VERSES OF SONG
1 [rex §C D’ror yikra l’vein im bat, v’yintsorchem k’mo vavat, n’im shimchem v’lo yushbat, sh’vu v’nuchu b’yom shabbat.
2 D’rosh navi v’ulami, v’ot yesha aseih immi,
n’sa soreik b’toch karmi, sh’eih shav’at b’nei ammi. 3 D’roch purah b’toch botsrah, v’gam bavel asher gav’rah, n’tosh tsarai mei’af v’evrah, sh’ma koli b’yom ekra. 4 Elohim tein ba–midbar har, hadas shittah b’rosh tidhar, v’la–mazhir v’la–nizhar, sh’lomim tein k’mei nahar. 5 Hasheiv kamai eil kanna, b’mog leivav uva–m’ginnah, v’narchiv peh un’mall’ennah, l’shoneinu l’cha rinnah. 6 d’eih chochmah l’nafshecha, v’hi cheter l’roshecha, n’tsor mitsvat k’doshecha, sh’mor shabbat kodshecha.
sing God’s praises and be able truly to keep Shabbat. We have modified the violence of two of the verses calling for the destruction of Israel’s enemies, asking instead for an end to their hatred and their repentance. 1 We have amended the Hebrew text from ‘smash my foes with angry rage’ to ‘release my foes from angry rage’. 2 We have amended the Hebrew text from ‘Passionate God tread down my foes’to ‘transform my foes’.
` ¨x §w ¦i xrex §C God declares freedom... The first letters of each line of the first, second, third and final verses spell the name Dunash, indicating that the author is Dunash ben Labrat, tenth–century Fez. Shabbat offers solace but does not remove the bitterness and anger of an exiled people. The opening call to freedom turns to the wish for the destruction of the nations and powers that destroyed and enslaved the Jewish people. Then in a renewed world, the wilderness will flourish, people will
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs