Contributor(s):

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

Shared on:

22 January 2011 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Taking a life, Ḳaddish

Tags:

Prayers in Film, Psalmsploitation, lonely man of faith, 20th century C.E., abduction, kidnapping, 58th century A.M., Hebrew translation

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Tired of people who can’t tell their ḳiddish from their ḳaddish? Well, it sets Samuel L. Jackson off too! But he found a way of making a brakhah and mourning the dead at the same time.^[1] Cf. PULP FICTION (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1994)   Now I can’t vouch for the origins of his nusaḥ but it sounds very effective!

Most people haven’t noticed, the only real part from the Bible is that last section (adapted from Ezekiel 25:17), the first part is actually his own spiel.^[2] Jules Winnfield’s spiel was adapted from a reference to the verse which first appeared in the THE BODYGUARD (1976), an American release of the Japanese martial-arts film, ボディガード牙 (Karate Kiba, dir. Ikki Kajiwara and Ken Nakagusuku, 1973).   Here is Reb Jules Winnfield, in the name of Marsellus Wallace, circa 1994.

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Translation (Hebrew)	Source (English)
הַדֶרֶךְ שֶׁל הַצָדִיק מִתְמוֹדֶדֶת בְּכֹּל שָׁלָב עִם רִשְׁעוּת שֶׁל אָנֹכִיִי וְהַעָרִיצוּת שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים.‏	The path of the righteous man[3] Cf. Proverbs 4:18. THE BODYGUARD (1976) has “the righteous man and defender.” (translated: הַצָדִיק וּמָגֵן)    is beset on all sides[4] lit. “confronted at every step.”    with the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.
בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֲשֶׁר לְטוֹבַת צֶדֶק וְרַצוֹן טוֹב, יוֹבִיל אֶת הֶחָלָשׁ בְּגֵיְא צַלְמָוֶת כֵּיוָן הוּא הָשׁוֹמֵר שֶׁל אָחַיו, בְּאֶמֶת וּמַּצִיל שֶׁל טָפִים אֲבּוּדִים	Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness,[5] Cf. Psalms 23:4    for he is truly his brother’s keeper[6] Cf. Genesis 4:9    and the finder of lost children.[7] THE BODYGUARD (1976) has “the father of lost children,” (translated: וְאַב שֶׁל טָפִים אֲבּוּדִים).
וְעָשִׂ֤יתִי בָם֙ נְקָמ֣וֹת גְּדֹל֔וֹת בְּתוֹכְח֖וֹת חֵמָ֑ה מִי שֶׁמְּנַסֶּה לְהָרְעִיל וּלְהַרוֹס אֶת הָאַחִים שֶׁלִי וְיָֽדְעוּ֙ כִּֽי־אֲנִ֣י יְהוָ֔ה בְּתִתִּ֥י אֶת־נִקְמָתִ֖י בָּֽם׃	“And I will strike down upon those with great vengeance and with furious anger”[8] Ezekiel 25:17, first part of verse.    those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. “And you will know that my name is the LORD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”[9] Ezekiel 25:17, second part of verse.

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Translation into Hebrew by Aharon Varady. An earlier version of this post with another translation was originally published by Shmueli Gonzales at his blog, Hardcore Mesorah. Pulp Fiction was written by Quentin Tarantino, however, this segment was adapted from the the THE BODYGUARD (1976), a re-cut American release of the Japanese martial-arts film, ボディガード牙 (Karate Kiba, dir. Ikki Kajiwara and Ken Nakagusuku, 1973). As this segment was included in the opening sequences added by Simon Nuchtern, we suspect he (or someone working for him) probably wrote it, but we are not certain. If you know, please leave a comment (or contact us).

Source(s)

 

Notes[+]

Notes

1	Cf. PULP FICTION (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
2	Jules Winnfield’s spiel was adapted from a reference to the verse which first appeared in the THE BODYGUARD (1976), an American release of the Japanese martial-arts film, ボディガード牙 (Karate Kiba, dir. Ikki Kajiwara and Ken Nakagusuku, 1973).
3	Cf. Proverbs 4:18. THE BODYGUARD (1976) has “the righteous man and defender.” (translated: הַצָדִיק וּמָגֵן)
4	lit. “confronted at every step.”
5	Cf. Psalms 23:4
6	Cf. Genesis 4:9
7	THE BODYGUARD (1976) has “the father of lost children,” (translated: וְאַב שֶׁל טָפִים אֲבּוּדִים).
8	Ezekiel 25:17, first part of verse.
9	Ezekiel 25:17, second part of verse.

