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The following acrostic authored by Isaac Goldstein haLevi was published in The Jewish Messenger on May 25, 1865 under the title, “ACROSTIC on ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Assassinated Nisan 18th, 5625” and prefaced by Psalms 45:2.
| Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
רָ֘חַ֤שׁ לִבִּ֨י ׀ דָּ֘בָ֤ר ט֗וֹב אֹמֵ֣ר אָ֭נִי מַעֲשַׂ֣י לְמֶ֑לֶךְ |
My heart is moved. I would like to pay tribute to a King.[1] Psalms 45:2 part |
אַשְׁרֶיךָ לִינְקאָלֶען מִי כָמוֹכָה בֵּין מְלָכִים וְשָׁרִים מְאוֹד נִשֵּׂאתָ רַבּוֹת פָּעַלְתָּ בְּנֶפֶשׁ נְמוּכָה הִנְּךָ לְיָחִיד בְּאֶרֶץ דָּמִיתָ מִי בָּרוֹזְנִים כְּלִינְקאָלֶען וּמִי יִתְהַלֵּל כָּמוֹהוּ |
Exalted are you Lincoln. Who is like you! You were highly respected among Kings and Princes. All that you accomplished you did with a humble spirit. You are singular and cannot be compared to anyone else. Who among the great are like Lincoln? Who can be praised like you? |
לְךָ שֵׁם גַּם בַּגִּבּוֹרִים יְמִינְךָ עֹשָׂה חָיִל נֶגְדָם חָזַרְתָּ חֶרֶב חֲלָלִים קֶשֶׁת דָּרַכְתָּ יוֹמָם וָלַיִל אָב אֶחָד בְּרָאָנוּ אָמַרְתָ לָכֵן דְּרוֹר הִשְׁמַעְתָּ פְּקוּדֶיךָ עַם הַכּוּשִׁים לְחֵרוּת גָּאַלְתָּ נֶצַח יְפָאֲרוּ וִיבָרְכוּ שְׁמֶךָ |
You have earned a name among the Great. Your right hand exhibited its prowess. Against your enemies, you extended a sword of death; Your bow you directed night and day. You declared that our Father in Heaven created all men equally.[2] cf. Malachi 2:10. Therefore you and you followers fought for freedom in your land. Through your efforts the Kushim[3] The Jewish Messenger translates the Kushim (הכושים) as “the blacks.” Abe Katz translates to “African Americans.” We have kept the original.[–Aharon Varady] were led to freedom. They will praise and bless your name forever. |
מִי בָּרוֹזְנִים כְּלִינְקאָלֶען וּמִי יִתְפָּאֵר כָּמוֹהוּ |
Who among princes is equal to you, Lincoln, and who can be praised like you? |
אַייזֶק גּאָלְדְשְׁטֵיין הַלֵּוִי |
Isaac Goldstein haLevi |
Abe Katz’s transcription of this elegy for Abraham Lincoln was first included in his sourcesheet, “Prayers for George Washington and Abraham Lincoln“; we have retranscribed the text in Unicode Hebrew [–Aharon Varady].
The translation as it originally appeared in The Jewish Messenger on May 25, 1865 is as follows:
My heart overflows with a good speech. I address my work unto a king. Psalms, 45:2.[sic]
I.
Happy art thou, Lincoln, Who is like unto thee!
Among kings and princes thou art exalted.
Much thou did’st with an humble spirit.
Thou art like a unique person in the land.
Who among princes is like Lincoln?
Who shall be praised like him?II.
Thou hast also a name among heroes!
Thy right hand has achieved prowess against them.
Thou hast girded on the sword of the slain.
Thou hast drawn the bow by night and by day.
One Father has created us, thou hast said;
Therefore thou hast proclaimed Freedom in thy land.
The black people thou hast redeemed into Freedom:
Forever they will praise and bless thy name.
Source
Isaac Goldstein’s Memorial Prayer for Abraham Lincoln. Arnold and Deanne Kaplan Collection of Early American Judaica at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, on loan to the National Museum of American Jewish History
Notes
“שריך לינקאלען | Memorial Prayer for Abraham Lincoln, by Isaac Goldstein haLevi (1865)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Abe Katz (translation)
Mr. Katz is also available to teach courses on Tefila at your synagogue or Jewish Community Center and as a scholar-in-residence. He is available to meet with school administrators to assist them in establishing a course in Beurei Hatefila at their schools and to train teachers on using Hebrew-English word processing and Judaic libraries on CD-ROM.
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Interesting Jewish response to Lincoln’s assassination. The most famous, of course, was Whitman’s Oh Captain, My Captain.
Now available in Hebrew and Yiddish (1, 2).
wonderful! I was looking for a picture to attach to my poem. Peace to you and thank you.
Mr. Lincoln,
You called us to pray as a nation.
I think we should do it again.
For the economy and education,
Our freedoms, and enemies to befriend
We have ‘nowhere else to go’
But directly to our knees
Under much weight we groan
Still, we trust God knows our needs