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Ana BeKoach
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Ana BeKoach
Ana BeKoach (Hebrew: אנא בכח, We beg you! With your strength) is a medieval Jewish piyyut (liturgical poem) called by its incipit. This piyyut, the acronym of which is said to be a 42-letter name of God, is recited daily by those Jewish communities which include a greatly expanded version of Korbanot in Shacharit and more widely as part of Kabbalat Shabbat. Some also recite it as part of Bedtime Shema or during the Omer.
The exact wording of the piyyut differs widely between manuscripts, with smaller variations in the resulting acronym. Hayy ben Sherira (d. 1038), the first scholar to mention its 42-letter acronym, did not know of any piyyut and writes that the name was only passed down among the Babylonian geonim. By contrast, Rashi and Maimonides write that the 42-letter name is lost.
According to Shlomo ibn Aderet, "The letters [of the 42-letter name] differ between our [Sephardic] tradition and that of the Ashkenazic masters, but the baqasha of Nehunya ben HaKanah (c. 100 CE) agrees with our version." Many different piyyutim based on the 42-letter acronym were popular at the time, all obviously the work of medieval poets. According to Moshe Hallamish, the first piyyut to largely resemble the modern form of Ana BeKoach was recorded by Jacob of Segovia (13th century), who probably learned it from the Ashkenazi Hasidim, who had been composing piyyutim around the 42-letter name since the early 12th century.
The piyyut is included in some siddurim in the Parashat Korbanot reading during Shacharit as well as during Kabbalat Shabbat before Lekha Dodi. It is also recited in some communities after each of the 49 daily Omer countings, both in its full form and intertwined in commentary verses included after the count for each day.
Other times Ana BeKoach is said outside formal services:
It is the custom of Hasidim to recite the piyyut during:[citation needed]
This table highlights the 42-word name by indicating the initial letter from each word forming it in bold. The greyed-out acronyms are not spoken aloud in Orthodox practice.
Each verse is linked to:
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Ana BeKoach
Ana BeKoach (Hebrew: אנא בכח, We beg you! With your strength) is a medieval Jewish piyyut (liturgical poem) called by its incipit. This piyyut, the acronym of which is said to be a 42-letter name of God, is recited daily by those Jewish communities which include a greatly expanded version of Korbanot in Shacharit and more widely as part of Kabbalat Shabbat. Some also recite it as part of Bedtime Shema or during the Omer.
The exact wording of the piyyut differs widely between manuscripts, with smaller variations in the resulting acronym. Hayy ben Sherira (d. 1038), the first scholar to mention its 42-letter acronym, did not know of any piyyut and writes that the name was only passed down among the Babylonian geonim. By contrast, Rashi and Maimonides write that the 42-letter name is lost.
According to Shlomo ibn Aderet, "The letters [of the 42-letter name] differ between our [Sephardic] tradition and that of the Ashkenazic masters, but the baqasha of Nehunya ben HaKanah (c. 100 CE) agrees with our version." Many different piyyutim based on the 42-letter acronym were popular at the time, all obviously the work of medieval poets. According to Moshe Hallamish, the first piyyut to largely resemble the modern form of Ana BeKoach was recorded by Jacob of Segovia (13th century), who probably learned it from the Ashkenazi Hasidim, who had been composing piyyutim around the 42-letter name since the early 12th century.
The piyyut is included in some siddurim in the Parashat Korbanot reading during Shacharit as well as during Kabbalat Shabbat before Lekha Dodi. It is also recited in some communities after each of the 49 daily Omer countings, both in its full form and intertwined in commentary verses included after the count for each day.
Other times Ana BeKoach is said outside formal services:
It is the custom of Hasidim to recite the piyyut during:[citation needed]
This table highlights the 42-word name by indicating the initial letter from each word forming it in bold. The greyed-out acronyms are not spoken aloud in Orthodox practice.
Each verse is linked to: