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A piyyuṭ (plural piyyuṭim, ; from ) is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during Jewish 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 formally 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).
Initially, the word piyyuṭ designated every type of sacred poetry, but as usage developed, the term came to designate only poems of hymn character. The piyyuṭim were usually composed by a talented rabbinic poet, and depending on the piyyuṭ’s reception by the community determined whether it would pass the test of time. Looking at the composers of the piyyuṭim, one can see which family names were part of the Middle Eastern community and which were prominent and well established. The composers of various piyyuṭim usually used acrostic forms to hint their identity in the piyyuṭ itself. Since were limited then, many piyyuṭim had repeating stanzas that the congregation would respond to, followed by the hazzan’s recitations.
The additions of piyyuṭim to the services were primarily used to embellish them and make them more enjoyable to the congregation. As to the origin of the piyyuṭ's implementation, there is a theory that this had to do with restrictions on Jewish prayer. Al-Samawal al-Maghribi, a Jewish convert to Islam in the twelfth century, wrote that the Persians prohibited Jews from holding prayer services. "When the Jews saw that the Persians persisted in obstructing their prayer, they invented invocations into which they admixed passages from their prayers (the piyyuṭ) … and set numerous tunes to them". They would assemble to read and chant the piyyuṭim at prayer time. The difference between that and prayer is that the prayer is without melody and is read only by the person conducting the service. In the recitation of the piyyuṭ, the cantor is assisted by the congregation in chanting melodies. "When the Persians rebuked them for this, the Jews sometimes asserted that they were singing, and sometimes mourning." When the Muslims took over and allowed Jews dhimmi status, prayer became permissible for the Jews. The piyyuṭ had become a commendable tradition for holidays and other joyous occasions. The use of piyyuṭ was always considered a Palestinian specialty: the Babylonian geonim made every effort to discourage it and restore what they regarded as the statutory wording of the prayers, holding that "any hazzan who uses piyyuṭ thereby gives evidence that he is no scholar". It is not always clear whether their main objection was to any use of piyyuṭim at all or only to their intruding into the heart of the statutory prayers.
For these reasons, scholars classifying the liturgies of later periods usually hold that the more a given liturgy uses piyyuṭim, the more likely it is to reflect Palestinian as opposed to Babylonian (Lower Mesopotamian) influence. Sephardic liturgical framers took Geonic strictures seriously. For this reason, the early Palestinian piyyuṭim, such as those of Yannai and Eleazar birabbi Qallir, do not survive in the Sephardic rite. However, they do in the Nusach Ashkenaz and Italian rites.
Lurianic Kabbalah, which originated in the early modern Kabbalistic circle of Isaac Luria and his followers, used an adapted Sephardic liturgy but disapproved of Andalusi piyyuṭim, regarding them as spiritually inauthentic. They invoked the Geonic strictures to eliminate them from the service or move away from its core. Their disapproval did not extend to piyyuṭim of the early Palestinian school, which they regarded as an authentic part of the Talmudic-rabbinic tradition. Luria himself went to Ashkenazi communities to recite piyyuṭim from the Palestinian school. Lurianists and their successors also wrote piyyuṭim of their own, such as Ya Ribon by Israel ben Moses Najara, the grandchild of an Andalusi emigrant.
No Sephardic community reinstituted the Palestinian piyyuṭim under the influence of the Sefardic-rite Kabbalists. Some Andalusi piyyuṭim survive in the Western Sefardic rite but were eliminated or moved in Sefardic Syrian and in rites from the Muslim world. Syrian Jews preserve some of them for extra-liturgical use as pizmonim.
| Adir Bimlukha | אַדִּיר בִּמְלוּכָה | Strong In His Reign | Alphabetic acrostic | Passover |
| Adir Hu | אַדִּיר הוּא | Mighty is He | Alphabetic acrostic | Passover |
| Adir VeNa'or | אַדִּיר וְנָאוֹר | Mighty and Glorious | Alphabetic acrostic, each line ends with מִי אֵ-ל כָּמוֹךָ | Yom Kippur |
| Adon Haselichot | אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת | Lord of Forgiveness | Alphabetic acrostic | Every day during the month of Elul and during the Ten Days of Repentance |
