''Anim Zemirot'' (, lit. "I shall sweeten songs") is a Jewish liturgical poem recited in most Ashkenazic

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

s during ''

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

'' and holiday morning services; in most communities, it is said at the end of services, and in a small number of communities it is recited at the beginning of services or before the Torah reading. Formally, it is known as ''Shir Hakavod'' (, lit. "Song of Glory") , but it is often referred to as ''Anim Zemirot'', after the first two words of the poem. ''Anim Zemirot'' is recited responsively, with the first verse read aloud by the '' Shaliach Tzibbur'' (, lit. messenger of the congregation), the second verse recited by the congregation in unison, and so on. The poem is believed to have been written by Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg, the 12th-century German scholar and

pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

Structure

The main body of ''Anim Zemirot'' consists of 31 original verses, followed by two verses from Tanach: the first from Chronicles 29:11 and the second from

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

106:2. From the fifth to the twenty-eighth verse, the verses each begin with the successive letter in the

Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is a unicase, unicameral abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably ...

, except for the letter ''reish'' () and ''tav'' (), both of which appear twice. As there are an odd number of verses within the main body, the congregation traditionally recites the last verse of the main body along with the ''shaliach tzibbur''. In later editions, there are an additional three verses; usually, the first two are then recited alone by the members of the congregation and the ''shaliach tzibbur'' recites the verse from Psalms aloud to indicate the completion of ''Anim Zemirot'' and in many communities this is followed by a '' kaddish yatom'' (, Mourners' kaddish). The Holy Ark is opened for the recital of ''Anim Zemirot'', befitting its formal title of "The Song of Glory." There is an account that this name originated because of an old tradition to recite the last four verses of Psalm 24 prior to reciting ''Anim Zemirot''. According to the Levush, the recital of ''Anim Zemirot'' has been restricted so that it not become overly familiar and mundane. While most congregations recite it on Shabbat and Jewish holidays, the

Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman''), also known as the Vilna Gaon ( ''Der Vilner Goen''; ; or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gr"a ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "Our great teacher Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 172 ...

was of the opinion that it should be recited only on holidays. A small minority of congregations recite it only on

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

and Yom Kippur. In many synagogues, it has become the custom for ''Anim Zemirot'' to be recited by a child.

References

Bibliography

*Elchanan Adler, Sefer Tsevi tifʼarah : beʼurim ṿe-heʻarot le-fiyuṭ Anʻim zemirot, Passaic, NJ 2017.

External links

Anim Zemirot lyrics, transliteration, recording on The Zemirot Database
{{Authority control Ashkenazi Jewish culture Jewish liturgical poems Mussaf Shabbat prayers Shacharit for Shabbat and Yom Tov Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings