Unetanneh Tokef


Unetanneh Tokef, Unethanneh Toqeph, Un'taneh Tokef, or Unesanneh Tokef is a piyyut that has been a part of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy in some traditions of rabbinical Judaism for centuries. It introduces the Kedusha of Musaf for these days. It is chanted while the Torah ark is open and the congregants are standing. It is the "central poem of the High Holy Day ." The ArtScroll machzor calls it "one of the most stirring compositions in the entire liturgy of the Days of Awe."

History

Traditional retelling

The following story is recorded in the 13th century commentary Or Zarua, who attributes the writing to Rabbi Ephraim of Bonn.
According to the story, Unetanneh Tokef was composed by an 11th-century sage named Rabbi Amnon of Mainz – who, apart from this one story, is unknown to history. As a friend of the Archbishop of Mainz, Rabbi Amnon was pressured to convert to Catholicism. As a delaying tactic, he requested three days to consider the offer; immediately he regretted intensely giving even the pretense that he could possibly accept a foreign religion. After spending the three days in prayer, he refused to come to the archbishop as promised, and, when he was forcibly brought to the archbishop's palace, he begged that his tongue be cut out to atone for his sin. Instead, the archbishop ordered his hands and legs amputated — limb by limb — as punishment for not obeying his word to return after three days and for refusing to convert. At each amputation, Rabbi Amnon was again given the opportunity to convert, which he refused. He was sent home, with his severed extremities, on a knight's shield.
This event occurred shortly before Rosh Hashanah. On that holiday, as he lay dying, Rabbi Amnon asked to be carried into the synagogue, where he recited the original composition of Unetanneh Tokef with his last breath. Three days later, he appeared in a dream to Rabbi Kalonymus ben Meshullam, one of the great scholars and liturgists of Mainz, and begged him to transcribe the prayer and to see that it was included in the text of the High Holiday services. Thus, the legend concludes, Unetanneh Tokef became a part of the standard liturgy.

Modern scholarship

It was once speculated that Kalonymus is the true author of the poem. However, both the language and style are different from the other poems of Kalonymus. In addition, there is evidence that a very similar piyyut was being recited in Italy in contemporary with Kalonymus.
Since then, a copy of the poem was discovered in the Cairo Geniza, Fragment Cambridge T-S H8.6, dated to the 8th century.
While medieval history testifies amply to the intense persecution of Jews by Christians at the time of the Crusades, there are difficulties with the legend that it was composed by Amnon. Not least of these is its portrayal of Amnon as an illustrious Torah giant, while Jewish history of that period provides no record of a 'Rav Amnon of Mainz' at all. It seems unlikely that a person of such tremendous stature would be remembered only in a single legend. The received story has all the qualities of an urban legend - a heroic rabbi of whom there is no disparaging or even tedious information, an extremely cruel gentile villain, the esteemed name and endorsement of Kalonymus, miraculous or extraordinary events, and supernatural instructions to include the poem in the annual liturgy. Scholars have long known that there is no historical foundation for the story of Rabbi Amnon and that this story may have been inspired or derived from the Christian legend associated with Saint Emmeram of Regensburg. Moreover, the discovery of the Unetaneh Tokef prayer within the earliest strata of the Cairo Geniza materials, dating well before the 11th century, makes it almost impossible that the prayer could have been composed as the legend claims.
Additionally, some scholars see parallels with non-Jewish hymnology, suggesting that elements of the prayer stemmed from other sources. It is possible that the Rabbi Amnon story was entirely invented, not necessarily by the author of Or Zarua, to legitimize a piyyut of doubtful origin or simply to satisfy popular curiosity about the background of such an impressive liturgical work. Indications of this are the absence of evidence of the existence of a Rabbi Amnon, the fact that the name Amnon is a variant of the Hebrew word for "faithful", the extravagance of the story, the conspicuous inclusion of Kalonymus, and evidences that this piyyut or something very similar was already in use before the time ascribed.
Yaakov Spiegel has argued that the prayer was written by Yannai in the sixth century. Authorship from Israel is supported by internal evidence, such as the concluding three-part remedy of 'repentance, prayer, and charity', which is found in exact permutation in Genesis Rabbah, yet not in Babylonian sources. Stylistically, the prayer indicates its composition in the land of Israel during the Byzantine period.

