Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown
A pizmon for Shabbat Zakhor and Purim, found in many Livorno siddurim (seen as the standard form for most Sephardic communities) as far back as the 18th century and possibly earlier. It is signed with the name Avraham, as well as the names Moshe and Aharon, but the author is otherwise unknown. Seder Mishmeret haKodesh (1847) inserts it as an introduction to the Mi Khamokha piyyut of Yehuda haLevi, recited on Shabbat Zakhor. The bouncy, joyous tune used for this piyyut, of Italian origin, is also used for Purim songs in multiple languages, such as Fate Onore al Bel Purim, Con Gran Placer Señores, and Haman Mamzer el Malo.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Unknown
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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Unknown
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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Reuven Eliyahu Yisrael (translation), Ephraim bar Isaac of Regensburg
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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown
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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Levi ibn al-Tabban
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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown
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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown
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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown
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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi
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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi
This is the reshut offered before the shaḥarit Torah service on Shabbat Shim’u, by Rabbi Yehuda haLevi.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Yehudah ben Shmuel 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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Reuven Eliyahu Yisrael (translation), Unknown
“ben Adam Mah Lekha Nirdam,” of unclear origin, is the opening piyyuṭ of the Sephardic seliḥot service every morning. Drawing a parallel between the literal slumber from which the petitioner has just awoken and the metaphorical slumber of sin, it serves as a fitting introduction to the early morning liturgy. As with any piyyuṭ in such a prominent place, of course, has been translated into the colloquial for all the people to appreciate its language. The following is not only the complete Hebrew text of Ben Adam Ma Lekha Nirdam 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.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown
Composed by an unknown paytan, this is the reshut offered before the Barkhu at the outset of Shaḥarit on Shabbat Shim’u.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Yaaqov haPayyetan of Castile
Composed by Yaaqov, a paytan of Castile, this is the reshut offered before the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai (commencing Shaḥarit) on Shabbat Shim’u.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Elyaqim haPayyetan
Composed by a Elyaqim haPaytan, this is the reshut offered before the Qaddish (before the Barkhu at the outset of Shaḥarit) on Shabbat Shim’u.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Shmuel haPaytan
This is the reshut offered before Barukh sheAmar commencing the Zemirot before Shaḥarit on Shabbat Shim’u, composed by Shmuel haPayyetan.

