Contributor(s): Shared on: 7 November 2025 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Categories: Tags: | Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
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אֵל נָא
לְעוֹלָם תָּעֳרָץ
וּלְעוֹלָם תָּקְדָּשׁ
וּלְעוֹלְמֵי עוֹלָמִים
תִּמְלוֹךְ וְתִתְנַשֵּׂא׃ |
O God,
forever shalt thou be revered
and forever hallowed,
and to all Eternity
shalt thou reign and be magnified. |
הָאֵל מֶֽלֶךְ
נוֹרָא מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ
כִּי אַתָּה הוּא מֶֽלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים
מַלְכוּתוֹ נֶֽצַח
נוֹרְאוֹתָיו שִֽׂיחוּ
סַפְּרוּ עֻזּוֹ
פָּאֲרֽוּהוּ צְבָאָיו
קַדְּשֽׁוּהוּ רוֹמֲמֽוּהוּ
רֹן שִׁיר וָשֶֽׁבַח
תֹּֽקֶף תְּהִלּוֹת תִּפְאַרְתּוֹ׃ |
Thou art God and King,
terrible, exalted and holy;
yea thou art supreme King of kings
and thy sovereignty is everlasting.
Speak ye of his wondrous deeds
and declare his might.
Laud him, ye his hosts,
sanctify him, extol him
with strains of song and psalmody,
with mighty praises of his glory. |
וּבְכֵן וַיְהִי בְשָׁלֵם סֻכּוֹ׃ |
And thus his dwelling place abode in Šalem, |
אַז הָיְתָה חֲנָיַת סֻכּוֹ
בְּתַלְתַּלֵּי תֹֽקֶף
בְּשִׁנְאַנֵּי שֶֽׁקֶת
בְּרֶֽכֶב רִבּוֹתַֽיִם
בִּקְדֽוֹשֵׁי קֶֽדֶם
בְּסַפִּיר וְסֻכּוֹת׃ |
Of yore, abode His dwelling place,
With mighty soaring angels,
With peaceful ones that praise,
With chariots twice ten thousand,
With saints of olden days.
His dwelling rested o’er the sapphire space. |
וְחָן בְּשָׁלֵם סֻכּוֹ
בְּצְנֽוּעֵי צֶֽדֶק
בִּפְאֵר פָּרֹֽכֶת
בַּעֲבוֹדַת עֶֽרֶךְ
בְּסֻכַּת סְגֻלָּה
וְהִיא סֻכָּתוֹ׃ |
In Šalem then, He set His dwelling place,
With earth-born servants lowly,
Though veiled, His glory shone,
And sacred rites did hallow
His shrine, the chosen one.
Yea, even here His dwelling. |
אַז הָיְתָה חֲנָיַת סֻכּוֹ
בְּנֽוֹצֲצֵי נֹֽגַהּ
בְּמַלְאֲכֵי מָרוֹם
בְּלַֽהַט לוֹהֲטִים
בְּכַנְפֵי כְרוּבִים
בְּסַפִּיר וְסֻכּוֹת׃ |
Of yore, abode His dwelling place,
With hosts that flash and sparkle,
With heralds from the Height,
Beings that burn as lightning,
Winged Kheruḇim in flight.
His dwelling rested o’er the sapphire space. |
וְחָן בְּשָׁלֵם סֻכּוֹ
בִּידִידוּת יַֽעַר
בְּטִירַת טָהֳרָה
בְּחֻפַּת חֶדְוָה
בְּזֵר זְמִירַת זְבוּל
וְהִיא סֻכָּתוֹ׃ |
In Šalem then, He set His dwelling place,
Within the well-loved forest,
The fortress, pure and strong,
Beneath the joyous shelter,
The home they crowned with song.
Yea, even here His dwelling. |
אַז הָיְתָה חֲנָיַת סֻכּוֹ
בִּוְעֽוּדֵי וַֽעַד
בְּהוֹגֵי הֲמֻלָּה
בִּדְמוּמֵי דַקָּה
בְּדוֹהֲרֵי דוֹלְקִים
בְּסַפִּיר וְסֻכּוֹת׃ |
Of yore, abode His dwelling place,
Where holy throngs assembled
With thundrous praise acclaim;
With voice, the small and silent,
Where circling spirits flame.
His dwelling rested o’er the sapphire space. |
וְחָן בְּשָׁלֵם סֻכּוֹ
בִּגְלֽוּמֵי גֵיא
בְּבֵית בְּחִירָתוֹ
בְאֹֽהֶל אִוּוּיוֹ
בְּאֵֽדֶר אַפַּדְנוֹ
וְהִיא סֻכָּתוֹ׃ |
In Šalem then, He set His dwelling place,
With them of earth He fashioned,
Within the house He sought,
His tent desired for ever,
His palace, nobly wrought.
Yea, even here His dwelling. |
This is the piyyut “Az Haytah Ḥanayat Sukō (Of yore, abode His dwelling place,)” a qerovah piyyut by Elazar Kalir for the first day of Sukkot, published in Adler and Davis’s Maḥzor for Sukkot, Avodat Ḥag ha-Sukkot (1908), pp. 212. Source(s) “אַז הָיְתָה חֲנָיַת סֻכּוֹ | Az Haytah Ḥanayat Sukō (Of yore, abode His dwelling place), a qerovah piyyuṭ by Elazar Kalir for the first day of Sukkot (translated by Elsie Davis)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication.
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.)  Elsie Naomi Davis Schryver (1876-1933), born in Derby, England, was a Jewish translator of liturgy and a mother. She was born at Friarfield House, Derby, the oldest of two children of Louisa (née Jonas) and Arthur Davis. Her father's family were secular Jewish precision instrument makers, who had immigrated to England from Bavaria in the early nineteenth century. A civil engineer by trade, Arthur Davis became religiously observant and mastered the Hebrew language, becoming an accomplished Hebraist noted for his study of cantillation marks in the Tanakh. The family moved to Kilburn, London when Nina was six weeks old, later settling in Bayswater. There, Davis gave his daughters an intensive scholarly education in Hebrew and Jewish studies, teaching them himself each morning before breakfast from the age of four, and taking them regularly to the synagogue. The Davis's moved in learned Jewish circles, and friends of Nina's parents included the families of Nathan Adler, Simeon Singer, Claude Montefiore, Solomon Schechter, Herbert Bentwich, and Elkan Adler. Arthur Davis was one of the "Kilburn Wanderers"—a group of Anglo-Jewish intellectuals that formed around Solomon Schechter in the 1880s—members of which took an interest in Nina's work and helped her find publication for her writings. Eleven of Elsie's translations of piyyutim are credited in the maḥzorim of Herbert Adler and her father Arthur Davis. With her husband, Samuel Barnett Schryver, she was the parent of two daughters, Rosalind Leah Schryver and Priscilla Naomi Schryver. Elsie was the older sister of Nina Salaman Davis (1877-1925), who also translated medieval piyyutim. 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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