מַֽהֲרוּ כׇּל־שָׁרִים | Maharu Kol Sharim — a pizmon on the parting of the Sea of Reeds with stanzas added in YU MS 1126

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29 January 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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Before the Aliyot, Parashat b'Shalaḥ, 7th Day of Pesaḥ

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Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Eastern Sefaradim, מהרו כל שרים Maharu Kol Sharim, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, פיוטים piyyuṭim, פזמונים pizmonim, שבת שירה shabbat shirah, שירת הים Shirat haYam, Turkish translation

This pizmon, signed with the name Moshe but of otherwise unclear attribution, is recited in the Sephardic communities of Rhodes and Istanbul (and nowadays in Seattle) before the open ark on Shabbat Shirah and the seventh day of Pesaḥ. The main Hebrew text of the first and last two stanzas are as found in the Seattle Sephardic community’s 2002 Siddur Zehut Yosef (as well as the Gözlem Kitap press in Istanbul’s 2011 Şaloş Regalim), with footnotes marking differences in the Shirei Yisrael B’Erets HaḲedem (published in Istanbul in 1921) and the Yeshiva University Library diwan of Baruch Moshe Moreno, written by hand in the monastery neighborhood of Tiberias in 1867 (YU MS. 1126). In between are three additional non-rhyming stanzas found in substantially different form in the other two sources but not recited in modern Sephardic communities. For clarity and ease of use, we are publishing each variant separately. Click here for the interpolated stanzas found in the Shirei Yisrael b-Erets ha-Qedem.

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)	Translation (Turkish)
מַֽהֲרוּ כׇּל־שָׁרִים וּבְרֹב הוֹן וָאֵל שִֽׁירוּ שִׁירָה לָאֵל צוּר דַר בִּמְעוֹנַי׃	Make haste, all singers, and in great potency^[1] In the text recited in the Seattle and Istanbul communities, written הוֹן “riches.” However, all manuscripts and earlier printings agree on the rarer word אוֹן “potency,” which makes more sense in context. and might! Orate a song to the Deity, Rock, dwelling in my heights!	Tüm şarkı söyleyenler çabuk hareket edin ve tüm gücünüzle ve coşkuyla konutunda oturan T-anrı’y, Kaya’ya birşarkı söyleyin.
שֶׁגָּזַר יָם סוּף וּבְתוֹכוֹ עַם אֵל נִקְרָאִים בָּנִים עָבְרוּ בַּהֲמוֹנַי׃	Split was the Reed Sea; and in its midst the Deity’s folk. Entitled as “children,” they passed in my myriads!	O, Kızıl Deniz’i ikiye yardı ve böylece, çocukları olarak adlandırılan T-anrı’nın halkı topluca denizin içinden geçebildi.
	Three additional stanzas^[2] Found incorporated in YU MS. 1126. These three stanzas are not found in the text recited in the Seattle and Istanbul communities, and in the parallel Shirei Yisrael b-Erets ha-Qedem nusaḥ they are treated as an optional insertion. Considering their near-complete lack of any rhyme scheme whatsoever, their form could almost be considered akin to blank verse, only clearly readable as poetry due to the meter and alliteration. They also interrupt the acrostic, which suggests they may not be original.
אֶתְחַנֵּן הַמְתֵּן אֶת־חַנּוּן טוֹב רֶֽנֶן אֶתֵּן רַחוּם עוֹלָה וּתְהִלָּה וּתְחִנָּה לֵאלֹהֵי אוֹמֵן׃	I will entreat; await the Merciful; good cheering I grant to the Compassionate; offering and praise and entreaty to the God of faith.^[3] Wherever the Shirei Yisrael b-Eretz ha-Qedem has amen, YU MS. 1126 has omen. This word, here translated as “faith,” is likely a scribal error (and suggests that whichever scribe copied it down pronounced qamatz as a rounded vowel, in the manner of Ashkenazim, Temanim, and Persians.)
הִנֵּה אָבִי עֵר לֹא־יָנוּם וּלְשׁוֹנִי אִם־אֶתֵּן שֵׁנָה אֵל נַעֲלָה בְּמַעֲלָה וְנִשָּׂא אוֹמֵן אֵל חַנּוּן׃	Behold, my Parent is awake, unsleeping, and my tongue, lest I give sleep! Deity, highest of the high, we will raise faith to the merciful Deity!
טוֹב נוֹתֵן בּוֹ אֶתְחַנֵּן אֲשַׁנֵּן תּוֹרָה וָאֶתְּנָה יוֹם וָלַֽיְלָה שִׁיר וּרְנָנָה לֵאלֹהֵי אוֹמֵן׃	Goodness They give me. I will entreat, I will repeat Torah and give daily and nightly song and cheer to the God of faith.
הַמְקַּוִים הַטּוֹב הוֹדוּ כִּי הָאֵל הוּא יוֹסִיף שֵׁנִית לְקִבּוּץ אֶת־בָּנַי׃	So, those who hope for good, give thanks for the Deity^[4] As found in the text recited in the Seattle and Istanbul communities, and (with the minor variation of a missing article prefix) the Shirei Yisrael b-Eretz ha-Qedem. YU MS. 1126 reads הוּא אֵל “for They are the Deity.” who will yet again, once more,^[5] Rearranged in YU MS. 1126 to יוֹסִיף שֵׁנִית הוּא “Yet again, once more They will” gather up my children.^[6] In YU MS. 1126, בָּנָיו “Their children,” which is likely a mistaken hypercorrection to avoid switching to first-person for God, as it does not work with the rhyme scheme.	İyi olacağını umanlar T-anrı’yı övün, çünkü O, bir daha çocuklarını dünyanın dört bir yanından toplayarak bir araya getirecek.
אָ֣ז יָשִֽׁיר־מֹשֶׁה֩ וּבְנֵ֨י יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־הַשִּׁירָ֤ה הַזֹּאת֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה׃	Thus Moses and the children of Israel would sing this song to the Cause. (Exodus 15:1)	O zaman, Moşe ve İsrailoğulları T-anrı’ya bu şarkıyı söyleyecekler.

