Ki Eshm'ra Shabbat

Ki Eshm'ra Shabbat is a popular Sabbath hymn, composed in the 12th-century by Abraham ibn Ezra. Though historically a song for Sabbath eve, today it is usually sung at Sabbath lunch.[1]

The hymn discusses which acts are appropriate, and which inappropriate, for the Sabbath. It contains five stanzas, the first letters of which spell the author's first name "Abraham" by acrostic. The refrain is "Because I will keep the Sabbath, God will protect me; it is an eternal sign between Him and me".

Form

The piyyut is in an a/a/b/b/b/a form. Its meter appears thus: [— — ◡ — — — | — — ◡ — —]. Depending on the tune used, it may be classified as a zajal.

Text
Hebrew Original[2][3][4][5][6][7] English translation

אסור מצוא חפץ לעשות דרכים
בו גם לדבר בו דברי מלכים
דברי סחורה או דברי צרכים
אהגה בתורת אל ותחכמני
כי אשמרה שבת אל ישמרני
 אות היא לעולמי עד בינו וביני‎

 Forbidden is business, to journey,[lower-alpha 1]

On it[lower-alpha 2] also to speak on it of government,

Words of sale or necessities.[lower-alpha 3]

I will sigh over God's law, and be made wise.

Because I will keep the Sabbath, God will protect me;

it is an eternal sign between Him and me.

בו אמצא(ה) תמיד נוח לנפשי
הנה לדור ראשון נתן קדושי
מופת בתת (נ"א נתת) לחם משנה בשישי
ככה בכל ששי יכפיל מזוני
כי אשמרה שבת . . .‎

 On it[lower-alpha 4] I will always find rest[lower-alpha 5] for my body.

Behold to the first generation I gave my holy.

Signaled by Friday's doubled manna,

So on every Friday my meal will be doubled.

Because I will keep the Sabbath . . .

רשם בדת היום חוק אל סגניו
בו לערוך לחם פנים לפניו
כן בו להתענות על פי נבוניו
אסור לבד מיום כיפור עווני
כי אשמרה שבת . . .‎

 Set into the day's code, a law for His ministers:

On it to set showbread before Him.[lower-alpha 6]

So on it to fast, so His sages say,[lower-alpha 7]

Is forbidden except on Yom Kippur.

Because I will keep the Sabbath . . .

הוא יום מכובד הוא יום תענוגים
לחם ויין טוב בשר ודגים
(ה)מתאבלים בו אחור נסוגים
כי יום שמחות הוא וישמחני
כי אשמרה שבת . . .‎

 It is a glorious day, it is a day of delights,

Good food and drink, meat and fish.

Those[lower-alpha 8] who mourn it are backwards,

For it is a day of joys, and he will cheer me!

Because I will keep the Sabbath . . .

מחל מלאכה בו סופו להכרית
על כן אכבס בו לבי כבורית
(ו)אתפללה אל אל (נ"א לאל) ערבית ושחרית
מוסף וגם מנחה כי תענני
כי אשמרה שבת . . .‎

 Who desecrates it with work[lower-alpha 9] will be erased in the end,

Therefore I bathe for it,[lower-alpha 10] my heart like soap.

I pray to God Maariv, Shacharit,

Mussaf, and Mincha, "For you will answer me".[lower-alpha 11]

Because I will keep the Sabbath . . .

In Jewish culture

The poem has historically been a locus of intercommunal Rabbanite-Karaite dissent. Ibn Ezra, a Rabbinic Jew who opposed Karaite Judaism, incorporated some of his anti-Karaite beliefs in the text, visible primarily in the lyrics exhorting joy and pleasure on Shabbat (whereas Karaite doctrine requires a sombre and mournful approach on the sabbath, out of reverence for the loss of Jerusalem and the exile of Jews from their homeland). However, the piyyut remained popular among Karaites, and some Karaite prayerbooks changed the lyrics of the piyyut to better reflect their doctrine. For example, a Karaite version states that "the ones who have intercourse on [Shabbat] are retrograde," in opposition to the Rabbinic stance that intimacy on Shabbat is a mitzvah - the Karaite position is that sex constitutes work, which is forbidden on the sabbath.[8]

In January 2021, Twitter user @NoahRoth observed[9] that a well-known tune for the piyyut is nearly identical to an Ottoman-era military anthem, Sivastopol Marşı, composed by Rifat Bey. The melody is popular in Ashkenazi and Sefardi communities in Israel and in the diaspora, but the connection to the Ottoman military had apparently been forgotten.

References
  1. "The Songs of the Ibn Ezra – NJOP". njop.org. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  2. "מחזור מנהג רומה לכל השנה". www.nli.org.il. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  3. "סדור, מנהג רומא, לימי חול ולשבת". www.nli.org.il. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  4. "סדור מנהג רומה לכל השנה". www.nli.org.il. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  5. "הלכה;פיוט". www.nli.org.il. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  6. "סדור מנהג צרפת לכל השנה". www.nli.org.il. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  7. "מחזור (קטעים)". www.nli.org.il. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  8. Lichaa, Shawn (22 May 2017). "How ibn Ezra Trolled the Karaites – A Closer Look at Ki Eshmera Shabbat". A Blue Thread. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  9. Roth, Noah. "Apparently, ki eshmera shabbat is a turkish battle hymn". Twitter. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  1. In some MSS, "business and journeying"
  2. Some MSS lack this word.
  3. In some MSS, the words "necessities" and "government" are reversed.
  4. In some manuscripts, "For I will . . ." This does not fit the acrostic.
  5. In some MSS, "rejuvenation".
  6. In some MSS, "On it always to set bread before Him"
  7. MSS variants: "Therefore to abstain", "Also on it to abstain", ". . . to abstain on it".
  8. Variant: "All those . . ."
  9. Variant: "Who begins work . . ."
  10. Variant: "I glorify on it"
  11. Variants: "For He will answer me," "And He will answer me".
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