Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter focuses on the genre called Yotzer, which embellishes the main liturgical paragraphs surrounding the recitation of the Shema proclamation in the morning. Its initial component is called the Guf Ha-Yotzer, and it is distinguished for having stanzas that utilize and poetically embellish the weekly or festival Torah recitation. As distinct from the Qedushta, which was based on the first two verses of a lectionary reading, the Yotzer is more elaborate. The chapter begins with reference to the initial form used by R. Yosef b. Nisan and treats its elaborate classical exemplars in the works of R. Yosef ibn Abitur and R. Shemu’el b. Hosha ‘ana ha-Shelishi. These contemporaries reflect a remarkable expansion of the Yotzer genre that now included multiple stanzas and often fifteen cited verses. The entire unit is therefore an extended epic recitation along with expositions; and, thus, the collection of the entire cycle of readings for a liturgical period constitutes the full national epic based on all Torah recitations. This brings the emergence of poetic-narrative recitations based on rabbinic commentaries found in the classical Qedushta to its summit. Studies of representative units from both authors, taken from Torah recitations dealing with the Exodus cycle, examine the relationships between the initial expositions and the concluding citation, and the sequences and coherences created. The two authors represent different ways of using the exegetical texts of rabbinic tradition. Altogether, these liturgical recitations were fundamental means of cultural pedagogy in the synagogue. Concluding literary, stylistic, and cultural considerations are presented and draw various comparisons.</jats:p>