![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? 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 “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 💬 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. . . . 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. . . . 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. . . . 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): David de Aaron de Sola (translation), Yisrael Najara and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) 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. . . . יָהּ רִבּוֹן | Yah Ribōn, a piyyut by Rabbi Yisrael Najara (16th c.) translated by Rabbi Israel Brodie (1962)The piyyut, Yah Ribon, in Aramaic with an English translation. . . . יָהּ רִבּוֹן | Yah Ribōn, a piyyut by Rabbi Yisrael Najara (16th c.) translation by Sara-Kinneret LapidotThe piyyut, yah Ribon Olam, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . 🆕 מִי כָמֹֽכָה לְשַׁבָּת שֶׁל חֲנֻכָּה | Mi Khamokhah l’Shabbat shel Ḥanukkah (a Mi Khamokha piyyut for the Shabbat of Ḥanukkah) — by Israel NajaraThis is a Mi Khamokha piyyut by Yisrael Najara for Shabbat Ḥanukkah retelling Megilat Antiokhos in a lengthy fourfold acrostic with each stanza ending in בוֹ. . . . Categories: Ḥanukkah יוֹם זֶה לְיִשְׁרַאֵל | Yom Zeh l’Yisrael, a Shabbat hymn attributed to Rabbi Yitsḥaq Luria (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)An interpretive translation in English of the shabbes hymn Yom Zeh l’Yisrael. . . . Categories: Se'udat Yom Shabbat Tags: 16th century C.E., 54th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, interpretive translation, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), Yitsḥak Luria and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) בְּנֵי הֵיכָלָא | Bnei Heikhala, a piyyut for Shabbat afternoon by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Luria (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi)A piyyut by the ARI for the afternoon of Shabbat in Aramaic set side-by-side with Reb Zalman’s paraliturgical, devotional translation. . . . Categories: Se'udah haShlishit אֲזַמֵּר בִּשְׁבָחִין | Azamer biShvaḥin, a piyyut for Friday evening by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Luria (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi)The Friday evening shabbat piyyut, Atqinu Seudata, in Aramaic set side-by-side with Reb Zalman’s paraliturgical, devotional translation. . . . Categories: Se'udat Leil Shabbat אֲסַדֵּר לִסְעוּדָתָא | Asader liS’udata, a piyyut for Shabbat morning by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Luria (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi)A piyyut by the ARI for the day of Shabbat in Aramaic set side-by-side with Reb Zalman’s paraliturgical, devotional translation. . . . Categories: Se'udat Yom Shabbat יְדִיד נֶפֶשׁ | Yedid Nefesh, a piyyut transmitted by Elazar ben Moshe Azikri (ca. 16th c.) translation by Nina Salaman (1897)The piyyut, Yedid Nefesh, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 54th century A.M., acrostic, בקשות Baqashot, Divine name acrostic, Openers, פיוטים piyyutim, rhyming translation, ידיד נפש Yedid Nefesh Contributor(s): Nina Davis Salaman (translation), Elazar ben Moshe Azikri and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) יְדִיד נֶפֶשׁ | Yedid Nefesh, a piyyut transmitted by Elazar ben Moshe Azikri (ca. 16th c.) interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-ShalomiA variation of the piyyut, Yedid Nefesh, in Hebrew with a creative English translation. . . . יְדִיד נֶפֶשׁ | Yedid Nefesh, a piyyut transmitted by Elazar ben Moshe Azikri (ca. 16th c.) translated by Rabbi Sam SeicolA variation of the piyyut “Yedid Nefesh” in Hebrew with English 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, Acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, Decalogue, פיוטים piyyutim, תרגום targum Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) 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, Acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, Decalogue, פיוטים piyyutim, תרגום targum Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) 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) A song for celebrating the Shabbat. . . . A zemirah for havdallah by an otherwise unknown rabbinic payyetan known only by his signature acrostic. . . . Categories: Motsei Shabbat Emunim ʿIrkhu Shevaḥ is a brief piyyut recited in North African communities in Rabban Gamliel’s list, between Pesaḥ and Maror. It spells out “Aaron the Priest” as an alphabetical acrostic, but it is uncertain whether this is an authorial signature or a mystical reference to the Biblical figure. . . . Categories: Magid Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) A pizmon in the nusaḥ hasepharadim recited at Seliḥot during the monh of Elul and Yom Kippur. . . . Categories: Yom Kippur The traditional Ashkenazi qerovot added to the Musaf repetition for Shabbat Sheqalim, alongside a new gender-neutral translation . . . Categories: Musaf l'Shabbat A penitential piyyut for the fast of the 17th of Tammuz. . . . Categories: Shiv'ah Asar b'Tamuz One of the most well-known of the kinot (liturgical poems for mourning), Eli Tsiyon v’Areha is an alphabetical acrostic describing the destruction of Jerusalem. It is recited towards the conclusion of ḳinot, due to the hopeful note in the comparison of Zion to a woman about to give birth, thought by many to be a messianic reference. The author of the work is unknown. . . . Categories: Tishah b'Av This prayer appears on page 11-12 of Hayyim Obadya’s Seder Akhilat haSimanim for 5781. It is a variant of the prayer, “Eloheinu Shebashamayim,” a supplication read in the sephardic tradition during seliḥot. This version contains twenty-five lines as found in Sefer Selihot haShalem, Hazon Ovadia, p.48-51/. Other variations have fifty or more lines. . . . Categories: Repenting, Resetting, and Reconciliation Based on the acrostic signature, this piyyut popularly sung at the Shabbat table, is attributed to an otherwise unknown paytan named Yehonatan. . . . Categories: Se'udat Leil Shabbat A popular piyyut for Simḥat Torah (4th hakkafah) originally composed as a piyyut for Shavuot and often referred to by its incipit, “Mipi El.” . . . יְדִיד נֶפֶשׁ | Yedid Nefesh, a piyyut transmitted by Elazar ben Moshe Azikri (ca. 16th c.) translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman & Shaul VardiA variation of the piyyut “Yedid Nefesh” in Hebrew with English translation. . . . Tags: 16th century C.E., 54th century A.M., acrostic, בקשות Baqashot, Divine name acrostic, Openers, ידיד נפש Yedid Nefesh Contributor(s): Shaul Vardi (translation), Levi Weiman-Kelman (translation) and Elazar ben Moshe Azikri The mystical piyyut of Avraham Maimin, a student of Moshe Cordovero, translated by Len Fellman. . . . Categories: Se'udah haShlishit אֵל מִסְתַּתֵּר | El Mistater (The God who is Hidden), by Avraham Maimin (ca. 1550, translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi)The mystical piyyut of Avraham Maimin, a student of Moshe Cordovero, translated by Reb Zalman. . . . Categories: Se'udah haShlishit An early printing of the 42 divine name letter acrostic piyyut, Ana b’Khoaḥ. . . . 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. . . . A (kosher-for-Passover) prayer for redemption from exile. . . . Categories: Nirtsah A zemer for shabbat, with English translation. . . . | ||
| Sign up for a summary of new resources shared by contributors each week
  |
