אֵין כֵּאלֹהֵינוּ
En Kelohenu
“There is none like our God”
Sung by Rabbi Jonathan Cohen and family. From the family’s recordings of Western Sephardi home singing.
Text & translation
אֵין כֵּאלֹהֵינוּ, אֵין כַּאדוֹנֵינוּ, אֵין כְּמַלְכֵּנוּ, אֵין כְּמוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ.
En kelohenu, en kadonenu, en k’malkenu, en k’moshiʿenu.
There is none like our God, none like our Lord, none like our Sovereign, none like our Deliverer.
מִי כֵאלֹהֵינוּ, מִי כַאדוֹנֵינוּ, מִי כְמַלְכֵּנוּ, מִי כְמוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ.
Mi khelohenu, mi khadonenu, mi kh’malkenu, mi kh’moshiʿenu.
Who is like our God, who like our Lord, who like our Sovereign, who like our Deliverer?
נוֹדֶה לֵאלֹהֵינוּ, נוֹדֶה לַאדוֹנֵינוּ, נוֹדֶה לְמַלְכֵּנוּ, נוֹדֶה לְמוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ.
Nodeh lelohenu, nodeh ladonenu, nodeh l’malkenu, nodeh l’moshiʿenu.
Let us thank our God, let us thank our Lord, let us thank our Sovereign, let us thank our Deliverer.
בָּרוּךְ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, בָּרוּךְ אֲדוֹנֵינוּ, בָּרוּךְ מַלְכֵּנוּ, בָּרוּךְ מוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ.
Barukh Elohenu, barukh Adonenu, barukh malkenu, barukh moshiʿenu.
Blessed is our God, blessed our Lord, blessed our Sovereign, blessed our Deliverer.
אַתָּה הוּא אֱלֹהֵינוּ, אַתָּה הוּא אֲדוֹנֵינוּ, אַתָּה הוּא מַלְכֵּנוּ, אַתָּה הוּא מוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ.
Atah hu Elohenu, atah hu Adonenu, atah hu malkenu, atah hu moshiʿenu.
You are our God, You are our Lord, You are our Sovereign, You are our Deliverer.
About this song
An ancient, anonymous hymn of praise, built on four names of God turned through five stanzas whose initial letters spell Amen. Recited after the Amidah, it is given a lingering, festive melody at the Sephardic table, where it is the last pizmon before the Grace after Meals.
Cohen writes En, not “Ein,” since — in his words — “in correct Sephardi pronunciation all the vowels are pure, and not diphthongs.”
In the living tradition
These are not museum pieces. The same songs are sung today at Kehillah Kedoshah Zikhron Zvi, the egalitarian Western Sephardi congregation of the Hudson Valley — the community at the endpoint of the Program’s Sephardi Liturgy project.