The child—there was no one like him

This touching Hebrew lament, in commemoration of the death of the author’s six-year-old son Josiah, survives in several manuscripts in the Cairo Geniza. This poem reflects the father’s pain and also illustrates the ideals that a boy would have been expected to live up to in his day. Yeshu‘a praises Josiah’s keeping of the Sabbath and his commitment to the study of Jewish texts. The reference to Nehemiah alludes to the laws of picking up objects and moving them on the Sabbath. In m. Shabbat 17:4, it reads: “All vessels may be moved [on the Sabbath], either for a purpose or for no purpose. R. Nehemiah says: ‘They may not be moved [on the Sabbath] unless for a purpose.’” This son, the poet suggests, was stricter even than R. Nehemiah, as he would not move a vessel even for a purpose.