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Baqashot of Shabbat - בקשות של שבת
Historical Overview The custom of singing Baqashot originated in Spain towards the time of the expulsion, but took on increased momentum in the Kabbalistic circle in Safed in the 16th century. Baqashot probably evolved out of the tradition of saying petitionary prayers before dawn and was spread from Safed by the followers of Isaac Luria (16th century). With the spread of Safed Kabbalistic doctrine, the singing of Baqashot reached countries all round the Mediterranean and became customary in the communities of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Rhodes, Greece, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Turkey and Syria. By the turn of the 20th century Baqashot had become a widespread religious practice in several communities in Jerusalem as a communal form of prayer. In communities such as those of Aleppo, Turkey and Morocco, the singing of Baqashot expanded to vast proportions. In those countries special books were compiled showing the tunes and maqamat together with the text of the hymns, in order to facilitate the singing of Baqashot by the congregation. In these communities it was customary to rise from bed in the night on Shabbat in the winter months, when the nights are longer, and assemble in synagogue to sing Baqashot for four hours until the time for the morning service. In Aleppo, this custom seems to go back about 500 years. Most of the community would arise at 3:00AM to sing Baqashot and to listen to the voices of the Hazanim. When they arrived at Mizmor Shir LeYom HaShabbat they would break to listen to a sermon by one of the Rabbis who discussed the Weekly Torah Portion. When he concluded they would begin Mizmor Shir LeYom HaShabbat and sing all the rest of the Baqashot. The Syrian tradition was introduced to Jerusalem by Raphael Altaras, who came to that city from Aleppo in 1845 and founded a Baqashot circle at the Kehal Tsiyon synagogue. In this way the custom of Baqashot became part of the mainstream Jerusalem Sephardic tradition. Another important influence was Jacob Ades (1857-1925), who immigrated to Jerusalem in 1895 and introduced the tradition to the Persian and Bukharan communities. The main centre of the tradition today is the Ades Synagogue in Nachlaot, where the leading spirit was Haim Shaul Aboud, a pupil of Moshe Ashear. The Baqashot did not only reach Jerusalem. The Jews of Aleppo took this beautiful custom with them wherever they went: to Turkey, Cairo, Mexico, Argentina and New York. Each of these communities preserved this custom in the original Halabi style. Themes There is a total of 66 songs in the Aleppo Syrian Baqashot book, and the cannon is now regarded as closed, unlike the general body of pizmonim, where new pizmonim are still composed for special occasions. Each song is shown with its maqam, but they follow a fixed order of recitation which does not depend on the maqamat of the different songs. There are many sections within the Baqashot. The sections are separated by different Biblical verses (petihot) to be chanted in a different maqam. The songs principally consist of the praise of God, songs for Shabbat, songs of longing for the Holy Land and so on, and include some piyyutim taken from the main body of the prayer book. These songs are considered more ancient and sacred than the other pizmonim. Many of the songs contain acrostics identifying the author of that specific composition. Baqashot are full of mystical allusions and traditions. Some contain references to some of the most sacred Jewish traditions. There are many verses of the Psalms scattered throughout the different songs, called "petihot", to serve as markers. Unlike the baqashot themselves, these are rendered by the hazzan as a non-rhythmical solo cadenza. Composers Included in most baqashot collections is a poem by Eleazar Azikri (1533-1600), a kabbalist who lived in Safed. The poem “Yedid Nefesh”, or "faithful friend", was one of several which were published in 1601 in Venice in his “Sefer Haredim”. The collection also includes other famous poems of similar date, such as "Yom Zeh Leyisrael" by Isaac Luria and "Yah Ribbon Alam" by Israel Najara. Other composers, from the twelfth to the nineteenth century, include Hakhamim: Abraham Maimon (student of the kabbalist Moses Cordovero), Yosef Sutton, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, Yaacob Abadi, Mordechai Labaton, Eliyahu Hamaoui, Ezra Attiah, Abraham Ibn Ezra (who wrote "Agadelcha"), David Pardo, David Dayan, Shelomo Laniado (who wrote "Shalom vatzedek"), Yitzhak Benatar, Eliyahu Sasson, David Kassin, Shimeon Labi, Mordekhai Abadi and Shelomo Menaged. More recent composers of baqashot from the Aleppo community are Refael Antebi Tabbush (1830-1919), the leading pizmonim composer, his pupil and foster son Moshe Ashear and Ashear's pupil Haim Shaul Aboud. According to Sephardic tradition, the Baqashot are unique in that the composers wrote the text of the songs and then composed the melody for them, and not the other way around (as is the case with many other pizmonim). Also the melodies of the Baqashot are not borrowed from foreign sources. Today The tradition of waking up before dawn and singing Baqashot still survives today in Jerusalem, in the Ades Synagogue in Nachlaot and the Moussaiof synagogue in the Bukharan quarter. The service is held only in the winter months, starting with the night of Shabbat Noah. |
