“Éikh Mishkenai Elyōn” is the first reshut offered before Nishmat at the outset of Shaḥarit (concluding the Zemirot). It is the third reshut among the reshuyot in the Old Sefaradi Tiqun for Shabbat Ḥazon — the final shabbat before 9 Av.

“Eftaḥ Pi le-Hodot” is the first reshut offered before Barukh sheAmar at the outset of the Zemirot (preceding Shaḥarit) on Shabbat Ḥazon — the final shabbat before 9 Av. It is the first reshut among the reshuyot in the Old Sefaradi Tiqun for Shabbat Ḥazon.

“Boré ‘ad Anah” is the second reshut offered before the Torah service following Shaḥarit. It is the tenth reshut among the reshuyot in the Old Sefaradi Tiqun for Shabbat Ḥazon — the final shabbat before 9 Av.

An ofan (a piyyut inserted into the Qedusha d’Yotser) recited in the eastern Ashkenazi Minhag Polin rite for Shabbat haGadol. Signed “Benjamin,” Davidson ascribes it to the great paytan R. Binyamin bar Zeraḥ, possibly as part of the same poetic cycle as Itti MiLvanon (his yotser for the same day).

The Minhag Ashkenaz (Western Ashkenazi) yotser (piyyut inserted into the beginning of the first blessing of the Shema service) for Shabbat haGadol, by Binyamin bar Zeraḥ. Also recited by some eastern Ashkenazim, although not as commonly as Aamir Mistater (the standard in Minhag Polin). Translated here with preserved acrostic and rhyme scheme. This piyyut uses the language of Song of Songs to retell the story of the exodus via the language of a romantic relationship.

This yotser, by the great eleventh-century payṭan R. Binyamin bar Zeraḥ, goes through the entire alphabet with which the Torah was written, giving midrashic and mystical interpretations of each letter. As a yotser, it is recited immediately after the petiḥah of the Yotser Or blessing.

This anonymous ofan, also recited on the second day of Shavuot in some communities, uses alliteration to describe the many hosts of angels descending upon Sinai in awe and reverence as the Torah was given. The translation preserves the alliteration over the alphabet, seeing as the ofan in this form doesn’t include the entire alphabet either. As an ofan, it is recited within the Ḳedusha d-Yotser, between the verses of Isaiah and Ezekiel (included here). The ofan is recited on the second day of Shavuot in some communities.

A passage from Rav Saadia Gaon’s Sefer haGalui providing a description and justification of the practice of cantillating works outside the TaNaKh (in the Geonic period!)

The Minhag Polin (Eastern Ashkenazi) yotser (piyyut inserted into the beginning of the first blessing of the Shema service) for Shabbat haGadol, by the Sefaradi sage and paytan Joseph ibn Abitur. Translated with preserved acrostic and rhyme scheme. This piyyut juxtaposes the seven days of creation with the miracles of the Exodus as well as the promised future salvation in a three-by-three structure.

A Byzantine-era Aramaic piyyut for Purim, perhaps written as an introduction to the Megillah reading. It tells the narrative of the Jewish people from Abraham to the final redemption, focusing on the foes who sought to destroy us and their inevitable failure to do so. Uniquely among early-medieval poems, this one actively mentions the Romans (read: Christians) and Saracens (read: Muslims) and prays for their downfall in non-coded language. This translation loosely preserves the couplet rhyme scheme, as well as the alphabetical acrostic — perhaps with a phonetic punning reference to the name “Shlomo” at the end.

This is a vocalized reconstruction, arrangement and translation of the Haggadah according to the ancient Land of Israel rite, based on multiple manuscripts from the Cairo Geniza, including Halper 211 and T-S H2.152, with additional input from the Italian rite and customs recorded by Rav Saadia Gaon. It is translated in gender-neutral Hebrew.

