This translation by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola of “Elohim Yisadenu” by a paytan named Avraham (possibly Avraham ibn Ezra) was first published in his Ancient Melodies of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1857).

This pizmon was written by R. Shmuel ben Moshe Ha-Dayan of Aram Ṣoba (ca. 1150-1200) an Aleppine payṭan whose works were almost completely lost before being rediscovered in the Maḥzor Aram Ṣoba. It emphasizes the uneasy juxtaposition of the joy of Simḥat Torah with the tragedy of Moshe’s death. Originally it was probably recited before musaf, but perhaps for those who follow Ashkenazi customs a more appropriate location would be as an introduction to the Yizkor service on Shemini ‘Atseret — which for those who don’t keep second-day yontef is the same day.

This piyyut, attributed to Menaḥem ben Aharon, is found in the Maḥzor Vitry, siman 465. It is a note-for-note structural parody of a beloved Pesaḥ maarava poem, Leil Shimurim. Israel Davidson, in his 1907 work “Parody in Jewish Literature,” writes, “The parodist apparently has no other aim than to dress a wine-song in the garb of a religious hymn. The burden of the song is that on Purim one must throw of all care and anxiety… But in order to make our happiness complete, we must remember the needy, and share our luxuries with those that are in want of them.”

This is the piyyut, עֵת שַׁעֲרֵי רָצוֹן (Eit Shaarei Ratson) by Rabbi Yehuda ben Shmuel ibn Abbas (12th century Aleppo, Syria (born in Fez, Morocco)). The English translation presented here is by Rabbi Stephen Belsky.

This is the Shir haKavod (“Hymn of Glory,” also known by its incipit “An’im Zemirot”) attributed to Rabbi Yehudah he-Ḥasid of Regensburg, included at the conclusion of the Shir haYiḥud (first attested in print in Thiengen 1560). This translation by Israel Zangwill, was first published in Arthur Davis and Herbert Adler’s Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Yom haKippurim (Evening Service) (1904), pp. 73-74.

An ofan piyyuṭ for the second shabbat after Pesaḥ, as well as the Shabbat between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, recited in the minhag of Pehm and Bruna (Bohemia and Moravia). Signed with the name “Yaakov,” this ofan is of uncertain origin but has been attributed to R. Yaakov ben Meir, more well known as Rabbeinu Tam. Also included is Seligman Baer’s German translation, as well as an original English translation.

Im Afes Rova’ ha-Qen, an Aqedah (poetic retelling of the binding of Isaac) written by the 12th-century scholar R. Ephraim ben Isaac of Regensburg, is one of the few piyyuṭim of Ashkenazi origin to have a beloved place in the Sephardic liturgy. (Much more commonly things go the other way.) In current Sephardic practice it is recited every single weeknight in the month of Elul, as part of the seliḥot liturgy — as well as on the second day of Rosh haShanah. It is also recited in most Ashkenazi Seliḥot liturgies — in the Bohemian and Lithuanian customs on the fast of Gedaliah, and in the Polish custom on the fourth day of the ten days. Which means that not only is this Ashkenazi piyyuṭ beloved by Sephardim, it is substantially *more* beloved by Sephardim than it is by Ashkenazim! And as with any beloved piyyuṭ, it has been translated into the colloquial for all the people to appreciate its language. The following is not only the complete Hebrew text of Im Afes along with a new English translation, but also a rhyming Ladino translation composed by R. Reuven Eliyahu Yisrael, the spiritual leader of the Sephardic community of Craiova, Romania, and published in the aforementioned town in the year 1910 (in טראדוקסייון ליברי די לאס פואיזיאס איבראיקאאס). To demonstrate the techniques used by R. Yisrael in his translation, a literal translation of the Ladino, as well as a transcription into the Latin-script Aki Yerushalaim orthography, is also provided.

