Yevanim ‘Amdu Qamu — a piyyuṭ intended to be sung before Yishtabaḥ in the Shaḥarit of Shabbat Ḥanukkah — was written by the great Moroccan paytan Yaaqov ibn Tsur (1673–1753) of Fez. It was first put to print in the Sefer ‘Et l-Kol Ḥefetz, printed by ibn Tsur’s descendants in 1893 in Alexandria. It may be sung to the melody of Ḥai Ani Goel Avi Aleikhem.”

Ashorer Shirim Naim — a piyyuṭ intended to be sung before Nishmat in the Shaḥarit of Shabbat Ḥanukkah — was written by the great Moroccan paytan Yaaqov ibn Tsur (1673–1753) of Fez. It was first put to print in the Sefer ‘Et l-Kol Ḥefetz, printed by ibn Tsur’s descendants in 1893 in Alexandria.

These are two supplemental stanzas for Maoz Tsur with regard to the present exile, written by Yeḥiel Michel Segal Epstein Ashkenazi (ca. 1625-1681, author of the Qitsur SheLaH), as compiled in the Kitzur Shnei Luḥot haBrit, a controversial yet influential work by Ashkenazi published in 1683.

The Seder ha-Tamid, a Provençal (Nusaḥ Comtat Venaissin) siddur published in Avignon in 1766, has liturgical additions for an amazing five different local festivals — one for Avignon, and two each for Carpentras and Cavaillon. Here’s a series of piyyutim for the ninth of Nisan in Carpentras. On 9 Nisan 5442 (17 April 1682), the gentile murderer of a Jew from Carpentras was drowned according to law. A mob began to form to attack the Jews for deigning to not be murdered. The rector of the comtat, Michele Antonio Vibò, decided to send guards to protect the Jews from the mob. This decision was celebrated by the Jews with multiple piyyuṭim and a full recitation of Hallel. Uniquely for the minor Purims analyzed in the Seder ha-Tamid so far, we know the author of one of these piyyutim, a sage and payṭan by the name of R. Mordecai Astruc!

In Margaliyot Tovot (“Precious Pearls,” 1665), Yaaqov ben Yitsḥaq Tsahalon abridged Baḥya ibn Paquda’s Ḥovot ha-Levavot (“Duties of the Heart,” ca. 1080) and interspersed it with prayers including this prayer for healers (Tefilat ha-Rof’im) which he recommended should be recited by physicians at least once every week.

This is a 17th century prayer for the Holy Roman Emperor found in Ms. 110 (Jewish Museum in Prague, Czech Republic).

This prayer, “Tiferet baḥurim (The Glory of Young Men)” by Pinḥas Barukh Monselice, found in the manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library Ms. 1418 Regg. 33 (Ferrara, from the second half of the 17th century), is intended for use by newly married men on their wedding night.

A kinah/elegy for those massacred in the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648–1649 composed by a possible eyewitness to the tragedy.

These are two supplemental stanzas for Maoz Tsur with regard to the present exile, written by Shmuel ben David Moshe Halevi of Mezhyrich (ca. 1625-1681, author of the Naḥalat Shiv’ah), as compiled in the Kitzur Shnei Luḥot haBrit, a controversial yet influential work by Yeḥiel Michel Segal Epstein Ashkenazi published in 1683.

Johann Stephan Rittangel (1606-1652) was a Christian Hebraist and Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Königsberg (Prussia) from 1640 till his death. Born Jewish, he converted to Christianity (to Catholicism and afterward to Calvinism, and then Lutheranism). After making a translation of the Sefer Yetsirah into Latin in 1642, he made this translation of the Passover Haggadah. In the Haggadah, Rittangel included musical scores for two piyyutim popularly sung during the final course of the Passover seder: “Adir Hu” and “Ki Lo Na’eh.”

One of the most prominent martyrs in the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648–1649 was the kabbalist and sage Yəḥiel Mikhel ben Eliezer ha-Kohen, known to posterity as the Martyr of Nemiryv. This unique poetic El Malei Raḥamim was said in his honor, and communities that fast on 20 Sivan still recite it to this day.

From the Pri Etz Hadar, the first ever published seder for Tu Bishvat, circa 17th century: “speech has the power to arouse the sefirot and to cause them to shine more wondrously with a very great light that sheds abundance, favor, blessing, and benefit throughout all the worlds. Consequently, before eating each fruit, it is proper to meditate on the mystery of its divine root, as found in the Zohar and, in some cases, in the tikkunim, in order to arouse their roots above.”

The piyyut, “Adon haKol” by Rabbi Shalom Shabazi

During the first twelve days of Nissan, there is a custom to read the portions about the twelve tribal princes who brought offerings and gifts to the holy Sanctuary. Miraculously without consulting with each other, they each brought the same gifts, but with different intentions. When we read these offerings followed by this prayer, our souls can connect to these tribes, even though we may not descend from these tribes directly (genealogically-speaking).

