Food in Sabbath Table Hymns: A Taste of the World to Come

To be published in M McWilliams (ed.) Food and the Imagination: proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, 2021 (Totnes, 2022) Food in Sabbath Table Hymns: A Taste of the World to Come Susan Weingarten Many traditional Jews today sing together at table during their family Sabbath meals, a practice which goes back to mediaeval times. While the songs that are sung have varied over the ages, a canon of accepted Sabbath songs, zemirot Shabbat, Zemirot, songs, zemer in the singular. has grown up, mostly in Hebrew and Aramaic but also in Yiddish, Ladino and Spanish. There are a large number of different tunes for each song, some having been passed down through the generations of a particular family, others influenced by local popular music. The songs belong to a genre of Hebrew poetry called piyyut (pl piyyutim), from the same Greek root as English 'poetry.' Piyyutim, first found in late antique Palestine, are sacred poetry which became part of prayers in the synagogue. Zemirot form a different sub-genre, as they belong in the home. As well as being sung during the three mandatory Sabbath meals, zemirot often include allusions to food, such as the wine and bread traditionally blessed before the Sabbath meal. But the zemirot also refer to other foods as well. In this paper I shall be looking at food as it appears in these zemirot: how far it is real and how far imaginary. It is unclear how many zemirot are extant today: there is a generally agreed core, but variations on the periphery. I shall be taking as my base the twenty-five zemirot discussed by Naphtali Ben-Menahem in his book Zemirot shel Shabbat (Zemirot for the Sabbath) mostly in Hebrew, but including five in Aramaic. Naphtali Ben-Menahem Zemirot shel Shabbat (Jerusalem, 1949, in Hebrew). I have excluded prose passages and psalms. Origins of zemirot When and where did zemirot originate? The late antique Midrash Esther Rabbah writes: 'When Israel eat and drink and are merry, they bless and praise and glorify God.' Midrash Esther Rabbah iii, 13. For a brief explanation of the Talmudic literature, see my paper 'Nuts for the children: the evidence of the Talmudic literature.' Nurture: Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery proceedings (Bristol, 2004) There have been attempts to relate zemirot to the 'song for the Sabbath day' (Psalm 92) sung in the Temple, which the Mishnah explains as a song for 'the future to come,' 'a day which is all rest and eternal life.' MTamid vii 4. The earthly Sabbath, indeed, is imagined by the rabbis as a 'foretaste of the eternal Sabbath of the World to Come.' BTBerakhot 57b We shall return to this later. Meanwhile, I have found no hint that Ps92 was ever a table hymn, and it does not mention food. The earliest identifiable zemirot are mediaeval, although we have no way of knowing how long they had been in use before their first written appearance in northern France, in the compendious prayer-book known as Mahzor Vitri, which dates from the eleventh century. It is inevitably difficult to date individual songs, and would have been even more difficult had it not been for the habit of Jewish poets to sign their works by including their own name in acrostic form at the beginning of each line. Acrostics exist in Hebrew poetry from the time of the Bible, where some psalms eg Ps. 145 were written with each line beginning with a different letter in alphabetical order. In the Middle Ages it became popular for poets to sign their works in acrostic form by beginning each line with the letters of their own name. Thus we can identify Tzama Nafshi (My Soul Thirsts) as written by the Sephardi Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (born in Tudela, 1089-1164) or Barukh El Elyon (Blessed be God on High) as written by the Ashkenazi Rabbi Barukh bar Samuel of Mainz (approx. 1150-1221). But there are a number of writers whose signature we cannot identify: eg there are two poets who sign themselves simply as Moses and one as Menahem. And there is one very popular rabbi whose acrostic signature in one case seems to be forged. Rabbi Isaac Luria, (known as the 'Divine Rabbi Isaac,' or the Ar''i, after his Hebrew initials) was a leading kabbalist in the Holy City of Safed in Galilee in the sixteenth century. He apparently wrote and signed three zemirot, one for each Sabbath meal, each preceded by Atkinu Se'udata (Prepare the Meal) in Aramaic. These zemirot, based on kabbalistic concepts from the Zohar, are sung today by Hassidic Jews. But this was not enough for his followers: they took the popular Yom zeh leYisrael (This is a Day for Israel) signed simply 'Isaac,' and added more verses with the acrostic 'Luria.' However, the shorter version of this song, with 'Isaac' but without 'Luria,' was included by Moses b Jacob of Kaffa (d. ca. 1520) in the Kaffa prayer-book before Isaac Luria was born in 1534. Yom Zeh