Few songs are as well known and beloved as Ein Kel-heinu. It is often sung to a simple, joyous tune, and led by children. The fact that it signals the approaching end of a two and a half hour long service doesn’t hurt either. But rarely does such a simple song contrast so starkly with its sublime origin, or even more sublime meaning.
To everyone’s great surprise, it was discovered about a half century ago that this prayer, rather than being a simple nursery rhyme that children could learn by heart, was originally written as a song that was sung by celestial beings entrusted with the responsibility to transport the heavenly ark that was the parallel to our earthly ark of the covenant. Its simplicity and repetitiveness were not indications that this was a prayer for children, but rather, that this was a prayer that was meant to bring those who recite it to an equally high divine level as the celestial beings that created it. The path of meditation, as is well known, relies on simplicity derived from complexity, not on complexity derived from simplicity.
More: the four names given to G-d—“our G-d” “our Lord” “our King” and “our Savior/Redeemer” reflect the increasing sophistication of the Jewish people’s understanding of the divine. “G-d” is the first perception of divinity, right in the opening sentence of Genesis. “Lord” is first used by Abraham, signaling a new understanding of G-d among the Jewish people.” “King” comes into the picture at the Song of the Sea, when G-d replaces the earthly king/tyrant Pharaoh. And finally “Saviour/Redeemer” is how G-d was seen after mature reflection in the Book of Deuteronomy (Dvarim), when our people was described as a people “saved by G-d”.
Furthermore, there is a subtle message in the order of the stanzas. The first letters in the first three stanzas—aleph, mem, nun—spell out the word “amen.” The last two stanzas begin with the words “baruch” and “atah.” It is as if ein kel-heinu is meant to be an “amen” to the whole service that went before, followed immediately by the beginning of a new beracha, as if to say “Our prayers have ended, but they are never complete. Let us bless G-d as new…”.
Rabbi Robert L. Wolkoff