This geulah piyyut, by R. Yehuda heḤasid, is, similar to the prior zulat, a response to the massacres of the First Crusade. It specifically focuses, in the way only a maverick like heḤasid could, on holding God to account for breach of covenant, and calls out both Christians and — on a much rarer theme — Muslims for their slaughter of Jews during the Crusades. As a geulah, it is recited right before concluding berakha of the Emet blessing and the Amidah.

This zulat piyyut, by R. Shmuel bar Yehuda (fl. 12th c.), is a keening cry in response to the traumatic First Crusade Rhineland massacres, known as the Gzerot TaTN”O in Hebrew, specifically focusing on the 3 Sivan massacre and martyrdoms in Mainz. The massacres of the Gzerot TaTN”O were so traumatic to Ashkenazi Jewry that to this day, the Av haRaḥamim prayer for martyrs, usually elided on Shabbat Mevorkhim, is not elided on Shabbat Mevorkhim Iyar or Sivan. As a zulat, it is recited at the end of the “Emet v-Emuna” paragraph. Generally the second half of the paragraph is altered slightly when a zulat is inserted. In this case, the alteration, according to the old Nusaḥ Polin, is included.

The prayer of Azaryah and his song of praise with Ḥananyah, and Mishael from within the Furnace (also known as “the song of the three holy children”) found in Aramaic in the Divrei Yeraḥmiel (the Chronicles of Jeraḥmeel, Oxford Bodleian Heb d.11).

This an an untitled piyyut by Eleazer of Worms, eulogizing his beloved wife Dulcea (Heb: דולצא, also, Dulcia and Dolce). The Hebrew text is derived from the transcription offered by Israel Kamelhar inRabbenu Eleazar mi-Germaiza, ha-Roqeah (Rzeazow, 1930), pp. 17-19. The translation and annotation come from Dr. Ivan G. Marcus from his article, “Mothers, Martyrs, and Moneymakers: Some Jewish Women in Medieval Europe” in Conservative Judaism, vol. 38(3), Spring 1986.

The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Holy Children, one of the apocryphal Additions to Daniel, is an interpolation into the third chapter of the book of Daniel. The editor has here included a new vocalized and cantillated edition of the Aramaic text preserved in the 12th century Divrei Yeraḥmiel (Oxford Bodleian Heb d.11 transcribed by Rabbi Dr. Moses Gaster). The language of this passage is an odd synthesis of Targumic, pseudo-Biblical Aramaic, and even some Syriac forms, so the editor’s vocalization is aiming for a happy medium of all the possibilities.

The story of Daniel and the dragon held captive by the neo-Babylonians found in Aramaic in the Divrei Yeraḥmiel (the Chronicles of Jeraḥmeel, Oxford Bodleian Heb d.11).

Israel Zangwill’s translation of Omnam Kén by Rabbi Yom Tov of York (Joigny), was first published albeit incomplete, as “Atonement Hymn” in Blind Children: Poems (1903), pp. 134-135. Introducing the piyyut, Zangwill notes, “The translation of this curiosity of literature preserves, without adding or subtracting a single word, the precise metre, rhyme-scheme, and alphabetical acrostic of the twelfth-century Hebrew original.” A year later, it was published complete, opposite Hebrew verse, in Arthur Davis and Herbert Adler’s Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Yom haKippurim (Evening Service) (1904), p. 38.

This translation of the poem “Éshet Neürim” by Elḥanan ben Yitsḥaq of Dampierre (d. 1184) was made by Israel Zangwill and first published in his collection of poetry, Blind Children: Poems (1903), under the title, “Israel as Bride and as Beggar” on page 118. (An earlier translation in German was made by Leopold Zunz in Die synagogale Poesie des Mittelalters (1855), p. 249.)

A poetic introduction to the Azharot of Solomon ibn Gabirol read in the afternoon of Shavuot by Sefaradim.

