Atah Hu Adonai L'Vadecha ( he, אתה-הוא יהוה לבדך, "You alone are the Lord") is a series of verses recited during

Shacharit ''Shacharit'' ( he, שַחֲרִית ''šaḥăriṯ''), or ''Shacharis'' in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is the morning ''tefillah'' (prayer) of Judaism, one of the three daily prayers. Different traditions identify different primary components o ...

, the morning prayers of

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

, in pesukei dezimra. It is composed of verses 5–11 in Chapter 9 of Nechemiah. The recitation of these verses was introduced in the 13th century by Rabbi

Meir of Rothenburg Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer.Alfred ...

. The custom to recite these verses, along with Vayivarech David (from

Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...

) prior to the

Song of the sea The Song of the Sea ( he, שירת הים, ''Shirat HaYam'', also known as ''Az Yashir Moshe'' and Song of Moses, or ''Mi Chamocha'') is a poem that appears in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible, at . It is followed in verses 20 and 21 by a ...

is to recall miracles brought on by God at the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

. In most siddurim, this prayer appears as two separate paragraphs. What is interesting about this division is not the mere division, but that the split occurs in the middle of the third verse (Nechemiah 9:8). This is signifying

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...

's change of name from Abram to Abraham, elevating his status from the father of Aram to the father of a multitude of nations.The Complete Artscroll Siddur, page 77 The division originates a custom that when there is a Berit Milah taking place in the community, the second part (through the end of Az Yashir) is recited responsively.

References

Pesukei dezimra Siddurim of Orthodox Judaism Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings {{Judaism-stub