(page 168 in the New Machzor/page 84 in Lev Shalem)
A number of very formal poems, called piyyutim, are added to the Amidot of the High Holy Days. Often, they come in the form of alphabetical acrostics (like the Ashrei) with each verse beginning with another letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Adirei Ayumah (“Those mighty and awesome”) is one of these poems. Its major theme is that G-d is praised both by the angels on high and by us here below. After the first verse recited by the chazzan, the congregation responds with “The Lord is King (ad-nai melech);” after the second verse, “The Lord was King (ad-nai malach);” and after the third, “The Lord will be King (ad-nai yimloch); and at the end of those three verses, the three refrains are put together as a proclamation: “The Lord is King (ad-nai melech), the Lord was King (ad-nai malach), The Lord will be King, forever and ever (ad-nai yimloch l’olam vaed).”
The thrust of the poem is therefore that G-d transcends space and time —G-d is praised everywhere, and rules “everywhen.” The language of the poem, and the idiom of kingship, is hard for us to wrap our heads around. But the poem forces us to confront the enormity of G-d, and the limitations on our ability to grasp G-d’s power and majesty.
Here is a quote from Rabbi Danny Matt (a Jersey boy!) that gives us some inkling of what this piyyut is really about:
“Somewhere out there right now a new star is being born. A clump of matter has attracted gas and dust, grown larger, drawn matter to itself more efficiently, until finally the temperature and pressure within are high enough that hydrogen atoms are jammed together and thermonuclear reactions begin. The star turns on and the surrounding darkness is dispelled: matter turns into light. About once a month, somewhere in our galaxy, out of a pitch-black cloud of gas and dust, a new galaxy forms. And the observable universe may contain 100 billion galaxies; so perhaps 100 solar systems are forming every second.”
What kind of being could rule over such immense power?