Yehoyesh-Shloyme Blumgarten (1870-1927)

The Open Siddur Project is pleased to distribute a masterful Yiddish translation of the Tanakh by Yehoyesh Shloyme (Yehoash Solomon) Blumgarten (1870-1927) as published in Torah, Neviʼim, u-Khetuvim (New York: Yehoʼash Farlag Gezelshaft, 1941) that now resides in the Public Domain. (A scan of this translation is available from the Internet Archive.) We hope that this translation will provide a basis for future Siddurim with Yiddish translations of liturgy and for the development of improved Yiddish educational resources.

Leading the effort to transcribe Yehoyesh’s translation was Leonard Prager z”l (1925-2008), founder of the Yehoyesh Project (1998-2006). Robert “Itsik” Goldenberg, Craig Abernethy, Robert Berkovitz, Martin Doering, Matthew Fisher, Jack P. Freer, David Herskovic, Allen Mayberry, Elisheva Schonfeld, Marjorie Schonhaut-Hirshan, and Meyer Wolf all contributed to the success of the project. Explaining the importance of the project, in 2004 Leonard Prager wrote,

There are scores of Bible versions on the Internet in scores of languages; there are many Hebrew Bibles. There is not a single Yiddish Bible translation. David Roskies has written that the greatest single achievement of American Yiddish literature is the monumental translation of the Tanakh by Solomon Bloomgarten (Yehoyesh). We agree. We wish to provide the entire text of Yehoyesh’s great work on the internet for Yiddish-lovers the world over, for this and for future generations. For this effort we long ago received the blessings of Yehoyesh’s grandsons.

At the completion of the Yehoyesh [transcription] Project, Leonard Prager added,

Yehoyesh’s translation is conservative and in some degree archaic. But like the King James Version of the Bible in the Anglophone world, it will continue to occupy a central place in Yiddish letters even if Yiddish-lovers are brave enough to attempt more modern renditions – as was suggested at a World Jewish Congress session in London a half century ago by the alphabet scholar David Diringer. Jews have been translating the Tanakh into Yiddish for centuries, all the major Yiddish writers (Mendele Moykher-Sforim, Y.-L. Perets and Sholem-Aleykhem, etc.) having attempted a translation of one book or another. There is no reason to halt this practice, one that could draw upon the untapped vigor latent in present-day Yiddish.

The Yehoyesh Tanakh received the stamp of approval of Orthodox rabbis and was also hailed and has been loved by secular Jews the world over. It belongs to all Jews as no other work does – it is not only a religious text, a source of ceremony and ritual, a liturgical compendium and encyclopaedia of law, it is also a storehouse of myth and legend and a great work of literature. It is also central for much of Jewish literature.

The Open Siddur Project thanks Itsik Goldenberg and the Prager family for their support in distributing this edition of the Yehoyesh Project’s transcription of Yehoyesh’s Yiddish translation of the Tanakh. Special thanks to Raphael “Refoyl” Finkel for his help and for his open source code in preparing this text in accord with our STML transcription rules. The Yehoyesh Project transcription follows the Yiddish orthography of Takones Fun Yidishn oysleyg (6th ed., New York: YIVO, 1999). Unfortunately, this transcription is not entirely complete as it does not yet include Yehoyesh’s footnotes to his translation. (Please contact us if you’d like to help completing this transcription.) As Yehoyesh’s translation resides in the Public Domain, we are distributing this transcription under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) Public Domain dedication.

DOWNLOAD: TXT (zip)

At the outset of the project, Robert “Itsik” Goldenberg, the principal transcriber, wrote the following regarding Yehoyesh in the The Mendele Review:

Yehoyesh (pseudonym of Yehoyesh-Shloyme Blumgarten [Yehoash-Solomon Bloomgarden]) was born September 16, 1872 in Varzhbolove (later Virbaln), near the Russian-German border. He died in New York in 1927. His father was a devout scholar, a maskil and an active member of Khovevey-Tsien (‘Lovers of Zion’). His mother ran a small ironware store to support the family; she was also active in communal charitable organizations.

