Piyyut Totally Explained

Everything about Piyyut totally explained

A piyyut (plural piyyutim, Hebrew פיוט, and [pijutím]) is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Piyyutim have been written since Temple times. Most piyyutim are in Hebrew or 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 piyyutim are familiar to regular attendees of synagogue services. For example, the best-known piyyut may be Adon Olam ("Master of the World"), sometimes attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol in 11th century Spain. Its poetic form consists simply of rhyming iambic tetrameter, and it's so beloved that it's often sung at the conclusion of many synagogue services, after the ritual nightly saying of the Shema, and during the morning ritual of putting on tefillin. Another well-beloved piyyut is Yigdal ("May God be Hallowed"), which is based upon the Thirteen Principles of Faith developed by Maimonides.
The author of a piyyut is known as a paytan (plural paytanim).

Well-known piyyutim

What follows is a chart of some of the best-known and most-beloved piyyutim. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it tries to provide a flavor of the variety of poetic schemes and occasions for which these poems were written. Many of the piyyutim marked as being recited on Shabbat are songs traditionally sung as part of the home ritual observance of Shabbat and also known as zemirot ("Songs/Melodies").

Name	Hebrew	Poetic scheme	Recited on
Adir Hu	אַדִּיר הוּא	Alphabetic acrostic	Passover
Adon Olam	אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם	Iambic tetrametre	Daily
An'im Z'mirot		Double alphabetic acrostic	Shabbat and Festivals
Akdamut		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 Meir bar Yitzchak "Shatz"	Shavuot
Barukh El Elyon		Acrostic spells "Baruch Chazak", or "Blessed be he, with strength", or possibly "Baruch" is the author's name	Shabbat
Berah Dodi	berach דודי	Every stanza begins with the word "Berah"	Passover
D'ror Yikra		Acrostic spells "Dunash," the name of author Dunash ben Labrat.	Shabbat
Ein Keloheinu	אין כאלהינו	First letters of first 3 stanzas spell "Amen"	Shabbat and Festivals
El Adon		Alphabetic acrostic	Shabbat and Festivals
El Nora Alila		Refrain: "At this hour of Ne'ilah"	Ne'ilah (conclusion of Yom Kippur)
Alei Tziyon		Iambic tetrameter; alphabetic acrostic; each stanza beings with the word alei; each line ends with the suffix -eiha (meaning "her" or "of hers", referring to Jerusalem	Tisha B'av
Geshem		Alphabetic acrostic; each stanza ends with standard alternating line	Sh'mini Atzeret
Hakafot		Alphabetic acrostic	Simchat Torah
Hayom T'am'tzenu		Alphabetic acrostic, each line ends "Amen"	Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Hoshanot		Alphabetic acrostic	Sukkot
Ki Hinne Ka-Homer		Refrain: "Recall the Covenant, and don't turn towards the Evil Inclination"	Yom Kippur
Ki Lo Na'e		Alphabetic acrostic	Passover
L'kha Dodi	לְכָה דּוֹדִי	Acrostic spells name of author, Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz.	Shabbat evening
Mah Y'didut		Acrostic spells Menucha ("rest"); refrain	Shabbat
Ma'oz Tzur	מעוז צור	Acrostic spells name of author, "Mordechai"	Hanukkah
M'nuha V'Simha		Acrostic spells name of author, "Moshe"	Shabbat
Mipi El		Alphabetic acrostic	Shabbat and Simchat Torah
Shoshanat Ya'akov		Alphabetic acrostic	Purim
Tal		Reverse alphabetic acrostic; each stanza ends with "Tal"	Passover
Tzur Mishelo		First stanza is the refrain	Shabbat
Unetanneh Tokef	ונתנה תוקף		Shabbat
Yah Ribon		Acrostic spells "Yisrael"	Shabbat
Yedid Nefesh	ידיד נפש	Acrostic spells Tetragrammaton	Shabbat
Yom Shabbaton		Acrostic spells "Yehudah"	Shabbat
Yom Ze L'Yisra'el		Acrostic spells "Yitzhak"	Shabbat
Yom Ze Mekhubad		Acrostic spells "Yisrael"	Shabbat
Yigdal	יִגְדַּל	Metre	Daily

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