Ana BeKoach

Ana BeKoach (, We beg you! With your strength) is a piyyut (liturgical poem) recited by Jewish communities at the end of Parshat HaKorbanot read during Shacharit, as part of Kabbalat Shabbat (the Kabbalah inspired introductory prayers before Shabbat Maariv), and on each day from the second day of Pesach to the day before Shavuot during the 49-day counting of the Omer. It takes its name from the first two words of the first verse.

The piyyut's structure is informed by Kabbalah principles. It has the following structure and associations:
 * It consists of seven verses with six words per verse, so 42 words in total.
 * The seven verses are each linked to the one of the seven lower Sefirot (attributes/emanations) of HaShem, one of the seven days of creation, and one of the days of the week.
 * Each verse has two acronyms attached to it made up from the initial letters of the words in that verse. All the acronyms taken together form the 42-letter name of HaShem.
 * The 42 words (7 verses × 6 words each), with each verse's two acronyms counted as one "word" (so 7 additional "words") gives a total of 49 words, each of which is associated with a day of the counting of the Omer.

History
The piyyut is based on Kabbalah and is attributed to Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKanah, a tanna (a rabbinical sage who commented in the Mishnah in the second century CE.

Rabbi Nehunya was described as meeting the requirements in the Talmud for being given guardianship of the 42-letter name of HaShem. He secretly weaved this name into Ana BeKoach, to ensure it was not available to everyone, but would not be lost.

"The Forty-Two Lettered Name is entrusted only to him who is pious, humble, middle-aged, free from bad temper, sober, and not insistent on his rights. And he who knows it, is heedful thereof, and observes it in purity, is beloved above and popular below, feared by man, and inherits two worlds, this world and the future world."

Usage
The piyyut is recited as part of the Parashat Korbanot reading during Shacharit as well as during Kabbalat Shabbat before Lekha Dodi. It finds major expression when said after each of the 49 daily Omer countings, both in its full form and intertwined in commentary verses included after the count for each day.

Other times Ana BeKoach is said outside formal services:
 * As part of Shema al HaMitah (Bedtime Shema), to support the soul which departs until the morning. This arose from Nusach Ari.
 * If they can, before someone dies, they say this prayer after Vidui (confession).
 * As part of the funeral service to help the soul rise to heaven.
 * Any time when needing additional strength for daily life.

It is the custom of Hasidim to recite the piyyut during:
 * the laps of Simchat Torah, with one sentence recited in the order of each lap.
 * Tashlikh ceremony on Rosh Hashanah or during the blowing of the Shofar.
 * in the hymns of the Hosanna, during the beating of the guarantee in the Hoshana Rabbah.
 * when lighting Hanukkah candles, seven times.

Text of Ana BeKoach
This table highlights the 42-word name by indicating the initial letter from each word forming it in b old. The greyed-out acronyms are not spoken aloud in Orthodox practice.

Each verse is linked to:
 * A Day of creation. First verse linked to the first day, second verse to the second day etc.
 * A Day of the week. First verse linked to Sunday, second verse to Monday etc.
 * The lower seven Sephirot of the Kabbalah. First verse linked to Chesed, second verse to Gevura etc.

The eighth verse following the piyyut is not part of it but serves to close it like Amen closes blessings. This verse is also recited after the first verse of the Shema.

Central aspects of Kabbalah related to Ana BeKoach
the meaning, structure and power of the piyyut can be explained using the following Kabbalah related ideas:
 * Sephirot: The ten attributes/emanations of Ein Sof, through which the universe's existence is sustained.
 * Letters of the Torah: Not only the words of the Torah, but each of its letters contain deep mystical meaning. Torah study must include the learning of these meanings. Gematria is one of many methods used to understand this meaning.
 * Other names of HaShem: The 4-letter name of HaShem, revealed to Moses from the burning bush, is the most important name in terms of Kabbalah and orthodox Judaisms understanding of HaShem. Kabbalah investigates other names of HaShem, which are contained in the 4-letter name and have mystical significance which can influence the physical universe. These names are derived from the Torah and have various numbers of letters. The most important are the 42-letter and 72-letter names.
 * The numbers 42 and 49: 42 is metophorically related to the exodus from Egypt and the journey to Eretz Yisrael. 49 is related to the counting of the Omer.
 * Living Kabbalah: The inclusion of Kabbalah learning in daily life and particularly in prayer services.
 * Adoption by other Jews: Kabbalah learning has been accepted by most orthodox Jewish traditions as Halacha, especially but not limited to Chasidim. Most Orthodox Jews have adopted some Kabbalah practices in their Nusach. Isaac Luria (also known as Ha'ari, Ha'ari Hakadosh or Arizal) and his Nusach Ari have been central to this adoption.

