אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים) | Adōn Olam, translation by Ḥakham Ishak Nieto (1740)
Contributed by: Ishac Nieto, Shlomo ibn Gabirol, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
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). . . .
כָּל־בְּרוּאֵי | Kol B’ru-ei, a piyyut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol (trans. Rabbi David Aaron de Sola, 1857)
Contributed by: David de Aaron de Sola (translation), Shlomo ibn Gabirol, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
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. . . .
שַׁחַר אֲבַקֶּשְׁךָ | Shaḥar Avaqeshkha (At dawn I seek you), a reshut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol (ca. 11th c.) translated by Nina Salaman (1901)
Contributed by: Nina Davis Salaman (translation), Shlomo ibn Gabirol, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The reshut for praying at dawn, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
אֶזְכְּרָה מָצוֹק | Ezkerah Matsōk (“I remember the distress”), a seliḥah for the Fast of Tevet attributed to Joseph ben Samuel Bonfils (11th c.)
Contributed by: David Asher (translation), Joseph ben Samuel Bonfils, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
“Ezkera Matsok” (I remember the distress) is a seliḥah in alphabetic acrostic recited on the Fast of Tevet in the Ashkenazi nusaḥ minhag Polin. . . .
שַׁחַר אֲבַקֶּשְׁךָ | Shaḥar Avaqeshkha (At dawn I seek you), a reshut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol (ca. 11th c.) translated by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola (1857)
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), David de Aaron de Sola (translation), Shlomo ibn Gabirol
The reshut for praying at dawn, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
בַּחֹֽדֶשׁ הָֽרְבִיעִי | baḤodesh haRevi’i (In the fourth month), a ḳinah for the 17th of Tamuz attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (ca. 11th c.)
Contributed by: Isaac Leeser (translation), Unknown (translation), Shlomo ibn Gabirol, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The seliḥah with its English translation as found in Siddur Siftei Tsadiqim (The Form of Prayers) vol. 6: Seder haTefilot laTaaniyot (ed. Isaac Leeser 1838) p.107-109. . . .
לְמַעַנְךָ וְלֹא לָנוּ | l’Maankha v’lo lanu (For your sake, not for ours), a piyyut by an unknown paytan (trans. Rabbi David Aaron de Sola, 1857)
Contributed by: David de Aaron de Sola (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This translation by Rabbi David de Aaron de Sola of “Lema’ankha v’lo lanu” by an unknown paytan was first published in his Ancient Melodies of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1857). . . .
הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Ben Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyut attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (German translation by Franz Rosenzweig 1921)
Contributed by: Franz Rosenzweig (translation), Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The text of the piyyut, “HaMavdil,” with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig. . . .
הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Ben Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyut attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (rhymed translation by Alice Lucas, 1898)
Contributed by: Alice Lucas (translation), Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A rhymed translation of the piyyut sung following the Havdallah ritual. . . .
אַקְדָמוּת מִילִין | Aḳdamut Milin, a preface to the Targum for the Shavuot Torah Reading, attributed to Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans (ca. 11th c.)
Contributed by: Cantor Hinda Labovitz, Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
An Aramaic piyyut composed as an introduction to the reading of the Targum for the Torah reading on Shavuot. . . .
יוֹם שַׁבָּתוֹן | Yom Shabbaton, a Shabbat song by Yehudah haLevi (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
An interpretive translation of Yehudah haLevi’s shabbat song, “Yom Shabbaton.” . . .
עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק (מנהג הספרדים) | The invocation of Aqédat Yitsḥaq (the Binding of Isaac, Genesis 22:1-19) in the morning (minhag haSefaradim)
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation), Unknown, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), the Mesorah (Masoretic layer 'J'), the Mesorah (Masoretic kernel 'E')
The prayers invoking the memory of the Aqeidat Yitsḥaq (Genesis 22:1-19) in the morning preparatory prayers in the liturgical custom of the Sefaradim. . . .
עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק (אשכנז) | The invocation of Aqédat Yitsḥaq (the Binding of Isaac, Genesis 22:1-19) in the morning (nusaḥ Ashkenaz)
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation), Unknown, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), the Mesorah (Masoretic layer 'J'), the Mesorah (Masoretic kernel 'E')
The prayers invoking the memory of the Aqeidat Yitsḥaq (Genesis 22:1-19) in the morning preparatory prayers in the liturgical custom of Ashkenaz. . . .
📖 שִׁמּוּשׁ תְּהִלִּים | Shimush Tehillim (the Theurgical Use of Psalms), attributed to Hai ben Sherira Gaon
Contributed by: Hai Ben Sherira Gaon, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The Shimmush Tehillim is a medieval work providing prescriptive theurgical associations for Psalms and verses from Psalms. It has been historically attributed to Rav Hai Gaon (939-1038 CE) but any definitive statement of authorship is lacking. The suggestion that portions of the Shimush Tehillim were authored during the late Geonic period in Iraq isn’t implausible. We also know that Hai Gaon was knowledgeable of Hekhalot writings that should at least be considered part of the same thought world as the Shimmush Tehillim. Writings found in the Shimush Tehillim have been found in manuscripts dating from the 12th century. This digital transcription of Shimush Tehillim derives from Elias Klein Békéscsaba’s 1936 compilation. This edition should not be considered a critical text, as earlier editions certainly exist. Not all of the Psalms are identified as having a particular theurgical use. . . .
אבלה נפשי | Avlah Nafshi (My soul mourns), a seliḥah for Tsom Gedalyah attributed to Rav Saadia Gaon (10th c.)
Contributed by: David Asher (translation), Saadiah ben Yosef Gaon, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A seliḥah for the Fast of Gedalyah, attributed to Rav Saadia Gaon. . . .
הַיּוֹם תְּאַמְּצֵנוּ | haYom T’amtseinu, a piyyut for the end of musaf on Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The full text of the alphabetic mesostic piyyut, Hayom, according to the Italian nusaḥ. . . .
אַחֵֽינוּ | Aḥeinu (Our siblings)
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Anonymous (translation)
“Aḥeinu” is the final prayer in a set of supplications recited on Mondays and Thursdays as the Torah scroll is being prepared to be returned to the Aron. The prayer is first found with variations in wording in the surviving manuscripts of the Seder Rav Amram Gaon (ca. 9th c.). . . .
תפלת אחר הקמת המצבה, מנהג ק״ק פרעסבורג יצ״ו | Prayer after the Unveiling of a Tombstone, according to the custom of the Jewish community of Pressburg
Contributed by: Jacob Chatinover (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prayer for unveiling a tombstone, according to the custom of the Jews of Pressburg. . . .
רָנּוּ שָׁמַֽיִם | Ronnu shamayim, a piyyut celebrating the Decalogue by Elyaqim
Contributed by: Stephen Belsky, Elyaqim haPayyetan, Ḳaraite Jews of America, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Anonymous (translation)
This piyyut is signed “Elyaqim Ḥazaq.” Alas, we do not know who this Elyaqim was or even whether he was a rabbinic or Karaite Jew. The piyyut has been preserved for us in the Karaite cycle (Vilna printing press, 1852, Vol. IV, p. 135.) and there are several other piyyutim signed with his name. . . .
אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת | Adon haSeliḥot (Lord of Forgiveness), a pizmon for Seliḥot and Yom Kippur
Contributed by: the Masorti Movement in Israel, Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A pizmon in the nusaḥ hasepharadim recited at Seliḥot during the monh of Elul and Yom Kippur. . . .