אֲזַלַת בְּכִיתָא | Azalat Bekhita, a lamentation on the death of Mosheh (SYAP 41, ca. 7th c.)
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❧Azalat Bekhita, is probably incomplete, extending only to ḥeth in known manuscripts. It features multiple people, places, and things important in Moshe’s life taking turns to eulogize him. It’s been translated preserving the acrostic and monorhyme scheme. Taken from Sokoloff and Yahalom’s Jewish Palestinian Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity (2018), it is presented here vocalized with an original translation. . . .
אֲמַר קִירִיס לְמֹשֶׁה | Amar Kiris l-Mosheh, a lamentation on the death of Mosheh (SYAP 40, ca. 7th c.)
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❧Amar Kiris l-Moshe, is a midrashic narrative of Moshe going to Adam to ask why he cursed humanity with death. It’s been translated preserving the acrostic and monorhyme scheme. Taken from Sokoloff and Yahalom’s “Jewish Palestinian Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity,” it is presented here vocalized with an original translation. . . .
מַן־כְּוָתָךְ | Man K’vatakh (Who is Like You) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of Pesaḥ
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❧This piyyut, Man K’vatakh (Who is Like You), the seventh in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited as an introduction to the Targum of the verse that includes “Mi Khamokha.” The English translation preserves the Hebrew acrostic of the Aramaic. . . .
אָמַר אוֹיֵב | Amar Oyev (The Enemy Said) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of Pesaḥ
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❧This piyyut, Amar Oyev (The Enemy Said), the sixth in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited as an introduction to the targum of Exodus 15, verse 9. . . .
עַד אָנָה בִּכְיָּה בְצִיּוֹן | Ad Ana Bikhya b’Tsiyon (How Long Will Crying Be In Zion), a qinah for Tishah b’Av (ca. 7th c.)
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❧‘Ad Ana Bikhya B’Tsiyon, is one of the oldest qinot of the cycle, dating to the period before rhyme schemes were the norm for Hebrew poetry. It describes the heavenly luminaries themselves as sympathizing with and lamenting for Israel. It goes through the entire zodiac, beginning with Ares and ending with Pisces. It is traditional to stand and recite the last few lines aloud before transitioning into the Ḳedusha d’Sidra. . . .
תָּנוּן שְׁבָחֵיהּ | Tanun Shvaḥeih (Tell the Praise) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of Pesaḥ
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❧This piyyut, Tanun Shvaḥeih (Tell the Praise), the eighth in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited as an introduction to the Targum of Exodus 15:18, the famous verse “Adonai yimlokh l-‘olam va-‘ed.” The English translation preserves the Hebrew acrostic of the Aramaic. . . .
יחץ (מנהג גרבא) | Liturgical Additions for Yaḥats, in the practice of the Jewish community of Djerba
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❧In many communities, the practice of Yaḥats, or breaking the matsah before maggid, is done with liturgical and ritual additions. The additions included here are one practice out of many variants as found in the practice of Djerba, the island off the coast of Tunisia. . . .
שים שלום למוסף טל | Sim Shalom for the “Tal” Musaf Amidah of Pesaḥ (extended)
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❧The first day of Pesach, according to the Sages, is the day the world is judged for grain and dew. Because of this, many customs have developed tying it into the pomp of the High Holy Days. One custom preserved in many medieval maḥzorim is to extend the final blessing of the the Musaf “Tal” (Dew) service, including a Hayom piyyut, a piyyut form otherwise almost exclusively associated with the Yamim Noraim. This extended Sim Shalom berakha including piyyutim is presented here, largely based on the form compiled by Ernst Daniel Goldschmidt (zatsal). . . .
תפלה לכל תענית צבור ועל כל צרה (שלא תבא על הציבור!) | Amidah for Any Communal Fast and On Account of Troubles (Nusaḥ Italki)
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❧The Italian rite, unique among Jewish rites, has preserved up until very recently the custom recorded in the Talmud, Masekhet Tagnanith, for communally declared fast days. In this rite, sometimes referred to as the Twenty-Four Blessings, six more blessings are added to the liturgy — the Zikhronot and Shofrot portions more commonly recited on Rosh haShanah, and four different psalms, all interspaced with a poetic litany on behalf of the ancestors’ merit and shofar blasts. It’s a fascinatng service! . . .
