💬 Preamble to the United States Constitution (1787, with translations in Hebrew and Yiddish by Judah David Eisenstein 1891)

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Judah David Eisenstein (translation) and Gouverneur Morris

Shared on: 9 September 2024 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories: Modern Miscellany, 🇺🇸 Constitution & Citizenship Day Readings, 🇺🇸 Independence Day (July 4th)

Tags: 18th century C.E., 56th century A.M., civil declarations and charters, civil rights, Constitution of the United States, Hebrew translation, Yiddish translation

The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words “We the People,” is a brief introductory statement of the US Constitution’s fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence of the Founding Fathers’ intentions regarding the Constitution’s meaning and what they hoped the Constitution would achieve. The preamble was mainly written by Gouverneur Morris, a Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention held in 1787 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

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Translation (Hebrew)	Source (English)	Translation (Yiddish)
אנחנו עם ארצות הברית בחפצנו לשכלל את האחדות ביתר שאת, ולבונן צדק ומשפט להבטיח שלום מבפנים ולהני על המדינה מבחוץ, להיטיב להכלל ולהקים את ברכות החרות לנו ולבנינו, הננו שמים ונותנים את החוקים האלה, להתנהגות ארצות הברית באמיריקה.	We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.	װיר דאס פאלק דער פעראײניגטען שטאאטען, אין דער אבזיכט איינע פאלקאמענע פעראייניגונג הערצושטעללען, גערעכטיגקייט צו שאפפען, אינערע רוהע צו זיכערן, פיר דיא פערטהײדיגונג צו זארגען, דאס אלגעמיינע װאָהל צו בעפערדערן, אונד דיא זעגנונגען דער פרײהײט פיר אונז אונד אונזערע קינדער צו ערהאלטען, פערארדנען אונד בעשטיממען דיא פאלגענדע קאנסטיטושאן פּיר דיא פער אײניגטען שטאאטען פאן אמעריקא.

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. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“💬 Preamble to the United States Constitution (1787, with translations in Hebrew and Yiddish by Judah David Eisenstein 1891)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Judah David Eisenstein (translation)

Julius (Judah David) Eisenstein (November 12, 1854 – May 17, 1956) (יהודה דוד אייזנשטיין‎) was a Polish-Jewish-American anthologist, diarist, encyclopedist, Hebraist, historian, philanthropist, and Orthodox polemicist born in Międzyrzec Podlaski (known in Yiddish as Mezritch d'Lita), a town with a large Jewish majority in what was then Congress Poland. He died in New York City at the age of 101. Eisenstein was a lover of Hebrew, and established America's first society for the Hebrew language, Shoharei Sfat Ever. He was also the first to translate the Constitution of the United States into Hebrew and Yiddish (New York, 1891). Other early writings of his are Ma'amarei BaMasoret, ib. 1897, and The Classified Psalter (Pesukei dezimra), Hebrew text with a new translation (1899). He also made an attempt to translate and explain a modified text of the Shulchan Aruch. He was known by many colleagues as the Ba'al ha-Otzrot ("Master of the Anthologies"). His works remain standard reference books in yeshivot, batei midrash, synagogues, and Jewish libraries to this day. (adapted from the article, "Julius Eisenstein," in Wikipedia)

Gouverneur Morris

Gouverneur Morris (January 31, 1752 – November 6, 1816), born in what is now New York City, was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the United States Constitution and has been called the "Penman of the Constitution." While most Americans still thought of themselves as citizens of their respective states, Morris advanced the idea of being a citizen of a single union of states. He was also one of the most outspoken opponents of slavery among those who were present at the Constitutional Congress. He represented New York in the United States Senate from 1800 to 1803. Morris was born into a wealthy landowning family in New York. After attending King's College (now Columbia University) he studied law under Judge William Smith and earned admission to the bar. He was elected to the New York Provincial Congress before serving in the Continental Congress. After losing re-election to Congress, he moved to Philadelphia and became the assistant U.S. Superintendent of Finance. He represented Pennsylvania at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in which he advocated a strong central government. He served on the committee that wrote the final draft of the United States Constitution. After the ratification of the Constitution, Morris served as Minister Plenipotentiary to France. He criticized the French Revolution and the execution of Marie Antoinette. Morris returned to the United States in 1798 and won election to the Senate in 1800. Affiliating with the Federalist Party, he lost re-election in 1803. After leaving the Senate, he served as chairman of the Erie Canal Commission.

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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