בְּנֵי הֵיכָלָא | Bnei Heikhala, a piyyut for Shabbat afternoon by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Luria (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=43369

Date: 2022-03-21

Last Updated: 2022-03-24

Categories: Se'udah haShlishit

Tags: 16th century C.E., 54th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, Aramaic, Atqinu Seudata, devotional interpretation, interpretive translation, Lurianic Kabbalah, פיוטים piyyutim

Excerpt: A piyyut by the ARI for the afternoon of Shabbat in Aramaic set side-by-side with Reb Zalman's paraliturgical, devotional translation. . . .

Content:

Source (Aramaic)	Translation (English)
בְּנֵי הֵיכָלָא דִּכְסִיפִין לְמֶחֱזֵי זִיו דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין׃	The Courtiers of God Who long to see The glory of the One Impatient.
יְ֒הוֹן הָכָא בְּהַאי תַּכָּא דְּבֵיהּ מַלְכָּא בְּגִלּוּפִין׃	You see engraved On this table top The seal of the King most Holy.
צְ֒בוּ לַחֲדָא בְּהַאי וַעֲדָא בְּגוֹ עִירִין וְכׇל גַּדְּפִין׃	So decreed all are one At this great conclave, Surrounded by angelic hosts.
חֲ֒דוּ הַשְׁתָּא בְּהַאי שַׁעְתָּא דְּבֵיהּ רַעֲוָא וְלֵית זַעְפִין׃	Have joy at these times; His benevolence shines All wrath is gone all is still.
קְ֒רִיבוּ לִי חֲזוּ חֵילִי דְּלֵית דִּינִין דִּתְקִיפִין׃	Come nigh and see The power is mine, No harshness accuses you now.
לְ֒בַר נַטְּלִין וְלָא עָאלִין הֲנֵּי כַּלְבִּין דַּחֲצִיפִין׃	Let snarling dogs leave! Outcast them complete, No longer admit them on high.
וְ֒הָא אַזְמִין עֲתִּיק יוֹמִין לְמִצְחָא‏ (נ״א: לְמִנְחָה עַד), עֲדֵי יְהוֹן חַלְפִין׃	Until minḥah time He patiently waits For change to be taking place.
רְ֒עוּ דִּילֵיהּ דְּגַלֵּי לֵיהּ לְבַטָּלָא בְּכׇל קְלִיפִין׃	Removing all shells – His will them dispels – His own, He reveals now in full.
יְ֒שַׁוֵּי לוֹן בְּנוֹקְבֵיהוֹן וְיִטַמְּרוּן בְּגוֹ כֵיפִין׃	Yes, holed up they stay, Held down in dismay. No quarter to them is now given.
אֲ֒רֵי הַשְׁתָּא בְּמִנְחָתָא בְּחֶדָוָתָא דִזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין׃	Arrayed now is He In joy impatiently For the time when the week won’t return.

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This paraliturgical translation by Reb Zalman of Yitsḥaq Luria’s “Atqinu Seudata” for Shabbat afternoon can be found in print as published in his All Breathing Life: At the Interface Between Poetry and Prayer: translations and compositions of Jewish sacred literature (ed. Michael Kagan, 2011: Gaon Books), pp. 71-72.

Source(s)

 

Contributor: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
  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
• 
  Name: Yitsḥak Luria
  Bio: Yitsḥak Luria Ashkenazi (1534 – July 25, 1572) (Hebrew: יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי, English: Isaac ben Solomon or Yitzhak ben Shlomo Lurya Ashkenazi), commonly known as "Ha'ARI" (meaning "The Lion"), "Ha'ARI Hakadosh" [the holy ARI] or "ARIZaL" [the ARI, Of Blessed Memory (Zikhrono Livrakha)], was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Syria. He is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah, his teachings being referred to as Lurianic Kabbalah. The works of his disciples compiled his oral teachings into writing and spread his fame which led to his veneration and the acceptance of his authority. Every custom of the Ari was scrutinized, and many were accepted, even against previous practice. Luria died at Safed on July 25, 1572 (5 Av 5332). He was buried in the Old Cemetery of Safed (from wikipedia)
  Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Luria
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/yitzhak-luria

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