You who are happy with me

Late 12th Century

About This Entry

This piyyut was written for recitation before the Torah reading of Noah (Genesis 6:9-11:32). It notes other references to Noah throughout the Bible. Dar‘ï here emphasizes the covenant between God and the Jews, singling them out from Muslims and Christians. Unusually, he gives God direct, nonbiblical dialogue, as though speaking directly to the congregation. The acrostic here confrms not only Dar‘ï’s name but also his identity, spelling out “Moses, Karaite, physician.”

You who are happy with Me and the fear of My name—who could condemn you?

And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed. (Genesis 9:9)

Appease Your anger, Lord, and promise to be generous to Your chosen people,

Curse his slave [= the Muslims] and become angry with his brother [= the Christians] like you have promised,

Remember how the babes have reached the mouth of the womb, but the strength [to give birth] is lacking, and how you swore to the forefathers (2 Kings 19:3, Isaiah 37:3)

And said to them: “ I will increase your ofspring!” (Genesis 16:10, 22:17)

And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed. (Genesis 9:9)

Receive good news, sons belonging to a nation with a history of exile, from all sides,

Your daughters, people will bring them on their backs and carry them on their shoulders (Isaiah 49:22)

on wagons will they bring them to My House as a pure ofering (Isaiah 66:20) for as the hosts of the heavens shall endure by My will—declares the Lord—so shall your seed endure (Isaiah 66:22)

And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed. (Genesis 9:9)

The Merciful will give victory to you with the mighty victories of His right arm (Psalms 20:7).

Against your enemies He yells, He roars aloud in His anger (Isaiah 42:13).

You will be redeemed and the one who hurts you, He will hurt the pupil of his eye,

He will punish with anger the enemy who

comes near to anyone from your ofspring (Leviticus 22:3)

And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed. (Genesis 9:9)

Holy beings, whose deeds fnd favor in My eyes, know that the time of the coming

of My will comes near and the interpretation of the secret of the end comes quickly like the prophecy of My faithful ones, and you will see My salvation and observe the construction of all My cities

and this whole land of which I spoke, I will give to your ofspring (Exodus 32:13)

And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed (Genesis 9:9).

Translated by Joachim J. M. S. Yeshaya.

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Credits

Moses Dar‘ī, “You who are happy with me,” trans. Joachim Yeshaya, in Joachim Yeshaya, “The Biblical Story of Noah and the Flood in Karaite Poetry: Moses ben Abraham Dar‛ī and Aaron ben Joseph ha-Rofe on Parashat Noah (Genesis 6:9-11:32),” Frankfurt Jewish Studies Bulletin, vol. 37 (2011): 109–21 (112–13). Used with permission of Gesellschaft zur Förderung judaistischer Studien in Frankfurt am Main e. V.

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