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Alphabetic Acrostic —⟶ tag: Alphabetic Acrostic Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? This yotser, by the great eleventh-century payṭan R. Binyamin bar Zeraḥ, goes through the entire alphabet with which the Torah was written, giving midrashic and mystical interpretations of each letter. As a yotser, it is recited immediately after the petiḥah of the Yotser Or blessing. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Nusaḥ Ashkenaz, פיוטים piyyuṭim, יוצר אור yotser ohr, יוצרות yotsrot Contributor(s): The Minhag Ashkenaz (Western Ashkenazi) yotser (piyyut inserted into the beginning of the first blessing of the Shema service) for Shabbat haGadol, by Binyamin bar Zeraḥ. Also recited by some eastern Ashkenazim, although not as commonly as Aamir Mistater (the standard in Minhag Polin). Translated here with preserved acrostic and rhyme scheme. This piyyut uses the language of Song of Songs to retell the story of the exodus via the language of a romantic relationship. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, Alphabetic Acrostic, liberation from mitsrayim, Minhag Ashkenaz, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Shaḥarit l'Shabbat ul'Yom Tov, יוצר אור yotser ohr, יוצרות yotsrot Contributor(s): Recited in many Sefaradi and other non-Ashkenazi rites for the seventeenth of Tammuz, this piyyuṭ, like many 17 Tammuz seliḥot, has a stanza for each of the five tragedies discussed in the mishnah. It is here included alongside an acrostic translation. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, פיוטים piyyuṭim, סליחות səliḥot, Three Weeks of Mourning Contributor(s): This is a transcription of “Amarer b-Vekhi,” a seliḥah for the 17th of Tammuz by Menaḥem ben Makhir. The German translation by an unknown translator can be found in סידור שפה ברורה Tägliches Gebetbuch der Israeliten für das ganze Jahr (B.L. Monasch, Krotoschin: 1845), pp. 405-407. A seliḥah for the seventeenth of Tammuz, the second piyyuṭ recited in the Eastern Ashkenazi custom for that day, written by Menachem ben Machir, an eleventh-century German paytan. This was first translated in 2005 for a summer event with the European Academy for Jewish Liturgy. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, אמרר בבכי Amarer b-Vekhi, פיוטים piyyuṭim, סליחות səliḥot, Three Weeks of Mourning Contributor(s): The poem Mi Khamokha v-Ein Khamokha, an epic retelling of the book of Esther in verse, was written for Shabbat Zakhor, the Shabbat before Purim, by the great paytan Yehuda ben Shmuel haLevi. It was originally written as a “geulah,” meant to be inserted into the prayer after the Shema in place of the verse beginning with “A new song…” But later Sephardic poskim ruled that it was forbidden to insert piyyutim into the Shema blessings, so in the communities that recite it today it is generally either read after the Full Kaddish as an introduction to the Torah service, or (for instance, in most Spanish and Portuguese communities) within the verse “Kol atzmotai tomarna” in the Nishmat prayer. Wherever you include it in your service, it’s a beautiful and intricately rhymed piyyut, and surprisingly easy to understand at that. It is presented here in a gender-neutral translation with all the Biblical verses cited, alongside a new translation that preserves the fourfold acrostic, two alphabetical and two authorial. –Isaac Gantwerk Mayer The traditional Ashkenazi qerovot added to the Musaf repetition for Shabbat Sheqalim, alongside a new gender-neutral translation An Aramaic piyyut composed as an introduction to the reading of the Targum for the Torah reading on Shavuot. The piyyut read as an introduction to the Decalogue during the Torah reading on Shavuot. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, אקדמות Aqdamut, Aramaic, בהמות behemot, Decalogue, פיוטים piyyuṭim, תרגום targum Contributor(s): 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: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, פיוטים piyyuṭim, שירת הים Shirat haYam, תרגום targum Contributor(s): 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: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, פיוטים piyyuṭim, שירת הים Shirat haYam, תרגום targum Contributor(s): 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: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, פיוטים piyyuṭim, שירת הים Shirat haYam, תרגום targum Contributor(s): This 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: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Aramaic, פיוטים piyyuṭim, שירת הים Shirat haYam, תרגום targum Contributor(s): This 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. Ḳerovot for Tu biShvat, a celebration of Divine verdancy, which namedrops a stunning array of flora from throughout the land of Israel. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, עמידה amidah, Cairo Geniza, ethnobotany, קרובות ḳerovot, Nusaḥ Erets Yisrael, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Public Amidah Contributor(s): A zulat (piyyut inserted into the blessing after the Shema) used in the Minhag Polin (Eastern Ashkenaz) rite for Shabbat hGadol, by R. Joseph Bonfils. This poem is a narrative of a debate between Pharaoh and the sons of Amram on whether the people Israel are engaged to God or not. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, Alphabetic Acrostic, liberation from mitsrayim, Minhag Polin, יוצרות yotsrot, זולת zulat Contributor(s): The full qedushtaot and “seder” azhara for Shabbat haGadol, largely by the great eleventh-century paytan R. Yosef Bonfils (with one additional rahit by Yannai), including all the catenae of verses and repeated refrains often skipped in Ashkenazi practice. Alphabetical texts are translated with alphabetical acrostics. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, עמידה amidah, אזהרות azharot, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Public Amidah Contributor(s): “Ezkera Matsok” (I remember the distress) is a seliḥah in alphabetic acrostic recited on the Fast of Tevet in the Ashkenazi nusaḥ minhag Polin. 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. “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).) | ||
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