Aaron flourished

Hayya Ga’on (attrib.)

Early 11th Century

Aaron flourished,
  and his staff flowered before God, the Creator.
His staff advanced before the staffs of his nation;
  at this time it sprouted.
Freshly, it blossomed forth . . .
  of its type [to refresh quarrelsome hearts].
The wise will understand who
  is the appointed and who the appointer.
From the messenger comes the king,
  and from the anointed comes the second-in-command.
Sons, like princes of the people,
  both known by this name.
For the needy, he opens his pocket;
  for the hungry, he opens a basket.
Glory is yours, who placed the foundation stone
  on the son of Nun, brother of the son of Jephunneh.
Translated by Abigail Denemark Ossip.

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

Engage with this Source

This Hebrew poem is traditionally attributed to Hayya Ga’on, although the name Abraham is signed in the acrostic. The poet praises a noble named Aaron who may have been a kohen (priest), in part by alluding to a medieval legend that the rod the biblical Moses wielded actually belonged to his brother, Aaron. The foundation stone at the end of the poem refers to where creation took place. The son of Nun, Joshua, and the son of Jephunneh, Caleb, appear in Numbers 13:1–33 as the only two of the twelve spies sent into the land of Israel who returned optimistic that God would save the Israelites from their desert wanderings. The two became paradigms of faith in God, a trait that the poet associates with the object of his panegyric. The ellipsis indicates a lacuna in the manuscript.

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Related Guide

Early Medieval Poetry

9th to 12th Century

Creator Bio

Hayya Ga’on

939–1038

The last and perhaps the greatest of the Babylonian geonim, Hayya (or Hay) bar Sherira was educated in the academy of Pumbedita, in Baghdad, at the feet of his father, the influential Sherira Ga’on. Uniquely among the geonim, Hayya was promoted to be co-head of the academy together with his father, and the two often wrote responsa jointly. During his leadership, the academy was facing financial difficulties, and so Hayya engaged in a tireless campaign to maintain connections with the Jewish diaspora, composing letters and legal works for Jews worldwide and fundraising. Hayya was generally less receptive to Arabic culture than some other geonim, but his writings integrated Islamic theological terminology and evinced similar concerns. He composed several legal monographs in Judeo-Arabic that were of lasting influence, and his Judeo-Arabic dictionary was an early foray into that genre. Recent discoveries in the Cairo Geniza have suggested that Hayya was a more impressive poet than previously thought.

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