Yehoyesh began kheyder at the age of 4, then studied Tanakh, Talmud and Hebrew, first with his father and then with private tutors; at an early age he began to read the works of Haskalah writers such as Smolenskin and Gotlober. At 13 he was enrolled in the famous Volozhiner Yeshive, but soon returned home where, under the influence of his sister Sheyne, he studied foreign languages and literature and wrote his first poems in Hebrew. For a time he was a private Hebrew tutor in wealthy homes, but not content with this, he resolved to emigrate to America. In 1889 he brought his first poems to Peretz in Warsaw. Peretz befriended him and foresaw a great literary future for him. David Pinski quotes Peretz’s own words (in “The Jewish Worker,” NY, 1927): ”… Only a young man, in his early 20′s, but filled with torah, with Jewish and worldly knowledge, a language scholar, with a great memory.”

In 1890, perhaps to avoid conscription into the Russian army, Yehoyesh emigrated to America. He earned his livelihood at first as a Hebrew teacher and continued writing poetry in Hebrew. However, he was dissatisfied with his work and destroyed these early poems. He decided to try occupations other than teaching—tailoring, peddling and bookkeeping in a glass factory. In this period he wrote nothing. He then met met Dr. Israel Davidson, a young Hebrew writer, under whose influence he began to write again. He composed a book of Hebrew poems, but sudden illness forestalled its publication. Manuscripts of these poems are in the Yehoyesh archives.

In 1900, Yehoyesh contracted acute tuberculosis and spent the next seven years at the Jewish Consumptives Relief Society sanitarium in Denver, Colorado, setting aside his writing. He was married in 1903, and in 1908, cured of tuberculosis, he made a fund-raising trip across America on behalf of the relief society. These travels enabled Yehoyesh to become acquainted with the landscape and natural beauty of America, and to meet numerous influential people. Returning to New York in 1909, he wrote prolifically until 1914. He also participated actively in Jewish cultural life in New York in those years, especially for the Poale-Tsien (Labor Zionists). His Dictionary of Hebrew and Aramaic words used in Yiddish, co-written with Dr. Khayem Spivak while at the Denver sanitarium, was published in 1911; a second edition was published in 1926.

In January 1914, Yehoyesh and his wife, with their daughter Evelyn, emigrated to Palestine, settling in Rekhovot. There he learned Arabic and studied the Koran and post-Koranic literature. The family lived for several months in Relvan, on the border of the Egyptian desert, not far from Cairo, then returned to New York in the summer of 1915, not long after World War 1 broke out. His travel experiences were serialized in Der tog, including “Biz Rekhoves un Tsurik” (“To Rekhovot and Back”), later published separately as a book. Although Yehoyesh’s literary activity began with Hebrew poetry (which was never published) while he was still attending yeshive, all of his published work is in Yiddish. Encouraged by the Hebrew writer Ben Avigdor, he sent some of his early poems to Peretz, who published them in his Di yudishe bibliotek (Warsaw 1891). These poems included a translation — from English — of a Byron poem, and a translation of Chapter 18 of the Book of Psalms, his first Tanakh translation. He also wrote for Mordecai Spektor’s Hoyzfraynd (Warsaw 1894).

In America, through the years 1891 to 1912 he published poetry and popular historical novels in Der folks-advokat. He wrote for Di yudishe gazetn, Yidishes tageblat, Der forverts, Der varhayt and others: poetry, fables, translations, as well as Chinese, Japanese and Arab legends. From January, 1902 until his death in 1927, he wrote for Der tsukunft: poetry, legends and fables, and translations of Byron, of Longfellow’s “Hiawatha,” and of Omar Khayam’s “Rubaiyat.” He contributed to Minikes’ Yontef-bleter and from November 16, 1916, was a regular contributor to Der tog, where he published most of his Tanakh translations. From 1909-1919 he wrote for the humor and satire journal Kundes, including his version of “Around the World in 80 Days.” From 1908-1915 he contributed to Zhitlovski’s Dos naye lebn.

