Azharot

Etymology

The name of the poetical form derives from the first word of its earliest example, Hebrew: אזהרות ראשית לעמך נתת‎‎. Two attempts to ascribe special meaning to that choice of term have been suggested:

1. Chazal sometimes refer to biblical prohibitions as azharot.
2. The numerological sum of a condensed form of the word (אזהרת, instead of אזהרות) equals the number of commandments.

Criticism

Abraham ibn Ezra ("Yesod Moreh," gate 2, end) compared azharot to counting medicinal herbs enumerated in medical works without knowing anything of their virtues.

Maimonides claims in the introduction to Sefer HaMitzvot, his own prose enumeration of the commandments, that he was motivated to compose that work because of errors in the azharot. Deference to Maimonides' criticism led major rabbis (18th-century Rabbi Haim Yosef David Azoulai ; 20th-century Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef) to prefer reading Maimonides' prose list to the poetic azharot. In 1971, Rabbi Yosef Kapach composed azharot based upon Maimonides' list.

Poems

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Commentaries

While the original intent of the azharot may have been educational, its terse and cryptic poetic form led to a need for its content to be explained. Commentaries include:

Liturgical Customs

Among those who recite the azharot at all, the most common custom is to recite them sometime during the period of Shavuot. They are variously recited during the Shavuot synagogue mussaf, mincha or arvit service, or during the Sabbath prior to Shavuot. Some Sephardic diaspora communities chant the Positive Commandments of the azharot on the first day of Shavuot, and the Negative Commandments on the second day. Sephardic/Eastern communities recite the azharot of Ibn Gairol, while North African communities of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya recite the azharot of Barceloni. As mentioned above, Rabbinic advice is to prefer reading Maimonides' prose list to the poetic azharot