42 Journeys from Egypt to the Promised Land
sets out the route the Israelites took from leaving Egypt to entering the Promised Land. The route includes 42 journeys from one camp to another over 40 years before they eventually enter the land of Israel. According to the Baal Shem Tov each of the 42 camps represents steps that person must successfully navigate to fulfill their life purpose from birth (the exit from Egypt) to death and entry into Olam Haba (World to Come) equated with the Israelites entering the Promised Land.

Piyyut and other liturgy based on 42, and the 42-letter name assist those who contemplate them to understands each of the 42 personal waypoints they must encounter, and how to surmount them. "The forty-two 'stations' from Egypt to the Promised Land are replayed in the life of every individual Jew, as his soul journeys from its descent to earth at birth to its return to its Source." "When God brought the Jews out from Egypt, He brought them out with the mystery of the 42-letter name, just as He created heaven and earth..." "R. Yehudah b. Shalom HaLevi said in the name of R. Yonah; and also R. Levi in the name of R. Hama b. R. Hanina said: 'The manna descended after [it had journeyed through] forty-two stages.'"

Using the 42-letter name to create the world
A permutation of the first 42 letter of Genesis are said to indirectly encode the 42-letter name. This is interpreted by Kabbalah and Talmud as indicating that HaShem used his 42-letter name to create the world. The Hebrew name for the 42 letter name is שם מ'בֶ (The Mem Bet name).

"God created the world with this forty-two lettered name." "'And the Earth Was Void and Without Form.' This describes the original state, as it were..., until the world was graven with forty-two letters, all of which are the ornamentation of the Holy Name."

Using the 42-letter name to reintroduce HaShem to the enslaved Israelites
When Moses asked HaShem who he should tell the Israelites had sent him, he was told that HaShem's name was "Ehkeh asher Ehkeh" (I will be what I will be). The Gematria numerical equivalent for Hebrew word "Ehkeh" is 21. Since the word appears twice in the name this gives 42, referring to the 42-letter name (Talmud Kedushin 71).

42 in the holy texts

 * There are forty-two lines in each column of the Torah (Tractate Soferim 2:6).
 * The scripts in each Tefilin (Shel Yad and Shel Rosh) each mentions HaShem's name 21 times, in total 42 times for both Tefilin.
 * The Geonim say the Shem HaMephorash pronounced by the Kohen Gadol when he entered the Kodesh HaKodashim on Yom Kippur was the 42-letter name.
 * 42 is the number of days of Sefirat HaOmer after seven days of Passover.
 * there are 42 words in the piyyut Ana BeKoach, the first letters of which spell out the 42-letter name.
 * The Shema (declaration that HaShem the G-d is one) is the most important prayer in the siddur. Its opening paragraph (following the Shema declaration itself) starting "Ve'ahavta" contains 42 words which (less obviously than Ana BeKoach encode the 42-letter name linking it to Ana BeKoach.
 * The Zohar says that the first blessing of the Amidah (the second most important prayer) originally contained 42 words which also encoded the 42-letter name. This is no longer apparent in modern siddurim because of millennia of transcription errors.
 * Verses 10 and 11 of Kaddish (prayer said between sections of prayer serves, and as prayer for the dead) contain the 7 words (...veyishtabbaḥ veyitpa'ar veyitromam / Veyitnasse veyithaddar veyitalleh veyithallal...). These 7 words which have important meaning (describing various attributes of HaShem) each consists of 6 letters, giving a total of 42 letters. The first letter of each word is "Vav" which has a Gematria numerical value of 6.

To match the Omer days, 49 (7×7) elements are required
Ana BeKoach: Each verse of the 7 verses of the piyyut contains contains 6 word. The 6-letter acronym (two 3-letter acronyms taken together), derived from each verse, which forms part of the 42-letter name, is added to the end of the verse as a word. Constructed in this way it has 49 words (7 verses of 7 words each).

