Shira Hadashah
Ana B'Koach
Ana B'Koach
Ana B’Koach is a mystical poem used in the Friday night service. It forms a bridge between the majestic Mizmor l’David and the more intimate Lekha Dodi. Supposedly it was written in the second century by the Talmudist, Nechuniah ben Hakanah. Certainly, it incorporates much Kabbalist lore. The poem contains only forty-two words, but among them are seven attributes of God, Nora, awesome; Gibor, mighty; Chasin, almighty; Kadosh, holy; Yachid, unique; Ga’eh, exalted; and Yodeia ta’alumot , knower of thoughts. These seven attributes are connected to the seven voices of God in the Mizmor l’David. They are words we use to describe God as we experience Him, but are not part of His essence. The words of the poem are connected to God in yet another way. The tetragrammaton was only supposed to be pronounced by the High Priest on Yom Kippur. Once every seven years, he could communicate it to his son or to a disciple. Gradually, however, according to Maimonides in the Guide for the Perplexed, the word for which the tetragrammaton stood became fairly common in the mouths of corrupt men. The same thing happened to a twelve letter name of God, which was never as restricted in any case. Finally, the sages came up with a forty-two word name. This was not a word but a sentence, and the words began with the initial letters of the forty-two words of Ana B’Koach. This time secrecy was preserved. It was preserved so well that for many centuries no one has known what that name was.
Tzur Yisrael
Tzur Yisrael
This prayer marks the end of the prayers after the Sh’ma and the transition to the Shacharit Amidah. The melody is Latino and is also used on Friday nights for the table song, Tzur Mishelo Achalnu. Shira Hadasha is about redemption, and thus serves fittingly to introduce the Amidah, which is among other things a prayer for redemption. The first paragraph, Shira Hadasha, concludes the recapitulation of God’s miraculous redemption of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt ending with God’s people praising God as they stand on the shore of the sea Tzur Israel marks the transition to the hope of future redemption, asking God to rise up and come to Israel’s defense in our own day
Shabbat Hamalka
Hachamah Mayrosh Ha'ilanot Nistalka
This lovely poem by Hayyim Nachman Bialik was written to welcome the Sabbath. Particularly after he emigrated to Israel in 1924, celebrating the Sabbath became a major part of Bialik’s life. Noticing that many were excluded from the traditional gatherings for Shabbat afternoon study, Bialik introduced the custom of Oneg Shabbat, meetings in his home in Tel Aviv to read and discuss sacred texts, sing and eat. Transferred from Shabbat afternoon to Friday night, they still form part of the service in many synagogues. Bialik had come a long way both physically and intellectually by the time he died in Tel Aviv in 1934. Because his family was plagued by constant money woes, Hayyim was given over to the care of his grandfather, a strict Orthodox Jew who was only with some difficulty persuaded to let Hayyim go away to the Volozhin yeshiva. His suspicions were justified: Hayyim dropped out of school and started studying on his own. Soon his interest in the texts of the Jewish Enlightenment and in European literature led him to Odessa, the center of “modern” Jewish culture. (Some of Amos Oz’s relatives also found their way to this vibrant, open city.) Then word reached Hayyim that his yeshiva had closed. He rushed home to his village, hoping that his grandfather would not realize that he had not been enrolled. Instead, he found his grandfather and the old man’s brother on their deathbeds. Finally able to return to Odessa, he spent the next twenty years writing. An ardent Zionist, he accepted Hebrew as the language of the new Israel and his writing, teaching and translating did much to create the modern Hebrew language. Eventually, the Bolshevik revolution made further stay in Odessa impossible, but in 1920, through the intervention of Maxim Gorky, he was able to go to Berlin. From there, he made aliyah in 1924. His last ten years, in Israel, were years of harvest. When he died, feted as the national poet, a huge procession mourned him. Shacharit Kedusha
Kedushah
This new melody for the Kedushah was introduced by Elie Holzer when he was here. It is taken from a prayer before bedtime asking God to surround us with angels as we sleep. The Kedushah is the third paragraph of the Amidah, and was added by Ezra at the time of the building of the Second Temple. Entitled “Holiness,” the prayer describes the angels’ praise of God from the heavens, so this music is especially appropriate. In the first, introductory section we daveners associate ourselves with the angels described by Isaiah (6:3), who chant “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, the whole world is filled with His glory.” Dramatically reliving their praise, we turn from side to side and rise up on our toes, recalling how the angels called to each other and flew up in excitement. The passage is taken from Isaiah’s vision, when in response to his protests that he is unworthy to prophesy, an angel touches his lips with a burning coal. Understanding that he had been purified, Isaiah answers God’s call, a powerful response to His sanctity. In the second paragraph, we recount how majestic voices rise up towards the seraphim, quoting Ezekiel’s words (3:12), Praised is the glory of God “mimkomo” (literally, “from His place”). But what is His place? There is a tradition that Ezekiel, as was fitting for a prophet, began his preaching in Jerusalem. In this case, God’s “place,” sometimes translated “abode,” might mean the Temple. But most of Ezekiel’s preaching dates to his captivity in Babylon, hence after the fall of the Temple. Perhaps we should understand the phrase as “from (or throughout) His universe.” Either way, once again we are present at the beginning of prophecy. God gives Ezekiel a scroll to eat, filling his mouth with it, and the scroll turns to honey. As Ezekiel is borne up by the spirit of God, the wings of the angels resound like a great earthquake. Again we recall a moment when angels touch a man with an extraordinary mission. The final section of the Kedushah associates us, the daveners, with a plea to God to establish His Kingdom. “When will You reign in Zion? Let it be soon in our own days.” While the first two paragraphs (discussed previously) are chanted by the leader, the whole congregation joins in these words and in the response from Psalm 146:10, “The Lord shall reign forever, Your God, Zion, from generation to generation, Hallelujah.” L'Cha Adonai Hagdulah
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