Yehoyesh was a regular contributor to most of the Yiddish periodicals in North America, Canada, Russia, Poland, Argentina, Austria, Palestine and other countries. His poems were translated into English, Polish, Russian, French, German and Hebrew. Many of his poems were included in anthologies and in textbooks used in Jewish schools; many were set to music and performed widely.
His first impulse to translate the Torah came to Yehoyesh in 1904. By 1909 he had completed a translation of Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Ruth, Job and, in 1910, Isaiah. He was dissatisfied with his first efforts and destroyed them. In preparation for his great project he read Bible translations and commentaries in many languages and versions (Septaguint, Vulgate, Onkeles, Ibn Ezra, Rambam, Ramban, and others) and clarified hundreds of interpretations of words and sentences. His translation is not only a monument of the Yiddish language, it is a creative work.

Yehoyesh labored at his translation from 1909 until his premature death in 1927. From 1922-1927, Der tog published hundreds of letters from leading Bible scholars responding to the Tanakh serialized in its pages. According to Leyeles, Yehoyesh destroyed his first Tanakh translation of 1909-1910, including the printing plates and galleys, wanting to purge all daytshmerisms^[1] . Surviving today, and so long as Yiddish is spoken, read and understood, are the later translations of the Pentateuch (1927), the Early Prophets (1927), the Later Prophets (1929), the Writings (1936) and the revisions of 1933 and 1938 (aside from the special editions (Der tog, 1936 and 1941; Der forverts in 2 volumes in 1939). YIVO also issued separately Shir hashirem (1932), Megiles Ester (1936). In 1940 a Khumesh far kinder appeared. In 1949, Mortkhe Kosover edited a lexicon of commentaries based on Yehoyesh’s prolific notes on the Tanakh.

Selections from Yehoyesh’s Tanakh (in English translation!) can be found in the anthologies by Joseph Leftwitch (The Golden Peacock, 1961) and by Howe and Greenberg (Treasury of Jewish Poetry, 1957). Shmuel Niger praised Yehoyesh’s translation and claimed its utility in the study of the Hebrew original. Yankev Glatshteyn credited Yehoyesh with rescuing and immortalizing thousands of forgotten Yiddish words. Until his death, Yehoyesh studied Syriac grammar to help him prepare a Bible translation he hoped would surpass his earlier efforts. A memorial book in 1935 listed over 50 translations of his poems in 10 languages. His yortsayt was celebrated in the ghettos of Warsaw, Lodz and Vilna.

We conclude with the poem, ”Yehoyesh,” written by Avrom Sutskever for a Yehoyesh commemoration in the Vilna Ghetto on April 6, 1943. “Yehoyesh” was published in New York in the April 1946 issue of Yidishe kultur, while Sutskever was still living in Moscow. It was also published in Sutskever’s Lider fun geto (1946) and his Poetishe verk (Tel Aviv, 1963, vol. 1, pp. 296-297).

This sketch was adapted from a translation of the entry “Yehoyesh” by Khayem-Leyb Fuks in the Leksikon fun der nayer yidisher literatur (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, 1961, vol. 6, cols. 233-244 ). Sol Liptzin’s The History of Yiddish Literature and Charles Madison’s Yiddish Literature – Its Scope and Major Writers were also consulted.

Image: Jewish cemetery in Linjan, Esfahan Province, Iran, believed by some to be the location of Seraḥ's tomb. Attribution: Farhad24 (Public Domain)

[In Parshat Vayigash] we read of the members of Jacob’s family who went down to Egypt. There were 53 grandsons listed, but only a single granddaughter – Seraḥ, the daughter of Asher. The commentators wonder, what was so exceptional about this girl that her name was recorded? The Midrash spills forth with stories portraying an image of a unique and endearing Biblical heroine. Seraḥ stands as a trusted, beloved sage of the people. She possessed an uncommon gift of healing through poetry and music. Somewhat as Orpheus is to Greek myth, so is Seraḥ to the Biblical myth – the archetypal poet and bard.

The Midrash on this week’s parsha tells of the brothers’ concern that their father Jacob would die from shock upon hearing the astounding news that his son Joseph was alive and well in Egypt. Their solution – to appoint Seraḥ to the task of sharing the news with him. In one version Seraḥ masterfully waits until Jacob is praying and then relays the news to him through the poetic form of three rhyming lines. In another rendering she sings the news to him gently and wondrously with a harp.

