https://youtu.be/BpzemzxXqd4?si=-0B0aPBmF27HjICm# Mi Khamokha - Shabbat ZakhorA word of caution for Sephardim planning to invite Ashkenazi guests to lunch on Shabbat Zachor: be sure to inform them that the service at your local Esnoga is likely to overrun by approximately 25 minutes. This delay is due to the inclusion of Yehuda Halevi’s monumental Piyyut 'Mi Kamokha', traditionally recited on this special Shabbat.Best described as a poetic retelling of Megillat Esther, this Piyyut consists of four acrostic chapters—two alphabetical and two formed from the author’s initials. In total, it comprises 82 strophes, each meticulously structured with its own internal rhyming scheme and concluding with a Tanakhic quotation ending in the word 'Lo' (לו).The liturgical positioning of 'Mi Kamokha' varies across Sephardic traditions. The Edot HaMizrach typically recite it just before Keriyat HaTorah, while Spanish and Portuguese communities, along with many North African congregations, insert it during Nishmat. However, as Rabbi Hanan Benayahu has pointed out, neither of these reflects its original intended placement. The Piyyut was initially composed to be included within the Berakha 'Ga'al Yisrael', immediately before the Amidah, underscoring its thematic connection to redemption. This arrangement, however, attracted irresistible Halakhic opposition.The melody for 'Mi Kamokha' varies slightly within the Spanish and Portuguese diaspora. This abbreviated recording begins with the distinctive London chant, transitions to the Amsterdam and New York melody for the second strophe, and concludes with the dramatic coda from the London tradition marking the close of a chapterPlease like and share.