19-20. Shema ha'el ‘aneni batefillah (Hear O Lord, answer my prayer)

Nashid for the Sabbath by Shlomo ben Sa'id, signed Shlomo. It serves as a sort of prologue to the reading of the psalms. It is usually sung during the Sabbath Ja'ala, and in wedding celebrations on the Thursday before the seven feast days (Kafih: 150). There is a clue to the name of the author both in the acrostic of the song and in the other internal words in the poem, which comprise coded versions of the names Shlomo and Sa'id. It is a prayer for salvation and the sanctity of the Sabbath and hymn of praise to God (Bahat, 1995: 86).

This somg is sung twice, each time in a different version. Even though the same leader and central performer figures in both performances, they are quite different. This is an example of the way in which a single melody is varied at different times or with different performers, even if they belong to the same ensemble with the same leader.

19. Two pupils of Menahem Arussi with their teacher, who accompanies them in the background. In this version the poem is sung as an independent unit, and not as a prelude to a shira. Therefore the first part, consisting of the first two verses, is sung in flexible rhythmic style, like a nashid, while the next part, the remaining verses, is rhythmical, like a shira, and accompanied by hand-clapping. Every hemistich is repeated in a responsorial manner: one singer sings the first foot (----), while the second responds with the subsequent feet (----). The song closes with the blessing Vekulkem berukhim.

20. Menahem Arussi and the Kiryat Ono men and children's ensemble. Here the sequence nahid-shira-hallel is sung by an ensemble of men of different ages: fathers and children who are accustomed to sing together. This sequence is preserved in many places in these recordings, although it is becoming more and more rare. In this version the piyyut is a prelude to the shira, so it functions like a nashid, a sort of rhapsodic prelude. The youth and children who take part in the event join the adult singers from time to time. The soloist opens, and from the second verse on the ensemble replies with a repetitive response. After the nashid, a short blessing Ana Adonai hoshia' na vehatzliḥa na (O God, save us and make us prosper) leads into the shira.