Mah Yafit

This is one of the finest Ashkenazi table songs. It is usually printed in Zemirot booklets in the Friday night section. It contains the acrostic Mordechai ben Yitzchak and is thought to be written by the rabbi of that name who lived in Carpentras at the beginning of the Fourteenth Century, also thought to be the author of Maoz Tzur.

The rhyme scheme is not immediately obvious, and is worthy of attention. The verses form sets of three. For the first two verses in each set, lines 1, 2 and 3 rhyme; and the 4th lines of verses 1 and 2 rhyme with each other. For the third verse in each set, lines 1 and 4 rhyme, and lines 2 and 3 rhyme. The first line of each verse (with a few exceptions, including the first verse since it is a direct quote from the Song of Songs) contains an internal rhyme.

Experts tell us that this rhyming scheme is an example of the Provençal Canso Redonda, which later developed into the Sestina... whatever that means.

The acrostic containing the author's name is contained in the first letter of every third verse starting with the first. Here are the first three verses.