Sacred bones now buried deep in your side.
If you do not know him, ask the Red Sea,
Ask the green bush, ask Sinai, and they will tell you:
“He was not a man of words, but he did God’s work.”
I have vowed to visit you soon, God willing.
Translated by Robert Mezey
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Forget not the day of the Sabbath,
During it the dove found resting place,And there the weary may relax.The day is honored by the Children of Faith,Careful to observe it are fathers and sons.Engraved upon two tablets of stone,From great power and mighty strength.And they all came in Covenant together,In unison they said, ‘We shall do and we shall listen.’And they commenced…
O My Lord, Your dwelling places are lovely
My dream brought me to the Temple of GodAnd I praised its delightful servants,And the burnt offering, its meal and libationWhich rose up in great pillars of smoke.I delighted in the song of the Levites,In their secrets of the sacrificial service.Then I woke, and still I was with you, O Lord,And I gave thanks –…
My heart is in the east, and I in the uttermost west.
How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yetZion lieth beneath the fetter of Edom, and I in Arab chains?A light thing would it seem to meto leave all the good things of Spain –Seeing how precious in mine eyesto behold the dust of the desolate sanctuary.
When Fortune’s shield protects you, then beware —
Her gift, an eaglet’s pinion — now your flight,Anon, the lethal arrow — to upbear!Based on the translation by Solomon Solis-Cohen that’s reproduced on page 377 of A Treasury of Jewish Poetry: From Biblical Times to the Present, edited by Nathan and Marynn Ausubel (Crown Publishers, 1957).
My God, heal me and I shall be healed,
My medicines are of Thee, whether goodOr evil, whether strong or weak.It is Thou who shalt choose, not I;Of Thy knowledge is the evil and the fair.Not upon my power of healing I rely;Only for Thine healing do I watch.Translated by Nina Salaman