“אַ פּאָלףּ קדיש | A Ḳaddish by Reb Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction, 1994)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

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Shmueli Gonzales (transcription)

Shmuel Gonzales is a Mexican-American punk and ḥasid, of Sephardic Bnei Anusim roots. He shares his transcriptions of Jewish liturgy here at the Open Siddur; with the bulk of his work dedicated to the preservation and proliferation the historic liturgical texts of the Sephardic, Mizraḥi and the ḤaBaD Lubavitch Nusach ARI z”l traditions. His divrei torah are available via his blog, Hardcore Mesorah, Since the mid-1990s Shmuel has served as lay leader and shaliaḥ tsibur for several communities across the Los Angeles Eastside, while doing kiruv (Jewish outreach) and teaching Jewish education throughout the inner-city in working-class communities. He is the founder of the Boyle Heights Chavurah – a grassroots Jewish community in East Los Angeles. He is also a community organizer, serving Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) and was elected as President of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council. He is privileged to be recognized as a renowned professional historian, as founder of Boyle Heights History Studios (& Tours) and author of the Barrio Boychik Blog. He is a proud volunteer for the Pico Union Project, which has successfully transformed the oldest synagogue building in Los Angeles into a thriving community center under the leader of famed musician and Cantor Craig Taubman; which is serving as a model for renewing vibrancy for older historic Jewish communities in what are today’s BIPOC landscapes.

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.)

Unknown Author(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 leave a comment or contact us.

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Works of related interest:

 

קדיש יתום | Mourner’s Ḳaddish, a translation by Everett Fox after Franz Rosenzweig

קדיש דרבנן | Ḳaddish d’Rabanan (of Our Teachers), a translation by Everett Fox after Franz Rosenzweig

קדיש שלם | Ḳaddish Shalem, translated by Rabbi Dr. Jakob Petuchowski (1966)

קדיש | Ḳaddish, an abridged paraliturgical reading by Rabbi Daniel Brenner

קדיש יתום בזמן מלחמה | Mourner’s Ḳaddish in Times of War and Violence, by Arthur Waskow

קדיש יתום בלי מנין או אם לבד (אשכנז)‏ | Abbreviated, Personal Mourner’s Ḳaddish for when Praying Alone or Without a Minyan (Nusaḥ Ashkenaz), by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

קדיש דרבנן | Das Lernkaddisch, a translation of the Ḳaddish d’Rabanan in German by Franz Rosenzweig (1921)

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9 comments to אַ פּאָלףּ קדיש | A Ḳaddish by Reb Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction, 1994)

• Aharon

  2011-01-22 at 11:54 pm · Reply.

  It’s not Tu Bishvat anymore, so yeah.

• Efraim Feinstein

  2011-01-22 at 11:47 pm · Reply.

  Is it Purim yet?

• Aharon

  2011-02-03 at 3:48 pm · Reply.

  I found another copy of this text here dated February 16, 2008. It’s possible this translation first appeared in the Hebrew language subtitles to the film PULP FICTION. Can anyone confirm this? Also… this appears to be less than faithful translation of Jules Winnfield’s line into Hebrew than I would hope. Can anyone improve on this, keeping Winnfield’s tone of righteous indignation? Bonus points for adding nikkud.

• Shmueli

  2011-02-13 at 3:47 am · Reply.

  I have a wonderful collection of movies with Hebrew subtitles. Which gets me wondering, is there like an official subtitle team that gets input from the studio on what is appropriate? Whats funny about the botched translation is that many Israelis will point out the absurdity of trying to take faux King James sounding language and bring it back into Hebrew, without sounding redundant.

• Reb Zisha

  2012-03-05 at 11:25 pm · Reply.

  I love it.

  Be-r’shut, I would just suggest subsituting the word “taf” for “yeladim”. I think “taf”/”young children” is more common in Tanakhic pronouncements, and a touch more poetic.

  Then, of course, adjust the plural of “lost” to singular: “U-mekabetz taf avud.”

  Next, someone please translate Jules’ whole examination of who the righteous and evil, etc., are into Aramaic! Or would it sound better in Yiddish?

  Chag same’ach!

• The Hierophant

  2012-03-07 at 4:32 pm · Reply.

  that’s a great suggestion!

• The Hierophant

  2012-03-07 at 5:52 pm · Reply.

  I think we also need to translate “those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers” into Hebrew since that part’s not really in Ezekiel 25:17.

• CB

  2015-04-13 at 8:27 pm · Reply.

  Tarantino got the erroneous translation from the opening of Sonny Chiba’s The Bodyguard.

  • The Hierophant

    2015-04-13 at 8:59 pm · Reply.

    Thank you, Clint. I’ve added a note attributing the quote to The Bodyguard (1976).

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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