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Pizmonim
''Pizmonim'' (Hebrew פזמונים, singular ''pizmon'') are traditional Jewish songs and melodies sung with the intention of praising God as well as learning certain aspects of traditional religious teachings. They are sung throughout religious rituals and festivities such as prayers, circumcisions, ''bar mitzvahs'', weddings and other ceremonies. ''Pizmonim'' are extra-liturgical, as distinct from ''piyyutim'', which are hymns printed in the prayer-book and forming an integral part of the service. Similar songs sung in the synagogue on the Sabbath morning between midnight and dawn are called ''baqashot'' (שירת הבקשות). Geographical background ''Pizmonim'' are traditionally associated with Sephardi Jews, although they are related to Ashkenazi Jews' ''zemirot''. The best known tradition is associated with Jews descended from Aleppo, though similar traditions exist among Iraqi Jews (where the songs are known as ''shbaḥoth'', praises) and in North African countries. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syrian Jews
Syrian Jews ( ''Yehudey Surya'', ''al-Yahūd as-Sūriyyūn'', colloquially called SYs in the United States) are Jews who live in the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: from the Jews who inhabited the region of today's Syria from History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient times (known as Musta'arabi Jews), and sometimes classified as Mizrahi Jews (''Mizrahi'' is a generic term for the Jews with an extended history in Asia or North Africa); and from the Sephardi Jews (referring to Jews with an extended history in the Iberian Peninsula, i.e. Spain and Portugal) who fled to Syria after the Alhambra Decree forced the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. There were large communities in Aleppo ("Halabi Jews", ''Halab'' is "Aleppo" in Arabic) and Damascus ("Shami Jews") for centuries, and a smaller community in Qamishli on the Turkish border near Nusaybin. In the first half of the 20th ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baqashot
The ''baqashot'' (or ''bakashot'', ) are a collection of supplications, songs, and prayers that have been sung by the Sephardic Syrian, Moroccan, and Turkish Jewish communities for centuries each week on Shabbat mornings from the early hours of the morning until dawn. They are usually recited during the weeks of winter, from the Jewish festival of Sukkot through Purim, when the nights are much longer. The ''baqashot'' services can last for three to four hours. The Ades Synagogue in Jerusalem is the center of the Syrian practice today, and communities in Ashdod and Montreal are the center of the Moroccan practice. History The custom of singing ''baqashot'' originated in Spain towards the time of the expulsion, but took on increased momentum in the Kabbalistic circle in Safed in the 16th century. ''Baqashot'' probably evolved out of the tradition of saying petitionary prayers before dawn and was spread from Safed by the followers of Isaac Luria (16th century). With the spread of S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arabic Maqam
In traditional Arabic music, maqam (, literally "ascent"; ') is the system of melodic modes, which is mainly melodic. The word ''maqam'' in Arabic means place, location or position. The Arabic ''maqam'' is a melody type. It is "a technique of improvisation" that defines the pitches, patterns, and development of a piece of music and is "unique to Arabic art music". There are 72 heptatonic tone rows or scales of maqamat. These are constructed from augmented, major, neutral, and minor seconds. Each ''maqam'' is built on a scale, and carries a tradition that defines its habitual phrases, important notes, melodic development and modulation. Both compositions and improvisations in traditional Arabic music are based on the ''maqam'' system. ''Maqamat'' can be realized with either vocal or instrumental music, and do not include a rhythmic component. An essential factor in performance is that each maqam describes the "tonal-spatial factor" or set of musical notes and the rela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and was the largest by population until it was surpassed by Damascus, the capital of Syria. Aleppo is also the largest city in Syria's Governorates of Syria, northern governorates and one of the List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest cities in the Levant region. Aleppo is one of List of cities by time of continuous habitation#West Asia, the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it may have been inhabited since the sixth millennium BC. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied by Amorites by the latter part of the third millennium BC. That is also the time at which Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Israel Ben Moses Najara
Israel ben Moses Najara (; ; – ) was a prolific Jewish liturgical poet, preacher, Biblical commentator, kabbalist (although this is disputed), and rabbi in 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 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 Arizal. Rabbi Israel Najara was born in Damascus around 1555. He lived most of his life between Safed, Damascus, and Gaza. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sephardi Jews
