Yah Ana Emtza’akha

Yah Ana Emtza’akha
Yehudah Halevi (c. 1075-c. 1141)

Seth Ward

In June 2023, Carol Kozak Ward, Founder and Artistic Director of the Colorado Hebrew Chorale, commissioned a new choral work by Gerald Cohen in memory of her mother Joanne L. Kozak. Cohen chose for his text four lines of a Piyyut (religious poem), Yah Ana Emtza’akha, by Judah Halevi. These four lines are excerpted in the High Holy Day Mahzor Lev Shalem, published by the Rabbinical Assembly of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and the piece is an expansion of a melody Cohen has chanted in his synagogue.

This piyyut has been printed in various places in different prayer books. In Mahzor Lev Shalem, the four lines set by Cohen appear as a possible alternative or addition after the Piyyut (religious poem) Ki Hineh Ka-Homer, the Pizmon, or the fourth and final piyyut of the traditional Yom Kippur evening service. The Rabbinical Assembly’s Siddur Lev Shalem for Sabbath and Festivals includes the full piyyut as an introduction to individual piyuttim for the various festivals (p. 359), to be inserted in Musaf kedushat hayom (the middle berachah). This is an “alternate” Musaf, available for those who wish to replace the traditional recitation of the appropriate paragraph from Numbers 28 about Festival sacrifices. This poem is also included in HaAvoda ShebaLev, the prayer book of the Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism.

There are also several setting of this piyyut performed by Israeli and non-Israeli singers posted to YouTube —usually just the same four lines excerpted in Mahzor Lev Shalem.

The full Yah Ana Emtza’akha was published with an English translation by Nina Davis Salaman about 100 years ago. (JPS 1924); Salaman’s Hebrew text was based on a critical edition by Chaim (Heinrich) Brody (1868-1942), one of the most prolific editors and publishers of medieval piyyutim of his era. In Salaman’s book, presumably taken from Brody’s original edition, the Hebrew text is titled Kevodkha malei olam. However, Salaman entitled its translation “God in All.” Salaman discussed the poem briefly in the introduction (p. xxv) and provided a fairly straight-forward translation together with the Hebrew text, and a second, rhymed, translation in English.

The English version of the piyyut in the Mahzor Lev Shalem and in the Lev Shalem for Sabbath and Festivals (and in the new commission, taken from Lev Shalem) replaces archaic “Thee” with You, and uses Adonai instead of “Lord” but otherwise is nearly identical to the more literal translation by Salaman and should be credited along the lines of “Rabbinical Assembly, adapted from Nina Davis Salaman.”

Salaman’s Hebrew version (again, based on Brody) labeled it as an Ofan for Simchat Torah. The Ofan is a piyyut to be recited between Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh and Barukh (“Holy” and “Blessed”) in the Yotzer section of the morning service—the first of two “benedictions” before the Shema. It’s also listed as an Ofan in other sources, although not as an Ofan for Simchat Torah; it is not included in Daniel Goldschmidt’s critical edition of the Ashkenazi Mahzor for Sukkot and Simchat Torah. I am not sure how (or whether) this piyyut has any specific reference to Simchat Torah, but its relation to the Morning Service is obvious.

Note that the end of the second line is a re-phrasing of the end of Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh…: (Isaiah 6:3) melo kol ha-aretz kevodo. “The whole world is full of His Glory.” The actual text is similar to the response to the Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh in the Musaf Amida, though, not the response in the Yotzer section. The second half of the first stanza includes the word mimkomkha, reminiscent of mimkomo from the Barukh kvod HaShem mimkomo “Blessed be the Glory of the Lord from His Place” (Ezek. 3:12) response to the Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh. Again, in this case the precise form is the same as the Shaharit Amida response, not the Yotzer. The verses from Isaiah (“Holy”) and Ezekiel (“Blessed”) both have to do with ecstatic visions of God enthroned on high, and these verses are a recurring theme in the Jewish prayerbook. (Those familiar with the Christian liturgy may recognize the “Holy/Blessed” refrain as well, although the “Blessed” verse is different—it is from Psalm 118.)

