כִּי הִנֵּה כַּחֹֽמֶר | Ki Hineh Kaḥomer, rhymed translation by Alice Lucas (1898)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=36190

Date: 2021-03-14

Last Updated: 2025-03-31

Categories: Yom Kippur

Tags: 12th century C.E., 50th century A.M.

Excerpt: A rhyming translation of the pizmon for maariv on Yom Kippur. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
כִּי הִנֵּה כַּחֹֽמֶר בְּיַד הַיּוֹצֵר. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ מַרְחִיב וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְקַצֵּר. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ חֶֽסֶד נוֹצֵר. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר׃	Lo, as the potter moulds his clay Shaping and forming it from day to day, Thus in Thy hand, O Lord, are we.[1] Cf. Jeremiah 18:6. Also find, Isaiah 64:7.   O Thou whose mercies never pass away, Forgive our sins once more, And keep Thy covenant as in days of yore.
כִּי הִנֵּה כָאֶֽבֶן בְּיַד הַמְּסַתֵּת. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ אוֹחֵז וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְכַתֵּת. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ מְחַיֶּה וּמְמוֹתֵת. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר׃	Even as the mason hews the stone, And one is carved and wrought, and shattered one, Thus in Thy hand, O Lord, are we, Thou who of life and death art Lord alone. Forgive our sins once more, And keep Thy covenant as in days of yore.
כִּי הִנֵּה כַגַּרְזֶן בְּיַד הֶחָרָשׁ. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ דִּבֵּק לָאוֹר וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ פֵּרַשׁ. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ תּוֹמֵךְ עָנִי וָרָשׁ. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר׃	Lo, as amidst the fiery glow The smith his iron forges blow on blow, Thus in Thy hand, O Lord, are we, O Thou who savest those by care laid low, Forgive our sins once more, And keep Thy covenant as in days of yore.
כִּי הִנֵּה כַהֶֽגֶה בְּיַד הַמַּלָּח. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ אוֹחֵז וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ שִׁלַּח. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ אֵל טוֹב וְסַלָּח. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר׃	Even as the helm the steerman’s hand Holdeth now firmly grasped, now lightly spann’d, Thus in Thy hand, O Lord, are we; O Thou who pardonest the transgressor’s band, Forgive our sins once more, And keep Thy covenant as in days of yore.
כִּי הִנֵּה כַזְּכוּכִית בְּיַד הַמְזַגֵּג. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ חוֹגֵג וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְמוֹגֵג. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ מַעֲבִיר זָדוֹן וְשׁוֹגֵג. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר׃	Lo, as the artificer’s breath Now forms, now melts the glass he fashioneth, Thus in Thy hand, O Lord, are we; O Thou whose love our weakness succoureth, Forgive our sins once more And keep Thy covenant as in days of yore.
כִּי הִנֵּה כַיְרִיעָה בְּיַד הָרוֹקֵם. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ מְיַשֵּׁר וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְעַקֵּם. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ אֵל קַנֹּא וְנוֹקֵם. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר׃
כִּי הִנֵּה כַכֶּֽסֶף בְּיַד הַצּוֹרֵף. בִּרְצוֹתוֹ מְסַגְסֵג וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְצָרֵף. כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ מַמְצִיא לְמָזוֹר תֶּֽרֶף. לַבְּרִית הַבֵּט וְאַל תֵּֽפֶן לַיֵּֽצֶר׃	Lo, as the silver seven times tried Is in the smelter’s furnace purified, Thus in Thy hand, O Lord, are we; O Thou, who balm and healing scatterest wide, Forgive our sins once more, And keep Thy covenant as in days of yore.

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Alice Lucas’s rhymed paraliturgical translation of the pizmon “Ki Hinei Kaḥomer,” was first published in her The Jewish Year (1898), page 74, under the title “Lo, As the Potter.” She omits the penultimate stanza “as a tapestry in the hands of an embroiderer.”

In Ashkenazi comunities, “Ki Hinei Kaḥomer” is sung at maariv on Yom Kippur.

Source(s)

 

 

Notes

Notes

1	Cf. Jeremiah 18:6. Also find, Isaiah 64:7.

Contributor: Unknown Author(s)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Alice Lucas (translation)
  Bio: Alice Julia Lucas (née Montefiore) (2 August 1851 – 25 March 1935) was a British Jewish poet, translator, and communal worker. Alice Julia Montefiore was born in 1851, the elder daughter of Nathaniel M. Montefiore and Emma Goldsmid. Alongside her brother Claude Montefiore, she studied Judaism under Solomon Schechter at the Hochschule in Berlin. On 24 April 1873 she married barrister Henry Lucas, who later served as treasurer and vice-president of the United Synagogue. In 1900 she helped establish the Jewish Study Society, modelled after the Council of Jewish Women, of which she served as the first president. Lucas also sat on the women's committee of the Westminster Jews' Free School and its preparatory nursery, the Jews' Infant School.
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Lucas_(poet)
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/alice-lucas
• 
  Name: Unknown Author(s)
  Bio: Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/unknown
• 
  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

Featured Image:

Title: 1024px-Life_on_a_wheel
Caption: "Pottery maker doing his work" (credit: Arjit Chowdhury, license: CC BY-SA)