Pijjut

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Under Piyyut (plural: Pijjutim, Hebrew : פיוט) which is for the liturgical specific use seal understood that in the Jewish service is sung or recited.

Surname

The word is derived from the Greek ποιητής (dt. Creator, poet) or ποιητός (dt. Made, artistically made), which is also the basis of the word poet . Originally, pijjutim were intended to optionally replace the fixed prayer text, especially on holidays and Shabbatot , but also on weekdays. The task of the pijjut is the interpretation of scriptures and an explanation of feast days and customs.

history

The now generally accepted epochal division of the history of the Piyyutim goes back to the Israeli researcher Ezra Fleischer (1928–2006):

  1. The pre-classical period (4th – 6th centuries). The only Pajjtan known by name is Josse ben Josse .
  2. The classical period (6th-8th centuries in Israel). Famous representatives are Jannai , Elasar ha-Qallir u. a.
  3. The post-classical or late, eastern phase (9th-11th centuries). The center of the Pijjut shifts to Babylon.
  4. The Spanish School (10th – 13th centuries).
  5. The Italian- Ashkenazi school (10th – 13th centuries).

There are already individual sections in the Talmud whose style is similar to a pijjut. The first Pajjtan (poet) known by name was Josse ben Josse. He probably lived in the Land of Israel in the 6th century. From that time on, poetry flourished in Israel. Among the most important pajjtanim are Jannai and Rabbi Elasar ha-Qallir. Innovations which they introduced - and which were also recognized in later epochs - are the acrostic and the rhyme .

Beginning in the 10th century, new centers of poetry emerged: in Europe , pijjutim were written that drew directly from the tradition of the Eretz-Jisra'elischen pijjut. In contrast, the poets of the Golden Age of Spanish Judaism went their own way in their creations. Part of the Pijjutim, v. a. the “Slichot” and the “Qinot” reflect the harsh living conditions of the Jews in Italy and describe the afflictions and persecutions they experienced. In this period the piyyutim no longer replace the fixed prayer text; they are woven into it. Pijjutim, which were written in later centuries, are no longer woven into the prayers at all, but are recited on other occasions, e.g. B. as chants at the Sabbath meals.

In the early Middle Ages , the piyyut almost became a fad and threatened to overlay the main prayers, as the respective Khazanim of the Jewish communities waged a kind of competition and tried to write ever more elaborate piyyutim. The close connection between Chazzanut , i.e. H. the art of prayer, and Pijjutim appears in some letters that have been preserved from the Genisa in Cairo . Since the congregations in medieval Egypt always wanted to hear new hymns, this led to the prayer leaders exchanging their piyyutim, secretly copying them from colleagues and conducting international correspondence that reached as far as Marseille .

Genera and forms

Pijjutim can be divided into groups according to the places in the prayer process to which they are intended. Thus, the piyutim, which the Khazan speaks when repeating the Amida , is called "Q e rovot", while those which are spoken as blessings before the Shema Yisrael are called "Jotz e rot". "Slichot" are the piyutim that are recited before and during the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and on public fasting days . The "Qinot" are a special genus for the 9th Av , the commemoration day for the destruction of the Jerusalem temple .

External forms of the pijjut:

  • alphabetical acrostic
  • Bible verse acrostic
  • Name acrostic

A common form is the name acrostic. Often the first letters of the name of the poet form the first letters of the stanzas or lines.

Translations

So far there have only been a few translations into German. A selection of Hebrew poetry by Dunasch ben Labrat , Shmuel ha-Nagid , Josef ibn Caprel, Schlomo ibn Gabirol , Moses ibn Esra , Josef ibn Zaddik , Jehuda ha-Levi and Meir ha-Levi Abulafia recently presented:

  • Georg Bossong (ed.): The miracle of al-Andalus. The most beautiful poems from Moorish Spain. Translated from Arabic and Hebrew into German by Georg Bossong, with an afterword by Said. Series: New Oriental Library . CH Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3-406-52906-1 .

literature

  • Ismar Elbogen : The Jewish worship service in its historical development. Frankfurt a. M. 1931.
  • Elieser Landshuth , Ammude ha-Awoda , 2 volumes, 1857 and 1862
  • (Chajjim) Jefim Schirmann : תולדות השירה העברית בספרד המוסלמית [ The History of Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain. Edited, Supplemented and Annotated by Ezra Fleischer. ] Jerusalem: Magnes 1995. ISBN 965-223-914-3 (Hebrew)
  • (Chajjim) Jefim Schirmann: תולדות השירה העברית בספרד הנוצרית ובדרום צרפת [ The History of Hebrew Poetry in Christian Spain and Southern France. Edited, Supplemented and Annotated by Ezra Fleischer. ] Magnes, Jerusalem 1997, ISBN 965-223-963-1 (Hebrew).
  • Abraham Sulzbach : The poetic literature (from the seventh to the seventeenth century). In: Jakob Winter; August Wünsche (ed.): The Jewish literature since the conclusion of Canon 3: The poetic, cabalistic, historical and modern literature. Trier 1896, pp. 1-216.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Shlomo Dov Goitein , Sidre Chinuch , Jerusalem 1962, pp. 97-102.