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This seliḥah was written for Seliḥot in Los Angeles, Elul, 5784, 2024, in the light of the horrific killing that the IDF has perpetrated in Gaza since October 8 (after the Hamas massacre of October 7), 2023. The opening frame is from the Tokheḥah and the closing line from Eikhah. The only hope is that we do teshuvah and stop the war and the violence now. The language is an adaptation of Hebrew of piyyutim and seliḥot. –Aryeh Cohen
| Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט שָׁמַנְתָּ עָבִיתָ כָּשִׂיתָ וַיִּטֹּשׁ אֱלוֹהַּ עָשָׂהוּ וַיְנַבֵּל צוּר יְשֻׁעָתוֹ. (דברים לב:טו) |
And Jeshurun fattened and kicked— You fattened, you thickened, grew gross— And abandoned the God who made him And despised the Rock of his rescue. (Deuteronomy 32:15) |
שָׁמְנֵנוּ, עָבִינוּ, כְּשִׂנּוּ, נִטַּשְׁנוּ אֱלוֹהַּ עוֹשֵׂנוּ, נָבַלְנוּ צוּר יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ. |
We became full of ourselves, thickened, grew gross and we abandoned the God who made us, we despised the Rock of our rescue. |
הֶאָמַנְנוּ בֶּאֱלֹהֵי הַכֹּחַ, זָנַחְנוּ אֶת צָרְכֵי הַדַּל. |
We believed in the God of power, we abandoned the needs of the impoverished. |
הֵסַטְנוּ אֶת עֵינֵינוּ מִמַּעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ, לְזַעֲקוֹת קָרְבְּנוֹתֵינוּ אִטַּמְנוּ אֶת אָזְנֵינוּ. |
We turned our eyes from what our hands did, from the screams of our victims we plugged our ears. |
גַּם אֶת אַחֵינוּ וְאַחְיוֹתֵינוּ נָטַשְׁנוּ בְּשָׂדוֹת זָרִים, בְּעַד נִצָּחוֹן מְדֻמֶּה שִׁלַּמְנוּ בְּדָמִים. |
We even abandoned our brothers and sisters in foreign lands, for an imaginary victory we paid with blood. |
אֵין לָנוּ עַל מָה לְהִשָּׁעֵן בְּעָמְדֵנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ דָּר מְרוֹמִים, כְּבָר הִבְטַחְנוּ שֶׁנָּשׁוּב וְלֹא שַׁבְנוּ, חַי עוֹלָמִים. |
We have nothing upon which to lean when we stand before You, the One who dwells on high, we promised we would repent, we have not repented, O Eternal One. |
לִבֵּנוּ לִבְנֵי מִשְׁפְּחוֹתֵינוּ אֲשֶׁר דָּמָם נִשְׁפַּךְ. עַל הַנִּרְצָחִים בָּכִינוּ וּבוֹכִים. עַל זְקֵנוֹת וָטַף. |
Our hearts go out to the families whose blood was spilled. We cried and cry for those murdered. For the elderly, for the infants. |
אָז הִתַּרְנוּ אֶת הָרְצוּעָה, הָרֶסֶן נִשְׁלַח. וְהָיִינוּ עִוְּרִים וְחָרָשִׁים לַאֲשֶׁר עוֹלְלוּ אַחֵינוּ בִּשְׂדֵה קְרָב. |
Then we let loose the reins, all the stops were discarded, and we became blind and deaf to what our brothers did on the battlefield. |
עָרִים נְשָׁמוֹת, בָּתִּים הָרוּסִים, בָּתֵּי תְּפִלָּה רְמוּסִים, עִיֵּי חֳרָבוֹת. מִן הָאֲוִיר ומן הַיַּבָּשָׁה, יָרוּ וְהִפְצִיצוּ, כְּפָרִים וַעֲיָרוֹת שְׁלֵמוֹת. מִשְׁפָּחוֹת שְׁלֵמוֹת, דּוֹרוֹת עַל דּוֹרוֹת נֶהֶרְגוּ, כֹּחוֹתֵינוּ פָּשְׁטוּ וְכָבְשׁוּ וְחַיָּלִים יְהוּדִים הִתְגָּאוּ בִּבְזִיזָה בְּשֹׁד בְּהֶרֶג. |
Desolate cities, destroyed houses, trampled houses of prayer, heaps of ruins. From the air and from the land, they shot they bombed, villages and cities complete. Whole families, generations upon generations were killed, our forces invaded and captured And Jewish soldiers showed off the booty and the death. |
הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ יְהֹוָה אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה (ונשוב) חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם. (איכה ה:כא) |
Take us back, God, to Yourself, And let us come back; Renew our days as of old! (Eikhah 5:21) |
“סְלִיחָה לְחֹדֶשׁ אֱלוּל בְּצֵל הַמִּלְחָמָה בְּעַזָּה | Seliḥah for Elul in the shadow of the war on Gaza, by Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Cohen (2024)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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Destruction in al-Shati Refugee Camp after an Israeli bombardment, October 29, 2023. (photo credit: Mohammed Zaanoun, ActiveStills)
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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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