El Nora Alila (“God of Awesome Deeds”) is a piyyut composed by the great Andalusian poet, Moshe ibn Ezra (1055-1138). In Greater Sephardi communities, El Nora Alila opens the Ne’ila prayer service, the fifth and final part of Yom Kippur. Ne’ilah means “Closing” or “Locking,” and the term is used to refer to Gates of Heaven that have been open to our prayers for the entirety of the holy day, but that, as Yom Kippur draws to a close, will soon be locked shut.

Frank London- Shofar and trumpet
John Murchison- Qaun
Marandi Hostetter - Violin
Tripp Dudley- darbuka
Yonatan Gutfeld- Guitar and singing

Filmed on the New Shul’s Neila service 5780 at Queens county farm