In Yemenite practice, directly after the four questions are recited the youngest literate person at the table reads a brief Judeo-Arabic passage, here transcribed per the Yemenite transliteration system (wherein gimel dagesh = j and qof = g) and translated into Arabic and Hebrew. Instructional notes say this passage is “for the benefit of women and toddlers,” the two main classes of people who would have not had access to Hebrew education at the time. . . .
Rav Saadia Gaon lists three additions to the Seder Pesaḥ which he considers not necessary, but acceptable. This is the first, a poetic version of the Kiddush. Interestingly enough, it is still recited in many Yemenite communities, which are in general less likely to incorporate poetic sections to their liturgy. Here it is recorded and translated into English according to two nusḥaot — that recorded in the siddur of Rav Saadia (marked in blue), and that recorded in modern Yemenite texts (marked in red). In cases where only the spelling differs rather than the meaning, the editor generally went with Rav Saadia as the older variant. . . .
This 12th century Yemenite liturgical poem for Tu b’Av is based on the Babylonian Talmud Taanit 30b-31a. . . .
Rav Saadia Gaon lists three additions to the Seder Pesaḥ which he considers not necessary, but acceptable. This is the third, a poetic insert of the blessing of redemption known as Ata Ga’alta. In the form of an alphabetical acrostic, this poem is still recited in many eastern communities including the Babylonians, Persians, and Yemenites, and was a feature of the the old Kaifeng rite. Here it is recorded and translated into English according to the nusaḥ of Saadia Gaon, with notes in several locations for additional phrases used in some customs. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Miri Landau (translation) and Shalom Ḥayyim Sharabi
Shared on י״ג בשבט ה׳תשע״ח (2018-01-28) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat), Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnasah, Planting, Ḥag haNətiōt (Tu biShvat)
Tags: 20th century C.E., farming, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, 57th century A.M., Yemenite Jewry, Jewish Farming, Problematic prayers, Prayers for Planting, Early Religious Zionist, Yemenite Aliyah, Shami
A kavvanah for focusing one’s intention before working with the soil of Erets Yisrael. . . .
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