Both versions reveal a girl with psychological insight into just how to approach Jacob with the potentially lethal news. Seraḥ intuits how to tend to Jacob’s emotional wounds with song. Even though she was sharing a truth with him, sometimes the sharing of truth with someone can be even more shattering than a lie. Where the bald facts could have killed Jacob, Seraḥ’s simple almost child-like rhyme and song healed him, opening him to hope and possibility after decades of despair.

So what is it about song and rhyme which is able to impart such promise and soothe such wounds? Voltaire is famous for saying, “Anything too stupid to be spoken in words is sung.” And this might be true enough if one were to survey song lyrics for their intellectual content. But God forbid the purpose of music would be deliver intellectual points. No, the great gift of song rests in its stirring of sentiment, its arousal of spirit, its curative catharsis of emotions. Seraḥ, with her ample emotional intelligence and creativity knew how to utilize song, rhyme & poetry for their subtle therapeutic properties.

May all of our artistic endeavors likewise access healing and inspiration, offering hope and the possibility of betterment in the face of any despair. The poem below is a prayer and request to Seraḥ to instruct us in how to do just that.

Seraḥ, teach us please
your therapy of harmony
- that exquisite technique
that you work with your speech

Reveal to us, ancient sister
your mesmeric tincture
of lyric and meter

And mix us well a word elixir
to soothe the wounds of
injured listeners

Just the way
you sung your way
and stood in the way
of the heart-halting parade
of gold-laden wagons
sent to stun an old man
too fast from his depression

For even one’s despair can be
a precious thing
to those who cling to their misery
as if it were a love letter
to the ones they’ve lost

But you with your harp
loosened that knot
on the yarn of a lie
that had so long bound

Jacob’s beguiled mind
- as you applied
the cautious remedy
of a child’s rhyme

Plucked hope back
into a ruptured heart
and strummed him
through the sting and stun
of loss

Suddenly reversed
through your verse
- with the touch of a song

For is not the crowning goal
of creative endeavor
to heal the bereaved
and herald in a better reality?

So teach us more-loudly your
chemistry of composition
to make what’s written
glisten from the page
to release vast repositories of pain

To make space for
the joyful reception of miracles
of salvation and spiritual accumulation
like wagons laden with bread
and corn, and a child reborn
in the midst of a famine

And a lie overturned
and a family re-fashioned

So teach us Seraḥ
your eternal talent
of healing hearts with harps
and the ancient art
of rhyme

And let it start
with these faltering lines
- a prayer
for the gentle unraveling
of our long-held
lies

Download: TXT | ODT

Image: "Candlelight" by apdk (License: CC-BY 2.0)

Please God
Let me light
More than flame tonight.

More than wax and wick
and sliver stick of wood.
More than shallow stream of words
recited from a pocket book.

But rather with this touch of torch
and spell of prayer
let me light a way towards You
let me dare
to radiate
a rapt request
that with this lamp
the world will rest
a stilling hand on pounding heart
and take a breath
- a pause
- to start
to appreciate
the state of things
…just as they are

And spill this light
to stain the sheets
so feverishly inscribed
with what the future will bring.

Washed away in what’s today
- present, patient, allowing space.

The ache for arrival laid to rest
our wreck un-rectified…as of yet.

Yet rest us well
in humbling fact
that we are made replete with lacks
The future’s but an ornament
on bounding limbs of present tense.

All force and foist
of fists and fights
flooded out by candle-light
incandescent with acceptance
- allowance made for imperfections.

We offer up our Sabbath rest
Forbearance on our table set.

A chance for us to savor food
to honor all
to prize, to prove
that there’s matter higher
than a week of labor
than lofty goals and courting favor.

For a match-box and a bit of wax
can top and tumble all of that.

So as sun sets
we raise a blaze.
Resplendently
We offer praise.

As light leans in
and grips go lax
our ache for future
slips into the past.

Arrival, a candle.
Impatience, in vain.
The World to Come
has come and come undone
by flame.

We are grateful to Chaya Kaplan-Lester for graciously sharing her prayer for candle-lighting with a CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license, along with her d’var torah for the parsha Ki Tissa.

Download: TXT | ODT

Image: Good Morning Sunrise by Ha-Wee (License: CC-BY 2.0)

In these still, quiet moments,
I am not asleep
and not yet awake.

In the threshold of day and night,
with the mixture of darkness and light,
my body is once again coming to life.

