Israelite Samaritan Prayers for the Shabbat Torah Reading, translated by Benyamim Sedaka • the Open Siddur Project

Tags: Samaritan, Torah Reading, Needing Transcription, Nusaḥ haSamerim, Needing Source Images

Excerpt: Benyamim's Sedaka's English translations of the Israelite-Samaritan "Prayer to be Read by the Eldest Reader of the Sabbath Portion" and Abraham ben Marchiv Tsedaka Hassafari's poem to be read after reading the last portion of the Torah reading . . .

Content:

Poem to be read after reading the last portion of the Torah reading

by Abraham ben Marchiv Tsedaka Hassafari (1852-1928)

Our Eloowwem, who hears all our laments
On this holy day magnify our happiness
And increase our number.
O He who performs all miracles.
Grant us prosperity, as we keep your statutes
And your commandments and your laws.
Show us our path that we may live our life with honesty
And spread upon it what is good in Your eyes.
Forgive all our mistakes and sins
Rescue us from oppression
And guide us to days of goodwill and acceptance.
Save us from every difficulty
And put not our households and homes beyond Your charity.
Make us perform good deeds
And show us how to keep the Torah and its statutes.
Purify our conscience
Hear from us every lament
And release us from difficulty.
Do not allow our enemies to humiliate us
And remove anger from our minds
And disconcert the collaborators.
Sweeten our tongues and lighten our countenance
And make the days of good will
And the coming of the Taheb closer
And quench our thirst.
Confound those who abuse, upset and weary us.
Let us drink from the holy juice
And raise our heads on this day
Guide us in the way that our forefathers walked
And scatter our enemies, who cling to false prophets.
Show us the way to keep your Torah
The Torah of our Master
Your emissary who dwelt in Your House
Invoked by Your Might.
Let us learn the Ten Principles of reading
And let us know their significance
And give us from them richness.
Open our eyes so that we may know the Invisible
And let our souls be linked with it.
Illuminate our hearts with pure light
And help us to continue on the path with no end
The depth of its holiness unfathomed
And remove fear from our souls.

Prayer to be Read by the Eldest Reader of the Sabbath Portion

Thanks to him (Moses) who received it in obedience Whose name is joined with His Name.

(At the end of each reading portion, after reading the additional passage, all the readers will say together)

Moses has commanded us to observe Torah
The inheritance of the assembly of Yaaqob.
Eloowwem Who gave it will be Blessed.
Be Blessed our Eloowem for ever
And be Blessed His Name for ever.
Ehyyee Eshaar Ehyee (I Will Be What I Will Be).
Please Aadaanee, pardon our iniquities and our sins.
Atone our crimes and our guilt
And redeem us from our sins
And from the evils of other nations
And enable us to keep this Holy Sabbath Day
And the Holy Festivals and the Holy Torah
And Aargaareezem the House of El
All the days of our life.
And calm us from the trouble we are in
My Lord, calm us from the trouble we are in
And love us in Your mercy
And heal us with the power of Your Grace
Thanks to Moses Your Loyal One and Your Servant
Thanks to Moses Your Loyal One and Your Servant.
Turn away Your fierce wrath
And relent from harming Your People
Remember Abraham, Yessac and Yaaqob
Your servants to whom You swore by Your own self.

(Then the first reader says):

You have done well, O petitioners and readers
Continue saying Amen.
You will be blessed Shema Our Eloowem
There is no Eloowwem but The One
And the praise be to Him
And may your Sabbaths be blessed by Eloowem.
And Our Eloowwem will make this Sabbath Day
And each Sabbath Day double-blessed upon you
And may your Sabbaths be blessed by Eloowwem.
And Eloowwem will save you
And will heal your illness
And will remember the covenant of salt
Thanks to those who dwelt in the cave of Macphelaa
Abraham and Yessac and Yaaqob.
And thanks to Yoosef and our Master Moses
Who received the Torah from Eloowwem
Please say Amen.

(Then the petitioners rest in their seats, and tea and cakes are served)

Benyamim Sedaka’s English translations of the Israelite-Samaritan “Prayer to be Read by the Eldest Reader of the Sabbath Portion” and Abraham ben Marchiv Tsedaka Hassafari’s poem to be read after reading the last portion of the Torah reading were first published at the Israelite-Samaritan website, here. We intend to provide this translation side-by-side with the Israelite-Samaritan liturgical Hebrew as soon as we can. If you can read and transcribe Israelite-Samaritan, please contact us.

Featured Image:

Title: samaritan_high_priest_and_old_pentateuch_1905
Caption: "Samaritan High Priest and Old Pentateuch, 1905" Samaritan High Priest and Old Pentateuch, Nablus, West Bank. Part of a stereograph from Views of Palestine (1905). The text accompanying this image states "We are looking into the eyes of the chief representative of a religious sect, one of the oldest and certainly smallest in the world...They claim that they are the lineal descendants of the Israelites of old, from a remnant that was left when the tribes were carried into Syrian captivity...There is no doubt but that they are the representatives of the Samaritans of the time of Christ, for whom the Jews had such a deadly hatred. Here is kept with jealous care this ancient copy of the Pentateuch which is before us - one of the very oldest copies in existence. We could not have seen it on any account except in the presence of this high priest." (collection: J. Paul Getty Museum, credit: Keystone View Company, 1905)