May He break the yoke

Mid-7th Century

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This piyyut, the longest surviving silluk of Yehoshua ha-Kohen, written with a single end-rhyme, sees Israel standing between Edom and Ishmael (Christendom and Islam, respectively). (A silluk is the last of a series of piyyutim written for the first three blessings of the Amidah and serves as a transition to the Kedushah.) The author complains that Israel suffers under both nations and hopes for their mutual destruction, which would portend Israel’s redemption. This piyyut was written for the Ninth of Av, the day that Israel mourns the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples. It gives voice to the suffering of Yehoshua’s community, linking it to past suffering.

May He break the yoke of the devourer, the crusher [Rome],

and cast its prince down from heaven to earth!

For it has gnashed its teeth at me,

pulverized me, crushed me, as if to dust,

removed the yoke of circumcision from me,¹

and decreed religious persecution, to distance me [from God].

Therefore, set it empty upon its coals,²

along with its father-in-law, to whom it clung long ago.³

They entered ties of marriage, to cling to one another–

but now, he has risen against it, to push it away,⁴

and his sword is glistening against the splendid one,⁵

who is oppressed between the two of them.

When will you take account of them, that they may be crushed to the ground,

with the necks of each broken by the other,

the tents of Edom and Ishmael with their necks broken.

Hurl them down to the two daughters of hell,⁶

and make them all desolate, to be scorned with whistling.

Spare the splendid one from distress and trouble,

and shine the sun for her, with righteousness,

O powerful One, who rescues, and speaks with righteousness–

they wait for You to deliver them, to rescue and bring justice.

Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[I.e., forbidden the Jews to perform circumcision.–Trans.]

[The imagery, taken from Ezekiel 24:11, is of an empty pot that is placed upon the coals. With nothing inside the pot to cool it down, the pot will burn very quickly.–Trans.]

[Ishmael, the progenitor of the Islamic Empire, was the father-in-law of Esau/Edom, the progenitor of the Roman Empire (see Genesis 28:9).–Trans.]

[The Islamic Empire has waged war against the Byzantine Empire.–Trans.]

[I.e., the Jewish people; see Song of Songs 6:4.–Trans.]

[Based on Proverbs 30:15: ‘Aluqa has two daughters: Give me, give me! The word ‘aluqa is usually translated as “the leech,” but an old Jewish tradition understands it as a name of hel l.–Tra n s .]

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

May He break the yoke

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May He break the yoke

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