אָמְנָם כֵּן | Omnam Kén, by Rabbi Yom Tov of York (rhymed translation by Israel Zangwill, 1903)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Israel Zangwill (translation) and Yom Tov ben Yitsḥaq de Joigny

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

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20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, English Jewry, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation

Source (Hebrew)	Rhymed Translation (English)
יׄוֹׄםׄ יוֹם יִדְרוֹשׁוּן לָךְ׃ טׄוֹׄבׄ לְמָעוֹז יְהִי עֹז מִלּוּלָךְ סָלַחְתִּי׃
אָמְנָם כֵּן יֶצֶר סוֹכֵן בָּנוּ · בָּךְ לְהַצְדֵּק רַב צֶדֶק וַעֲנֵנוּ סָלַחְתִּי׃	Ay ’tis thus Evil us hath in bond; By thy grace guilt efface and respond “Forgiven!”
גְּעַל מְרַגֵּל וְגַם פַּגֵּל סִפְּרוֹ · דּוֹד שׁוֹאֵג בְּקוֹל יִתֵּן קוֹל דְּבָרוֹ סָלַחְתִּי׃	Cast scorn o’er and abhor th’ Informer’s word; Dear God deign this refrain to make heard “Forgiven!”
הַס קַטֵּגוֹר וְקַח סַנֵּגוֹר מְקוֹמוֹ · וִיהִי יְיָ לְמִשְׁעָן לוֹ לְמַעַן נָאֳמוֹ סָלַחְתִּי׃	Ear in lieu give him who intercedes; Favoring answer, King, when he pleads, “Forgiven!”
זְכוּת אֶזְרַח גַּם יִפְרַח לְשׁוֹשַׁנָּה · חֵטְא הַעֲבֵר וְקוֹל הַגְבֵּר מִמְּעוֹנָה סָלַחְתִּי׃	Grant also the Lily^[1] Israel, Canticles 2:1-2. blow in Abram’s right; Heal our shame and proclaim from thine height “Forgiven!”
טוֹב וְסַלָּח מְחַל וּסְלַח אֲשֵׁמִים · יָהּ הַקְשֵׁב וְגַם הָשֵׁב מִמְּרוֹמִים סָלַחְתִּי׃	Just forgiving, Mercy living, sin condone; List our cry, loud reply from Thy Throne “Forgiven!”
כְּאֵב תַּחְבּשׁ וּבְצוּל תִּכְבּוֹשׁ עֲוֹנִי · לְךָ תְהִלָּה אֱמֹר מִלָּה לְמַעֲנִי סָלַחְתִּי׃	My wound heal, deep conceal stain and flake, Now gain praise by Thy phrase “For My sake, Forgiven!”
מְחֵה פֶשַׁע וְגַם רֶשַׁע בְּנֵי בְרִית · נְהַג חַסְדֶּךָ כֵּן הוֹדֶךָ לִשְׁאֵרִית סָלַחְתִּי׃	O forgive! Thy sons live from Thee reft; Praised for grace. Turn thy face to those left — “Forgiven!”
סְכוֹת רַחֲשִׁי וְגַם לַחֲשִׁי תִּרְצֶה · עָוֹן נוֹשֵׂא לְמַעַנְךָ עֲשֵׂה וְתִפְצֶה סָלַחְתִּי׃	Raise to Thee this my plea, take my pray’r, Sin unmake for Thy sake and declare, “Forgiven!”
פְּנֵה לְעֶלְבּוֹן מְקוֹם עָוֹן לְהָשִׂים · צַחַן הָסֵר וְגַם תְּבַשֵּׂר לְבָךְ חוֹסִים סָלַחְתִּי׃	Tears, regret, witness set in sin’s place; Uplift trust from the dust to Thy face — “Forgiven!”
קוֹלִי שְׁמַע וּרְאֵה דֶּמַע עֵינִי · רִיב רִיבִי שְׁעֵה נִיבִי וַהֲשִׁיבֵנִי סָלַחְתִּי׃	Voice that sighs, tear-filled eyes, do not spurn; Weigh and pause, plead my cause, and return “Forgiven!”
שֶׁמֶץ טַהֵר כְּעָב מַהֵר כְּנֶאֱמַר · תִּמְחֶה פֶשַׁע לְעַם נושַׁע וְתֹאמַר סָלַחְתִּי׃	Yea, off-rolled— as foretold— clouds impure, Ẓíōn’s folk, free of yoke, O assure “Forgiven!”

Israel Zangwill’s translation of Omnam Kén by Rabbi Yom Tov of York (Joigny), was first published albeit incomplete, as “Atonement Hymn” in Blind Children: Poems (1903), pp. 134-135. Introducing the piyyut, Zangwill notes, “The translation of this curiosity of literature preserves, without adding or subtracting a single word, the precise metre, rhyme-scheme, and alphabetical acrostic of the twelfth-century Hebrew original.” A year later, it was published complete, opposite Hebrew verse, in Arthur Davis and Herbert Adler’s Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Yom haKippurim (Evening Service) (1904), p. 38.

Source(s)

Notes

Notes
1	Israel, Canticles 2:1-2.

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.)

Israel Zangwill (translation)

Israel Zangwill (1864–1926), born in Whitechapel, London, was a British author at the forefront of cultural Zionism during the 19th century, and was a close associate of Theodor Herzl. He later rejected the search for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and became the prime thinker behind the territorial movement

Yom Tov ben Yitsḥaq de Joigny

Yom Tov ben Yitsḥaq of York (fl. 12th c., died 1190), born in Joigny, France, was an early English-Jewish rabbi and liturgical poet. He was a student of Rabbeinu Tam. A piyyut attributed to him, "Omnam Kén" is recited in Eastern Ashkenazi synagogues each year on the evening of Yom Kippur. He was murdered in the massacre of the Jews of York in 1190.

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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)

אָמְנָם כֵּן | Omnam Kén, by Rabbi Yom Tov of York (rhymed translation by Israel Zangwill, 1903)

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