Or 17080

Poems, belles-lettres, and wise sayings from the archive of Hakham Ezra Reuben Dangoor (HED); loose sheets; 12 items.

Or 17080 (1). Paean to Moses, beginning, ‘Moses spoke from afar …’ / משה ידבר ממרחקים …. Source unidentified. Compare with handwriting, layout, and literary style of Or 17076, ‘Paean to the Torah and its light’. As the paean to the Torah and its light, this, too, introduces the paean with a topical Rabbinic citation – ‘Moses taught Torah to Israel and guided them in the Commandments …’ / משה למד תורה לישראל והדריכם במצוות …, from Midrash Tanḥuma on Exodus, pericope Ki Tiśa, section 3, on Exodus 30:12. Then, the actual paean begins. Each of the 10 stanzas begins with the name ‘Moses’ as mentioned in a biblical verse or Rabbinic statement, sometimes preceded by an attached prefix and / or an associated word (e.g. ‘When Moses entered’ / ובבא משה [Exodus 34:34; Numbers 7:89]; ‘A prayer of Moses’ / תפלה למשה [Psalm 90:1]).

Or 17080 (2). Latter part of the religious poem that begins ‘Kol beru’e ma‘alah u-maṭah’ / כל ברואי מעלה ומטה = ‘All the creations of the upper and lower [realms]’. The poem is by Rabbi [Solomon] Moses Alashḳar, Castile 1466 – Jerusalem 1542. After the above-noted opening line, there is a refrain, ‘they testify and declare, all in unison: the Lord is one and His name is one’ / יעידון יגידון כלם כאחד, ה’ אחד ושמו אחד, followed by stanzas the initial letters of which form an acrostic of the author’s name, שלמה משה אלשקר. The refrain is to be repeated after each stanza. The current copy, however, begins halfway through, with the stanzas forming the acrostic for Moses Alashḳar / משה אלשקר; and the refrain is not noted after each stanza, but only at the end of the poem, with the words ‘they testify and declare’ / יעידון יגידון. However, without the opening lines, the reader has no way of knowing that these represent the refrain. Despite the lack of the opening lines and the stanzas forming the acrostic for Solomon / שלמה, HED notes, at the top of the page, that the poem forms the acrostic ‘Solomon Moses Alashḳar’ / שלמה משה אלשקר. On the poem, see Israel Davidson, Thesaurus of Mediaeval Hebrew Poetry, vol. II (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1929), page 476, column a, number 282.

Or 17080 (3). Liturgical poem composed by Hakham Ezra Reuben Dangoor (HED): ‘Poem that I composed in honour of the Great Synagogue (of Baghdad), the inside of which was refurbished and the outside of which was completed in the month of Iyyar 5664 (Anno Mundi, = 1904 CE), through donations of the holy congregation, may the Lord guard them and preserve them. On the day of the holy Sabbath, second day of Shavu‘ot (= 21 May), before the reading of the Torah, I recited an invocation (mi she-berakh / מי שבירך = May the One who blessed …) for the congregation of donors. Afterwards, I chanted this pizmon / פזמון (type of religious poem). Tune: Yom yom ’ode / יום יום אודה = Day by day I thankfully acknowledge …. Acrostic: ’Ani ‘Ezra ḥazan / א’ני עזרא חזן = I am Ezra the official / functionary.’ The first stanza reads: אערוך שירה וזמרה גם רננה. לכבוד בית הכנסת היא הקדמונה, נבדקה הפנימית גם החיצונה. נשתכללה בסדר טוב ונתקנה = ‘I hereby compose poem, song, and praise / in honour of the synagogue that is ancient / the inside and outside were refurbished / it was completed in good order and repaired’. There are several drafts of this poem: see manuscripts Or 17043, folios 135b - 137b. HED was dedicated heart and soul to the synagogue, and was a driving force behind all aspects of this project, as evidenced in manuscripts Or 17043 and ??????, which contain accounts of donations as well as payments to suppliers and skilled labourers.

