A hymn that precedes the Torah blessing and the reading of the Torah on Shavuot. Historically, the poem was recited as an introduction to the Aramaic translation of the section read from the book of Exodus. This poem consists of ninety acrostic lines which spell out a double alphabet as well as the author’s name, Rabbi Meir Issac Nehroai. This poem is only recited in the Ashkenazi rite, and has two main musical settings; one is in a psalmodic style and the other is set to a modern Western melody.