Those familiar with the Jewish liturgy will find other parallels with the Yotzer section in the full piyyut. Nevertheless, it’s found in a different context in Lev Shalem (both High Holy Days and Shabbat/Festivals).

The poet signed his name (יהודה) in the first letters of each stanza. In the original, the opening stanza is two rhyming lines, and each following stanza has three rhyming lines, followed by two rhyming lines. In the selection set to music, the first half of each stanza ends in -kha “you.” The meter is six syllables per hemistich, with no reference to the short sheva or hataf vowels:

_ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ .

In addition to the liturgical framework, the poem reflects a religiosity that is strongly reminiscent of Sufism, the Islamic mystic tradition. Peter Cole notes the “Sufi-like cast of HaLevi’s lyric poems.” (The Poetry of the Kabbalah: Mystical verse from the Jewish Tradition p. 53) and includes his translation of this poem pp. 71-72. (https://archive.org/details/poetryofkabbalah0000unse/page/70/mode/2up).

Hovot Ha-Levavot (Al-Hidaya ila Farid al-Qulub) “Duties of the Heart” of Bahya ibn Pakuda (1050-1120) is one of the most daringly Sufi-style books in medieval Jewish literature. The Open Siddur Project has a reference to the second line of Halevi’s poem, drawing attention to a similar motif in the Hovot HaLevavot, (“Book of Unity” 10:69 in Sefaria’s edition of the Hovot Ha-Levavot). The similarity of language is indeed striking. Of course, Judah HaLevi wrote this poem in Hebrew whereas Hovot HaLevavot was written originally in Judaeo-Arabic (Arabic in Hebrew characters). The classic Hebrew translation by Ibn Tibbon was composed after HaLevi’s death—perhaps Ibn Tibbon was influenced by HaLevi’s wording?

Diana Lobel wrote a book-length study of Sufi language in Judah HaLevi’s poetry (2000; I have not been able to check this work for a discussion of this poem). It is this spirituality—this searching for God—whose Place (as Jewish sources insist) is the whole world, not merely the Divine throne.

It is this spirituality, this mystic recognition that the world is filled with the Divine, and God comes to seek us as much as we seek to find God, that drew the modern Prayer Books to the poem, and in particular drew Cantor Gerald Cohen to it.

As I noted above, Brody labeled it an Ofan for Simchat Torah. This year, the meaning and symbolism of Simchat Torah was tragically altered by the brutal, deadly attacks and the taking of hostages in Israel on Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023. May the memory of those who were killed that day and killed since be a blessing.

Seth Ward

References, Texts and Notes

Below, I have copied or commented on some of the sources, including the pages from Nina Davis Salaman. These include:

1. From HaAvodah shebaLev and other sources

2. The Ben Yehuda Project;

3. The Open Siddur Project and notes,

4. Lev Shalem for Sabbath and Festivals (not High Holy Days, and

5. Nina Davis Salaman: edition, literal translation and rhymed version.

1. From HaAvodah shebaLev and other settings

The Siddur HaAvodah ShebaLev of themovement for Progressive Judaism in Israel (5741/ 1981) also has the stanzas included in the Conservative High Holy Day mahzor, as well as a few others, as a possible meditation following the Amida. https://www.beit-daniel.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A8-%D7%94%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%95%D7%93%D7%94-%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%91.pdf

See also a bilingual version of HaAvodah ShebaLev: https://opensiddur.org/compilations/liturgical/siddurim/shabbat-siddur/siddur-haavodah-shebalev-for-shabbat-and-yom-tov-of-kehillat-kol-haneshama-jerusalem-2007/

There are a few musical settings of lines from the piyyut accessible via the internet. Most of them only have the first stanza or, as in this setting, the first stanza and the Darashti stanza. Some samples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-La9I0yM5Os

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZBU0AUK5Kw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QctNVNsgCY

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=646905709202400

https://drsethward.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/1ab96-wheremightigotofindyou.pdf (notes)

https://atgtheatre.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AYRE_LIVE_Digital_Booklet_Web.pdf (In this interesting transcription, the translator translated the Darashti verse but it was not included in the transliteration.)

