תהלים צ׳ | Psalms 90, a tefilah by Mosheh translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi

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Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Mosheh ben Amram (traditional attribution) and the Masoretic Text

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19 March 2022 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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Tehilim Book 4 (Psalms 90–106)

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תפילה tefilah, devotional interpretation, interpretive translation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Psalms 90

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
תְּפִלָּה֮ לְמֹשֶׁ֢ה אִֽישׁ־הָאֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים	Moses, a God’s man at prayer:
אֲֽדֹנָ֗י מָע֣וֹן אַ֭תָּה הָיִ֥יתָ לָּ֗נוּ בְּדֹ֣ר וָדֹֽר׃	Master! You are our home each time we are born again.
בְּטֶ֤רֶם ׀ הָ֘רִ֤ים יֻלָּ֗דוּ וַתְּח֣וֹלֵֽל אֶ֣רֶץ וְתֵבֵ֑ל וּֽמֵעוֹלָ֥ם עַד־ע֝וֹלָ֗ם אַתָּ֥ה אֵֽל׃ תָּשֵׁ֣ב אֱ֭נוֹשׁ עַד־דַּכָּ֑א וַ֝תֹּ֗אמֶר שׁ֣וּבוּ בְנֵֽי־אָדָֽם׃	Before mountains emerged, before Earth and Space were born, from Cosmos to Cosmos, You are God. You bring us, poor weak ones, to death’s door and you urge us: “Return, Adam’s kin!”
כִּ֤י אֶ֪לֶף שָׁנִ֡ים בְּֽעֵינֶ֗יךָ כְּי֣וֹם אֶ֭תְמוֹל כִּ֣י יַֽעֲבֹ֑ר וְאַשְׁמוּרָ֥ה בַלָּֽיְלָה׃	In your gaze, a millennium is as yesterday gone, like a watch at night.
זְ֭רַמְתָּם שֵׁנָ֣ה יִהְי֑וּ בַּ֝בֹּ֗קֶר כֶּחָצִ֥יר יַחֲלֹֽף׃	You flooded us with sleep. Morning had us as wilted hay.
בַּ֭בֹּקֶר יָצִ֣יץ וְחָלָ֑ף לָ֝עֶ֗רֶב יְמוֹלֵ֥ל וְיָבֵֽשׁ׃	Blossoming with dawn, only to change at dusk, all wilted and dry.
כִּֽי־כָלִ֥ינוּ בְאַפֶּ֑ךָ וּֽבַחֲמָתְךָ֥ נִבְהָֽלְנוּ׃	Your wrath makes us panic. Your anger confuses us.
שַׁתָּ֣ עֲוֺנֹתֵ֣ינוּ לְנֶגְדֶּ֑ךָ עֲ֝לֻמֵ֗נוּ לִמְא֥וֹר פָּנֶֽיךָ׃	For all our crooked places are open to Your gaze. Our hidden stirrings, are visible to Your inner light.
כִּ֣י כׇל־יָ֭מֵינוּ פָּנ֣וּ בְעֶבְרָתֶ֑ךָ כִּלִּ֖ינוּ שָׁנֵ֣ינוּ כְמוֹ־הֶֽגֶה׃	We note all our days, fleeing from Your ire. Our years are fading like a fleeting thought.
יְמֵֽי־שְׁנוֹתֵ֨ינוּ בָהֶ֥ם שִׁבְעִ֪ים שָׁנָ֡ה וְאִ֤ם בִּגְבוּרֹ֨ת ׀ שְׁמ֘וֹנִ֤ים שָׁנָ֗ה וְ֭רׇהְבָּם עָמָ֣ל וָאָ֑וֶן כִּי־גָ֥ז חִ֝֗ישׁ וַנָּעֻֽפָה׃ מִֽי־י֭וֹדֵעַ עֹ֣ז אַפֶּ֑ךָ וּ֝כְיִרְאָתְךָ֗ עֶבְרָתֶֽךָ׃ לִמְנ֣וֹת יָ֭מֵינוּ כֵּ֣ן הוֹדַ֑ע וְ֝נָבִ֗א לְבַ֣ב חׇכְמָֽה׃	Our life span’s days, are seventy years, and if hardy, eighty years. Their gain is struggle and offense. Soon we are chopped down, dispersed and gone. Who can estimate the extent of Your rage? Fear of Your ire paralyzes us. Make us aware enough to treasure our days; a wise heart brings vision.
שׁוּבָ֣ה יְ֭הֹוָה עַד־מָתָ֑י וְ֝הִנָּחֵ֗ם עַל־עֲבָדֶֽיךָ׃	How long it seems – Relent! I am in Your service. Become reconciled with me.
שַׂבְּעֵ֣נוּ בַבֹּ֣קֶר חַסְדֶּ֑ךָ וּֽנְרַנְּנָ֥ה וְ֝נִשְׂמְחָ֗ה בְּכׇל־יָמֵֽינוּ׃
שַׂ֭מְּחֵנוּ כִּימ֣וֹת עִנִּיתָ֑נוּ שְׁ֝נ֗וֹת רָאִ֥ינוּ רָעָֽה׃	Gladden us, no less than You made us suffer, those years we endured such harm.
יֵרָאֶ֣ה אֶל־עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ פׇעֳלֶ֑ךָ וַ֝הֲדָרְךָ֗ עַל־בְּנֵיהֶֽם׃	Oh that we could see Your design clearly, Your grandeur in our children.
וִיהִ֤י ׀ נֹ֤עַם אֲדֹנָ֥י אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ עָ֫לֵ֥ינוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂ֣ה יָ֭דֵינוּ כּוֹנְנָ֥ה עָלֵ֑ינוּ וּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָ֝דֵ֗ינוּ כּוֹנְנֵֽהוּ׃	May Your kindly Presence, Lord, be ever pleasant for us. May our hands’ efforts achieve their aim. Please let our efforts result in good.

