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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.
| 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 piyyuṭ for weddings and Torah-reading days” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license.
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