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Nowadays, the only Jewish community with a custom to recite the Aramiac targum translation of the Torah portion is the Yemenites. But this was not always the case. For a very long time, Ashkenazim, Italkim, and some other related communities preserved a custom to read the targum on two specific days — the seventh day of Pesaḥ and the first day of Shavuot (Maḥzor Vitry, Hilkhot Pesaḥ 106:7). On those two days, mass communal miracles happened to the Jewish people — the splitting of the sea on the former, the revelation at Sinai on the latter — and the targum, the translation designed for the purpose of making the story accessible, was preserved for the sake of pirsumei nissa.
Since the use of targum became a special rare occasion, Jews did what we do for special rare occasions — we write piyyutim. An extensive series of Aramaic piyyutim were written, to be inserted into the recitation of the targum (or the ‘seder meturgeman’) itself. On Shavuot, a massive series of piyyutim, one for every one of the ten commandments and then some, were written. On Pesaḥ, a similar number of piyyutim were composed for important moments.
Since the mass acceptance of the Shulḥan Arukh, the custom of the recitation of the targum on these special days has been lost from Ashkenazi practice, and as a consequence the vast majority of the seder meturgeman piyyutim themselves have been abandoned. A small number of Shavuot seder meturgeman piyyutim are still in use (specifically, Aḳdamut Milin and Yetsiv Pitgam), but taken out of their original context. (As an example, why do we read Yetsiv Pitgam after the first verse of the haftarah? Because it’s meant to introduce the targum!)
I personally love Aramaic, piyyutim, and liturgy, so I’ve taken it upon myself to translate a selection of seder meturgeman piyyutim. This piyyut, Tanun Shvaḥeih (Tell the Praise), the eighth in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited as an introduction to the Targum of Exodus 15:18, the famous verse “Adonai yimlokh l-‘olam va-‘ed.” The English translation preserves the Hebrew acrostic of the Aramaic.
Note: “The CAUSE” is used to translate the Divine Name YHVH, based on the philosophical idea of God as the Prime Mover and on the interpretation of the Name as a causative form of the copula – “causes to be.” This translation also uses the plural pronoun They to refer to God as a pluralis majestatis, and to avoid the implications of God being assigned a gender. (Find Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Genesis 1:1 for a discussion of the pluralis majestatis when referring to God.) All divine referents (pronouns, epithets, names) are rendered in unicase.
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| Source (Aramaic) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
תַּנוּן שְׁבָחֵיהּ דְּשַׁלִּיט עַל־כׇּל־קוֹזְמוֹס יְהֹוָה מֶֽלֶך שִׁבְטַיָּא צַוְחִין לֵיהּ עַל־כֵּיף יַמָּא יְהֹוָה מָלָךְ רַעְיָא בְּחֵילֵיהּ קַלְּסוּן יָתֵיהּ יְהֹוָה יִמְלוֹךְ בְּבֵיתֵיהּ רַבָּא יִמְלוֹךְ עֲלֶינָא לְעָלְמֵי עָלְמִין! |
Tell the praise of the Ruler of all cosmos![1] A Greek borrowing, from κόσμος kósmos, translated here with an English cognate. The CAUSE reigns! Shorebound at the sea the tribes call to Them! The CAUSE reigned! Ring out praise, shepherd[2] Moses among Their hosts! The CAUSE will reign! In Their great house, They will reign over us forever and ever! |
קַלְּסֵיהּ רְאוּבֵן דְּהוּא חַי וְקַיָּים יְהֹוָה מֶֽלֶךְ צָוַח לֵיהּ שִׁמְעוֹן דְּלֵית לְאוֹחְרָן כְּוָותֵיהּ יְהֹוָה מָלָךְ פָּתַח לֵוִי פּוּמֵּיהּ בְּשִׁירָה יְהֹוָה יִמְלוֹךְ בְּבֵיתֵיהּ רַבָּא יִמְלוֹךְ עֲלֶינָא לְעָלְמֵי עָלְמִין! |
Quote praise, Reuben, for They live and endure! The CAUSE reigns! Cheer Them, Shim’on, for no other is like Them! The CAUSE reigned! Prying open his mouth, Levi sang: The CAUSE will reign! In Their great house, They will reign over us forever and ever! |
עוֹרֵר יְהוּדָה גְּבוּרְתֵּיה וְאָמַר יְהֹוָה מֶֽלֶךְ סָבָה יִשָּׂשכָר דְּעַד עֲלָם עָלְמִין יְהֹוָה מָלָךְ נַצְחָוָן הוּא אִתְעַנֵי זְבוּלוּן יְהֹוָה יִמְלוֹךְ בְּבֵיתֵיהּ רַבָּא יִמְלוֹךְ עֲלֶינָא לְעָלְמֵי עָלְמִין! |
On this Judah roused his might and said: The CAUSE reigns! So Issachar reasoned that forever and ever, The CAUSE reigned! Now “They are victorious!” Zebulun responded: The CAUSE will reign! In Their great house, They will reign over us forever and ever! |
מֶֽלֶךְ וְדַיָּן הוּא צָוָח לֵיהּ דָן יְהֹוָה מֶֽלֶךְ לֵית אׇחְרָן כְּוָתֵיהּ קָרָא נַפְתָּלִי יְהֹוָה מָלָךְ כְּלִילֵיהּ לְעָלַם תַנִּי גָד יְהֹוָה יִמְלוֹךְ בְּבֵיתֵיהּ רַבָּא יִמְלוֹךְ עֲלֶינָא לְעָלְמֵי עָלְמִין! |