2. Full text from the Ben Yehuda project

https://benyehuda.org/read/8669

יָהּ, אָנָה אֶמְצָאֲךָ? / מְקוֹמְךָ נַעֲלָה וְנֶעְלָם!

וְאָנָה לֹא אֶמְצָאֲךָ? / כְּבוֹדְךָ מָלֵא עוֹלָם!

הַנִּמְצָא בַקְּרָבִים / אַפְסֵי אֶרֶץ הֵקִים,

הַמִּשְׂגָּב לַקְּרוֹבִים, / הַמִּבְטָח לָרְחוֹקִים,

אַתָּה יוֹשֵׁב כְּרוּבִים, / אַתָּה שׁוֹכֵן שְׁחָקִים.

תִּתְהַלֵּל בִּצְבָאֲךָ ‑ / וְאַתְּ עַל רֹאשׁ מַהֲלָלָם,

גַּלְגַּל לֹא‑ יִשָּׂאֲךָ / אַף כִּי חַדְרֵי אוּלָם!

וּבְהִנָּשְׂאֲךָ עֲלֵיהֶם / עַל כֵּס נִשָּׂא וָרָם,

אַתָּה קָרוֹב אֲלֵיהֶם / מִרוּחָם וּמִבְּשָׂרָם,

פִּיהֶם יָעִיד בָּהֶם, / כִּי אֵין בִּלְתְּךָ יוֹצְרָם.

מִי זֶה לֹא יִרָאֲךָ ‑ / וְעַל מַלְכוּתְךָ עֻלָּם?

אוֹ מִי לֹא יִקְרָאֲךָ ‑ / וְאַתָּה נוֹתֵן אָכְלָם?

דָּרַשְׁתִּי קִרְבָתְךָ, / בְּכָל‑ לִבִּי קְרָאתִיךָ,

וּבְצֵאתִי לִקְרָאתְךָ ‑ / לִקְרָאתִי מצָאתִיךָ,

וּבְפִלאֵי גְבוּרָתְךָ / בַּקֹּדֶשׁ חֲזִיתִיךָ.

מִי יֹאמַר לֹא רָאֲךָ? / הֵן שָׁמַיִם וְחֵילָם

יַגִּידוּ מוֹרָאֲךָ / בְּלִי נִשְׁמַע קוֹלָם!

הַאֻמְנָם כִּי יֵשֵב / אֱלֹהִים אֶת‑ הָאָדָם?

וּמַה יַחְשֹׁב כָּל‑ חוֹשֵׁב, / אֲשֶׁר בָּעָפָר יְסוֹדָם –

וְאַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ יוֹשֵׁב / תְּהִלּוֹתָם וּכְבוֹדָם!

חַיּוֹת יוֹדוּ פִלְאֲךָ / הָעוֹמְדוֹת בְּרוּם עוֹלָם,

עַל רָאשֵׁיהֶם כִּסְאֲךָ ­‑ / וְאַתָּה נוֹשֵׂא כֻלָּם!

3. The Open Siddur Project

The Open Siddur project has a few additional notes about sources and parallels for the poem.

The piyyut was said to be included in a Manuscript of Mahzor Vitry, but I could not find it in an edition downloaded from Hebrewbooks.og.

the Open Siddur Project ✍︎ פְּרוֹיֶּקט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Nina Davis Salaman (translation), the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription)

and Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi

Shared on: 6 June 2020 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

🤦 Taḥanun (Nefilat Apayim), Purim Qatan, Motsei Shabbat49th century A.M., dveykut, אנה אמצאךana emtsaeka, alienation, 12th century C.E.

Note that the Open Siddur presentation divides the text into blocks of 4 lines, and as a result one of the verses by which the Poet spells his name (the Vav verse) is not at the beginning of the block. I made minor edits to this structure. There are a few notes to the verses in the Open Siddur. 

