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

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

A popular piyyut for all occasions by Avraham ibn Ezra. . . .

“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) . . .

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

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

“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. . . .

“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. . . .

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

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. . . .

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. . . .

The piyyut, Adon Olam, in its expanded fifteen line variation, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .

“Adon Olam: A Mystical Interpretation” by Laura Duhan Kaplan, was created for a music and spoken word performance at Limmud Vancouver, 2018. It was first published in The Infinity Inside: Jewish Spiritual Practice Through A Multi-Faith Lens (Boulder: Albion Andalus, 2019). This is the full original version. A much abridged version (edited by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat) appears in Renew Our Hearts: A Siddur for Shabbat Day (Bayit Ben Yehuda Press, 2023). . . .

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s interpretive “praying translation” of the piyyut, Adon Olam. . . .

The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .

This is Rabbi Dr. David Prato’s Italian translation of Adon Olam from his bilingual Hebrew-Italian everyday siddur, Tefilah l’David: Preghiere di Rito Italiano (1949), p. 272-275. . . .

The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .

This is Artur Carlos de Barros Bastos’s Portuguese translation of Adon Olam from his prayer-pamphlet, Oração Matinal de Shabbath (1939), p. 52-53. I have set the translation side-by-side with the Hebrew text from which it was derived. . . .

A rhyming translation in English to the popular piyyut, Adon Olam. . . .

The paraliturgical adaptation and expansion of “Adaun Aulom” by Lise Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages 93-94. I have set the stanzas or verses from Adon Olam in their original Hebrew side-by-side with Lise Tarlau’s adapted text (according to the arrangement that seems closest to me) so that their proximity may illuminate her inspiration. . . .

Rabbi Dr. Mojżesz Schorr’s translation of Adon Olam in Polish was first printed on pages 8-9 of Modlitewnik na wszystkie dni w roku oraz modlitwę za Rzeczpospolitą ułożoną przez prof. Schorra (1936). . . .

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (There are also twelve, fifteen, and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim.) The rhyming translation here by Jessie Ethel Sampter was transcribed from Joseph Friedlander and George Alexander Kohut’s The standard book of Jewish verse (1917), p. 394. . . .

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (There are also twelve, fifteen, and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim.) The rhyming translation here by Israel Zangwill was transcribed from the Jewish Quarterly Review vol. 13 (January 1901), p. 321. . . .

The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .

The Seder Tefilat Kol Peh was printed in 1891 in Vienna, and features a full Ladino translation of the entire siddur. The Ladino translation here is found on the left side of pagespread №145. Along with a full transcription of the Ladino text, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer has also prepared a full romanization of the Ladino. . . .

Rabbi Dr. Moses Gaster’s translation of Adon Olam in Romaninan was first printed on pages 3-4 of Siddur Tefilat Yisrael: Carte de Rugăcĭunĭ Pentru Israeliţĭ (1883), his daily Siddur. . . .

An English translation of an abridged arrangement of the piyyut, Adon Olam. . . .

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.) The rhyming translation here by Jacob Waley was transcribed from the prayerbook of his daughter Julia M. Cohen’s The Children’s Psalm-Book (1907), pp. 298-299. . . .

The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .

The German translation of “Adon Olam” appearing here is as found in Rabbi David Einhorn’s עלת תמיד Gebetbuch für Israelitische Reform-Gemeinden (1858), pp. 1-2. The English translation here, by Joshua Giorgio-Rubin, translating Rabbi David Einhorn, is as found in Rubin’s Olat Hadashah: A Modern Adaptation of David Einhorn’s Olat Tamid for Shabbat Evening (2020), p. 14. . . .

A rhyming English translation of Adon Olam by Rosa Emma Salaman. . . .

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (There are also twelve, fifteen, and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim.) The rhyming translation here by George Borrow was shared in his tales in The Bible in Spain (1843), p. 222. (The text in the 1913 edition on page 546 is a bit easier to read.) . . .

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.) The rhyming translation here by David de Aaron de Sola was transcribed from his prayerbook Seder haTefilot vol. 1 (1836), p. 122. . . .

