Rabbi Eleazar be-Rabbi Qilar was the most prominent and prolific poet during the heyday of Hebrew liturgical poetry in Eretz Israel: between the sixth and eight centuries ACE. Some of the thousands of poems he wrote was preserved in the Ashkenaz, France and Italy machzorim, while a small part is recited in synagogues even today. This book compiles all his poems that survived for all prayers, with an attempt reproduce the full compositions.

A qedushta is a series of piyyutim for the ‘Amida prayer, which is expanded in honor of the recitation of the Qedusha, and includes many complex components. Its origins are in the Land of Israel, in the fourth or fifth century. We first see it as a constructed composition with set, complex, rules in the work of the poet Yannai, who lived in the mid-sixth century, the teacher of Rabbi El‛azar berabbi Qillir (who is known popularly as “the Qallir”). The qedushta, as it appears in the hundreds of compositions by Yannai and his followers, conceals many secrets: mysterious strings of biblical verses accompany its first components; a fixed biblical verse concludes the third component, followed by the strange words “El Na”; then comes a fourth component, whose structure is free, and always concludes, for some reason, with the word “Qadosh”; the fifth component in Yannai’s compositions is the ‘asiriya, a poem constructed of a truncated alphabetical acrostic from only aleph to yud, followed by a prayer beginning “El Na Le‘olam Tu‘aratz” – and it is unclear why this prayer appears here; then there is a group of poems called rahitim, which are written, for some reason, in unique, stereotypical structures. These are only a fraction of the various strange features of the qedushta’ot of Yannai and the other poets. The discussions in the book are dedicated to suggesting solutions to all these questions, and to others, and involve uncovering fragments of qedushta’ot that preceded Yannai; by examining these texts, they excavate the literary remains to construct a model of the gradual development of the qedushta over time, from its origins until it reached its complex structure in the days of Yannai and Rabbi El‛azar berabbi Qillir. The book is intended first and foremost for scholars, but it will also enable people interested in piyyut and its history from outside the world of academia to gain exposure to a great corpus of early piyyutim, among which are several stunningly beautiful gems, which are being published here for the first time.

Table of Contents: Elchanan Reiner - Joshua is Rashbi, Hatzor is Meron: On the Typology of a Galilean Foundation Myth James Nathan Ford and Alon Ten-Ami - An Incantation Bowl for Rav Mešaršia son of Qaqay Shulamit Elizur - Esa Meshali (I Shall Present my Lesson) Matti Huss - The Beginning of Joseph Ibn Shimeon’s Ne ' um Toviyahu ben Zidqiyahu Yosef Ofer - Why Did Nahmanides Misread the Inscription on the Sheqel Coin? Hannan Hever - The Trauma of the Lady of the Palace Bezalel Bar-Kochva - The Essaioi: A Fiction or Historical Reality? Rachel Elior - Essenes or ‘ha-Kohanim bnei Zaddok and Their Allies’ . A Response to Bezalel Bar Kokhva, ‘The Essaioi: A Fiction or Historical Reality?’

Table of Contents

Tarbiz is the only Hebrew academic journal that is devoted to the entire range of Jewish studies. Appearing quarterly, this journal is the principal forum for the expression of the most important developments in Jewish studies in our generation, and its contributors include the leading scholars in the various fields of Jewish studies in Israel and the world, as well as young scholars who are beginning to make their mark. Tarbiz was first published in 1930 at the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, under the editorial pen of Prof. Jacob Nachum Epstein z"l.

For over fourteen hundred years, since post-Talmudic times, a list of fast days has been in circulation; it mandates at least one, but occasionally two, three, and even four fasts per month. These fasts commemorate disasters that occurred during biblical and Second Temple times; events connected with the Temple’s destruction; and the deaths of well-known individuals. The list penetrated into central halachic works; in some circles these events are commemorated to this day, albeit not by fasting. This list is known as Megillat Taʿanit Batra, “the later scroll of fasts,” to distinguish it from Megillat Taʿanit, which originated in the Second Temple period. This book traces the historical development of the list. The author has culled previously unknown versions of this list from manuscripts, early piyyutim , and other surprising sources. All these versions of the list are discussed in detail; a synoptic analysis of each fast, as presented in the various sources, attempts to solve some of the riddles presented by the texts. Towards the end of the book, a detailed chapter deals with the complex occurrences of the list in halachic literature. The final chapter sets out the internal structure of the list; attempts to arrive at its original form; and maps its metamorphoses through time.

