The literary creativity of Kurdistani Jews included translations of liturgical poems for Jewish holidays and other special days, such as the national mourning day of the Ninth of Ab. Normally the Rabbis discouraged translating and reciting Hebrew-Aramaic canonical prayers, but permitted doing so in the case non-canonical texts. Therefore, manuscripts from (Iraqi and Iranian) Kurdistan include many such translations. Actually, most of these "translations" include many additions, interpolations, local linguistic folklore, actualia, etc. Since the original Hebrew text includes typically many allusions to other Hebrew-
Jewish texts and traditions, and in many cases even to Jewish law and customs that would not be clear to the average uneducated person, the translations include specific explanations which are embedded in the main poetic texts as well. These texts are a classical example of reducing difficult poetic texts to a level that would be understood by the common folk. In addition to the translations, there are some poems which seem to be original, such as the poem about the halakhic rules for Passover, since no Hebrew equivalent has been found for them. Even in the case of those which have a Hebrew parallel, which are the majority, the length of the hymn and the order of the verses of the Hebrew original and its tafsir-translation is not always identical (at least in versions known to us). Very few of these translations have been published, while most remain in manuscript form. Some tafsirs may appear in three or more lraqi and Iranian versions, but others are known from only one manuscript. The lraqi ones are usually the oldest (ca. 1650), whereas the oldest lranian (Azerbaijani) manuscript dates from 1780. The texts, as expected, include words which today would be considered archaic or are unknown. The same is true regarding the phonology, morphology, and syntax. Some of these were recited in the synagogue, but most were recited during home rituals, such as at the Passover Seder.