| Adon Olam | אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם | Lord of the World | Hazaj metre (based on short-long-long-long foot) | Daily |
| Akdamut | אַקְדָּמוּת מִלִּין | Introduction | Double alphabetic acrostic, then spells out "Meir, son of Rabbi Yitzchak, may he grow in Torah and in good deeds. Amen, and may he be strong and have courage." The author was Rabbi | Shavuot |
| Anim Zemirot/Shir haKavod | אַנְעִים זְמִירוֹת | I Shall Sing Sweet Songs | Double alphabetic acrostic | Shabbat and Jewish holiday |
| Barukh El Elyon | בָּרוּךְ אֵל עֶלְיוֹן | Blessed Be God Most High | Acrostic spells "Baruch Chazak", or "Blessed be he, with strength", written by Baruch ben Samuel | Shabbat |
| Berah Dodi | בְּרַח דּוֹדִי | Every stanza begins with the word "Berah" | Passover | |
| Devai Haser | rtl=yes | Acrostic spells "Dunash," the name of author Dunash ben Labrat. | Weddings and Sheva Brachot | |
| D'ror Yikra | דְּרוֹר יִקְרָא | Freedom | Acrostic spells "Dunash," the name of author Dunash ben Labrat. | Shabbat |
| Ein Keloheinu | אֵין כֵּאלֹהֵינו | First letters of first 3 stanzas spell "Amen" | Shabbat and Jewish holiday (Daily in the Sephardic tradition) | |
| El Adon | אֵל אָדון | Alphabetic acrostic | Shabbat and Jewish holiday as part of first blessing before the Shema | |
| Eliyahu HaNavi | אֵלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא | Alphabetic acrostic | Motza'ei Shabbat and Passover | |
| El Nora Alila | אֵל נוֹרָא עֲלִילָה | Refrain: "At this hour of Ne'ilah". Acrostic spells Moshe chazak, referring to Moses ibn Ezra | Ne'ilah (conclusion of Yom Kippur) | |
| Eli Tziyon | אֱלִי צִיּוֹן | Hazaj metre; alphabetic acrostic; each stanza begins with the word alei; each line ends with the suffix -eiha (meaning "her" or "of hers", referring to Jerusalem) | Tisha B'av | |
| Geshem | תְּפִלַּת גֶּשֶׁם | Alphabetic acrostic; each stanza ends with standard alternating line | Sukkot | |
| Hakafot | הקפות | Alphabetic acrostic | Simchat Torah | |
| Hayom T'am'tzenu | היום תאמצנו also called הַיּוֹם הַיּוֹם | Alphabetic acrostic, each line ends "Amen" | Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur | |
| Hoshanot | הוֹשַׁעְנוֹת | Alphabetic acrostic | Sukkot | |
| Ki Hineh Kachomer | כִּי הִנֵּה כַּחֹמֶר | Refrain: "Recall the Covenant, and do not turn towards the Evil Inclination" | Yom Kippur | |
| Ki Lo Na'eh | כִּי לוֹ נָאֶה | Alphabetic acrostic | Passover | |
| Kol Meqadesh Shevi'i | כל מקדש שביעי | Shabbat | ||
| Lekha Dodi | לְכָה דּוֹדִי | Acrostic spells name of author, Solomon Alkabetz. | Shabbat evening | |
| Mah Y'didut | מַה יְּדִידוּת | Acrostic spells Menucha ("rest"); refrain | Shabbat | |
| Ma'oz Tzur | מָעוֹז צוּר | Acrostic spells name of author, "Mordechai" | Hanukkah | |
| Mipi El | מִפִּי אֵל | Alphabetic acrostic | Shabbat and Simchat Torah | |
| Menucha veSimcha | מְנוּחָה וְשִׂמְחָה | Acrostic spells name of author, "Moshe", likely Moses ben Kalonymus | Shabbat | |
| Ohila la-El | אוֹחִילָה לָאֵל | Unrhymed; each line begins with aleph | High Holy Days | |
| Shir El Nelam | שִׁיר אֵל נֶעְלָּם | Alphabetic acrostic spells name of author, Shmuel. | Purim Only recited by Polinim. | |
| Shoshanat Ya'akov | שׁוֹשַׁנַּת יַעֲקֹב | Alphabetic acrostic | Purim | |
| Tal | Reverse alphabetic acrostic; each stanza ends with "Tal" | Passover | ||
| Tzur Mishelo | צוּר מִשֶּׁלּוֹ | First stanza is the refrain | Shabbat | |
| Unetanneh Tokef | וּנְתַנֶּה תּקֶף | Silluq of Mussaf for these days | Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (in the Eastern Ashkenazic and Italian rites). In some Italian communities, also on Hoshana Rabbah. In the Western Ashkenazic rite, Rosh Hashanah only. | |
| Ya Ribon | יָהּ רִבּוֹן | Acrostic spells "Israel", the author's (Israel ben Moses Najara) first name | Shabbat | |
| Yedid Nefesh | יְדִיד נֶפֶש | Beloved of My Soul | Acrostic spells Tetragrammaton | Shabbat |
| Yigdal | יִגְדַּל | Metre | Daily | |
| Yom Shabbaton | יוֹם שַבָּתוֹן | Acrostic spells "Yehudah", written by Yehudah Halevi | Shabbat | |
| Yom Ze L'Yisra'el | יוֹם זֶה לְיִשְׂרַאֵל | Acrostic spells "Isaac", written by Yitzhak Salmah Hazan, although commonly misattributed to Rabbi Isaac Luria | Shabbat | |
| Yom Ze Mekhubad | יוֹם זֶה מְכֻבָּד | Acrostic spells "Israel" | Shabbat |
Yotzer sequence—a series of poems, which adorn the blessings surrounding the morning recitation of the Shema. Note that the Shema itself is always kept in its statutory form, and not adorned with poetry, because it is made up of passages taken straight from the Bible.
Qerova—a series of piyyuṭim, which adorn the blessings of the Amidah. There are a few types of these:
Some Shiv‘atot, almost exclusively for great festivals, have expansions:
Other types:
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