Ah, side with us, make hostile clamor cease,
Thy people from accusing tongues release,
So Thy beloved shall rechant Thy praise;
For happiness awaits the sons of peace.
Then let Thy peace irradiate all things,
Account our orisons as offerings;
Ah, flood us with Thy Presence as with rays,
From Zion goes the Law, the prophet sings;
That Law the faithful heard at Sinai,
To which they brought attentive ear and eye,
Lo! God this day His faithful nation thanks,
He is a God who softens at our cry.
The Lord shall lead us even after death,
He saves from wrath and pain our mortal breath;
Lo! arrogance as ignorance He ranks,
"It is My people's ignorance," He saith.
SIMEON BEN ISAAC BEN ABUN. (Translated by Israel Zangwill.)
Even as the Daily Offering
Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? . . . He hath shewed thee O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?Mich. vi, 6 and 8.
UDGE of the earth who wilt arraign
The nations at Thy judgment seat,
With life and favour bless again
Thy prostrate people at Thy feet.
And mayest Thou our morning prayer
Receive, O Lord, as though it were
The offering that was wont to be
Brought day by day continually.· ́.
Thou who art clothed with righteousness,
Supreme exalted over all,
How oftsoever we transgress,
Do Thou with pardoning love recall
Those who in Hebron sleep; and let
Their memory live before Thee yet,
Even as the offering unto Thee
Offered of old continually.
Trust in God's strength and be ye strong,
My people and His laws obey,
Then will He pardon sin and wrong,
Then mercy will His wrath outweigh.
Seek ye His presence and implore
His countenance forevermore,
Then shall your prayers accepted be
As offerings brought continually.
SOLOMON BEN ABUN.
(Translated by Alice Lucas.)
(Paraphrased from the Hebrew of R. Jose ben Jose.)
UR sins are many, and we sigh
For that we hearkened not to Thee
When all the time we knew Thee nigh,
But proud in our prosperity
We went our ways with head on high.
Now wasted is our strength, and we
Are like an armless soldier grown;
All that our fathers wrought for Thee
Is nought, and now we stand alone
In shame and dire infirmity.
We are like stubble on the plain
That no one seeks to gather in
Or load upon the harvest wain-
Consuming fire will purge our sin
And lead us pure to Thee again.
O Lord, Thy seal accounts us Thine;
Of yore when in our dire distress
We craved Thy charity divine,
Thou didst us with Thy mercy bless;
O be Thou in this hour benign!
The driven leaf let healing cure,
Repent Thee for this human dust.
O cleanse us that we may be pure,
Let all our sins from Thee be thrust-
Thy mercy is for ever sure!
Lo! As the Potter Mouldeth
LO! as the potter mouldeth plastic clay
To forms his varying fancy doth display;
So in Thy hand, O God of love, are we:
Thy bond regard, let sin be veil'd from Thee.
Lo! as the mason's hand the block doth hew
To shapes sublime, or into fragments strew;
So in Thy hand, O God of life, are we:
Thy bond regard, let sin be veil'd from Thee.
Lo! as the smith the rigid steel hath bent,
Soften'd with fire and wrought with strength unspent;
So in Thy hand, O God of might, are we:
Thy bond regard, let sin be veil'd from Thee.
Lo! as the seaman's hand doth cast or weigh
The pond'rous anchor in the foaming spray;
So in Thy hand, O God of pardon, we:
Thy bond regard, let sin be veil'd from Thee.
Lo! as the worker melteth vitreous flow,
And shapeth vessels from the crystal blow;
So in Thy hand, O God of grace, are we:
Thy bond regard, let sin be veil'd from Thee.
Lo! as th' embroid'rer's hand the robe hath made,
At will in lines of beauty, light and shade;
So in Thy hand, O God of fear, are we:
Thy bond regard, let sin be veil'd from Thee..
Lo! as the smelter fuseth silv'ry vein,
Removing dross, that naught impure remain;
So in Thy hand, O God of healing, we:
Thy bond regard, let sin be veil'd from Thee.
Lo! as the potter mouldeth plastic clay
To forms his varying fancy doth display;
So in Thy hand, O God of love, are we:
Thy bond regard, let sin be veil'd from Thee.
Happy He Who Saw of Old
HAPPY he who saw of old
The high priest, with gems and gold
All adorned from crown to hem,
Tread thy courts, Jerusalem,
Till he reached the sacred place
Where the Lord's especial grace
Ever dwelt, the centre of the whole.
Happy he whose eyes
Saw at last the cloud of glory rise,
But to hear of it afflicts our soul.
Happy he that day who saw
How, with reverence and awe
And with sanctity of mien,
Spoke the priest: "Ye shall be clean
From your sins before the Lord."
Echoed long the holy word,
While around the fragrant incense stole.
Happy he whose eyes
Saw at last the cloud of glory rise,
But to hear of it afflicts our soul.
Happy he who saw the crowd,
That in adoration bowed,
As they heard the priest proclaim:
"One, Ineffable, the Name,"
And they answered, "Blessed be
God the Lord eternally,
He whom all created worlds extol."
Happy he whose eyes
Saw at last the cloud of glory rise,
But to hear of it afflicts our soul.
Happy he who saw the priest
Turning toward the shining East,
And, with solemn gladness thrilled,
Read the doctrine that distilled
As the dew upon the plain,
As the showers of gentle rain,
While he raised on high the sacred scroll.
Happy he whose eyes
Saw at last the cloud of glory rise,
But to hear of it afflicts our soul.
Happy he who saw the walls
Of the temple's radiant halls,
Where the golden cherubim
Hide the ark's recesses dim,
Heard the singer's choral song,
Saw the Levites' moving throng,
Saw the golden censer and the bowl.
Happy he whose eyes
Saw at last the cloud of glory rise,
But to hear of it afflicts our soul.
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