יָהּ, אָנָה אֶמְצָאֶךָּ? מְקוֹמְךָ נַעֲלָה וְנֶעְלָם! וְאָנָה לֹא אֶמְצָאֶךָּ? כְּבוֹדְךָ מָלֵא עוֹלָם!	Yah, where shall I find you? High and hidden is your place; And where shall I not find you? The world is full of your kavod.
הַנִּמְצָא בַקְּרָבִים אַפְסֵי אֶרֶץ הֵקִים, הַמִּשְׂגָּב לַקְּרוֹבִים, הַמִּבְטָח לָרְחוֹקִים,	Found in the innermost being, He established the ends of the earth: Refuge for the near, Safe Haven for those far off.
אַתָּה יוֹשֵׁב כְּרוּבִים, אַתָּה שׁוֹכֵן שְׁחָקִים. תִּתְהַלֵּל בִּצְבָאֲךָ – וְאַתְּ עַל רֹאשׁ מַהֲלָלָם,	You dwell amid the Keruvim, You abide in the clouds; You are praised by your angelic legion Yet are raised above their praise.
גַּלְגַּל לֹא־יִשָּׂאֲךָ אַף כִּי חַדְרֵי אוּלָם! וּבְהִנָּשְׂאֲךָ עֲלֵיהֶם עַל כֵּס נִשָּׂא וָרָם,	The whirling worlds cannot contain you; How then the chambers of a temple? And though you be uplifted over them Upon a throne high and exalted,
אַתָּה קָרוֹב אֲלֵיהֶם מִרוּחָם וּמִבְּשָׂרָם, פִּיהֶם יָעִיד בָּהֶם, כִּי אֵין בִּלְתְּךָ יוֹצְרָם.	Yet are you near to them, Of their very spirit and their flesh. Their own mouth testifies for them That you alone are their Maker.
מִי זֶה לֹא יִרָאֲךָ – וְעַל מַלְכוּתְךָ עֻלָּם? אוֹ מִי לֹא יִקְרָאֲךָ – וְאַתָּה נוֹתֵן אָכְלָם?	Who shall not revere you, Since the yoke of your kingdom is their yoke? Or who shall not call to you, Since you give them their food?
דָּרַשְׁתִּי קִרְבָתְךָ, בְּכׇל־לִבִּי קְרָאתִיךָ, וּבְצֵאתִי לִקְרָאתְךָ – לִקְרָאתִי מצָאתִיךָ,	I have sought your nearness, With all my heart have I called you, And going out to meet you I found you coming toward me,
וּבְפִלאֵי גְבוּרָתְךָ בַּקֹּדֶשׁ חֲזִיתִיךָ. מִי יֹאמַר לֹא רָאֲךָ?	Even as, in the wonder of your might, In the sanctuary I have beheld you. Who shall say they have not seen you?—
הֵן שָׁמַיִם וְחֵילָם יַגִּידוּ מוֹרָאֲךָ בְּלִי נִשְׁמַע קוֹלָם!	Lo, the Heavens and their constellations Declare reverence of you, Though their voice is not heard.
הַאֻמְנָם כִּי יֵשֵׁב אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם?	How then, in reality, can Elohim dwell with humanity!?
וּמַה יַחְשֹׁב כׇּל־חוֹשֵׁב, אֲשֶׁר בָּעָפָר יְסוֹדָם – וְאַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ יוֹשֵׁב תְּהִלּוֹתָם וּכְבוֹדָם!	What can they think—every thinking being, Whose foundation is in the dust— How you, Holy One, are dwelling Amid their praises and their kavod!?
חַיּוֹת יוֹדוּ פִלְאֲךָ הָעוֹמְדוֹת בְּרוּם עוֹלָם, עַל רָאשֵׁיהֶם כִּסְאֲךָ – וְאַתָּה נוֹשֵׂא כֻלָּם!	Angels adore your wonder, Standing in the everlasting height; Over their heads is your throne, Meanwhile, you uphold them all!

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4 and 5:

Lev Shalem for Sabbath and Festivals, introductory Hymn for alternate Musaf and Nina Davis Salaman–see separate post. https://drsethward.wordpress.com/2024/02/03/yah-ana-emtzaakha-sources-continued/