I am reborn, each day,
from the womb of your compassion.
May all of my actions
be worthy of the faith You’ve placed in me.

With words of thanks I’ll greet the dawn.

Thank you to Andrew Shaw for contributing this work inspired by Modah/Modeh Ani. See here for Andrew’s English translation of that prayer.

Image: Good Morning by khawkins04 (License: CC-BY 2.0)

Creative Commons Zero (CC0)

Modeh Ani first appeared as an addendum in Seder ha-Yom by Rav Moshe Ibn Machir of Tzfat, published in 1599. Read more on Modeh Ani at Hardcore Mesorah.

Image: Ḥanukah on Ice by Foxtongue (License: CC-BY 2.0)

Nomi Lerman and I were co-teacher’s this past season at Kolot Ḥayeinu‘s children’s learning program in Park Slope Brooklyn this past season, and as a Ḥanukah present we made a Ḥanukah Madrikh for our Kittah Gimmel class. I’m certain there are Jewish educators all over the world preparing curricular resources for Ḥanukah right about now. We hope that by sharing this they can take it and improve on it, or else we’ll save them some energy so they’ll be able to do even more mitzvot.

DOWNLOAD: ODT | TXT | PDF

Why use a siddur

נתפלל ומצא עצמו בשומע תפילה חזקה כוין… א”ר חייא רובא אנא מן יומיי לא כיונית אלא חד זמן בעי מכוונה והרהרית בלבי ואמרית מאן עליל קומי מלכא קדמי ארקבסה אי ריש גלותא שמואל אמר אנא מנית אפרוחיא רבי בון בר חייא אמר אנא מנית דימוסיא א”ר מתניה אנא מחזק טיבו לראשי דכד הוה מטי מודים הוא כרע מגרמיה

Talmud Yerushalmi,^[1] Berakhot 2:4

One who prays [the Amidah] and finds himself at shomeia tefillah may assume he had proper intent… Rabi Ḥiyya the Great said: I never concentrated properly; once I tried to concentrate, and then I began to wonder who goes before the king first, the officer or the exilarch. Shmuel said: I count clouds [other manuscripts: birds]. Rabi Bun bar Ḥiyya said: I count bricks. Rabi Matniyah said: I am grateful to my head, for when I reach Modim it bows on its own!

הברכות אע”פ שיש בהן מאותות השם ומענינות הרבה שבתורה אין מצילין אותן אבל נשרפין במקומן מכן אמרו כותבי ברכות כשורפי תורה

Tosefta^[2] Shabbat 13:4

Even though blessings contain the letters of the Name and many matters of Torah, one may not save them; they are burned where they are. Therefore they said: Those who write blessings are as those who burn Torah.

תפלות הפרקים כגון תפלת מוסף ראש חדש ותפלת מועדות צריך להסדיר תפלתו ואחר כך עומד ומתפלל כדי שלא יכשל בה

Rambam, Mishneh Torah (c. 1180 CE), Hilkhot Tefilah 4:19

One must arrange his prayer for special occasions, such as Musaf for Rosh Ḥodesh and prayers of holidays, and then stand and pray, so that he will not stumble.

ויש קהלות כותבין על קלף סידור מיוחד לש”ץ להתפלל מתוכו ונכון הוא, וראוי אף ליחיד להתפלל מתוך הסידור…‏

Pri Megadim,^[3] on Orakh Chaim 53 Mishbetzot Zahav 15

In some communities they write a special siddur for the ḥazan to use, and this is appropriate; it is appropriate even for individuals to pray from a siddur…

מותר לאחוז מחזור תפלות בידו בשעה שמתפלל הואיל ותופס לצורך תפלה עצמה לא טריד…‏

Shulḥan Arukh: Oraḥ Ḥayim 96:2

One may hold a book of prayers in his hand when praying; he will not be distracted since he holds it for prayer…

Our problems: Fixed text; Blob of text; Familiarity

רבי אליעזר אומר העושה תפלתו קבע אין תפלתו תחנונים

Mishnah^[4] Berakhot 4:4

Rabi Eliezer said: One who makes his prayer ‘fixed’ – his prayer is not a proper plea.

