Akdamus
If all the trees of the forest were
pens,
If all the waters of the sea were
ink,
And if every creature was a scribe,
They would not suffice
To expound the greatness of
The Creator,
And the reflection of His Majesty
in Heaven and on Earth -
(Effortlessly-created
With the breath of the letter
Heh)
The poem Akdamus is read on the morning of Shavuot before the Torah reading. Every line ends with the syllable 'ta', which consists respectively of the last and the first letters of the
Aleph-Beis. The allusion is to the endlessness of the Torah.
As soon as we reach the final letter 'Tav', we immediately start
to dwell again on its infinite depth with the first letter -'Aleph'. |
- AKDAMUS - translated by Rabbi Nachman Bulman
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This poem originally appeared in SEASONS OF THE MOON for Sivan 5756.
Written by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair.
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman.
HTML Design: Michael B. Treblow
Copyright © 1996 Ohr Somayach International.
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