Magen Avot (piyyut)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Magen Avot (piyyut)

What it is
- Magen Avot is a genre of piyyut (liturgical poetry) written to be inserted into the Friday evening blessing Berakha Aḥat Me’en Sheva‘, right before the words Magen avot bidvaro.

Origins and history
- This genre appears in the High Middle Ages in Europe, not in Late Antiquity.
- The first known author is Joseph Kimhi, born in Muslim Spain who later lived in Narbonne and Provence.
- Kimhi wrote two piyyutim to embellish the prayer: Yom Shabbat Zakhor (to be placed before Magen Avot) and Yom Shabbat Shamor (to be placed before the second line of the standard paragraph).

Two famous poems by Kimhi
- Yom Shabbat Zakhor: every line ends with the syllable -hu, rhyming with the end of the first line of Magen Avot.
- Yom Shabbat Shamor: every line ends with the syllable -lehem, rhyming with the second line of the standard paragraph.

Later development
- Yom Shabbat Zakhor became fairly popular and appears in manuscripts and some printed rites; its opening lines are even used in some Ashkenazic communities on the Shavuot night that falls on Shabbat.
- Yom Shabbat Shamor did not become as popular at first, but German poets later wrote many piyyutim in this style for Sabbaths and holidays.
- Ezra Fleischer collected about eighteen such poems from Ashkenazic sources for occasions throughout the year, including Sabbaths on Rosh Chodesh, Hanukkah, Rosh Hashana, Shabbat Nachamu, and life-cycle events like weddings or circumcisions. In all of these, the lines typically end with the rhyming -hu.

Impact
- The Magen Avot genre spread mainly in Germany and among Ashkenazic communities, shaping liturgical poetry for many Sabbaths, holidays, and significant life events.