What is Machzor?מחזור
A machzor is a festival prayer book, containing the liturgy for a specific holiday — most commonly Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, or the three pilgrimage festivals.
Also written: Machzorim, Mahzor, Machzoirim
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur have a long liturgy largely of their own, so it is always published as its own volume. The pilgrimage festivals are closer to the Shabbos service with insertions, and many full siddurim carry them, so a machzor for Pesach, Shavuos, or Succos is mainly a matter of the piyutim and of not hunting through a siddur mid-service. Machzorim are usually sold per festival, and a complete set covers the year.
As with a siddur, nusach determines whether a machzor is usable, and the piyutim included vary by rite and by community. Demand is sharply seasonal, peaking in the weeks before Rosh Hashanah.
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Related terms
- Siddur — A siddur is a Jewish prayer book containing the daily and Shabbos liturgy, arranged in the order the prayers are recited.
- Haggadah — The Haggadah is the text recited at the Pesach seder, setting out the order of the evening and the retelling of the Exodus from Egypt.
- Shabbos and Yom Tov — Shabbos and Yom Tov seforim cover the laws, customs, and thought surrounding the Sabbath and the Jewish festivals, from practical halacha to holiday-specific commentary.