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September 16, 2006
Ellul 23, Selichot 1: He will answer us
Teshuva contemplations every day until Yom Kippur here. You can also find the link on the sidebar under "Yamim Noraim." Since the Ashkenazi selichot services begin on Saturday night, and Rosh Hashanah begins on Shabbat this year, we have a whole week of selichot, which coincides with the last week of Rabbi Scheinerman's guide to teshuvah using the text of Psalm 27. Resolution is the theme this week.
Ebn Leader leads the Kehilat Hadar selichot service, 2003.
(My recording, just started the mini-disc recorder at the start of services and left it running.)
Hu Ya'aneynu is not an acrostic piyyut but a chronological one, similar to Psalm 136: each verse refers to a subsequent Tanakh character, and how God responded to their distress. The refrain says, "He will answer us" [as He responded to them]. In the traditional version all the characters are men, but there is now an egalitarian version:
HU YA-ANEYNU
-- Mark Frydenberg and David Seidenberg, 1995:
The One who answered Abraham our father on Mount Moriah,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Sarah our mother in her tent at Alon Mamre,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Isaac tied down on the altar,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Rebecca at the well,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Jacob in Beit El,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Leah in the field,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Joseph in the dungeon,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Deborah at Mount Tavor,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered our ancestors at the Red Sea,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Moses in Horeb from the bush,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Miriam across the sea,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Aaron standing with incense,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Joshua in Gilgal and Jericho,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Shifra and Puah in Pharaohs house,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Samuel in Mitzpah,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered David and Solomon in Jerusalem,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Ruth in Moav and Beit Lechem,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Jonah deep in the bowels of the fish,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Daniel in the lions den,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answered Mordechai and Esther in Shushan,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who will answer Rachel crying in Ramah,
Hu ya-aneynu.
The One who answers all the righteous and pious,
the faithful and the honest,
Hu ya-aneynu.
You find the most interesting things via Google, to wit:
There is a difference between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic liturgies whether to say “Mi Sheanah L’Choni Bimaagal Hu Yaaneinu,” “the One who responded to Choni in the circle He shall answer us,” in Selichot. It is possible that this dispute reflects the argument between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions regarding the approach one takes to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Sephardic tradition is to cite the confident approach of Choni the circle maker who demanded that Hashem respond to his plea for rain. The Ashkenazic tradition does not cite the confident precedent of Choni because it is not in harmony with the humble approach that the Ashkenazic tradition wants one to have on these all-important days.Those chutzpadik Sephardim! I think it would be appropriate to sing this during Ne'ilah, when the humble request for forgiveness does take on a more insistent tone. And I always liked the Choni stories.
Judith | 09/16/06 at 09:23 PM | Categories: - Yamim Noraim
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