Contributed by: David de Sola Pool, Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A rhyming translation in English to the popular piyyut, Adon Olam.
Contributed by: Israel Zangwill (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (There are also twelve, fifteen, and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim.) The rhyming translation here by Israel Zangwill was transcribed from the Jewish Quarterly Review vol. 13 (January 1901), p. 321.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Alice Montefiore Lucas (translation), Unknown
The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation.
Contributed by: Aniruddha Walke (transcription), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Joseph Ezekiel Rajpurkar (translation), Unknown
The piyyut, “Adon Olam” became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the fifteen line version familiar to some Mizraḥi and eastern Sefaradi congregations. (A twelve line variant is common among the Western Sefaradim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.) The Marathi translation was made by Joseph Ezekiel Rajpurkar as published in סדר תפלת החדש The Daily Prayers translated from Hebrew in Marathi (1889), pp. 7-8.
Contributed by: Unknown, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The custom of reciting BaMeh Madliqin, the second chapter of Mishnah Shabbat, on Friday nights probably originated as an anti-Karaite polemic. While the Karaites were opposed to any use of fire on Shabbat, rabbinic Jews kindle lights before Shabbat, and the recitation of BaMeh Madliqin — the laws of Shabbat lights — emphasized this distinction. One of the best firsthand sources we have for this is the following introductory blessing from the Cairo Genizah (T-S NS 299.150 verso) for the recitation of BaMeh Madliqin, first published by Naftali Wieder in this article. This blessing emphasizes the continuity of the Torah both written and oral from Sinai to the sages and elders.
Contributed by: Unknown, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The traditional Ashkenazi qerovot added to the Musaf repetition for Shabbat Sheqalim, alongside a new gender-neutral translation
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The piyyut, El Adon, in Hebrew with an interpretive “praying translation” by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalom, z”l.
Contributed by: Sara Lapidot (translation), Unknown
The piyyut, El Adon, in Hebrew with an English translation.
Contributed by: Unknown, Rabbi Natan Slifkin, Aharon N. Varady
Talmudic and midrashic sources contain hymns of the creation usually based on homiletic expansions of metaphorical descriptions and personifications of the created world in the Bible. The explicitly homiletic background of some of the hymns in Perek Shira indicates a possible connection between the other hymns and Tannaitic and Amoraic homiletics, and suggests a hymnal index to well-known, but mostly unpreserved, homiletics. The origin of this work, the period of its composition and its significance may be deduced from literary parallels. A Tannaitic source in the tractate Hagiga of the Jerusalem (Hag. 2:1,77a—b) and Babylonian Talmud (Hag. 14b), in hymns of nature associated with apocalyptic visions and with the teaching of ma’aseh merkaba serves as a key to Perek Shira’s close spiritual relationship with this literature. Parallels to it can be found in apocalyptic literature, in mystic layers in Talmudic literature, in Jewish mystical prayers surviving in fourth-century Greek Christian composition, in Heikhalot literature, and in Merkaba mysticism. The affinity of Perek Shira with Heikhalot literature, which abounds in hymns, can be noted in the explicitly mystic introduction to the seven crowings of the cock — the only non-hymnal text in the collection — and the striking resemblance between the language of the additions and that of Shi’ur Koma and other examples of this literature. In Seder Rabba de-Bereshit, a Heikhalot tract, in conjunction with the description of ma’aseh bereshit, there is a clear parallel to Perek Shira’s praise of creation and to the structure of its hymns. The concept reflected in this source is based on a belief in the existence of angelic archetypes of created beings who mediate between God and His creation, and express their role through singing hymns. As the first interpretations of Perek Shira also bear witness to its mystic character and angelologic significance, it would appear to be a mystical chapter of Heikhalot literature, dating from late Tannaitic — early Amoraic period, or early Middle Ages.
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown
This is an original Esperanto translation of Ein K’Eloheinu, with a transcription using my own original Hebraization schema.
Contributed by: Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Chapter 1 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation.
Contributed by: Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Chapter 2 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation.
Contributed by: Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Chapter 3 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation.
Contributed by: Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Chapter 4 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation.
Contributed by: Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Chapter 5 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation.
Contributed by: Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Chapter 6 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation.
Contributed by: Yaacov Maoz, Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
The popular piyyut for welcoming the Shabbat, in Hebrew with translations in Assyrian-Aramaic and English.
Contributed by: Unknown, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The mantra-like piyyut “Ēin k-Ēlohēinu,” a praise of God’s attributes and uniqueness featuring incremental repetition, is found in siddurim as far back as the siddur of Rav Amram, and may date back to the Hekhalot literature. Many versions of it have been compiled in different languages, most famously Flory Jagoda (zç”l)’s Judezmo variant “Non como muestro Dyo.” Here the editor has compiled traditional Yiddish and Ladino translations, as well as developed new Aramaic and Arabic translations for this piyyut. The post-piyyut verses used in both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic rites have been included.
Contributed by: Unknown, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The text of the piyyut Ein Keloheinu from a 1483 Judeo-Italian translation of the siddur (British Library Or. 2443), along with a transcription into Italian script, a normative Italian modernization, and the Hebrew and English.
Contributed by: Richard Collis (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ for the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai is found on pages 1-2 of the liner notes for the Chinese edition of Richard Collis’s album We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers (Wǒmen gēchàng, wǒmen xiāngjù — Ānxírì chén dǎo qídǎo).

