The Secret of Many Voices
Detail from a manuscript from the Gross Family Collection.

The Secret of Many Voices

An Introduction to the World of Piyut Throughout History

Yair Harel and Uri Kroizer

“Music and poetry are some of the most essential and basic expressions of any system of cultural identity. The Jewish people, in its varied diaspora communities, developed local musical traditions connected to the world of prayer and ritual and echoing the cultural and social range in which they were dwelling" (Haviva Pedaya).

Throughout the generations these traditions have evolved in depth and in breadth into a vast scope of creations. Thousands of piyutim sung in tens of thousands of melodies in different communities reflect a breathtaking multicultural richness that expresses the multifaceted nature of Jewish culture. It is the soundtrack of Hebrew culture throughout the ages, many voices speaking the secret of the One.

This book seeks to add another rung in the extensive chain of work of the last two decades that seeks to recognize, connect, revitalize and renew the traditions of the Hebrew Piyut in Israeli society and in Jewish culture in General. These traditions have not yet reached the representation they deserve in contemporary Israeli and Jewish culture, and have sometimes even been forgotten or repressed. Our hope is that this book will make another modest contribution to the journey of discovery of these traditions and the deepening of Jewish-Israeli culture.

From an Introduction written originally as the preface to the book 101 Piyutim, published in Hebrew, Jerusalem 2015.

The piyut is a gateway to many worlds, and the book before you seeks to offer a small key to the gate. "Open the gate my Beloved. Arise, open a gate." The piyut is both a gateway and a key. A gateway to the cultural treasures and Jewish wisdom of the generations, and a key to a spiritual, folk Judaism of living roots, dynamic and constantly renewing. The piyut tells us a story that is both ancient and eternal, poems carved from loving and innocent hearts that travel through time and space, managing to pass from generation to generation, traversing changing fashions, until they reach us. And they are soaked in the longing, joy and pain of many generations of speakers and dreamers of Hebrew culture, individuals, families and communities, from East and West, from the north and from the sea. (Psalms 107:3)

The linguistic root of the word piyut (originally in Greek, Meaning Creator and similar to the English “poet”) reminds us that the root of the matter lies in human creation, seeking to be in connection with the Sublime and the Divine in humans and in creation.

"Because the piyut has a very elusive and complicated character, its essence must be explained carefully. The most basic element in any discussion of the piyut is that what is being spoken of is both text and melody. The unity that is created between the words and the melody, giving them a new expression, is the secret to the magic of the piyut." (Meir Buzaglo)

The piyut is the magical encounter between poetry and music, in the space between the Sacred and the mundane. A meeting that seeks to blur the borders between these concepts, to celebrate the magic and the secret hidden in physical life, the entire spectrum of feelings from joy to pain, to awaken the conversation and the love amongst the individual, the community, and the nation with the Divine, and to elevate life to the Sublime.

"The piyut is a textual creation, poetry that is intended to be sung, and can hold within it all the possible dimensions of conversation directed to the Divine or speaking of Him. Hence the piyut is also a prayer expressing the entire range of emotions humans can feel toward the Divine: praise, adoration, joy, sorrow, lamentation and crying, longing and yearning." (Haviva Pedaya)

From its beginnings, the piyut is the Hebrew sacred poem that has accompanied the Sabbath and the holiday prayers of the Jewish calendar cycle. Piyutim were first written in the Land of Israel in the 3-4 century AD, and to a large extent were a continuation of the Biblical song of prayer, especially the poetry of the Book of Psalms.

After the destruction of the Temple, the set prayer of the Jewish prayer book replaced the sacrifices that were offered in the Temple (the service of the heart) and the piyut is really the song that seeks to prepare one for the set prayer, and to bring the worshiper to an emotional, intentional and open state. The paytanim (composers of the piyutim), therefore, seek to deepen and renew the individual and public prayer experience.

For over a thousand years, the creation of piyutim, much like Hebrew poetry in general during this period, was focused on the prayer of the synagogue. The style and form varied from period to period and from place to place, but the main thing was that the piyut was always created as a contemporary work seeking to prepare, expand, clarify and deepen the set prayers. Thus, many thousands of piyutim were written in the area of the Land of Israel, Iraq of today, Italy and France, and also later in Spain and North Africa, Yemen and the Jewish world in general.

"...the piyut will adorn the standing of prayer, the life cycle and the year, wherever the heart's desire overpowers the intellect, when words and melody are not enough, and when that which is set surrenders its place for renewal ...." (Avigdor Shanan)

From the synagogue, the piyut spread to take its place in all the spaces of Jewish ritual and culture: the Sabbath table, the Passover Seder, holidays and festivals, life ceremonies, gatherings of friends, Shirat HaBakashot, and more. In all these places, the piyut seeks to uplift the moment, to connect worlds and humans to what is beyond them, and to deepen the dimension of prayer in their lives.

The piyut attempts to express that which is impossible to express in words – our conversation with God. It must have a melody – many melodies  – for they bring something from an abstract language that goes beyond words. Thus, the textual dimension is joined by music in all its glory, and from generation to generation a multi-colored, multi-faceted mosaic is created. There are piyutim that have merited the composition of hundreds of melodies, including those that continue to be written to this day.

