Devai Haser
{{Short description|10th Century Jewish poem by Dunash ben Labrat}}
Devai Haser is a piyyut by Dunash ibn Labrat (920/925 – after 985), whose first name is signed in the first verse by acrostic. Ashkenazi Jews incorporate the first stanza of the piyyut into the Birkat Hamazon for weddings and Sheva Brachot.{{Cite journal |last1=פליישר |first1=עזרא |last2=Fleischer |first2=Ezra |date=1969 |title=Studies in Piyyut and Medieval Hebrew Poetry / חקרי פיוט ושירה |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23593025 |journal=Tarbiz / תרביץ |volume=לט |issue=א |pages=19–38 |jstor=23593025 |issn=0334-3650}}
This piyyut, like Dunash's D'ror Yikra, was originally intended for the Sabbath; the content of the piyyut suggests that it is meant to be recited immediately before the Priestly Blessing.{{Cite book |last=פליישר |first=עזרא |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/713755840 |title=השירה העברית בספרד ובשלוחותיה |date=2010 |publisher=מכון בן צבי לחקר קהילות במזרח, יד יצחק בן צבי והאוניברסיטה עברית בירושלים |isbn=978-965-235-142-5 |oclc=713755840}} Some say that the practice of reciting the first stanza after weddings and sheva brachot owes to the general obligation to temper celebration with reminder of the destruction of the temple, à la "Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, If I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy."טעמי המנהגים אות תתקפו One 15th-century machzor describes the first stanza as "a song for weddings by Dunash ibn Labrat, in the metre of Adon Olam."{{Cite web |title=תפלות, ברכות ופיוטים לסעודות וארועים שונים Parma 2231 |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/viewerpage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS&docid=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990000777310205171-1 |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=en}} Originally the stanza was recited responsively.{{Cite web |title=סדור מנהג אשכנז המערבי (וורמיזא) לכל השנה |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=en}}
Versions
Some prayerbooks recommend slight variations in wording, such as replacing "Guide the blessing of the sons of Aaron" with "Guide the blessing of the sons of Jeshurun" when there are no kohanim present. However, Solomon Hanau opposed this innovation on the grounds that it makes no sense.{{Cite web |title=HebrewBooks.org Sefer Detail: שערי תפלה -- כץ, שלמה זלמן בן יהודה ליב, 1687-1746 |url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/7570 |access-date=2024-09-05 |website=www.hebrewbooks.org}} f. 42a (#320).
In many recent prayerbooks, both options are printed in sequence: "Guide the blessing of the sons of Jeshurun, the sons of Aaron." Abraham David Wahrman suggested that, in order to make this fit with the meter of the preceding line while enhancing the rhyme, one should read "Steer us to the right path and success; Make the blessing of Jeshurun like that of the sons of Aaron".{{Cite web |title=Ezer MiKodesh on Shulchan Arukh, Even HaEzer 62:7 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Ezer_MiKodesh_on_Shulchan_Arukh,_Even_HaEzer.62.7 |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=www.sefaria.org}}
Geniza fragments evidence at least three more verses (preserved are 1,3,6-7) but none have survived complete.{{clarification|If so, what are the verses in the next section and how do we know where they belong?|date=October 2024}}
Words
Four verses are preserved in T-S K8 86:
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|+ !English translation |
וְאָז אִלֵּם בְּשִׁיר יָרוֹן. נְחֵנוּ בְמַעְגְּלֵי צֶדֶק, שְׁעֵה בִרְכַּת בְּנֵי אַהְרֹן.}} |Banish illness, and also anger, And then the mute will sing with joy! Steer us on the right paths, Guide the blessing of Aaron's sons. |
חֲבַצֶּלֶת הַשָּׁרוֹן וְצָרֵי עַמְּךָ כֻלָּם, לְשִׁגָּעוֹן וְעִוָּרוֹן.}} |Cursed be they who plucked the Rose of Sharon, And the enemies of your people, all to blindness and madness. |
בְּחִירֶיךָ בְנֵי אַהְרֹן, שְׁנֵי כְבָשִׂים בְּנֵי שָׁנָה וְלַכֶּבֶשׂ עִשָּׂרוֹן.}} |And they'll sacrifice on the Sabbath day, Your chosen sons of Aaron, Two yearling sheep, and for each sheep a measure. |
חֲסִידֶיךָ בְקוֹל גָּרוֹן, וְשִׁירָתָם תְּהֵא לָעַד וְתִכָּתֵב לְדוֹר אַחְרֹן.}} |And the sons of Levi will sing, Your kindnesses, loudly, And their songs will last forever, And be inscribed for the final generation. |