Source(s)

Maharu Kol Sharim in YU MS 1126 (Baruch Moshe Moreno, Tiberias 1867)

Maharu Kol Sharim in the Mahzor Shalosh Regalim (Gozelm Kitap 2011)

Notes

Notes
1	In the text recited in the Seattle and Istanbul communities, written הוֹן “riches.” However, all manuscripts and earlier printings agree on the rarer word אוֹן “potency,” which makes more sense in context.
2	Found incorporated in YU MS. 1126. These three stanzas are not found in the text recited in the Seattle and Istanbul communities, and in the parallel Shirei Yisrael b-Erets ha-Qedem nusaḥ they are treated as an optional insertion. Considering their near-complete lack of any rhyme scheme whatsoever, their form could almost be considered akin to blank verse, only clearly readable as poetry due to the meter and alliteration. They also interrupt the acrostic, which suggests they may not be original.
3	Wherever the Shirei Yisrael b-Eretz ha-Qedem has amen, YU MS. 1126 has omen. This word, here translated as “faith,” is likely a scribal error (and suggests that whichever scribe copied it down pronounced qamatz as a rounded vowel, in the manner of Ashkenazim, Temanim, and Persians.)
4	As found in the text recited in the Seattle and Istanbul communities, and (with the minor variation of a missing article prefix) the Shirei Yisrael b-Eretz ha-Qedem. YU MS. 1126 reads הוּא אֵל “for They are the Deity.”
5	Rearranged in YU MS. 1126 to יוֹסִיף שֵׁנִית הוּא “Yet again, once more They will”
6	In YU MS. 1126, בָּנָיו “Their children,” which is likely a mistaken hypercorrection to avoid switching to first-person for God, as it does not work with the rhyme scheme.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also authors his own original works and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic text, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and authors his own original works.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Unknown

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

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Miriams Tanz, Miniatur aus dem bulgarischen Tomić Psalter in the collection of Historisches Museum Moskau. Image scanned from Die bulgarische Malerei : von den Anfängen bis zum 19. Jahrhundert by Atanas Boschkov and Julian Tomanov (editors), 1969

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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)