“... The piyut is the chain of heritage of Jewish culture in all its infrastructure and its layers, the song of the heart and longing for all the good of the people of Israel in its tribes ..." (Ephraim Hazan)

Much like, yet to a large extent different from, the development of Jewish communities around the world, the world of the piyut also evolved. The cradle of the piyut was, as mentioned, the Land of Israel. Its base was formed during the period deemed the “classic era” of the piyut, in the 6th-8th century (the main paytanim known to us from that time are Yanai and R. Elazar Kalir), and from Israel the piyutim continued to develop in Babylon (Iraq), Italy and Ashkenaz (South France - Germeny). The classic language of the piyut is enigmatic, virtuosic and difficult to understand. It is based on the language of the Sages and the world of the Midrash. Ashkenazi Jews throughout the generations continued the classical legacy of the piyut, as well as the initial context of the piyut, as part of the synagogue's prayer service.

The piyutim in the Ashkenazi tradition are, for the most part, in the recitative style of prayer. Of notable exception are the piyutim of the Sabbath table, piyutim sung in the home rather than the synagogue, that gained enormous popularity among Ashkenazi Jews. Most are the work of local paytanim, sung at the three Sabbath feasts with many different tunes.

The Sephardic piyut, which exploded at the beginning of the second millennium, was received in one form or another throughout the Jewish world, specifically in the sphere of Islamic countries (The great majority of Jews of this period were Arabic-speaking). The great paytanim of Spain (R. Shlomo Ibn Gabirol, R. Yehuda Halevi, R. Avraham Ibn Ezra and many others) were engaged in both mundane and sacred poetry inspired by Arabic poetry and culture, and they renewed new and sophisticated forms of writing, weight and rhyme. The language of the Sephardi piyut returned to Biblical language, and thus is closer to modern Hebrew, and its subjects are varied.

After the Spanish Expulsion, the piyut continued to develop mainly in North Africa, the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, and it spread past the framework of prayer into all cultural spheres. The leaders of the Kabbalists of Safed and their successors were highly engaged in piyutim and brought to the world some of the most immensely popular piyutim (Yedid Nefesh, Lekha Dodi). Of special note is Rabbi Israel Najara (Damascus-Safed Gaza, 16th century) who was active in all dimensions of the creation of piyutim as a poet, composer and performer. Beyond his piyutim that are sung to this day in Jewish communities across the globe, (Ya Ribon Olam, Yoducha Rayonai  and many more), he left a significant mark on all that is related to the custom of fitting piyutim and sometimes even writing piyutim to the songs and tunes of non-Jewish popular culture. Many followed his lead, and thus many new genres developed, expanding the connection between local cultures and Hebrew culture.

Inspired by the Kabbalists, varied singing traditions evolved, the most prominent being the Shirat HaBakashot in the early hours of the morning, particularly on the Sabbath morning. In Morocco, Aleppo and Turkey customs were created – hours-long gatherings – around which a unique and musically elaborate repertoire of piyutim was built.

From the 16th to the 20th centuries, inspired by Sephardic poetry, paytanim throughout the Middle East, Yemen and North Africa created and wrote piyutim for life-cycle events and for the yearly cycle of the communities in which they were active. Many composers composed or adapted favorite melodies from the environment in which they lived.

We have merited to live in a time of the Ingathering of Jews from across the globe to the Land of Israel, bringing to our door as a society, as a culture and as a people the great challenge of expanding borders: to make what was created in the context of a particular community available to the whole, to lay the groundwork for the formation of an incredibly rich and multifaceted Hebrew culture, sharing a broad and rooted common denominator, a culture that fulfills the multi-voiced nature of Jewish tradition and idea in a way that lacks all precedent.

There are many instances where vast knowledge has been lost to us in the wanderings of the Jewish people, and especially in the 20th century. There is knowledge of many generations that sometimes is concentrated in the memory of a single person. A walking treasure trove. Alongside this, there are even more instances of knowledge that have been preserved thanks to the love and devotion of the carriers of traditions, paytanim, communities and families.

In both Israeli and Jewish society, so divided into communities and tribes, even those raised in a traditional home, are, for the most part, introduced to only a very specific perspective and repertoire and rarely have the opportunity to meet with other traditions. The coarse divisions of East and West, Sephardic and Ashkenazi, cover a vast and complex cultural diversity of many, very ancient communities, which, over many generations, have created unique traditions. The world of the piyut allows us to trace the multifaceted face of Hebrew culture, and at the same time to seek the common denominators, and the possibility that all this richness can dwell in one home, the home of ancient-contemporary Hebrew culture of the 21st century.

In recent years, thanks to transformations in Israeli society and thanks to the worthy and varied activities of organizations, paytanim, artists, educators and lovers of piyutim and poetry wherever they be, the piyut is earning a place of honor and esteem amongst wide-ranging Israeli audiences large and small, as well as in the broader Jewish world. There is today an openness and a great need to turn to the treasures of Hebrew culture and music, to connect to them and to give them expression in art, in education, and in the lives of the individual and the community.

We hope that this process of renewal of Jewish-Israeli culture will continue to grow, deepen and expand into a clear, pleasant and creative language that will connect all the different corners of the Jewish world and will create a common cultural-spiritual foundation that will lead us to the next chapter of Jewish culture in this age of the Ingathering of the Exiles. Poetry and music have a significant part to play in this process, an aspect of the secret of many voices seeking the One.

"... the singer of the piyut has survived to this day as an act bearing a social nature that goes beyond the religious meanings of the texts. In so doing, it marks a direct connection between the present and the past, connects different geographical spaces, symbolizes the historical continuity of the use of the Hebrew language, and links the ancient composers with those of our time... " (Edwin Seroussi)