Psalm 67: After counting the Omer for the day, Psalm 67 is recited and then Ana BeKoach is read. If the first verse to Psalm 67 (which gives introductory information only) is ignored, the Psalm consists of 49 words each of which is associated with successive Omer days. Similarly verse 5 of Psalm 67 contains 49 letters which are also each linked to the Omer days. This Psalm is further associated with the Temple menorah, the 7 armed oil lamp used in the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) services, which links the Psalm and the Omer count to the Beit HaMikdash where the Omer (a measure of barley) was brought on the second day of Pesach as an offering of the first part of the harvest to HaShem.

Exodus journey stations: The stations represent life experiences which a person needs to overcome. The lower 7 sefirot are part of these experiences each of which needs to be understood for a person to proceed in life. The 42 stations and 7 sefirot make 49 life stages.

Sephirot: The 7 lower Sephirot are said to contain each of the Sephirot (including themselves) within them. There are therefore 49 permutations of Sephirot. Each Sefira is linked to a week in the Omer count. On each day of that week the week's Sefira is contemplated in relation to one of the others it contains. On the seventh day of a particular Sefira's week, the Sefira is contemplated, as it relates to itself.

Associating these concepts with Ana BeKoach
the 49 days of the Omer should remind Jews of the journey of the nation from Egypt to Israel through 42 waypoints and 7 Sephirot, and how this relates to the steps they must take in their personal life journey. The piyyut with its 49 nine words (42 words plus the 7 component parts of the 42-letter name derived from it), the 49 words of Psalm 67 and the 49 letters of verse 5 of that Psalm are associated with days of the Omer, to assist a Jew to understand the life steps and how to confront them.

Ana BeKoach is one of the Kabbalistic inspired piyyut included in all orthodox services. It was constructed to associate it with the mystical meaning of the lower seven Sephirot and the 42-letter name. Its various uses by all Jewish traditions include the devine mystical power into these observances. Reciting the piyyut has the power of bringing the Ein Sof light to earth strengthening the person reciting it, and the nation to face it ongoing journey.

Every time the piyyut is recited one must focus on how it's can assist them in their life journey. The piyyut is said in the Parashat Korbanot read during Shacharit and during Kabbalat Shabbat. It reaches its full potential of guiding a person through life by its association with the counting of the Omer, through its intertwining with the other 49–derived items.

An additional verse for contemplation is inserted in the Omer service after the day's count in Edut Hamizrach, Sefard and Chasid Siddurim. These siddurim give the formula for the verse as:
 * The Ana BeKoach word for that day (with its initial letter that forms part of the 42-letter name), plus
 * The combined Sephirot for that day, plus
 * The Psalm 67 word for that day, plus
 * The Psalm 67, verse 5, letter for that day.

This constructed verse combines all the Kabbalah elements in these various sources into the counting of the Omer for each day.

The table below shows how all these parts for each Omer day fit together. For example:
 * Week 1, Weekday 1 = Day 1 of the Omer: Ana BeKoach word – Ana (Please), Sephirot – loving kindness within loving kindness, Psalm 67 word – Elokim, Verse 5 letter – Yud (the tenth letter of the aleph-bet). Combining these gives the contemplation verse for the day 1 counting as: "Ana – loving kindness within loving kindness – Elokim – Yud". In Hebrew:.
 * Week 2, Weekday 3 = Day 10 of the Omer: Ana BeKoach word – ammecha (your nation), Sephirot – beauty within strength, Psalm 67 word – darchecha (your paths), Verse 5 letter – Nun (the fourteenth letter in the aleph-bet). Combining these gives the contemplation verse for the day 10 counting as: "Ammecha – beauty within strength – darchecha – Nun". In Hebrew:.

By counting the Omer and contemplating the other items, associated with it a Jew can understand their journey through life, and which areas they currently need to work on to achieve the goal of finally uniting with Ein Sof.

In popular culture

 * King David (father father father) (2023) &mdash; An Israeli hip-hop song released by Israeli rapper Dudu Faruk (Ori Comay) includes a rapid recitation of Ana beKoach at the end of the track.
 * The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-2023) &mdash; A rendition of Ana BeKoach is featured in the television show in a synagogue scene.