Shnei Zeitim: Two Olive Branches – Piyut by Solomon Ibn Gabirol
Shnei Zeitim: Two Olive Branches
Piyut by Solomon Ibn Gabirol
Translated & Annotated by Ben Zion Katz[1]
Two[2] olive branches[3] cut down in the garden[4] will again produce fresh, pure olive oil[5],
For the leaders of the Kohatites[6] and the Ephratites[7] will be crowned as one[8].
They will shine[9] like candles on the holy Menorah[10]-
There in the camp opposite the menorah, they shined![11]
The son of Ephrat[12] whose ornament[13] was cut off and then dried up[14]
Has now become the anointed one[15] for those who were laid low and directionless[16].
Recall the vision of Zachariah[17] –
As you remembered it, you were saved[18] by the hand of Zerubabel[19],
Their generation remembered and were saved[20], and that year[21] was called a Jubilee Year!
They were resettled[22] in the place of their forefathers where they were given sovereignty[23]
And from the oppression[24] of the hunter[25] they were spared[26], and
There in the camp opposite the menorah, they shined![27]
The interrupted[28] kingship was returned to the city of Zion,
The honored daughter[29], after much work, was brought back to her mother’s home (i.e., Israel),
The Kingship[30], the [beautiful] diadem[31] was placed back on David’s head,
The covered turban[32] was [re]established on the head of Aaron[’s descendants],
The daily sacrifice was reinstated and the meal offering [again] raised up [to the Lord]
The anointing oil[33] that was being used[34] hadn’t been seen in quite a while![35]
The fires are lit [again] in the menorahs by the descendants of Aaron,
There in the camp opposite the menorah, they shined[36]
[Regarding] the depressed and the thirsty who complain to You constantly –
Put your trust[37] in the son of the beloved[38] who is called ruddy[39]
Enter the garden of spices (i.e., Israel)[40] whose canopy is glorious[41]
And lead them, rule over them in Mt Zion and in the Galilee,
[Whence] just laws will be issued[42] with harp and flute.
The nation that loves Your Name and who abandon false prophets, nothingness and idols.
The nation that toiled[43] will now be so blessed, that it will be obvious to all who gaze upon them[44], that
There in the camp, opposite the menorah, they shined![45]
Figure. Synagogue motif quoting Zacharia 4:2-3 with olive branches, from India. Photo courtesy Michael R. Stein.
[1] This piyut reprinted here is from https://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/Song/Pages/song.aspx?songid=438 (accessed 12/23/20). It can also be found in Siddur Avodat Yisrael edited by Seligman Baer, corrected edition, Breidelheim, 1818, reprinted Jerusalem, no date, pp 640-1. This piyyut is known as a me’orah because it is (fittingly) inserted before the blessing Or Chadash (a new light) on Shabbat Chanukah. I have relied extensively on Baer’s notes for my annotations. I thank Michael R. Stein for the online link to this piyut and for helpful discussions.
[2] The 2 refer to priesthood and kingship; see below.
[3] Zeitim can mean olives or olive branches or trees; olive branches is better suited to the context and to general synagogue imagry; see Figure.
[4] Lit., “enclosed garden” from Song of Songs 4:12, taken by the rabbis as a metaphor for the Jewish people; see for example Rashi on that verse.
[5] Hebrew yitzhar, is a triple play on words. I have translated literally, but it is also the name of a priestly family (e.g., Exodus 6:18; see also the following note) and can mean (sky)light or zenith.
[6] Kehat, one of the 3 sons of Levy, is the father of Yitzhar. Kehat serves as another stand-in for the priesthood.
[7] King David, who ruled over the united kingdom of Israel and Judah was descended from Ephratites (Ruth 1:2). Efrat is another name for Bet Lehem, a city in Judah (Micah 5:1). I thank another Michael Stein for help with this note.
