Piyyut

A piyyuṭ (plural piyyuṭim, Hebrew: פִּיּוּטִים / פיוטים, פִּיּוּט / פיוט pronounced [pijˈjut, pijjuˈtim]; from Koine Greek: ποιητής, romanized: poiētḗs, lit. 'poet') 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 Joseph Yahalom, both of whom formerly taught at Hebrew University and are now retired.

The author of a piyyuṭ is known as a pay(e)ṭān (פיטן); the plural is pay(e)ṭanim (פיטנים).

History

The Eretz Yisrael school

The earliest piyyuṭim date from classical antiquity but date as late as the Middle Ages: from the Talmudic (c. 70 – c. 500 CE) and Geonic periods (c. 600 – c. 1040). They were "overwhelmingly from the Land of Israel or its neighbor Syria, because only there was the Hebrew language sufficiently cultivated that it could be managed with stylistic correctness, and only there could it be made to speak so expressively." The earliest Jewish prayer manuscripts, which were found in the Cairo Geniza, often consist of piyyuṭim, as these were the parts of the liturgy that required to be written down: the wording of the basic prayers was generally known by heart, and there was supposed to be a prohibition of writing them down.