Joseph al-Baradānī

Active in Baghdad, the poet Joseph ben Ḥayim al-Baradānī wrote numerous piyyutim (liturgical poems), most of which were preserved in the Cairo Geniza. Joseph, like several of his contemporaries, wrote poems for each weekly Torah reading and for many other occasions, probably reciting them himself in his role as a synagogue cantor. In form, Joseph’s poetry displays the influence of Se‘adya Ga’on (882–942). Both Hayya Ga’on (939–1038) and Samuel ben Ḥofni Ga’on (d. 1013) mentioned Joseph and members of his family as prominent members of the Jewish community in Baghdad.