עָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּחַ | Aleinu, as adapted with translation by Dr. Jakob Petuchowski (1966)

Contributor(s): Jakob Petuchowski (translation) and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Shared on: 7 August 2021 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories: Aleinu

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., על כן נקוה al ken n'qaveh, עלינו Aleinu, paraliturgical al ken n'qaveh, redemptive translation, revisionist translation

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
עָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּחַ לַאֲדוֹן הַכֹּל לָתֵת גְּדֻלָּה לְיוֹצֵר בְּרֵאשִׁית,	It is our duty to praise the Lord of all, to ascribe greatness unto Him Who formed the world in the beginning.
שֶׁבָחַר־בָּנוּ לְיַחֵד אֶת־שְׁמוֹ וְקֵרְבָנוּ לַעֲבוֹדָתוֹ.	For He hath chosen us to proclaim the Unity of His Name, and He hath brought us near unto His service.
וַאֲנַחְנוּ כּוֹרְעִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים וּמוֹדִים לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים, הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא.	That is why we bend the knee and offer worship and thanks before the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, praised be He.
שֶׁהוּא נוֹטֶה שָׁמַיִם וְיוֹסֵד אָרֶץ וּמוֹשַׁב יְקָרוֹ בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וּשְׁכִינַת עֻזּוֹ בְּגָבְהֵי מְרוֹמִים׃ הוּא אֱלֹהֵינוּ אֵין עוֹד. אֱמֶת מַלְכֵּנוּ, אֶפֶס זוּלָתוֹ. כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרָתוֹ. וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ אֶל־לְבָבֶךָ, כִּי יְיָ הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל־הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת אֵין עוֹד:	We recognize in all nature His creative work; and we know that He alone is God. There is none else. The truths and the insights which God hath vouchsafed unto Israel will, one day, become the possession of all the children of man.
עַל־כֵּן נְקַוֶּה לְּךָ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ לִרְאוֹת מְהֵרָה בְּתִפְאֶרֶת עֻזֶּךָ, לְהַעֲבִיר גִּלּוּלִים מִן־הָאָרֶץ וְהָאֱלִילִים כָּרוֹת יִכָּרֵתוּן, לְתַקֵּן עוֹלָם בְּמַלְכוּת שַׁדַּי וְכָל־בְּנֵי בָשָֹר יִקְרְאוּ בִשְׁמֶךָ, לְהַפְנוֹת אֵלֶיךָ כָּל־רִשְׁעֵי אָרֶץ׃	We hope for the speedy coming of that day, for the abolition of idolatry, for the cessation of evil, and for the perfection of the world under the Kingdom of the Almighty.
יַכִּירוּ וְיֵדְעוּ כָּל־יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵל כִּי לְךָ תִּכְרַע כָּל־בֶּרֶךְ תִּשָּׁבַע כָּל־לָשׁוֹן׃ לְפָנֶיךָ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ יִכְרְעוּ וְיִפּוֹלוּ וְלִכְבוֹד שִׁמְךָ יְקָר יִתֵּנוּ. וִיקַבְּלוּ כֻלָּם עֲלֵיהֶם אֶת עוֹל מַלְכוּתֶךָ, וְתִמְלךְ עֲלֵיהֶם מְהֵרָה לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד׃	Then all the inhabitants of the world will perceive and know, O God, that unto Thee every knee must bend, every tongue must swear fealty. Before Thee, O Lord, our God, they will bow and prostrate themselves. Unto Thy glorious Name they will give honor. They will accept the yoke of Thy Kingdom, Yea, Thou wilt reign over them speedily, and for ever and ever.
כִּי הַמַּלְכוּת שֶׁלְּךָ הִיא וּלְעוֹלְמֵי עַד תִּמְלוֹךְ בְּכָבוֹד, כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ: יְיָ יִמְלֹךְ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד׃ וְנֶאֱמַר: וְהָיָה יְיָ לְמֶלֶךְ עַל כָּל הָאָרֶץ, בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה יְיָ אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד:	For the Kingdom is Thine; and unto all eternity Thou wilt reign in glory, as it is said: The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; on that day shall the Lord be One, and His Name One.

This is the scholar Dr. Jakob Petuchowski’s translation of Alenu from his Shabbat Minḥah prayer-pamphlet (1966), p.15r-16r. The end of “She’hu noteh shamayim” and the beginning of “Al Ken” contain a revisionist (or “redemptive”) paraliturgical translation. I have set his translation side-by-side with the Hebrew with linear phrasing. –Aharon Varady

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“עָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּחַ | Aleinu, as adapted with translation by Dr. Jakob Petuchowski (1966)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Jakob Petuchowski (translation)

Jakob Josef Petuchowski (1925, Berlin – 1991, Cincinnati) was an American research professor of Jewish Theology and Liturgy and professor of Judeo-Christian Studies at the Jewish Institute of Religion at Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio. Petuchowski was brought up as an Orthodox Jew in Berlin and left Germany in May 1939 for Scotland on the Kindertransport. His father, Samuel Meir Sigmund Petuchowski, died in 1928 and his mother was murdered in the Holocaust. Aged just 16, and having had only a year's instruction in English before leaving Berlin, he became a rabbinical student at the Glasgow Rabbinical College. While studying for a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Psychology, which he received from the University of London in 1947, he continued Jewish studies privately, receiving tuition from Rabbis Leo Baeck and Arthur Löwenstamm among others. In 1948 he became a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati. He received a master's degree in 1952 and a PhD in 1956. He served as part-time rabbi in Welch, West Virginia between 1949 and 1955 and was full-time rabbi in Washington, Pennsylvania from 1955 to 1956. He returned to teach at Hebrew Union College in 1956. During the academic year 1963-64 he was rabbi and founding director of Judaic Studies at the college's newly established branch in Jerusalem. His works include Ever Since Sinai (1961), Prayerbook Reform in Europe (1968), Understanding Jewish Prayer (1972), Theology and Poetry (1978), Es lehrten unsere Meister (1979) and When Jews and Christians Meet (1986).

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.)

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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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