Akdamut

It was penned by Rabbi Meir bar Yitzchak [he] (the Nehorai) of Orléans, who was a cantor (prayer leader) in Worms, Germany, (died ca.

However, when the simultaneous Aramaic interpretation fell into disuse, the recitation of Akdamut remained between the first and second Hebrew verses, where it no longer seemed an appropriate interruption, so it was relocated to before the commencement of the Torah reading.

[4] Some say that it replaced an earlier piyyut, Arkin Moshe, which was a folkloric poem describing the excitement among the angels when God brought Moses up to Heaven to receive the Ten Commandments,[5] but both piyyutim appear alongside each other in many manuscripts and printed machzorim.

[6] The adoption of Akdamut into the liturgy may have been assisted by a folktale that connected its composition with a miraculous event involving the defeat of an evil sorcerer monk who was using magic to kill countless Jews.

[10] In summary, the poem begins with the greatness of God, which exceeds all ability to describe it (verses 1–14), and then the myriads of various kinds of angels created by Him and attending Him (15–26).

In the future, Leviathan and Behemoth, two enormous creatures mentioned in Scripture, will be brought together, and killed and prepared by God as a banquet for the righteous in opulent furnishings (75–84).

[12] The reference in Akdamut to all the seas being ink and all the reeds pens is found in the Talmud, Masechet Sotah in relation to the lack of ability of humans to express the praise of God.