SHIR HAYIḤUD – SONGS OF GOD’S ONENESS Originally a single song, now divided into seven, known as the Song of Oneness because of its dominant theme, the unity of God through all manifestations, revelations and intimations. Attributed to Rabbi Samuel the Pious, whose son, Rabbi Judah, composed the Hymn of Glory, Anim Zemirot. It is one of the great creations of the Ḥasidei Ashkenaz, the pietistic and mystical movement that flourished in north Germany in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in such centers as Regensburg, Speyer, Worms and Mainz. These were communities that suffered persecution and massacres during the Crusades. The concept of Kiddush HaShem, martyrdom, giving one’s life for God, played an important part in their experience and thought. Their religious experience, as evidenced by their writings, was intense, shot through with yearning for God and for the life of holiness. Their ethical teachings are contained in Sefer Ḥasidim, The Book of the Pious, composed by Rabbi Judah, which emphasizes “humility for the sake of Heaven” and an elevated life in search of spiritual perfection. In some communities the Song faced opposition because of its dense imagery and daring anthropomorphisms, most notably on the part of Rabbi Shlomo Luria in sixteenth-century Poland. Many communities recited it in its entirety only on Kol Nidrei night. Others, dividing it into seven, said a section each day, completing it in the course of a week. Many communities, however, say the appropriate daily section in the morning services of the High Holy Days. אָשִֽׁירָה וַאֲזַמְּרָה I shall sing and make music. A lyrical poem on the inadequacy of any offering to express thanks for the wonder of our existence as finite creatures of the Infinite God. Besides, we have no Temple any more. The priests, the sacrifices, the daily worship of the Sanctuary in Jerusalem, are gone. All each of us can do is to “build an altar out of my shattered heart.”