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

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), David Asher (translation) and Avraham bar Menaḥem

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6 January 2020 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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Asarah b'Tevet

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Acrostic signature, סליחות seliḥot, 13th century C.E., 51st century A.M.

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאֹלהֵי אָבוֹתֵינוּ	Our God, and the God of our fathers.
אֶבֶן הָרֹאשָׁה. לְעִיִּים וְלַהֲרִישָׁה. וְנוֹהֲלֵי מוֹרָשָׁה. מְנֽוֹד־רֹ֗֝אשׁ בַּלְאֻמִּֽים׃ (תהלים מד:טו חלק)	The corner stone^[1] Zechariah 4:7. i.e., the Temple has been turned into heaps, and into a ploughed field, and the inheritors of the Torah have become a shaking of the head among the people.^[2] Psalm 44:15 b.
בְּקִרְבִּי לֵב נִכְאַב. וְנִדְוֶה וְנִדְאַב. וְנִשְׁאַרְנוּ כְּאֵין אָב. וְהָיִינוּ כִּיתוֹמִים׃	My heart is sorrowful within me, I am grieved that we are left as fatherless, and are as orphans.
רַכָּה וַעֲנֻּגָה. בַּשׁוֹשַׁנִּים סוּגָה. עַתָּה הִא נוּגָה. מְסוּרָה בְּיַד קָמִים׃	The tender and delicate one,^[3] The daughter of Zion, i.e., the people of Israel. once set about with lilies, how is she afflicted now, delivered up into the hand of her enemies.
הָיְתָ֖ה כְּאַלְמָנָ֑ה. (איכה א:א חלק) קִרְיָ֖ה נֶאֱמָנָ֑ה. (ישעיה א:כא חלק) וְזֶרַע מִי־מָנָה נִמְכְּרוּ בְּלֹא־דָמִים׃	The faithful city^[4] Lamentations 1:1. has become as a widow,^[5] Isaiah 1:21. and her numberless children have been sold for nought.
מְעֻנָּגָה וְרַכָּה. צָלְחָה לִמְלוּכָה. וּמֵעֲנִיתָהּ אָרְכָה. זֶה כַּמָּה יָמִים׃	Other nations have attained dominion, and prospered these many years;
בֵּית יַעֲקֹב לְבִזָּה. לְלַעַג וּלְעִזָּה. וְהָעִיר הָעַלִיזָה. לְמַטְּעֵי כְרָמִים׃	but the house of Yaaḳov has become a prey, and a derision, and the rejoicing city as plantings of vineyards.
רְווּיָה תַרְעֵלָה. בְּיַד בְּנֵי־עַוְלָה. הָרְצוּיָה כְעוֹלָה. וְכִקְטוֹרֶת סַמִּים׃	Full of the cup of trembling, she who was once as acceptable as a burnt-offering and as sweet incense, is now in the hands of the sons of wickedness.
מָאֲסָה לִזְנוֹחַ. תּוֹרַת אֲבִי זָנוֹחַ. וְלֹא מָצְאָה מָנוֹחַ. לֵילוֹת וְיָמִים׃	She has disdainfully forsaken the Torah of Mosheh,^[6] Abi Sonoach is one of the names of Mosheh. (See Megillah 13.1.) hence she finds no rest either by night or day.
נוֹרָא אֵל עֶלְיוֹן. מִמְּךָ יְהִי צִבְיוֹן. לְהָשִׁיב לְרִיב צִיּוֹן. שְׁנַת שִׁלּוּמִים׃	Awesome El Elyon! may it be thy pleasure to bring about the year of requital for injured Tsiyon.
חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם. מְעוֹנָה אֱלֹהֵי קֶדֶם. וְלַבֵּן כַּצֶּמֶר אוֹדֶם. וְכַשֶּׁלֶג כְּתָמִים׃	Renew our days as of old, be our refuge, our elo’ah of old, and whiten as wool our red sin, and our stains as snow.
חַזְּקֵנו בְּיִרְאָתֶךָ. וּבְקִיוּם תּוֹרָתֶךָ. וּפָקְדֵנוּ. בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ. אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים׃	Strengthen us in the fear of thee, and in the fulfilment of thy Torah, and visit us with thy salvation, El, full of compassion.

“Even haRoshah” (the corner stone) is a seliḥah recited on the Fast of Tevet in the Ashkenazi nusaḥ minhag Polin. The author is identified via his acrostic signature followed by “Ḥazaq!” Isaac Gantewerk Mayer transcribed the Hebrew and added citations. The English translation (transcribed here by Aharon Varady) was made by David Asher for his 1912 collection of seliḥot. I have replaced “the Lord” with YHVH and “th” suffixes from several verbs. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Zechariah 4:7. i.e., the Temple
2	Psalm 44:15 b.
3	The daughter of Zion, i.e., the people of Israel.
4	Lamentations 1:1.
5	Isaiah 1:21.
6	Abi Sonoach is one of the names of Mosheh. (See Megillah 13.1.)

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“אֶבֶן הָרֹאשָׁה | Even haRoshah (“The corner stone”), a seliḥah for the Fast of Tevet attributed to Avraham bar Menaḥem (13th c.)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/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.)

David Asher (translation)

David Asher (born at Dresden Dec. 8, 1818; died in Leipsic Dec. 2, 1890) was a German-Jewish scholar and educator. He received his early education at the Jewish school of his native city, and subsequently entered the gymnasium there, being one of the first Jews admitted to the institution. As his mother was unable to support him, his stay there was short. Asher then learned the trade of carving and gilding, thereby supporting himself as a journeyman artisan during his travels to various cities of Germany and Austria. On the invitation of a wealthy relative he went to London, where he learned English at a private school—subsequently becoming assistant teacher there—and at the same time assiduously studied philosophy, philology, Hebrew, and modern languages. Later, Asher held various offices in the Jewish congregation and was tutor to the children of the chief rabbi of England. Upon his return to Germany he obtained the degree of doctor of philosophy at the Berlin University. Settling in Leipsic, he soon acquired reputation as an English instructor, having among his pupils many persons of high rank. For seven years he held the post of English master at the Commercial School; and for eight years that of examiner of candidates for higher schools at the university. He was also a member of the Academy for Modern Languages, in Berlin, and official interpreter to the Royal Law Courts of Leipsic. A linguist of the first order, he was engaged in literary work of varied character, and diligently contributed to most of the leading German journals, as well as to the English periodicals the "Times," "Athenæum," "Academy," and "Jewish Chronicle." For the last he translated Dr. Döllinger's "Address on the History of the Jews of Europe." Asher distinguished himself as an interpreter of the philosophy of Schopenhauer; and as an ardent champion of his own coreligionists, energetically combating antisemitic attacks. (lightly adapted from his entry in the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia)

Avraham bar Menaḥem

Avraham bar Menaḥem was a paytan of the 13th century. If you know more about him, please contact us.

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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