The pool (the pool!)
About This Entry
This is an ahavah poem, for recitation during the synagogue service inside the blessing “who blesses his people Israel with love [ahavah],” immediately preceding the Shema‘ in the morning service. Marked by the repetition of words, this strophic poem is written in a folk style popular among Jews and Arabs during this period. Here, drawing on Sufi traditions, the poet evokes the pool as the source of divine blessing from which blessing flows to the Jewish people. The “masters” of the pool here are the Jewish people. This poem has also been interpreted as having been meant to celebrate a wedding.
Source: CUL T-S NS 277.174.
Notes
[Literally “I have raised up his horn,” a common Hebrew image for glory and pride. It is not clear if the subject is the poet glorifying God, or God glorifying Israel.—Trans.]
[A Levite singer at the time of King David (1 Chronicles 6:2 4).—Trans.]
[Apparently a reference to Zerubbabel, a proto-messianic fgure, and thus, here, to the Messiah. In Haggai 2:23, God called Zerubbabel a “signet” on God’s hand.—Trans.]
[The olive tree is another symbol of Zerubbabel; see Zechariah 4:12–14.—Trans.]
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.
