AVINU MALKENU

AVINU MALKENU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avinu_Malkeinu
Throughout the Ten Days of Repentance, five lines of Avinu Malkeinu that refer to various heavenly books include the word Kotveinu ("Inscribe us"). During Ne'ila, this is replaced with Chotmeinu ("Seal us"). This reflects the belief that on Rosh Hashanah all is written and revealed and on Yom Kippur all decrees for the coming year are sealed. When recited on Fast Days (other than the Fast of Gedaliah which falls in the days of Penitence) the phrase Barech Aleinu ("bless us") in the 4th verse is recited instead of the usual Chadesh Aleinu ("renew us"), and "Zochreinu" (remember us) is recited in verses 19-23 in place of "Kotveinu B'Sefer" (inscribe us in the book). Fast Days on which it is not recited (by any custom) are Tisha B'Av, the afternoon of the Fast of Esther except when it is brought forward (thus not falling immediately before Purim) and when the 10th of Tevet falls on a Friday it is omitted at Mincha (as is usual on a Friday).




Sephardic Jews do not recite Avinu Malkeinu on fast days (except those that fall in the days of Penitence). Instead, a series of Selichot prayers specific to the day are recited.







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AVINU MALKENU (Heb. אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ; "Our Father, our King"), a litany recited during the *Ten Days of Penitence and, in some rites, on fast days. Each line begins with the words Avinu Malkenu and ends with a petition. The number and order of the verses vary considerably in the different rites: in Seder Rav Amram Ga'on there are 25 verses, in the Sephardi rite 29, 31, and 32, the German 38, the Polish 44, and in that of Salonika 53. According to Jacob b. Asher (Tur, Sh. Ar., OH 602), Amram Gaon's Avinu Malkenu consisted of 22 verses arranged in alphabetical order. It became the Ashkenazi custom to recite them each morning and evening during the Ten Days of Penitence after the Amidah. The prayer is not found in the prayer books of Saadiah Gaon and Maimonides. The origin of Avinu Malkenu is R. Akiva's prayer on a fast day proclaimed because of a drought: "Avinu Malkenu, we have no King but Thee; Avinu Malkenu, for Thy sake have compassion upon us" (Ta'an. 25b). Other such litanies containing some of the same petitions but opening with *"Avinu she-ba-Shamayim" ("Our Father who art in Heaven") are still in use in some rites. Avinu Malkenu now opens, in the Ashkenazi rite, with "Our Father, our King, we have sinned before Thee" and contains petitions such as "Inscribe us in the book of good life; inscribe us in the book of redemption and salvation; inscribe us in the book of prosperity and sustenance." In the Ne'ilah service of the Day of Atonement "seal us" is substituted for "inscribe us," and on fast days "remember us" is used. In the Ashkenazi rite Avinu Malkenu is not recited on the Sabbath, since supplications should not be presented on that day (Tur, Sh. Ar., OḤ 602; cf. TJ Shab. 15b). If the Day of Atonement occurs on a Sabbath, Avinu Malkenu is recited only during the Ne'ilah service. In Spain, though, it was the custom to recite it on the Sabbath of the Ten Days of Penitence, presumably on the grounds that this was warranted by the gravity of the period (Tur, ibid., and Beit Yosef, ad loc.; cf. Ta'an. 19a and Rashi ad loc.). Originally, the words Avinu Malkenu were chanted by the congregation and the rest of each verse was recited by the Reader who could add verses freely. It became the custom for the congregation to recite the whole prayer in an undertone except for some of the middle verses, which are repeated individually after the Reader. In many congregations the last verse is sung to a popular tune. The ark is opened for the prayer. The opening appeal to God as both "Our Father" and "Our King" expresses two complementary aspects of the relationship between God
and man, striking a balance between the intimacy of the one and the awe of the other.



BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Hertz, Prayer, 161; Abrahams, Companion, lxxiiif.; Elbogen, Gottesdienst, 147–8, 223–4; J. Heinemann, Ha-Tefillah bi-Tekufat ha-Tanna'im ve ha-Amora'im (19662), 95–96.





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