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Zemirot
Zemirot or Z'miros ( ''zǝmîrôt'', singular: zimrah but often called by the masculine zemer) are Jewish hymns, usually sung in the Hebrew or Aramaic languages, but sometimes also in Yiddish or Ladino during Shabbat and to some extent the Jewish holidays. As a result of centuries of custom, albeit with some communal variations, each of the has become associated with one of the three obligatory meals of Shabbat: the Friday evening meal, the Saturday day meal, and the third Sabbath meal that typically starts just before sundown on Saturday afternoon. In some editions of the Jewish prayerbook (siddur), the words to these hymns are printed after the (kiddush) for each meal. The term is one of many that can be used to describe the table hymns of Shabbat, and the term is particularly popular in the parlance of Ashkenazi Jews. When used by Spanish and Portuguese Jews, zemirot refers to the sequence of psalms in the morning service, known to other communities by the Talmudic name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Israel Najara
Israel ben Moses Najara (; ; – ) was a prolific Jewish liturgy, liturgical poet, preacher, Biblical commentator, kabbalist (although this is disputed), and rabbi in Gaza City, Gaza. Biography The rabbinic Najara family was originally from Nájera, a Spanish city in Northern Spain on the Najerilla river. Nájera was the former capital of the Kingdom of Navarre and in the 11th century it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Castile. In the rabbinical literature of the 16th-19th centuries, Najaras are found in Algiers, Tunis, Damascus, and Gaza. It is believed that Najara's grandfather, rabbi Levi Najara, was born in Spain and fled to Damascus due to the Expulsion of Jews from Spain, 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain. His father, rabbi Moshe ben Levi Najara, was born in Salonica, Greece, and in his later years moved with his family to Safed and was involved with the kabbalistic circles of the Isaac Luria, Arizal. Rabbi Israel Najara was born in Damascus around 1555. He l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kol Meqadesh Shevi'i
"Kol Meqadesh Shevi'i" is an ancient hymn, possibly composed by Moses ben Kalonymus. The hymn is first found in Additional manuscripts, Add MS 27200, a 13th-century copy of the 11th-century Machzor Vitri, Machzor Vitry, as the first hymn for the Sabbath; because the section with hymns does not appear in superior copies of Machzor Vitry, it is likely a later addition. Over the generations it has been set to many tunes. Ashkenazi Jews customarily sing it on Sabbath, Sabbath Eve, usually omitting the last stanza (see #Content_of_the_hymn, below). Each stanza has four lines; the first three continue the acrostic and the fourth is a Biblical verse or verset. Words Content of the hymn The hymn praises those who keep the Sabbath, and stresses the reward waiting anyone who keeps the Sabbath. The hymn stresses the Sabbath experiences, the hope of the redemption of Jerusalem and the imminent rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, Temple. Most prayerbooks omit the final stanza which co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piyyutim
A piyyuṭ (plural piyyuṭim, ; from ) is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Most piyyuṭim are in Mishnaic Hebrew or Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, and most follow some poetic scheme, such as an acrostic following the order of the Hebrew alphabet or spelling out the name of the author. Many piyyuṭim are familiar to regular attendees of synagogue services. For example, the best-known piyyuṭ may be ''Adon Olam'' "Lord of the World." Its poetic form consists of a repeated rhythmic pattern of short-long-long-long (the so-called hazaj meter). It is so beloved that it is often sung after many synagogue services after the ritual nightly recitation of the Shema and during the morning ritual of putting on tefillin. Another beloved piyyuṭ is ''Yigdal'' "May God be Hallowed," which is based upon the thirteen principles of faith set forth by Maimonides. Scholars of piyyuṭ today include Shulamit Elizur and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ya Ribon
Ya Ribon () is an Aramaic piyyut by the 16th-century payytan Israel ben Moses Najara of Gaza, first published in his 1586 work זמירות ישראל "Songs of Israel". Ashkenazi Jews traditionally sing it at table after the Friday night meal and Sephardi Jews sing it (sometimes in Ladino) among the Baqashot. The piyyut, originally sung to an Arab melody, has been set to dozens of tunes, both ancient and modern. "The 21st century Shabbat table", says one modern writer, "is incomplete without the singing of the universal Yah Ribon." Form and content Najara's best-known work, this piyyut was written in Aramaic, and the first letters of the verses form the author's name ISRAEL by acrostic. An example of the strophic model known in Arabic as ''muwashshah'', the piyyut is composed of equal metrical units and the refrain "Yah, lord for ever and ever/O King, you are king of kings" is repeated after every verse. The piyyut is largely formed from the language of Daniel and incorporate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adon Olam
Adon Olam (; "Eternal Lord" or "Sovereign of the Universe") is a hymn in the Jewish liturgy. It has been a regular part of the daily and Shabbat ( Sabbath) liturgy since the 15th century.Nulman, Macy, ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer'' (1993, NJ, Jason Aronson) page 7. Origin Its authorship and origin are uncertain. It is sometimes attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058 CE), who is known for his Hebrew poetry, although there is no solid evidence for this, and the regular metric structure does not seem to accord with his other compositions. John Rayner, in his notes to the Siddur Lev Chadash, suggests it was written in the thirteenth or fourteenth century in Spain, noting its absence from the prayer book Sefer Abudarham c. 1340. It has also been attributed to Hai Gaon (939–1038) and even to the Talmudic sage Yohanan ben Zakkai. Although its diction indicates antiquity, it did not become part of the morning liturgy until the 15th century. Text The text of Adon Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Services
