Isaac ben Yakar

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ISAAC BEN YAKAR

ISAAC BEN YAKAR (12th century), paytan. In two acrostics of his seliḥot Isaac adds to his signature yeled meshu'sha and in two other acrostics, millul. The first designation is probably an allusion to his family name (according to Jer. 31:33), while the second seems to indicate his place of residence. *Gross reads מלוך (milokh) for מלול (millul) having in mind a French village, probably Luc in the Pyrenees; Lille could hardly have been meant. Six of Isaac's seliḥot, with the complete acrostic of his name, are extant; three have appeared in print, among them a very ingeniously constructed seliḥah, Ḥatanu, consisting only of "ring" words. One of the remaining three seliḥot was rendered into German by *Zunz.

bibliography:

Zunz, Poesie, 90, 110, 251, 271; Zunz, Lit Poesie, 268f., 618; Steinschneider, Kat. Hamburg, 51:134; Ziemlich, in: mwj, 12 (1885), 137; Fuenn, Keneset, 1 (1886), 615; Davidson, Oẓar, 4 (1933), 419; Gross, Gal Jud, 275f.; D. Goldschmidt, Seliḥot… Lita (1965), 228–31, 247–50.

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Isaac ben Yakar

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