The Seder ha-Tamid, a Provençal (Nusaḥ Comtat Venaissin) siddur published in Avignon in 1766, has liturgical additions for an amazing five different local festivals — one for Avignon, and two each for Carpentras and Cavaillon. Here’s a series of texts for the twenty-fifth of Iyar in Cavaillon, commemorating the abatement of a deadly plague on 25 Iyyar 5391 (27 May 1631), including an Al haNisim of uncertain origin and a series of Biblical readings. Uniquely among the local festivals in this siddur, 25 Iyyar calls for a Torah reading not of the Song of the Sea, but the plague against Israel in Numbers 17.

A piyyut providing the 42 letter divine name as an acrostic, recorded in the work of Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz.

A scroll recounting the miraculous recovery of David Curiel (1594-1666), one of the founders of the Jewish community of Amsterdam, after undergoing a violent attack.

A 42 Letter Divine Name acrostic piyyut to comfort someone in the process of dying.

This vidui prayer for those privileged to live past the age of 50 is found in Rabbi Mosheh ben Zevulun Eliezer Halperin’s Zikhron Mosheh (Lublin: 1611), siman 13.

A popular piyyut for Simḥat Torah (4th hakkafah) originally composed as a piyyut for Shavuot and often referred to by its incipit, “Mipi El.”

An early 17th century song for Yom T’ruah (Rosh haShanah) by Karaite Ḥakham, Zeraḥ ben Nathan of Troki.

This is a variation of Mipi El in Hebrew with a Judeo-Arabic translation found in the Seder al-Tawḥid for Rosh Ḥodesh Nissan, compiled by Mosheh Asher ibn Shmuel in 1887 in Alexandria.

An early 17th century song for Yom T’ruah (Rosh haShanah) by Karaite Ḥakham, Zeraḥ ben Nathan of Troki.

This is a transcript and translation of the Maariv service for Shabbat evening in the Old Persian rite, as recorded in MS Adler 23 ENA (https://hebrewbooks.org/20923) in the JTS Library. The Old Persian rite shows some fascinating unique linguistic features. The first thing that immediately strikes one is its tendency towards poetic extensions and doublings, even in texts (such as the Avot blessing) where most other rites are almost completely uniform. It also shows some nonstandard vocalizations that appear to be influenced by the Babylonian system of vocalization. In modern Persian communities the standard rite is a variation of the Sephardic rite used throught the Mizraḥi world, but this older rite with its unique facets deserves to be preserved as well. This is part 1 of a planned series of transcripts and translations from MS Adler 23 ENA.

The Megillat Saragossa (also known as the Megillat Syracusa) in Hebrew and English, named after the tale of rescue and reversal of fortune in the cultural memory of some Sepharadi communities, to be read on the 17th of Shəvat.

This seliḥah, “Moshel ba-Elyonim Atah Yadata,” was written by Rabbi Mosheh ben Yeshayah Menaḥem Bachrach during an epidemic. It is included in the Seliḥot of Posen, Krakow, Prague, Worms, and Alsace. The text here was transcribed from the Siddur Kol Bo, vol. 3 (1923), p. 33.

This is the Hebrew text of a teḥinah for Shalom Aleikhem intended for women lighting candles on the commencement of Shabbat and festival days as found on the last page in the Basel edition of the [collection of prayers entitled] Birkhat ha-Mazon (Basel: Waldkirch, 1600). The English translation is by Rabbi Dr. Morris M. Faierstein as published in “An Early Modern Version of Shalom Aleichem for Women after Friday Candle Lighting” in Women in Judaism, 19(2), on page 4.

A different version of the poem Lekhah Dodi according to the book Seder haYom by R. Moshe ibn Makhir of righteous blessed memory, vocalized and translated into English by Isaac Mayer.

Presenting the full, somewhat short text of the Megillah of Sebastiano, telling the story of a great miracle that occurred to the Jewish community of Morocco on 1 Elul 5338, or August 4 1578 CE. On that day, King Sebastian of Portugal attempted to conquer Alcácer Quibir in North Africa — and inevitably to force the inquisition on the Jews of Morocco. But he was turned back at the last moment, protecting Moroccan independence for several more centuries. This scroll is traditionally recited in Jewish communities in the Maghreb to celebrate the repulsion of the Portuguese.

This is a Mi Khamokha piyyut by Yisrael Najara for Shabbat Ḥanukkah retelling Megilat Antiokhos in a lengthy fourfold acrostic with each stanza ending in בוֹ.

A zemer for shabbat, with English translation.

A crucial intention to align one’s davvenen practice with the command to love one’s fellow as oneself per Leviticus 19:18, as recorded in Minhagei ha-Arizal–Petura d’Abba, p.3b by Ḥayyim Vital.

