Yemen's Jewish Poet: Shalom Shabazi and the Lyrical Resistance

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the life and legacy of Shalom Shabazi, the 17th-century Jewish poet from Yemen whose verses became a cornerstone of Yemeni Jewish identity and a subtle form of resistance against persecution. Shabazi, a rabbi and kabbalist, wrote over 550 poems in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Judeo-Arabic, weaving together biblical themes, mystical longing, and the struggles of life under the Zaydi imams. The episode delves into his exile from Sana'a following the 1679 Mawza expulsion of Jews from Yemen, and how his poetry sustained a community through centuries of hardship. Lucas explains Shabazi's use of lyrical Hebrew, his influence on Jewish liturgy from Yemen to Israel, and his role as a cultural bridge between Yemen and the wider Jewish world. The conversation also touches on the recent discovery of a 17th-century manuscript of Shabazi's poems in a Cairo genizah, and why his work remains relevant today as a symbol of Yemen's multi-faith heritage.

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