Piyut: An Overview (with Dr. Yehoshua Granat)

“Piyut is some sort of a special kind of literature within liturgy that is not really understood neither by the religious ones nor obviously by the secular ones.” That is how Dr. Yehoshua Granat, senior lecturer in Hebrew Literature at Hebrew University, frames the subject of this episode. Piyutim—Hebrew liturgical poems—are most familiar to many listeners from the High Holiday machzor, but their origins, development, and function are far richer and stranger than the page-turning experience in a modern synagogue suggests.

What Is a Piyut? Definitions and Early Context

A piyut is a Hebrew liturgical poem, performed within the boundaries of public prayer in the synagogue by the hazzan (cantor). The word itself comes from the Greek poietes (poet), reflecting the late antique period when Greek was dominant. This distinguishes piyut from biblical poetry like Psalms: piyut is post-biblical, composed for the synagogue after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.