In the spirit of Rosh HaShana and Yom HaKippurim I have decided to post another of my favourite sections of the liturgy. Tradition has it that this was written by Rav Amram, a Rabbi who was believed to have lived in the German town of Mainz about a thousand years ago. Some have argued that the tradition is an adaptation of a similar tradition concerning the Christian St. Emmeram of Regensburg but, in the manner in which it is related in Jewish circles, it involves Amram’s refusal to convert to Christianity after having been invited to do so by the local Bishop.
Rosh HaShana Liturgy II: “ונתנה תוקף”
25 09 2006Comments : Leave a Comment »
Categories : Jewish Tradition, Literature, Translation
Rosh HaShana Liturgy I: “חלום חלמתי”
25 09 2006In honour of the rapidly approaching Rosh HaShana I thought that I might post up some of the more beautiful parts of the day’s liturgy. When the kohanim ascend the bimah to bless the congregation, custom dictates that they sing the words of Numbers 6:24-26 slowly enough for the congregation to insert a brief prayer in the midst of their singing. That prayer is as follows:
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Categories : Jewish Tradition, Literature, Translation
Abridged Guide to Tel Aviv: How to Pick up Women
25 09 2006(Translated from the Hebrew: מדריך תל־אביב מקוצר: איך להתחיל עם בחורה, by Chanoch Levin)
In a coffee shop; Friday, after lunch
[A young man approaches a girl sitting alone in a coffee shop and sits on her]
Girl: Excuse me, but you’re sitting on me!
Man: Waiter! I hear that you have talking seats?
[The waiter approaches]
Waiter: That’s not a seat – it’s a lady.
Man: So why don’t you use seats!?
Waiter: We do use them, only you’ve sat upon a lady by mistake…
Man: Fine, fine! Bring me a cup of tea and stop screwing with my brain! Women and seats!
[to the girl]
The waiters here, I’m telling you!… What’s your name?
Girl: Shoshana.
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Categories : Literature, Translation
Samuel HaNagid: “קרב”
25 09 2006קרב דומה בראשו אל יפיפה
אשר כל איש לשחק בה יאוה
וסופו כזקנה המאוסה
אשר כל שוחרה יבכה וידוהWar is, at first, like a sweet-heart
With whom every man longs to play
At the last she is a like a repulsive old hag
Whose paramours weep and ache
- Samuel HaNagid (993-1056)
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Categories : Literature, Translation
Yehuda Amihai II: “אין כאלהינו”
25 09 2006Another poem from Yehuda Amihai – this one requiring a brief prefatory explanation. The following is an example taken from the synagogue liturgy, read towards the end of certain services:
אין כאלהינו, אין כאדוננו
מי כאלהינו, מי כאדוננו
אתה הוא אלהינו, אתה הוא אדוננו
אתה הוא שהקריבו אבותינו לפניך את קטרת הסמיםThere are none like our God, there are none like our Lord.
Who is like our God? Who is like our Lord?
You are our God! You are our Lord!
You are the one who drew our fathers close to you with the sacrificial burning of the incense.
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Categories : Literature, Translation
Yehuda Amihai I: “אמן”
25 09 2006For some unknown reason, I have started rekindling my interest in Gothic literature. As I don’t wish to lead this blog away from its stated purpose, I have decided to devote this post to the first stanza of Yehuda Amihai’s beautiful poem, “אלים מתחלפים, התפילות נשארות לעד”. The following is the text of this first stanza, followed by my own (perhaps, unworthy) translation. I have taken a certain degree of license with my translation, both in content and in form:
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Categories : Literature, Translation
“A Stone’s Throw From Jerusalem”: The Curious Habit of Throwing Rocks on Shabbat
25 09 2006Every now and then you hear another story about some crazy idiot on Bar Ilan St, throwing rocks at passing motorists and yelling, “Shabbos!” I’ve seen these people yelling (because, obviously, the driver is simply unaware of the gravity of their inexcusable sin), but have fortunately never witnessed the throwing of rocks – some of which have caused serious injury and even death.
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Categories : Jewish Tradition
“Those Cultured Philistines”: The Eqron Inscription
25 09 2006Discovered a mere ten years ago, the so-called “Eqron Inscription” constitutes the sole extant Philistine-language text. While the Philistine names given in the Bible all appear to be Aegean, the language of this text is undeniably Semitic. Aside from the fact that the script is closely related to the Phoenician script (also dubbed the paleo-Hebrew script due to it being likewise used by the authors of Hebrew inscriptions prior to their adoption of the Aramaic script), the syntax is also Semitic. The inscription is (unfortunately) very short but it is complete and, due to it having been stratified, has been dated with a reasonable degree of certainty to the early seventh century BCE. The following is a word-by-word analysis of this important inscription.
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Categories : Semitic Languages, Translation
“How To Speak Properly Hebrew”: Towards a New Grammar of the Hebrew Language
25 09 2006I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the differences between formal English grammar and dialectic English grammar. Now, I’ve never actually studied English grammar before so I am prepared to stand corrected in much (if not all) of what I am about to say. Nonetheless, it appears evident to me that there are a couple of very simple rules when it comes to the usage of prepositions: don’t start a sentence with them, and don’t end a sentence with them. The following are incorrect English sentences:
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Categories : Bible, Semitic Languages
Echoes from the Ether: