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 Collaborator Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category Filter resources by Language Filter resources by Date Range
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 . . . A Latin translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . 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 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 piyyuṭim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot A Judeo-Arabic 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 piyyuṭim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot A Čveneburuli (Judeo-Georgian) 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 piyyuṭim, 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 piyyuṭim, predation, salvation, Syria, זמירות zemirot A Judeo-Berber translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . 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 piyyuṭim, predation, salvation, Song of Ice and Fire, Valyrian translation, זמירות zemirot 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 piyyuṭim, predation, Quenya translation, 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 piyyuṭim, predation, salvation, Star Trek, זמירות zemirot
Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, constructed languages, Esperanto translation, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, L.L. Zamenhoff, פיוטים piyyuṭim, 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 piyyuṭim, predation, Romaniote, salvation, Yevanic, 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 piyyuṭim, predation, salvation, 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 piyyuṭim, 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 piyyuṭim, 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, 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 piyyuṭim, 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, 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 piyyuṭim, 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. . . . 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 piyyuṭim, 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 piyyuṭim, 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 piyyuṭim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot 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 piyyuṭim, 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, 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 piyyuṭim, 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 almost a thousand years after the Sabaic language became extinct. But Sabaic, a South Semitic language somewhere between Arabic and Ge’ez, is worth studying for any Jewish scholar because of the light it sheds on the history of the Semitic languages and the Middle East as a whole. (Not to mention that it was a lingua franca of the Yemenite Jewish kingdom of Himyar!) This is a Sabaic translation, transcription, and hypothetical vocalization of Ḥad Gadya. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., alternate timeline, Aramaic, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Himyar, Late Antiquity, פיוטים piyyuṭim, predation, Sabaic translation, salvation, Yemenite Jewry, זמירות zemirot A translation of Ḥad Gadya into Hulaulá (Trans-Zab Jewish Neo-Aramaic), the Aramaic dialect of the Jews of Sanandaj. Largely based on the translation of Alan Niku (found here), with a few minor changes, and with the transcription altered to the scholarly transcription of Geoffrey Khan in his analysis of the dialect. Also featuring a transcription into Hebrew script. . . . |
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