Poetry and Memory in Karaite Prayer: The Liturgical Poetry of the Karaite Poet Moses ben Abraham Darʿī

340 Pages·2013·3.08 MB·English

by  Joachim Yeshaya

Poetry and Memory in Karaite Prayer
Études sur Karaite Texts and Studies
le Judaïsme Médiéval
Edited by
Meira Polliack
Fondées par
Michael G. Wechsler
Georges Vajda
Dirigées par
Paul B. Fenton VOLUME 6
TOME LXI
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ejm
Karaite Texts and Studies
Edited by
Meira Polliack
Michael G. Wechsler
VOLUME 6

Poetry and Memory
in Karaite Prayer
The Liturgical Poetry of the Karaite Poet
Moses ben Abraham Darʿī
By
Joachim J. M. S. Yeshaya
LEIDEn • BOSTOn
2014
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Yeshaya, Joachim J. M. S.
 Poetry and memory in Karaite prayer : the liturgical poetry of the Karaite poet Moses ben
Abraham Darʿi / by Joachim J. M. S. Yeshaya.
  pages cm. — (Etudes sur le judaïsme médiéval, ISSn 0169-815X ; Tome 61) (Karaite texts
and studies ; volume 6)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBn 978-90-04-25991-1 (hardback)—ISBn 978-90-04-26211-9 (e-book) 1. Darʿi, Moses ben
Abraham, active 12th century-13th century—Criticism and interpretation.
2. Hebrew poetry, Medieval—Egypt—History and criticism. I. Title.
 PJ5050.D34Z95 2014
 892.4’12—dc23
2013030367
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters
covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the
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ISSn 0169-815X
ISBn 978-90-04-25991-1 (hardback)
ISBn 978-90-04-26211-9 (e-book)
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To our forthcoming firstborn

COnTEnTS
Acknowledgements  ........................................................................................ xi
List of Abbreviations  ...................................................................................... xiii
Transliteration of Arabic  .............................................................................. xiv
Transliteration of Hebrew  ............................................................................ xvi
Introduction  ..................................................................................................... 1
1 Karaite Liturgy and Poetry  ...................................................................... 11
1.1 Karaite Prayer and Liturgy  ........................................................... 11
1.2 Karaite Liturgical Poetry before Aaron ben Joseph  .............. 14
1.3 Moses Darʿī’s Poems and the Pentateuch Portions  .............. 17
2 Language, Rhetoric, Prosody  .................................................................. 27
2.1 Hebrew Language, Style, and Rhetoric  ..................................... 27
2.2 Poetic Personae  ................................................................................ 32
2.2.1 God as Speaker  ................................................................... 33
2.2.2 People of Israel  ................................................................... 37
2.2.3 Poet-Precentor  .................................................................... 38
2.3 Prosodic Features, Poetic Forms, name Acrostics  ................ 41
2.4 Wazn Indications: Judah ha-Levi as Poetic Role-Model?  .... 44
3 Thematic Elements  .................................................................................... 55
3.1 Praise of God  ..................................................................................... 55
3.2 The Holiness of the Sabbath Day  ............................................... 58
3.3 The Covenant and the People of Israel  .................................... 61
3.4 Moses, Mount Sinai, and the Giving of the Torah  ................ 63
3.5 Destruction and Rebuilding of Jerusalem and Temple  ....... 64
3.6 Suffering of Israel in Exile  ............................................................. 67
3.7 The Others: Christians and Muslims  ......................................... 71
3.8 Penitential Themes  ......................................................................... 75
3.9 Longing for the Realization of Deliverance  ............................ 78
x contents
4 Edition  ........................................................................................................... 85
4.1 Genesis  ................................................................................................ 86
4.2 Exodus  ................................................................................................. 152
4.3 Leviticus  ............................................................................................. 184
4.4 numbers  ............................................................................................. 209
4.5 Deuteronomy  .................................................................................... 249
Conclusion  ........................................................................................................ 281
Alphabetical List of Poems nos. 1–96  ...................................................... 289
Alphabetical List of Biblical names  .......................................................... 293
Variant Readings  ............................................................................................. 295
Bibliography  ..................................................................................................... 307
Index of names and Subjects  ...................................................................... 315
Plates  ................................................................................................................... 319