Mi-pi el

Maqam: Ḥijaz

This piyyut for Simḥat Torah appears in the maḥzor after the service and Torah reading for that holiday. We readily recognize its opening—Mi-pi El, mi-pi El, titbarach Israel—from the well-known Simḥat Torah piyyut beginning Ein adir ka-Adonai, ein baruch ke-ben Amram (which does not appear in the maḥzor). Like other piyyutim that were originally written for Shavuot (Pentecost) but were also sung on Simḥat Torah, the topic is the giving of the Torah. Some ascribe it to R. Elazar ha-Bavli (13th century, Baghdad), but this attribution has not been confirmed.