Tuesdays, 7-8:30 PM
11/7, 11/14, 11/28, 12/5, 12/12

Join us for an exploration of the most essential five piyyutim you’ve been singing at shabbat services. We’ll do this by studying a singular piyyut text each session (list below) discovering what the words reference and how it connects us to the story of torah. After studying the text, we will add music and sing, bringing the piyyutim to life.

The Essential 5 Piyyutim

1. Yah Ribon - Eternal God

2. Ya’alah Ya’alah - Come into the Garden

3. Yedid Nefesh - Beloved of the Soul

4. Lekha Dodi - Greeting the Shabbat Bride

5. Tzuri Go’ali Yah - Rock and Redeemer

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Mondays, 7:15- 8:45 PM
1/22, 1/29, 2/12, 2/19, 2/26

In this class, we will look at the lives of the paytanim – the scholars, rabbis and poets – who wrote the piyyutim we’ve been singing on shabbat. By exploring each paytan's world and the current events that affected them, we’ll learn how it shaped their theology & philosophy, and how that is, in turn, expressed in their piyyutim.

Each class will focus on one paytan, diving into what their day-to-day life was like and how they navigated their religious world with the secular one. The first 3 sessions will focus on the paytanim who were foundational to establishing the Sephardic piyyut tradition and continued to build on each other's work in the Golden Era of 11th Century Spain. The next half will focus on Sephardic paytanim post-expulsion of the jews from Spain, and how they furthered the tradition in communities around the Mediterranean and beyond.

The Paytanim

1. Solomon ibn Gabirol – 11th Century, Al-Andalus / Andalusia

2. Moses Ibn Ezra – 11th Century, Al-Andalus / Andalusia

3. Yehudah HaLevi – 11th Century, Al-Andalus / Andalusia

4. Yisrael Najara – 16th & 17th Century Safed, Damascus & Gaza

5. Raphael Antebi Tabbush – 19th & 20th Century, Syria & Egypt

6. Asher Mizrahi – 20th hereCentury, Tunisia & Jerusalem

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Mondays, 7:15 - 8:45 PM
3/4, 3/11, 3/25, 4/1, 4/8, 4/15

A maqam is a system that creates the melody to the songs we sing. In the Sephardic jewish tradition, the maqamat have a deep spiritual meaning. Every torah portion, holiday and lifecycle event has an associated maqam that musically encapsulates the emotion of the moment.

We’ll look at different piyyutim and explore why the maqam has been designated for that piece. We’ll sing through this cycle, following our calendar, and learning a ton of rich and incredible melodies together. We’ll be adding these melodies to our shabbatot throughout the year, too.

Think of this class as a deep dive into the music behind our piyyutim, one part musical theory, one part singing.

This workshop is for literally everyone and anyone who likes to sing and learn.

The Maqamat

3/4: Maqam Bayat-Hoseini (Parashat Vayak’hel)

3/11: Maqam Nahawand (Parashat Pekudei)

3/25: Maqam Rast (Parashat Vayikra)

4/1: Maqam Nawa (Parashat Shemini)

4/8: Maqam Saba (Parashat Tazria)

4/15: Maqam Siga (Parashat Metzora/Shabbat Tahor)

Register here