Eleazar be-Rabbi Qillir

Eleazar be-Rabbi Qillir, who may have lived in Tiberias, was probably the most consequential and prolific early paytan (liturgical poet). The details of Qillir’s life are shrouded in mystery, though he was apparently a student of another prominent paytan, Yannai, whose many poems were–unlike Qillir’s–lost for centuries until they were unearthed in the Cairo Geniza. Qillir’s poetry incorporated midrashic allusions and dense language. In the twelfth century, Abraham Ibn Ezra sharply criticized Qillir’s poetry as overly complex, difficult to follow, and containing too many neologisms (see Abraham Ibn Ezra, Commentary: On Ecclesias-tes). Nevertheless, many later medieval poets sought to imitate Qillir’s style, and his infuence and importance continued for centuries. Some of his piyyutim remain a central part of the Jewish liturgy.