After the recitation of Shir haShirim — which, in some circles, is recited every Friday night — the kabbalists instituted a yehi ratzon, a petition to be recited in the merit of what was just read. In many communities, this petition is recited using the same melodies as the recitation of the scroll itself. As an extension of this custom, here I’ve added cantillation marks to the yehi ratzon after Shir haShirim. Included also is a recitation of the text following said cantillation marks.

Tefilat haShir refers to an ancient (perhaps dating back to the Temple era!) custom of reciting the fifteen psalms of ascents (Psalms 120 to 134) before Psuqei d’Zimra. First identified as a unique segment of the Eretz-Yisrael rite by Prof. Ezra Fleischer z”l, this custom was so beloved by the Jews who followed the western rite that long after the rest of its prayer traditions were abandoned it was preserved by the Western-rite Jews of Cairo (see Vered Raziel-Kretzmer, “How Late was the Palestinian Rite Practiced in Egypt?” Tarbiz 85 [2018], heb.) Tefilat haShir was preserved in variant forms in several other communities. For instance, it is found in the Maḥzor Aram Ṣoba, published in 1560 for use of the Musta’aravi Jews of Aleppo. It is also found in the Krymchak variant of the Romaniote rite, also known as Minhag Kaffa. In both cases it would be recited exclusively on sabbaths and festivals. (Note that this was not the case in the old Eretz Yisrael rite, where it was a daily practice!) The Kaffa and Aram Ṣoba forms of the Tefilat haShir cycle are very similar, with a few differences in the introduction and the ending. Their core is the fifteen songs of ascents, interlaced with linking verses from elsewhere in Tanakh featuring a Leitwort (theme-word) related to the psalm. Both are included here, with color coding for substantial differences and footnotes to mark minor distinctions. In Minhag Kaffa, as printed in 1735, the Birkat haShir cycle is inserted after the morning Torah study cycle. In the Maḥzor Aram Ṣoba, it is the beginning of the service, the first thing recited in the synagogue after monring blessings, and consequently inserted before the Torah study cycle.

Maḥzor Aram Tsoba (1560), transcribed by David Betesh for the Sephardic Pizmonim Project.

According to Joseph Judah Chorny’s On the Caucasian Jews, this acrostic piyyuṭ was customarily used as an epithalion before a wedding. He writes, “Before morning light, the bride is led to the groom’s house accompanied by many women and men, all carrying lit wax candles in their hands, and singing this song along the way.” Variants of this piyyut are found throughout the greater Sephardic world, generally in an abbreviated and slightly altered form. In Syria it is sung during the haqafot for Simḥat Torah, while in Livorno Sephardic practice (and subsequently in most Eastern Sephardic maḥzorim) it is a Shavu’ot piyyut.

The mystical piyyut of Avraham Maimin, a student of Moshe Cordovero, translated by Len Fellman.

A piyyut in Judeo-Greek for introducing the Decalogue.

This is a supplemental stanza for Maoz Tsur with regard to the present exile, written by a Rabbi Jeremiah, identified only as the av beit din of the town of Würzburg as compiled in the Kitzur Shnei Luḥot haBrit, a controversial yet influential work by Yehiel Michel Segal Epstein Ashkenazi published in 1683. If you know more about this Rabbi Jeremiah, please leave a comment or contact us.

This is a supplemental stanza for Maoz Tsur with regard to the present exile, written by Rabbi Mosheh Isserlis (the ReM”A, 1530-1572), as compiled in the Kitzur Shnei Luḥot haBrit, a controversial yet influential work by Yehiel Michel Segal Epstein Ashkenazi published in 1683.

The popular piyyut, Yedid Nefesh, in Hebrew with English translation.

The mystical piyyut of Avraham Maimin, a student of Moshe Cordovero, translated by Reb Zalman.

A variation of the piyyut “Yedid Nefesh” in Hebrew with English translation.

A variation of the piyyut “Yedid Nefesh” in Hebrew with English translation.

A variation of the piyyut Yedid Nefesh with a corresponding translation in Arabic.

A variation of the piyyut, Yedid Nefesh, in Hebrew with a creative English translation.

The piyyut, Yedid Nefesh, in Hebrew with an English translation.

While the most famous ketubah-poem for Shavuot, still recited in Sephardic communities the world over, is by R. Yisrael Najara, many others have been written over the years. This one was written in the 16th century by Saadia ben Yosef ha-Levi. It is a marriage contract between the groom (Israel) and the bride (Torah).

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Rabbi Yitsḥak Luria’s prayer “Hareni Moḥel” (I hereby forgive) in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his translation side-by-side with a transcription of the vocalized text of the prayer. The prayer by the ARI z”l was first published in Ḥayim Vital’s Pri Ets Ḥayyim, Shaar Kriyat Shema al Hamitah, Pereq 2 (פרי עץ חיים, שער קריאת שמע שעל המיטה, פרק ב), and based on the statement of Reish Lakish in the Bavli Pesachim 66b and the practice of Mar Zutra attested in the Bavli Megillah 28a

An interpretive translation in English of the shabbes hymn Yom Zeh l’Yisrael.