From Medieval Mystic to
Madonna:
The Strange Path of Im Nin`alu
The Poem
Rabbi Shalom Shabazi was a 17th century Yemenite mystic who is best known for his beautiful poetry written in Hebrew, Arabic, and Judeo-Arabic (the dialect of the Jews in Muslim lands). This is the story of strange path of one of his poems, ÒIm nin`alu daltei nedivim / If the gates of the leaders are locked, the gates of Heaven are not locked.Ó The full poem, written in Hebrew and in Judeo-Arabic, is as follows: [1]
If the gates of the leaders are locked,
the gates of Heaven are
not locked.
Living God, exalted above the Cherubim[2] --
they all rise with His
spirit
for they are near to His throne.
They give thanks to His
Name and praise it.
Chayyot who run to and fro,
were perfect from the day
of creation.
The Wheels and the Ofannim
clatter --
They acknowledge His Name and sanctify it.
They clothe themselves in the radiance of His
Glory.
With six wings surrounding them,
they [the Seraphim] fly
as they advance.
They [all] respond out loud with sweet songs,
together, arrayed as
banners and signs.
He created everything for His glory.
Praise
to Him. God is One.
Master of exaltation, He is praised.
His
goodness has no boundary.
Bodies and spirits worship [Him].
Whoever
does not fear Him is a denier.
He chose from all the world[3]
the
sanctuary – most central, most noble.[4]
He settled our ancestors in it.
He gave it to all of our tribes.[5]
And He gave us His Torah.
It is our duty to proclaim His unity greatly.
His
grace encompasses us.
He talked to Moses in speech.
He
said, ÒBe a messenger unto My people.Ó[6]
Observe His precepts, my unique soul.
Bring merit to my body,
and it will rejoice.
Bind love of Him in my heart.
Through His Name alone, it
will be secure.
Through the grace of the woman, His lover,[7]
He will shine light for
the remnant.
He will fill dried wells with it.
The blessed rain will
flow.
He will provide sustenance for the poor and
destitute,
for the persecuted and weakened in exile.
My Rock, Who looks after the son of the innocent
one.[8]
For he was surrounded by dogs.
On every side they
gathered --
the wild ass, the lion, together with the wolf;[9]
his heart and soul were
terrorized.
My soul yearns to be among the revels,[10]
even
the marriage feasts and the drinking.
I did not remember my holy house
and
the destroyed walls of Zion.
The light of my mind and senses was eclipsed.
My
spirit saw affliction.
Arise, O beloved. Bring spices
to
revive the unmindful spirit.
Beautify the synagogues and study halls,
my
holy place, my ever-present happiness.
The goal is that I worship my
Creator
with a believing and passionate
heart.
He will fulfill the true promise.
He has already chosen us for knowledge and teaching
so that humanity not remain
ignorant.
Whoever is beset by oppression and trouble[11]
will sit among perfected people.
This is the place of peace and joy,
the bridegroom and bride
rejoice.[12]
Song, and the sound of gladness and delight
will shine upon the sons
of the tribes.
From the beautiful and comely daughter,
they have sent me a cup
of salvation.[13]
I will rejoice among the guests.[14]
How good and how pleasant
that they have gathered together.[15]
The messengers of wisdom have come straight away.
For the secret of power, they have come together.
How precious - to God, and to me.[16]
They are friends and lovers, good ones;
they speak deep secrets.
Torah, Prophets, together with Holy Writings,
they ask of one another.
Turn, O my soul, while I yet live,
from
the touch of the drives of the body,[17]
before death comes,
descending
like a poisonous wind.
One who errs in evil comes;
God
is forgiving, compassionate.
There is no escape: all sin must be paid
even
by the noble youth.
O, He Who is the Creator of the souls
from the radiance of the facet of His light --
All things are in the palm of His hand.
He set reality with His wisdom.
He
is the Maker of every thing.
Samekh, Alef,
Lamed, and Mem[18]
asks
the graciousness of Your goodness.
I will end this, my song, with praise
and veneration to the One
exalted above praising,
Who puts words into the mouth of him who speaks,[19]
to Whom every creature
gives total thanks.
My soul is adorned with embroidery and fine lace;[20]
my body is a stitch in Your
shoe.
Among the remnants who are [yet] whole,
be strong, my steps, and
ascend.
Let us dwell among the roses.
The woman has invited me.[21]
She has given sustenance to her household.[22]
Daily bread, and wine from deep red grapes,[23]
clear preserved wine,
Beloved guests --
they will inherit their
place in Eden.
