Eli Tsiyon Ve-Areha
''Eli Tsiyon ve-Areha'' () 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 ' 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 ...
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