![the Open Siddur Project [logo]](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Open-Siddur-Project-Logo-2016.svg){kind=logo}
a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice | ||
⤷ You are here:
acrostic —⟶ tag: acrostic Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? כׇּל־שִׁׄנְאַנֵּי שַֽׁחַק | Kol Shin’anei Shaḥaq — a rahit piyyut for the second day of Rosh haShanah by Shimon bar Isaac (ca. 10th c.)A rahit (a chain piyyut before the silluq) for the second day of Rosh haShanah, by R’ Shimon bar Isaac “the Great” of Mainz. Here translated preserving the acrostic, slightly edited from its form as part of a day 2 service maḥzor designed by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit) אָתִֽיתִי לְחַנְּנָךְ | Atiti l-Ḥan’nakh, the magen piyyut for the second day of Rosh haShanah by Shimon bar Isaac (ca. 10th c.)A magen piyyut (recited as part of the first blessing of Shaḥarit) for the second day of Rosh haShanah by Rabbi Shimon bar Isaac “the Great” of Mainz. Here translated preserving the acrostic, slightly edited from its form as part of a day 2 service maḥzor designed by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit) אַתָּה הָאֵל עוֹשֵׂה פְלָאוֹת | Atah ha-El Oseh Fela’ot, a seliḥah for Taanit Esther by Shimon bar Isaac (ca. 10th c.)An alphabetic acrostic seliḥah piyyut for Taanit Esther in Hebrew with English translation . . . Categories: Ta'anit Esther יוֹם שַׁבָּתוֹן | Yom Shabbaton, a Shabbat song by Yehudah haLevi (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)An interpretive translation of Yehudah haLevi’s shabbat song, “Yom Shabbaton.” . . . Categories: Se'udat Yom Shabbat אַקְדָמוּת מִילִין | Aḳdamut Milin, a preface to the Targum for the Shavuot Torah Reading, attributed to Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans (ca. 11th c.)An Aramaic piyyut composed as an introduction to the reading of the Targum for the Torah reading on Shavuot. . . . Categories: Shavuot Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, Alphabetic Acrostic, אקדמות Aqdamut, Aramaic, בהמות behemot, פיוטים piyyutim, תרגום targum Contributor(s): Cantor Hinda Labovitz, Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) The traditional Ashkenazi qerovot added to the Musaf repetition for Shabbat Sheqalim, alongside a new gender-neutral translation . . . Categories: Musaf l'Shabbat קרובות לתענית אסתר | Ḳerovot for Taanit Esther by Yosef ibn Abitur (ca. 10th c.) with other seliḥot arranged by Isaac Gantwerk MayerThe poetic genre known as qerovot, brief poems woven throughout the repetition of the weekday Amidah, is nowadays most closely associated with Elazar haḲalir’s Purim “Ḳrovetz“, a majestically interwoven piece of piyyut if ever there was one. But there are many other ḳerovot that have historically been recited, many of which were discovered in the Cairo Geniza. This set of ḳerovot, composed by the prolific Spanish paytan Yosef ibn Abitur, is meant to be included within the Shaḥarit amidah for Ta’anit Esther, the fast day before Purim. Consequently, it only goes up to the sixth blessing (the blessing for forgiveness) and concludes by leading directly into Seliḥot, which (before R. Yosef Karo’s standardization of the liturgy, and even now among some Western Ashkenazim) were inserted into the aforementioned blessing. In order to demonstrate this structure on a large scale, the editor here has compiled a full Shaḥarit repetition, nusaḥ Ashkenaz, incorporating the qerovot of Yosef ibn Abitur as well as the three seliḥot piyyutim of the Ashkenazi rite. . . . Categories: Ta'anit Esther אִילּוּ פּוּמֵּי נִימֵי | Ilu Pume Nima (If Our Mouths Were Thread) — an introductory a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of Pesaḥ by Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans (ca. 11th c.)This piyyut, Ilu Pume Nima (If Our Mouths Were Thread), the first in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the first verse of the first aliyah, as an introduction or ‘reshut’ to