor of the presence of the visage”—i.e., the splendor / appearance of the Divine Presence). “This” is a widely attested payyetanic and

Qedushta for Genesis :



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aggadic epithet for God (based on Exod :).  Apparently these two lines are an extended epithetical description of Joseph. The line is intriguing but unclear. B1 notes that the language recalls Prov : (“He who keeps the commandment keeps his own soul [life-breath]; but he who despises his ways shall die”), which implies that honoring one's parents leads to longer life in this world. It is also possible, however, to understand the verse as does Zulay in `Iyyunei Lashon (cited by R), as implying that honoring parents receives a reward of life in the world-to-come. These two readings are not mutually exclusive.  This probably means to close the eyes of the deceased, in accord with m. Shab. :; see also the description of events in GenR , which interprets Gen :, where Jacob says, “Joseph will put his hands upon my eyes” (B1). Closing the eyes of the deceased is described in the midrash as a great act of love: “A man sometimes honors his father through fear or shame, but this [act of] love after death is a true love.” More existentially, Joseph may also have leaned in so as to receive Jacob's “soul blessing” (birkat nefesh), as in Gen : (R).  That is, to recite the blessing one recites upon learning of a death (or other bad news), “Blessed are You9the True Judge (dayyan emet)” (B1).  The agent here is Jacob. R cites Gen :, in which Jacob prophesies that while Manasseh will be a great tribe, Ephraim—the younger son—will be the greater.

(1æ)



Yannai on Genesis

Everyone blesses by And all bless themselves by the name of Designated like Simon shall be Beloved like Reuben shall be Before he was even born—that is, Foreseen was the descendants of The glory of circumcision accrued to Accompanying the Sabbath [is the heritage of] A city of refuge is within the borders of And one likewise found in the hill country of A hand crossed over upon the head of Right hand crowned upon the head of Wonders You worked for the children of Righteousness You raised up for the tribe of You summoned the myriads of You multiplied the multitudes of Years of hardship we have forgotten, as in the name We will bear fruit for goodness, as in the name ()

Manasseh Ephraim Manasseh Ephraim Manasseh Ephraim Manasseh Ephraim Manasseh Ephraim Manasseh Ephraim Manasseh Ephraim Manasseh Ephraim Manasseh Ephraim

Ephraim and Manasseh, the one to the other is joined Equal, one with the other Sometimes “Manasseh and Ephraim” Sometimes “Ephraim and Manasseh” The one not greater than the other the other not greater than the one By one You are praised, by the other You are sanctified In the circle of Your hosts You are called And they answer, one to the other, as it is written: .And one called…/  This line is open to two possible interpretations, both offered in B1. According to the first, it may refer to a singular blessing invoking the names of both Ephraim and Manasseh. Alternatively, it may refer to two different blessings, one in the name of each son, as in the final lines of this poem: Manasseh is invoked when one wishes to expunge the memory of sorrowful events, while Ephraim is recalled when positive blessings are recited. (See the first rahit, lines –).  That is, the Messiah of Joseph's line, who will descend from Ephraim; see GenR :, :; and Tanh. Naso  (B1).  Completed according to R. See GenR :, where the Sabbath is called Israel's partner (B2). The implication is that Israel (here represented by Ephraim) has a special bond with the Sabbath. R connects this stich to the special offerings made by the leader of Ephraim

Qedushta for Genesis :

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(Num :); see TanhB . Naso ; NumR :, and others. “The seventh day” in Num : (“On the seventh day, it was the chieftain of the Ephraimites, Elishama son of Ammihud“) is understood in the interpretations to be the Sabbath.  Possibly an allusion to Gideon (see Tanh. Vayehi . ) (R, B1).  As R notes (B1 concurs), another allusion to the Messiah ben Joseph; B1 cites Isa :, :; and Ps : for the language.  As B1 notes, five times in the Bible (Num :; Josh :, :;  Chron :, ), Ephraim precedes Manasseh, and four times the reverse is true (Deut :; Josh :;  Chron. :, :). This alternation indicates their parity (R cites TanhB . Shemot ). See the prologue to the Mekhilta for a similar interpretation of the alternation of Moses and Aaron. R notes the alternative interpretation of GenR :.

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 ()

Yannai on Genesis

.And thus: `So Israel gathered (his) strength and sat up upon the bed'/ “So he gathered strength” with faith, with courage, to show his fellowship “And he sat” in discernment, with perceptiveness, to bless his sons “So he gathered strength” with light 9 to 9 his lads “And he sat” in knowledge, in joy, to make his troop sleek “So he gathered strength” [in] splendor, in grandeur, to save his horde “And he sat” in introspection, in readiness, to appoint his assembly “So he gathered strength” with memory, with might, to acquit his minders “And he sat” in a vision, with happiness, to favor his favored ones “So he gathered strength” with ceremony, with decree, to protect his lambs “And he sat” in awe, in beauty, in honor, to honor his children “So he gathered strength” with power, with potency, to confirm his crowns “And he sat” in concentration, in dignity, to hearten his offshoots “So he gathered strength” with awe, with fairness, to address to his remnant “And he sat” in splendor, in prophecy, to console his heirs “So he gathered strength” with hope, with mystery, to strengthen his shoots “And he sat” in cleverness, in humility, to help his flock “So he gathered strength” with freedom, with care, to glorify his blooms “And he sat” in splendor, in joy, to justify his host “So he gathered strength” in truth, with bowing, to lift his community “And he sat” in trembling, in joy, to have mercy on his offspring “So he gathered strength” in silence, in serenity, to adorn his saplings “And he sat” in desire, in exaltation, to sustain his pure ones

 The pattern of this poem consists of splitting the biblical verse into two parts, completing each half with two adverbial phrases followed by a verb of blessing (or some other positive connotations) that has the sons of Jacob (implied through an epithet: “force,” “flock,” “shoots,” etc.) as its recipient. Each adverb, verb, and epithet begins with the appropriate letter of the alphabetical acrostic. The Ma