אֵשֶׁת חַיִל | Éshet Ḥayil (Proverbs 31:10-31) For an Accomplished Woman, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributor(s):

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Unknown Author(s) and the Masoretic Text

Shared on:

6 November 2014 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Mishlei (Proverbs), Se'udat Leil Shabbat

Tags:

role models, אשת חיל eshet ḥayil, interpretive translation, זמירות zemirot, acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, devotional interpretation

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)
אֵשֶׁת חַיִל מִי יִמְצָא וְרָחוֹק מִפְּנִינִים מִכְרָהּ	^א An accomplished woman who can find; beyond pearls is your worth.
בָּטַח בָּהּ לֵב בַּעְלָהּ וְשָׁלָל לא יֶחְסָר	^ב By your integrity your husband’s heart is secure; nothing is lacking where you are in charge.
גְּמָלַתְהוּ טוֹב וְלֹא רָע כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיה	^ג Good are you to me, never vexing, all your days (and especially our nights).
דָּרְשָׁה צֶמֶר וּפִשְׁתִּים וַתַּעַשֹ בְּחֵפֶץ כַּפֶּיהָ	^ד Designing in wool and linen, your hands do your bidding with alacrity.
הָיְתָה כָּאֳנִיּות סוחֵר מִמֶּרְחָק תָּבִיא לַחְמָהּ	^ה High business acumen is yours, like that of a world trader, importing food from afar.
וַתָּקָם בְּעוד לַיְלָה וַתִּתֵּן טֶרֶף לְבֵיתָהּ וְחֹק לְנַעֲרֹתֶיהָ	^ו Well before dawn you rise to apportion meals for our family and tasks for your helpers.
זָמְמָה שָׂדֶה וַתִּקָּחֵהוּ מִפְּרִי כַפֶּיהָ נָטְעָה כָּרֶם	^ז Zealously you assess your purchases before buying; a vineyard you plant, the fruit of your hands
חָגְרָה בְעוֹז מָתְנֶיהָ וַתְּאַמֵּץ זְרוֹעוֹתֶיהָ	^ח How mightily you gird your loins. Your embraces are warm and strong.
טָעֲמָה כִּי־טוב סַחְרָהּ לא־יִכְבֶּה בַלַּיְלָה נֵרָהּ	^ט Tastily, you offer your wares; your light radiates undimmed through the night.
יָדֶיהָ שִׁלְּחָה בַכִּישׁור וְכַפֶּיהָ תָּמְכוּ פָלֶך	^י Your hands are firm in what they weave together; your palms support the spinning wheels.
כַּפָּהּ פָּרְשָׂה לֶעָנִי וְיָדֶיהָ שִׁלְּחָה לָאֶבְיוֹן	^כ Kindly, you support the poor, your hands at the service of the needy.
לֹא תִירָא לְבֵיתָהּ מִשָּׁלֶג כִּי כָל בֵּיתָהּ לָבוּשׁ שָׁנִים	^ל Lily white clean is our home and brightly colored its appointments.
מַרְבַדִּים עָשְֹתָה־לָּהּ שֵׁשׁ וְאַרְגָּמָן לְבוּשָׁהּ	^מ Many textured are your weaves; you wear silks and purples in elegance.
נוֹדָע בַּשְּׁעָרִים בַּעְלָהּ בְּשִׁבְתּוֹ עִם זִקְנֵי אָרֶץ	^נ Named and known am I as your husband when I sit in the councils of the elders.
סָדִין עָשְֹתָה וַתִּמְכֹּר וַחֲגור נָתְנָה לַכְּנַעֲנִי	^ס Sheer are the garments you design; your enterprise is valued by the people.
עֹז וְהָדָר לְבוּשָׁהּ וְתִשׂחַק לְיוֹם אַחֲרוֹן	^ע On you dresses become beauty and strength, and your future is happily assured.
פִּיהָ פָּתְחָה בְחָכְמָה וְתוֹרַת חֶסֶד עַל לְשׁוֹנָהּ	^פ Pearls of wisdom come from your lips; your speech is gentle and kind.
צוֹפִיָּה הֲלִיכוֹת בֵּיתָהּ וְלֶחֶם עַצְלוּת לֹא תֹאכֵל	^צ Certain is the way you conduct our home, and immaculate is our kitchen.
קָמוּ בָנֶיהָ וַיְאַשְּׁרוּהָ בַּעְלָהּ וַיְהַלְלָהּ	^ק Courteous are your relatives and friends in their praise of you, and your husband raves about you.
רַבּוֹת בָּנוֹת עָשׂוּ חָיִל וְאַתְּ עָלִית עַל כֻּלָּנָה	^ר Ravishing and skillful are many good women, but you are even more stunning than they.
שֶׁקֶר הַחֵן וְהֶבֶל הַיֹּפִי אִשָּׁה יִרְאַת ה’ הִיא תִתְהַלָּל	^ש Shameless is mere charm and mere dazzling is vain. How you are in God awareness, that is worth extolling!
תְּנוּ לָהּ מִפְּרִי יָדֶיָה וִיהַלְלוּהָ בַשְׁעָרִים מַעֲשֶׂיהָ	^ת Thousandfold may you reap your rewards for your fame deserves to be widely acknowledged.

We are grateful to Gabbai Seth Fishman for his transcription of Reb Zalman’s translation of Eyshet Hayil, originally posted at his website, Jewish Renewal Hasidus.

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“אֵשֶׁת חַיִל | Éshet Ḥayil (Proverbs 31:10-31) For an Accomplished Woman, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi” 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.

Unknown Author(s)

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

the Masoretic Text

The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Karaite and Rabbinic Judaism. It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocalization and accentuation known as the Masorah.

Pocket Pinterest Reddit 𝕏 Facebook Telegram WhatsApp SMS Email

Works of related interest:

hausliche-feier - eshet ḥayil (franz rosenzweig 1921)

אֵשֶׁת חַיִל | Eshet Ḥayil (Proverbs 31:10-31), German translation by Franz Rosenzweig (1921)

Kay McNulty, Alyse Snyder, and Sis Stump operate the differential analyzer in the basement of the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1942-1945.

אֵשֶׁת חַיִל | Eshet Ḥayil, adaption by Alex and Peri Sinclair

מרת דולצא: אשת־חיל | Dulcea: A Woman of Valor, an elegy by Eleazar of Worms (ca. 1196)

אֲזַמֵּר בִּשְׁבָחִין | Azamer biShvaḥin, a piyyut for Friday evening by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Luria (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi)

The Book of Psalms in Ge'ez, 14th-15th century (NLI)

תהלים כ״ה | Psalms 25, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l

A still frame showing a ḥamsa from the animated video for "Aleph Bass" by Darshan

אַשְׁרֵי יוֹשְׁבֵי בֵיתֶךָ | Ashrei Yoshvei Veitekha :: Sitting in your home is happiness (Psalms 145), translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

"Mule Deer in Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah" (credit: Neal Herbert for the National Park Service, license: CC0)

יָהּ אֶכְסוֹף נוֹעַם שַׁבָּת | Yah Ekhsof No’am Shabbat, a Shabbes hymn by Reb Aharon of Karlin (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)

prev next

Comments, Corrections, and QueriesCancel reply

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=9758

Associated Image:

Kay McNulty, Alyse Snyder, and Sis Stump operate the differential analyzer in the basement of the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1942-1945.

(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, Unknown Author(s) and the Masoretic Text.
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=9758>.
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