Position in the prayer service

In the Ashkenazi rite, Unetanneh Tokef is inserted during the Mussaf, when the hazzan repeats the Amidah, as a silluk just before intoning the kedusha. In the Sephardic rite, Unetanneh Tokef is usually omitted; however, some Sephardic congregations, mainly Moroccan, recite it immediately prior to the commencement of the Mussaf and some have the custom to recite it during the repetition on the first day. The congregation stands up to chant it and the Torah ark is opened.
It is one of the few piyyutim that is recited on both days of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur in the Polish tradition, whereas it is only said on Rosh Hashanah by Sephardim and German Ashkenazim, who have another silluk for Yom Kippur: "Mi Ya'arokh Eilekho". In Reform practice, it was taken from the recitation of the Amidah and presented as an independent item in both Mincha and Yizkor services, early Reform practice had the line about the angels trembling deleted but this has been restored in more recent Reform prayerbooks.

Themes and sources of Unetanneh Tokef

Unetanneh Tokef is recited immediately prior to and as an introduction for the kedusha prayer, during which the angelic sanctification of God is mentioned. Unetanneh Tokef adapts this daily praise to the specific elements intrinsic to the High Holidays, namely the Divine judgment of all existence. In most printed editions, Unetanneh Tokef consists of four paragraphs, each reflecting a different aspect of this general topic.
The theme of a divine decree being written derives, at least in part, to a Talmudic teaching:
As a token of this belief, the common greeting on Rosh Hashana is לשׁנה טוֹבה תּכּתב – "May you be inscribed for a good year."

Fear and trembling

The first paragraph depicts the judgment day, where the angels in heaven tremble at the awe-inspiring event of the annual judgment of all creation, with the implication that man should also approach this day with trepidation. The heavenly Book of Chronicles is opened, in which every human being's fate will be inscribed.
Hebrew TextTranslationBiblical/Rabbinical sources
וּנְתַנֶּה תֹּקֶף קְדֻשַּׁת הַיּוֹם כִּי הוּא נוֹרָא וְאָיוֹם וּבו תִנָּשֵׂא מַלְכוּתֶךָ וְיִכּון בְּחֶסֶד כִּסְאֶךָ וְתֵשֵׁב עָלָיו בֶּאֱמֶת. אֱמֶת כִּי אַתָּה הוּא דַיָּן וּמוֹכִיחַ וְיוֹדֵעַ וָעֵד וְכוֹתֵב וְחוֹתֵם וְסוֹפֵר וּמוֹנֶה. וְתִזְכֹּר כָּל הַנִּשְׁכָּחות, וְתִפְתַּח אֶת סֵפֶר הַזִּכְרוֹנוֹת. וּמֵאֵלָיו יִקָּרֵא. וְחוֹתָם יַד כָּל אָדָם בּו. וּבְשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל יִתָּקַע. וְקוֹל דְּמָמָה דַקָּה יִשָּׁמַע. וּמַלְאָכִים יֵחָפֵזוּן. וְחִיל וּרְעָדָה יֹאחֵזוּן. וְיֹאמְרוּ הִנֵּה יוֹם הַדִּין. לִפְקד עַל צְבָא מָרוֹם בַּדִּין. כִּי לֹא יִזְכּוּ בְעֵינֶיךָ בַּדִּין."Let us now relate the power of this day's holiness, for it is awesome and frightening. On it Your Kingship will be exalted; Your throne will be firmed with kindness and You will sit upon it in truth. It is true that You alone are the One Who judges, proves, knows, and bears witness; Who writes and seals, Who counts and Who calculates. You will remember all that was forgotten. You will open the Book of Remembrances — it will read itself – and each person's signature is there. And the great shofar will be sounded and a still, thin voice will be heard. Angels will be frenzied, a trembling and terror will seize them — and they will say, 'Behold, it is the Day of Judgment, to muster the heavenly host for judgment!' — for even they are not guiltless in Your eyes in judgment."Book of fate:
