AZ ROV NISSIM

AZ ROV NISSIM (Heb. אָז רוֹב נִסִּים; "Then many miracles"), alphabetical acrostic by the early paytan yannai (sixth century). Its theme is the events which, according to the Midrash, took place on the night of Passover (cf. Num. R. 20:12, Tanḥ. B., Num. 69). Since the 13th century it has been included as the first of the hymns and folk songs in the final section of the Passover Haggadah. The piyyut consists of seven stanzas, each concluding with the refrain "and it came to pass at midnight" (Ex. 12:29). The first six are of three lines each; the last verse, of four lines, is a prayer for the advent of the messianic age. The song formed part of the kerovah prayer Onei Pitrei Raḥamatayim, found in the Western (Ashkenazi) rite for the Sabbath before Passover. Az Rov Nissim passed also into the Eastern (Polish) rite. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Davidson, Oẓar, 1 (1924), 102, no. 2175; Baer S., Seder, 705 ff.; M. Zulay, Piyyutei Yannai (1938), 92; D. Goldschmidt (ed.), Haggadah (1960), 96, 106–7. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Tz.M. Rabinovits, Maḥzor Piyyutei Rabbi Yanai la-Torah ve-la-Mo'adim (1985); Sh. Spiegel, Avot ha-Piyyut (1996); N.M. Bronznick, Piyyutei Yanai (2000). (Encyclopaedia Hebraica)