Adonai shama'ti shim'akha (Adonai Schamati)

Piyyut of the type reshut ("permission") sung by the cantor prior to the repetition of the 'amidah (Eighteen benedictions) of the High Holidays Musaf services. The text is in the mustağab form, a genre similar to the muwashshah developed by the Hebrew poets of medieval Spain. The song opens Adonai shama'ti shim'akha yareti Adonai, a biblical verse (Habaqquq 3:2) that later on becomes a refrain. The stanzas consist of four verses without a fixed meter. The last verse of each stanza is also a Biblical verse ending with the word "Adonai" as the refrain does. Piyyutim with the same Biblical refrain and poetical structure appear in Sephardi maḥzorim. The most familiar piyyut of this type, heard in Haim's recording, is attributed to David ben Yaakov (see Maḥzor le-yamim nora'im, Wien, Horashantzki, 1810). The author may be identified as Rabbi David Samuel ben Yaakov Pardo (1718-1790). Haim Effendi sings twice (with slight changes) the first strophe of this piyyut. The recording ends with the first stanza of Im afes rova' ha-qen in Judeo-Spanish with which it shares the same melody (see CD 1, no. 12).