Yom Kippur Songs: God as Royalty and
Master Craftsman
Legacy Heritage Rabbinic
Fellow Catharine Clark
Temple Adath Sharon, Continuing Education – October 2, 2011
I. VeYe’etayu
History: This
piyyut was composed between the fourth and seventh centuries by an unknown author.
Liturgical Use: VeYe’etayu appears in the kedusha sections of the Musaf
Amidah for Yom Kippur and the Musaf Amidah for Rosh Hashanah.
Form:
What are the poetic elements of this piyyut?
Meaning:
What are the themes of this poem?
How does this poem envision God’s relationship
with non-Jews?
Does anything about the meaning of this poem make you uncomfortable?
Is this poem particularist
or universalist?
In 1951, Rabbi Morris Silverman wrote the following about
this poem:
The following poem written more than 1200
years ago by an unknown author is remarkable for its universalistic outlook. This is particularly noteworthy
since the Middle Ages were marked largely by intolerance, prejudice and violence. |
Do
you agree with Rabbi Silverman’s assessment of this poem as universalist, tolerant, and open-minded?
In Lev Shalem, the Conservative Movement’s new machzor, Solomon Schechter is quoted saying
the following about this poem:
How one would like to catch a glimpse of
the early hymnologist to whom we owe this well-known piyyut, VeYe’etayu. In its iconoclastic
victory of monotheism over all kinds of idolatries, ancient as well as modern, it might best be described as the Marsellaise
of the people of the Lord of Hosts – a Marsellaise which is not followed by a reign of terror but by the Kingdom of
God on earth, when the upright shall exult and the saints triumphantly rejoice. |
Do you think it is
possible to have the victory of one type of monotheism over all other religions without a reign of terror?
If so, how would such a victory
come about? What would it look like?
MusicIs the arrangement
of the music consistent with the form of the poem?
What is the mood of the music? Does the mood of
the music match the meaning of the words? Are you comfortable with that mood? If not,
do you like the song anyway?
II.
Ki Hinei KaHomer
History: This piyyut was written in Medieval Ashkenaz by an
unknown author.
Liturgical Use:
This piyyut appears in the Selichot section of the Kol Nidre service.
Form: What are the poetic elements of this piyyut?
Meaning:
Jeremiah 18:1-10
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the house of a potter, and there I will
impart My words to you.” So I went down to the house of a potter, and found him working at the wheel.
And if the vessel he was making was spoiled, as happens to clay in the potter’s hands, he would make it into
another vessel, such as the potter saw fit to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me: O House of Israel, can I not deal with you like this
potter? – says the Lord. Just like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O
House of Israel! At one moment I may decree that a nation or kingdom shall be uprooted and pulled down
and destroyed; but if that nation against which I made the decree turns back from its wickedness I change My mind concerning
the punishment I planned to bring on it. At another moment I may decree that a nation or a kingdom be built
and planted; but if it does what is displeasing to Me and does not obey Me, then I change my mind concerning the good I planned
to bestow upon it. | א הַדָּבָר
אֲשֶׁר הָיָה אֶל-יִרְמְיָהוּ
מֵאֵת יְהוָה לֵאמֹר. ב קוּם וְיָרַדְתָּ
בֵּית הַיּוֹצֵר וְשָׁמָּה
אַשְׁמִיעֲךָ אֶת-דְּבָרָי. ג וָאֵרֵד בֵּית
הַיּוֹצֵר והנהו (וְהִנֵּה-הוּא) עֹשֶׂה
מְלָאכָה עַל-הָאָבְנָיִם. ד וְנִשְׁחַת
הַכְּלִי אֲשֶׁר הוּא
עֹשֶׂה בַּחֹמֶר בְּיַד
הַיּוֹצֵר וְשָׁב וַיַּעֲשֵׂהוּ
כְּלִי אַחֵר כַּאֲשֶׁר
יָשַׁר בְּעֵינֵי הַיּוֹצֵר
לַעֲשׂוֹת.
{ס} ה וַיְהִי דְבַר-יְהוָה
אֵלַי לֵאמוֹר. ו הֲכַיּוֹצֵר
הַזֶּה לֹא-אוּכַל לַעֲשׂוֹת
לָכֶם בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל
נְאֻם-יְהוָה הִנֵּה
כַחֹמֶר בְּיַד הַיּוֹצֵר
כֵּן-אַתֶּם בְּיָדִי
בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל.
{ס} ז רֶגַע אֲדַבֵּר
עַל-גּוֹי וְעַל-מַמְלָכָה
לִנְתוֹשׁ וְלִנְתוֹץ
וּלְהַאֲבִיד. ח וְשָׁב הַגּוֹי
הַהוּא מֵרָעָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר
דִּבַּרְתִּי עָלָיו
וְנִחַמְתִּי עַל-הָרָעָה
אֲשֶׁר חָשַׁבְתִּי לַעֲשׂוֹת
לוֹ. {ס}
ט וְרֶגַע אֲדַבֵּר
עַל-גּוֹי וְעַל-מַמְלָכָה
לִבְנוֹת וְלִנְטוֹעַ. י וְעָשָׂה הרעה
(הָרַע)
בְּעֵינַי
לְבִלְתִּי שְׁמֹעַ בְּקוֹלִי
וְנִחַמְתִּי עַל-הַטּוֹבָה
אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתִּי לְהֵיטִיב
אוֹתוֹ. |
How is God portrayed in Jeremiah 18:1-10?
Is God portrayed as arbitrary by Jeremiah?
Is God portrayed as arbitrary
in the piyyut?
What is the metaphor used in this piyyut to depict the relationship between God and
Israel?
How do we sometimes think of those who do the types of work God is depicted as doing here?
Does this piyyut change that perspective?
The refrain brings in a second metaphor that is more obscure. What is it?
How does this metaphor fit with other themes we’ve seen during the High Holidays?
How do these metaphors of God compare with the one we saw in VeYe’etayu?
Music:
What is the mood of the music? Does the mood of the music match the meaning
of the words? Are you comfortable with that mood? If not, do you like the song anyway?