N’ilah Amidah Piyyut

The central acrostic piyyut that weaves its way through the beginning of the communal repetition of the Amidah in the traditional N’ilah liturgy was the foundation of my N’ilah Practicum (see the recording on the video page). I reimagined this piyyut, working in classical midrashic ideas and narrative, in an effort to better connect with and understand these moments of our sacred text.

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Av Y’daacha

Ten generations after the flood that wiped out the wicked of the Earth, our father Avram’s birth was foretold in the stars. Fearing the wrath of Nimrod, who set out to destroy the blessed child, Avram’s mother gave birth in a cave in the wilderness. The infant Avram radiated brilliance as the sun, filling the cave with light and splendor.

His mother was overjoyed, and yet, she still feared. “Better you should die here, my son, than in my sight.” So she bundled him up and abandoned him there, but not before giving him this blessing: “May the Eternal One be with you; may God neither fail nor forsake you.”

As Avram grew to become Avraham, he, through tenacity and perseverance, fulfilled this blessing tenfold. And so, reflecting his light as this day darkens, we have come to praise the Eternal One and ask for God’s favor on this day:

Our God and God of our father Abraham: Though this day passes, shield us by Abraham’s merit, who sat through the heat of the day, waiting for the Presence.

.עֲבוּר כִּי פָנָה יוֹם גּוֹנְנֵֽנוּ בְּצֶֽדֶק יוֹשֵׁב כְּחֹם הַיּוֹם

Now that the day has passed, shield us by the merit of he [Abraham] who sat through the heat of the day.

Hanikra Laav

Isaac said to Abraham, “Here is the flintstone and here is the the wood, But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” And Abraham replied, “God will provide, my son; you, my son, are the offering.” Isaac exclaimed, without hesitation, “I will worship God with gladness, I will come into God’s presence with joy.”

Isaac laid upon the altar, and Abraham bound his son, and consecrated him as an offering. Abraham wept onto Isaac, and Isaac wept upon the altar, and the angels wept onto the knife, preventing it from cutting. Yet Isaac’s soul left his body.

Michael the angel stayed Abraham’s arm, and Isaac’s soul returned by Divine decree.
And Isaac proclaimed, "Blessed are You, Eternal God, who revives the dead.”

Our God and God of our father Isaac: Revive us with cathartic tears; may they be as healing as the dew in the fields.

.גְּאֻלָּתֵֽנוּ לָֽנוּ תְקָרֵב, הַחֲיֵֽנוּ בְטַל כְּשָׂח לִפְנוֹת עָֽרֶב

Bring us to our deliverance, enliven us with dew, as when he [Isaac] meditated toward evening.

Teva Ziv

As Jacob fled from Be’er Sheva, the sun set suddenly. God wanted Jacob to stop at Mount Moriah — the altar of his father’s consecration, the site of the future Temple.  He took twelve stones from the altar, and these twelve stones came together as one, upon which he slept, and the whole of time unfolded before him.

A ladder stretched from earth to the heavens, and Jacob saw two angels who had accompanied him on his journey. “Come,” the entire heavenly court of angels called. “Come and see the countenance of Jacob, whose likeness appears on the Divine throne.” And all the angels descended to see the light of Jacob.

The future flashed before Jacob. He saw revelation at Sinai, the ascent of Elijah, and the Temple in all its glory. He saw God’s awesome power. But then, as time sped forward, he witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem.

He awoke, shaking in fear, and he took the stone from his head — the one that had once been twelve — and set it as a stele, anointing its head with oil that flowed down from heaven. God caused the earth to swallow the stone into the abyss, setting it as the center of the earth — the center of the Sanctuary that Jacob witnessed, the Even Sh’tiyah, upon which the Ineffable Name would be uttered on this day.

Our God and God of our father Jacob, though these gates close, return us to Your holy place, to an anchoring center.

.כְּשָׁר תָּם מְקוֹם מַה נּוֹרָא, לְעֵת קָץ חָז וַיִּירָא

The faithful [Jacob] saw the tremendous place; upon awakening from the vision, he trembled.