Or 17080 (4). Liturgical poem composed by Rabbi Ezra Naji son of Hakham Isaac Makhmal. Opening line: ‘I am the perfect bride / My innards! My innards! They yearn for you’ / אני כלה הכלולה, מעי מעי לך אוחילה. Acrostic: ‘I am Ezra Naji son of Hakham Isaac Makhmal; Be strong!’ / אני עזרה נאג’י בן חכם יצחק מכמל [מיכמל] חזק. Tune: ידידי רועי = ‘My precious one, my shepherd’. It seems probable that Ezra Naji was a younger colleague and student of HED. The poem is published as item 43 in Shirah la-‘El / שירה לאל = ‘Song unto God’, edited by Menashe Saharbani / מנשה שהרבאני, Baghdad 5688 (Anno Mundi = 1927/8 CE), as noted in the following sources: שירה ופיוט של יהודי בבל בדורות האחרונים / (English title: Hebrew Poetry of Baghdadi Jewry: Collected and selected poems, Ben Zvi Instititue – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1970), by Abraham Ben-Yaacob, under the editorship of Meir Benayahu, page 461, number 484 in the index of poems; and citing additional sources, Abraham Ben-Yaacob, יהודי בבל בארץ ישראל, מהעליות הראשוניות עד היום, (English title: The Jews of Iraq in the Land of Israel, from Ancient to Modern Times, Ruben Mass, Jerusalem 1980), Chapter 9, at the end of the entry on the composer’s father (= entry 11), first note 6 on p. 373.

Or 17080 (5). Hebrew introduction to a Judeo-Arabic religious poem in praise of Elijah the Prophet. The poem relies heavily on the Rabbinic tradition that Elijah is identical with the biblical Phineas son of Elazar. The focus here is not on the body of the poem, which occurs here in a truncated, fragmented, and corrupted version, and can be found with Hebrew translation and notes in השירה הערבית יהודית בצפון אפריקה. שטרית, יוסף. ירושלים תשנ”ד, (English data: The Written Judeo-Arabic Poetry in North-Africa: Poetic, Linguistic and Cultural Studies, by Joseph Chetrit, Misgav Yerushalayim – Institute for Research on the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage, Jerusalem, 1994) poem no. 77 (p. 171 & ff.). Rather, the focus here is on the introduction provided for the poem. The genre of this introduction is known as ḳol havarat Isfahani / קול הברת אספהאני = ‘Isfahani echo’: this ‘echo’ is the opening used for a poem in the ‘Isfahani’ type of Arabic melody-type (maqam / مقام). This sort of opening, or ‘echo’, is composed of scriptural verses or segments thereof.

Or 17080 (6). Two items related to Immanuel of Rome (1261 – c. 1335): [Item 1, lines 1 - 6] Wise sayings (some overlap with those attributed to Immanuel Zifroni = Immanuel of Rome, p. 191, column a, of Otsar ha-shirah ṿeha-melitsah / אוצר השירה והמליצה = ‘Treasury of poetry and belles-lettres', compiled by Israel Ḥayyim Tavyev / ישראל חיים טביוב, Tel Aviv: Moriah, 5682 Anno Mundi = 1921/2 CE; reprinted Tel Aviv, Dvir, 5689 Anno Mundi = 1929 CE); [Item 2, line 7 - end of page] Poem on the Jewish months of the year, beginning, ‘Tishri - What is special about its days?’ / תשרי מה ימיו מימים.

