El Nora Alila (Hebrew: אל נורא עלילה) (also transliterated as Ayl Nora Alilah [1]) is a piyyut (liturgical poem) for the Ne'ilah service at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. The piyyut is recited as part of the Sephardic and Mizrahi liturgy[2], but has found its way into some Ashkenazic Yom Kippur services as well[3].
The English translation offered below is a lyric rendering, reproducing a rhyme similar to the Hebrew . A more literal translation makes the title and recurring line, "God of awesome deeds". Each line (in Hebrew) has three words and the fourth line is always two words "As the gates are shut"[4] - the gates being shut are presumably those the Temple (and synagogue) because the day's service is ending or those of Heaven's gates for prayers of repentance, and the hymn is one last impassioned plea for Divine pardon in the very last minutes of the Day of Atonement. The initial letters of the first six stanzas of the piyyut spell out משה חזק, "Moses, may he be strong", in reference to the piyyut's author Moses ibn Ezra (12th century Spain).
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| Hebrew text | Transliteration | English |
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Refrain: אֵל נוֹרָא עֲלִילָה, אֵל נוֹרָא עֲלִילָה, מְתֵי מִסְפָּר קְרוּאִים, לְךָ עַיִן נוֹשְׂאִים, שׁוֹפְכִים לְךָ נַפְשָׁם, מְחֵה פִּשְׁעָם וְכַחְשַׁם, הֱיֵה לָהֶם לְסִתְרָה, וְהַצִילֵם מִמְּאֵרָה, חוֹן אוֹתָם וְרַחֵם, וְכָל לוֹחֵץ וְלוֹחֵם, זְכֹר צִדְקַת אֲבִיהֶם, וְחַדֵּשׁ אֶת יְמֵיהֶם, קְרָא נָּא שְׁנַת רָצוֹן, וְהָשֵׁב שְׁאָר הַצֹּאן, תִּזְכּוּ לְשָׁנִים רַבּוֹת, הַבָּנִים וְהָאָבוֹת, מִיכָאֵל שַׂר יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֵלִיָּהוּ וְגַבְרִיאֵל, |
Refrain: El nora alila, El nora alila, M'tei mis'par k'ru'im, l'cha ayin nos'im, Shof'chim l'cha naf'sham, m'cheh pish'am ve-chach'sham, Heyeh lahem l'sit'ra, ve-hatzilem mi-m'era, Chon otam ve-rachem, ve-chol lochetz ve-lochem, Z'chor tzid'kat avihem, ve-chadesh et y'meihem, K'ra na sh'nat ratzon, ve-hashev sh'ar ha-tzon, Tiz'ku l'shanim rabot, ha-banim ve-ha-avot, Micha'el sar yis'rael, eliyahu ve-gav'ri'el, |
Lyric English: God of awe, God of might We, who are few, raise our eyes to heaven's height Pouring out our soul we pray that the sentence You will write Our refuge strong and sure rescue us from dreadful plight Grant us favor, show us grace; but those who deny our right Generations of our sires strong in faith walked in Your light Gather Judah's scattered flock unto Zion's rebuilt site May we all, both old and young, look for gladness and delight Michael, prince of Israel, Gabriel, Your angels bright with Elijah, |
El Nora Alila at the Jewish Encyclopedia
video of three melodies - Turkish, Moroccan, and Spanish-Portuguese - to El Nora Alila
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