ALBARADANI, JOSEPH

ALBARADANI, JOSEPH (tenth century), liturgical poet and chief ḥazzan in the Great Synagogue of Baghdad. The surname is derived from a suburb of Baghdad called Baradan. The fact that his liturgical poems were composed to correspond with the annual Torah reading cycle (and not with the triennial one current at the time in Ereẓ Israel) supports the view that he was of Babylonian origin. Many of Joseph's poems are preserved in all the large genizah collections but only a few specimens have appeared in print. Beside the kerovot for the Torah readings, Joseph composed several short masdar poems (introductions, at a later period called reshuyyot). Strangely enough, some of these were included in the Sicilian liturgical collection, Ḥizzunim. He was succeeded as ḥazzan by his son Nahum ha-Ḥazzan, who was a friend of the geonim*Sherira, *Hai b. Sherira, and *Samuel b. Hophni. In 999 he went on an official mission to Kairouan from where he was to continue on his way to Spain. However, Hai Gaon ordered him back in 1006 in order to take over the post of his late father. He, too, was the author of liturgical poems. Nahum was in turn succeeded by his son Solomon al-Baradani as ḥazzan and paytan.

bibliography:

I. Davidson, in: Livre d'hommage… S. Poznanski (1927), 62, passim (Heb. part); idem (ed.), Genizah Studies, 3 (1930), 92, 95–105, 116, 128–37; Marcus, in: jqr, 21 (1930/31), 85–88; Mann, ibid., 9 (1918/19), 150–2, 154ff; idem, in: ajsll, 46 (1929–30), 277 ff.; Mann, Texts, 1 (1931), 113, 122, 151–3; Goldziher, in: rej, 50 (1905), 182–8; Zulay, in: ymhsi, 2 (1936), 388; 5 (1939), 158, 160, 162, 172; Spiegel, ibid., 272; A.M. Habermann, Be-Ron Yaḥad (1945), 33–34; idem, in: Haaretz (April 11, 1960); idem, Ateret Renanim (1967), 105, 137–9; Bernstein, in: Tarbiz, 13 (1941/42), 150–64.

[Jefim (Hayyim) Schirmann]