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendants. The term "Sephardic" comes from '' Sepharad'', the Hebrew word for Iberia. These communities flourished for centuries in Iberia until they were expelled in the late 15th century. Over time, "Sephardic" has also come to refer more broadly to Jews, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, who adopted Sephardic religious customs and legal traditions, often due to the influence of exiles. In some cases, Ashkenazi Jews who settled in Sephardic communities and adopted their liturgy are also included under this term. Today, Sephardic Jews form a major component of world Jewry, with the largest population living in Israel. The earliest documented Jewish presence in the Iberian Peninsula dates to the Roman period, beginning in the fir ... [...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] |
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralised authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yehuda Halevi
Judah haLevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; ; ; c. 1075 – 1141) was a Sephardic Jewish poet, physician and philosopher. Halevi is considered one of the greatest Hebrew poets and is celebrated for his secular and religious poems, many of which appear in present-day liturgy. Judah haLevi was born in Tudela, in the region of Navarre, then part of Muslim Spain. Although little is known about his early life or education, it is clear that he was well-versed in Arabic, Hebrew, and classical sciences including medicine and philosophy. In his youth, he began composing Hebrew poetry, and his reputation eventually reached Moses ibn Ezra in Granada. After initial difficulties in traveling due to political shifts, haLevi was able to establish literary connections across major Jewish centers in al-Andalus. HaLevi's poetic corpus includes a wide array of genres, including panegyrics, friendship poems, wine songs, riddles, didactic verse, and wedding poems. However, he is best remembered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Eastern Music
The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Kurdish music, Armenian music. Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cypriot music, the Turkish music of Turkey, traditional Assyrian music, Coptic ritual music in Egypt as well as other genres of Egyptian music in general. It is widely regarded that some Middle-Eastern musical styles have influenced Central Asia, as well as the Balkans and Spain. Throughout the region, religion has been a common factor in uniting peoples of different languages, cultures and nations. The predominance of Islam allowed a great deal of Arabic, and Byzantine influence to spread through the region rapidly from the 7th century onward. The Arabic scale is strongly melodic, often Phrygian Dominant and based on various maqamat (sing. maqam) or modes (also known as makam in Turkish music). The early Arabs translated and develop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaza City
Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of 590,481 people as of 2017, Gaza City was the most populous city in Palestine until the Gaza war caused most of the population to be displaced. Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC, Gaza City has been dominated by different peoples and empires throughout its history. The Philistines made it a part of their Philistia, pentapolis after the ancient Egyptians had ruled it for nearly 350 years. Under the Roman Empire, Gaza City experienced relative peace and its Port of Gaza, Mediterranean port flourished. In 635 AD, it became the first city in the Palestine (region), Palestine region to be conquered by the Rashidun army and quickly developed into a centre of Fiqh, Islamic law. However, by the time the Crusader states were established in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of The Jews In Turkey
The history of the Jews in Turkey ( or ; ; () covers the 2400 years that Jews have lived in what is now Turkey. There have been Jewish communities in Anatolia since at least the beginning of the common era. Anatolia's Jewish population before Ottoman times primarily consisted of Greek-speaking Romaniote Jews, with a handful of dispersed Karaite communities. In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, many Sephardic Jews from Spain, Portugal and South Italy expelled by the Alhambra Decree found refuge across the Ottoman Empire, including in regions now part of Turkey. This influx played a pivotal role in shaping the predominant identity of Ottoman Jews. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Jewish population in the Ottoman Empire was double (150,000) that of Jews in Poland and Ukraine combined (75,000), far surpassing other Jewish communities to be the largest in the world. Turkey's Jewish community was large, diverse and vibrant, forming the core of Ottoman Je ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