A paraliturgical adaptation of the piyyut Adon Olam by an early leader of the Reform movement. . . .

This is Isaac Pinto’s English translation of Adon Olam from Prayers for Shabbath, Rosh-Hashanah, and [Yom] Kippur (1766), p. 29. The translation there appears without the Hebrew. The Hebrew text of the piyyut set side-by-side with the translation was transcribed from Rabbi David de Sola Pool’s Tefilot l’Rosh haShanah (1937). . . .

The dream and prayer of Mordecai, and the prayer of Esther, as copied in the medieval pseudo-historical Chronicle of Yeraḥmiel. . . .

Ḥakham Ishak Nieto’s translation of Adon Olam was first printed on page 197 of Orden de las Oraciones de Ros-ashanah y Kipur (1740), his maḥzor in Spanish translation for Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur. The Hebrew text of the piyyut set side-by-side with the translation was transcribed from Rabbi David de Sola Pool’s Tefilot l’Rosh haShanah (1937). . . .

Shnei Zeitim, by Shlomo ibn Gabirol, was once the most beloved song for Ḥanukkah. Though in recent years it has largely been replaced in popular consciousness by Maoz Tsur, in rites which preserve the customs of piyyut recitation within the Shema service it is still a beloved part of the holiday. The piyyut, a meorah — intended to introduce the ḥatimah for the Ahavah Rabbah blessing before the Shema, is included here with an original translation. Interestingly enough, Shnei Zeitim has an anti-Hasmonean focus, with emphasis on the importance of separation of powers between priest and king. For further discusson of this aspect, I’d recommend Yitzhak Szyf’s article on The Lehrhaus. . . .

A piyyut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol included in the arrangement of Baqashot before the morning service in the liturgical custom of Sefaradim translated by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola. . . .

A reverse alphabetic acrostic seliḥah piyyut for Taanit Esther in Hebrew with English translation . . .

An alphabetic acrostic seliḥah piyyut for Taanit Esther in Hebrew with English translation . . .

The reshut for praying at dawn, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .

The maaravot-cycle of piyyutim for the first night of Shavuot, by Joseph ben Samuel Bonfils. In normative maaravot fashion, it is one extended cycle with an overarching structure (the first words of each of the Ten Commandments) throughout the whole of the kriat shema, with additional piyyutim incorporated into the first blessing after the shema. . . .

“Ezkera Matsok” (I remember the distress) is a seliḥah in alphabetic acrostic recited on the Fast of Tevet in the Ashkenazi nusaḥ minhag Polin. . . .

“Odekha ki anafta bi (I give thanks to you although you were angry with me) was composed by Joseph ben Solomon of Carcassonne, who is dated to the first half of the eleventh century. This elegant and abstruse poem tells an epic tale of the Jews’ resistance to the decrees of Antiochus IV and includes accounts of both the Hasmonean bride and Judith. It bears a considerable resemblance to texts 4 and 12 of the Hanukkah midrashim (find Grintz, Sefer Yehudit, pp. 205, 207–08) and this is evidence for the circulation of the joint Hasmonean daughter-Judith tales in the eleventh century, even if the surviving manuscripts of these stories are from a later date.” (Deborah Levine Gera, “The Jewish Textual Traditions” in The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines (2010).) . . .

This is a variation of the qinah for Tishah b’Av, “Shomron Qol Titein” in its Ashkenazi nusaḥ. Isaac Gantwerk Mayer first shared this translation via his Facebook page on Tishah b’Av, 2022. . . .

A “bikkur” piyyut traditionally added at the end of Hashkivenu for Shavˁuot in the Old French (and Maḥzor Vitry) and Romaniote rites. From the acrostic we know the author was named Yosef ben Yaˁakov. Other than that we know very little about this poem’s origin and age, although its structure fits with the early Ashkenazi piyyut oeuvre. . . .

An “angels on all sides” formula included with the Bedtime Shema service in the Maḥzor Vitry. . . .

The reshut for praying at dawn, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .