eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
!תזכו לשנים רבות
(“May you merit many blessed years!”)
From your friends at
The American Sephardi Federation
Click here to hear Meir Banai’s El Nora Alila. Learn more about the piyyut below.
In honor of Yom Kippur, the ASF’s Sephardi World Weekly is pleased to offer the following “Letter from the Land of Israel”:
El Nora Alila (“God of Awesome Deeds”) is a piyyut composed by the great Andalusian poet, Moshe ibn Ezra (1055-1138). In Greater Sephardi communities, El Nora Alila opens the Ne’ila prayer service, the fifth and final part of Yom Kippur. Ne’ilah means “Closing” or “Locking,” and the term is used to refer to Gates of Heaven that have been open to our prayers for the entirety of the holy day, but that, as Yom Kippur draws to a close, will soon be locked shut.
Moshe Ibn Ezra specifically composed El Nora Alila for the Ne’ila prayer, opening with a petition:
God of awesome deeds, God of awesome deeds,/
Grant us forgiveness, at this hour of Ne’ila
Each of the piyyut’s eight verses then concludes with the identical phrase, “at this hour of Ne’ila.”
Even though the subject matter of El Nora Alila is serious, melodies for the piyyut are often spirited and, in practice, sung with gusto. After all, while God’s Judgment is real, so too is His Mercy. And what’s more, the end of the fast is just around the corner.
The version featured here is a rock-infused adaptation of the piyyut that was written by the Israeli vocalist, musician, and songwriter, Meir Banai (1960-2017). The Banais are a famous Persian-Jewish family who made Aliyah to Israel in the 19th century and who have contributed an outsized number of artists and actors to Israeli society.
Meir Banai released ten albums during the course of his career, and his reworking of El Nora Alila appeared on his 2007 album, Shema Koli (“Hear My Voice”), a collection of contemporary interpretations of traditional piyyutim. Banai’s version is propelled by an acoustic guitar, the Arabic malfuf rhythm—dum…tak-tak…dum… tak-tak…—and the urgency of Banai’s vocals, even as it’s layered above and below by electric guitar lines, phrases and chords. Banai’s lively take on the classic piyyut updates the tradition even as it preserves its essential spirit.
The American Sephardi Federation