The original poem, then, is a mystical hymn that uses the theme and images of love to describe the attachment of the mystic to God, i.e., to GodÕs holy Torah. In the Judeo-Arabic stanzas, the poet talks of his distraction toward the pleasures of this world and prays to be restored to mystic wholeness. The artistry lies not only in the theme and language but also in the close weaving of the sources, in their rabbinic interpretation.
The Wedding Song
Rabbi Yosef Kafih, the leading 20th century interpreter
of Yemenite culture, describes the first stage in the path of this poem -- its use
in the traditional Yemenite community, as follows:
The place of the groom is in the center of the room. In a large candle
holder, they place a large candle whose height is about 30 inches and whose
width is about 8 inches. Around him, they light other smaller candles for
beauty and decorationÉ.
The groom sits near the wall, in the center of the room, opposite the
door, holding a pigam branch in his hand and the M‡ri [the common Yemenite term for ÒrabbiÓ] sits at his right. The other M‡riy’n and
important members of the community sit on both sides of the groom while the
rest of the community fills the room completelyÉ. The best singers, who were
specially invited, open their mouths in songÉ. The dancer stands in the middle
and dancesÉ.
[Kafih here gives the texts of two songs, one
of which is ÒIm NinÕaluÓ;
see above.]
That evening, everyone may come, invited and not-invited. Therefore,
all the people of the city – the youths and young men from all over the
city – come and sit a while with the groom, listening to the songs and
drinking a cup of coffee, and then leaving. The young women, too, come from all
over the city to see the groom. They do not have permission to enter the room
of the party, so they crowd around in the courtyard, opposite the doorÉ.
After they have drunk some coffee and heard some songs and recited
poetry of praise, the M‡riy’n
get up and leave. Before they go, they bless the groom as follows: ÒBridegroom,
may God always grant you joy, and fill all your wishes for good.Ó And the
bridegroom responds, ÒAmen.Ó They then bless the crowd with the usual blessing,
ÒMay you sleep in goodness.Ó And the crowd answers, ÒMay you awake to
compassionÓ or ÒMay you awake to salvation and compassion.ÉÓ
After the M‡riy’n
leave, the atmosphere lightens and is more gayÉ. They bring in some nargilas É They set a special nargila
before the bridegroom and they offer him the pipe. He sucks on it and inhales a
little; then he hands it to one of those near him. That person, too, sucks on
it and inhales a little, and then he passes it to the next.
The crowd thins out and each person who want to go blesses the
bridegroom and goes in peace to his home. The bridegroom then stands up, takes
off his celebratory clothes and, in simple clothing, sits down to talk with his
friends.
From that evening on, for two full weeks, the bridegroom is like a king
who is entitled to be honored by everyone and whose wish is their command. He
sits at the head of the table and, when he leaves his house, it is considered a
shame for him to carry anything. Rather, those who accompany him take
everything he needs in their hands.
The poem, thus, was first
appropriated in Yemenite culture as a wedding poem.
The first Hebrew
stanza seems, however, also to have been understood as a petitionary poem, as
the line added on the website for this poem indicates: ÒAna, ana, Hashem, hoshi`a na / Please, please,
God, save us.Ó This signals the second stage in the path of this poem -- its
use (or at least, its understanding) as a seliha, a penitential poem.
The Popular Song
The first stanza (ÒIf the gates of the generous ones É banners and signsÓ) became a popular song in the Yemenite Jewish community in modern times, thus constituting the third stage in the path of this poem. It was most famously recorded by Ofra Haza with the Shechunat Tikva Workshop in 1978. As of July 26, 2013, this YouTube presentation had been viewed 2,218,829 times! It is a lovely recording. Those accustomed to hearing Hebrew will notice that Ms Haza sings it in ÒYemeniteÓ; that is, in the Hebrew dialect used by Yemenite Jews.[24] Ms Haza recorded this song again in 1988, much later in her career, after she had become a famous singer, with a strong jazz beat and mixed video. It has been remixed and reissued many times since, even after her death in 2000 (2010; 2011). I confess that I much prefer the earliest recording that captures the popular Yemenite culture from which the poem and the song came.
The poem was also recorded as part of a medley of songs by the Israeli singer, Daklon.
The strangest appearance of ÒIm nin`alu,Ó and the fourth stage in the path of this poem, is in a multi-media presentation by the popular singer, Madonna. Isaac was one of the songs in the set of her celebrated Confessions Tour which contained 22 songs and which played in concerts held in venues all over the world. At the time, the Confessions Tour was the Òhighest grossing tour ever for a female artist, grossing over US$194.7 million from 60 shows with 1.2 million spectators. It is also recognized as the highest-grossing music tour per concert in the 2007 edition of the Guinness World Records. Confessions Tour received the ÔMost Creative Stage ProductionÕ at the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards as well as ÔTop BoxscoreÕ from the Billboard Touring Awards.Ó
MadonnaÕs Isaac begins with a Yemenite singer, Yitzhak Sinwani, blowing the shofar and then singing the song (actually, part of the first verse). The lyrics and dramatic sequence to MadonnaÕs Isaac are as follows (for English translation of the Hebrew, see above):
Sound of shofar blowing
Im ninÕalu daltei nadivim, daltei nadivim
Daltei Marom lo ninÕalu,
lo ninÕalu.
