Call and Response: Antiphonal Elements in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic Poetry

Abstract

In this essay, the varieties of refrain structures used in the body of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic poetry from late antiquity provide a laboratory for examining the intersection of acclamation structures and piyyutim. The fact that these poems were written in the vernacular of the community rather than in Hebrew complicates our understanding of their performative setting but at the same time may make it easier to consider a variety of potential modes of community engagement, as we are not constrained by the potential norms of a fixed liturgical setting. The analysis offered here, tentative as it may be, helps us understand both the auditory world of Late Antiquity and the active participation of Jews in the shaping of their soundscape.