Ḳerovot for Tu biShvat, a celebration of Divine verdancy, which namedrops a stunning array of flora from throughout the land of Israel. . . .
A medieval Jewish poem on the game of Chess by an anonymous author. . . .
A poem on how to play chess, one of the oldest historical descriptions of the game of Chess, by Avraham ibn Ezra (12th century) . . .
A prayer for those martyred in the First Crusade and Rhineland Massacres, and by extension, all subsequent pogroms up until and including the Holocaust. . . .
The thirteen exegetical rules by which halakhot from the Torah may be derived, according to Rebbi Yishmael, included with the preliminary prayers before the Psukei d’Zimrah/Zemirot of Shaḥarit. . . .
The physician’s prayer of Rabbi Dr. Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi in the 12th century CE. . . .
A piyyut that expresses the paradox of a divinity that is both “Beyond” and “Present.” . . .
An Aramaic piyyut composed as an introduction to the reading of the Targum for the Torah reading on Shavuot. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (translation), Moses Gaster (translation) and David ben Elazar ibn Paquda
Shared on ג׳ בסיון ה׳תש״פ (2020-05-26) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Shavuot
Tags: Nusaḥ Sefaradi, acrostic, פיוטים piyyutim, 12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, theophany, Har Sinai, Decalogue, התורה the Torah, Azharot
A poetic introduction to the Azharot of Solomon ibn Gabirol read in the afternoon of Shavuot by Sefaradim. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (translation), Dan Levene, Dalia Marx and Simḥah ben Shmuel of Vitry
Shared on כ״ג באייר ה׳תש״פ (2020-05-16) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Bedtime Shema
Tags: danger, night, sleep, Angels, Before Sleep, Angelic Protection, 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., שכינה Shekhinah, apotropaic prayers of protection, Angels of Healing
An “angels on all sides” formula included with the Bedtime Shema service in the Maḥzor Vitry. . . .
A piyyut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol included in the arrangement of Baqashot before the morning service in the liturgical custom of Sefaradim. . . .
A popular piyyut for all occasions by Avraham ibn Ezra. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Shared on כ״ג בטבת ה׳תש״פ (2020-01-19) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Birkhot haShaḥar, Arvit l'Shabbat, Musaf l'Shabbat
Tags: interpretive translation, פיוטים piyyutim, פתיחות Petiḥot, cosmological, 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., חתימות Ḥatimot, ABCB rhyming scheme, אדון עולם Adon Olam
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s interpretive “praying translation” of the piyyut, Adon Olam. . . .
“Ezkera Matsok” (I remember the distress) is a seliḥah in alphabetic acrostic recited on the Fast of Tevet in the Ashkenazi nusaḥ minhag Polin. . . .
“Odecha ki anafta bi (I give thanks to you although you were angry with me) was composed by Joseph ben Solomon of Carcassonne, who is dated to the first half of the eleventh century. This elegant and abstruse poem tells an epic tale of the Jews’ resistance to the decrees of Antiochus IV and includes accounts of both the Hasmonean bride and Judith. It bears a considerable resemblance to texts 4 and 12 of the Hanukkah midrashim[ref]See Grintz, Sefer Yehudit, pp. 205, 207–08[/ref] and this is evidence for the circulation of the joint Hasmonean daughter-Judith tales in the eleventh century, even if the surviving manuscripts of these stories are from a later date.” (Deborah Levine Gera, “The Jewish Textual Traditions” in The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines (2010).) . . .
An interpretive translation of Yehudah haLevi’s shabbat song, “Yom Shabbaton.” . . .
An interpretive translation of a piyyut composed as an introduction to the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Unknown Author(s)
Shared on כ״ד במרחשון ה׳תש״פ (2019-11-22) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication
Categories: Birkhot haShaḥar, Arvit l'Shabbat, Musaf l'Shabbat
Tags: Nusaḥ Sefaradi, פיוטים piyyutim, פתיחות Petiḥot, cosmological, 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., חתימות Ḥatimot, ABCB rhyming scheme, rhyming translation, אדון עולם Adon Olam
A rhyming translation in English to the popular piyyut, Adon Olam. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Rosa Emma Salaman
Shared on ט״ז בטבת ה׳תש״פ (2020-01-13) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication
Categories: Birkhot haShaḥar, Arvit l'Shabbat, Musaf l'Shabbat
Tags: Nusaḥ Sefaradi, interpretive translation, פיוטים piyyutim, פתיחות Petiḥot, free translation, cosmological, 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., חתימות Ḥatimot, ABCB rhyming scheme, rhyming translation, אדון עולם Adon Olam
A rhyming English translation of Adon Olam by Rosa Emma Salaman. . . .
The dream and prayer of Mordecai, and the prayer of Esther, as copied in the medieval pseudo-historical Chronicle of Yeraḥmiel. . . .

Contributor(s): Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi
Shared on ד׳ בתשרי ה׳תשע״ח (2017-09-24) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Yom Kippur
Tags: interpretive translation, סליחות seliḥot, eros, פיוטים piyyutim, 11th century C.E., The Lovers, 49th century A.M., Granadan Jewry, Kingdom of Granada, Song of Songs, devotional interpretation
The following love poem is one of the Selihot recited between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Ibn Gayat (1038 – 1089) was not timid about using the most intimate symbols in asking God to become reconciled with us. . . .
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