A Poetic Introduction to the Yom Kippur Service (Seder ha-‘avodah)

“Az be-’en kol” stands as a masterpiece of the Yom Kippur liturgy that recalls and verbally reenacts the cultic service (‘avodah) on this day in the Temple. With the Temple’s destruction in 70 CE, Jews in late antique Palestine could celebrate the atonement sacrifice only imaginatively through study or song. This poetic composition culminates in a description of the high priest’s sacrifice on the Day of Atonement but takes as its starting point the uncreated world, delving into cosmological, angelogical, and mythological themes in the process, and finally, places the intimacy of Israel and God on Yom Kippur as the climax of God’s creation. “ ’Az be-’en kol” was recovered from the Cairo Geniza and remains fragmentary.