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At that moment the Holy One kissed him, and took away his soul with a kiss. God wept, and cried, as it were: ‘Who will rise up for Me against the evil-doers? who will stand up for Me against the workers of iniquity?’^[45] The Holy Spirit said: ‘And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses.’^[46] The heavens wept, and said: ‘And the upright among men is no more.’^[47] When Joshua sought his master and found him not, he wept, and said: ‘Help, O Lord, for the godly man hath ceased; for faithfulness hath failed from the children of men.’^[48] The ministering angels said: ‘He executed the righteousness of the Lord.’^[49] Israel said: ‘And His ordinances with Israel.’^[50] All of them together said: ‘He entereth into peace, they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness.’^[51]

The memory of the righteous is blessed, and his soul shall be in the life of the world to come.

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[Opinions differ as to the time and birthplace of this liturgic poet. The latest researches, however, tend to prove that he flourished in Palestine toward the end of the seventh century. He was a very prolific poet, about two hundred of his poems being still extant in the various Mahzorim. His muse is doleful, bewailing the misfortunes of the Jewish people. His style, though chiefly biblical in construction, teems with newly-coined words.]