leYisrael also appears in Mahzor Aram Tzova published in Venice in 1527: Y. Weingarten (no relation) HaSiddur haMefurash haShalem (The Complete Annotated Prayerbook) (Jerusalem, 1991), who also notes that the attribution to Luria is impossible. This original zemer appears to have been written by Isaac Handali, and became popular with rabbinic and Karaite Jews alike. Kaffa is present-day Feodosiya in the Crimea, once a port at the end of the Silk Road: LJ Weinberger Jewish Hymnography: a literary history (London/Portland Oregon, 1998) Kaffa p343; zemirot p 348. There are also a number of zemirot identified by their inclusion in collections of poetry of well-known authors, eg R Judah haLevi or R Solomon ibn Gabirol. Zemirot are found in many prayer books, and in the last few decades, little booklets containing the most popular songs, together with the long Grace after Meals, have become a common memento given to guests at wedding meals (although they are not sung at such meals). The Sabbath Sabbath in the Bible These zemirot, then, are sung at all three Sabbath meals, and many of them contain references to food. Before examining these references, let us first set these table hymns in the cultural context of the Jewish Sabbath and the ways Jews observed it through history, beginning with the Hebrew Bible. The first Sabbath in the Bible belongs to God: it was the seventh day of creation when God rested from his work of creating the world. (Genesis chapters 1-2) The description of the second Sabbath celebrated by the Israelites, even before they received the laws of the Sabbath as part of the Ten Commandments, centres on food: manna, the miraculous bread from heaven with which God fed his people for forty years in the wilderness. Exodus 16.11-35;Numbers 11.1-9 Every day they received a portion of manna calibrated for their needs, but on Friday they received a double portion to include the Sabbath meals. No manna fell on the Sabbath, so they did not have to work gathering and cooking it. The Ten Commandments given afterwards on Mount Sinai then tell the Israelites that they must always keep the Sabbath holy by refraining from work. Remember (observe) the Sabbath day to keep it holy… Six days you shall labour and do all your work: but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God: in it you shall not do any work…. (Exodus 20.8-10/Deuteronomy 5.12). The prophet Isaiah tells us that all people who keep the Sabbath will be rewarded by God: Thus says the Lord: keep judgement and do justice, for my salvation is near to come…Happy is the man that does this…. that keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it. (Is 56, 1-7) He then adds: If you restrain your foot because of the Sabbath, from pursuing thy business on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight (oneg) … then shall you delight yourself in the Lord…and I will… feed you. (Is 58, 13-14) Isaiah's Sabbath observance has progressed here from passive refraining from work, to active enjoyment, oneg. Both the double portion of manna for the Sabbath, and the concept of oneg, enjoyment – usually by eating – on the Sabbath, form part of the observance of the Sabbath through the ages, and are referenced in the zemirot. Sabbath in the Talmuds Both Talmuds each have a whole tractate, Shabbat, devoted to the Sabbath, with instructions for observing it. We concentrate here on Babylonian Talmud (BT) Shabbat, pages 113a-119b, looking at the food in particular. This begins citing Isaiah 58.13 above, and expands on it: 'honouring' the Sabbath means washing, and changing to special clothes and walking differently, as well as not pursuing business. The discussion then moves to the biblical character of Ruth, who was the ancestor of the royal House of David, and therefore will be the ancestor of the Messiah. Not only is Ruth reported to have washed herself and changed her clothes, Ruth 3.3-6 but she is said to have eaten, to have been satisfied and to have left food over [simply 'left' in the AV]. Ruth 2.14 The rabbis expound: 'She ate: in this world; she was satisfied: in the Messianic age; and she will leave over: in the World to Come.' Sabbath food here is thus linked to Ruth, with a foretaste of the Messianic age and the World to Come – when there will be enough food for everyone to leave some over. Later in this passage the rabbis rule that eating three meals on the Sabbath is obligatory. They promise rewards: those who join these meals will be saved from the travails of the Messiah, and the wars that will precede his coming. The table was to be set, they specify, before the Sabbath begins. At these meals, breaking and blessing the bread should be done over two loaves, in memory of the miraculously doubled portion of manna God sent his people in the wilderness. Exodus 18.1-36; And if we 'delight' in the Sabbath, God will reward us by feeding us (Isaiah 58.14 above), and will give us our hearts' desire (Ps 37.4).This leads to a discussion on the meaning of the word 'delight' (oneg). It refers to the delight (oneg) of the Sabbath. With what do you show your delight in it? — Rab Judah son of R. Samuel b. Shilat said in Rab's name: With a dish of beets, large fish, and heads of garlic. R. Hiyya b. Ashi said in Rab's name: Even a trifle, if it is prepared in honour of the Sabbath, is 'delight.' What is [the trifle]?