Videos of sections of the Kerova for Purim, performed live in synagogue services
In the Kerova for Purim Vayye’ehav Omen, by R. Eleazar b. Killir, there is a series of harḥavot, “expansions”, in the blessing shover oyvim umakhnia‘ zedim, “who shatters the enemies and humbles the wicked”, since the theme of Purim is the downfall of the wicked. (In the Kerova as recited in Ashkenazic tradition, there are in fact two series of harḥavot, but we will discuss the second one later on). This set of harḥavot tells the story of the Jewish people, from Abraham through Mordecai and Esther, and their interactions with their arch-enemy, Amalek. The text is in very short lines, two or three words each, and therefore rhymes constantly come up, so the text lends itself to the modern genre of rap, as one can hear in this recording. It is typical of the art of piyyut that the poet does not actually use the names of the chief character, but rather uses an epithet, such as tzar, “the enemy”, for Amalek, or akhzar, “the cruel one”, for his descendant King Agag. One can hear in this video that every time the poet mentions an epithet for Amalek or Agag (or, later on, Haman, not featured in this video), the congregation boos.
Immediately preceding this video, the preceding stanza was the one beginning with samekh in the alphabetical acrostic:
סָֽעוּ לִרְפִידִים
בְּרִפְיוֹן לַפִּידִים
וְעוֹדָם שָׁם רְפוּדִים
חָלוּ בְּצַר קְפוּדִים
They traveled to Refidim,
Where they loosened [their grip on observance of the Torah, which would be given at Sinai with] lightning-bolts;
And while camped there,
They began to be provoked by the enemy [Amalek].
At the word tzar, “enemy”, the congregation booed, and one can hear the end of their boo at the beginning of this video.
The first stanza actually heard in the video begins with ‘ayin in the alphabetical acrostic:
עַד הִנָּם בְּחָם
אָץ לְהַאֲלִיחָם
וּבְסוּף הֶאֱחָם
וּפֹה בְּחֶֽשֶׂף נִלְחָם
When they had still been in Ḥam [=Egypt],
[Amalek] had hastened to weaken them,
And at the Reed [Sea] he had said he’aḥ! [=aha!] against them —
And here [at Refidim] he publicly fought them.
פָּסַע פַּרְסָאוֹת
אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת
לְזַנֵּב צִבְאוֹת
נִצֵּי צְבָאוֹת
He walked four hundred
Parasangs [a unit of measure],
To cut off the tails of the of the armies,
Of the descendants of armies [=the Israelites].
צָג בַּמִּלְחָמוֹת
רֵאשִׁית עֲלָמוֹת
וּפָן בְּמַהֲלֻמּוֹת
וְהוּשַׁת לִכְלִמּוֹת
He arose for war,
The first among the girls [=the nations];
But he turned away, in defeat,
And was sent to utter shame.
קִצֵּץ אֲשָׁלִים
בְּחֵיק נֶחֱשָׁלִים
וְקִלֵּס מוֹשְׁלִים
בְּחֵטְא נִשּׁוּלִים
He cut off the trees [=penises]
From the private places of the stragglers;
And he disgraced [Israel, who are called] “rulers” —
[This was their punishment for the sin of] dropping out [from serving God].
רָדַף שְׁלֹשָׁה
וּבָשְׁתּוֹ שֻׁלָּֽשָׁה
וַעֲדָתוֹ חֻלָּֽשָׁה
בְּיַד אִזֵּן חֲלוּשָׁה
He chased them three times,
So his shame was tripled [in Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim];
And his people were weakened
By [Joshua, who would later] hear “the sound of weakness” [when the Israelites would make the Golden Calf].
שַׁ"דַּי חַק בְּכֵס
קְרָבוֹ לְרַכֵּס
זִכְרוֹ לְכַרְכֵּס
מֵהֲדוֹם וּמִכֵּס
Shaddai inscribed it on his throne,
To make his battle [against Amalek] constant,
To destroy his memory
From the footstool [=earth] and the throne [=heaven].
תְּחוּר עִם אֵיבָה
בְּמָשׁוּל הָֽבָה
וְשֻׁמָּֽרָה לוֹ אֵיבָה
בְּבוּז וּבְגַאֲוָה
[God commanded Israel]: “Strife and hatred [against Amalek] —
When you are ruled [by a king], bring it out!”
And hatred against him was kept [by God],
With scorn and pride.
At this point, the poet has reached the letter tav, the forward alphabetical acrostic is over. It will be followed by a backward alphabetical acrostic, from tav to aleph. Because of the new acrostic, prayerbooks both in manuscript and in print indicate the beginning of a new unit here, as if it were a new piyyut. For this reason, you will hear that the cantor pauses here for the amount of time it would take to recite a whole stanza, while the beatboxer continues.
The narrative then picks up where it left off: The Israelites are now in the Holy Land, and have appointed their first king, Saul. It is time for Saul to battle Amalek:
תְּמִימִים כְּרָֽשׁוּ אֶֽרֶץ
וְהִקְצִֽינוּ שַׂר בְּעֶֽרֶץ
פֻּקַּד לָרוּץ בְּמֶֽרֶץ
לְכַלּוֹתוֹ בְּחֶֽרֶץ
When the unblemished ones [the Israelites] inherited the land,
And appointed a king, with respect,
He was commanded to hasten vigorously,
To destroy [Amalek] entirely.
שַׁ"דַּי שׁוֹכֵן עַד
צַו לְלוֹעֵט עַד
אַחֲרָיו לִצְעַד
לְטַאטְאוֹ עֲדֵי עַד.
Shaddai, who dwells forever,
Commanded [Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, which was blessed as a wolf] that devours the prey
To march after Him,
To sweep away [Amalek], forever.
רַֽהַן עִמְעַם
וְאַכְזָר רִעַם
וּמֵאָז זֻעַם
מִמְּלוֹךְ עֲלֵי עָם.
[Saul] blurred [the instructions of Samuel], the “pledge” [rahan, whom his mother had pledged to the Tabernacle],
And pitied [ri‘am = riḥam] the cruel [Agag],
And since then, he suffered [divine] rage,
Ao he would no longer reign over the people.
Here you will hear the crowd jeer at the word akhzar, “cruel”, the epithet for Agag.
קָצִין מֻכְמָר
נִין צוּף כָּמַר
וַיְשֻׁסַּף וַיְשֻׁמַּר
וּלְאַרְבָּעָה זֻמַּר
The chief [Agag] who was pitied —
[Samuel] descendant of Tzuf entrapped [in a mikhmoret, a net],
[Agag] was hewed up, and made desolate like thorns [shamir],
And cut up into four.