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“Aḥeinu” is the final prayer in a set of supplications recited on Mondays and Thursdays as the Torah scroll is being prepared to be returned to the Aron. The prayer is first found with variations in wording in the surviving manuscripts of the Seder Rav Amram Gaon (ca. 9th c.). . . .  Contributor(s): Anonymous (translation), Unknown Author(s) and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא יֵין עָסִיס | Asher Bara Yayin ‘Asis — a Poetic Extension of the Blessing over Wine for the Passover Seder (ca. 9th c.)The following piyyut seems to have been customarily used in some Babylonian communities as an extensive replacement for the “creator of the vine-fruit” opening of the kiddush. Rav Saadia Gaon forbade it for being an alteration of the talmudic formula, but his successor Rav Hai Gaon permitted it for its cherished status. No communities today have preserved a custom of reciting it, but in 1947 Naphtali Wieder (zçl) published a text he found in the Cairo Geniza, which is replicated and translated below. Daniel Goldschmidt (zçl) suggests that it may be in it of itself a compilation of two different rites. The conjunction point is marked below with a black line. . . .  Categories: Ḳadesh💬 ספר תולדות ישו, לפי נוסח שטרסבורג | The Book of the Generations of Yeshu, according to the Strasbourg Variant, cantillated and vocalized by Isaac Gantwerk MayerOne of many variants of this notorious work, the Sefer Toldot Yeshu is an irreverent retelling? a bitter deconstruction? a mocking parody? of the Christian narrative of the birth, life, and death of Jesus of Nazareth. Taking its general structure from the gospels, it coöpts and alters it to make the main character look like a petty, vindictive sorcerer, his disciples into either sectarian liars or loyal rabbinic plants, and his followers into easily duped fools. Toldot Yeshu was a very popular work in medieval times, and you can tell — this sort of a text was certainly written by someone whose primary relationship with Christians was fear. It’s the bitter invective of an oppressed people without power for themselves, the dirty laundry that two thousand years of murder leaves behind. It’s also, just, like unspeakably, hilariously crude. Have a garlicky Nittel, everyone! . . . אוֹי נָא לָֽנוּ כִּי חָטָֽאנוּ | Oy Na Lanu Ki Ḥatanu (Woe alas unto us, for we have sinned), a ḳinah possibly by Elazar ben Killir (ca. 7th c.)This anonymously authored ḳinah (קינה, song of “lamentation”) begins with the line “אוֹי נָא לָֽנוּ כִּי חָטָֽאנוּ” (oy na lanu ki ḥatanu, “Woe—alas—unto us, for we have sinned”). Although the ancient Roman Jewish historian Flavius Josephus blames the Roman Empire for the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE—and Roman art even celebrates the Roman capture of the Temple’s candelabrum—this ḳinah suggests that the destruction of Jerusalem was, at least partially, the result of Jewish discord. The ḳinah, which was long part of the Romanian prayer service for Tish’ah b’Av, appears in few other traditional prayerbooks for Tish’ah b’Av. It seems that the author of this ḳinah was El’azar ben Kallir (ca. 570–640 CE), who composed approximately half of the kinot most commonly inserted into contemporary Tish’ah b’Av prayerbooks that include the 40-odd most common kinot (קינות, plural of ḳinah) Jews sang throughout Europe during much of the early modern period. The author did not sign their name but left us with an alphabetical acrostic listing of often-concrete reasons to mourn today. . . . Categories: Tishah b'Avאֵל אָדוֹן (אשכנז) | El Adōn, a piyyut attributed to the Yordei Merkavah (alphabetic acrostic translation by Rabbi Sam Seicol)The piyyut El Adon in its nusaḥ Ashkenaz variation set side-to-side with an acrostic alphabetic translation in English. . . . מַן־כְּוָתָךְ | Man K’vatakh (Who is Like You) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of PesaḥThis piyyut, Man K’vatakh (Who is Like You), the seventh in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited as an introduction to the Targum of the verse that includes “Mi Khamokha.” The English translation preserves the Hebrew acrostic of the Aramaic. . . . Categories: 7th Day of Pesaḥאָמַר אוֹיֵב | Amar Oyev (The Enemy Said) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of PesaḥThis piyyut, Amar Oyev (The Enemy Said), the sixth in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited as an introduction to the targum of Exodus 15, verse 9. . . . Categories: 7th Day of Pesaḥאֲשֶׁר בִּגְלַל אָבוֹת בָּנִים גִּדֵּל | Asher Biglal Avot Banim Gidel — an archaic piyyut on Mosheh’s Death for Simḥat TorahThis piyyut of unknown authorship is certainly ancient, showing the lack of a rhyme scheme characteristic of the REALLY old piyyutim (see also Aleinu or El Adon). It is still found in some Ashkenazi and Teman maḥzorim, with many different mostly minor variants (which have been combined together somewhat eclectically into one text here). It is presented here along with an English translation attempting to preserve the Hebrew acrostic. Originally it was recited before the Ashrei leading into musaf, but perhaps for those who follow Ashkenazi customs a more appropriate location would be as an introduction to the Yizkor service on Shmini ‘Atzeret — which for those who don’t keep second-day yontef is the same day. It could also be adapted as part of the liturgy for the seventh of Adar, although the final verse (the old Western rite berakha for finishing a full Torah cycle) would have to be elided. . . . אתי בשלם | ࠀࠕࠉ࠰ࠁࠔࠋࠌ | Itti Bishlam (Come in Peace), a Samaritan Aramaic Poem for the Festival Season by Marqeh ben Amram (ca. 4th c.)Itti Bishlam is a sixteen-hundred year old