AKDAMUT

Leader: The beginning of words – the opening of speech: I shall ask permission and leave to begin.

Cong: Trembling I open my mouth with two matters and three, by leave of the One who bears us through to old age.

Leader: His are eternal mighty acts, which could not be laid out in words, even were all the skies parchment, and all the forests reeds.

Cong: If all the seas were ink, and all the lakes, and all the people, scribes and clerks.

Leader: The glorious Master of Heaven, Ruler of the land, founded His world alone, and took control of it.

Cong: Without weariness He perfected it, without tiring at all; by the lightest of letters, something without substance.

Leader: He summoned forth all creation in those six days; and then His shining glory rose, to sit upon His throne of fire.

Cong: A heavenly host of a thousand thousands and myriads serve Him – created each morning anew, so great is His faithfulness.

Leader: Seraphim, covered with six wings, bow many times over, and stand in utter silence until they have leave.

Cong: They receive leave from each other – and at once, without pause, His glory fills all the world, at their threefold sanctifying.

Leader: Like a voice from the Almighty, like the noise of many waters – Cherubim raise themselves towards the Ophanim in a roar of noise,

Cong: to see face to face what looks like sparks of the rainbow flying, and wherever they are sent, they arrive in a flash of motion.

Leader: They bless His glory in every secret term, from the place of the home of His Presence, which cannot even be sought.

Cong: And all the hosts of heaven give praises in great fear, of the sovereignty that will last through all ages, forever.

Leader: They each lay out His holiness in praise, and when their moment has passed it is gone forever; seven years will go by and it will not return.

Cong: His precious estate, Israel – they are more fortunate, for always may they praise Him, dawn and dusk.

Leader: They are set apart, His portion, to perform His will, and they will tell the wonders of His praise in speech.

Cong: He desires and values and yearns for them to labor for Him to weariness, and so He accepts their prayers; it is their pleas that are fulfilled.

Leader: And those pleas are joined, with a crown and an oath, to the One who lives forever, and worn with the phylacteries He binds to Himself always,

Cong: which are inscribed inside with wisdom and with insight, with the greatness of Israel, who read the Shema.

Leader: And I, in the same way, praise the Master of the Universe, and it befits me to speak of Him to those of other nations,

Cong: who come and form crowds, like waves all around, doubting, asking about Him, about the signs He performs –

Leader: "Where is your Beloved from, yes who is He, who is so beautiful, that you let yourselves be killed for Him in the lions' den?

Cong: "You would be more respected, lovelier, if you bent yourselves to our rule: your will would be done then wherever you would be."

Leader: With wisdom I reply to them, telling them of the end – "If you only knew, if you only truly knew Him,

Cong: "and what your greatness is worth when compared to that glory, or the greatness I will be granted when my salvation comes...

Leader: "When light comes to me, and shame covers you over; when His presence is revealed to me in might and in great pride."

Cong: He shall pay His enemies back in kind, the aggressors of the distant isles, and perform justice for the beloved people, rich in merit,

Leader: when He brings perfect happiness, and us as pure vessels; when He brings the exiles back into the city of Jerusalem.

Cong: He shall cast His glory over them day and night, as a canopy where they shall voice the splendor in joyful songs,

Leader: for the shining of those clouds will make each canopy fine as the actions of the one who sits in it; so will each shelter be made.

Cong: On seats of finest gold, in seven tiers, sit the righteous in their places before the One whose acts are manifold.

Leader: And they appear as seven tiers of joy, like the dome of the sky in its brilliance, like stars of light.

Cong: This is a glory no mouth can express, glory that the prophets never heard or saw in their visions.

Leader: For no eye has ever overseen the Garden of Eden, where the righteous circle the place of the dance, and the holy Presence among them.

Cong: And they point to Him, saying with awe, "It is He! "The One for whom we longed when we were captives, in our powerful faith.

Leader: "And He will lead us in both worlds; and He will lead us dancing, as if we were young again; lead us to our land, set aside from the beginning of the world for us."

Cong: He plays with the Leviathan, with the Behemoth of the high mountain, and when they wrestle one another in their great duel,

Leader: the horns of the great Behemoth will gore, and the mighty Leviathan will leap out at him with his fins,

Cong: and finally, his Creator will step forward with His great sword, and prepare a meal, a feast, of that meat, for all the righteous.

Leader: And they shall sit at tables of rubies and gems, with rivers of balsam flowing before them,

Cong: and quench their thirst in luxury with overflowing cups of the wondrous wine stored up for them since the first days of creation.

Leader: My righteous listeners, as you have heard the praises in this song, so may you be promised a place in those joyous circles.

Cong: And may you merit to sit in those heavenly rows, for heeding God's words, which come forth in splendor.

Leader: Our God is in the highest heights, the first and the last, desiring us and cherishing us, and giving us the Torah.