דַּיֵּנוּ | Daiyenu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
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❧The piyyut, Dayenu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . .
מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה | Ma Nishtana, a Spanish-Portuguese Qina for Ŋereḇ Tishŋa b’Aḇ
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❧This qina is recited in the Spanish-Portuguese rite (as practiced in the Snoge in Amsterdam, the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London, and Shearith Israel in New York City among many other communities) at the conclusion of the recitation of qinot on the evening of the Ninth of Aḅ. Its refrain, taken from the Four Questions of the Passover liturgy, is reframed* as a reflection of the suffering of such a day, contrasting the celebration of salvation on Passover with the fear and desolation of the fast day. . . .
אַדִּיר הוּא | Adir Hu, the acrostic piyyut in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
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❧The alphabetic acrostic piyyut, Adir Hu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel as found in his translation of the Pesaḥ seder haggadah, Liber Rituum Paschalium (1644). . . .
וּנְתַנֶּה תֹּֽקֶף | u-N’taneh Toḳef in Hebrew, with translations in English, Yiddish, and Ladino
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❧A quadrilingual text of U-N’taneh Tokef — Yiddish, Ladino, English, and Hebrew. . . .
אֲשֶׁר בִּגְלַל אָבוֹת בָּנִים גִּדֵּל | Asher Biglal Avot Banim Gidel — an archaic piyyut on Mosheh’s Death for Simḥat Torah
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❧This piyyut of unknown authorship is certainly ancient, showing the lack of a rhyme scheme characteristic of the REALLY old piyyutim (see also Aleinu or El Adon). It is still found in some Ashkenazi and Teman maḥzorim, with many different mostly minor variants (which have been combined together somewhat eclectically into one text here). It is presented here along with an English translation attempting to preserve the Hebrew acrostic. Originally it was recited before the Ashrei leading into musaf, but perhaps for those who follow Ashkenazi customs a more appropriate location would be as an introduction to the Yizkor service on Shmini ‘Atzeret — which for those who don’t keep second-day yontef is the same day. It could also be adapted as part of the liturgy for the seventh of Adar, although the final verse (the old Western rite berakha for finishing a full Torah cycle) would have to be elided. . . .
אַצִיתוּ לִי אִילָנַיָּא | Atsitu Li Ilinaya | The Argument of the Trees — a debate-poem for Purim in Aramaic from the Targum Sheni
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❧This Aramaic poem, written in the early Byzantine era by an unknown author, can be found in its entirety within the Targum Sheni for Esther 7:9. It features an argument between an assortment of trees over which one is required to bear the great dishonor of having to be the one to hold Haman. It’s also chock-full of anti-Christian polemic and references to Toledot Yeshu. . . .
אֵין כֵּאלֹהֵֽינוּ | Neniu Estas (נעניו עסטאַס) — an Esperanto translation of “Ein k’Eloheinu” by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
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❧This is an original Esperanto translation of Ein K’Eloheinu, with a transcription using my own original Hebraization schema. . . .
קדיש דרבנן (נוסח ארץ ישראל) | Ḳaddish d’Rabanan variant from the Cairo Geniza (nusaḥ Erets Yisrael, ca. 11th c.)
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❧A unique Nusaḥ Erets Yisrael variant of the Qaddish found in the Cairo Geniza, most well known for including the names of the leading rabbis of the community in its text. . . .
קדיש שלם | Ḳaddish Shalem (extended), according to the nusaḥ of the Cochin Jews
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❧A traditional Cochin Ḳaddish Shalem, based on siddurim published for the Cochin Jewish community by the Props brothers of Amsterdam. . . .
💬 פרקי אבות פרק א׳ | Pirqei Avot: Chapter One, cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
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❧Chapter 1 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation. . . .
💬 פרקי אבות פרק ב׳ | Pirqei Avot: Chapter Two, cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
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❧Chapter 2 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation. . . .