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Rabbi Shalom Shabazi שלום שבזי (conceptual drawing) | |
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| Personal life | |
| Born | Shalom ben Yosef 1619 Najd Al-Walid,Yemen Eyalet |
| Died | 1720 |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
Shalom Shabazi (1619 – c. 1720) was the son of Yosef ben Avigad, of the family of Mashtā, also commonly known asAbbaSholem Shabazi orSaalem al-Shabazi (Hebrew:שלום שבזי;Arabic:سالم الشبزي). He was aJewishrabbi andpoet who lived in 17th centuryYemen, often referred to as the arch-poet of Yemen.
Shabazi was born in 1619 in the town of Najd al-Walid.[1] He claimed descent fromZerah, the son ofJudah.[2] At the death of his father, Yosef Mashta, Shalom moved to the small town of Shabaz, near the city ofTa'izz.
Soon after he moved to Ta'izz where he built a house of prayer and a ritual bath (mikveh) outside the city, beneathJebel Ṣabir.[3] He and his family were expelled, along with most of the Yemenite Jews, in 1679. Shabazi, like many Jews of his generation, was influenced byShabbetai Zevi and thought that he may be the messiah.[4] He died c. 1720 and was buried inTa'izz, at the foot ofJabal Sabir. In the early 20th century the grave of Shabazi was a place of pilgrimage for both Jews and Muslims, especially for those who sought healing.[5]
His father, Yosef ben Abijad ben Khalfun, was also a rabbi and a poet. Shabazi's extant poeticdiwan, comprising some 550 poems, was published for the first time by theBen-Zvi Institute in 1977. He wrote inHebrew,Aramaic, andJudeo-Arabic. Shabazi's other works include a treatise onJewish astrology, akabbalistic commentary on theTorah, and a work entitledSefer ha-Margalith. He is sometimes called the "Shakespeare of Yemen".[6]
He wrote a commentary on the Torah calledHemdath Yamim (Pleasant Days). His leadership was instrumental in helping the Jews of Yemen survive some of the worst persecution in its history. Mori (Yemenites often call their spiritual leaders "Mori" meaning "my master" or "my teacher").[citation needed] Shabazi wrote akinah (lamentation) for recitation during the Ninth of Av, recalling the 1679 exile of Jews (known as theExile of Mawza) from all cities and towns in Yemen to an inhospitable desert called Mawza, where 20% of those exiled perished.
TheDiwan of Mori Shabazi also alludes to theDecree of the Headgear in 1667.[7] Shabazi'sDiwan has become an essential part of Yemenite Jewry's spiritual and cultural lives.
Currently, the Israeli government and the Chief Rabbinate are trying to bring the remains of Rabbi Shabazi toIsrael.[8] Many of his poems have elaborate detailed premonitions of returning to Israel, with his people.
Shabazi's poem "Im Nin'alu" (אם ננעלו) became a hit single sung by Israeli singerOfra Haza whose family is ofYemenite origin, and it has also been interpreted by Yemenite singerDaklon. Other songs, such as "As'alak" (أسألك) andAyyalath Hen, were also performed by Ofra Haza as well asZion Golan, Aharon Amram andShoshana Damari.
Another famous poem, "Ahavat Ra'aya Retzoni", was performed byZohar Argov. The Israeli metal band,Orphaned Land, sang one of his poems "Olat Ha'tamid".
Today, in Israel, there are streets named after him in theNachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem andNeve Tzedek neighborhood ofTel Aviv.
No other Yemenite Jewish poet has had the popularity and acclaim as Shalom Shabazi who wrote hundreds of poems during his lifetime, a significant amount of which songs being preserved in a songrepertoire known as theDīwān. All songs were composed in eitherHebrew orJudeo-Arabic, while many songs were a combination of both languages. The style of Shabazi's Arabic poetry is similar to the contemporary Yemeni Arabic poetry of his own day.[9]
According to Professor emeritus, Yosef Tobi, "the fundamental revolutionary change in the poetry of Yemen occurred with the work of Yosef ben Yisrael (17th century), when poetry became the primary tool for spiritual expression of Yemenite Jewry, and when the subject ofexile andredemption took on vitality and had the most concrete political significance. Even more so, we find this change in the poetry of his younger relative, Shalom Shabazī."[10]
In Shabazi'sDiwan there can be found many long eschatological poems, numbered at several dozen, and which open with the words,Baraq burayq, or with compounds that are similar to them, said to be a sign of some supernatural occurrence, as one of the signs heralding the coming of the Messiah. The founder of these genres of poetic visions of redemption is Yosef ben Yisrael in whose footsteps followed many poets, including Shabazī who is said to have refined it. An example of Shabazi's sublime poetic style is seen in the following lyric although the rhyme has been lost in the translation:
May God watch from His sacred abode and smite / all the enemies of His people in the blink of an eye. Herewith God rises and stands on a plumbline[11] [to judge the oppressors] / He shall let them drink a cup of venom, but not wine. Destroying angels shall hasten towards them, to smite / them with Heavenly arrows and with weapons of war. Turn back, O Zion, and see the consolation of your son / when Cain is given to annihilation. My Saviour, summon a day when I shall unsheathe my sword and smite / them, all that are comely and pleasant to look upon.[12]
אם תחפצה בן איש לסודות נבחרו,תקנה לך חבר ורעים יקרו,בעבור יחי לבך ותשמח נפשךשכל והנפש בטוב יתחברו.ולבש ענוה מימי בחרותךומאס עצת ריקים אשר יתהרו.
“If you will search, O son of man, after the choicest of all secrets, you will find that nothing surpasses that of your gaining a companion, and your endearing unto yourself friends. Such an accomplishment brings with it a quickening of heart, and gives you a real cause for rejoicing within soul. Sagacity and the elevation of the inner soul will both, on its account, be indelibly bound together for good. Moreover, put on the fine attire of humility, even from the earliest days of your youth, and reject the counsel of vain persons who have vaunted themselves.”
Mori Shalom Shabazi is said to have written nearly 15,000 liturgical poems on nearly all topics in Judaism, of which only about 850 have survived the ravages of persecution, time and the lack of printing presses in Yemen. He wrote hisDiwan (Anthology of liturgical poetry) inJudeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic. When rumors reached Yemen concerning Shabbetai Zevi in 1666, many of the Jews of Yemen were drawn after him, including Shabazī himself, even though the rabbinic court at Ṣanʻā’ had completely rejected the faith in this pseudo-Messiah. In Shabazi's poem,Adon ha-kol meḥayye kol neshama, he alludes to Shabbetai Zevi in these words:"We have heard singing from the end of the earth: / A righteous gazelle has appeared in the East and West." The “righteous gazelle” (in original Hebrew:zevi ṣaddīq) is an allusion to Shabbetai Zevi. Mori Shalom Shabazi is also said to have composed several poems concerning theExile of Mawza (Galut Mawza), which he witnessed in his day.
זוהר פני רעיה. לבי בסוד החיה. יום הנדוֹד Notes:
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