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The famous competition between the Palestinian and Babylonian traditions, which continued over the course of the Talmudic and the Geonic periods, ended, as is well-known, in the complete victory of Babylon - with the exception of one extensive area: piyyut. The recitation of piyyutim, rooted in the liturgical traditions of Palestine, spread to all Diaspora Jewish communities. Whereas in the case of Italy and Germany this phenomenon may be explained as a function of a shared ancient Palestinian heritage, it is quite surprising to find that it also obtains in the case of Spain, as the latter is known for its deep connections specifically to the traditions of Babylon. In the first portion of the present article it is suggested that piyyut became naturalized in Spain, not as the result of Palestinian influence, but rather through the influence of the liturgical rites of the Babylonian synagogues of the tenth century, as these are attested in the poetic productions of R. Yosef al-Baradani. An investigation of the actual distribution of the main liturgical genres in Spain - the yotzer and the qedushta - reveals a close connection, even in detail, to that found in the corpus of Yosef al-Baradani. This fact strengthens the notion that Babylon served as a middleman between the Palestinian birth-place of piyyut and the Hebrew liturgical poetry of Spain. In the second portion of the article stress is laid on the place occupied by the seliḥa in the corpus of Babylonian piyyut. Indeed, seliḥiot are almost entirely lacking in the corpus of Yosef al-Baradani. However, almost all of the piyyutim of R. David ha-Nasi, which have lately been published, belong to the seliḥa genre in its various manifestations, and from the beginning of piyyut production in Babylon (in the corpus of R. Nisi al-Nahruʿani) a significant place is reserved for seliḥot. At the same time, there are no seliḥot in the heritage bequeathed by the classical Palestinian payyetanim. For this reason it is proposed here that the seliḥa be seen as a Babylonian piyyut genre. If this is indeed the case, it follows that Babylonian influence on piyyut production throughout the ages is much more decisive than has been thought up till the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central to this article is the riddle of the chain of verses that follow the magen, mehaye, and meshalesh in the qedushta, suggesting that they derive an ancient version of the amidah benedictions. We show that when chains of verses are included in hymns, they are derived from parallel chains of verses in prayers. Hence, the benedictions of the amidah probably also contained verses in an earlier period of its formation, and we find traces of these. Several ancient rabbinical sources indicate that a longer and more complex version of the amidah was once recited, and it included biblical verses. We suggest that they were included in order to distinguish between blessings, which were newly composed, and Scripture. This practice contrasts with the prayers (mainly the sectarian ones) from the Second Temple Era and other writings of that time, whose authors sought to imitate the language of the Bible and resemble it, sometimes even striving to have their works included in the canon. The amidah prayer evidently underwent processes of change and abbreviation, and it probably developed from an alternative version, 'an abstract of Eighteen Benedictions', shorter and less complex than the original prayer. The possibility that the cantor was called upon to recite the long prayer in its entirety, whereas the congregation tended to be satisfied with the short version, can explain the flourishing of hymns that embroider on the prayers. Chains of verses disappear from hymns when they are abbreviated. Toward the end of the article, we focus on the qedushta again and discuss the appearance of concluding rhymes that divide it between the chain of verses and the conclusion of the benediction. After a short conclusion, an appendix is presented, presenting a very ancient qerovah, every part of which is no more than a passage of poetry and a chain of verses, without any concluding rhymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several years ago I published part of a fine Qerovah for the afternoon prayer of Tish'a Be'Av (S. Elizur, 'From Mourning to Comfort: On an Ancient Custom in the Afternoon Prayer of Tisha B'Av', Tarbiẕ, 73 [2003], pp. 125-138). I recently discovered the missing parts, which comprise three stanzas, and I am publishing them here. This section also deals with the `spiritual' nature of the Sabbath as conceived in various Jewish sources, especially Jewish Hellenistic writers of the Second Temple period, but also in rabbinic and Samaritan writings, and the metamorphosis this conception underwent in Christianity. The second section deals with the evidence provided by some of the prayers in AC VII regarding the history of the Hebrew benedictions of the Amidah as well as other Jewish prayers. The main Jewish benedictions studied in detail are: the benediction of Jerusalem embedded in AC VII, 31; the Sabbath benediction; the benediction of Thanksgiving (Modim); as well as Selihot, Nishmat, and Al ha-Nissim. It is demonstrated that liturgical formulations of these benedictions that occur in late and less reliable liturgical sources existed as early as the third century CE., if not earlier, for they are included in AC VII. The examination of AC VII sheds new light on one of the most important methodological problems in the study of Jewish liturgy, namely, whether one can differentiate the earlier from the later strata, and the extent to which we may rely on medieval versions of benedictions and sporadic references to them in rabbinic literature to map the development of ancient Jewish liturgy. The prayers in AC VII are much longer and more elaborate than the Amidah benedictions. A long Hebrew benediction on food occurs in a liturgical papyrus from Dura Europus dated to the third century CE, It is therefore conceivable that longer benedictions in Hebrew had existed in ancient times alongside shorter ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]