the seder meturgeman as a whole. . . . Categories: 7th Day of Pesaḥ אֲבוּנָן דְּבִשְׁמַיָּא וּבָרְיַן | Abunan D’biShmaya (Our Parent in Heaven) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of Pesaḥ by Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans (ca. 11th c.)This piyyut, Abunan D’biShmaya (Our Parent in Heaven), the second in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the fifth verse of the first aliyah (or second verse of the second aliyah on Shabbat). . . . Categories: 7th Day of Pesaḥ אֱלָהָא עָלַם | Elaha Alam (Ageless God) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of Pesaḥ by Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans (ca. 11th c.)This piyyut, Elaha Alam (Ageless God), the fourth in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the first verse of the Song of the Sea proper as an introduction to the targum of the text. . . . Categories: 7th Day of Pesaḥ אֱלָהָא תַּקִּיפָא רַבָּא וְגִבָּרָא | Elaha Taqifa (Mighty God) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of Pesaḥ by Yequtiel ben YosefThis piyyut, Elaha Taqifa (Mighty God), the third in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the concluding verse of the second aliyah (third on Shabbat). The translation preserves the alphabetical acrostic, as well as the authorial tag — Jequtiel son of Joseph. . . . Categories: 7th Day of Pesaḥ אִזֵל מֹשֶׁה | Izel Mosheh (Arise, Moses) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of PesaḥThis piyyut, Izel Moshe (Arise, Moses), the fifth in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited after the second verse of the song proper, as an elaboration on God’s strength. The English translation preserves the Hebrew acrostic of the original. . . . Categories: 7th Day of Pesaḥ Ḳerovot for Tu biShvat, a celebration of Divine verdancy, which namedrops a stunning array of flora from throughout the land of Israel. . . . Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat) הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Bein Ḳodesh l’Ḥol (abridged), a piyyut attributed to Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi (ca. 11th c.)The short form of the piyyut for motsei shabbat, with English translation. . . . Categories: Motsei Shabbat A piyyut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol included in the arrangement of Baqashot before the morning service in the liturgical custom of Sefaradim. . . . Categories: Morning Baqashot A piyyut presenting a dialogue between a couple and Hashem. . . . יוֹם הַבִּכּוּרִים | Yom ha-Bikkurim, the bikkur piyyut for the first day of Shavˁuot in the Old French and Romaniote RitesA “bikkur” piyyut traditionally added at the end of Hashkivenu for Shavˁuot in the Old French (and Maḥzor Vitry) and Romaniote rites. From the acrostic we know the author was named Yosef ben Yaˁakov. Other than that we know very little about this poem’s origin and age, although its structure fits with the early Ashkenazi piyyut oeuvre. . . . Categories: Shavuot אוֹדְךָ כִּי אָנַֽפְתָּ בִּי | Odekha Ki Anafta Bi, a Yotser (Hymn) for Ḥanukkah by Yosef bar Shlomo of Carcassone (ca. 11th cent.)“Odekha 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 (find Grintz, Sefer Yehudit, pp. 205, 207–08) 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).) . . . אֶזְכְּרָה מָצוֹק | Ezkerah Matsōk (“I remember the distress”), a seliḥah for the Fast of Tevet attributed to Joseph ben Samuel Bonfils (11th c.)