Ana B'Koach

Ana b'Koach, composed by Rav Nehunia Ben Hakannah, was composed in the First Century, and was incorporated into the daily Jewish prayer service during the Kabbalistic revival of 15th century Europe. Ana b’Koach is a built of 42 words written in seven sentences of six words each. Each of the seven sentences correspond to the seven days of the week, seven specific angels, the seven lower sefirot of the Tree of Life, to a particular heavenly body, and to any number of other sevens. The 42 words are associated with the 42 stops in the desert as the Hebrews wandered for 40 years. The annual "Counting of the Sefirot" connects each of the days of seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot [Seven] with a word of Ana B Koach, and the seven acronyms of the letters of each week. Some of the posters below are acronyms of Ana B'Koach, just showing the first letter of each word. Some are the full Hebrew spelling, with translation and transliteration, to help with pronunciation.