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Yom Kippur

This is an archive of prayers, prayer-poems, and songs for Yom haKippurim (the Day of Expiation), the second of the three Yamim Nora'im (Days of Awe).

Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, or a transcription or translation of a historical work by someone else.

PrayersMahzorim Readings

Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first?

💬 מזמור לבן סירא על זכות אבותינו (פרקים מד-נ)‏ | Paean of Ben Sira on the Merit of the Ancestors (ch. 44-50), vocalized and cantillated with the Poetic Masoretic System by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

The poem lauding the ancestors from Chapters 44 to 50 of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) is considered by many scholars to be the original influence for the Yom Kippur Avodah service, and the paean to Shimon the Righteous bears a striking similarity to the beloved piyyut “Mar’eh Khohen.” This passage from Ben Sira, the great paean on the merit of the ancestors, takes the Hebrew text of one of the Cairo Geniza manuscripts — Bodleian MS Heb e62 — and versifies it according to the standard Septuagintal text, along with vocalization and cantillation per the standard Masoretic EMe”T system for poetic books. It could be read on Yom Kippur for the avodah service, or just studied as a fascinating piece of Jewish history.

Categories:

Second Temple Period, Yom Kippur

Tags:

2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., Cairo Geniza, Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, Ecclesiasticus, Jews of Alexandria, Mar'eh Kohen

Contributor(s):

Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

וִדּוּי | Vidui (confession), translated by Naomi Socher-Lerner

The Yom Kippur vidui — confession — translated by Naomi Socher-Lerner.

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

אשמנו Ashamnu, communal confession, וידוי vidui

Contributor(s):

Unknown and Naomi Socher-Lerner

וְיֶאֱתָֽיוּ כֹּל לְעָבְדֶּֽךָ | v-Yèə̀tayu Kōl l’Avdèkha (All the world shall come to serve Thee), an early piyyuṭ with rhymed English translation by Israel Zangwill

This is the early piyyut, “v-Yeètayu Kol l’Avdèkha,” as paraphrased in rhymed English verse by Israel Zangwill in Arthur Davis and Herbert Adler’s Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Yom haKippurim vol. 2 (1904), pp. 154-155.

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Crowning, Late Antiquity, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Israel Zangwill (translation) and Unknown

וּנְתַנֶּה תֹּֽקֶף | u-N’taneh Toḳef in Hebrew, with translations in English, Yiddish, and Ladino

A quadrilingual text of U-N’taneh Tokef — Yiddish, Ladino, English, and Hebrew.

Categories:

Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Yom Kippur

Tags:

Ladino Translation, polyglot, ונתנה תקף unetaneh toqef, Yiddish translation

Contributor(s):

Unknown, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

🆕 סליחות בקצרה לשחרית יום כיפור | Abbreviated Seliḥot Cycle (General Nusaḥ Ashkenaz) for Yom Kippur Shaḥarit

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:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, alphabetic acrostic translation, phonetic acrostic translation, פיוטים piyyuṭim, פזמונים pizmonim, סליחות səliḥot

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Mordekhai ben Shabtai, Shlomo ibn Gabirol and Unknown

אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת | Adon haSeliḥot, a pizmon for Seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937)

An alphabetic acrostic pizmon for seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic English translation.

Categories:

Morning Seliḥot, Yom Kippur

Tags:

acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, אדון הסליחות Adon haSeliḥot, Alphabetic Acrostic, free translation, פזמונים pizmonim, סליחות səliḥot

Contributor(s):

David de Sola Pool, Unknown and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת | Adon haSeliḥot (Lord of Forgiveness), a pizmon for Seliḥot and Yom Kippur

A pizmon in the nusaḥ hasepharadim recited at Seliḥot during the monh of Elul and Yom Kippur.

Categories:

Morning Seliḥot, Yom Kippur

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., acrostic, אדון הסליחות Adon haSeliḥot, Alphabetic Acrostic, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, פזמונים pizmonim, סליחות səliḥot, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah

Contributor(s):

the Masorti Movement in Israel, Unknown and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

ברכת המזון ליום הכפורים | Poetic Birkat haMazon for the break-fast meal after Yom Kippur, as found in British Library MS Or. 9772 D

A poetic Birkat haMazon text for the breakfast after Yom Kippur found in British Library MS Or. 9772 D. All the opening words of the alphabetical acrostic are from Psalms 111.

Categories:

Blessings After Eating, Yom Kippur

Tags:

acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, ברכת המזון birkat hamazon, Break Fasts, Psalms 111

Contributor(s):

Avi Shmidman, Unknown and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

הַיּוֹם תְּאַמְּצֵנוּ | haYom T’amtseinu, a piyyuṭ for the end of musaf on Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur

The full text of the alphabetic mesostic piyyut, Hayom, according to the Italian nusaḥ.

Categories:

Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Yom Kippur

Tags:

alphabetic mesostic, היום תאמצנו Hayom T'amtsenu, Musaf Rosh Hashanah, Musaf Yom Kippur, פיוטים piyyuṭim

Contributor(s):

Unknown and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

מַעֲשֵׂי אֱלֹהֵינוּ | Ma’aseh Eloheinu (The work of our God), a qerovah piyyuṭ by Meshullam ben Ḳalonymous for Yom Kippur (translated by Elsie Davis)

This is the piyyut “Ma’aseh Eloheinu (The work of our God)” a piyyut by Meshullam ben Ḳalonymous in the qerovot section of the reader’s repetition of the Yom Kippur shaḥarit amidah, published in Adler and Davis’s Maḥzor for Yom Kippur, Avodat Yom ha-Kippurim vol. 2 (1904), p. 67.

