D'ror Yikra

D'ror Yikra (also spelled Dror Yikra, Deror Yikra and Dror Yiqra) is a piyyut (Jewish religious song or hymn) traditionally sung during Sabbath meals, particularly the first meal on Friday evening.[1] It was written in 960 CE in Córdoba in Spain[1] by the poet, linguist and musician Dunash ben Labrat (915-70), who is said to have been born in Fez, Morocco but moved to Spain after a period of study in Baghdad under the rabbinic scholar Saadia Gaon.[2]

The Poem

The poem consists of six four-line stanzas with the rhyme-scheme a a a a, b b b b, c c c c, etc. The first stanza is as follows:

דְּרוֹר יִקְרָא לְבֵן עִם בַּת * וְיִנְצָרְכֶם כְּמוֹ בָבַת‬
נְעִים שִׁמְכֶם וְלא יֻשְׁבַּת * שְׁבוּ נוּחוּ בְּיוֹם שַׁבָּת‬
D'ror yikra l'ven im bat
V'yintsorchem k'mo vavat.
Na'im shimchem velo yushbat
Sh'vu nuchu b'yom Shabbat.
"Freedom shall He proclaim for His sons and daughters
and will keep you as the apple of His eye.
Pleasant is Your name and will not cease to be;
repose (and) rest on the Sabbath day."[3]

The first letters of each line in this stanza, and also in stanzas 2, 3, and 6, make up the name "DUNASH".

Metre

The poem was unusual for the time since unlike previous piyyutim, its language is entirely Biblical, rather than a mixture of Biblical and later Hebrew. Secondly, Dunash was apparently the first Jewish poet to write Hebrew using Arabic quantitative metres (up to his time, Hebrew poetry had been based on stress, not on quantity). Dunash's two innovations caused a revolution in Jewish poetry and influenced all later poets.[4]

The metre itself is the Arabic-Persian hazaj metre (called in Hebrew הַמִּשְׁקָל הַמַּרְנִין‬, ha-mishqal ha-marnin), which is based on a repeated rhythm of short-long-long-long (u – – –), a rhythm which it shares with the well-known Adon Olam. These days it is sung to two or three different tunes, not all of which, however, follow the rhythm of the metre.[5]

Biblical references

The poem is full of Biblical references and quotations, sometimes adapted to suit the demands of the metre. For example, the opening words are based on Leviticus 25:10: "You shall proclaim release throughout the land" and Jeremiah 34:15: "Proclaim a release for them". "He will keep you as the apple (or pupil) of His eye" is based on Deuteronomy (32:10): "He engirded him, watched over him, guarded him as the pupil of His eye". "Pleasant is Your name" is based on Psalm 35:3: "Sing hymns to His name, for it is pleasant"; and "Repose, rest" comes from Numbers 22:19 ("sit and rest").[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Rosenfeld-Hadad, p. 251.
  2. ↑ Rosenfeld-Hadad, p. 249.
  3. ↑ Translation from shituf.piyut.org website.
  4. ↑ Rosenfeld-Hadad, p. 250.
  5. ↑ See Braunstein (in External links)/Shabbat/Z'mirot.
  6. ↑ Rosenfeld-Hadad, p. 252.

Bibliography

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