סליחה מר׳ יצחק אבן גיאת | Seliḥah by Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyat (ca. 11th century) translated by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l

Contributor(s):

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi

Shared on:

24 September 2017 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Yom Kippur

Tags:

פיוטים piyyutim, 11th century C.E., The Lovers, 49th century A.M., Granadan Jewry, Kingdom of Granada, Song of Songs, interpretive translation, devotional interpretation, סליחות seliḥot, eros

The following love poem is one of the Seliḥot recited between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Ibn Gayat (1038 – 1089) was not timid about using the most intimate symbols in asking God to become reconciled with us.

TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):

ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!

COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.

TABLE HELP

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אֵלְכָה וְאָשׁוּבָה אֶל־אִישִׁי הָרִאשׁוֹן. אֲשֶׁר מֵאָז נְצָרַנִי כְאִישׁוֹן. בָּחוּר כָּאֲרָזִים תְּהִלָּתוֹ בְּכָל לָשׁוֹן. בְּזָכְרִי בוֹ אֵינֶנּוּ מַנִּיחַ לִי לִישׁוֹן:	I must return to my very first lover, Like an eye’s pupil He kept me safe, Tall is my beloved like a cedar, I can’t sleep when I think of Him.
גְּאָלַנִי בִּזְרֹעַ מִבֵּין קְדֵשִׁים. גַּם כְּלָלַנִי יֹפִי וְכֵלִים חֲדָשִׁים. דִבֶּר־בִּי עַל־פִּי קְדוֹשִׁים. דִּבְּקַנִי אֶצְלוֹ בִּכְתֻבָּה וְקִדּוּשִׁים:	How He rescued me from vile hands, How He wed me in all new robes, Speaking to me in holy words, Honoring me with sacred pact.
הִרְבָּה מֹהַר וּמִקְנֶה וְקִנְיָן. הִגְדִּיל הַשִׂמְחָה בְּכָל־עִנְיָן. וְסִיֵד וְכִיֵר בֵּית חַתְנוּת בִּנְיָן. וּמָסַר לְשָׁרְתֵנִי עֲלָמוֹת אֵין מִנְיָן:	Endowering me with ample boon, Amidst many joys, delights supreme, Our tryst He stocked for intimacy, Countless lasses in waiting He set to serve me.
זֶבַח הֵכִין ושִׁלֵּם נְדָרָיו. זְבָדַנִי זֶבֶד טוֹב בַּחֲדָרָיו. חֲצֵרוֹת קְטֻרוֹת תִּכּוֹן סְדָרָיו. חֲתָנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ הֱבִיאַנִי חֲדָרָיו:	The choicest foods to fulfill His pledge, In His inner chambers He cleaved to me, While in the courtyards they spiced the air, My Royal Lover took me into His chambers.
טָבַלְתִּי וּבָאתִי בַּעְדִי עֲדָיִים. טַהֲרוֹתַי נָתְנוּ רֵיחַ דוּדָאִים. יְצוּעִי עָלָה וְלָן בֵּין שָׁדַיִם. יְמִינוֹ חִבְּקַנִי חִבּוּק יָדָיִם:	And I, bathed, To purity my scent arousing, He mounted our couch and between my breasts, He laid, embraced me and held me…
כִּמְעַט רֶגַע אִירַע דָּבָר. כָּבוֹד הֵמִיר וְחֹק חַק שָׁבַר. לֶכְתִּי דֶרֶךְ בָּרוּחַ וְלֹא לְהָבַר. לַצְתִּי וְאַצְתִּי וָדוֹדִי חָמַק עָבָר:	And in the wink of an eye it happened, All broken – betrayed – As I went off with attitude defiant, Mocking, and dazed, my Lover, now disengaged, was gone.
מֵעַי הָמוּ לְדוֹדִי קָנַנִי. מַה־לִּידִידִי בִּטֵּל אֲשֶׁר הִתְנַנִי. נָסַע מֵעָלַי וְלֹא חַנַּנִי. נְאֻם בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו קְרָאתִיו וְלֹא עָנָנִי.	My guts wrenched, keening for my Dear One, What was it that I upset? What drove Him away? He is gone now and no comfort left me, How I sought Him to no avail, called Him to no response.
סוּרָה אֲדוֹנִי סוּרָה חִנַּנְתִּיו כַּמֶּה. סֹב וְלֹא פָנָה הוֹחַלְתִּי עַד מֶה. עָלַי לִבִּי כְּכִנּוֹר יֶהֱמֶה. עֵינִי נִגְּרָה וְלֹא תִדְמֶה:	“Do turn back, My Lord,” I wailed, He had gone and I waited in vain hope, While my heart cried like a sad violin, My eyes in tears that do not dry.
פִּקְפֵּק בְּכָבוֹד לְמוֹרַד עֲנִיּוּת. פִּתְחֵי נִדָּה שָׂם נְקִיּוּת. צָנִיף צְנָפַנִי כַּדּוּר דְּחִיּוּת. צְרוּרָה צְעוּרָה אַלְמְנוּת חַיּוּת:	I lost my dignity, I felt degraded, Besmirched and defiled, foul and dirty, Thrown, tossed about And despised, like a young widow.
קַוֹה קִוִּיתִי יְיָ יוֹם נֶחָמָה. קִרְבַת נְטוּשָׁה בְּאַף וּבְחֵמָה. רִשְׁפֵי אֵשׁ הָיָה לָּהּ לְחוֹמָה. רַחֵם תְּרַחֵם אֶת־לֹא רֻחָמָה:	I hoped for the day of comfort, My vulnerable need has turned to frustration, Flames of longing have become a wall, O mercy, please, for one not pitied.
שׁוּבִי שׁוּבִי הַשּׁוּלַמִּית מִבֵּין שֹׁסַיִךְ. שׁוּבִי וְנֶחֱזֶה־בָּךְ יֹאמַר עֹשַׂיִךְ. תִּקְעִי כַף מִלְּבָנוֹן רָצִיתִי מַעֲשַׂיִךְ. תְּעוֹרֵר אַהֲבָתֵךְ כִּי בֹעֲלַיִךְ עֹשָׂיִךְ:	Come back, come back, O Shulamit, freed from your hurt, From your desolation, your Maker seeks to behold you, Come quick lift your feet and swiftly come from Lebanon We are reconciled, arouse your love again your Lover will restore you,
יָדֹעַ תֵדַע פְּנֵי צֹאנֶךָ. צִיּוֹן מִכְלַל יֹפִי הֵטִיבָה בִרְצוֹנֶךָ. חֲסִידֶיךָ רַנֵּן יְרַנֵּנוּ צִדְקוֹת פִרְזוֹנֶךָ. קוֹלִי שָׁמָעְתָּ אַל־תַּעְלֵם אָזְנֶךָ:	You shall know clearly the face of Your flock Zion, the glorious, grant her the goodness of Your desire Your devotees will sing and acclaim the adventure Yes You heard my voice! You did not avert Your Ear.