This book presents Piyyutim (liturgical poetry) written by one of the most important poets in the land of Israel, Rabbi Pinhas Hacohen birabi Yaacov, who lived in the area of Tiberias in the 8th century. The Piyyutim are taken from manuscripts of the Cairo Genizah, and are published for the first time. R' Pinhas seals the classic period of early Paytanim (authors of liturgical poetry) in the land of Israel. His work preserves the variety of genres typical for classic Piyyutim, yet shows early signs of developments characteristic to late Eastern liturgical poetry. R' Pinhas' Piyyutim reveal a great poet with impressive compositional durability. In some of them he reaches unique climaxes, especially through dramatic developments in the Piyut. The Piyyutim presented in the book are accompanied by textual variants and detailed commentary. Comprehensive introductions to the poems discuss the poet and his works, their designations and references, patterns, their literary language, content, literary sources, as well as early customs that can be learned from them. The discussion brings up Hebrew words that have not been written before. Many long-forgotten Midrashim are exposed and authentic Halakhic customs from the Land of Israel are revealed, such as the calculation of the Hebrew calendar and early fasting traditions. First and foremost, this collection of Rabbi Pinhas' Piyyutim brings back one of the greatest poets of Israel to Hebrew literature and allows the readers to enjoy his rich poetry again. Edited and commented by Shulamit Elizur

This book represents a first attempt to assemble liturgical poems in a scientific edition according to their genre rather than according to authorship. All the Shiv‛atot cycles (liturgical poems for shabbat Amidah prayer) composed according to the order of the weekly Torah portion have been collected from the Genizah manuscripts. The book presents three main cycles, representing three stages in the history of liturgical poems: The remnants of an ancient Shiv‛atot cycle (composed around the sixth century) which was dedicated to the reading order of the Eretz-Israel triennial cycle, and two Shiv‛atot cycles for the annual cycle’s tractates – one of which was probably composed around the ninth or tenth century and remains loyal to the classical traditions of the genre, and the second, probably composed at the end of the tenth century or the beginning of the eleventh, which reflects a stage in which the later poets abandoned the ancient patterns or restricted them. Alongside these cycles, sections of other Shiv‛atot cycles whose remnants were found in the Genizah are included. The poems are printed in their entirety, with variant manuscripts readings and detailed notes. The book opens with an introduction that describes each cycle in detail and examines the development of the genre over the generations.

This book contains a selection of piyyutim in the Land of Israel and the East, from their first appearance and until the eleventh century, including poems by Rabbi Eleazar ben Killir , Saadia Gaon, Yanai, and others.

The illustrious payyetan who signs his name Eleazar be-rabbi Qillir (ha-Qilliri) in the acrostics of his poems has been known over the course of many generations. His compositions have been incorporated into the Ashkenazic mahzor and are recited to this day. The Cairo Genizah has surprised us with a cycle of yotzerot (piyyutim for the benedictions of the Shema) for the weekly Sabbath lections in whose acrostics the payyetan has signed a similar name: Eleazar be-rabbi Qilar [ קילר ]. In the book, these yotzerot have been gathered together and edited on the basis of the manuscripts in a scientific edition that includes variant readings, a commentary, and an extensive introduction containing a discussion of their various aspects. An analysis of these piyyutim makes it clear that their author is not Eleazar be-rabbi Qillir. Eleazar be-rabbi Qilar, the author of the yotzerot, postdates the Qilliri by several hundred years, and the style of the yotzerot is entirely different from that of the ancient Qillirian piyyutim. The book contains detailed explanations of this style, which characterizes a central layer of the period of Late Eastern piyyut. In addition, inter-textual connections between Eleazar be-rabbi Qilar and other payyetanim are discussed. It is shown that he took over entire stanzas from R. Yosef be-rabbi Nisan (a Classical, post-Qillirian payyeatan) and incorporated them in his own piyyutim. On the other hand, R. Shemuel Ha-Shelishi, an important payyetan who was active at the end of the tenth century, took the piyyutim of Eleazar be-rabbi Qilar as a model when he came to compose of his own cycle of yotzerot for the weekly Sabbath lections.