“Ezkera Matsok” (I remember the distress) is a seliḥah in alphabetic acrostic recited on the Fast of Tevet in the Ashkenazi nusaḥ minhag Polin. . . . Categories: Asarah b'Tevet The maaravot-cycle of piyyutim for the first night of Shavuot, by Joseph ben Samuel Bonfils. In normative maaravot fashion, it is one extended cycle with an overarching structure (the first words of each of the Ten Commandments) throughout the whole of the kriat shema, with additional piyyutim incorporated into the first blessing after the shema. . . . Categories: Shavuot אָדָם בְּקוּם עָלֵֽינוּ | Adam B’qum ‘Alenu, a seliḥah for Taanit Esther by Menaḥem ben Makhir (ca. 11th c.)An alphabetic acrostic seliḥah piyyut for Taanit Esther in Hebrew with English translation . . . Categories: Ta'anit Esther בִּמְתֵי מִסְפָּר | BiM’tei Mispar, a seliḥah for Taanit Esther by Meshullam ben Ḳalonymus (11th c.)A reverse alphabetic acrostic seliḥah piyyut for Taanit Esther in Hebrew with English translation . . . Categories: Ta'anit Esther כָּל־בְּרוּאֵי | Kol B’ru-ei, a piyyut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol (trans. Rabbi David Aaron de Sola, 1857)A piyyut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol included in the arrangement of Baqashot before the morning service in the liturgical custom of Sefaradim translated by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola. . . . Categories: Morning Baqashot Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, בקשות Baqashot, כל ברואי kol beruei, ספר יצירה Sefer Yetsirah Contributor(s): David de Aaron de Sola (translation), Shlomo ibn Gabirol and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) “Avnei Y’qar” is a succint piyyut for Ḥanukkah, traditionally attributed to R. Abraham ibn Ezra, and particularly beloved by the Yemenites. Interestingly, it doesn’t mention the miracle of the oil whatsoever, focusing on the degradation of the land under Greek occupation as well as the Hasmonean victory itself. Included is a poetic acrostic translation into English. . . . Categories: Ḥanukkah Tags: 12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, פיוטים piyyutim, rhyming translation, Yemenite Jewry, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) A popular piyyut for all occasions by Avraham ibn Ezra. . . . Categories: Morning Baqashot The piyyut, Agadelkha, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . Categories: Morning Baqashot צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי | Tsam’ah Nafshi, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)An interpretive translation of a piyyut composed as an introduction to the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai. . . . Categories: Se'udat Yom Shabbat Tags: 12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, libi uv'sari, נשמת כל חי Nishmat kol ḥai, פיוטים piyyutim, צמאה נפשי Tsamah Nafshi, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), Avraham ibn Ezra and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) This translation of Tsam’ah Nafshi was made by Avi Shmidman and Tzvi Novick, and first published by the Az Yashir Moshe Project birkon (2009), p. 56-57. . . . Categories: Se'udat Yom Shabbat אָמוֹן יוֹם זֶה | Amon Yom Zeh, an introduction to the Azharot of ibn Gabirol by David ben Elazar ibn Paquda (ca. 12th c.)A poetic introduction to the Azharot of Solomon ibn Gabirol read in the afternoon of Shavuot by Sefaradim. . . . Categories: Shavuot אֱלֹהִים יִסְעָדֵנוּ | Elohim Yisadenu, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (trans. Rabbi David Aaron de Sola, 1857)This translation by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola of “Elohim Yisadenu” by a paytan named Avraham (possibly Avraham ibn Ezra) was first published in his Ancient Melodies of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1857). . . . Tags: 12th century C.E., 50th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, פיוטים piyyutim, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): David de Aaron de Sola (translation), Avraham ibn Ezra and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) 💬 הפטרה לחג השבועות ביום השני | Haftarah reading for the Second Day of Shavuot (Ḥabaquq 2:20-3:19) with its Targum and the piyyut Yetsiv Pitgam by Rabbeinu Tam (ca. 12th c.)The haftarah for the second day of Shavuot, Ḥabakkuk 2:20-3:19, interspersed with a cantillated text of the Targum Yonatan ben Uzziel. Since Targum Yonatan is a bit more drash-heavy than Targum Onkelos, it is translated separately as well. The haftarah reading