Daniel’s battle with the Dragon, one of the apocryphal Additions to Daniel, is affixed to the end of the book in the Septuagint. The editor has here included a new vocalized and cantillated edition of the Aramaic text preserved in the 12th century Divrei Yeraḥmiel (Oxford Bodleian Heb d.11 transcribed by Rabbi Dr. Moses Gaster). The language of this passage is an odd synthesis of Targumic, pseudo-Biblical Aramaic, and even some Syriac forms, so the editor’s vocalization is aiming for a happy medium of all the possibilities. (In several locations Divrei Yeraḥmiel uses incorrect Hebrew-specific forms, probably due to scribal error. These are here marked as a qere-ketiv split.)

This 12th century Yemenite liturgical poem for Tu b’Av is based on the Babylonian Talmud Taanit 30b-31a.

This translation of Tsam’ah Nafshi was made by Avi Shmidman and Tzvi Novick, and first published by the Az Yashir Moshe Project birkon (2009), p. 56-57.

An interpretive translation of a piyyut composed as an introduction to the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai.

A popular piyyut for all occasions by Avraham ibn Ezra.

A medieval Jewish poem on the game of Chess by Avraham ibn Ezra..

The piyyut, Agadelkha, in Hebrew with an English translation.

“Avnei Y’qar” is a succint piyyut for Ḥanukkah, traditionally attributed to R. Abraham ibn Ezra, and particularly beloved by the Yemenites. Interestingly, it doesn’t mention the miracle of the oil whatsoever, focusing on the degradation of the land under Greek occupation as well as the Hasmonean victory itself. Included is a poetic acrostic translation into English.

A poem on how to play chess, one of the oldest historical descriptions of the game of Chess, by Avraham ibn Ezra (12th century)

This is a partial English translation of Al Ahavatekha offered by rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman to accompany a video by Nigunim Ensemble presenting their musical setting of the piyyut on Youtube in 2018.

The text of Yehudah haLevi’s piyyut, “Al Ahavatekha Eshteh Gəvi’i,” with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig.

A piyyut that expresses the paradox of a divinity that is both “Beyond” and “Present.”

A rhyming English translation of the piyyut Adonai Negdekha kol Ta’avati.

The physician’s prayer of Rabbi Dr. Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi in the 12th century CE.

“Zweites Gebet vor Neïla” is an abridged, adapted translation by Yehoshua Heshil Miro of the piyyut by Yehudah haLevi “Barkhi Nafshi et Adonai.” There are seven stanzas missing near the end including the final stanza and a portion of the penultimate stanza. The translation was published in Miro’s anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. It first appears in the 1835 edition, as teḥinah №48 pp. 83-85. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №50 on pp. 86-90.

“Roshei am et hitasef umlekhim b’sodam” by Yehuda Halevi was translated by Herman Prins Salomon in “Yehuda Halevi and his ‘Cid’” and published in The American Sepharadi (1978), pp. 22-46.

This is the first of six reshuyot for the first sabbath of rebuke, Shabbat Divrei, the first Sabbath of Rebuke after 17 Tammuz. It is the first reshut recited before Nishmat at the outset of the Shaḥarit service.

This reshut by Levi ibn al-Tabban is the second of six reshuyot for the first sabbath of rebuke, Shabbat Divrei, the first Sabbath of Rebuke after 17 Tammuz. It is the second reshut recited before Nishmat at the outset of the Shaḥarit service.

This reshut by Shmuel (possibly Shmuel haNagid, although it is not found in his diwan) is the third of six reshuyot for the first sabbath of rebuke, Shabbat Divrei, the first Sabbath of Rebuke after 17 Tammuz. It is the third and final reshut recited before Nishmat at the outset of the Shaḥarit service.

This reshut is the fourth of six reshuyot for the first sabbath of rebuke, Shabbat Divrei, the first Sabbath of Rebuke after 17 Tammuz. It is recited before the Ḳaddish prior to Barkhu and the blessings before the Shema of the Shaḥarit service.

