The piyut Vechol Maaminim for Rosh Hashanah follows a pattern - two lines for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, each one describing God in some way. However, the two lines for the letter Kaf seem to be the same thing: (from Wikitext)

הַכֹּל יָכוֹל וְכוֹלְלָם יָחַד

וְכֹל מַאֲמִינִים שֶׁהוּא כֹּל יָכוֹל

Why does the paytan repeat himself this way? Was there nothing else for the letter כ? The second line does not seem to add anything over the first.


There seem to be a few stiches which are interrelated and reuse words but are not identical. The mem verse ("mamlich m'lachim, vlo hamelucha" and "melech olam") is another example (bet, gimel, dalet, zayin, tet and pey also reuse words and concepts). The relationship allows one idea to complement the other. As the ArtScroll machzor writes, hakol yachol simply means that all is within the power of Hashem whereas the addition of "v'cholelam yachad" means that Hashem can also do it all at the same time. I would wonder why the two lines you cite are in the opposite order -- the specific then the general claim. But that's a separate question.

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