הַכְנִיסִינִי תַּחַת כְּנָפֵךְ | Take Me Under Your Wing, by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik (1905)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=23187

Date: 2019-01-02

Last Updated: 2025-02-18

Categories: Ḳabbalat Shabbat, Repenting, Resetting, and Reconciliation

Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., diaspora, exile, heartbreak, lev nishbar, love-sickness, Openers, sanctuary, שכינה Shekhinah

Excerpt: The prayer-poem, "Take Me Under Your Wing" (1905) by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
הַכְנִיסִינִי תַּחַת כְּנָפֵךְ	Take Me Under Your Wing
הַכְנִיסִינִי תַּחַת כְּנָפֵךְ, וַהֲיִי לִי אֵם וְאָחוֹת, וִיהִי חֵיקֵךְ מִקְלַט רֹאשִׁי, קַן־תְּפִלּוֹתַי הַנִּדָּחוֹת.	Take me under your wing, be my mother, my sister. Take my head to your breast, my banished prayers to your nest.
וּבְעֵת רַחֲמִים, בֵּין־הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת, שְׁחִי וַאֲגַל לָךְ סוֹד יִסּוּרָי: אוֹמְרִים, יֵשׁ בָּעוֹלָם נְעוּרִים – הֵיכָן נְעוּרָי?	One merciful twilight hour, hear my pain, bend your head. They say there is youth in the world. Where has my youth fled?
וְעוֹד רָז אֶחָד לָךְ אֶתְוַדֶּה: נַפְשִׁי נִשְׂרְפָה בְלַהֲבָהּ; אוֹמְרִים, אַהֲבָה יֵשׁ בָּעוֹלָם – מַה־זֹּאת אַהֲבָה?	Listen! another secret: I have been seared by a flame. They say there is love in the world. How do we know love’s name?
הַכּוֹכָבִים רִמּוּ אוֹתִי, הָיָה חֲלוֹם – אַךְ גַּם הוּא עָבָר; עַתָּה אֵין לִי כְלוּם בָּעוֹלָם – אֵין לִי דָבָר.	I was deceived by the stars. There was a dream; it passed. I have nothing at all in the world, nothing but a vast waste.
הַכְנִיסִינִי תַּחַת כְּנָפֵךְ, וַהֲיִי לִי אֵם וְאָחוֹת, וִיהִי חֵיקֵךְ מִקְלַט רֹאשִׁי, קַן־תְּפִלּוֹתַי הַנִּדָּחוֹת.	Take me under your wing, be my mother, my sister. Take my head to your breast, my banished prayers to your nest.

---

“Take me under your wing” was written on 17 February 1905 (12 Adar I 5665). The transcription of the Hebrew was made by the Ben Yehuda Project. English translation by Ruth Nevo for Chaim Nachman Bialik: Selected Poems (Dvir and the Jerusalem Post 1981).

Source(s)

Take me under your wing, by Hayyim Nahman Bialik (Hebrew)

Take me under your wing, by Hayyim Nahman Bialik (trans. Ruth Nevo)

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Ruth Nevo (translation)
  Bio: Ruth Nevo (1924- in Johannesburg, S.A.) Israeli professor of humanities, has been a member of the Israel Academy since 1985.
  Website: https://www.academy.ac.il/Index2/Entry.aspx?nodeId=809&entryId=18337
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/ruth-nevo
• 
  Name: the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription)
  Bio: Founded in 1999, the Ben Yehuda Project digitally transcribes Hebrew works in the Public Domain.
  Website: https://benyehuda.org
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/project-ben-yehuda
• 
  Name: Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik
  Bio: Hayim Nahman Bialik (Hebrew: חיים נחמן ביאליק‎‎; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934), was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew but also in Yiddish. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry. (via wikipedia)
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayim_Nahman_Bialik
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/hayyim-nahman-bialik
• 
  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: hens-adopt-animals-5979afecd07a2–700
Caption: Hen Taking Care Of Kittens During Storm (credit: Becky Garcia)