An original Aramaic-language “meturgeman piyyut” for Simḥat Torah. I’m working on creating a seder meturgeman liturgy, akin to those for day 7 of Pesaḥ and for Shavuot, to be recited on Simḥat Torah. Mostly incorporating older Aramaic poems, I’ve also decided to write some originals myself. This piyyut, written in the structure of the famous Aqdamut Milin reshut still recited on Shavuot, is meant to be inserted before the translation of the first verse of the first aliyah on Simḥat Torah. It discusses the halakhic status and history of Shmini Atzeret, as well as the final blessing and death of Moses.

An ofan for Tu b’Av, the second part of an intended cycle of yotsrot. Structured around Hosea 11:1 and Ezekiel 3:12, and focusing on the bridal love between Israel and God as well as the corresponding of Israel’s and angelic hymning. Written in honor of my friend Eliran’s anniversary.

In the era of the Sanhedrin, every fast day would have a Ne’ilah service between Minḥah and the conclusion of the fast. While these are no longer in practice for any days other than Yom Kippur, the editor personally feels like it could be worth bringing them back. The following is a fourth blessing for the Amidah intended to serve as the center of a Tishah b’Av Ne’ilah service, incorporating passages from other Tishah b’Av and Yom Kippur liturgies as well as some original passages.

In the style of the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ recited by some communities every Havdalah, a piyyuṭ in honor of Seraḥ bat Asher, retelling the events of her life according to the midrashim. This is not the first time I’ve written a Havdalah piece on Seraḥ, the distaff counterpart to Elijah in the midrash. She also inspired this shorter song. Like the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ, this is in three-line rhyming stanzas with a repeated refrain. Unlike it, it is in a tashraq reverse alphabetical acrostic, followed by an authorial tag — this time using a matronymic.

A shiv’ata is a sevenfold blessing inserted into the Musaf service on Shabbat. This original shiv’ata is for a bat mitsvah following the traditional count, where a girl turns twelve. Each stanza begins with an example of twelve as used in our tradition, followed by an alphabetical acrostic.

A shiv’ata is a sevenfold blessing inserted into the Musaf service on Shabbat. This shiv’ata was written for use at a bar mitsvah. Each stanza begins with an example of thirteen as used in our tradition, followed by an alphabetical acrostic. This piyyuṭ is for a bar mitsvah, where a boy turns thirteen.

A full qedushta cycle, in the Qallirian style, for the Shabbat between Yom haShoah and Yom ha-Atsma’ut, referred to in the recently published Israeli Reform siddur Tefilat haAdam as “Shabbat Tequmah” (the sabbath of renewal). Partially based on the structure of the qedushta for Shabbat haGadol, the culmination of this qedushta is an azhara, a poetic retelling of the entire Megilat ha-Atsma’ut.

These teḥinot on descending into and ascending out of a shelter were written as a response to the Iran war of 2026, which featured a lot of descending into and ascending out of shelters. The teḥinah on ascending is inspired by the minhag not to write the book of Eikha on klaf, because klaf represents permanence, and we pray someday to no longer need to recite it.

An adaptation of the fourth berakhah of a festival musaf, for Sigd. Since halakhically there is technically no Sigd musaf, this does not end with shem u-malkhut in the ḥatimah.

An original Aramaic-language “meturgeman piyyut” for Simḥat Torah and the reading of Bereshit. I’m working on creating a seder meturgeman liturgy, akin to those for day 7 of Pesaḥ and for Shavuot, to be recited on Simḥat Torah. Mostly incorporating older Aramaic poems, I’ve also decided to write some originals myself. This is one of them, a reverse acrostic woven into the recitation of Genesis 1.

A pizmon for calling up a (male) Jew-by-choice for his first aliyah to the Torah after completing his conversion process. (Pizmonim for female and non-binary Jews-by-choice forthcoming!) To be recited before the blessing, led by the gabbai with the community responding with the refrain.

This teḥinah (petitionary prayer) for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was composed by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer and first published on Bluesky in response to a request for just such a prayer by a Bluesky user, Uili (Sage).

An ofan — a liturgical prayer to be inserted into the Shaḥarit qedusha d-yotzer — for the first of Elul, the new year for animals. Not as of yet part of a cycle but who knows, maybe a few other parts will be written in days to come!

A liturgy for counting the fifty days of consolation or comfort between Tishah b’Av and Rosh haShanah (non-inclusive), in the style of the liturgy for the omer.

A Mi SheBerakh for the 70th anniversary of the bar mitzvah ceremony, referred to by some as a “Ḥanukat Bar Mitzvah” or “second bar mitsvah.” Written for the ḥanukat bar mitzvah of the author’s grandfather, 30 August 2015.

A qinah for 7 October and the hostages, to be recited as part of the Tishah b’Av liturgy.

An original set of weekday yotsrot, in the style of those found in the Cairo Geniza (and compiled at Weekday Yotzrot, thanks to the work of Dr. Avi Shmidman), for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. The weekday yotsrot of the Cairo Geniza have a structure quite different from normative Ashkenazi festival yotsrot, and much closer to that of Ashkenazi maaravot. There are no yotser or ofan piyyutim — each blessing has a stanza of an extended, unified poem before its ḥatimah, and the only stanzas inserted into the guf ha-berakha are in the final blessing, surrounding the Mi Khamokha. They’re also generally much shorter and more user-friendly than the complex and intricate mysticism of Ashkenazi festival yotsrot. This cycle is written in an alphabetical acrostic, followed by the author tag “Yitzḥaq Harel son of Avraham the Kohen and Ya’el, be strong and courageous, amen.” Each stanza begins with a different word from Isaiah 47:4, and ends with a citation of a different relevant verse.

Purim in walled cities (meaning, practically, in Jerusalem) occurs on the day after it does outside of them. This means that when Purim falls on a Friday, it falls on Shabbat in Jerusalem. This unique occurrence is called Purim Meshulash, “Threefold Purim,” because the practices for the day are divided into three. The megillah is read and gifts are given to the poor on Friday, the Torah reading is on Shabbat, and the festive meal and gifts to friends on Sunday. Since this practice of Shabbat Purim is unique to Jerusalem, and for much of Ashkenazi poetic history the Jewish community in Jerusalem was negligible, there are very few liturgical texts designed for Shabbat Purim Meshulash. This is, in the author’s opinion, a shame, because all the other special shabbatot surrounding it have a plethora of special piyyuṭim to insert into their cycles. This cycle of a shiv’ata (sevenfold piyyut) and an eloheikhem (Qedushah insertion) is meant to fill that void.

This is an original qinah written in response to the attack of October 7. Since the attack occurred on Simḥat Torah, this text is designed to follow the structure of the haqafot recited on Simḥat Torah. But it’s meant to be read on Tisha b’Av, or at least on another fast day.

This is an original ḳedushtaot cycle for Yom Meturgeman, the eighth of Tevet, to be inserted into the ‘amidah.