Affinities between the yoṣerot of Saadya Gaon and Shelomo Suleiman al-Sanjari: a window onto the Gaon’s early career
Addressing the nature of Saadya Gaon’s creative activity in Palestine prior to his arrival in Babylonia, this article primarily explores the reciprocal relationship discovered between his yoṣerot cycle and that of the ninth-century Palestinian paytan Shelomo Suleiman al-Sanjari. It also attempts to...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
2020
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| In: |
Journal of Jewish studies
Year: 2020, Volume: 71, Issue: 2, Pages: 297-320 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Addressing the nature of Saadya Gaon’s creative activity in Palestine prior to his arrival in Babylonia, this article primarily explores the reciprocal relationship discovered between his yoṣerot cycle and that of the ninth-century Palestinian paytan Shelomo Suleiman al-Sanjari. It also attempts to explain the long-standing puzzle of the appearance of the names Shelomo and Suleiman in the acrostic signatures in Saadya’s yoṣerot. Comparison of representative examples of the yoṣerot of these two liturgical poets evinces structural and topical affinities between them: Saadya’s adoption of al-Sanjari’s yoṣerot pattern and adaptation of his themes and, more surprisingly, hints of Saadya’s language and anti-Karaite campaign in al-Sanjari’s cycle. It is suggested here that Saadya was exposed to the legacy of Palestinian piyyut while residing in Tiberias and composed a cycle patterned on that of al-Sanjari, perhaps for performance by Suleiman himself in the synagogue, acrostically signing the name of the precentor in line with local practice. |
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| ISSN: | 2056-6689 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Jewish studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.18647/3461/jjs-2020 |