This is an archive of prayers, songs, and other individual works relevant to the final course of the seder for Pesaḥ (Passover): Nirtsah, containing piyyutim and the counting of the Omer. Click here to contribute a work or a transcription and translation of a historical work that you have prepared for Nirtsah in the Seder Pesaḥ. Filter resources by Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category
A litany of mythical guests and creatures presenting at the Passover seder. . . . Making sense of Ḥad Gadya beyond its explicit meaning has long inspired commentary. For me, Ḥad Gadya expresses in its own beautiful and macabre way a particularly important idea in Judaism that has become obscure if not esoteric. While an animal’s life may today be purchased, ultimately, the forces of exploitation, predation, and destruction that dominate our world will be overturned. Singing Ḥad Gadya is thus particularly apropos for the night of Passover since, in the Jewish calendar, this one night, different from all other nights, is considered the most dangerous night of the year — it is the time in which the forces of darkness in the world are strongest. Why? It is on this night that the divine aspect of Mashḥit, the executioner, is explicitly invoked (albeit, only in the context of the divine acting as midwife and guardian/protector of her people), as explained in the midrash for Exodus 12:12 . . . Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout the Jewish world, and in many communities it was read in translation. Probably not this one though, seeing as it was written over two millenia after the Ugaritic language became extinct. But Ugaritic, closely related to the Canaanite language family of which Hebrew is a part, is worth studying for any Jewish scholar because of the light it sheds on the history of the Western Semitic peoples. So I’ve attempted a Ugaritic translation of Ḥad Gadya. . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., alternate timeline, Aramaic, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Late Bronze Age, נרצה Nirtsah, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, Ugaritic translation, זמירות zemirot Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout the Jewish world, and in many communities it was read in translation. Probably not this one though, seeing as it was written over a millenium after Akkadian became extinct. But in my opinion there ought to be a representation of the East Semitic language family in the canon of Ḥad Gadya translations. Also included is a transcript of the Akkadian text into Hebrew script, since Judeo-Cuneiform doesn’t exist… yet. Eh, Aramaic script was invented in the places Akkadian was spoken anyway, it’s fine. A hearty thanks to Dr. Janine Wende at the University of Leipzig for proofreading and editing the Akkadian translation! . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Akkadian, alternate timeline, Aramaic, Babylonian, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Late Bronze Age, נרצה Nirtsah, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout the Jewish world, and in many communities it was read in translation. This Middle Egyptian translation was almost certainly the one that Moshe Rabbeinu himself sang at his seder table that fateful night in Egypt! …Not really. Ḥad Gadya postdates Middle Egyptian as a written language by about three millennia. But it’s fun and Pesaḥ-appropriate to sing this song in the language of that dagnabbed Pharaoh himself. Also included is a transcript of the text into Hebrew script, since Judeo-Hieroglyphics don’t exist… yet. Eh, the alphabet was adapted from hieroglyphics from the start. It’s fine. You could even say it’s an improvement. For reading out loud I’ve also included the standard Egyptological pronunciation system. If you’re stuck in a time machine be careful, it’s an artificial convention that should not be mistaken for how Egyptian was pronounced at the time. But personally I think “Tutenkhamen” is easier to say than *Təwā́təʾ-ʿā́nəkh-ʾamā́nəʾ, so sue me. . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., alternate timeline, Aramaic, Egyptian, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Late Bronze Age, Middle Egyptian, נרצה Nirtsah, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot A Yevanic (Judeo-Greek) translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Judeo-Greek, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, Romaniote, salvation, Yevanic, זמירות zemirot A Ge’ez translation of the popular Passover seder song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 21st century C.E., 53rd century A.M., 58th century A.M., Aramaic, Beta Esrael, Ethiopian Jewry, Ethiopic translation, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot An original version of Ḥad Gadya which has been fully Aramaicized, with all the Hebrew words removed and the verbs conjugated properly. . . . A Latin translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout the Jewish world, and in many communities it was read in translation. Probably not this one, but who knows? While there’s no known community of Jews who spoke Gothic or any other East Germanic language, there certainly were Jews who came into contact with it, such as the communities of Crimea (where variants of Gothic continued to be spoken until the 18th century). In any case this translation of Ḥad Gadya follows the grammar of Wulfila’s 4th-century Gothic translations. . