צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי | Tsam'ah Nafshi, a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)

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Date: 2020-01-20

Last Updated: 2025-04-11

Categories: Se'udat Yom Shabbat

Tags: 12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, libi uv'sari, זמירות zemirot, נשמת כל חי Nishmat kol ḥai, פיוטים piyyuṭim, צמאה נפשי Tsamah Nafshi

Excerpt: An interpretive translation of a piyyut composed as an introduction to the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי לֵאלֹהִים לְאֵל חָי לִבִּי וּבְשָׂרִי יְרַנְּנוּ לְאֵל חָי אֵל אֶחָד בְּרָאָנִי וְאָמַר חַי אָנִי כִּי לֹא יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם וָחָי	All potent God! You made me “Alive I am,” You told me Yet no one’s eyes can see Me remaining flesh — alive. My heart and my flesh they sing to You, to You the Source of Life!
בָּרָא כֹּל בְּחָכְמָה בְּעֵצָה וּבִמְזִמָּה מְאֹד נֶעֱלָמָה מֵעֵינֵי כָל חָי	Brought forth we were by intent in counsel and consent yet hidden is what this meant from us who are alive
רָם עַל כֹּל כְּבוֹדוֹ כָּל פֶּה יְחַוֶּה הוֹדוֹ בָּרוּךְ אֲשֶׁר בְּיָדוֹ נֶפֶשׁ כָּל חָי	Resplendent in Your glory all tales are but Your story praise to You who is pouring into our souls our life
הִבְדִּיל נִינֵי תָם חֻקִּים לְהוֹרוֹתָם אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אוֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחָי	How generous on Your side To teach us laws which guide those who by them abide as sources of good life
מִי זֶה יִצְטַדַּק נִמְשַׁל לְאָבָק דָּק אֶמֶת כִּי לֹא יִצְדַּק לְפָנֶיךָ כָּל חָי	Might we be ever right and live all in the light what are we but a mite and yet You give us life
בְּלֵב יֵצֶר חָשׁוּב כִּדְמוּת חֲמַת עַכְשׁוּב וְאֵיכָכָה יָשׁוּב הַבָּשָׂר הֶחָי	Born as we are of passion at times we lack compassion if only we could fashion a God-filled way of life
נְסוֹגִים אִם אָבוּ מִדַרְכָּם שָׁבוּ טֶרֶם יִשְׁכָּבוּ בֵּית מוֹעֵד לְכָל חָי	Near God to be we yearn From wicked ways to turn before bodies to dust return and souls to the Source of Life
עַל כֹּל אֲהוֹדֶךָ כָּל פֶּה תְּיַחֲדֶךָ פּוֹתֵחַ אֶת יָדֶךָ וּמַשְׂבִּיעַ לְכָל חָי	Every way will I adore You my fervent prayer implore You to open my path before You to sate my soul with life.
זְכוֹר אַהֲבַת קְדוּמִים וְהַחֲיֵה נִרְדָּמִים וְקָרֵב הַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר בֶּן יִשַׁי חָי	Zeal filled our sires with fervor do rouse us from our torpor and help us meet our saviour Of Yishai’s stock — in Life
רְאֵה לִגְבֶרֶת אֱמֶת שִׁפְחָה נוֹאֶמֶת לֹא כִי בְנֵךְ הַמֵּת וּבְנִי הֶחָי	Remember! we kept Your trust May Your response be just and being fair You must decree us toward life
אֶקּוֹד עַל אַפִּי וְאֶפְרוֹשׂ לְךָ כַּפִּי עֵת אֶפְתַּח פִּי בְּנִשְׁמַת כָּל חָי	Awed am I, amazed at You my arms I raise in pray’r to You my mouth will sings its praise to You Oh Source and Soul of Life!

Source

This “praying translation” of the piyyut Tsamah Nafshi by Avraham ibn Ezra is included in Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s Sabbath Supplement to his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi ~ As I Can Say It (for Praying in the Vernacular) (2009).

The piyyut is now familiar as a Shabbat table song, although it was initially composed as an introduction to Nishmat Kol Ḥai.

Source(s)

Contributor: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation)

Co-authors:

Name: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation)
Bio: 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.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zalman_Schachter-Shalomi
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/zalman-schachter-shalomi-translation

Name: Avraham ibn Ezra
Bio: Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם בֶּן מֵאִיר אִבְּן עֶזְרָא‎ ʾAvraham ben Mēʾīr ʾībən ʾĒzrāʾ, often abbreviated as ראב"ע; Arabic: إبراهيم‎ المجيد ابن عزرا‎‎ Ibrāhim al-Mājid ibn Ezra; also known simply as Ibn Ezra, 1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167) was one of the most distinguished Jewish biblical commentators and philosophers of the Middle Ages. He was born in Tudela in northern Spain.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_ibn_Ezra
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/avraham-ibn-ezra

Name: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Bio: 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.)
Website: https://aharon.varady.net
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-transcription

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Title: Pitcher_Plant_-_Nepenthes_-__Monkey_Cup__(1281196161)
Caption: Pitcher Plant - Nepenthes - "Monkey Cup" (credit: Richard W Sinyem, license: CC BY)