Samaritan Aramaic poem attributed to the great Samaritan sage Marqeh son of Amram. In twelve stanzas it tells the story of the night of the tenth plague and the Exodus. Samaritans traditionally recite it on the night before the holidays, the Sabbaths before the holidays, and the evening before the first day of the first month (the Samaritan new year, fourteen days before Passover). Largely a half-alphabetical acrostic, the fifth stanza of Itti Bishlam begins with an īt (ḥeth) rather than the expected īy (her), understandable considering the loss of guttural distinctions in Samaritan phonology. (See the number of Jewish poems which confuse sin and samekh for a parallel occurrence.) Itti Bishlam is, interestingly enough, lacking polemic or sectarian content — it never calls upon the Samaritan holy mountain of Aargaarizem (Mt. Gerizim), nor does it include any context that contradicts the traditional Jewish interpretation of the paschal narrative. It is worthwhile for Jews to learn about and understand the liturgical practices of their sister religion, and this poem is a great place to start! . . . Categories: MagidPsalms №27 has a very tight thematic structure, with a set of word plays around שיר–מישור–שוררי (straight lines of verse, path, those that line up against me/opponents), צור–צרי–צרי (Rock, those that trap/trouble me, dire straits), and the consonance between צוררי–שוררי. We also get the heavy parallelism and light chiastic structure in the framing, repeated call backs to images and phrases (My Salvation, raising, no fear, God’s Face, being forsook), word play (parents forsake so God is my הורני – the one who instructs me as a parent). There is also the contrasting image of God’s prolonged angry snort vs the shallow exhalation of violence of the lying witnesses. Note too that this is an early example of “words as violence”. The penultimate verse calls back to verse 4, looking upon God’s delightful goodness, and life or the land of the living is compared to the Temple. There is also a fascinating external reference to Moses (and Elijah) being hidden in the cleft of the Rock and from there seeking to see God’s Face. Finally, there is a rather intriguing question about what it means for God to keep us on the straight and narrow path for the sake of those that line up against us. Is God acting on their behalf? Thru them? Is this the classic “antisemitism aids in Jewish unity” argument from three millennia ago or do we walk this path in order to actually save even our opponents in some way. Perhaps צוררי–שוררי is about opponents vs adversaries and praying God will draw a fine line between them from which we will not cross over or stray into. . . . Categories: Tehilim Book 1 (Psalms 1–41)This is an interpretive translation of Psalms 27 first published by Zackary Sholem Berger on medium. . . . Categories: Tehilim Book 1 (Psalms 1–41) Contributor(s): Zackary Sholem Berger, the Masoretic Text and David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 89 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), pp. 145-148. . . . Categories: Tehilim Book 3 (Psalms 73–89)Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 120 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 214. . . . Categories: Tehilim Book 5 (Psalms 107–150)תהלים קכ״א | Psalms 121, an “up song” (shir la-ma’alot) translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter ShalomiRabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 121 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 215. . . . Categories: Tehilim Book 5 (Psalms 107–150)This is Psalms 140 attributed to David ben Yishai, with an English translation by Rabbi Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraeli from Prayers for Israel, for Protection from Terror Attacks, and In Memory of the Victims (15 October 2023). . . . Categories: Tehilim Book 5 (Psalms 107–150) Contributor(s): R' Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraëli, the Masoretic Text and David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)This is a 14th-century translation of the entire book of Jonah into Judeo-Greek or Yevanic, the traditional language of the Romaniote community of Byzantium. To quote the Judeo-Greek expert Julia G. Krivoruchko, it “exhibits a fusion of contemporary vernacular language with archaic elements” and “favors an extremely literal translation style.” This translation was first published in Greek transcription by the Dutch hellenist Dirk Christiaan Hesseling, who misdated it to the 12th-century based on a mixup between the Seleucid and common eras. Included as part of a Romaniote maḥzor (Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 19), this translation was almost certainly in use as a targum for the reading of Jonah as the Yom Kippur minḥa haftarah. In the original manuscript the majority of verses are preceded with a few words of the Hebrew, a common practice for written targumim. . . .  Tags: תרגום targum, 14th century C.E., Greek speaking Jewry, Greek translation, 52nd century A.M., Judeo-Greek, Yevanic Contributor(s): Unknown Translator(s), the Masoretic Text and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)💬 מְגִלַּת אֵיכָה | Megillat Eikhah (Lamentations) in acrostic English translation by Isaac Gantwerk MayerAn original gender-neutral translation of the book of Lamentations, preserving the alphabetical acrostic through closest parallels to the Hebrew letter. . . . Tags: English Translation, 21st century C.E., Five Megillot, Exilic Period, Alphabetic Acrostic, lamentation, acrostic Contributor(s): Yirmiyah ben Ḥilkiyah haKohen, Barukh ben Neriyah, the Masoretic Text and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) |
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