Sound of shofar blowing
Im ninalu, im ninÕalu, im ninÕalu
daltei nadivim
Daltei Marom lo ninÕalu.
El hai marom, El hai maršmam, El hai maršmam al kol karuvim
Kulam beruho yaÕalu.
Figure in blue cape dancing in a cage; sand dunes
Madonna appears
Staring up into the heavens
In this hell that binds your hands.
Will you sacrifice your comfort?
Make your way in a foreign land?
Wrestle with your darkness.
Angels call your name.
Can you hear what they are saying?
Will you ever be the same?
Chorus with images of dancer and eagle, the singers, sand dunes
Mmmm mmm mmm
Im nin'alu, im nin'alu
Mmmm mmm mmm
Im nin'alu, im nin'alu
Mmmm mmm mmm.
Madonna sings
Remember, remember.
Never forget.
All of your life has all been a test.
You will find the gate that's open
Even though your spirit's broken.
Open up my heart.
Cause my lips to speak.
Bring the heavens and the stars
Down to earth for me.
Chorus; the woman in cage reaches
out
The cage lifts up
El hai, El hai, Marom, maršmam al kol karuvim
Kulam beruho yaÕalu.
Madonna liberates the caged woman.
Wrestle with your darkness.
Angels call your name.
Can you hear what they are saying?
Will you ever be the same?
Chorus; woman dances in freedom; Madonna with male dancers
MadonnaÕs multi-media presentation (alternate version), thus, interweaves ShabaziÕs mystical poem, in its version as a modern popular Israeli song, with the themes of liberation and of life as a test. An amazing palimpsest of texts.[25]
Who would have imagined that a poem written by a Yemenite kabbalist in the 17th century would be heard and seen millions of times in popular Israeli culture and then be incorporated in one of the most famous world tours of one of the most famous non-Jewish popular singers?! A strange path for a mystical poem.
An Instructive Epilogue
I teach a course on the Akeda (the Binding of Isaac), in which the students must find renderings of the Akeda in art, sculpture, literature, and music. One year, two students presented MadonnaÕs Isaac in class. I was blown away with possibility that Madonna had created a multi-media commentary on the Akeda – one which started with a mystical Yemenite poem and proceeded to the theme of liberation in her own lyrics: ÒMadonnaÕs AkedaÓ!
There was only one problem with my interpretation: MadonnaÕs Isaac has nothing to do with the Akeda. Even the title ÒIsaacÓ has nothing to do with the Akeda, as Madonna herself noted when she explained the title:
It's
named after Yitzhak Sinwani, who's singing in
Yemenite on the track. I couldn't think of a title for the song. So I called it
"Isaac" [the English translation of "Yitzhak"]. It's
interesting how their minds work, those naughty rabbis.... He's saying,
"If all of the doors of all of the generous peoples' homes are closed to
you, the gates of heaven will always be open." The words are about 1,000
years old [DRB: 400 is more correct]... [Yitzhak] is an old friend of mine.
He's never made a record. He comes from generations of beautiful singers.
Stuart and I asked him to come into the studio one day. We said, "We're
just going to record you. We don't know what we're going to do with it."
He's flawless. One take, no bad notes. He doesn't even need a microphone. We
took one of the songs he did and I said to Stuart, "Let's sample these bits.
We'll create a chorus and then I'll write lyrics around it." That's how we
constructed it.[26]
Sinwani had gone to study and then teach at the Kabbalah Institute in Los Angeles and London. Madonna met him there, heard him sing some traditional Yemenite songs, and invited him to record for her. According to one report, itself a partial translation of a long interview Sinwani in Yediot Aharonot, ÒÉ she said that when Sinwani sang her the song for the first time, she was overwhelmed with emotions and started to cry, even though she couldn't understand a word. ÔAfter he translated the lyrics for me,Õ she said, ÔI cried even more.Õ"
Credit must be given to Zach
Thompson and Mary Ruf, the students who uncovered the
link because, in their original presentation, they did specifically draw
attention to the possible naming of the piece after the singer. It was I who,
in my enthusiasm, had invented ÒMadonnaÕs Akeda.Ó
ÒScholars, beware of your words lest you be found guiltyÓ (Mishna, ÒAvotÓ 1:11).