Shalom Shabazi
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Rabbi Shalom Shabazi שלום שבזי (conceptual drawing) | |
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Yemeni Zaidi State | |
Religion | Judaism |
Shalom Shabazi (1619 – c. 1720) was the son of Yosef ben Avigad, of the family of Mashtā, also commonly known as
, often referred to as the arch-poet of Yemen.Life and works
Shabazi was born in 1619 in the town of Najd al-Walid.
Soon after he moved to Ta'izz where he built a house of prayer and a ritual bath (
His father, Yosef ben Abijad ben Khalfun, was also a rabbi and a poet. Shabazi's extant poetic
He wrote a commentary on the Torah called Hemdath Yamim (Pleasant Days). His leadership was instrumental in helping the Jews of Yemen survive some of the worst persecution in its history. Mori (Yemenites often call their spiritual leaders "Mori" meaning "my master" or "my teacher").[
The Diwan of Mori Shabazi also alludes to the Decree of the Headgear in 1667.[7] Shabazi's Diwan has become an essential part of Yemenite Jewry's spiritual and cultural lives.
Currently, the Israeli government and the Chief Rabbinate are trying to bring the remains of Rabbi Shabazi to
In popular culture
Shabazi's poem "Im Nin'alu" (אם ננעלו) became a hit single sung by Israeli singer Ofra Haza whose family is of Yemenite origin, and it has also been interpreted by Yemenite singer Daklon. Other songs, such as "As'alak" (أسألك), were also performed by Ofra Haza as well as Zion Golan, Aharon Amram and Shoshana Damari.
Another famous poem, "Ahavat Ra'aya Retzoni", was performed by Zohar Argov. The Israeli metal band, Orphaned Land, sang one of his poems "Olat Ha'tamid".
Today, in Israel, there are streets named after him in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem and Neve Tzedek neighborhood of Tel Aviv.
Poetry
No other Yemenite Jewish poet has had the popularity and acclaim as Shalom Shabazi who wrote hundreds of poems during his lifetime, a significant amount of which songs being preserved in a song
According to Professor emeritus, Yosef Tobi, "the fundamental revolutionary change in the poetry of Yemen occurred with the work of Yosef ben Yisrael (17th century), when poetry became the primary tool for spiritual expression of Yemenite Jewry, and when the subject of exile and redemption took on vitality and had the most concrete political significance. Even more so, we find this change in the poetry of his younger relative, Shalom Shabazī."[10]
In Shabazi's Diwan there can be found many long eschatological poems, numbered at several dozen, and which open with the words, Baraq burayq, or with compounds that are similar to them, said to be a sign of some supernatural occurrence, as one of the signs heralding the coming of the Messiah. The founder of these genres of poetic visions of redemption is Yosef ben Yisrael in whose footsteps followed many poets, including Shabazī who is said to have refined it. An example of Shabazi's sublime poetic style is seen in the following lyric although the rhyme has been lost in the translation:
May God watch from His sacred abode and smite / all the enemies of His people in the blink of an eye. Herewith God rises and stands on a plumbline[11] [to judge the oppressors] / He shall let them drink a cup of venom, but not wine. Destroying angels shall hasten towards them, to smite / them with Heavenly arrows and with weapons of war. Turn back, O Zion, and see the consolation of your son / when Cain is given to annihilation. My Saviour, summon a day when I shall unsheathe my sword and smite / them, all that are comely and pleasant to look upon.[12]
אם תחפצה בן איש לסודות נבחרו, תקנה לך חבר ורעים יקרו, בעבור יחי לבך ותשמח נפשך שכל והנפש בטוב יתחברו. ולבש ענוה מימי בחרותך ומאס עצת ריקים אשר יתהרו.
“If you will search, O son of man, after the choicest of all secrets, you will find that nothing surpasses that of your gaining a companion, and your endearing unto yourself friends. Such an accomplishment brings with it a quickening of heart, and gives you a real cause for rejoicing within soul. Sagacity and the elevation of the inner soul will both, on its account, be indelibly bound together for good. Moreover, put on the fine attire of humility, even from the earliest days of your youth, and reject the counsel of vain persons who have vaunted themselves.”[13][a]
—Shalom Shabazi, 17th century
Mori Shalom Shabazi is said to have written nearly 15,000 liturgical poems on nearly all topics in Judaism, of which only about 850 have survived the ravages of persecution, time and the lack of printing presses in Yemen. He wrote his Diwan (Anthology of liturgical poetry) in
Songs of Shabazi -- A collection of abstracts
זוהר פני רעיה. לבי בסוד החיה. יום הנדוֹד Notes:
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References
- YouTube, 2 November 2018, minutes 04:03–04:05 (in Hebrew).
- ^ Avraham al-Nadaf, Hoveret (Composition), Jerusalem 1928 , p. 1; reprinted in Zekhor Le'Avraham, Jerusalem 1992, p. 1 of Part II (Hebrew); includes the author's note, where he adds concerning Shabazi's lineage: "Thus did R. Yefeth b. Saʻadia Sharʻabi tell me... who saw the said genealogy in a certain book belonging to our Rabbi Sholem in his house of study in the town of Taʻiz."
- ^ Avraham al-Nadaf, History of Rabbi Shalom ben Yosef al-Shabazi, of Blessed Memory (pub. in Zekhor Le'Avraham), Jerusalem 1992, p. 3 of Part II
- YouTube, 2 November 2018, minutes 42:48–43:19 (in Hebrew).
- OCLC 609321911., s.v. Shabazi, Shalom
- ^ "Stories behind the names of Tel Aviv streets explored in new book". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com.
- ^ Yosef Tobi, Politics and Poetry in the Works of Shalom Shabazi. In the poem, Be-hatkaz gazeru ʻal ha-ʻaṭarot, Shabazi writes: "In the year 5467 (of the Creation=1667 CE), the sons of the handmaid made a decree over the headgear (Heb. ʻAṭarot), so as to humiliate my elders."
- ^ Eichner, Itamar (21 January 2008). "Rabbi Shabazi's bones to be buried in Israel?". Ynetnews. Ynetnews.com. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
- YouTube, 2 November 2018, minutes 20:48–21:14 (in Hebrew).
- ^ Yosef Tobi, Politics and Poetry in the Works of Shalom Shabazi, Department of Hebrew & Comparative Literature, University of Haifa (Israel); Published online by Routledge, 14 Apr 2014, p. 5
- ^ Paraphrase of Amos 7:7.
- ^ Shabazi, Shalom. "Diwan Shirei Rabbi Shalom Shabazi". Y. Hasid, Jerusalem 1980 (Hebrew).
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(help) - ^ Shabazi, Yemen & 17th century.
- ^ Diwān Efteḥah Shīr, & Benei Barak 1999, pp. 34–36.