This is a reconstruction of a liturgy for a Birkat haMazon for Ḥanukkah witnessed in multiple Cairo Geniza manuscripts, including Cambridge, CUL: T-S H4.13; T-S H6.37; T-S 8H10.14; T-S NS 328.56; T-S NS 328.61; T-S AS 101.293; New York, JTS: ENA 2885.7; Oxford: MS heb. e.71/27 – MS heb. e.71/32; St. Peterburg: Yevr. III B 135.

A Birkat haMazon for Shavuot presenting an alphabetic acrostic from a manuscript preserved in the Cairo Geniza.

This is a reconstruction of a liturgy for a Birkat haMazon for Purim witnessed in the Cairo Geniza fragment T-S H6.37 (page 1, recto and verso)‬.

Rav Saadia Gaon lists three additions to the Seder Pesaḥ which he considers not necessary, but acceptable. This is the first, a poetic version of the Kiddush. Interestingly enough, it is still recited in many Yemenite communities, which are in general less likely to incorporate poetic sections to their liturgy. Here it is recorded and translated into English according to two nusḥaot — that recorded in the siddur of Rav Saadia (marked in blue), and that recorded in modern Yemenite texts (marked in red). In cases where only the spelling differs rather than the meaning, the editor generally went with Rav Saadia as the older variant.

Rav Saadia Gaon lists three additions to the Seder Pesaḥ which he considers not necessary, but acceptable. This is the third, a poetic insert of the blessing of redemption known as Ata Ga’alta. In the form of an alphabetical acrostic, this poem is still recited in many eastern communities including the Babylonians, Persians, and Yemenites, and was a feature of the the old Kaifeng rite. Here it is recorded and translated into English according to the nusaḥ of Saadia Gaon, with notes in several locations for additional phrases used in some customs.

It is somewhat well known that in the Italian rite, there are alternative texts for the first and third blessings of the evening Shemaˁ liturgy on Shabbat, texts which were rejected by Ashkenazi practice out of fear the community could become confused and recite them on weekdays. But these Shabbat-specific blessings, derived from the old Erets Yisrael rite and preserved in the siddur of Rav Saˁadia Gaon (RaSaG), are not alone! All the blessings of the Shabbat evening Shemaˁ service — as well as all the blessings of the Saturday night Motsaei Shabbat Shemaˁ service! — have unique poetic forms in RaSaG’s siddur. This part, the Saturday night rite, is part two of a two-part series posting these liturgical texts found in the siddur of — and approved of by — the gaon.

It is somewhat well known that in the Italian rite, there are alternative texts for the first and third blessings of the evening Shemaˁ liturgy on Shabbat, texts which were rejected by Ashkenazi practice out of fear the community could become confused and recite them on weekdays. But these Shabbat-specific blessings, derived from the old Eretz Yisrael rite and preserved in the siddur of Rav Saˁadia Gaon, are not alone! All the blessings of the Shabbat evening Shemaˁ service — as well as all the blessings of the Saturday night Motzaei Shabbat Shemaˁ service! — have unique poetic forms in RaSaG’s siddur. This is part one of a two-part series posting these liturgical texts found in the siddur of — and approved of by — the gaon. For this part, the blessings for Friday night, locations where Italian rite’s modern versions of the first and third blessings differ from the version of RaSaG are marked.

A ritual for changing a name of a sick person. This text is recorded in abridged form in Rabbeinu Yeruḥam’s 14th-century work “Sefer Toldot Adam v-Ḥava,” but is almost certainly substantially older than that considering he credits it to the Geonim. Rabbeinu Yeruḥam doesn’t include the text in its entirety, assuming familiarity with the “מְצָלְאִין אֲנַֽחְנָא” opening to prayers. This text is not, to my knowledge, commonly used in any modern rites, but I found a 15th-century Italian siddur here with a prayer that begins with the same formula in full.

This beautiful piyyut of unknown authorship is recited in most Sephardic, Mizrahi and Yemenite traditions on Tisha B’ab at Minḥah. In its stanzas, rich and replete with biblical references (as is particularly common in Sephardic Piyyut), God speaks to Jerusalem and promises to comfort her, and comfort and redeem her people.