The Seder Beriyot in Byzantine-Era Piyyut

In this article, I attempt to demonstrate the existence of an organic connection between the seder 'avoda, a piyyut type belonging to the liturgy of Yom Kippur, and the short introductory piyyut that frequently precedes it in liturgical practice-the seder beriyot. The connection is apparent on the thematic level, since the beginning of the seder 'avoda, together with the seder beriyot are both concerned with the story of creation. By means of an analysis of some of the formal properties of these two types, however, I argue that in addition to the thematic connection there exists a formal one as well, and that the seder beriyot grew out of the seder 'avoda through a process of internal differentiation that eventually led to the creation of a new piyyut type. In addition to this argument, I suggest that the introductory piyyut that sometimes precedes the seder 'olam in the liturgy of Shavuot was created by analogy to the seder beriyot.