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

10th century C.E., 48th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Elsie Davis (translation) and Meshullam ben Ḳalonymus

אַשֶׁר אֹֽמֶץ תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ | Asher Omets Tehilatekha (Thou, the might of whose praise), a qerovah piyyuṭ for Yom Kippur (translated by Elsie Davis)

This is the piyyut “Asher Omets Tehilatekha (Thou, the might of whose praise)” a piyyut by an unknown paytan (possibly Meshullam ben Ḳalonymous) in the qerovot section of the reader’s repetition of the Yom Kippur shaḥarit amidah, published in Adler and Davis’s Maḥzor for Yom Kippur, Avodat Yom ha-Kippurim vol. 2 (1904), p. 68.

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

10th century C.E., 48th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Elsie Davis (translation) and Meshullam ben Ḳalonymus

אֲשֶׁר אֵימָתֶֽךָ | Asher Eimatekha (Thou whose fear…), a qerovah piyyuṭ by Meshullam ben Ḳalonymous for Yom Kippur (translated by Elsie Davis)

This is the piyyut “Asher Eimatekha (Thou whose fear…)” a piyyut by Meshullam ben Ḳalonymous for the reader’s repetition of the Yom Kippur musaf amidah, published in Adler and Davis’s Maḥzor for Yom Kippur, Avodat Yom ha-Kippurim vol. 2 (1904), pp. 147-149.

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

10th century C.E., 48th century A.M., acrostic, Angels, double acrostic, Humanist, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Elsie Davis (translation) and Meshullam ben Ḳalonymus

אוֹתְךָ אֶדְרוֹשׁ | Otekha Edrosh, by Rabbi Shimon ben Yitsḥaq of Mainz (rhymed translation by Israel Zangwill, 1904)

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:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Israel Zangwill (translation) and Shimon bar Yitsḥaq of Mainz

כִּי־בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה | Ki vaYom haZeh, a Ḳaraite song for Yom Kippur

A Karaite song for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

atonement, פיוטים piyyuṭim, טהרה taharah, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s):

Ḳaraite Jews of America and Unknown

הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Bein Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyuṭ attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (rhymed translation by Alice Lucas, 1894)

A rhymed translation of the piyyut sung following the Havdallah ritual.

Categories:

Yom Kippur, Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, המבדיל בין קדש לחל Hamavdil Bein Ḳodesh l'Ḥol, הבדלות havdalot, נעילה‎ neilah, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Alice Montefiore Lucas (translation) and Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi

הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Ben Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyuṭ attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (German translation by Franz Rosenzweig 1921)

The text of the piyyut, “HaMavdil,” with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig.

Categories:

Yom Kippur, Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, German translation, המבדיל בין קדש לחל Hamavdil Bein Ḳodesh l'Ḥol, paraliturgical havdalah, פיוטים piyyuṭim, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s):

Franz Rosenzweig (translation), Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

סליחה מר׳ יצחק אבן גיאת | Seliḥah by Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyat (ca. 11th century) translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

The following love poem is one of the Selihot recited between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Ibn Gayat (1038 – 1089) was not timid about using the most intimate symbols in asking God to become reconciled with us.

Categories:

Morning Seliḥot, Yom Kippur, Repenting, Resetting, and Reconciliation

Tags:

11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., devotional interpretation, eros, Granadan Jewry, interpretive translation, Kingdom of Granada, פיוטים piyyuṭim, סליחות səliḥot, Song of Songs, The Lovers

Contributor(s):

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation) and Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi

יְיָ מָה אָדָם | Hashem, mah adam (“Almighty! what is man”) — a piyyuṭ for atonement by Shlomo ibn Gabirol (rhymed translation by Emma Lazarus)

Emma Lazarus’s translation, simply referred to as “Hymn” — derived from the piyyut יְיָ מָה אָדָם by Shlomo ibn Gabirol — was first published in her anthology, Songs of a Semite: The dance to death and other poems (1882), pages 68-70.

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

11th century C.E., 48th century A.M., atonement, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription), Emma Lazarus and Shlomo ibn Gabirol

The Confession, an excerpt from Kether Malkhut (Crown of Royalty) by Shlomo ibn Gabirol adapted by Elsie Davis

An adaptation in rhymed English verse of an excerpt of Shlomo ibn Gabirol’s Keter Malkhut Elsie Davis. First published in The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol. 7, No. 3 (April 1895), pp. 461-464. The adaptation begins with section 34 of the piyyut.

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, interpretive translation, rhyming translation, וידוי vidui

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Elsie Davis (translation) and Shlomo ibn Gabirol

🆕 אֵֽדְעָה כִּי אֵין זוּלָֽתְךָ | Ad’ah ki éin zulatkha — the zulat piyyuṭ for Shabbat Teshuvah (minhag Polin) by Menaḥem ben Makhir

The zulat piyyuṭ for Shabbat Shuva, minhag Polin, by the great payṭan Menaḥem ben Rabbi Makhir.

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, German translation, Minhag Polin, פיוטים piyyuṭim, שבת תשובה Shabbat Teshuvah, זולת zulat

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Menaḥem ben Makhir

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

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