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1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Kalir, Eleazer

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21917341911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 15 — Kalir, Eleazer

KALIR [QALIR], ELEAZER, Hebrew liturgical poet, whose hymns (piyyutim) are found in profusion in the festival prayers of the German synagogal rite. The age in which he lived is unknown. Some (basing the view on Saadiah’s Sefer ha-galuy) place him as early as the 6th century, others regard him as belonging to the 10th century. Kalir’s style is powerful but involved; he may be described as a Hebrew Browning.

Some beautiful renderings of Kalir’s poems may be found in the volumes of Davis & Adler’s edition of the German Festival Prayers entitled Service of the Synagogue.