  • "The Lord will never forgive him ; rather will the Lord's anger and passion rage against that man, till every sanction recorded in this book comes down upon him, and the Lord blots out his name from under heaven.".
  • "I looked up again and I saw a flying scroll. 'What do you see, he asked?' And I replied, 'A flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.' 'That,' he explained to me, 'is the curse which goes out over the whole land. For everyone who has stolen, as is forbidden on one side of it, has gone unpunished; and everyone who has sworn falsely, as is forbidden on the other side of it, has gone unpunished."
  • "The Lord has heard and noted it, and a Scroll of Remembrance has been written at His behest concerning those who revere the Lord and esteem his name."
  • "Add that to their guilt, and let them have no share of your beneficence, may they be erased from the book of life, and not be inscribed with the righteous."
  • "At that time, the great prince Michael, who stands besides the sons of your people, will appear. It will be a time of trouble, the like of which has never been seen since the nation came into being. At that time your people will be rescued, all who are found inscribed in the book."
  • "Rav Kruspedia said in the name of Rav Yochanan: Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah, one for the confirmed unrighteous, one for the confirmed righteous, and one for intermediate individuals. The confirmed righteous are signed and sealed immediately for life; the confirmed unrighteous are signed and sealed immediately for death; The fate of the intermediates is held suspended from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. If they are judged meritorious, they are written for life; if they are not judged meritorious, they are written for death."
  • "Reflect on three things, and you will not fall into transgression: know what is above you—a seeing eye, a hearing ear, and a book in which all your deeds are written."
The great shofar will be sounded
  • "And on that day , a great shofar shall be sounded and the strayed who are in Assyria and the exiles who are in Egypt shall come and worship the Lord on the holy mount in Jerusalem."
The still thin sound:
  • "And lo, the Lord passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering bricks by the power of the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake—fire; but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire—a soft murmuring voice ."
  • "... a murmuring voice I heard."
  • from a 2014 interview with Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the U.K.: "There's a wonderful line in Unetana Tokef: 'A great shofar sounds, and a still small voice is heard.' Here is God Himself, blowing the shofar. He doesn't scream in your ears; it's a still small voice. And then it says, 'The angels tremble.' That still small voice is what terrifies the angels. Not the big noise. But if God whispers in your ear and tells you you're an angel, that's terrifying. You think to yourself, 'Wow, I could be that big and look how small I am.'"
Guilt of angels:
  • "Even the moon is not bright, And the stars are not pure in His sight. How much less man, a worm, The son-of-man, a maggot."
  • "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth."
  • "If He cannot trust His own servants, and casts reproach on His angels, how much less those who dwell in houses of clay, whose origin is dust, who are crushed like the moth, shattered between daybreak and evening, perishing forever unnoticed."
  • "He puts no trust in His holy ones. The heavens are not guiltless in His sight; What then of one loathsome and foul, Man who drinks wrongdoing like water."

