This is a recording of the famous prayer “Unetaneh Tokef,” (let us speak of the awesomeness), which is recited at the peak of the prayers of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. This recording is sung by Chanoch Albeck and accompanied by musical instruments. The melody is solemn, reflecting both the tone of the prayer and the serious and sombre mood that can be felt on these holy days. The words of the prayer describe fear, judgement, and helplessness but finish in praise of God. The melody also combines Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and modern Israeli tunes. It has become the most widespread tune for “Unteneh Tokef” as sung in Israel during the High Holy Days.
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Untetane Tokef - The author of “Unetaneh Tokef” is unknown, but the prayer is connected to a famous eleventh-century story about Rabbi Amnon. According to the story, Rabbi Amnon refused to convert to Christianity, even after being ordered to do so. As a punishment, his limbs were amputated one by one by the archbishop. After days of writhing in the pain, he requested to be taken with his limbs to the synagogue, where he recited the poem of “Unetaneh Tokef” and passed away. Three days later, Rabbi Amnon appeared to Rabbi Kolonymus ben Meshulam in a dream and told him to transcribe the words of “Unetaneh Tokef” and include it in the High Holy Day services. It is not known when “Unetaneh Tokef” was written but fragments of the prayer have been found on Cairo Geniza dating back to the eighth century. However, the structure and lyrics of the prayer hint that it could have been composed in the Byzantine period, which ended in 1453.
Unetane Tokef and the Yom Kippur War - The Unetane Tokef prayer has become a symbol of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The war started with a surprise attack by Egypt and Syria on Israel during Yom Kippur, October 6, 1973 and lasted for three weeks during which 2,500 Israeli soldiers lost their lives. In 1990, songwriter Yair Rosenblum composed this melody for “Unetaneh Tokef” while visiting Kibbutz Beit Hashita, a kibbutz in the Jordan Valley that lost eleven men during the war, more casualties per capita than anywhere else in Israel. The melody was inspired by the raw memory of the war and has become a memorial for the dead soldiers.