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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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🡄 (Previous year) :: 📅 2025 📅 Resources published in 2026 |
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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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2026 🡄 (Previous year) :: 📅 2025 📅 Resources published in 2026 Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? An ofan (a piyyut inserted into the Qedusha d’Yotser) recited in the eastern Ashkenazi Minhag Polin rite for Shabbat haGadol. Signed “Benjamin,” Davidson ascribes it to the great paytan R. Binyamin bar Zeraḥ, possibly as part of the same poetic cycle as Itti MiLvanon (his yotser for the same day). Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, Angels, Minhag Polin, ofanim, פיוטים piyyuṭim, יוצר אור yotser ohr Contributor(s): The Minhag Ashkenaz (Western Ashkenazi) yotser (piyyut inserted into the beginning of the first blessing of the Shema service) for Shabbat haGadol, by Binyamin bar Zeraḥ. Also recited by some eastern Ashkenazim, although not as commonly as Aamir Mistater (the standard in Minhag Polin). Translated here with preserved acrostic and rhyme scheme. This piyyut uses the language of Song of Songs to retell the story of the exodus via the language of a romantic relationship. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, Alphabetic Acrostic, liberation from mitsrayim, Minhag Ashkenaz, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Shaḥarit l'Shabbat ul'Yom Tov, יוצר אור yotser ohr, יוצרות yotsrot Contributor(s): This is the alphabetic acrostic piyyut “Etén l’Foali Tsedeq” by Shimon bar Yitsḥaq (b. Abun of Mainz, identified via his acrostic signature), as translated into rhymed English verse by Elsie Davis, and published in Herbert Adler and Arthur Davis’s Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Yom haZikaron (1907), p. 104 (also, p. 200). Israel Zangwill’s rhyming translation of “Otekha Edrosh” by Rabbi Shimon ben Yitsḥaq ben Abun of Mainz, was first published in Arthur Davis and Herbert Adler’s Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Yom haKippurim (Evening Service) (1904), pp. 41-43. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is Israel’s Zangwill’s versified English translation of the ofan piyyut of Shimon ben Yitsḥaq Abun of Mainz as published in Arthur Davis and Herbert Adler’s Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Ḥag haShavuot (1909), p. 149. Categories: Tags: 10th century C.E., 48th century A.M., ofanim, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation, יוצר אור yotser ohr, יוצרות yotsrot Contributor(s): A passage from Rav Saadia Gaon’s Sefer haGalui providing a description and justification of the practice of cantillating works outside the TaNaKh (in the Geonic period!) Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer for captives, containing a piyyut followed by meaningful verses and a mi sheberakh, was transcribed by Dr. Yehoshua Granat from a manuscript produced in late medieval France, Ms. Barginsky 206 (fol. 67b) in the Braginsky Collection in Zurich, Switzerland, under the title “יש מקומות שנהגו לבקש רחמים על האסור בבית האסורים כדרך הזה” (“There are places where it was customary to ask for mercy for the imprisoned in this way”). Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The nusaḥ Italki (Italian rite) preserves a full curriculum of Torah study in advance of the morning prayers. Included are passages from the Torah, Mishnah, and Gemarah familiar to other nusḥaot. In the Italian rite, the blessings over Torah study and ensuing passages appear after all the other birkhot hashaḥar, concluding it and providing a bridge to liturgy preceding the Zemirot (a/k/a Pesuqei d’Zimra). What is remarkable in this tradition is how interlinked the blessing and recitation of these passages is to the otherwise separate and adjacent section concerning the sacrificial offerings in the Temple and the rules of halakhic exegesis in Rabbinic hermeneutics. While additional portions and verses are presented, the passages provide an explicit justification for the otherwise radical innovation carried forth in rabbinic Judaism to offer services of prayer in place of the services of the Temple cult, providing Hosea 14:3 as the authority to do so — a necessity in an age where the Torah mandated arrangements of animal sacrifices, incense and grain offerings, and wine libations remains otherwise interrupted. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is the form of the prophylactic prayers following the birkhot hashaḳar and which precede the birkhot Talmud Torah in the Italian nusaḥ attested by Rabbi David Prato from his siddur, תפלה לדוד Preghiere di Rito Italiano (1949), pp. 10-12. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The Minhag Polin (Eastern Ashkenazi) yotser (piyyut inserted into the beginning of the first blessing of the Shema service) for Shabbat haGadol, by the Sefaradi sage and paytan Joseph ibn Abitur. Translated with preserved acrostic and rhyme scheme. This piyyut juxtaposes the seven days of creation with the miracles of the Exodus as well as the promised future salvation in a three-by-three structure. Categories: Tags: acrostic, Acrostic signature, Alphabetic Acrostic, liberation from mitsrayim, Minhag Polin, פיוטים piyyuṭim, יוצר אור yotser ohr, יוצרות yotsrot Contributor(s): Traditional Ashkenazi practice entailed the recitation of a large number of seliḥot piyyutim in every single one of the Yom Kippur ‘amidot. In many Ashkenazi communities today, these are (excepting Ma’ariv and Ne’ilah) skipped on account of time. But this has always felt like a great shame to me, because seliḥot are, in a sense, the theological and liturgical core of the Yom Kippur practice. So a while back I made a bunch of spreadsheets to compare all the attested Yom Kippur seliḥot rites as listed in Goldschmidt’s maḥzor, and designed an abbreviated cycle of seliḥot for Shaḥarit, Musaf, and Minḥah. Each cycle features two regular seliḥot, one ‘aqedah (a retelling of the binding of Isaac), and one pizmon (a final seliḥah with a repeated refrain, sung communally), for a total of four seliḥot and five repetitions of the thirteen attributes. This is the first result of this process, for Shaḥarit. Musaf and Minḥah selections will arrive eventually, albeit probably not this year. Categories: Tags: acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, alphabetic acrostic translation, phonetic acrostic translation, פיוטים piyyuṭim, פזמונים pizmonim, סליחות səliḥot Contributor(s): The Secrets of Rebbi Shimōn ben Yoḥai is a pseudepigraphal record of the divine visions of the second-century rabbi, Shimon ben Yoḥai. Scholarly opinion about the date of its composition is divided. Adolf Jellinek thought it was likely authored during the time of the Crusades, while Heinrich Graetz thought it was likely composed in the mid-8th century. The visions described in the secrets portrays the Yishmaelites being led by a violent saviour of the Jews from the hegemony of the Byzantine Empire. It describes the events and rulers of the eighth-century Umayyad Empire, as well as eight-century battles between the Byzantines (known in the text as the Ḳenites or the Kingdom of Edōm) and the Umayyads (known in it as the Kingdom of Yishmael). Categories: Tags: 46th century A.M., 8th century C.E., eschaton, geonic period, Needing Vocalization, pseudepigrapha, Umayyad Caliphate Contributor(s): This piyyut, “Itgabar,” was originally written as an introduction to the sixth commandment, the commandment of not murdering. It is a poetic retelling of the death of Joab in I Kings 2:28-34. Joab, the leader of David’s armies, was a notoriously violent man, the slaughterer of Abner and Amasa. He died in a correspondingly violent way, struck down by Benaiah son of Jehoiada within the Tabernacle itself. Surprisingly enough, this poem frames Solomon as an unjust and cruel ruler, treating Joab’s death as a tragedy rather than the quid-pro-quo consequence it is portrayed as in Kings. In this location, it almost goes so far as to calling Solomon himself a murderer. Categories: Tags: 45th century A.M., 7th century C.E., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, bloodshed, Decalogue, murder, פיוטים piyyuṭim, תרגום targum, ultraviolence Contributor(s): This piyyut, “Amar Yitsḥaq,” was originally written as an introduction to the fifth commandment, the commandment of honoring your father and mother. In the eyes of the payṭan, the quintessential example of honoring your father is an incredibly morbid one — Isaac, encouraging his father to go through with it on the altar and begging him to strike true, so that the sacrifice isn’t rendered unfit! It incorporates midrashic narratives about Isaac’s total willingness to go through with the sacrifice, as well as his longing for his mother in the process. To our modern eyes it is quite a disturbing work! But it’s worth remembering that there were many cases in medieval Europe of Jewish parents so desperate and terrified on account of the Crusades that they killed their own children rather than have them submit to baptism. Perhaps this poem provided those who heard such horrific stories some comfort. Categories: Tags: 45th century A.M., 7th century C.E., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aqédat Yitsḥaq, Aramaic, Decalogue, martyrdom, פיוטים piyyuṭim, self-sacrifice, תרגום targum, יצחק Yitsḥaq Contributor(s): This piyyut, “Joseph Overpowered,” was originally written in the Byzantine era as an introduction to the seventh commandment, the commandment against adultery. It tells a midrashic elaboration of the story of Potiphar’s wife’s attempt and failure to seduce Joseph. It’s honestly a bit racier than one would expect from a liturgical text, with quite a few double entendres on the topic of sexuality. Like the two prior piyyutim — Amar Yitzḥak and Itgabar — it begins in medias res. Categories: Tags: 45th century A.M., 7th century C.E., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, Decalogue, פיוטים piyyuṭim, sexual attraction, sexual conduct, תרגום targum, Yosef cycle Contributor(s): The poetic genre known as ḳerovot, brief poems woven throughout the repetition of the weekday Amidah, is nowadays most closely associated with Elazar haḲalir’s Purim “Ḳrovetz“, a majestically interwoven piece of piyyut if ever there was one. This is the traditional Ashkenazi qerovot added to the Musaf repetition for Shabbat HaḤodesh, alongside a gender-neutral translation first made in 2022 but being posted here now. Categories: Tags: 45th century A.M., 7th century C.E., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, עמידה amidah, four special parashot, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Public Amidah, שבת החודש Shabbat haḤodesh Contributor(s): The complete qedushta cycle for Shabbat HaḤodesh by Qallir, including all the catenae of verses, repeated refrains, and additional rahitin often skipped in Ashkenazi practice. Alphabetical texts are translated with alphabetical acrostics. Categories: Tags: 45th century A.M., 7th century C.E., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, alphabetic acrostic translation, עמידה amidah, four special parashot, קרובות ḳerovot, liberation, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Public Amidah, שבת החודש Shabbat haḤodesh Contributor(s): The complete qedushta cycle for Shabbat Zakhor by Qallir, including all the catenae of verses and repeated refrains often skipped in Ashkenazi practice. Alphabetical texts are translated with alphabetical acrostics. Categories: Tags: 45th century A.M., 7th century C.E., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, alphabetic acrostic translation, עמידה amidah, four special parashot, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, pre-Purim, Problematic prayers, Public Amidah, שבת זכור Shabbat Zakhor Contributor(s): A zulat (a piyyut to be inserted before “Ezrat Avotenu” in the morning liturgy) attributed to Qallir, to be recited on Shabbat haḤodesh. Categories: Tags: 45th century A.M., 7th century C.E., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, four special parashot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation, שבת החודש Shabbat haḤodesh, יוצרות yotsrot, זולת zulat Contributor(s): The complete qedushta cycle (colloquially called “yotzros,” although it is not technically yotzrot but rather qerovot) for Shabbat Sheqalim by Qallir, including all the catenae of verses and repeated refrains often skipped in Ashkenazi practice. Alphabetical texts are translated with alphabetical acrostics. Categories: Tags: 45th century A.M., 7th century C.E., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, עמידה amidah, four special parashot, ההיכלות ויורדי המרכבה haHeikhalot v'Yordei haMerkavah, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Public Amidah, שבת שקלים Shabbat Sh'qalim Contributor(s): | ||
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