God judges us

The second paragraph continues this point, depicting how every event that will occur in the upcoming year is "written on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur". This paragraph is known by its opening words, BeRosh Hashana, and it is traditional that the litany of possible destinies is read with increasing speed from the phrase "Who shall rest and who shall wander" to the end of the paragraph. This paragraph reaches its climax with the final line, said by all the congregants in unison, "But repentance, prayer, and righteousness avert the severe decree." This verse is usually printed in more emphatic typeface and usually with, in smaller type, the words "fasting", "voice", and "money" above "repentance", "prayer", and "righteousness" respectively – those words are not read aloud but are intended as instructions on how to perform the three acts necessary to avoid the dire punishments. This verse expresses the formula by which a man may obtain a reduction in the severity of the original decree, as expressed in the Bible, the Talmud and Midrah.
Hebrew TextTranslationBiblical/Rabbinical Sources
וְכָל בָּאֵי עוֹלָם יַעַבְרוּן לְפָנֶיךָ כִּבְנֵי מָרוֹן. כְּבַקָּרַת רוֹעֶה עֶדְרוֹ. מַעֲבִיר צאנוֹ תַּחַת שִׁבְטוֹ.כֵּן תַּעֲבִיר וְתִסְפֹּר וְתִמְנֶה וְתִפְקֹד נֶפֶשׁ כָּל חָי. וְתַחְתּךְ קִצְבָה לְכָל בְּרִיּוֹתֶיךָ. וְתִכְתֹּב אֶת גְּזַר דִּינָם:
בְּראֹשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן וּבְיוֹם צוֹם כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן כַּמָּה יַעַבְרוּן וְכַמָּה יִבָּרֵאוּן מִי יִחְיֶה וּמִי יָמוּת. מִי בְקִצּוֹ וּמִי לא בְקִצּוֹ מִי בַמַּיִם. וּמִי בָאֵשׁ מִי בַחֶרֶב. וּמִי בַחַיָּה מִי בָרָעָב. וּמִי בַצָּמָא מִי בָרַעַשׁ. וּמִי בַמַּגֵּפָה מִי בַחֲנִיקָה וּמִי בַסְּקִילָה מִי יָנוּחַ וּמִי יָנוּעַ מִי יִשָּׁקֵט וּמִי יִטָּרֵף מִי יִשָּׁלֵו. וּמִי יִתְיַסָּר מִי יֵעָנִי. וּמִי יֵעָשֵׁר מִי יִשָּׁפֵל. וּמִי יָרוּם וּתְשׁוּבָה וּתְפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה מַעֲבִירִין אֶת רעַ הַגְּזֵרָה		"All mankind will pass before You like a flock of sheep. Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living; and You shall apportion the destinies of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict.
On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed – how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die after a long life and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword and who by beast, who by famine and who by thirst, who by upheaval and who by plague, who by strangling and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted.
But Repentance, Prayer, and Charity annul the severity of the Decree."		Like a shepherd:
  • "As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some have wandered away, so I will rescue my sheep from all the places where they are scattered on a day of clouds and gloom."
  • "Like a shepherd He pastures His flock: He gathers the lambs in His arms And carries them in His bosom; Gently he drives the mother sheep."
God scrutinizes man:
  • "The Lord looks down from heaven; He sees all mankind. From His dwelling place he gazes on all the inhabitants of the earth—He who fashions the hearts of them all, who discerns all their doings."
  • "What is man that You have been mindful of him, mortal man that You have taken note of him." "Oh Lord, what is man that You should care about him, mortal man that You should think of him."
  • "What is man that You make much of him, that you fix Your attention upon him. You inspect him every morning, examine him every minute."
  • "Do you fix your gaze on such a one?... His days are determined. You know the number of his months; You have set him limits that he cannot pass."
  • "On Rosh Hashana all worldly creatures pass before Him like the children of Maron as it says, 'He who fashions the hearts of them all, who discerns all their doings.'"
Repentance, prayer, and charity annul the severity of the decree:
  • "R. Judan said in R. Eleazar's name: Three things nullify a decree, and these are they: Prayer and charity and repentance, and the three are enumerated in one verse: If My people, upon whom My Name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray... —here you have prayer, ...And seek My face...—alludes to charity, as you read, 'I shall behold Thy face in righteousness', ...And turn from their evil ways... —denotes repentance, ...after that, Then will I forgive their sin.".
This sentence is often mis-translated, reading 'Roa HaGezerah' as a noun and adjective - 'the severe decree' whereas the Hebrew is two nouns in Smichut - the severity of the decree. In contradistinction to the Talmudic passage on which it is based, the prayer does not suggest the decree can be changed. Marc Saperstein, “Inscribed for Life or Death?” Journal of Reform Judaism 28:3, 19.
In most editions of the High Holiday prayerbooks these three words are printed in large type and above them in small type are the words "fasting, voice, money", to indicate that proper repentance requires fasting, proper prayer requires reciting the prayers aloud, and proper righteousness requires the charitable giving of money. Additionally, in gematria each of the three words in small type have a value of 136, which is interpreted as meaning that each is equally important in averting stern judgment. Moreover, the words are each an acronym: צום is an acronym צעקה ושנוי מעשה, קול represents קדושה וטהר לבנו, and ממון is an acronym for מוציא מחברו וגם נותן. A Talmudic reference has the sequence as prayer, charity, and repentance; and a prayerbook from Salonika, handwritten in 1522, has this verse rearranged to conform to the Talmudic sequence.
  • Interpreters disagree on whether to translate this line as "annul the severe decree" or as "annul the severity of the decree". This distinction because the phrasing is ambiguous – and it would seem that the decree itself – namely, death in some form – cannot be totally and permanently avoided but that the immediacy or the cruelty of that death might be mitigated.

