Early stages in the Babylonian Piyyut: Hayim al-Baradani and his poetic heritage
The accepted view that the Babylonian rite of prayer in the geonic period did not contain poetical embellishments (piyyuṭim) has been lately questioned by various authors. The ongoing studies in the genizah manuscripts shed new light on tenth century Jewish life in Babylonia. The article shows that...
| Subtitles: | ראשית היצירה הפייטנית בבבל: פיוטי ר' חיים אלברדאני |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | Hebrew |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
1997
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Year: 1997, Volume: 68, Pages: 1-33 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Judaism
/ Middle Ages
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| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism TE Middle Ages |
| Further subjects: | B
Jüdische Liturgie
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| Summary: | The accepted view that the Babylonian rite of prayer in the geonic period did not contain poetical embellishments (piyyuṭim) has been lately questioned by various authors. The ongoing studies in the genizah manuscripts shed new light on tenth century Jewish life in Babylonia. The article shows that liturgical poetry (piyyuṭ) was not only known and used in public services in Babylonia of that time, but that such poetry was also created by local poets, who served as cantors (ḥazanim) in their synagogues. Moreover, it is claimed that these piyyuṭim were in no way different from those used in the Palestinian rite of the time. Hayim al-Baradani — the subject of this paper — seems to be one of the earliest known payṭanim in Babylonia. He flourished around 930 C.E. Some fourteen of his extant liturgical poems, all recovered from the Cairo geniza, are edited and analyzed here. R.Hayim is the father of the great hazan and prolific payṭan, Joseph al-Baradani, of whom Rav Hai Gaon speaks admiringly. Other members of the Baradani family are also known from various geniza manuscripts. Six generations of this family can be traced in genizah documents: four of them were active cantors and payṭanim. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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