אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים | El Malé Raḥamim for Victims of the Shoah (the Netherlands, ca. late 1940s)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown Translator(s) and Unknown Author(s)

Shared on:

31 May 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Kristallnacht, Yom haShoah (27 Nisan), International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27th), Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust

Tags:

נעילה‎ neilah, 20th century C.E., Dutch Jewry, השואה the Shoah, אל מלא רחמים El Malé Raḥamim, 58th century A.M., Netherlandish Jewry, the Holocaust

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 (Dutch)	Translation (English)
	Voor te dragen op יום כפור vóór נעילה	to be recited on Yom Kippur before Ne’ilah
אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים שׁוֹכֵן בַּמְרוֹמִים בְּלֵב נִדְכֶּה נָבוֹא אֵלֶיךָ וּבְרוּחַ נִשְׁבָּרָה נְקַדֵּם פָּנֶיךָ לְהִתְפַּלֵּל בְּעַד נִשְׁמוֹת אֲחֵינוּ וְאַחְיוֹתֵינוּ אֲשֶׁר בְּאַרצוֹת גָלוּתָם גָזָעוּ בְּצָרָה גְדוֹלָה אֲשֶׁר מְצָאָתַם בְּדֶרֶךְ עָנְיָם.	God, vol erbarmen, Die in den hooge troont! met gebroken hart komen wij tot U en met terneergeslagen gemoed treden wij vóór U om te bidden voor de zielerust van onze broeders en zusters, die in de landen hunner ballingschap gestorven zijn in groote nood, die hen op hun lijdensweg getroffen heeft.	God, full of compassion, who is enthroned on high! with broken hearts we come to you and with depressed hearts we come before you to pray for the peace of soul of our brothers and sisters who have died in the lands of their exile in the great distress which afflicted them in their martyrdom.
חֵן בְּעוֹדָם בַּחַיִּים מָגוֹר הִכְשִׁיל כֹּחָם וְחֵילָם תּוּגָה הִשְׁחִיתָה	Toen ze nog in leven waren, brak onrust hun kracht en kommer knakte hun levensmoed.	When they were still alive, turmoil broke their strength and grief snapped their life’s courage.
כָּלוּ בְיָגוֹן חַיֵּיהֶם וּבַחַרָדָה יָרְדוּ מָוֶת׃	Zij eindigden hun leven in verdriet en onder verschrikking daalden ze af in den dood.	They ended their lives in sorrow and under terror they descended into death.
וְעַתָּה אֵלֶיךָ ה׳ נִשָֺא נֶפֶשׁ מָרָה וְשִׂיחֵנוּ נִשְׁפֹּךְ לִפְנֵי רָחֲמֶיךָ׃	Daarom heffen we ons bitter gemoed tot U, Eeuwige en storten wij ons gebed voor Uw barmhartigheid uit.	Therefore, we lift our bitter hearts to you, Eternal One and pour out our prayers for your mercy.
אָנָּא זְכוֹר לָאֻמְלָלִים הָאֵלֶה אֶת כָּל הָתְלָאָה אֲשֶׁר מְצָאָתַם וְאֶת הַמְצוּקוֹת אֲשֶׁר הִשִׂיגוּם וְגַם אֲפָפוּם עַד חַדְרֵי הַמָוֶת׃	Ach, gedenk aan deze ongelukkigen al de rampspoed, die hen trof, en al de druk, die hen achtervolgde, ja, omgaf aan alle kant tot de kameren des doods.	Oh, remember for these unfortunate ones all the calamity which afflicted them, and all the pressure which pursued them, yea, compassed them on all sides to the chambers of death.
פְּתַח לָהֶם שָׁעֲרֵי רַחֲמִים וְתֶחֱמֶינָה נִשְׁמוֹתֵיהֶם בְּצֵל כְּנָפֶיךָ וְהִתְעַנְּנוּ עַל זִיז שְׁכִינָתְךָ לֵאוֹר בְּאוֹר רְצוֹנֶיךָ׃	Open voor hen de poorten van barmhartigheid en mogen hun zielen beschutting vinden in de schaduw van Uw vleugelen. Mogen zij genieten van de glans Uwer heerlijkheid en beschenen worden door het licht van Uw welgevallen.	Open for them the gates of mercy, and may their souls find shelter in the shadow of your wings. May they enjoy the splendor of your glory and be illuminated by the light of your Shekhinah.
וְגוּפָם יָנוּחַ בַּקֵּבֵר בִּמְּנוּחָה נְכוֹנָה וְשָׁכְבוּ וְאֵין מַחֲרִיד׃ עַל מְשְׁכָבָם יְהִי שָׁלוֹם וְיִלָּוֶה אֲלֵיהֶם הַשָׁלוֹם׃	Hun hulsel ruste in het graf met stage rust, dat zij terneerliggen zonder verschrikking. Over hun rustplaats zij rust en hen vergezelle rust.	May their bodies rest in the grave in comfort, that they may lie down without terror. May there be peace over their resting place and may peace accompany them.
וְיָקִיצוּ מִשְׁנָתָם בִּתְחִיַת הַמֵתִים לְקֵץ הַיָמִין וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן׃	Mogen zij uit hun slaap ontwaken bij het herleven der dooden aan het eind der dagen, Amen.	May they awake from their sleep at the revival of the dead at the end of days, [and let us say] Amen.

This is an undated El Malé Raḥamim prayer for the victims of the Shoah translated into Dutch for a Yom Kippur ne’ilah service, likely sometime soon after the Holocaust had ended. To this I have added an English translation for those not fluent in Dutch or Hebrew. We are grateful to Shufra Judaica (Ellie Fisher and David Selis) for sharing a digital copy of this prayer. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

Dutch Shoah memorial prayer for Yom Kippur Neilah (courtesy of Shufra Judaica)

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים | El Malé Raḥamim for Victims of the Shoah (the Netherlands, ca. late 1940s)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady (translation)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer translator for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his translations, 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 transcribes prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes for the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

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.)

Unknown Translator(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 let us know!

Unknown Author(s)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=51296

Associated Image:

Dutch Shoah memorial prayer for Yom Kippur Neilah (courtesy of Shufra Judaica)

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

This post, editable: XML | ODT

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

Properly attribute the work to Aharon N. Varady (translation), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown Translator(s) and Unknown Author(s).
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=51296>.
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.)

Note: 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.

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