Anu Be-hamon Shir

Ten Zemirot Ami: New Melodies for Piyyutim from the Aleppo Mahzor (1527)
Ten Zemirot Ami: New Melodies for Piyyutim from the Aleppo Mahzor (1527)
Anu Be-hamon Shir

Ascribed to Shmuel Ha-Dayan Ben Moshe, composed by Rabbi David Menahem


Maqam: Bayat useyni

A piyyut for brit milah (circumcision) included in the section of seliot for the Sabbaths of the month of Elul. The author is apparently R. Shmuel Ha-Dayan ben Moshe of Aram Zova (c. 1150-1200). R. Shmuel was a prolific poet, and several of his poems are of an exceptionally high level. We do not know whether the description dayan (religious judge) refers to a position he occupied, or whether he was the son of the well-known Dayan family of Aram Zova. The piyyut was written for a brit milah of a boy born into the community, as we learn from the last verse—“We welcome you, people of Aram Zova.”

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