אֵל בָּרוּךְ | El Barukh, an alphabetic acrostic piyyut together with the lyrics to Aleph Bass by Darshan

Contributor(s): Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), Eden Pearlstein, Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Shared on: 8 December 2015 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories: Yotser Ohr, Art & Craft

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., acrostic, Aleph-Bet, Alphabetic Acrostic, animation, אל ברוך El Barukh, English piyyutim, hip hop, otiyot, Prayers as poems, rap, ספר יצירה Sefer Yetsirah, יוצר אור yotser ohr

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Hebrew	English
אָלֶף בֵּית גִּימֵל דָּלֶת הֵא (הֵי!) וָו זַיִן חֵית טֵית יוּד (יֵא!) כַף לָמֶד מֵם נוּן סָמֶךְ עַיִן פֵּא צַדִי קוּף רֵישׁ שִׁין תַּו׃ אוֹתִּיוֹת!	Alef Bet Gimel Dalet Hei, (hey!) Vav Zayin Ḥet Tet Yud, (yey!) Khaf Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Pei, Tsadi Quf Resh Shin Tav. Otiyot! (letters)
אָלֶף בֵּית גִּימֵל דָּלֶת הֵא (הֵי!) וָו זַיִן חֵית טֵית יוּד (יֵא!) כַף לָמֶד מֵם נוּן סָמֶךְ עַיִן פֵּא צַדִי קוּף רֵישׁ שִׁין תַּו׃ שֵׁמוֹת!	Alef Bet Gimel Dalet Hei, (hey!) Vav Zayin Ḥet Tet Yud, (yey!) Khaf Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Pei, Tsadi Quf Resh Shin Tav. Shemot! (names)
אֵל בָּרוּךְ גְּדוֹל דֵּעָה, הֵכִין וּפָעַל זָהֳרֵי חַמָּה. טוֹב יָצַר כָּבוֹד לִשְׁמוֹ, מְאוֹרוֹת נָתַן סְבִיבוֹת עֻזּוֹ. פִּינוֹת צְבָאָיו קְדוֹשִׁים, רוֹמְמֵי שַׁדַּי, תָּמִיד מְסַפְּרִים כְּבוֹד אֵל וּקְדוּשָּׁתוֹ. × 2	The blessed EL, great in knowledge, designed and made the brilliant sun. The Beneficent One created kavod for their Name. THEY placed luminaries round about THEIR majesty. THEIR chief hosts are holy beings that extol SHADAI. They constantly recount EL’s kavod and holiness.
אָלֶף בֵּית גִּימֵל דָּלֶת הֵא (הֵי!) וָו זַיִן חֵית טֵית יוּד (יֵא!) כַף לָמֶד מֵם נוּן סָמֶךְ עַיִן פֵּא צַדִי קוּף רֵישׁ שִׁין תַּו׃ אוֹתִּיוֹת!	Alef Bet Gimel Dalet Hei, (hey!) Vav Zayin Ḥet Tet Yud, (yey!) Khaf Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Pei, Tsadi Quf Resh Shin Tav. Otiyot! (letters)
אָלֶף בֵּית גִּימֵל דָּלֶת הֵא (הֵי!) וָו זַיִן חֵית טֵית יוּד (יֵא!) כַף לָמֶד מֵם נוּן סָמֶךְ עַיִן פֵּא צַדִי קוּף רֵישׁ שִׁין תַּו׃ דְּרַשׁוֹת!	Alef Bet Gimel Dalet Hei, (hey!) Vav Zayin Ḥet Tet Yud, (yey!) Khaf Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Pei, Tsadi Quf Resh Shin Tav. Drashot! (interpretations)
	Letters are the building blocks of all of God’s creation Kabbalistic keys unlock the heart of human nature Metaphysic molecules of mystic nomenclature Torah is the Tree of Life in musical notation
	Speaking into being, existential occupation For servants of the Source of Light and Root of Revelation Reading into meaning, covenantal calibration For students on the path of learning language liberation
אֵל בָּרוּךְ גְּדוֹל דֵּעָה, הֵכִין וּפָעַל זָהֳרֵי חַמָּה. טוֹב יָצַר כָּבוֹד לִשְׁמוֹ, מְאוֹרוֹת נָתַן סְבִיבוֹת עֻזּוֹ. פִּינוֹת צְבָאָיו קְדוֹשִׁים, רוֹמְמֵי שַׁדַּי, תָּמִיד מְסַפְּרִים כְּבוֹד אֵל וּקְדוּשָּׁתוֹ.	The blessed EL, great in knowledge, designed and made the brilliant sun. The Beneficent One created kavod for their Name. THEY placed luminaries round about THEIR majesty. THEIR chief hosts are holy beings that extol SHADAI. They constantly recount EL’s kavod and holiness.
אָלֶף בֵּית גִּימֵל דָּלֶת הֵא (הֵי!) וָו זַיִן חֵית טֵית יוּד (יֵא!) כַף לָמֶד מֵם נוּן סָמֶךְ עַיִן פֵּא צַדִי קוּף רֵישׁ שִׁין תַּו׃ אוֹתִּיוֹת!	Alef Bet Gimel Dalet Hei, (hey!) Vav Zayin Ḥet Tet Yud, (yey!) Khaf Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Pei, Tsadi Quf Resh Shin Tav. Otiyot! (letters)
אָלֶף בֵּית גִּימֵל דָּלֶת הֵא (הֵי!) וָו זַיִן חֵית טֵית יוּד (יֵא!) כַף לָמֶד מֵם נוּן סָמֶךְ עַיִן פֵּא צַדִי קוּף רֵישׁ שִׁין תַּו׃ אֵין סוֹף!	Alef Bet Gimel Dalet Hei, (hey!) Vav Zayin Ḥet Tet Yud, (yey!) Khaf Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Pei, Tsadi Quf Resh Shin Tav. Ein Sof! (without end)

