Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of Jewish hymnography. Synagogue hymnography, compared to its Christian and Muslim counterparts, is distinctive in both its focus and its volume. There is nothing comparable in Christianity or Islam to the vast Jewish liturgical corpus. The disparity in output is due both to the difference in focus and to the rabbinic encouragement to be creative in prayer. Lay leaders in the synagogue responded enthusiastically to the rabbinic advice, and urged their cantor-poets to compose additions to the obligatory šemaʻ and ʻamidah , as well as celebrations and observances of life-cycle events. A constant feature of the Jewish experience emerged with the hymnic ritualization of the great events of human life. There is also a difference in the historical experience of the Jews exiled from their national home. Given a life in exile, the synagogue poet would often appeal to God for national restoration. This book studies Jewish hymnography in the eastern Mediterranean and in western and central Europe, demonstrating how its literary history was largely determined by contemporary culture.