אָבִֽינוּ מַלְכֵּֽנוּ Our Father, our King: A prayer attributed, in its earliest form, to Rabbi Akiva. The opening two words juxtapose the two aspects of our relationship with God. He is our King and we are His subjects; He is our Parent and we are His children. The first relationship is governed by justice, the second by love, compassion and forgiveness. By placing the words in the reverse order, we mirror both history and faith: history because God called us His children (“My child, My firstborn, Israel”) at Mount Sinai before He became Israel’s King; faith because we ask God to let His parental love temper the severity of justice.