This piyyut, Elaha Taqifa (Mighty God), the third in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the concluding verse of the second aliyah (third on Shabbat). The translation preserves the alphabetical acrostic, as well as the authorial tag — Jequtiel son of Joseph.

This piyyut, Izel Moshe (Arise, Moses), the fifth in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the second verse of the song proper, as an elaboration on God’s strength. The English translation preserves the Hebrew acrostic of the original.

This piyyut, Abunan D’biShmaya (Our Parent in Heaven), the second in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the fifth verse of the first aliyah (or second verse of the second aliyah on Shabbat).

This piyyut, Elaha Alam (Ageless God), the fourth in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the first verse of the Song of the Sea proper as an introduction to the targum of the text.

This piyyut, Ilu Pume Nima (If Our Mouths Were Thread), the first in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the first verse of the first aliyah, as an introduction or ‘reshut’ to the seder meturgeman as a whole.

A prayer for those martyred in the First Crusade and Rhineland Massacres, and by extension, all subsequent pogroms up until and including the Holocaust.

The piyyut read as an introduction to the Decalogue during the Torah reading on Shavuot.

The traditional Ashkenazi qerovot added to the Musaf repetition for Shabbat Sheqalim, alongside a new gender-neutral translation

The poem Mi Khamokha v-Ein Khamokha, an epic retelling of the book of Esther in verse, was written for Shabbat Zakhor, the Shabbat before Purim, by the great paytan Yehuda ben Shmuel haLevi. It was originally written as a “geulah,” meant to be inserted into the prayer after the Shema in place of the verse beginning with “A new song…” But later Sephardic poskim ruled that it was forbidden to insert piyyutim into the Shema blessings, so in the communities that recite it today it is generally either read after the Full Kaddish as an introduction to the Torah service, or (for instance, in most Spanish and Portuguese communities) within the verse “Kol atzmotai tomarna” in the Nishmat prayer. Wherever you include it in your service, it’s a beautiful and intricately rhymed piyyut, and surprisingly easy to understand at that. It is presented here in a gender-neutral translation with all the Biblical verses cited, alongside a new translation that preserves the fourfold acrostic, two alphabetical and two authorial. –Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

A seliḥah for the seventeenth of Tammuz, the second piyyuṭ recited in the Eastern Ashkenazi custom for that day, written by Menachem ben Machir, an eleventh-century German paytan. This was first translated in 2005 for a summer event with the European Academy for Jewish Liturgy.

Ashira k-Shirat Moshe is a brief piyyut of uncertain origin, recited in Moroccan Jewish practice as an introduction to the Song of the Sea at the end of Zemirot on Shabbat Shirah and the seventh day of Pesaḥ. It lists seven Biblical songs — those of Moses, Miriam, Joshua, Deborah, Hannah, David, and Solomon — and concludes with an eighth song, the song that Israel will sing at the the future redemption.

“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.

Recited in many Sefaradi and other non-Ashkenazi rites for the seventeenth of Tammuz, this piyyuṭ, like many 17 Tammuz seliḥot, has a stanza for each of the five tragedies discussed in the mishnah. It is here included alongside an acrostic translation.

Composed by an unknown paytan, this is the reshut offered before the Barkhu at the outset of Shaḥarit on Shabbat Shim’u.

Composed by Yaaqov, a paytan of Castile, this is the reshut offered before the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai (commencing Shaḥarit) on Shabbat Shim’u.

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.

This is the reshut offered before Barukh sheAmar commencing the Zemirot before Shaḥarit on Shabbat Shim’u, composed by Shmuel haPayyetan.

“Qol Ohalah” is the reshut offered before the Torah service following Shaḥarit. It is the ninth reshut among the reshuyot in the Old Sefaradi Tiqun for Shabbat Ḥazon — the final shabbat before 9 Av.

“Aryeh Shâăg” is the second 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 second reshut among the reshuyot in the Old Sefaradi Tiqun for Shabbat Ḥazon.

“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.