Whoa, Mary, don’t you weep no more! (Hebrew adaptation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=37153

open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Date: 2021-05-19

Last Updated: 2022-03-24

Categories: 7th Day of Pesaḥ, Nirtsah

Tags: 19th century C.E., hymns, spirituals, זמירות zemirot

Excerpt: The African-American Christian spiritual adapted for a Pesaḥ song in Hebrew and English. . . .


Content:
Translation (Hebrew) Source (English)
מִרְיָם שִׁירִי אַל־תִּבְכִּי עוֹד
מִרְיָם שִׁירִי אַל־תִּבְכִּי עוֹד
צְבָא מְצָרִים הֻטְבַּע
אָז מִרְיָם אַל־תִּבְכִּי עוֹד׃
Whoa, Mary, don’t you weep no more!
Whoa, Mary, don’t you weep no more!
Pharaoh’s army got drownded!
Whoa, Mary don’t you weep!
אִם הָיָה אֶפְשָׁר לָקוּם
בְּצוּר מֹשֶׁה לִרְאוֹת קִיּוּם
צְבָא וגו׳
If I could I surely would
stand on the rock where Moses stood!
Pharaoh’s army…
בַּלַּיְלָה הַבָּא בִּזְמַן כַּחֲצוֹת
בְּכׇל־הָעוֹלָם תִּהְיֶינָה רְעִידוֹת
צְבָא וגו׳
One of these nights ‘round twelve o’clock,
this old world’s gonna reel and rock!
Pharaoh’s army…
צִוָּה לְמשֶׁה מָה לַעֲשׂוֹת
לְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּנִים וּבָנוֹת
צְבָא וגו׳
God told Moses what to do,
to lead the Hebrew children through!
Pharaoh’s army…
עָמַד מֹשֶׁה עַל־שְׂפַת הַיָּם
הִכָּה אֶת־הַמַּיִם לִפְנֵי כׇל־הָעָם
צְבָא וגו׳
Moses stood on the Red Sea shore,
smote the water with a two-by-four!
Pharaoh’s army…
נָתַן לְנֹחַ אֶת־הַסִּימָן
שֶׁאֵין עוֹד מַיִם אַךְ אֵשׁ בִּזְמַן
צְבָא וגו׳
God gave Noah the rainbow sign:
No more water, but fire next time!
Pharaoh’s army…

Mary Don’t You Weep” (alternately titled “O Mary Don’t You Weep”, “Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep, Don’t You Mourn”, or variations thereof) is a Spiritual that originates from before the American Civil War. It is one of the most important of Negro spirituals.[1] via Wikipedia  Singing this hymn is a Gantwerk Mayer family Passover tradition. This is the variation of the hymn sung at their seder during Nirtsah.

Recordings

Source(s)

97. O Mary, Don’t You Weep, Don’t You Mourn,” National Baptist Jubilee Melodies (1916), p.97

 

Notes

Notes
1 via Wikipedia

Contributor: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

Co-authors:

Featured Image:
Melancholy (Odilon Redon 1876)
Title: Melancholy (Odilon Redon 1876)
Caption: Melancholy (Odilon Redon 1876)