Eli Tsiyon ve-Areha

Eli Tsiyon ve-Areha (אֱלִי צִיּוֹן וְעָרֶיהָ) is an acrostic Zionide of anonymous authorship, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. It closes the series of kinnot chanted on the morning of Tisha B'Av by Ashkenazi communities.

The poem appears in manuscripts as early as the fourteenth century. Structural similarities to Tsiyon ha-lo tishali suggest that it was composed by Judah Halevi or one of his imitators.

Eli Tsiyon ve-Areha is known for its distinctive melody, which likely originated in Southern Germany. It has been compared to medieval tunes for the Souterliedekens and the folk song "Die Frau zur Weissenburg". The melody has become symbolic of Tisha B'Av and the three weeks preceding it, and as such is traditionally also used during this period for the refrain to Lekha Dodi.

Text
The poem comprises twelve stanzas, each divided into four rhyming lines beginning alternately with ʿalei (for) and veʿal (and for). In the text below, the first Hebrew letter of each line is made bold as to indicate the alphabetical nature of the poem. The kinna's refrain is derived from a verse in the Book of Joel: "Lament like a maiden wrapped in sack-cloth for the husband of her youth."

Legacy
Many poems based on Eli Tsiyon ve-Areha have been composed, including an elegy on the death of Princess Charlotte by Hyman Hurwitz (translated into English by Samuel Taylor Coleridge), an elegy on the death of Theodor Herzl by Aaron Luboshitzky, a kinnah for the Holocaust by Yehuda Leib Bialer, and various polemic and comedic poems.

Various musical arrangements of the melody were also produced in the 20th century. These include a paraphrase for piano and cello by Leo Zeitlin and its adaptation for piano and violin by Joseph Achron, both members of the New Jewish School, which aimed to create a national Jewish art music.