“Monarch and Judge are They!” Dan shouted. The CAUSE reigns! “Lacking any other like Them!” Naphtali called. The CAUSE reigned! “Crown mine eternal!” Gad proclaimed. The CAUSE will reign! In Their great house, They will reign over us forever and ever! |
יְקָרָא דִּידֵיהּ אָשֵׁר שְׁבָחֵיהּ יְהֹוָה מֶֽלֶךְ טֵיבוּתֵיהּ וְרוֹמְמוּתֵיהּ תַּנִּי יוֹסֵף יְהֹוָה מָלָךְ חָדָה בִּנְיָמִין דַּהֲוָה בִּתְחוּמֵיהּ יְהֹוָה יִמְלוֹךְ בְּבֵיתֵיהּ רַבָּא יִמְלוֹךְ עֲלֶינָא לְעָלְמֵי עָלְמִין! |
“Yours is the glory!” Asher praised. The CAUSE reigns! Their goodness and Their exaltedness Joseph told. The CAUSE reigned! Happy was Benjamin over what was in his borders.[3] The Temple The CAUSE will reign! In Their great house, They will reign over us forever and ever! |
זְרַק לֵיהּ מְנַשֶׁה כְּלִילֵיהּ וְאָמַר יְהֹוָה מֶֽלֶךְ וְאֶפְרַיִם קָם לֵיהּ וְקַלְסֵיהּ בְּתוֹקְפֵּיהּ יְהֹוָה מָלָךְ הוּא לְעָלְמָא הֲדֵין וּלְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי יְהֹוָה יִמְלוֹךְ בְּבֵיתֵיהּ רַבָּא יִמְלוֹךְ עֲלֶינָא לְעָלְמֵי עָלְמִין! |
Zenith of Manasseh’s crown he bestowed on Them. The CAUSE reigns! When Ephraim stood and praised Them in Their strength, The CAUSE reigned! Enduring in this world and the next are They! The CAUSE will reign! In Their great house, They will reign over us forever and ever! |
דִּלְעֵיל וְדִלְרַע סָבִיל בְּאֶדְרַע יְהֹוָה מֶֽלֶךְ גַּנּוֹנֵיהּ יָבוֹא עַד־עֲלַם עָלְמִין יְהֹוָה מָלָךְ בְּגוֹ גִּינְּתָא דְּעֵדֶן עִם־כׇּל־צַדִּיקוֹי יְהֹוָה יִמְלוֹךְ בְּבֵיתֵיהּ רַבָּא יִמְלוֹךְ עֲלֶינָא לְעָלְמֵי עָלְמִין! |
Dealing with those above and below in Their arm. The CAUSE reigns! Grant Them entrance into Their chamber! The CAUSE reigned! By the Garden of Eden with all Their righteous ones! The CAUSE will reign! In Their great house, They will reign over us forever and ever! |
אוֹגִיאוֹן הוּא בְּחֵיל שְׁמַיָּיא יְהֹוָה מֶֽלֶךְ אוֹרָנוֹס הוּא עַל דַּרֵי אַרְקָא יְהֹוָה מָלָךְ אַפַנְתִּי תֵאוֹס הוּא לְכוּלֵּי עָלְמָא יְהֹוָה יִמְלוֹךְ בְּבֵיתֵיהּ רַבָּא יִמְלוֹךְ עֲלֶינָא לְעָלְמֵי עָלְמִין! |
Aeonian[4] A Greek borrowing, from αίώνιος aiṓnios, translated here with an English cognate. are They among the forces of heaven! The CAUSE reigns! And uranic[5] A Greek borrowing, from ούρανός oúranós, translated here with an English cognate. are They over all the residents of terrain! The CAUSE reigned! Authoritative Deity[6] Two Greek borrowings, from αὐθέντης authéntis (ruler, effendi) and θεός theós (God). Unfortunately neither forms have direct English cognates that function in the sentence — the latter has no independent noun form and is restricted to prefixes like theism or theocracy, while the former has undergone semantic shift so its meaning has changed to “legitimate” rather than the original “masterful” — so both have been replaced with other terms which better reflect the intended meaning. over all existence! The CAUSE will reign! In Their great house, They will reign over us forever and ever! |
This transcription was derived from “Piyyut №8” in M. Sokoloff and J. Yahalom, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1999).
Notes
| 1 | A Greek borrowing, from κόσμος kósmos, translated here with an English cognate. |
|---|---|
| 2 | Moses |
| 3 | The Temple |
| 4 | A Greek borrowing, from αίώνιος aiṓnios, translated here with an English cognate. |
| 5 | A Greek borrowing, from ούρανός oúranós, translated here with an English cognate. |
| 6 | Two Greek borrowings, from αὐθέντης authéntis (ruler, effendi) and θεός theós (God). Unfortunately neither forms have direct English cognates that function in the sentence — the latter has no independent noun form and is restricted to prefixes like theism or theocracy, while the former has undergone semantic shift so its meaning has changed to “legitimate” rather than the original “masterful” — so both have been replaced with other terms which better reflect the intended meaning. |
“תָּנוּן שְׁבָחֵיהּ | Tanun Shvaḥeih (Tell the Praise) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of Pesaḥ” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)
Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Unknown Author(s)
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Dead Sea Scroll Fragment – 4Q14 – 4Q Exod(c) – Plate 1074, Frag 1 (B-295437)(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in category lists and in shared links on social media.)
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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
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