Shimon bar Isaac (fl. circa 950) born in Mainz, Germany, was a scholar of his time. As a paytan he composed yotserot, qerovot, seliḥot, hymns, and rashuyyot le-ḥatanim. It is probable that he sang his piyutim himself. His piyutim bare traces of the language found in early piyutim, and they are marked by the pain of the persecutions of the Jews in bar Isaac's lifetime.