![the Open Siddur Project [logo]](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Open-Siddur-Project-Logo-2016.svg){kind=logo}
According to Joseph Judah Chorny’s On the Caucasian Jews (1880), this acrostic piyyuṭ was customarily used as an epithalamion before a wedding. He writes, “Before morning light, the bride is led to the groom’s house accompanied by many women and men, all carrying lit wax candles in their hands, and singing this song along the way.” Variants of this piyyut are found throughout the greater Sephardic world, generally in an abbreviated and slightly altered form. In Syria it is sung during the haqafot for Simḥat Torah, while in Livorno Sephardic practice (and subsequently in most Eastern Sephardic maḥzorim) it is a Shavu’ot piyyut. The specific differences between the two nusḥaot are as follows:
• The עֵת דּוֹדִים כַּלָּה refrain is lost entirely.
• The lines are broken up into verses in a different form, changing from the original three equal verses to four verses, one of one line and three of three.
• Instead of repeating after each line, the Psalms 121:4 refrain is used only at the end of each verse.
• The letters resh and shin, as well as the non-acrostic concluding line, are not included.
• The words for lamed and mem are different.
TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.
| Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
עֵת דּוֹדִים כַּלָּה בּוֹאִי לַגַּנִּים פָּרְחָה הַגֶּֽפֶן הֵנֵֽצוּ הָרִמּוֹנִים׃ |
The time of love! Bride, come to the gardens; the vines have bloomed, the pomegranates have flowered. |
אַדִּיר לֹא יָנוּם בָּרוּךְ לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
The Awesome One sleeps not, the Blessed One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
גָּדוֹל לֹא יָנוּם דָּגוּל לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ |
The Great One sleeps not, the Distinguished One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
הָדוּר לֹא יָנוּם וָתִיק לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
The Elegant One sleeps not, the Veteran One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
זַכַּאי לֹא יָנוּם חָנוּן לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
The Zealous One sleeps not, the Humane One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
עֵת דּוֹדִים כַּלָּה בּוֹאִי לַגַּנִּים פָּרְחָה הַגֶּֽפֶן הֵנֵֽצוּ הָרִמּוֹנִים׃ |
The time of love! Bride, come to the gardens; the vines have bloomed, the pomegranates have flowered. |
טָהוֹר לֹא יָנוּם יָשָׁר לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
The True One sleeps not, the Just One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
כַּבִּיר לֹא יָנוּם לְבוּשׁ־צְדָקָה[1] In the customary reading of Sefaradim, the variation here has לָעַד (forever). לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
The Colossal One sleeps not, the Legitimacy-clod One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
מָרוֹם[2] In the customary reading of Sefaradim, the variation here has מֶֽלֶךְ (king, sovereign). לֹא יָנוּם נוֹרָא לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ |
The Mighty One sleeps not, the Noble One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
סוֹמֵךְ לֹא יָנוּם עוֹזֵר לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
The Supporting One sleeps not, the Obliging One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
עֵת דּוֹדִים כַּלָּה בּוֹאִי לַגַּנִּים פָּרְחָה הַגֶּֽפֶן הֵנֵֽצוּ הָרִמּוֹנִים׃ |
The time of love! Bride, come to the gardens; the vines have bloomed, the pomegranates have flowered. |
פּוֹדֶה לֹא יָנוּם צַדִּיק לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
The Freeing One sleeps not, the Charitable One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
קָדוֹשׁ לֹא יָנוּם רַחוּם[3] In the customary reading of Sefaradim, the Alef-bet acrostic elides the letter resh. לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
The Quintessential One sleeps not, the Relenting One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
שַׁדַּי[4] In the customary reading of Sefaradim, the Alef-bet acrostic elides the letter shin. לֹא יָנוּם תָּמִים לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
The Surefire One sleeps not, the Thorough One slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
אֲדֹנָי לֹא יָנוּם מֶֽלֶךְ לֹא יִישַׁן הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן שׁ֝וֹמֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (תהלים קכא:ד) |
My Master sleeps not, The Sovereign slumbers not. Behold, Israel’s guardian neither slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalms 121:4) |
עֵת דּוֹדִים כַּלָּה בּוֹאִי לַגַּנִּים פָּרְחָה הַגֶּֽפֶן הֵנֵֽצוּ הָרִמּוֹנִים׃ |
The time of love! Bride, come to the gardens; the vines have bloomed, the pomegranates have flowered. |
This rendering of “Adir Lo Yanum” used by the Georgian (Caucasian) Jewry is found in Jospeh Judah Chorny’s On the Caucasian Jews (1870), p. 159.
Source(s)
Adir Lo Yanum – Georgian (Chorny, On the Caucasian Jews, 1870), page 159
Notes
| 1 | In the customary reading of Sefaradim, the variation here has לָעַד (forever). |
|---|---|
| 2 | In the customary reading of Sefaradim, the variation here has מֶֽלֶךְ (king, sovereign). |
| 3 | In the customary reading of Sefaradim, the Alef-bet acrostic elides the letter resh. |
| 4 | In the customary reading of Sefaradim, the Alef-bet acrostic elides the letter shin. |
“אַדִּיר לֹא יָנוּם | Adir Lo Yanum — a Sefaradi piyyut for weddings and Torah-reading days” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Stable Link:
https://opensiddur.org/?p=60085
Associated Image:
“Three fruits” (cocoa beans, cocoa, display, chocolate, ingredients, brown, three, fruits)
(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)
Terms of Use:
Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:
- Properly attribute the work to Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Unknown Author(s).
- Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
- Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=60085>.
- Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)
Additional Notes:
- The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
- We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
- If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.
Support this work:
The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.
ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17
Comments, Corrections, and Queries