Beginning with part of the priestly blessing,^[1] Cf. Number 6:23-27   the Levite song, Psalms 67, is a prayer for all the peoples of the earth to be sustained by the earth’s harvest (yevulah). It is also a petition that all humanity recognize the divine nature (Elohim) illuminating the world. Composed of seven verses, the psalm is often visually depicted as a seven branched menorah. There are 49 words in the entire psalm, and in the Nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l there is one word for each day of the Sefirat haOmer. Similarly, the fifth verse has 49 letters and each letter can be used as a focal point for meditating on the meaning of the day in its week in the journey to Shavuot, the festival of weeks (the culmination of the barley harvest), and the festival of oaths (shevuot) in celebration of receiving the Torah. Many of the themes of Psalm 67 are repeated in the prayer Ana b’Khoaḥ, contains seven lines and 42 words, with each initial letter forming a 42-letter name of G‽d. Counting each word together with the seven acronyms formed from the first letter of each line yields 49 words. Each of these are also used to focus on the meaning of each day on the cyclical and labyrinthine journey towards Shavuot. I am finding these prayers helpful to guide my steps and intention in traveling through the Sefirat haOmer as a Labyrinth.

Rabbi Seidenberg teaches,

Ana b’Khoaḥ is one of the masterpieces of mystical prayer. You’ll notice something unusual about Ana b’Khoaḥ: the word “God” does not appear, nor do any traditional names for God like Adonai-YHVH or eloheinu. Like the Kaddish, Ana b’Khoaḥ addresses the divine at a level that is beyond the names for God that we normally use. This special language makes it a very powerful prayer, whether it’s said in (well-translated) English or Hebrew.

How to use Ana b’Khoaḥ

Ana b’Khoaḥ is traditionally recited right before L’kha Dodi on Friday night, which makes it easy to fit into the Kabbalat Shabbat service even if it doesn’t appear in your prayerbook. (It’s also recited after counting the omer and even as part of lighting the Menorah.) One way to introduce the prayer to a community that hasn’t seen it before is for the shaliaḥ tsibur (prayer leader) to chant each line in Hebrew, and then have the community respond by chanting or reading the corresponding line in English.

While Ana b’Khoaḥ is sung aloud in many communities, it’s also traditional to recite Ana b’Khoaḥ in a whisper, reflecting the mystical idea that the initial letters of Ana b’Khoaḥ spell out the secret 42-letter name (or names) of G!D. Because of this belief, the line “Barukh Shem K’vod…” (Blessed be the name…) is added after the last verse of the prayer.

With perseverance and help, any obstacle can be overcome. In the story of the Israelite conquest of Yeriḥo in Sefer Yehoshua, it is the heroine Raḥab who helps Yehoshua’s scouts. Living her life trapped as a sex worker inside Yeriḥo’s labyrinthine walls, she hides Yehoshua’s scouts on her rooftop. The Rebbe Maharash of ḤaBaD would say, “When you cannot go under go over!” If you are lost in a labyrinth, scale its walls.

Rav Avidmi in Talmud Bavli Shabbat 88a provides a midrash to Exodus 19:17 (referred to by Rashi) that to receive the Torah, bnei Yisrael went beneath Har Sinai, submitting to the labyrinth of a new redemptive halakhah. As I travel towards receiving gnosis in the theophany of revelation, I recommit myself to the covenants between G!D and bnei Noaḥ (justice for all humanity without acting as a predator) and between G!D and bnei Yisrael (opposing and redeeming predatory nature in all of my actions). I traverse the walls of my internal seven walled labyrinth, channeling the voice of Shalma ben Naḥson (ben Amindav):

Scaling walls with Raḥab’s
scarlet twine, we escape
and liberate worlds

The words of Psalms 67 and Ana B’khoaḥ are the footholds directing my intention. Saving me are my friends — all the earth’s peoples, who like Raḥab, seek liberation.