אֵין אַדִּיר כַּיְיָ (מִפִּי אֵל)‏ | Ayn Adir kAdonai (Mipi El) :: There is none like YHVH

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=28390

Date: 2019-12-02

Last Updated: 2024-04-09

Categories: Shavuot, Shemini Atseret (and Simḥat Torah), Se'udat Leil Shabbat

Tags: 17th century C.E., 54th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, via negativa, אין אדיר Ayn Adir, הקפה ד׳ fourth haḳafah, זמירות zemirot, פיוטים piyyutim

Excerpt: A popular piyyut for Simḥat Torah (4th hakkafah) originally composed as a piyyut for Shavuot and often referred to by its incipit, "Mipi El." . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
מִפִּי אֵל, מִפִּי אֵל, יִבוֹרַךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל. מִפִּי אֵל, מִפִּי אֵל, יִבוֹרַךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל.	From the mouth of אל Yisra’el will be blessed. Yisra’el will be blessed from the mouth of אל.
אֵין אַדִּיר כַּיְיָ, וְאֵין בָּרוּךְ כְּבֶן עַמְרָם. אֵין גְדוּלָה כַּתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין דּוֹרְשֶׁיהָּ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.	There is none as powerful as יהוה  There is none as blessed as the son of Amram  There is nothing as great as the Torah  And none who interpret it like Yisra’el
אֵין הָדוּר כַּיְיָ, וְאֵין וָתִיק כְּבֶן עַמְרָם. אֵין זְכִיָה כַּתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין חֲכָמֶיהָּ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.	There is none as adorned as יהוה  There is none as trustworthy as the son of Amram  There is no reward like the Torah  And none who are its wise ones like Yisra’el
אֵין טָהוֹר כַּיְיָ, וְאֵין יָשָׁר כְּבֶן עַמְרָם. אֵין כְּבוּדָה כַּתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין לוֹמְדֶיהָ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.	There is none as pure as יהוה  There is none as righteous as the son of Amram  There is no honor like the Torah  And none who learn it like Yisra’el
אֵין מֶלֶךְ כַּיְיָ, וְאֵין נָבִיא כְּבֶן עַמְרָם. אֵין סְגֻלָּה כַּתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין עוֹסְקֶיהָ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.	There is no king like יהוה  There is prophet like the son of Amram  There is no treasured posession like the Torah  And none who are devoted to it like Yisra’el
אֵין פּוֹדֶה כַּיְיָ, וְאֵין צַדִּיק כְּבֶן עַמְרָם. אֵין קְדוּשָׁה כַּתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין רוֹמְמֶיהָ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.	There is none who save like יהוה  There is none as just as the son of Amram  There is no holiness like the Torah  And none who elevate it like Yisra’el
אֵין קָדוֹשׁ כַּיְיָ, וְאֵין רַחוּם כְּבֶן עַמְרָם. אֵין שְׁמִירָה כַּתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין תּוֹמְכֶיהָ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.	There in none as holy as יהוה  There is none as merciful as the son of Amram  There is no observance like the Torah  And none who support it like Yisra’el.

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Author unknown, Ayn Adir kAdonai (“There is none like YHVH”) was originally composed as a piyyut for Shavu’ot. Macy Nulman writes in the Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer that the poem was transmitted orally and was put into writing in the 1700s. Variants of the text exist in different compilations. The Ashkenazic version follows that of Rabbi Yisrael b. Shabtai Hapstein (1733-1814), known as the Maggid of Kosnitz. The variation presented here maintains the alphabetic acrostic as found in Sefer Likutei Tsvi Kol Bo (1902). A version with stanzas translated into Judeo-Arabic may be found in the Seder al-Tawhid (service for Rosh Ḥodesh Nissan).

The English translation here by Akiva Sanders was published in the birkon for his brother Honi Sanders’ wedding, Siman l’Vanim (Dimus Parrhesia Press 2019). –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

 

Contributor: Akiva Sanders (translation)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Akiva Sanders (translation)
  Bio: Akiva Sanders is a Neubauer Graduate Fellow specializing in Mesopotamian Art and Archaeology. He is interested in mobility during the rise and fall of one of the world’s first urban networks in northern Mesopotamia. Specifically, his research is concerned with mutually transformative interactions on the edges of this network with highland societies of the Kura Araxes Cultural Tradition. Previously, Akiva has worked on genetic diversity in present-day highland Georgia and other regions, and he has published an article on the application of a new methodology for analyzing the sex of ceramic producers to episodes of state-formation at Tell Leilan, Syria. Akiva has excavated in Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and Georgia.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/akiva-sanders
• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)
  Bio: 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.)
  Website: https://aharon.varady.net
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady
• 
  Name: Unknown Author(s)
  Bio: Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/unknown

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Title: Valley Rock Fountain Tetragrammaton (Lairich Rig, CC BY-SA)
Caption: "Valley Rock Fountain Tetragrammaton" (Lairich Rig, CC BY-SA)