El Nora Alila

El Nora Alila (Hebrew: אל נורא עלילה‎) (also transliterated as Ayl Nora Alilah ) is a piyyut (liturgical poem) that begins the Ne'ilah service at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. The piyyut is recited as part of the Sephardic and Mizrahi liturgy, and has been adopted into Ashkenazic Yom Kippur services as well.

The English translation offered below is a lyric rendering, reproducing a rhyme similar to the Hebrew. A more literal translation makes the title and recurring line, "God of awesome deeds". It consists of eight stanzas, each stanza consisting of four lines of five syllables to the line. Each line (in Hebrew) has three words and the fourth line is always two words, "as Thy gates are closed at night" – the gates being shut are presumably those of Heaven's gates for receiving prayers of repentance, and the hymn is one last impassioned plea for Divine pardon in the very last minutes of the Day of Atonement. The initial letters of the first six stanzas of the piyyut spell out משה חזק, "Moses, may he be strong", in reference to the piyyut's author Moses ibn Ezra (12th century Spain).

Refrain: אֵל נוֹרָא עֲלִילָה, אֵל נוֹרָא עֲלִילָה,
הַמְצִיא לָנוּ מְחִילָה, בִּשְׁעַת הַנְּעִילָה.

מְתֵי מִסְפָּר קְרוּאִים, לְךָ עַיִן נוֹשְׂאִים,
וּמְסַלְּדִים בְּחִילָה, בִּשְׁעַת הַנְּעִילָה.

שׁוֹפְכִים לְךָ נַפְשָׁם, מְחֵה פִּשְׁעָם וְכַחְשַׁם,
וְהַמְצִיאֵם מְחִילָה, בִּשְׁעַת הַנְּעִילָה.

הֱיֵה לָהֶם לְסִתְרָה, וְהַצִילֵם מִמְּאֵרָה,
וְחָתְמֵם לְהוֹד וּלְגִילָה, בִּשְׁעַת הַנְּעִילָה.

חוֹן אוֹתָם וְרַחֵם, וְכָל לוֹחֵץ וְלוֹחֵם,
עֲשֵׂה בָּהֶם פְּלִילָה, בִּשְׁעַת הַנְּעִילָה.

זְכֹר צִדְקַת אֲבִיהֶם, וְחַדֵּשׁ אֶת יְמֵיהֶם,
כְּקֶדֶם וּתְחִלָּה, בִּשְׁעַת הַנְּעִילָה.

קְרָא נָּא שְׁנַת רָצוֹן, וְהָשֵׁב שְׁאָר הַצֹּאן,
לְאָהֳלִיבָה וְאָהֳלָה, בִּשְׁעַת הַנְּעִילָה.

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