We are happy to announce that the English version of the site is up and running. Access to the English site is from the website homepage. Thus far all of the titles have been translated into English, and so all of the recordings on the site are accessible by running a title search in English. In addition we have translated a number of sample items - the piyut "Yedid Nefesh" and accompanying material, the opening texts for the 12 chosen piyutim, and the definitions and personal commentary of "What is a Piyut". We hope to translate more of our content for the English version, and add even more languages.
Over the course of the past month, in the days between the 17th of Tamuz and the 9th of Av, we posted laments from various traditions. In honor of the 15th of Av we posted a number of wedding piyutim and an interpretive analysis of the piyut "Ahavat Hadassa" by Yehuda Amir.
More new material on the Site - a premiere performance of a new melody by "Hamadregot" to the piyut "Shzufat Shemesh" from their upcoming album featuring piyutim.
For Rosh Chodesh Elul, beginning this week, we have posted "The Monthly Piyut" – Adon Haslichot,(Hebrew Text ) accompanied by the different approaches by various artists.
During the month of Elul we will post on the site piyutim and content concerning the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe), we invite you all to stay up to date.
The goal of the website is to provide the widest general picture possible of the world of the piyut throughout past generations and today. The website presents many sections relating to different views on the world of the piyut, and we plan to widen the scope over time.
The website centers around two archives: the main archive is a collection of piyutim and melodies, in which you can find the piyutim categorized into different sections, where you can run a general search. For each piyut there are two central “pages”. The first, provides an in depth look at the piyut, in which the various aspects of the Piyut are presented. The second includes a list of melodies, in which you can hear melodies and different renditions of the piyut.
The second archive is comprised of texts (and melodies) which are not classically defined as piyut, such as chapters of Psalms, as well as sections of standard Jewish prayer. This defines the close functional relationship between these texts and the world of piyut, especially because of their beauty and their central role in tradition.
Additional categories on the website include: categories based on the archives mentioned above, such as: Weekly Piyut, Top 12 Piyutim, Send a Piyut; and 'What’s New'. We hope to include additional categories, such as a website radio station, that will enable one to listen to the piyutim one after the other.
An additional archive that is currently under construction is an informational archive including current efforts in the world of the piyut. There you will be able to find much information about seminars, people and events.
The vast majority of the poetic and musical creative works of the Jews emerged in various communities throughout the Diaspora in the last centuries and previous millennium. Since the founding of the State of Israel and the immigration of the majority of these ancient communities, a large portion of the immense piyut tradition is disappearing and becoming forgotten. Furthermore, access to the remnants still in existence is limited.
The brief history of the modern period has created, in many cases, a gap between the tradition of the past and the modern society and culture developing in Israel. Most of the tradition, the legacy of the piyut in particular, is alive and meaningful only among a small portion of the public.
With the passage of time, the need to connect to these roots grows increasingly urgent. There is a need to hear the voices calling to us from the depths of time, immersed in the emotion and wisdom of the many generations that sang these piyutim. By better understanding our ancestors, we learn more about ourselves. While enriching and widening the scope of our language, we grow both as individuals and as a society. The Avi Chai Foundation, whose goal it is to give all Jews easy access to their heritage, generously supports the founding of the website: “An Invitation to Piyut.”
The piyut synthesizes and purifies various components of the Hebrew culture: language, music, mysticism, history, legend, philosophy, prayer, and personal, family and national emotion – into one whole. The sung piyut makes it possible to fully experience this in its entirety.
The website, "An incitation to piyut", deals with the challenge of conveying the rich totality of piyut which is experienced only through connecting all of its various components. From each piyut many gates are opened, and we hope that we will gradually succeed in opening more and more.
The experience of piyut is not natural to the Internet medium, and is even foreign to it. Nonetheless, we hope to succeed, with the help of the wide exposure made possible by the website, in wakening the will and desire to continue this experience of the past through the medium of the computer.
We aim to gather a significant selection of piyutim from all Jewish ethnic cultures in a manner which realizes the wide array of styles and cultures existing in the Jewish tradition, and to transform the website into an “international house” of piyut.
Gathering the material is only the first stage. The ultimate goal is to make the material accessible – both technically and culturally, to those who were not raised in a particular traditional background. We seek to provide the tools that will enable the general public, an opportunity to approach, understand and feel. In order to assure the authenticity of the materials presented on the website, all the material is verified by a staff with a traditional background and by senior professionals in various fields (see 'Staff' section).
This challenge is great: The repertoire is infinite and scattered across the world. In many cases the recordings are difficult for the more modern ear to comprehend, either due to technical reasons or because of cultural gaps. It is our belief that the piyut possesses timeless beauty and power. At times all that is needed is to brush off a layer of dust or better attune the ear, the mind and heart, to allow new blood to flow. At the same time one must take care not to harm the traditional authenticity. It is our wish to become another link in the chain, and to encourage new creativity in this area.
We have no doubt of the ability of piyut to become relevant to the wider public in Israel and throughout the world, perhaps even more than other forms of Jewish artistic expression and creativity.
Much of the effort is invested in the development of the piyutim archive. We aspire to create a panorama of this varied repertoire created throughout the generations and to provide a wide variety of renditions for each piyut. At the same time, we hope to collect a variety of in-depth material which will provide the background and tools which are necessary in order to improve the understanding of the piyut, its perspective, and place in Jewish life, both in the past and in the present. In addition to gathering the existing material and adapting it to suit the website, we produce new recordings of different traditional piyutim preformed by the great artists, and provide in-depth written material. . We hope that the website will gradually become an information center for all that is happening in Israel and elsewhere regarding the subject of the piyut, including workshops, seminars, concerts, conferences, etc.
Furthermore, the website serves as a home for “Kehilot Sharot” (singing communities), and as such creates a connection between the world of theory and an existing reality.
We seek to express the various components and the great richness existing in the legacy of the piyut in a balanced manner. We hope that the website will succeed in reaching and serving the wider public. We are at the beginning of the journey, and will be glad to hear your responses and suggestions.
The founding of the website is a joint initiative of the Avi Chai Foundation and “Kehilot Sharot”(Singing Communities), an organization also supported by the Avi Chai Foundation.
We hope that by Rosh Hashana the website radio will be up and running, the radio will allow for continuous listening to piyutim according to categories.
Web : http://www.piyut.org.il/search/english/
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