-Said R. Papa: Casa de-harsana. The rabbis make it clear here that the delight, oneg, of the Sabbath is through enjoying good food (even if their definition of good food may not be ours). This is not confined to luxury foods such as large fish: if you intend to honour the Sabbath by eating, you can even do it by making casa de-harsana. This was a dish made of tiny, very smelly fish, which seems to have signified the smallest amount of and/or the cheapest food: eg once, when someone arrived at an inn unexpectedly, there was no food – not even a casa de-harsana. BTBava Batra 60b. See on this my paper: 'Fish and fish products in late antique Palestine and Babylonia in their social and geographical contexts: archaeology and the talmudic literature' Journal of Maritime Archaeology 13 (2018/3) 235–245. So even the poorest foods, if made with the intention of honouring the Sabbath, can be part of 'delighting' in it. The text then continues to detail the servile work various rabbis did 'to honour the Sabbath.' Many of them are connected to preparing food: R. Safra would singe the head [of an animal]. Raba salted shibuta fish. R. Huna lit the lamp. R. Papa plaited the wicks. R. Hisda cut up the beetroots. Rabbah and R. Joseph chopped wood. R. Zera kindled the fire… The rabbis then tell the story of Joseph-who-honoured-the-Sabbath and his reward (see below). The Sabbath, which begins at sunset on Friday, was also greeted as a Queen or Bride: R. Hanina robed himself and stood at sunset of Sabbath eve [and] exclaimed, ‘Come and let us go forth to welcome Queen Sabbath.’ R. Jannai robed himself on Sabbath eve and exclaimed, ‘Come, O Bride, Come, O Bride!’ BT Shabbat 119a: This personification of the Sabbath became extremely popular among the sixteenth-century kabbalists of Safed and was incorporated into the Sabbath eve synagogue services everywhere, as well as into many zemirot in the home. The Sabbath meals are thus metaphorised as the banquet of the Queen/Bride. All these Talmudic discussions I have cited are taken up and alluded to in the Sabbath zemirot, written some hundreds of years after the Babylonian Talmud, but relating to the same aspects of celebrating the Sabbath. Below is a description of a fictional Sabbath eve meal in a nineteenth-century Jewish novel, which sums up for us the context of the Sabbath atmosphere, the food, and the songs: Israel Zangwill's Sabbath Israel Zangwill's Children of the Ghetto (1892) depicts the transformative power of the Sabbath in the lives of the Jewish poor of Victorian London, in his chapter: 'The Hebrew's Friday Night.' The rabbi was returning from synagogue… He had dropped into a delicious reverie – tasting in advance the Sabbath peace. The work of the week was over. The faithful Jew could enter on his rest – the narrow, miry streets faded before the brighter image of his brain. 'Come my beloved, to meet the Bride, the face of the Sabbath let us welcome. ' The rabbi here creates his Sabbath in his brain, oblivious of the harsher reality outside, aided by the imagery of the Sabbath hymn quoted. This quotation, ringing in the rabbi's head, is descended from the Talmudic text we saw above, and belongs to a hymn written by R Solomon Alkabetz, another sixteenth-century kabbalist from Safed, which is still sung today in the synagogue service which precedes the Sabbath meal. Weekday cares are left behind: Tonight his sweetheart would wear her Sabbath face, putting off the mask of the shrew, which hid not from him the angel countenance….A cheerful warmth glowed in his heart, love for all the wonderful Creation dissolved him in tenderness. Zangwill notes the Sabbath loaves on the table: …with a curious plait of crust from point to point and thickly sprinkled with a drift of poppy-seed; and covered with a velvet cloth embroidered with Hebrew words. On the table also stand a 'flask of wine and the silver goblet.' There is soup at this meal and 'fried fish made picturesque with sprigs of parsley,' but no meat is mentioned. The transformative power of the real food combined with transcendent song is made clear: 'after a few mouthfuls the Pole [a poor guest] knew himself a prince in Israel.' Zangwill relates to the zemirot specifically, on a slightly apologetic note: When supper was over, grace was chanted and then the Zemiroth was sung – songs summing up in light and jingling metre the very essence of holy joyousness – neither riotous nor ascetic … For to feel the 'delight of the Sabbath' is a duty and to take three meals thereon is