The song “Aleph Bass” and its accompanying video were first published by the duo, Darshan (Eden Pearlstein and Shir Yaakov Feit), for Ḥanukkah 5776 (2015). The video was promoted with the accompanying text:

Celebrate Ḥanukkah with a Psychedelic Hebrew Animation from Darshan!
It’s that time of the year again: menorahs, dreidels, and of course, psychedelic ḥamsas. Wait, is that a thing? Brush up on your aleph-bet as you travel through time and space in “Aleph Bass,” this crazy language-learning video. From filmmakers Brian Savelson and Abbey Luck, and the musical maestros of Darshan (Eden Pearlstein and Shir Yaakov Feit), this trip includes Kabbalistic mysticism and super sick beats. Guaranteed, you’ve never seen anything quite like it.

The translation of the piyyut, “El Barukh,” is that of Paltiel Birnbaum, which I have adapted by re-Hebraizing divine names, and providing gender-neutral pronouns. –Aharon Varady

Recording(s)

Source

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“אֵל בָּרוּךְ | El Barukh, an alphabetic acrostic piyyut together with the lyrics to Aleph Bass by Darshan” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

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.

Eden Pearlstein

Eden "Eprhyme" Pearlstein is a Brooklyn-based Hip Hop Artist, Author and All Around Good Guy. Active in both the Jewish and Secular arts/music world, he collaborates closely with creative organizations such as Shemspeed, The Iyyun Center and K Records. He is 1/2 of Darshan- the musical midrash project that combines the soaring Songwriting of Shir Yaakov and Eprhyme's deep and probing raps.

Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit

Shir Yaakov is an aba, singer, composer, designer, producer and teacher. Whether as Romemu's Musical Director, an officiant at weddings and lifecycle events, or as one-half of the world-hop duo Darshan; in synagogues, yeshivas, and intentional communities around the world; and in Jewish, multi-faith, and non-affiliated spiritual contexts, Shir Yaakov weaves a tapestry of Kabbalistic wisdom, contemporary songwriting, and deep personal spirituality. He has recorded and released four albums of original music. As a spiritual leader, he has led services and ritual in a wide variety of contexts, from Hasidic yeshivas to multifaith, LGBTQ, and earth-based spiritual groups.

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.)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=12337

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A still frame showing a masked graffiti artist painting a letter ת from the animated video for “Aleph Bass” by Darshan

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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

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Works of related interest:

אֵל אָדוֹן (אשכנז) | El Adōn, a piyyut attributed to the Yordei Merkavah (alphabetic acrostic translation by Rabbi Sam Seicol)

The piyyut, El Barukh from Shnei Luḥot Habrit (detail from page image, 1649 Amsterdam)

אֵל בָּרוּךְ | El Barukh :: A piyyut containing the 42 Letter Name, recorded by Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz

אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת | Adon haSeliḥot, a pizmon for Seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937)

"Tea bowl fixed in the Kintsugi method" (Public Domain). Kintsugi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer resin dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.

בָּרוּךְ שֶׁאָמַר | Barukh she’Amar, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Hebrew Vowel Pronunciation Chart (Aharon Varady 2015)

האותיות של האבג״ד בעברית | A Periodic Table of the Hebrew Aleph Bet Emphasizing Phonetic Grouping, Symbolic Association, and Diversity of Letter Form

אֵל אָדוֹן (אשכנז) | El Adōn, a piyyut attributed to the Yordei Merkavah (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)

אֵל אָדוֹן (מנהג הספרדים) | El Adōn, a piyyut attributed to the Yordei Merkavah (translation by Sara-Kinneret Lapidot)

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carla saez

2016-02-21 at 12:51 pm · Reply.

I would like to have the letter of this song, It´s so beautiful. I´m trying to learn hebreo. It´s interesting for me specially for me because it´s Jesus´s language. and….. arameo. Please, if you have the letter send me to carlasaez74@hotmail.com.
Thanks a lot.

The Hierophant
2016-02-21 at 8:33 pm · Reply.
The prayer included in this song is the piyyut, “El Baruch Gedol Deah” from the Shaḥarit/Morning Service, after the blessing יוצר המאורות Yotzer Hame’orot.
אֵל בָּרוּךְ גְּדוֹל דֵּעָה. הֵכִין וּפָעַל זָהֳרֵי חַמָּה. טוֹב יָצַר כָּבוֹד לִשְׁמוֹ. מְאוֹרוֹת נָתַן סְבִיבוֹת עֻזּוֹ. פִּנּוֹת צְבָאָיו קְדוֹשִׁים רוֹמְמֵי שַׁדַּי. תָּמִיד מְסַפְּרִים כְּבוֹד אֵל וּקְדֻשָּׁתוֹ:
ˈel barukh gedol deˈa hekhin ufaˈal zahore ẖamma tov yatsar kavod lishmo meˈorot natan sevivot ˈuzzo pinnot tsevaˈayv kedoshim romeme shadday tamid mesapperim kevod ˈel ukedushato
- Shir Yaakov
  2016-02-22 at 5:33 am · Reply.
  It’s actually IN (not after) the blessing יוצר המאורות Yotzer Hame’orot. On Shabbat this concept using of an alphabetic acrostic to praise the divine manifestation in light-beings is expanded from one word-per-letter to one phrase-per-letter in the piyyut El Adon אל אדון.