As our soldiers have returned to Gaza, where they will spend Shabbat in the most miserable of conditions, in honour of one of Gaza's most famous residents, maybe people should include "Kah Ribon" in their Friday Night Zmirot, even people (like my family), that don't always sing Zmirot on Shabbat.
Kah Ribon was written by Rabbi Israel b. Moses Najara, who lived in Gaza city in the 16th Century. At that time, Gaza hosted a vibrant Jewish Community, and Rabbi Najara wrote poetry there, and was buried there after his death in 1625. I don't know whether anything remains of the Jewish Cemetery of Gaza, but until recently there were remains of the ancient synagogues of Gaza (I don't know what remains since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip 9 years ago).
The first letter of the 5 verses in Kah Ribon spell the word ישראל - ISRAEL, which was Rabbi Najara's given name, but is also the name of our nation and our land.
The song is in Aramaic, a language they say is so holy, that even the angels don't understand it - a language which we use to communicate directly with the Master of all Worlds.
As the song says:
אֱלָ-הָא דִי לֵיהּ, יְקַר וּרְבוּתָא
פְּרוֹק יַת עָנָךְ, מִפּוּם אַרְיְוָתָא
וְאַפֵּיק יַת עַמֵּךְ, מִגּוֹ גָּלוּתָא
עַמֵּךְ דִי בְחַרְתְּ, מִכָּל אֻמַּיָּא
O God to whom belongs glory and power,
Save your sheep from the mouth of lions,
Take your people from the nation of their exile,
The people that you chose from all the nations.
1 comment:
Michael,
You are an absolute mine of information. H ow did you know about Rabbi Israel b, Moses Najara, and how did you know about the Jews of Gaza? Why is this not better known by the Jewish world at large?
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