"Sha'ali yefefiyah" (Ask, lovely one)

These two poems by Shelomo Ibn Gabirol are to be found in collections of sacred poems among most Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewish communities, from Morocco to India, and they are sung to different melodies on different occasions. Originally these songs were included among the reshayot (permissions) - introductory songs to prayers or other songs sung on various occasions in which the poet (or the singer) asks God for permission to praise him with prayers and songs. In the Yemenite Diwan they are included among the bridegroom's songs that are sung during the seven feast days of the wedding, but they are also sung at other celebrations.

Both poems are allegorical love songs: the first is a dialogue between God and the people of Israel, and the second between the people of Israel and the Messiah (Hafetz Haim: 646). As to their classification in the types of poem included in the diwan, both of them belong to the category of nashid, since each contains a single ending rhyme throughout the poem.

1-2. Yosef Ozeiri and Zecharia Yitzhak sing both of the songs as a responsorium, which is typical of the performance of a nashid. The first-shaʼali yefefiyah - is sung to a duple meter, in improvisatory style and in flowing rhythm; there are changes in meter and tempo, and sometimes also in the course of the melody. The opening melody of the song is best known as the tune of the poem Kiryia yefefiyah, which is also written in the same poetic meter, this is a typical example of the migration of melodies in the Yemenite repertoire. The first, second and last verses of four are sung here. All the hemistiches are sung in a responsorial manner: Yosef Ozeiri opens with the first two metric feet of the verse, and Zecharia Yitzhak replies with the two concluding feet.

The meter of the song Sha'ar asher nisgar is triple, it is accompanied by a drum, and the tempo is varied: the singers speed it up gradually but continuously, and only slow it down towards the end of the song, Here, the singers change roles: Zecharia Yitzhak starts, and Yosef Ozeiri responds. The two final verses are repeated. Although the character of each song is different, both of them are constructed similarly. Both have the same range - an octave - and the central tone is the fifth. At the end of the song the blessing Vekulkhem berukbim is said.