a religious obligation… Zangwill even provides the text of three Zemirot, with their stress on meat, wine and fish; comfort for sorrow, and the rebuilding of the Temple to come. Zangwill's Sabbath, then, replaces and transcends weekday cares. Foods mentioned in the Zemirot: Bread and wine With this in mind, we turn now to look specifically at the food in the zemirot. We saw that the rabbis of the Talmud noted the formal blessings over wine and bread that begin the three Sabbath meals, and the required double portion of bread in memory of the double portion of manna. Real wine Sometimes no more than raisin 'wine.' See on this in the thirteenth century: Rabbi Elazar Vormensis: Oratio ad Pascam, ed. Simcha Emmanuel (Jerusalem, 2006, in Hebrew) p110, allowing it for Passover if ordinary wine is unavailable. and two breads would thus be on the table of Jews celebrating the Sabbath with food and song, since they had become religious requirements. So it is hardly surprising that they are mentioned frequently in many zemirot, where they form both the halakhic (religious regulatory) and the spiritual context. For example, Menuhah veSimhah (Rest and Joy) cites the two loaves and the qiddush (blessing) over the wine, as does Yom zeh Mekhubad (This Day is Honoured), and many other zemirot. Other foods Would the other foods mentioned in the zemirot have been reflections of what was on the real table in front of the singers? In some cases we can safely assume that the food vocabulary in these songs alludes back to Bible and Midrash: 'eating sumptuously and drinking sweet beverages' From the zemer,Yom zeh Mekhubad, (This Day is Honoured) clearly alludes to the feasts of the book of Nehemiah (Neh 8.10), while the 'savoury dishes,' matamim, of many of the zemirot Eg Barukh El Elyon; Menuhah veSimhah etc would have reminded the singers of the 'savoury dishes' made of 'two good kids of the goats' prepared for the patriarch Isaac by his wife Rebecca in the book of Genesis (Gen 27.1-41), and the many elaborations of this dish in rabbinic exegesis. The zemer, Tzur MiShelo Akhalnu (Rock from whose Stores we have Eaten) begins with a verse which is repeated as a refrain: Rock from whose stores we have eaten, Bless Him, O constant companions, We have had sufficient and have left over, Just as the Lord has commanded. Tr Zangwill, adapted This echoes the story of Ruth quoted in the Talmudic discussion above: she too ate of God's food, was satisfied and left some over. We saw how the two loaves on the table echo the double portion of manna in the wilderness. There too, and later in the Temple, the priests would set out twelve shewbreads as part of the ritual of the Sanctuary. Leviticus 24.5-9. So shewbreads appear in Ki Eshmera Shabbat (As I Keep the Sabbath), and some hassidic families actually have twelve Shabbat loaves, rather than just the required two. Some families braid their two loaves with six strands of dough each for the same reason. Other foods mentioned in the zemirot which relate back to the Bible include the swans, quails and fish of the refrain to the zemer, Ma Yedidut Menuhatekh, (We Cherish the Rest that Comes with You). Swans are mentioned in a feast of King Solomon, IKings 5.3. (AV geese). Others translate: 'succulent poultry.' and were certainly seen as royal food in mediaeval Europe (they still belong to the Queen in England). Quails, like manna, were miraculously provided for the Israelites in the wilderness. Numbers 11:31-34 Let us look at the context of this zemer, known from the sixteenth century, to hopefully understand better what is happening here. We cherish the rest that comes with you, O Sabbath Queen Run to greet you: Come, O royal Bride. Wearing our best clothing we light the Sabbath lamp with a blessing When all our labours are completed and mundane work forbidden, To delight in delights (oneg) - swans, quail and fish On the Sabbath eve we prepare all kinds of savoury dishes (matamim) While it is still daytime fattened fowl are made ready To be served with a variety of dishes, drinking spiced wines Thus to indulge in delicacies during all three meals, To delight in delights - swans, quail and fish The following verses talk of both rich and poor honouring the Sabbath, and how, while business and money-making are forbidden, it is permitted to arrange marriages, teach children from books and to sing, as well as to rest 'as if on a bed of roses.' The final verse says Sabbath rest is a taste of the World to Come Everyone who delights in it will have much happiness And be spared the travails of the Messiah When our redemption will flourish and all sadness and sorrow be banished, To delight in delights - swans, quail and fish It would seem clear that few of the foods in this zemer are in fact the foods which would have been on the tables of those singing: it is unlikely that many – or any – Jews ate the 'swans and quails' of the refrain, or even the 'fattened fowl' of