שלש עבירות אין אדם ניצול מהן בכל יום הרהור עבירה ועיון תפלה ולשון הרע. לשון הרע סלקא דעתך אלא אבק לשון הרע

Talmud Bavli, Bava Batra 164b-165a

One is not saved from three sins daily: Thoughts of immorality, examination of prayer, and [almost] harmful speech.

אם תתפלל בהנעת שפתיך ופניך אל הכותל ואתה חושב במקחך וממכרך… תהיה אז קרוב ממי שנאמר בהם, קרוב אתה בפיהם ורחוק מכליותיהם.‏

Rambam, Moreh Nevukhim 3:51

Should you pray with movement of your lips and your face to the wall but think about your commerce… you will be close to those regarding whom it is written, ‘You are close to their mouths, but far from their innards.’

Writing in a siddur?

ונמצא באחרונים שאף בחזרת הש”ץ נכון הוא שיהיה הסידור פתוח לפניו להיות אזניו פקוחות על מה שאומר הש”ץ

Mishnah Berurah^[5] 96:9

The Aḥaronim wrote that it is also appropriate to hold an open siddur during repetition of the Amidah, so that one’s ears will be open to that which the ḥazan says.

הבגדים המצויירים.. אין נכון להתפלל כנגדם, ואם יקרה לו להתפלל כנגד בגד או כותל מצויר, יעלים עיניו. הגה: ולכן אסור ג”כ לצייר ציורים בספרים שמתפללין בהן, שלא תתבטל הכוונה

Shulḥan Arukh: Oraḥ Ḥayim 90:23

One should not pray opposite clothes with designs… and if one happens to pray opposite a garment or wall with a picture, he should close his eyes.
Rema^[6] : Therefore, one may not draw pictures in the books from which we pray, lest that prevent concentration.

[On suggestions for writing in siddurim, Rabbi Torczyner adds]

Alternatives: http://lauramiller.typepad.com/lauramiller/2009/03/how-to-write-in-a-book.html

Practical tips
1. Mark phrases for special concentration
2. Mark structural/poetic elements that provide greater meaning
3. Add wake-up calls
4. Mark lines requiring explanation
5. Write in food for thought

Writing notes
1. Pencil, small marks, change them regularly
2. Spread marks throughout the various prayers
3. Be ready to replace your siddur
4. Don’t distract from the davening

In lieu of the Workshop, here are some examples of items I have marked in my current siddur:
* Words and phrases for special concentration -ואהבת, באהבה, והשב את העבודה לדביר ביתך, ולעבדו בלבב שלם

* Poetic/structural elements – The imperatives in Mizmor l’Todah; The 3 types of Divine action requested in Al haTzaddikim; the theme-aligned sets of lines in Avinu Malkeinu; the two halves of Emes v’Emunah (across time / Yetzias Mitzrayim)

* Wake-up calls – Alerts for Shma, Morid haGeshem, Refa’einu

* Lines that require explanation – והושיענו למען שמך, שיבנה בית המקדש במהרה בימינו ותן חלקנו בתורתך

* Food for thought – Rav Kook’s explanation of בעל מלחמות זורע צדקות, the two roles of Avinu and Malkeinu, the difference between a shofar and a nes in T’ka b’shofar.

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Thank you to Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner for graciously sharing his sourcesheet with translations of the source-texts above. These translations were originally published in a post, “Class: How to Write in Your Siddur” on Rabbi Torczyner’s blog, The Rebbetzin’s Husband, November 22, 2011. As an introduction Rabbi Torczyner explained,

On Wednesday night [November 23rd, 2011] I’m delivering a shiur for women on “How to write in your siddur”, a development based on the blog posts that appear here and here.

Here is the majority of my source sheet, excluding passages which I’ll use for a “Writing Workshop”. [UPDATE: The audio of the session is now available here.]