Jewish prayer (, ; plural ; , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the '' Siddur'', the traditional Jewish prayer book. Prayer, as a "service of the heart," is in principle a Torah-based commandment. It is mandatory for Jewish women and men. However, the rabbinic requirement to recite a specific prayer text does differentiate between men and women: Jewish men are obligated to recite three prayers each day within specific time ranges ('' zmanim''), while, according to many approaches, women are only required to pray once or twice a day, and may not be required to recite a specific text. Traditionally, three prayer services are recited daily: * Morning prayer: ''Shacharit'' or ''Shaharit'' (, "of the dawn") * Afternoon prayer: '' Mincha'' or ''Minha'' (), named for the flour offering that accompanied sacrifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shalom Aleichem (liturgy)
Shalom Aleichem (, 'Peace be upon you') is a traditional song sung by many Jews every Friday night upon returning home from synagogue prayer. It signals the arrival of the Shabbat, welcoming the angels who accompany a person home on the eve of the Shabbat. The custom of singing "Shalom Aleichem" on Friday night before Eshet Ḥayil and Kiddush is now nearly universal among religious Jews. There are many tunes to the song, and many recite each stanza is recited 3 times. Sources This liturgical poem was written by the kabbalists of Safed in the late 16th or early 17th century. A complete survey of extant manuscripts, compiled by Chaim Leiberman, is available in Kirjath Sepher vol. 38–9. According to a homiletic teaching in the Talmud, two angels accompany people on their way back home from synagogue on Friday night—a good angel and an evil angel. If the house has been prepared for the Shabbat ("the lamp has been lit, the table set, and his couch spread"), the good angel utters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siddur
A siddur ( ''sīddūr'', ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tefillah'' among German Jews, and ''tiklāl'' () among Yemenite Jews. History The earliest parts of Jewish prayer books are the '' Shema Yisrael'' ("Hear O Israel") (Deuteronomy 6:4 ''et seq'') and the Priestly Blessing ( Numbers 6:24-26), which are in the Torah. A set of eighteen (currently nineteen) blessings called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' or the ''Amidah'' (Hebrew, "standing rayer), is traditionally ascribed to the Great Assembly in the time of Ezra, at the end of the biblical period. The name ''Shemoneh Esreh'', literally "eighteen", is a historical anachronism, since it now contains nineteen blessings. It was only near the end of the Second Temple period that the eighteen prayers of the weekday Amidah became standardized. Even at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eishet Chayil
Proverbs 31 is the 31st and final chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Verses 1 to 9 present the advice which King Lemuel's mother gave to him, about how a just king should reign. The remaining verses detail the attributes of a good wife or an ideal woman (verses 10–31). The latter section is also known as ''Eshet Ḥayil''. Text Hebrew The following table shows the Hebrew text of Proverbs 31 with not only vowels but also ebrew cantillation Trope Symbols included, alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain). Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bar Yochai (song)
"''Bar Yochai''" () is a kabbalistic ''piyyut'' (poem or hymn) extolling the spiritual attainments of Simeon bar Yochai, the purported author of the preeminent kabbalistic work, the ''Zohar''. Composed in the 16th century by Rabbi Shimon Lavi, a Sephardi Hakham and kabbalist in Tripoli, Libya, it is the most prominent and popular kabbalistic hymn, being sung by Jewish communities around the world. The hymn is sung by Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews alike on Lag BaOmer, the Yom Hillula (festival day) of bar Yochai, and is also sung during synagogue services and at the Shabbat evening meal by certain groups. Incorporating expressions from the Tanakh, rabbinical commentaries, and the ''Zohar'', the hymn displays its author's own mastery of Torah and kabbalah. According to Isaac Ratzabi, the song's use of "bar Yochai" (rather than "ben Yochai," the patronymic used by Talmudic texts) is the probable reason for "bar Yochai"'s modern ubiquity. History Author "''Bar Yochai''" was written ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hebrew Language
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until after 200 CE and as the liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period) and Samaritanism. The language was revived as a spoken language in the 19th century, and is the only successful large-scale example of linguistic revival. It is the only Canaanite language, as well as one of only two Northwest Semitic languages, with the other being Aramaic, still spoken today. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date back to the 10th century BCE. Nearly all of the Hebrew Bible is written in Biblical Hebrew, with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian captivity. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shimon Bar Yochai
Shimon bar Yochai ( Zoharic Aramaic: , ''Šimʿon bar Yoḥay'') or Shimon ben Yochai (Mishnaic Hebrew: ), also known by the acronym Rashbi, was a 2nd-century tanna or sage of the period of Roman Judaea and early Syria Palaestina. He was one of the most eminent disciples of Rabbi Akiva. The ''Zohar'', a 13th-century foundational work of Kabbalah, is ascribed to him by Kabbalistic tradition, but this claim is universally rejected by modern scholars. In addition, the essential legal works called the ''Sifre'' and '' Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai'' are attributed to him (not to be confused with the ''Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael'', of which much of the text is the same). In the Mishnah, where he is the fourth-most mentioned sage, he is referred to as simply "Rabbi Shimon" except in Hagigah 1:7. In baraitas, midrash, and gemara, his name occurs either as Shimon or as Shimon ben Yochai. An 8th-century pseudonymous attribution of divine revelations to Shimon by the angel Metatro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