includes the piyyut Yetsiv Pitgam, with an acrostic rhyming translation of the poem, with the second-to-last verse restored to its rightful place, as well as a concluding paragraph for the meturgeman to recite, as found in the Maḥzor Vitry. . . . אֲבוֹתַי כִּי בָטְחוּ | Avotai ki vatkhu (“When our forefathers trusted”), a pizmon for the Fast of Tevet ascribed to Ephraim ben Avraham ben Yitsḥaq of Regensburg (12th c.)A pizmon recited on the Fast of Tevet in the tradition of nusaḥ Ashkenaz. . . . Categories: Asarah b'Tevet אֱמוּנֵי שְׁלוּמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | Emunei Shlumei Yisrael — a seliḥah witnessing the Blois incident of 1171 by Hillel ben Yaaqov of BonnSome Jewish communities, especially those in the region of the Four Lands, have a custom of fasting on the 20th of Sivan. This day has a full seliḥot service, commemorating a series of horrors that occurred on that day, most prominently the Chmielnicki (Khmielnetsky) massacres of 1648-49. But this poem was written for another horrific occurrence on 20 Sivan, the blood libel of Blois in 1171. This was the first time the accusation of ritual murder was ever made against the Jews of France, but it wasn’t the last. This seliḥah poem, written by Hillel ben Jacob of Bonn, starts with the dramatic accusation that God has abandoned the people Israel, continuing by listing those who died in myriad horrid ways, and ending with several citations from the apocalyptic final chapter of the book of Joel. . . . כִּי אֶשְׁמְרָה שַׁבָּת | Ki Eshmerah Shabbat, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (trans. Rabbi David Aaron de Sola, 1857)This translation of “Ki Eshmera Shabbat” by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola of a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra was first published in his Ancient Melodies of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1857). . . . Categories: Se'udat Yom Shabbat Tags: 12th century C.E., 50th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, כי אשמרה שבת Ki Eshmerah Shabbat, פיוטים piyyutim, rhyming translation, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): David de Aaron de Sola (translation), Avraham ibn Ezra and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) שיר הכבוד (אַנְעִים זְמִירוֹת) | Shir haKavod (An’im Zemirot), part eight of the Shir haYiḥud (translation by Israel Wolf Slotki)A translation of the piyyut, Anim Zemirot. . . . Categories: Musaf l'Shabbat שיר הכבוד (אַנְעִים זְמִירוֹת) | Shir haKavod (An’im Zemirot), part eight of the Shir haYiḥud (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)A “praying translation” of the piyyut, Anim Zemirot. . . . Categories: Musaf l'Shabbat Tags: 12th century C.E., 50th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, חסידי אשכנז Ḥasidei Ashkenaz, שיר הכבוד shir hakavod, שיר היחוד Shir haYiḥud Contributor(s): Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), Unknown Author(s) and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) אֱלֹהִים בְּעָלֽוּנוּ | Elohim B’alunu — a seliḥah on the York massacre of 1190 by Joseph ben Asher of Chartres (trans. Isaac Gantwerk Mayer)This seliḥah poem, written by R. Joseph of Chartres, commemorates the martyrdom of approximately 150 Jews in Clifford’s Tower, York, England, in the year 1190. A summary of the events of 1190, sometimes referred to as “the English Masada,” can be found here. Like many medieval Jewish poems about massacres, Elohim B’alunu carefully treads the line between assuming guilt and declaring innocence. This poem, interestingly enough, directly calls out the person seen by R. Joseph of Chartres as ultimately responsible — the crusader King Richard Ⅰ. Beloved in Christian memory, this radical zealot of a king has a much darker, more horrific reputation among Jewish and Muslim groups. . . . אַדִּיר בִּמְלוּכָה | Adir Bimlukhah, the piyyut in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)The text of the popular piyyut “Adir Bimlukhah” (a/k/a “Ki lo na’eh”) in Hebrew, with a Latin translation. . . . Categories: Nirtsah אַרְעָא רַקְדָא | Ar’a Raqda (And the Earth Danced), a piyyut in Aramaic for introducing the Decalogue as read in the Targum“Ar’a Raqda,” a piyyut read directly before the Ten Commandments in the Targum, uses wedding imagery and language from the Shir haShirim to paint Sinai as a ḥuppah. . . . Categories: Shavuot Tags: 13th century C.E., 51st century A.M., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, Decalogue, פיוטים piyyutim, תרגום targum Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) אֲנָא אַתְקֵינִית | Ana Atqenit (I am the one), a piyyut in Aramaic for introducing the first commandment as read in the TargumAna is a poem for the first commandment, that discusses all that God did for the ancestors. . . . Categories: Shavuot Tags: 13th century C.E., 51st century A.M., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, Decalogue, פיוטים piyyutim, תרגום targum Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) אַדִירְיַרוֹן בַהִירְיַרוֹן | Adiryaron Ḅahiryaron, a litany of angelic names associated with the 42 letter name, recorded in Sefer haPeliahA litany of angelic names recorded in Sefer haPeliah whose initial letters spells out the 42 letter divine name as also found (in variation) in Sefer HaQanah. . . . Categories: Contemplation אַדִירְיַרוֹן בַהִירְיַרוֹן | Adiryaron Ḅahiryaron, a litany of angelic names associated with the 42 letter name, recorded in Sefer haQanahA litany of angelic names recorded in Sefer HaQanah, whose initial letters spells out the 42 letter divine name as also found in Sefer haPeliah. . . . Categories: Contemplation אֱלֹהִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל | Elohim b’Yisrael :: A piyyut containing the 42 Letter Name, recorded in Sefer haPeliahThe earliest recorded prayer or piyyut providing an acrostic for the 42 letter divine name. . . . אָנָּא בְּכֹחַ | Ana b’Khoaḥ, a 42 letter name piyyut with a singing translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-ShalomiThe most well-known 42 letter divine name acrostic piyyut. . . . An early printing of the 42 divine name letter acrostic piyyut, Ana b’Khoaḥ. . . . A (kosher-for-Passover) prayer for redemption from exile. . . . Categories: Nirtsah לְכָה דוֹדִי | Lekhah Dodi, the piyyut for Ḳabbalat Shabbat by Shlomo haLevi Al-Qabets (translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman & Shaul Vardi)This translation of the piyyut for Shabbat by Shlomo Al-Qabets can be found in HaAvodah SheBaLev – the Service of the Heart (Kehilat Kol HaNeshama, Jerusalem, 2007). . . . Categories: Ḳabbalat Shabbat Tags: 16th century C.E., 54th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, לכה דודי Lekhah Dodi, פיוטים piyyutim, שבת shabbat Contributor(s): Shaul Vardi (translation), Levi Weiman-Kelman (translation) and Shlomo haLevi Al-Qabets יָהּ רִבּוֹן | Yah Ribōn, a piyyut by Rabbi Yisrael Najara (16th c.) translation by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola (1857)This translation by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola of “Yah Ribon” by Rabbi Yisrael Najara was first published in his Ancient Melodies of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1857). . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 54th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, Aramaic, פיוטים piyyutim, rhyming translation, יה רבון Yah Ribon, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), David de Aaron de Sola (translation) and Yisrael Najara יָהּ רִבּוֹן | Yah Ribōn, a piyyut by Rabbi Yisrael Najara (16th c.) rhyming translation by Israel Abrahams (1914)The piyyut, yah Ribon Olam, in Hebrew with a rhyming English translation. . . . יָהּ רִבּוֹן | Yah Ribōn, a piyyut by Rabbi Yisrael Najara (16th c.) translated by Paltiel Birnbaum (1949)The piyyut, Yah Ribon, in Aramaic with an English translation. . . . | ||
| Sign up for a summary of new resources shared by contributors each week
  |
