יָהּ אֵלִי LORD my God: A poem written as a prelude to Ashrei (“Happy are those who dwell in Your House”), which first appeared in the siddur Sha’ar Hashamayim of R. Isaiah Horowitz (first published by his grandson in Amsterdam, 1717). Those who say it do so on festivals before the Ashrei that precedes Musaf; it is usually omitted on days on which Yizkor is said; some omit it on festivals that fall on Shabbat. כָּל גּוֹי אַדְמָתֶֽךָ The land of every nation, that is, the whole world, is Yours.

וְתוֹדָה The thanksgiving-offering: a list of sacrifices we are commanded to bring, but cannot, since the Temple no longer stands. זְכֹר נִלְאָה Remember the weary nation: a poignant reminder that the Jewish people, suffering and in exile, cannot yet be among those who “dwell in Your House,” that is, the Temple.

דַּק עַל דַּק Fine beyond fine: beyond the reach of our human senses and understanding. בֵּין טוֹב לְרַע יְבַקֵּר Who distinguishes between good and evil: we cannot see God but He sees us; we cannot understand God but He understands us, instantly knowing our devices and desires.

חִבֵּר כָּל אָהֳלוֹ He joined all His tent: God constructed and connected all that exists under the canopy of the heavens. בִּנְתִיבוֹת לֵב לִבְלֵב The ways of the heart: the Hebrew word for heart, lev, also stands for the number thirty-two, which according to the mystical Sefer Yetzira, represents the “thirty-two paths of wisdom” by which the universe was created (the word Elohim appears thirty-two times in the first chapter of the Torah).