אדמה ושמים | Adamah v'Shamayim (Earth & Heaven), a prayer-poem by Rabbi Louis Polisson after the song by Shimon Lev-Tahor (Suissa)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=33807
open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Date: 2020-09-27
Last Updated: 2025-02-18
Categories: Yom Kippur
Tags: 2020 United States racial reckoning, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., first person, Prayers as poems, September 2020 Western United States wildfires, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah, תשובה teshuvah, Needing Vocalization
Excerpt: This poem was composed at the end of August 2020 / Elul 5780 as part of Rabbi Katy Allen's Earth Etudes for Elul 5780. . . .
Content:
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English |
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אני יושב וצופה על העשבים הירוקים
חורש העצים לפני, לשמאל
אני שר
אדמה ושמים
חום האש
צליל המיים
אני מרגיש זאת
בגופי
ברוחי
ובנשמתי
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I sit and look out over the green grass
The grove of trees just in front of me, to the left
I sing
Adamah ve-shamayim [earth and sky]
Ḥom ha-eish [heat of fire]
Ts’lil ha-mayyim [sound of water]
Ani margish zot [I feel this]
Be-gufi [in my body]
Be-ruḥi [in my spirit]
Uve-nishmati [and in my soul]
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אבל האם אני מרגיש
את הכאב
את הסבל
של בני אדם עמיתים, בני חוה
בני עדן
בני אדמה
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But do I feel
The pain
The suffering
Of my fellow human beings, children of Eve
Children of Eden
Children of Earth
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תשובה, חזרה, היא
לשוב לעדן, כן
אבל גם שוב לגיהנום
שבו גופים הוקרבו
לאלים כוזבים
של שנאה ואש
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Teshuvah, returning, then
Is back to Eden, yes
But also back to Gehinnom
Where bodies were sacrificed
To false gods
Of hate and fire
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יהי גשם שמיני עצרת
יבא מהר
לשטוף את השנאה
לכבות את הלהבות
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May the rain of the 8th day
Come swiftly
Wash away the hate
Extinguish the flames
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יהי אדמה ושמים
יתדחשו ויחדשו אותנו
סולחים את חטאתינו
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May the Earth and the Sky
Be renewed and renew us
Forgiving us our sins
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יהי המלך בשדה
ישיבינו ונשובה
מחדש ימינו כקדם
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May the Sovereign in the field
Return us and we will return
Renewing our days as of old
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אדמה ושמים, מאת הרב לואיס לב שלום בן אשר זעליג ז׳׳ל וטובה פוליסון, אלול תש״פ (Adamah Ve-Shamayim (Earth and Heaven), by Rabbi Louis Polisson, August 2020 / Elul 5780). This poem was composed at the end of August 2020 / Elul 5780 as part of Rabbi Katy Allen’s Earth Etudes for Elul 5780. This prayer-poem was first published on the blog of Mayan Tikvah.
If you’d like to support Louis Polisson’s creative work, you can support him via PayPal at louis.polisson@gmail.com.
Contributor: Louis Polisson
Co-authors:
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Name: Louis Polisson
Bio: Louis Polisson is a musician, poet, and rabbi, ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2018, where he also earned an MA in Jewish Thought focusing on Kabbalah and Ḥasidut. He currently serves as the Associate Rabbi and Music Director at Congregation Beth Sholom in Teaneck, New Jersey. He previously served for five years as the solo clergy of Congregation Or Atid in Wayland, Massachusetts. Louis and his wife Gabriella Feingold released an album of original Jewish and nature-based spiritual folk music in November 2018 - listen here.
Website: https://www.congregationoratid.org/rabbi-polisson
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/louis-polisson
Featured Image:
Title: lake-20942_1280
Caption: Lake (credit: Larisa-K, license: CC BY)