("exhortations," "warnings"). Name given to a type of didactic liturgical poem that first appeared in the geonic era. The genre owes its name to the earliest known poem of this type, which begins with the words: Azharot reshit le-ammekha natata---"In the beginning You [God] exhorted [gave azharot to] Your people." The reference is to a talmudic passage (Mak. 23b): "R. Simlai taught: "613 exhortations [commandments] were given to Moses, 365 negative precepts in accordance with the days of the solar year, and 248 positive precepts in accordance with the number of limbs in the human body." The connection between the word azharot and the 613
Saadiah Gaon, Amram Gaon, and Solomon Ibn Gabirol were among the many medieval personalities who composed azharot. One popular example is attributed to R. Elijah "the Elder," identified with Elijah the prophet. The earlier poems are simple in structure, taking the form of straight alphabetical acrostics. Rhymes and inverted alphabetical acrostics appeared at a later stage.
Azharot were normally recited as part of the Morning Service on Shavu'Ot, the festival celebrating the giving of the Law, but were transferred to the Afternoon Service, presumably because the Morning Service had become too lengthy. As the recitation of azharot gained in popularity, other and similar liturgies developed in conjunction with the festivals of Passover and Sukkot, the New Year Rosh Ha-Shanah), hĚŁanukkah, and Purim. Today, azharot are rarely recited and the entire literature is virtually unknown.
