You went forth to deliver Your people

Joseph Bonfils (Tov ‘Elem)

First Half of the 11th Century

You went forth to deliver Your people (Habbakuk 3:13),
to teach them Your sweet ways.
Get up and walk to the desolate place [the ruins of the Temple],
with rage, to subdue those who dominate us.
When the hordes of brigands [i.e., the Egyptians] were exterminated,
and the princes and regiments were fnished of, the time for loving arrived,
and rescue sprouted for the dear friends [of God, the Israelites].
When the plan went forth, beautifully,
for the forlorn people to go out into abundance,
the emissaries were rushed to the captive,
the two twins of the roe [i.e., Moses and Aaron].
As the king was hosting a feast,
they happened upon the monarch of the region.
Everyone who comes to the king
must send a gift ahead.
At the gate of the Kasluhite [i.e., the Egyptians]
were standing the messengers, the emissaries [Moses and Aaron].
The mallow-cutters [i.e., the wicked] looked upon them,
that they had not [even] a fstful or a stalk [to give as a g i ft].
The haughty-hearted one [Pharaoh] reviled them.
He hastened to instruct his legions:
“Admit everyone who is bringing a portion,
and then these, on their own, at the end.”
The deaf adder asked:
“Who is being sought, and who seeks?”
They answered him: “He uproots and overturns things,
and he will perform utter expulsion” [see Exodus 11:1].
The wanton man was rebellious and crooked:
“What is His voice to me?!
He has not appeased me with a coin,
but has been like a person leaning only on their staf.”1
Then he looked among the idols,
in case there were mention [of God] among the scrolls.
They [Moses and Aaron] stood over him and begged him
not to turn to the corpses [i.e., the pagan idols].
O fool, destined for [divine] wrath, why would a priest be in a cemetery?2 Behold, when they were done speaking, the Lord of Might made himself known!
He girded himself, clothed in righteousness, to repay retribution to the cruel. The one whose ways were perverse and strange had his sufering hurled back upon his head.
Locusts, hail, and lightning— He made these storm against the conjurers. They crumbled and collapsed, being conjured,3 gasping [as they lay] on the ground.
Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[Probably a person who has no possessions other than a walking stick and therefore nothing to give as a gift.—Trans.]

[According to Jewish law, priests must avoid contact with the dead. Therefore, God, the highest “priest,” surely must not be in the company of all the dead pagan deities.—Trans.]

[As the victims of God’s spells, rather than casting their own.—Trans.]

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

Engage with this Source

This is a piyyut from a kerovah for the Sabbath prior to Passover, known as Shabbat ha-Gadol (The Great Sabbath). A kerovah is a composition consisting of a series of poetic pieces written to adorn the Amidah. This is the fifth poem in the sequence, recounting the events surrounding the Exodus from Egypt and full of allusions to midrashic literature. In a later poem in this sequence, Joseph reviews many of the laws of Passover, as was customarily done during this period and particularly on this Sabbath; the conclusion of the legal poem, not presented here, later became part of the Passover Haggadah in many Ashkenazic communities.

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Creator Bio

Joseph Bonfils (Tov ‘Elem)

First Half of the 11th Century

Joseph bar Samuel Bonfls (Tov ‘Elem) was a French tal-mudic scholar and the author of many piyyutim. Joseph was born in Narbonne, in southern France, but lived in Limoges in the Anjou region of France. Rashi’s students held him in high regard, labeling him “Rabbi Joseph the Great.” Later generations frequently cited his legal decisions and his piyyutim remained popular; many are still recited in some Ashkenazic communities. Joseph’s poems are full of midrashic references and halakhic rulings. He also wrote a commentary on the Pentateuch, but nothing from that work has survived.

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