[8] Lit., “they will be crowned with 2 (royal) wreaths”, but the sense is of combined authority uniting the priesthood and kingship. Note how this unity is presented as the ultimate achievement of the Maccabees, unlike in classical rabbinic thought where the priestly Maccabees were criticized for (also) usurping kingship (see Yerushalmi Horayot 3:2 and Ramban on Gen. 49:10 [I thank Rabbi Joel Guttstein for helping me locate these references.])
[9] This word yazhiru in this line is nearly identical to the word yatzhiru above; see note 5.
[10] If the menorah is also a reference to Israel (“a light unto the nations”) then this line means that the Maccabees were an inspiration to the Jewish people
[11] Numbers 8:2 uses similar terminology describing Aaron the high priest lighting the menorah in the desert tabernacle for the first time. This line is the refrain of the piyut and depending on what precedes it may take on slightly different meanings.
[12] See note 7
[13] This is the term used for an ornament on the miter of the high priest; cf. Exod. 29:6
[14] Cf. Isaiah 28:1 and 40:7, 8
[15] Literally “the son of the anointed one” which is alliterative in the Hebrew with what precedes and follows.
[16] Literally “like a boat without a captain”
[17] The text adds “in the city of Babylonia” immediately following, but Zachariah was one of the last prophets during the era of the rebuilding of the second Temple in Jerusalem after the exiles returned from Babylonia. Perhaps Ibn Gabirol meant that Zachariah was originally from Babylonia, that he originally had this vision in Babylonia or perhaps there is some textual confusion with the name Zerubabel, the Jewish political leader during the early second Temple period; see the following note.
[18] In Zachariah chapter 4 a vision is recounted that has relevance to Hanukah and from which Ibn Gabirol took inspiration for the current piyut. Zachariah sees a 7 branched menorah with 2 olive branches, one on each side. The 2 olive branches are called the 2 sons of oil – i.e., the 2 anointed ones (yitzhar is the word used in Zechariah 4:14 [see note 5]), who represent the priestly and political leaders of the Jews in Zachariah’s time. These 2 institutions, as Ibn Gabirol notes in this piyut, are united in the Maccabees. See the previous note and note 8, above.
[19] See note 17 and the following note.
[20] This line is a bit obscure and is missing in some manuscripts according to Baer.
[21] Literally “she” or “you”.
[22] Literally “placed”.
[23] Literally “where they could rule over all the whole Earth”.
[24] Literally “hand”
[25] A reference to Esau (cf. Gen. 25:27), a stand in for countries that conquered ancient Israel and Judah.
[26] Literally “they took his ring” a reference to Pharaoh giving Joseph his ring as a symbol of transfer of power (Gen. 41:42). An alternative reading to being spared from the hand of the enemy is that Israel will wrest the power from the hand of the oppressor.
[27] See note 11, above.
[28] Literally “extended”
[29] Cf. Psalm 45:14. An alternative to “after much work” could be “with many servants”.
[30] Literally “Queen mother” but this is probably a play on the Hebrew word for strength.
[31] Cf. Isaiah 28:5.
[32] One of the priestly garments; cf. Exod. 29:27 and Lev. 16:4.
[33] Literally “medicines”
[34] Literally “taken”
[35] Literally “till now”; cf. Gen. 45:28.
[36] See note 11, above.
[37] Literally “support your hand”
[38] A reference to the messiah – see note below
[39] For this use of ruddy or red, see Gen 49:12, part of the blessing of Judah, David’s tribe; David was a red head (I Sam. 16:12).
[40] Cf. Song of Songs 6:12.
[41] Or perhaps “whose canopy is royal blue”
[42] Literally sung; cf. Exod. 15:1.
[43] Cf. Exod. 1:14.
[44] Cf. Isaiah 61:9
[45] See note 11, above.
3 thoughts on “Shnei Zeitim: Two Olive Branches – Piyut by Solomon Ibn Gabirol”
not “Breidelheim”, be-Roedelheim
Interestingly enough, I just saw a line-by-line exposition of this poem in Moadim Perspectives, in an article from Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer.
A beautiful piyut (in the original Hebrew that is). It’s sung with the melody of Maoz Tzur, where the melody may have been originally, before Maoz Tzur.