This reshut is the fifth of six reshuyot for the first sabbath of rebuke, Shabbat Divrei, the first Sabbath of Rebuke after 17 Tammuz. It is recited before Barkhu and the blessings before the Shema of the Shaḥarit service.

This reshut, by Yehuda haLevi, is the sixth of six reshuyot for the first sabbath of rebuke, Shabbat Divrei, the first Sabbath of Rebuke after 17 Tammuz. It is recited before the Torah Service after the public repetition of the Shaḥarit Amidah.

This is the reshut offered before the shaḥarit Torah service on Shabbat Shim’u, by Rabbi Yehuda haLevi.

Shabbat Shim’u is, in most years, the sabbath before Rosh Ḥodesh Av. In years where Shabbat Shim’u falls on Rosh Ḥodesh Av itself, this reshut would be recited on Shabbat Divrei instead, because the Shabbat blessing of the new moon happens before the new moon and not on it.

“Servant of God” is an adapted English rhmying translation by Alice Montefiore Lucas of a piyyut by Yehudah haLevi, first published in the former’s first collection of translations Songs of Zion by Hebrew Singers of Mediæval Times (1894), pp. 9-12.

Originally written by Yehuda haLevi for the seventh day of Pesaḥ, Yom le-Yabasha — a celebration of the crossing of the Sea of Reeds and the establishment of the covenant as signified by the circumcision and tsitsit — it quickly became a beloved piyyut on that occasion and more.

An original rhyming translation of the ahavah piyyut for Shabbat ‘Éqev, a poem by Yehuda haLevi that discusses the halakhot of making and wearing tefillin in honor of the fact that tefillin are mentioned in the parashah.

A meorah — a piyyuṭ to be inserted before the ḥatima of the first blessing of the Shema’ — by the great payṭan Yehuda haLevi. This piyyuṭ was traditionally recited in eastern Ashkenazi communities on Shabbat Yitro and VaEtḥanan, the two Shabbatot where the Ten Commandments are read. Some also included it on the first day of Shavuot for the same reason.

Emma Lazarus’s translation, “In the Night” — derived from the piyyut נַפְשִׁי אִוִּיתִיךָ בַּלַּיְלָה by Moses ibn Ezra — was first published in her anthology, Songs of a Semite: The dance to death and other poems (1882), pages 78-80.

This prayer for divine contemplatives, beginning with the incipit “Tefilat Lisgulat Ishim” (prayer for distinguished individuals), is attested in several manuscripts prefaced by the title, תפלת הרב רבינו משה זצ״ל (prayer of our teacher, Rabbi Mosheh, may their righteousness be remembered for a blessing). The assumption of earlier scholars was that the Rabbi Mosheh here refers to Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon — Maimonides (1138-1204). While our reading of the prayer finds nothing outside the concepts articulated by Rambam in his Mishneh Torah (Yesodei haTorah) and Moreh Nevukhim, it seems more likely that the Rabbi Mosheh referred to here is the famous paytan Mosheh ben Yaaqov ibn Ezra (ca. 1055-after 1138), who is quoted sharing similar ideas as found in this prayer by Rabbi Abraham ben Azriel in Arugat ha-Bosem (ca. 1230). Transcribed from the manuscript Leiden Or. 4779, this is the first time this obscure and long overlooked prayer has been translated.

This ahavah piyyut, likely by the paytan Yitsḥaq ben Reuven Albargeloni (the acrostic signature is ambiguous), is a longing love song between Israel, the “amazing one,” and God, the “Mighty One.” As an ahavah, it is recited prior to the final line of the guf and the ḥatima of the Ahavah Rabba blessing.

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.

This is a transcription of “Atanu l’Kha Yotsér,” a seliḥah for the 17th of Tammuz of unknown authorship found in 13th century Ashkenazi manuscripts and translated by Isaac Seligman Baer in הסליחות לכל השנה: לפי מנהג האשכנזים Ha-Seliḥot le-khol ha-shanah: le-fi minhag ha-Ashkenazim (1865), pp. 558-561..

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.