Akdamut

thumb|First page of Akdamut from the Mahzor of Worms, a 13th-century illuminated manuscript Akdamut, or Akdamus or Akdamut Milin, or Akdomus Milin ( ʾaqdāmûṯ millîn "In Introduction to the Words," i.e. to the Ten Commandments), is a prominent piyyut ("liturgical poem") written in Aramaic recited annually on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot by Ashkenazi Jews. It was penned by (the Nehorai) of Orléans, who was a cantor (prayer leader) in Worms, Germany, (died ca. 1095). Akdamut consists of praise for God, His Torah, and His people.

Akdamut is read in almost all Ashkenazi synagogues on the first day of Shavuot during the Torah reading. The original practice was for it to be recited after the reading of the first verse (Exodus 19:1), but in the past few centuries, the practice has developed in many congregations (mainly Eastern European ones) that the poem is read after the kohen has been called to the Torah reading, but before he recites the blessing.