Notes:

1. circa 350-400 CE ↩
2. circa 220 CE ↩
3. Rabbi Joseph ben Meir Teomim (1727–1792) ↩
4. circa 220 CE ↩
5. Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (aka the Chofetz Chaim, Poland, 1838–1933) ↩
6. Rabbi Moses ben Israel Isserles (1520-1572) ↩

]]> http://opensiddur.org/2011/12/on-using-siddurim-a-sourcesheet-by-r-mordechai-torczyner/feed/ 2 http://opensiddur.org/2011/11/life-sentence-by-eprhyme/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=life-sentence-by-eprhyme http://opensiddur.org/2011/11/life-sentence-by-eprhyme/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:27:46 +0000 Eden Pearlstein http://opensiddur.org/?p=4146 . . . → Read More: Life Sentence by Eprhyme]]>

Life Sentence (Lyrics)

From cannibus to amatheyst,
Calculus to manuscripts
Welcome to the garden
Where divine inspired madness lives

I am a pacifist trapped in the mind of a masochist
If I was half as passionate about rap,
I still would have mastered it

Before disaster hit
Took longer than the average kid
But then again, tell em friend,
I ain’t no average kid

This ain’t no accident-
Oh that’s cute- you talk s***
I spit galactic fractal laxative adjectives
Hazardous to the snake bitten sippen sacrilege

You can turn water to wine,
but can you turn It back again?
I remain passionate

Got the consciousness of a candle wick
Just one of the earth’s inhabitants
Battling issues of abandonment
Let’s skip this whole Hamlet skit…

From here on out I’m only brutally honest
Im not just tryin to move the crowd,
Im tryin to move the crowd beyond this

This is my personal declaration of independence
You got a right to life, I gotta write my Life Sentence

Chorus
The forgotten books of Eden (Bigg Jus)
Verbal holographic calligraphy (Bigg Jus)
Every cracker that rap ain’t the Elvis (Edan)
Styles upon styles is what I have (A Tribe Called Quest)

We are alive within the walls of the words
That we erect just to protect us and connect us to the ancestors
Feel the presence of the Heavens and the tensions of the Tempest
In a message from an Essence that is endless

There is no reference point, no context, no metaphor
No simile, no hidden theme, no finish line we’re headed towards
No explanation, only interpretation
I’m guided by the patience and the wisdom of the ancients

The world as we know it- created from our thoughts
Living in between the lines, not confined to the clock
Droppin dimes on the crimes of the mind that we talk
Redefine the design with these rhymes that we walk

I got letters for legs and vowels for feet
I walk across an empty page like I was crossin the street
Listen to your heart, can you follow the beat?
Got the extra mile, smile while you set your style free

Chorus
The forgotten books of Eden (Bigg Jus)
Verbal holographic calligraphy (Bigg Jus)
Medicine is magical and magical is art (Paul Simon)
Driven by the sonic language passion (Aceyalone)

Every creature on the planet must follow the commandments
Not just letters etched in granite- even Moses broke the tablets
He couldn’t stand it- to see the Living Word so static
So he freed the captives, from Hebrew, Arabic, to Sanskrit

Now he walks about just like he used to talk about
He went from a place of doubt to face to face and mouth to mouth

Direct experience of something greater than yourself
Will make you curious and want to know ‘why’ and what else…
Don’t take life too seriously, it’s not good for your health
It might make you furious and then it’s time to cry for help

From deep within us all calls a voice so still and small
Yet powerful enough to move a mountain- make a nation fall
Political prisoners to the cult of personality
Traveling the family tree of life up to the canopy

Opening up the channels to receive and offer evidence
In this fight for independence co-defendants serve a Life Sentence

Chorus
The forgotten books of Eden (Bigg Jus)
Verbal holographic calligraphy (Bigg Jus)
They duplicate, I praise The Lord (Gangstarr)
Styles upon styles upon styles is what I have (A Tribe Called Quest)

---

Eden Pearlstein (Eprhyme) writes in with this hype from his record label, K Records:

‘Life Sentence’ is a poetic exploration of solitary authorship — interpreting the old-world literary tradition and archetypes for the ‘ADD’ generation. This is a boundary and genre-crossing work that exists at the intersection of Radical Jewish, Indy and Hip-Hop culture.

High-brow vs. lo-fi at its best!

Special thanks goes out to everyone who supported the project through Kickstarter, director Lenny Bass, colorist Eric Alvarado, co-producer Amy Smith and choreographer Dages Keates.

Enjoy- and please share, repost etc…

Thank you to Eprhyme for sharing this video and song with a Creative Commons Attribution/ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. You can learn more about Eprhyme at his label, K Records, and on Eprhyme’s website.

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