the second verse, although they may have had fish on their table in some form. Nor would everyone have had access to the costly 'spiced wines.' Recognising this problem, one modern prayer book translates the refrain as: 'It is indeed a day of joy filled with the likes of succulent poultry, quails and fish.' Siddur Avodat HaLev , published by the Rabbinical Council of America, (Jerusalem/New Milford CT, 2018) Moreover, some foods which would usually have been on the table are conspicuous by their absence - like the substantial Sabbath stew kept hot overnight (called cholent in Yiddish, or adafina in Ladino) See CRoden Book of Jewish Food (Harmondsworth, 1997)125-8;365-8 which does not, to my knowledge, appear in any zemirot. Schalet (=cholent) does appear in Heine's poem Prinzessin Sabbat, but as a satire on Schiller. Other foods mentioned in the zemirot are simply metaphorical. Rabbinical literature, and especially mediaeval Hebrew poetry was full of complex word-plays, so it is scarcely surprising that the zemirot include a number of plays on words connected to food and eating. Inevitably some of these go back to the Bible. Thus the love of God in Yedid Nefesh (Beloved of the Soul) tastes better than nofet tzuf, a honeycomb, referring back to Ps 19.8-11, The Law of the Lord is perfect…sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. while Isaac Luria in Azamer beShevahin (I will Sing with Praise) prays for honey, alluding to the words of God in Ezekiel 3.3, 'like honey in the mouth.' In Yom Shabbaton (Sabbath Day of Rest) the Sabbath is remembered like a 'sweet savour,' an allusion to the 'sweet savour for God' of the offerings in the Sanctuary, mentioned in the Torah many times. Leviticus 1.9 and many parallels This allusion would join the singers' awareness of the good smell of the real food on their table. Indeed, the rabbis wrote that, since the destruction of the Temple, the Jewish table has taken on some of the functions of the altar. BTBerakhot 55a. See on this JBrumberg-Kraus, SMarks, JRosenblum: 'Ten Theses on Meals in Early Judaism' in SMarks, HTaussig eds, Meals in Early Judaism: Social Formation at the Table (New York, 2014) 13-39. This has a suggestive analysis of the table setting, albeit relating to an earlier period. Some zemirot cite an earlier metaphorical word-play: when R Joseph Caro wrote his code of Jewish law in the sixteenth century, he called it Shulhan Arukh, (the Prepared Table), and a later commentary on it was called the Mappah, (Tablecloth). Thus the mention of the 'prepared table' in a number of zemirot is bi-valent: referring both to the real table, which the Talmud specifies was to be prepared before the Sabbath, and to the metaphorical 'table' of laws, including Sabbath laws. Meat Meat is mentioned frequently in the zemirot. It is cited repeatedly together with the other delightful foods (oneg): the double portion of bread (or manna), good wine, fish and 'all savoury dishes,' in a number of zemirot. It was clearly very desirable, which does not mean it was always there. But the Hebrew word basar, (meat), refers not only to the dead animal food we eat, but also to living human flesh. Thus the anonymous undated zemer, Hai Adonai uBaruch Tzuri (May God live, and my Rock be blessed) quotes Psalm 136.25: God 'gives bread to all flesh.' But in a zemer written by the mediaeval Spanish poet, Abraham ibn Ezra, the play on 'flesh' is turned into an almost metaphysical conceit. Thus Tzamah Nafshi (My Soul Thirsts), begins: My soul thirsts for the Lord, for the living God, alluding to Psalm 63.3: 'O God…my soul thirsts for thee/ My flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land.' Ibn Ezra does not actually quote the second half of the verse in the psalm, but takes up its content, the 'flesh' of the psalm and uses it in his refrain, sung after every verse: 'My heart and flesh will sing to the living God.' Thus the flesh-and-blood living human both sings of, and (sometimes) eats flesh of dead animals. Of course, the human will also die: Ibn Ezra contrasts the cemetery, final 'home of all living,' with the ever-living God. And he stresses that both eating and singing are done with the mouth, while the hand of God both holds the 'soul of all living' and contains food to feed the living. Fish Fish also appear frequently in the zemirot. We saw that the rabbis of the Talmud distinguished between eating very desirable large fish, and 'casa de-harsana,' a much less desirable dish which may have come in very small quantities. But if it was intended to honour the Sabbath, it was the intention which counted. Herring would have been as good as carp, although neither merit a mention as such in Talmud or zemirot. The rabbis of the Talmud do mention more legendary creatures: the large fish on which Joseph-who-honoured-the-Sabbath spent his last penny, and when cut open proved to have swallowed a large pearl, which rewarded Joseph with the means to honour many more Sabbaths. Joseph reappears in the zemirot too: in Yom Shabbat Qodesh hu (the Sabbath Day is Holy): Meat, wine and fish Should not be missing from our delights. And if these three are displayed before him, This will be his reward Whom [the King] delights to honour: Joseph cut a fish in half And found a pearl in its flesh. We note here that the presence of the meat, wine and fish is not to be taken for granted: if they are there, this is a reward from God. Apart from the food, the zemirot relate to other aspects of the Jewish Sabbath: rest from work and weekday cares, as well as hopes for the future: both mundane hopes of marrying off the children, and eschatological hopes of the rebuilding of the Temple and the coming of the Messiah. Most of the zemirot traditionally sung on the Sabbath eve end with some sort of reference to these future hopes, including hopes of the World to Come. Thus Menuhah veSimhah (Rest and Joy) ends: With two loaves and blessing over wine, With many savoury dishes (matamim) and a generous spirit, Those who delight (oneg) in [the Sabbath] will see much goodness, In the coming of the Redeemer and the life of the World to Come. There are indeed several midrashim which refer to the banquets to be enjoyed by the righteous in the World to Come. See on this: JRosenblum 'Dining in (to) the world to come' in olam ha-zeh v'olam ha-ba: This World and the World to Come in Jewish Belief and Practice ed. LJGreenspoon (West Lafayette, 2017), 105-114 God is said to have killed and salted the female Leviathan, a gigantic fish, to preserve her flesh for the righteous. BTBava Batra 74b Thus mentions of the World to Come often imply food to come as well. The Audience It is clear from the zemirot we have looked at that their learned authors were thoroughly familiar with biblical and Talmudic texts. What of their audience? How many of the ordinary Jews who sang understood what they were singing about in Hebrew (and sometimes Aramaic)? Kohn proposes that singing zemirot was originally an élite rabbinical custom, which gradually penetrated ordinary Jewish homes: small booklets with collections of zemirot begin to appear from the fourteenth century. Albert EKohn A History of the Jewish Custom to Sing around the Shabbat Table (1200-1600) , MA thesis, Jewish Theological Seminary, (2018) 27. I am grateful to Albert for discussion of zemirot. Some zemirot were translated into German, at least from the mid-seventeenth century, while translations into the vernacular Yiddish aimed at women exist from at least 1854. JBuxtorf Judenschül (Basel, 1643), chapter 10; Siddur Qorban Minhah (Vilna, 1854). That women were singing we know from seventeenth-century rabbinic complaints which disapproved of this custom, even at family meals. Joseph Yuspa Seligman (1570-1637) Yosif Ometz (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1927/8), #602-603 (134). But how many women – or men – were literate in any language? We can perhaps infer that certain key-words in the Hebrew texts should have been comprehensible to many from the prayers: the Sabbath, God's name, rest, the Messiah, the Temple, Eden and the World to Come, as well as food words: wine and bread, and possibly also fish and meat. Transitional genre, transitional space Modern scholarship on Sephardi Hebrew poetry from mediaeval Spain points out that there existed a tension between traditional piyyutim, sacred synagogue poetry, and newer Arab-influenced poetry whose content included songs of wine and love, even including homo-erotic love. RBrann The Compunctious Poet: Cultural Ambiguity and Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain (Baltimore, 1991) I should like to propose here that in some ways zemirot (both from Sephardi as well as Ashkenazi contexts) can be seen as middle ground, a transitional genre: they are indeed sacred Sabbath songs, but they also deal with the material world, with foods, clothes, match-making, as well as more spiritual aspects. The foods they mention often refer to real foods on the table in front of the singers which they bless and eat, but the foods are also often idealised. As noted, there is no cholent or adafina, no herring or sardines, but savoury dishes, sometimes mythical ones, with the likes of swans, quails, fattened fowl, and spiced wines. Thus the zemirot sung on the Sabbath are transformative: they convert the material world to a transitional space. My concept of 'transitional space' owes much to the 'relational space' discussed by YRotman: 'The relational mind: in between History, Psychology and Anthropology ' History of Psychology (2020) doi:10.1037/hop0000175 The real food on the table and in the mouth combine with the imagined foods of the songs to create a fantasized sacred bubble outside weekday time and space, giving the singers a taste of the future 'World to Come,' a hint of the banquet of the righteous in the celestial Garden of Eden.