אַאְפִּיד נֵֽזֶר אָיוֹם | Aɐpid Nézer Ayom, by Elazar ben Qallir (trans. by Paltiel Birnbaum, 1951)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Paltiel Birnbaum (translation) and Elazar ben Qallir

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15 February 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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44th century A.M., 7th century C.E., אאפיד נזר איום Aapid Nézer Ayom, acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, double acrostic, rhyming translation

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אַאְפִּיד נֵֽזֶר אָיוֹם בְּשִׁלּוּשׁ קְדֻשָּׁה בַּיּוֹם׃ גִּבּֽוֹרֵי כֹחַ גְּדֻלָּה דַּהֲרֽוּהוּ בְּבֵית דְּגִילָה׃	The Revered One I adorn with a crown When thrice each day I acclaim him holy. Those of you who are mighty in spirit, Exult before him where you meet to pray.
הֽוֹגֵי הֶֽגֶה הֲמֻלָּה וַתְּקֽוּהוּ בְּהַלֵּל וּמִלָּה׃ זוֹכֵר לָעַד זְכֻיּוֹת חַדְּשֽׁוּהוּ זֶֽמֶר חַיּוֹת׃	O angels fluttering in ecstasy, Praise and glorify him eternally. Unto him who ever records good deeds, O utter ever-new celestial praise!
טוֹב עוֹמֵס טֹֽרַח יַחֲדֽוּהוּ בְּחִדּוּשׁ יָֽרֵחַ׃ כּוֹבֵשׁ כׇּל כְּעָסִים לְבַל אַף לְהָשִׂים׃	Beneficent and sustaining he is, Proclaim his Oneness when this month begins. Him who suppresses all anger entreat That he pour not forth his wrath upon us.
מְשָׁרְתֵי בְּחִיל מוֹרָא נָכְחָם הַלֲלוּ נוֹרָא׃ שַׂרְפֵי סְבִיב סְעָרָה עֱנוּ לְמַעֲבִיר עֶבְרָה׃	O angels, who serve him with trembling awe, All in unison praise the revered God. Burning seraphim, circling the tempest, Sing to him who cancels indignation.
פְּלִיאִים פִּצְחוּ פֶה צַלְצְלוּ הַכֹּל צוֹפֶה׃ קְהִלּוֹת עַם קְדוֹשִׁים רוֹמֲמֽוּהוּ רִבֲבוֹת רוֹעֲשִׁים׃	You nameless angels, burst forth into song! Sing fervently to him who foresees all. O congregations of holy people, Extol him, all you tumultuous throngs!
שֶֽׁמַע קוֹל שׁוֹפָר תַּאֲזִין וְאַשְׁמָה תוּפָר׃ חזן: תְּשַׁלֵּשׁ שׁוֹפָרוֹת בְּהַר הַקֹּדֶשׁ וַאֲשַׁלֵּשׁ קְדֻשָּׁה בַּקֹּדֶשׁ׃	Hearken thou to the voice of the shofar, And let all transgressions be nullified. Sound the shofar thrice on the Holy Mount, Then in Temple thrice will I chant: Holy, Holy.

This is the piyyut “Aɐpid Nézer Ayom” by Elazar ben Qalir with the English translation of Paltiel Birnbaum found in his Maḥzor haShalem l’Rosh Hashanah v’Yom Kippur (1951), pp. 223-226. There, Birnbaum offers the following commentary:

אאפיד מזר, by Rabbi Elazar ha-Kallir, contains a double alphabetical acrostic, that is, the first word and the third word in each line begin with the same letter, like אאפיד-איום and בשלוש-ביום. The letters ה כ ס פ ר appear three times in their respective lines.

Source(s)

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Paltiel Birnbaum (translation)

Paltiel Philip Birnbaum (1904–1988) was an American religious author and translator, best known for his translation and annotation of the prayerbook Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem ([Complete] Daily Prayer Book), first published in 1949, and widely used in Orthodox and Conservative synagogues until the late 1980s. Birnbaum was born in Kielce, Poland and emigrated to the United States in 1923. He attended Howard College and received his Ph.D. from Dropsie College. He served for several years as the principal of a Jewish day school in Wilmington, Delaware, and directed Jewish schools in Birmingham, Alabama, and Camden, New Jersey. He was a regular columnist and book reviewer for the Hebrew-language weekly, Hadoar. He also served on the board of directors of the Histadrut Ivrit b'America, an American association for the promotion of Hebrew language and culture.

Elazar ben Qallir

Elazar ben Qallir, also known as Eleazar Kalir, Killir, Qalir or El'azar HaKalir (c. 570 – c. 640) was a Hebrew poet whose classical liturgical verses, known as piyut, have continued to be sung through the centuries during significant religious services, including those on Tisha b'Av and on the sabbath after a wedding. He was one of Judaism's earliest and most prolific of the paytanim, Hebrew liturgical poets. He wrote piyutim for all the main Jewish festivals, for special Sabbaths, for weekdays of festive character, and for the fasts. Many of his hymns have found their way into festive prayers of the Ashkenazi Jews' nusaḥ. (via wikipedia).

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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)