The Introduction of Liturgical Poetry in the Karaite Prayer Book from Moses ben Abraham Dar'i to Aaron ben Joseph
Final Report Abstract
Between the twelfth and the fifteenth century, three Karaite poets composed cycles of poems for the weekly Torah readings on each Sabbath: Moses ben Abraham Darʿī in mid-twelfthcentury Egypt, Aaron ben Joseph (ca. 1250-1320) in late-thirteenth-century Constantinople, and Judah Gibbor (b. 1460) in early Ottoman Istanbul. While Darʿī’s cycle was transmitted in manuscript only, the other poems were included into the printed Karaite prayer books starting with the Bomberg print of 1528/29 and influenced the Karaite attitude towards liturgical poetry. Although Aaron ben Joseph, who reformed the Karaite prayer ritual in general, was of utmost importance, each of the three poets contributed to the changed aesthetics of Karaite liturgy. Moses Darʿī spent most of his professional life as a poet and physician in Fusṭāṭ-Cairo, the foremost Eastern centre of Karaism after the Crusaders’ conquest of Jerusalem in 1099. He was already writing poetry near to the time of Judah ha-Levi’s stay in Egypt (between 1140 and 1141), which makes him the earliest known Karaite poet of whom not only a wide selection of secular poetry but also a voluminous cycle of almost one-hundred poems for the Torah readings is available. In contrast to the poems by Aaron ben Joseph and Judah Gibbor which stay fairly close to the narrative of the biblical source text, the topic of Darʿī’s poems is neither the narrative of the Torah portions nor an elaboration of precepts deduced from them. Rather, with their stress on themes such as exile and deliverance, mourning, sin, atonement, and divine mercy, Darʿī’s poems bring to mind the lamentations by the Karaite “Mourners of Zion”, a pioneering community that pursued an ascetic life of mourning, prayer and Bible study in tenth- and eleventh-century Jerusalem. By introducing Andalusian poetical norms into his compositions which found a place in the Friday night prayer ritual in a Karaite synagogue in twelfth-century Cairo, Darʿī made a significant contribution to the development of Karaite liturgy and served as an important forerunner to the later Byzantine Karaite poet Aaron ben Joseph, whose extant writings also exhibit an extensive knowledge of Andalusian Rabbanite culture. In addition to Egypt, the center of Karaite (literary) activities since the twelfth century was Byzantium, especially Constantinople, where Aaron ben Joseph worked, although he probably immigrated from Crimea. Aaron was the most influential Byzantine Karaite of his time, because he reformed Karaite liturgy and composed important exegetical works, including the Torah commentary Sēfer ha-miḇḥār (composed in 1293/94). In addition to his own cycle of fifty-four poetic introductions to the weekly Torah readings, he also included Rabbanite poetry (which is not marked as such in Karaite transmission), creating a hybrid liturgy that survived until today. Interestingly, his unmetered poetry does not follow the formal patterns and aesthetics developed by Andalusian poets. His oeuvre is a prime example for the interaction of poetry and exegesis, where phrases and ideas often occur parallel in his poems and his commentary on the respective portion. His exegesis is proof of the reception of Western Rabbanite thought and exegesis, including references to Abraham ibn Ezra and Moses Maimonides. The commentary by Berakha ben Joseph from eighteenth-century Crimea on Aaron’s poems show that later Karaites perceived of his poetry as part of his exegetical work. In contrast to Aaron ben Joseph’s poems, Judah Gibbor’s lengthy cycle of 1912 verses distributed among its fifty-four parts was probably not composed for liturgical performance. Instead it should be read as rhymed and metered Torah commentary, and was commented on as such by later Karaites. Gibbor was among the first to accept not only Rabbanite exegesis but also mysticism into the Karaite tradition. Even after Aaron ben Joseph, who chose poems mainly by Andalusian poets for inclusion into the Karaite prayer, more Rabbanite poetry was incorporated into the Karaite prayer book, as evidenced by the Vilna printed edition of 1891. Even Crimean and Polish-Lithuanian Karaites received Rabbanite poetry, including that of Israel Najara, from communities in the Ottoman Empire.
Publications
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Medieval Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Egypt: The Secular Poetry of the Karaite Poet Moses ben Abraham Dar‛ī. Études sur le judaïsme médiévale vol. 44 / Karaite texts and studies vol. 3. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2011
J. Yeshaya
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“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).” Frankfurter Judaistische Beiträge / Frankfurt Jewish Studies Bulletin 37 (2011/12): 109-21
J. Yeshaya
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“Conference Report: Sixth International Medieval Hebrew Poetry Colloquium (MHPC) under the aegis of the EAJS, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany, 18-20 July 2011.” European Journal of Jewish Studies 6/2 (2012): 319-25
J. Yeshaya
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“Moses Dar‛ī.” In Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, edited by B. D. Walfish et al., 6:155-156. Berlin: Verlag De Gruyter, 2013
J. Yeshaya
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Poetry and Memory in Karaite Prayer: The Liturgical Poetry of the Karaite Poet Moses ben Abraham Dar‛ī. Études sur le judaïsme médiévale vol. 61 / Karaite texts and studies vol. 6. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2014
J. Yeshaya
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“Some Observations on Jewish Poets and Patrons in the Islamic East: Twelfth- Thirteenth Centuries.” In Patronage, Production, and Transmission of Texts in Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Cultures, edited by E. Alfonso and J. Decter. Medieval Church Studies, vol. 34, 79-97. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014
J. Yeshaya
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Exegesis and Poetry in Medieval Karaite and Rabbanite Texts. Études sur le judaïsme médiévale vol. 68 / Karaite texts and studies vol. 9. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2016
J. Yeshaya and E. Hollender (eds.)
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“Aaron ben Joseph’s Poem for Pārāshat Yitrō considered in light of his Torah Commentary Sēfer ha-mivḥar.” In Exegesis and Poetry in Medieval Karaite and Rabbanite Texts, edited by J. Yeshaya and E. Hollender. Études sur le judaïsme médiévale vol. 68 / Karaite texts and studies vol. 9, 207-27. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2016
J. Yeshaya
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“Berakha ben Joseph’s Commentary on the piyyūṭīm by Aaron ben Joseph.” In Exegesis and Poetry in Medieval Karaite and Rabbanite Texts, edited by J. Yeshaya and E. Hollender. Études sur le judaïsme médiévale vol. 68 / Karaite texts and studies vol. 9, 292-317. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2016
E. Hollender