Reb Zalman’s translation was first published at Jewish Renewal Chasidus, here. Many thanks to Gabbai Seth Fishman for helping to make this translation accessible.

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“סליחה מר׳ יצחק אבן גיאת | Seliḥah by Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyat (ca. 11th century) translated by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Rabbi Dr. Zalman Meshullam Schachter-Shalomi, affectionately known as "Reb Zalman" (28 August 1924 – 3 July 2014) was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement. Born in Żółkiew, Poland (now Ukraine) and raised in Vienna, he was interned in detention camps under the Vichy Regime but managed to flee the Nazi advance, emigrating to the United States in 1941. He was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in 1947 within the ḤaBaD Hasidic movement while under the leadership of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, and served ḤaBaD communities in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He subsequently earned an M.A. in psychology of religion at Boston University, and a doctorate from the Hebrew Union College. He was initially sent out to speak on college campuses by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but in the early 1960s, after experimenting with "the sacramental value of lysergic acid", the main ingredient in LSD, leadership within ḤaBaD circles cut ties with him. He continued teaching the Torah of Ḥassidut until the end of his life to creative, free and open-minded Jewish thinkers with humility and kindness and established warm ecumenical ties as well. In September 2009, he became the first contributor of a siddur to the Open Siddur Project database of Jewish liturgy and related work. Reb Zalman supported the Open Siddur Project telling its founder, "this is what I've been looking forward to!" and sharing among many additional works of liturgy, an interview he had with Havurah magazine in the early to mid-1980s detailing his vision of "Database Davenen." The Open Siddur Project is proud to be realizing one of Reb Zalman's long held dreams.

Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi

Yitsḥaq ibn Gayat (1038-1089), spiritual leader of Lucena in the kingdom of Granada, wrote more than 400 liturgical poems with many allusions to the science and philosophy of his day. He also wrote commentaries on tractates of the Talmud and a lengthy commentary on Ecclesiastes.

Pocket Pinterest Reddit 𝕏 Facebook Telegram WhatsApp SMS Email

Works of related interest:

הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Ben Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyut attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (rhymed translation by Alice Lucas, 1898)

hausliche-feier - hamavdil (franz rosenzweig 1921) - cropped

הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Ben Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyut attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (German translation by Franz Rosenzweig 1921)

הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Bein Ḳodesh l’Ḥol (abridged), a piyyut attributed to Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi (ca. 11th c.)

A Judenhat escutcheon (colorized by Aharon Varady)

אֶבֶן הָרֹאשָׁה | Even haRoshah (“The corner stone”), a seliḥah for the Fast of Tevet attributed to Avraham bar Menaḥem (13th c.)

Myrrh from Oman, 2009 (credit: GeoTrinity, license: CC BY)

בִּמְתֵי מִסְפָּר | BiM’tei Mispar, a seliḥah for Taanit Esther by Meshullam ben Ḳalonymus (11th c.)

We are the Music Makers, an exhortation (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)

אָדָם בְּקוּם עָלֵֽינוּ | Adam B’qum ‘Alenu, a seliḥah for Taanit Esther by Menaḥem ben Makhir (ca. 11th c.)

an edited derivative of a work by صفحة فنية لأعمال الفنان مصطفى يعقوب | MOUSTAFA JACOUB

הַל״ב מִצְוֺת הַתְלוּיוֹת בַּלֵּב | Thirty-two Mitsvot One Can Do With Consciousness Alone, by Reb Ahrele Roth (trans. Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Hillel Goelman)

prev next

Comments, Corrections, and QueriesCancel reply

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=17543

Associated Image:

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Source Data: XML | JSON

Re-formatted: HTML | ODT

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute the work to Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Yitsḥak ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyāth HaLevi.
Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=17543>.
Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of contributors, patrons, or institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture. If you like what you've found here, please help keep our project alive and online with your financial contribution.

ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17