Eli Tsiyon ve-Areha (Hebrew: אֱלִי צִיּוֹן וְעָרֶיהָ, romanized: Elî ẕiyyôn we-ʿarêha, lit. 'Wail, Zion and Its Cities') 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.[1][2]
The poem appears in manuscripts as early as the fourteenth century.[3] Structural similarities to Tsiyon ha-lo tishali suggest that it was composed by Judah Halevi or one of his imitators.[4]
Eli Tsiyon ve-Areha is known for its distinctive melody, which likely originated in Southern Germany.[5] It has been compared to medieval tunes for the Souterliedekens and the folk song "Die Frau zur Weissenburg".[6][7] 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.[5]
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EJwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ In some communities of the Western Ashkenazic rite, this piyyut is recited before the Tziyyon piyyutim, see Rodelheim Kinnot.
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marienbergwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Posner, Simon (2011). The Koren Mesorat HaRav Kinot: The Lookstein Edition. Jerusalem: OU Press & Koren Publishers. ISBN 978-965-301-249-3.
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