The following story is recorded in the 13th-century halakhic work Or Zarua, which attributes it to Ephraim of Bonn (a compiler of Jewish martyrologies, died ca.
But the bishop said, 'I will not sever the tongue which has spoken so well,[d] but I will cut off those legs which failed to bring you to me at the appointed time, and mutilate the rest of your body'.
Thus was he called 'Rabbi Amnon', for he believed (he'emin) in the Living God enough to suffer these terrible wounds for his faith, out of love, all because of the words which he had said.
When Rosh haShanah came around, Amnon asked his family to carry him to the synagogue with his preserved fingers and toes, and to place him next to the cantor, which they did.
And then he said Un'taneh tokef k'dushat hayyom, and he said Emet ki atah hu dayyan umochiakh, to justify the verdict.
So he continued, saying V'chotem yad kol bo, to ask that his own hand be received before God, which had been severed for the sake of His unity.
[9] Since then, a copy of the poem was discovered in the Cairo Geniza, Fragment Cambridge T-S H8.6, originally dated by Eric Werner to the 8th century.
[12] While medieval history testifies amply to the intense persecution of Jews by Christians at the time of the Crusades, there are difficulties with the legend that it was composed by Amnon.
[13] The received story has all the qualities of an urban legend - a heroic rabbi of whom there is no disparaging or even tedious information, an extremely cruel gentile villain (also without the problem of additional biographic details), the esteemed name and endorsement of Kalonymus, miraculous or extraordinary events, and supernatural instructions to include the poem in the annual liturgy.
[17] It is possible that the Rabbi Amnon story was entirely invented, not necessarily by the author of Or Zarua, to legitimize a piyyut of doubtful origin or simply to satisfy popular curiosity about the background of such an impressive liturgical work.
[22] In the Ashkenazi rite, Untanneh Tokef is inserted during the Mussaf, when the hazzan repeats the Amidah, as a silluk (parting poem) just before intoning the kedusha.
[25] In the version of the Italian Rite practiced in Rome, a variant of Untanneh Tokef is recited in the Mussaf service for Hoshana Rabbah, Kabbalistically considered the official conclusion of the Days of Awe.
[26] Untanneh Tokef is recited immediately prior to and as an introduction for the kedusha prayer, during which the angelic sanctification of God is mentioned.
Untanneh Tokef adapts this daily praise to the specific elements intrinsic to the High Holidays, namely the Divine judgment of all existence.
The theme of a divine decree being written derives, at least in part, to a Talmudic teaching: As a token of this belief, the common greeting on Rosh Hashana is לשׁנה טוֹבה תּכּתב (Leshana tovah tikatev) – "May you be inscribed for a good year".
This paragraph reaches its climax with the final line, said by all the congregants in unison, "But repentance, prayer, and righteousness avert the severe decree".
Additionally, in gematria each of the three words in small type have a value of 136, which is interpreted as meaning that each is equally important in averting stern judgment.
Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in quietude and who will be tormented, who will enjoy tranquility and who will be distressed, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted.
The passage here echoes the despair found in the book of Koheleth (Ecclesiastes), but concludes - as does Isaiah 40:8, from which it apparently draws - with the contrasting affirmation that God is eternal and enduring.
God knows man's inclination: Man is but flesh and blood: Genesis 3:19, Isaiah 40:7, 40:23, Psalms 90:3, Psalms 144:4, Job 7:1, Job 14:1, Ecclesiastes 6:12, Ecclesiastes 12:7; see also Wisdom of Solomon 2:1 Finally, the fourth paragraph lyrically praises God as exalted above all existence, and begs Him to sanctify His Name by redeeming Israel – transitioning directly into the kedusha: There is no set span to Your years and there is no end to the length of Your days.