D'ror Yikra

D'ror Yikra (also spelled Dror Yikra, Deror Yikra and Dror Yiqra) is a piyyut (Jewish religious song or hymn), of the kind known as zemer, traditionally sung during Sabbath meals, particularly the first meal on Friday evening.[1][2]

History

Dror Yikra was written in 960 CE in Córdoba [1] by the poet, linguist, and musician Dunash ben Labrat, who is said to have been born in Fez but moved to Spain after a period of study in Baghdad under the rabbinic scholar Saadia Gaon.[3]

According to the ArtScroll Siddur, "Dror Yikra" is "a plea to God to protect Israel, destroy its oppressors, and bring it peace and redemption."[4]

The poem consists of six four-line stanzas with the rhyme-scheme a a a a, b b b b, c c c c, etc. The first stanza is as follows:

דְּרוֹר יִקְרָא לְבֵן עִם בַּת * וְיִנְצָרְכֶם כְּמוֹ בָבַת‎
נְעִים שִׁמְכֶם וְלא יֻשְׁבַּת * שְׁבוּ נוּחוּ בְּיוֹם שַׁבָּת‎
D'ror yikra l'ven im bat
V'yintsorchem k'mo vavat.
Na'im shimchem velo yushbat
Sh'vu nuchu b'yom Shabbat.
"Freedom shall He proclaim for His sons and daughters
and will keep you as the apple of His eye.
Pleasant is Your name and will not cease to be;
repose (and) rest on the Sabbath day."[5]

The first letters of each line in this stanza, and also in stanzas 2, 3, and 6, are an acrostic that form the poet's name- "DUNASH".

Biblical references

The poem is full of Biblical references and quotations, sometimes adapted to suit the demands of the metre. For example, the opening words are based on Leviticus 25:10: "You shall proclaim release throughout the land" and Jeremiah 34:15: "Proclaim a release for them". "He will keep you as the apple (or pupil) of His eye" is based on Deuteronomy (32:10): "He engirded him, watched over him, guarded him as the pupil of His eye". "Pleasant is Your name" is based on Psalm 35:3: "Sing hymns to His name, for it is pleasant"; and "Repose, rest" comes from Numbers 22:19 ("sit and rest").[6]

Interpretation

The poem has been commented on by such commentators as Rashi, Yosef Karo (Beit Yosef), Ya'akov Yosef HaKohen (Toldot Yaakov Yosef), and Yehuda Ayash (Mateh Yehuda).[7]

Yehoshua Grant of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has proposed that "Dror Yikra," on account of its incorporation of a new poetic tradition emerging out of Andalusia at the time, may be indicative of "the most important turning point...of medieval Hebrew poetry." Grant identifies three structural properties that suggest a synthesis of traditional and novel forms: the rhyme ending repeating four times in each stanza recalls a pattern commonly found in early Hebrew liturgical poetry; the acrostic manifestation of the author's name is similarly characteristic of an ancient tradition; the carefully measured meter, however, was unprecedented in the annals of Hebrew poetry.[8]

Metre

The poem was unusual for the time since unlike previous piyyutim, its language is entirely Biblical, rather than a mixture of Biblical and later Hebrew. Secondly, Dunash was apparently the first Jewish poet to write Hebrew using Arabic quantitative metres (up to his time, Hebrew poetry had been based on stress, not on quantity). Dunash's two innovations caused a revolution in Jewish poetry and influenced all later poets.[9]

The metre itself is the Arabic-Persian hazaj metre (called in Hebrew הַמִּשְׁקָל הַמַּרְנִין‎, ha-mishqal ha-marnin), which is based on a repeated rhythm of short-long-long-long (u – – –), a rhythm which it shares with the well-known Adon Olam. These days it is sung to two or three different tunes, not all of which, however, follow the rhythm of the metre.[10]

Modern performances

According to author Yvette Alt Miller, "Dror Yikra" is often sung to the tune of Simon & Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" and the Beach Boys' "Sloop John B."[11]

The song has been covered extensively by various Israeli artists, among them the Parvarim, Yaffa Yarkoni, Bo'az Shar'abi, and Ofra Haza.[12] At the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest in Jerusalem, transgender Israeli artist Dana International performed "Dror Yikra," despite threats from ultra-Orthodox Jews to disrupt the performance.[13][14]

See also

References
  1. Rosenfeld-Hadad, p. 251.
  2. "דרור יקרא – ר' דונש בן לברט" [Deror Yiqra – R. Dunash ben Labrat] (in Hebrew). Piyut.org.il. Retrieved 28 December 2011. אחד מפיוטי השבת הקדומים והידועים ביותר שהתחבב על רוב קהילות ישראל בכל התקופות וזכה ללחנים רבים, חלקם 'אימוץ' של לחנים קיימים ו'הלבשתם' על הפיוט.
  3. Rosenfeld-Hadad, p. 249.
  4. Scherman, Nosson (1992). "Mussaf for Sabbath and Sabbath-Rosh Chodesh". In Zlotowitz, Meir (ed.). The Complete ArtScroll Siddur (2nd ed.). Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications. pp. 500–501. ISBN 0-89906-654-2.
  5. Translation from shituf.piyut.org website.
  6. Rosenfeld-Hadad, p. 252.
  7. Scherman, Nosson (1979). "Sabbath Morning". Zemiroth: Sabbath Songs. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications. pp. 208–211. ISBN 0-89906-156-7.
  8. Grant, Yehoshua. "דרור יקרא - אמנות השיר" [Dror Yikra – The art of song] (in Hebrew). Piyut.org.il. Retrieved 28 December 2011. הזמר הנודע לשבת 'דרור יקרא' לדונש בן לברט, שזכה לתפוצה מרחיקת לכת בקהילות ישראל, שיר צנוע הוא בהקפו ובמהלכו, אך מכמה וכמה בחינות רבות-עניין ניכר מבין טוריו המפנה החשוב ביותר, כנראה, בתולדותיה של השירה העברית בימי הביניים: הופעתה של אסכולה חדשה בספרד המוסלמית לקראת סוף האלף הראשון לספירה, שעתידה היתה להניב פירות שיר מופלאים ואף לשלוח שלוחות ולהשפיע השפעה מרחיקת לכת על מרכזי השירה העברית בדורות הבאים.
  9. Rosenfeld-Hadad, p. 250.
  10. See Braunstein (in External links)/Shabbat/Z'mirot.
  11. Alt Miller, Yvette (2011). Angels at the Table: A Practical Guide to Celebrating Shabbat. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 274. ISBN 978-1441-12397-8. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  12. "Yaffa Yarkoni's finest". Israel Digest. World Zionist Organization. 22. 1979. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  13. Chamish, Barry (22 May 1999). White, Timothy (ed.). "Controversy Over Dana International". Billboard: 49. Retrieved 28 December 2011. The vocalist is scheduled to appear at the 1999 event, filmed by national broadcaster Channel One Television, singing a Sabbath hymn, 'Dror Yikra,' at the religious site David's Tower in the Old City of Jerusalem.
  14. Walzer, Lee (2000). "Afterword". Between Sodom and Eden. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 259. ISBN 0-231-11394-3. Retrieved 28 December 2011.

Bibliography
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