Ki Eshm'ra Shabbat
Ki Eshm'ra Shabbat is a popular Sabbath hymn, composed in the 12th-century by Abraham ibn Ezra. Though historically a song for Sabbath eve, today it is usually sung at Sabbath lunch. The hymn discusses which acts are appropriate, and which inappropriate, for the Sabbath. It contains five stanzas, the first letters of which spell the author's first name "Abraham" by acrostic. The refrain is "Because I will keep the Sabbath, God will protect me; it is an eternal sign between Him and me". Form The piyyut is in an a/a/b/b/b/a form. Its meter appears thus: [— — ◡ — — — | — — ◡ — —]. Depending on the tune used, it may be classified as a zajal. Text In Jewish culture The poem has historically been a locus of intercommunal Rabbanite-Karaite dissent. Ibn Ezra, a Rabbinic Jew who opposed Karaite Judaism, incorporated some of his anti-Karaite beliefs in the text, visible primarily in the lyrics exhorting joy and pleasure on Shabbat (whereas Karaite doctrine requires a sombre and mournful approach on the sabbath, out of reverence for the loss of Jerusalem and the exile of Jews from their homeland). However, the piyyut remained popular among Karaites, and some