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., alternate timeline, Aramaic, Gothic translation, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, נרצה Nirtsah, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout the Jewish world, and in many communities it was read in translation. Probably not this one though, since the earliest evidence of Jews in England dates back to 1070, by which point Middle English was already on its way to development. . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., alternate timeline, Aramaic, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, נרצה Nirtsah, Old English translation, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout the Jewish world, and in many communities it was read in translation. Probably not this one though, since there is very little evidence of any Jews having lived in the Nordic countries before the Spanish expulsion, long after the end of the Old Norse era. . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., alternate timeline, Aramaic, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, נרצה Nirtsah, Old Norse translation, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot In our timeline, the Kaifeng Jewish community had originally spoken Persian as their lingua franca, before adopting the Kaifeng dialect of Mandarin that their neighbors spoke. But just change a little and all of history could be different! This is a translation of Ḥad Gadya in a timeline where Judeo-Aramaic was a little more prevalent in eastern Persia all those years ago. In this timeline, instead of speaking Judeo-Persian before adopting Chinese, the Kaifeng Jews spoke Aramaic. And this dialect of Aramaic, like many other languages spoken in the greater Chinese cultural sphere, underwent tonogenesis! . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., alternate timeline, Aramaic, constructed languages, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Kaifeng, נרצה Nirtsah, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot A Judeo-Tajik translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, Bukharan Jewry, Bukhori, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Judeo-Tajik, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot A Čveneburuli (Judeo-Georgian) translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . A Judeo-Tajik translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, Bukharan Jewry, Crimean Tatar, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Krymchak, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot A Judeo-Berber translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . A Judeo-Moroccan Arabic (Darija) adaptation of the Passover seder song, Ḥad Gadya, as found in Mahzor Moȝadé Hashem. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Arabic translation, Aramaic, Darija, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Judeo-Arabic, Morocco, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot An Arabic translation of Ḥad Gadya in its Syrian Jewish Damascus variation. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Arabic translation, Aramaic, Damascus, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Judeo-Arabic, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, Syria, זמירות zemirot A Judeo-Arabic translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . A Judezmo/Ladino translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Judeo-Spanish, Judezmo, Ladino Translation, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout the Jewish world, and in many communities it was read in translation. The Caribbean island of Curaçao is home to the oldest Jewish community west of the Atlantic, and its local creole language of Papiamentu has substantial Jewish influence. This is a translation of Ḥad Gadya into Papiamentu, along with a transcription into Hebrew according to a new methodology for Papiamentu in Hebrew. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, Curaçao, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, North American Jewry, Papiamentu translation, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot This is “Had Gadiâ | Un Cabri: La Légende de l’Agneau (Poésie chaldaico-provençale, chantée a la table de famille les soirs de Paques),” a translation of Ḥad Gadya into French by Dom Pedro Ⅱ (1825-1891), emperor of Brazil, as published in Poésies hébraïco-provençales du rituel israélite comtadin traduites et transcriptes par S. M. D. Pedro Ⅱ, de Alcântara, empereur du Brésil (1891), pp. 45-59. A note on the last page indicates the translation was made in Vichy, France on 30 July 1891. . . . A revolutionary socialist, Yiddish adaptation of Ḥad Gadya. . . .
Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, constructed languages, Esperanto translation, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, L.L. Zamenhoff, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout the Jewish quadrant, and in many communities it was read in translation. This adaptation into tlhIngan Hol is very useful for when your universal translator is malfunctioning at a Seder on Qo’noS. Okay, but to be serious for a moment, while the many connections between the canon of Star Trek and the Jewish community are well known, one of the lesser-known ones is that the inventor of tlhIngan Hol (the Klingon language), Marc Okrand, is Jewish, and a substantial number of Klingon terms come from Hebrew or Yiddish. In honor of that connection, the editor has developed this adaptation of the well-known seder table-song Ḥad Gadya into tlhIngan Hol, as well as a home-brewed transcription system into Hebrew script called pIluy. The wildlife has also been adapted, so instead of a goat the story begins with one little targ. (Sure, they might LOOK like pigs, but who knows if they chew cud or not!) . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 24th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., 61st century A.M., Aramaic, constructed languages, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Jews of Star Trek, Klingon translation, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, Star Trek, זמירות zemirot This adaptation of Ḥad Gadya was written by CenozoicSynapsid and included in their Lord of the Rings fan fiction, “All Who Are Hungry” (Archive of Our Own 2019). . . . Ḥad Gadya has a place in Seder tables throughout Arda, and in many communities it was read in translation. This translation into Quenya is necessary for any good Lothlórien sedarim. But to be serious, Quenya was one of several languages developed by J.R.R. Tolkien. It serves as the sacred ancestral language of the Noldorin elves in the Middle-Earth legendarium. The editor here has developed this adaptation of the well-known seder table-song Ḥad Gadya into Quenya, as well as a home-brewed transcription system into Hebrew script included here (PDF | ODT). This translation uses several fan-made terms, such as cuimacir for “butcher” and luhtya- for “extinguish”, as well as one original neologism, yacincë for “kid-goat.” . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, constructed languages, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, High-Elven, Middle-Earth, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, Quenya translation, salvation, זמירות zemirot This is the translation of Ḥad Gadya into Judeo-Valyrian with a Hebraicization schema for Valyrian by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 24th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, constructed languages, Game of Thrones, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, נרצה Nirtsah, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, Song of Ice and Fire, Valyrian translation, זמירות zemirot The text of the popular Passover song “Who Knows One?” in its original Hebrew and Yiddish, with a translation in English. . . . The text of the popular Passover song “Who Knows One?” in Hebrew set side-by-side with an Aramaic translation. . . . The text of the popular counting song “Who Knows One?” in its original Hebrew, with a translation in Latin. . . . A Judeo-Moroccan Arabic (Darija) adaptation of the Passover counting song Eḥad Mi Yodeaȝ, as found in Mahzor Moȝadé Hashem. . . . Eḥad Mi Yodéa is a counting-song that is a beloved part of Seders the world over. It is mostly written in Hebrew, counting up to 13, but there are versions that can be found in many different languages. This translation is in Bukhori, also known as Judeo-Tajik, as translated by the great Shimon ben Eliyahu Ḥakham (1843-1910), the chief rabbi of the Bukharan Jewish community in Jerusalem. His full translation of all liturgical additions in the month of Nisan for the Bukharan community can be found in חוקת הפסח Ḥuqat haPesaḥ (1904) – the source for this transcription on page 128-130 (see included). Shimon Ḥakham transcribed it into vocalized Hebrew script, which is included here alongside transliterations into Tajik Cyrillic and a Roman transcription. . . . Eḥad Mi Yodéa is a counting-song that is a beloved part of Seders the world over. Counting up to 13, it is mostly written in Hebrew, but there are versions that can be found in many different languages. This translation is in the Judeo-Italian dialect of Siena, based on Geremia Mario Castelnuovo’s 1956 recording from Leo Levi’s collection of Judeo-Italian ethnomusicological recordings. A link to the original recording can be found here. . . . A (kosher-for-Passover) prayer for redemption from exile. . . . The text of the popular piyyut “Adir Bimlukhah” (a/k/a “Ki lo na’eh”) in Hebrew, with a Latin translation. . . . 