Biography
Rabbi Moshe ben Kalonymus was a paytan of the tenth century, born in northern Italy, who settled in Mainz — a founding figure in the move of Torah and piyut from Italy to Ashkenaz. He was a son of the illustrious Kalonymus family, which for centuries gave the communities of Italy and Ashkenaz their leaders, poskim and paytanim, and from which came Rabbi Meshulam ben Kalonymus. In one of his piyutim he writes of himself that he had “borne exhaustion for more than nine hundred years, waiting to see the salvation” — nine hundred years from the churban, placing him around the year 970.
An ancient tradition names him as the author of Eimat Nora’otecha, the krovah recited on Shevii shel Pesach, where the author signs himself “Moshe bar Kalonymus.” The beloved Shabbat zemirot Menucha V’Simcha and Kol Mekadesh Shevii both carry the name Moshe in their acrostic, and some have suggested that they too are his.
His piyutim show the influence of the piyut of Eretz Yisrael, and tradition assigns him a place in the chain of the hidden wisdom of Ashkenaz: according to Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Delmedigo he received the torat hasod from Aharon ben Shmuel HaNasi, who had come from Bavel to Europe, and Rabbeinu Gershom Meor HaGolah is counted as a talmid of his talmidim.
Where traditions differ. An old question surrounds the authorship of Eimat Nora'otecha: Shlomo Yehuda Rapoport attributed it to a later Moshe ben Kalonymus of Mainz (c. 1020), while Avraham Grossman upholds the tradition that the first Rabbi Moshe, who came from Italy to Mainz, was the author. The attribution of the Shabbat zemirot Menucha V'Simcha and Kol Mekadesh Shevii to him is likewise a conjecture built on the acrostic "Moshe."
רבי משה בן קָלוֹנִימוּס היה פייטן בן המאה ה-10 אשר נולד בצפון איטליה והיגר למגנצא. פיוטיו הושפעו מהפיוטים הארץ-ישראליים, ויש מסורת עתיקה כי הוא שחיבר את הקרובה לשביעי של פסח, "אימת נוראותיך". על זמן חייו הוא מעיד בעצמו באחד מפיוטיו "זוללתי עתה ללאות יותר מתשע מאות", מכאן לומדים שחי 900 שנה לאחר חורבן בית המקדש. הזמירות לשבת מנוחה ושמחה וכל מקדש שביעי נתחברו על ידי פייטן בשם משה, כפי שנרמז באקרוסטיכון, ויש ששיערו ששניהם חוברו על ידי אותו פייטן, וכי אותו פייטן הוא רבי משה בן קלונימוס.
Rabbi Moses ben Kalonymus was a 10th-century paytan born in northern Italy who immigrated to Mainz. His piyyutim were influenced by the Land of Israel liturgical tradition. There is an ancient tradition that he was the composer of the piyyut "Eimat Noratekha" which is recited on Shevi'i shel Pesach.
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