This paraliturgical translation of Psalms 90 by Reb Zalman can be found in print as published in his All Breathing Life: At the Interface Between Poetry and Prayer: translations and compositions of Jewish sacred literature (ed. Michael Kagan, 2011: Gaon Books), pp.195-196. The version there appears to be missing a translation of the verse, Psalms 90:14. Perhaps Reb Zalman left this verse untranslated so that it may be completed by one through one’s own devotional translation. (If you have seen a translation of this final verse by Reb Zalman, please leave a comment or contact us.)

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“תהלים צ׳ | Psalms 90, a tefilah by Mosheh translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Rabbi Dr. Zalman Meshullam Schachter-Shalomi, affectionately known as "Reb Zalman" (28 August 1924 – 3 July 2014) was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement. Born in Żółkiew, Poland (now Ukraine) and raised in Vienna, he was interned in detention camps under the Vichy Regime but managed to flee the Nazi advance, emigrating to the United States in 1941. He was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in 1947 within the ḤaBaD Hasidic movement while under the leadership of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, and served ḤaBaD communities in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He subsequently earned an M.A. in psychology of religion at Boston University, and a doctorate from the Hebrew Union College. He was initially sent out to speak on college campuses by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but in the early 1960s, after experimenting with "the sacramental value of lysergic acid", the main ingredient in LSD, leadership within ḤaBaD circles cut ties with him. He continued teaching the Torah of Ḥassidut until the end of his life to creative, free and open-minded Jewish thinkers with humility and kindness and established warm ecumenical ties as well. In September 2009, he became the first contributor of a siddur to the Open Siddur Project database of Jewish liturgy and related work. Reb Zalman supported the Open Siddur Project telling its founder, "this is what I've been looking forward to!" and sharing among many additional works of liturgy, an interview he had with Havurah magazine in the early to mid-1980s detailing his vision of "Database Davenen." The Open Siddur Project is proud to be realizing one of Reb Zalman's long held dreams.

Mosheh ben Amram (traditional attribution)

Mosheh ben Amram (affectionately, Mosheh Rabbeinu -- our teacher, Mosheh; fl. 13th century BCE) is the pre-eminent prophet in all forms of Judaism and one of the most important prophets in Christianity, Islam, the Druze faith, the Baháʼí Faith and other so-called Abrahamic religions. According to both the Torah and the Quran, Mosheh was the leader of the Israelites and the recipient of the Divine Instruction/Teaching (Torah), and the first five books of the Torah are traditionally attributed to him. A handful of psalms are also traditionally attributed to him (Psalms 90-95). In the Rabbinic Jewish tradition, besides the name "Mosheh" given to him by Pharaoh's daughter Bityah, he was also known by other names: Yared, Avi Gedor, Ḥever, Avi Sokho, Yequtiel, Avi Zano'aḥ, Shemayah, and "Heiman" (span class="hebrew">הֵימָן).

the Masoretic Text

The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Karaite and Rabbinic Judaism. It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocalization and accentuation known as the Masorah.

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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