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). . . . The piyyut, Omets G’vurotekha by Elazar ha-Qalir, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . . The piyyut, Omets G’vurotekha by Elazar ha-Qalir, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . . This Western Yiddish alphabetical adaptation of Adir Hu is first found in the 1769 Selig Haggadah, under the name of “Baugesang” (meaning Building Song). It grew to be a beloved part of the Western Ashkenazi rite, to the point where the traditional German Jewish greeting after the Seder was “Bau gut,” or “build well!” . . . “La Marseillaise” is the national anthem of France. This Hebrew translation was made by Efrayim Dror for the Free French Army (Forces Françaises Libres) and its many Jewish volunteers during the early years of World War II. The translation was published in 1951. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled “Chant de guerre pour l’Armée du Rhin” (“War Song for the Army of the Rhine”). The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic’s anthem in 1795. The song acquired its nickname after being sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseille marching to the capital. After the fall of Napoleon in 1815 “La Marseilles” was banned and it became the anthem of the French left. The Government brought back the iconic anthem in an attempt to motivate the French people during the Franco-Prussian War. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, “La Marseillaise” was recognized as the anthem of the international revolutionary movement; as such, it was adopted by the Paris Commune in 1871, albeit with new lyrics under the title “La marseillaise de la Commune.” Eight years later, in 1879, it was restored as France’s national anthem. On Simḥat Torah (18–19 October) 1973, the Lubavitcher Rebbe adapted the melody to the Jewish prayer “Ha’aderet v’ha’emuna”. In ḤaBaD, the melody is believed to convey the idea of a “spiritual French revolution” – in that Torah should be spread around the world as an advent to the messianic era. . . . The Chanson Internationale (‘International Song’) was originally written in 1871 by Eugène Pottier, a French public transportation worker, member of the International Workingmen’s Association (The First International), and activist of the Paris Commune. He wrote it to pay tribute to the commune violently destroyed that year. The song became the official anthem of The Second International, of the Comintem, and between 1921 and 1944 also of the Soviet Union. Most socialist and communist parties adopted it as their anthem during the last decades of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century, adapting it in local languages (Russian, Yiddish, etc.) to their particular ideological framework. The anthem was first translated into Hebrew by Avraham Shlonsky in 1921. . . . Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., anti-fascist, Humanist, Humanist Judaism, internationalism, Labor Zionism, national anthems, Paris Commune, Siege of Paris (1870–1871), socialism, זמירות zemirot The African-American Christian spiritual adapted for a Pesaḥ song in Hebrew and English. . . . “baShanah haBa’ah” (Next Year) by Ehud Manor written in 1968 in memory of his brother Yehudah. . . . “Orah hee” was composed by Rabbi Jill Hammer in 2008 and first published at Tel Shemesh in romanized Hebrew and English translation. . . . Each day between the beginning of Passover and Shavuot gets counted, 49 days in all, 7 weeks of seven days. That makes the omer period a miniature version of the Shmitah and Yovel (Jubilee) cycle of 7 cycles of seven years. Just as that cycle is one of resetting society’s clock to align ourselves with freedom and with the needs of the land, this cycle too is a chance to align ourselves with the rhythms of spring and the spiritual freedom represented by the Torah. . . . Tags: apprehension, barley, counting, eco-conscious, ecoḥasid, growing, growth, neo-lurianic, ספירת העומר sefirat haomer, ספירות sefirot, trepidation, watchfulness, wheat Adir Hu, a classic Pesaḥ song if ever there was one, is a part of Seder tables all over the planet. Its alphabetical list of God’s attributes, combined with its repeated pleas for a return to Jerusalem, make it a classic, to the point where the traditional German farewell greeting for Passover was not “chag sameach” or “gut yontef” but “bau gut” – build well. This interpretation, while not a direct translation by any means, has the same rhythmic pattern and alphabetical structure, giving a sense of the greatness of God. . . . |
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