Aveinu Malkaynu A Prayer Pleading For Help From Our Father Our King.....

 Nadene Goldfoot                                      

Barbara Streisand is singing a prayer, Avinu Malkeinu  (Ah-vay-noo  Mahl-kay-noo). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YONAP39jVE

Each line of the prayer begins with the words "Avinu Malkeinu" ["Our Father, Our King"] and is then followed by varying phrases, mostly supplicatory. There is often a slow, chanting, repetitive aspect to the melody to represent the pious pleading within the prayer.

Avinu Malkeinu (Hebrew: אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ; "Our Father, Our King") is a Jewish prayer recited during Jewish services during the Ten Days of Repentance, from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur inclusive. (This 2023 from September 15th to 24th and 25th of September).  Since the 17th century, most Eastern Ashkenazic communities recite it also on all fast days; in the Sephardic and Western Ashkenazic tradition (as well as a very few Eastern Ashkenazic communities) it is recited only during the Ten Days of Repentance.

The kernel of this prayer, which was recorded in the Siddur of Rabbi Amram Gaon (9th century Babylon), can be found in the Talmud. After a particularly hard draught, Rabbi Akiva led the prayers and said the following: “Our Father, our King, we have no king other than You. Our Father, our King, for Your sake, have mercy on us.” And rain immediately fell. This was then expanded into the full Avinu Malkeinu, which has become a treasured and revered cornerstone of our people’s liturgy.

The Talmud records Rabbi Akiva (died 135 CE), when general Bar Kokhba died fighting to keep Jerusalem after freeing  it in 132 from the Romans,  reciting two verses each beginning "Our Father, Our King" in a prayer to end a drought (apparently successfully). 

                                           

In a much later compilation of Talmudic notes, published circa 1515, this is expanded to five verses. It is very probable that, at first, there was no set number of verses, no sequence, nor perhaps any fixed text. Apparently an early version had the verses in alphabetic sequence, which would mean 22 verses. 

                      A painting of Rabbi Akiva, who according to the Talmud saw 24,000 of his students die during the Omer period until the 33rd day, now known as Lag B'Omer.

The prayer book of Amram Gaon (9th century) had 25 verses. Mahzor Vitry (early 12th century) has more than 40 verses and added the explanation that the prayer accumulated additional verses that were added ad hoc on various occasions and thereafter retained. 

Presently, the Sephardic tradition has 29 verses, among the Mizrahi Jews the Syrian tradition has 31 or 32 verses, but the Yemenite has only 27 verses, the Salonika has as many as 53 verses, the Ashkenazic has 38 verses, the Polish tradition has 44 verses, all with different sequences. And within traditions, some verses change depending on the occasion, such as the Ten Days of Repentance, including Rosh Hashana and the bulk of Yom Kippur (when it is generally said kotvenu - "inscribe us"), or the Ne'ila Yom Kippur service (chotmenu - "seal us"), or a lesser fast day (zokhreinu - "remember us").

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avinu_Malkeinu#:~:text=remember

%20us%22).-,Practice,pious%20pleading%20within%20the%20prayer.

https://www.heritagefl.com/story/2014/05/16/features/rethinking-the-rabbi-akiva-

narrative/2705.html

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4491739/jewish/Avinu-Malkeinu.htm