Or 17080 (7). Animal fable by Rabbi Jacob (1854 – 1920) son of Rabbi Yosef Ḥayyim ben Elijah of Baghdad (R.Y.Ḥ. Tov, author of Ben Ish Ḥay). Despite some differences in text and order, the fable copied by HED is close to what is published in פרקים בתולדות יהודי בבל: קורות ענף אחד ממשפחת ששון הבגדאדית, כרך ב (English title: Chapters of Babylonian Jewish History: The Story of a Branch of the Baghdadian Sassoon Family), by Abraham Ben-Yaacob, Jewish Book World / Olam Hasefer Hatorani, Jerusalem: 5749 (Anno Mundi) / 1989 (CE), section 92, ‘חומר ספרותי מאת הרב יעקב בן הרב יוסף חיים אשר נשלח אל הגבירה פרחה אשת סלימאן ששון בשנת תרמ”ח (1888)’ (pp. 452 - 457). For background and biographical and bibliographical references, see there note 1 (p. 452). The prose beginning at the top of (what seems to be) side a, column a of the manuscript, יזכור נא הקורא מה שיעץ השור לאייל לילך לבקש את עוז מטרתו מן הגבירה אחי נועם, is almost identical to the text published three-quarters down page 453; and the end of the prose, top of side b, column b, גלי רגשותי באתי היום לקראתך בשירי זה וייטב לפניך כדבר כל חוזה, is identical to the text published half-way down p. 455; however, the subsequent poetic section in the manuscript occurs in the printed edition half-way down p. 453, before the prose section; and the manuscript’s concluding section, in prose at the bottom of side b, column b, does not seem to occur at all in the printed edition.

Or 17080 (8). Poem on the theme of the intellectual’s wanderlust. Source unknown. First stich: ‘Whoever stays put is like a fixed peg. / His soul is slung in the pocket of the sling’ = והיושב דומה ליתד תקועה \ ונפשו היא בכף קלע קלועה.

Or 17080 (9). Four wise sayings (Hebrew: melitsot / מליצות), copied from the weekly Hebrew newspaper "Hamagid" / המגיד, Year 13 (HED writes: Years 13 & 14): [A] Issue 11 (17 March 1869), section entitled Hatsofe / הצופה, page 5 (= page 83 of series), column a, 'When the reader will chase ...' / כאשר ירדוף הקורא; [B] Issue 13 (7 April 1869), section entitled Hatsofe / הצופה, page 5 (= page 101 of series), column a, stanza 6, 'One who exults in the past fears the future ...' / מתעלס בעבר מפחד מעתיד, and stanza 3, 'If you see a rose among the pipes/gutters, don't uproot it in order to plant it among the roses ...' / כי תראה שושנה בין הסילונים אל תשרישה לנטעה בין שושנים; [C] Issue 22 (9 June 1869), page 6 (= page 174 of series), column b, ditty on the wonder that Jews are found everywhere; and [D] Issue 33 (25 August 1869), page 7 (= page 263 of series), column b, 'The Wolf and the Shepherds' / הזאב והרועים.

Or 17080 (10). Single printed bifolium, containing pages 21 - 22 and 27 - 28 of Kevod ha-levanon / כבוד הלבנון, year 11: Poems and discussion.

Or 17080 (11). 'Parables from the book Milḥamah ba-shalom / מלחמה בשלום (by the Maskil Ḥayim Abraham Katz), which is the story of the sale of Joseph the Righteous ..., from beginning to end'. 11 numbered items.

Or 17080 (12). Sheet number 2 of HED's compiled materials from 'Dvir' / דביר, containing his items 11 - 28: wise animal fables; wise tales; dramatization using biblical characters Asaph and Ish Boshet.

Or 17080 (13). Parables, fables, and poems copied from the work Ḳevutsat mikhtavim – shirim u-mishle musar / קבוצת מכתבים - שירים ומשלי מוסר = ‘A gathering of writings: poems and ethical fables’, published in Warsaw in the year 5633 [Anno Mundi = 1872/3 CE]. Including: ‘The singer and the donkey’; ‘The eagle and the spider’; ‘The eagle and the rat/mole [Arabic: ZBZB]’; ‘The thorns’; ‘The hedgehog and the rat/mole’; ‘The lad and the old man’; ‘Winning response’; ‘Raindrop’; ‘The lone rose/lily’; ‘The wolf and the cat’; ‘The frog’; ‘The sack’; ‘The flies and the bee’; ‘The fox and the hare’; ‘The geese’; ‘The cedar and the reed’; ‘The fox’s pity’; ‘Ethical poem for the avaricious’; and ‘Dirge on the death of a child’.

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