We are helpless

The third paragraph begs for Divine mercy on the basis of the fact that man by nature is sinful and innately impotent and mortal, which conditions will cause a merciful Deity to forgive his trespasses. The passage here echoes the despair found in the book of Koheleth, but concludes—as does, from which it apparently draws—with the contrasting affirmation that God is eternal and enduring. The text of אדם יסודו מעפר is very similar to, where it is presented as the philosophy which the Book of Wisdom sets out to discredit.
Hebrew TextTranslationBiblical/Rabbinical Sources
כִּי כְּשִׁמְךָ כֵּן תְּהִלָּתֶךָ קָשֶׁה לִכְעֹס וְנוחַ לִרְצות כִּי לֹא תַחְפּץ בְּמוֹת הַמֵּת כִּי אִם בְּשׁוּבו מִדַּרְכּוֹ וְחָיָה וְעַד יוֹם מוֹתוֹ תְּחַכֶּה לּוֹ אִם יָשׁוּב מִיַּד תְּקַבְּלוֹ. אֱמֶת כִּי אַתָּה הוּא יוֹצְרָם וְ יוֹדֵעַ יִצְרָם כִּי הֵם בָּשָׂר וָדָם. אָדָם יְסוֹדוֹ מֵעָפָר, וְסוֹפוֹ לֶעָפָר בְּנַפְשׁוֹ יָבִיא לַחְמוֹ מָשׁוּל כְּחֶרֶס הַנִּשְׁבָּר כְּחָצִיר יָבֵשׁ וּכְצִיץ נוֹבֵל כְּצֵל עוֹבֵר וּכְעָנָן כָּלָה וּכְרוּחַ נוֹשָׁבֶת וּכְאָבָק פּוֹרֵחַ וְכַחֲלוֹם יָעוּף."For Your Name signifies Your praise: hard to anger and easy to appease, for You do not wish the death of one deserving death, but that he repent from his way and live. Until the day of his death You await him; if he repents You will accept him immediately. It is true that You are their Creator and You know their inclination, for they are flesh and blood. A man's origin is from dust and his destiny is back to dust, at risk of his life he earns his bread; he is likened to a broken shard, withering grass, a fading flower, a passing shade, a dissipating cloud, a blowing wind, flying dust, and a fleeting dream."If a man repents, God accepts:
  • "Seek the Lord while he can be found, Call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked give up his ways, the sinful man his plans; Let him turn back to the Lord, and He will pardon him; To our God, For he freely forgives."
  • "Is it my desire that a wicked person shall die?—says the Lord God. It is rather that he shall turn back from his ways and live."
  • "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."
  • "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
God knows man's inclination:
Man is but flesh and blood:
  • "With the swest of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for you were taken therefrom, for dust you are, and to dust you will return.
  • "All flesh is like grass, All its goodness like flowers of the field: Grass withers, flowers fade, When the breath of the Lord blows on them. Indeed, man is but grass: Grass withers, flowers fade — But the word of our God is always fulfilled!"
  • "He brings potentates to naught, Makes rulers of the earth as nothing. Hardly are they planted, hardly are they sown, Hardly has their stem taken root in earth, When he blows upon them and they dry up, And the storm bears them off like straw."
  • "the breath in our nostrils is as smoke... our body shall be turned to ashes, and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air... our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud... and shall be dispersed as a mist... for our time is a very shadow that passeth away."
  • "You return man to dust; You decreed 'Return you Mortals!' For in your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that has passed, like a watch of the night. You engulf men in sleep; at daybreak they are like grass that renews itself; at daybreak it flourishes anew; by dusk it withers and dries up."
  • "Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow."
  • "Truly man has a term of service on earth. His days are like those of a hireling—like a slave who longs for shadows... My days fly faster than a weaver's shuttle, and come to their end when the thread runs out. Consider that my life is but wind... Your eye will seek me, but I shall be gone. As a cloud fades away, So whoever goes down to Sheol does not come up... I shall not live forever; let me be, for my days are a breath."
  • "Man born of woman is short lived and sated with trouble. He blossoms like a flower and withers; he vanishes like a shadow and does not endure."
  • "Who knows what is good for man to do in his life, his few days of futility that pass like a shadow."
  • "And the dust returns to the ground as it was, and the spirit returns to God who bestowed it."

God is enduring

Finally, the fourth paragraph lyrically praises God as exalted above all existence, and begs Him to sanctify His Name by redeeming Israel – transitioning directly into the kedusha:
Hebrew TextTranslationBiblical/Rabbinical Sources
וְאַתָּה הוּא מֶלֶךְ אֵל חַי וְקַיָּם אֵין קִצְבָה לִשְׁנוֹתֶיךָ. וְאֵין קֵץ לְאֹרֶךְ יָמֶיךָ וְאֵין לְשַׁעֵר מַרְכְּבוֹת כְּבוֹדֶךָ. וְאֵין לְפָרֵשׁ עֵלוּם שְׁמֶך שִׁמְךָ נָאֶה לְךָ. וְאַתָּה נָאֶה לִשְׁמֶךָ. וּשְׁמֵנוּ קָרָאתָ בִּשְׁמֶךָ."But You are the King, the Living and Enduring God.
There is no set span to Your years and there is no end to the length of Your days. It is impossible to estimate the angelic chariots of Your glory and it is forbidden to pronounce Your Name. Your Name is worthy of You and You are worthy of Your Name, and You have included Your Name in our name."		God enduring: "Your kingship is an eternal kingship. Your dominion is for all generations."
You have included Your Name in our name: The name Israel , ישראל, contains within it אל, El , one of the names of God.

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