When the Lord came to claim

Amittai ben Shefatiah

Late 9th Century

When the Lord came to claim the credit on the deed,1
the people were very insistent to go back.
Therefore, it is written explicitly: Moses made them set forth.
When he saw that their heart was divided, due to the finery,2
he made them set forth, against their will, in the straight path.
As it is said: They went forth to the wilderness of Shur.
They wantonly sinned, not uniting with Torah study,
not being strong with the flowing liquids of the sea:3 
They walked three days in the wilderness.
The mighty ones [now] habitually read from the [book] captured from heaven,4
each week, not going longer than two days without it,
instead of the three days when they did not find water—
according to the word of the lofty and holy One. [ . . . ]
When the Holy One created the waters of Elim, with wisdom,
He provided them only with seventy date-palms.
So how did He provide sufficiently for the multitudes when they came to Elim?
They lay down and camped at the order of the One dwelling in heaven,
and, in accordance with the number of tribes that recite the Shema‘ twice a day,
there were twelve springs of water.
They enjoyed themselves with the sweet, choice water,
and peacefully rested in the shade of the beautiful palms.
Corresponding to the seventy elders, they found seventy palms.
The unblemished ones [the Jews] ate the fruit with their teeth,
and since then they have learned the sweetness of [the Torah, when it is] habitually on one’s lips.
As it is specified: They camped there at the water.
When the loaves that God’s upright people had brought for meals5
were finished, the people began to complain:
The entire congregation of the Israelites grumbled.
The lofty and holy One announced to the redeemer man,6
“With this one request, they are really asking two things—
I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.”
For six days, they gathered [manna] around the camp,
and on the seventh, its aroma wafted, and its taste was different.
As the sages explain the words: they gathered different bread.7
Those upright in knowledge asked the redeemer-agent,
“How is today different, tell us?”
Immediately, Moses said: Eat it today, for today is the Sabbath for the Lord,
Today you will not find it in the field.

Happy is the people for whom it is thus. Happy are they who observe the Sabbath in proper accordance with the law. They will be spared from three disasters and find healing: from the birth-pangs of the messiah, from the war of Gog and Magog, and from the judgment of hell, according to the word of the lofty and holy One.

Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[I.e., God freed the Israelites by taking the deed of servitude that enslaved them to Pharaoh and showing that it had been paid up.—Trans.]

[According to rabbinic tradition, the jewels and riches on Pharaoh’s chariots washed up on the shore; the Israelites wanted to stay there and collect more treasure, not travel onward into the wilderness.—Trans.]

[Water here is a metaphor for Torah study, based on the Mekhilta, which interprets the three days without water in Exodus 15:22 as meaning that the people went three days without engaging in Torah study.—Trans.]

[I.e., Torah.—Trans.]

[I.e., the unleavened bread that they had brought from Egypt.—Trans.]

[I.e., Moses.—Trans.]

[Exodus 16:22; the expression leḥem mishneh is usually understood as “double bread,” but in Tanḥuma Beshallaḥ 24, the rabbis explain it as “different bread,” whose taste and aroma was better than that eaten during the week.—Trans.]

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

Engage with this Source

This is a yotser for the Sabbath immediately after Passover, when, in the past, a portion beginning with Exodus 15:22 was read from the Torah. A yotser is meant to be recited inside the blessing before the Shema‘ that begins “He who creates (yotser) light.” The first day of Passover commemorates the Exodus from Egypt, and the last day commemorates the splitting of the Red Sea; the reading continues the narrative by describing the first days of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. The stanzas of this poem conclude with quotations from successive verses of this biblical passage, usually consecutively, but sometimes skipping certain verses, presumably for the sake of brevity.

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Related Guide

Early Medieval Liturgical Poetry (Piyyut)

7th to 12th Century

Creator Bio

Amittai ben Shefatiah

Late 9th Century

Amittai ben Shefatiah was a communal leader in Oria, in southern Italy, primarily known today for his piyyu-tim (liturgical prayers), several of which are still recited in certain Jewish rites. Amittai descended from a prominent family in Italy and was related to Aḥima‘ats ben Palti’el (1017–1060), author of The Scroll of Aḥima‘ats. Amittai succeeded his father Shefatiah as communal leader and head of the local academy. His poems attracted significant attention among later commentators, several of whom identified proto-kabbalistic ideas in his writings. Amittai’s poetry often refers to the Byzantine persecutions of Jews, although he also wrote poems for happy occasions, such as “The Lord, who revealed the end,” which celebrates his sister’s marriage. In general, Amittai followed poetic conventions of the East, but he did show a certain degree of independent poetic composition.

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