I think I wrote this in 2011.
Here's what I like to sing to Mendel at night, if big sister lets me (she doesn't like the song). It's a song I remember from high school. I hit upon it one night while rummaging through my mental file of Songs I Like with my kids (they lie down, I sing; they get up, I stop). It is a song for Mendel.
Here it is, with my translations following:
Lo alekha Hamlakha ligmor
Lo alekha ligmor
Ve'lo atah, ben khorin lehibatel mee-menah
Ve'lo atah ben khorin
Sheyibaneh beit hamikdash, sheyibaneh
Bimheira byameinu, sheyibaneh
Sheyibaneh hamikdash
Lots of repetition there but I love the song so much I had to sing it out in words. The song is mostly taken from Pirkei Avot, a book full of grandfatherly life-wisdom and here's one piece (my own translation):
The work is not incumbent on you to complete it
It is not incumbent on you to complete
And (But!) you are not free to abandon it
You are not free
Those are the words from Pirkei Avot. The ending- a classic Jewish prayer added to the above lines by an inventive Jewish composer who clearly knew the thoughts of my heart as I lie in the dark room with my children at night, each with their futures ahead and none so uncertain as Mendel's- goes like this:
May the Temple be rebuilt, may it be rebuilt
Soon, in our days, may it be rebuilt.
So many nights I lie next to my children and sing these words and think of the journey ahead for Mendel. And I think: My darling little boy, there is so much work ahead of you, and it's okay- really, it's okay- if you cannot complete it all. You will do your best to join our world, this world, but if you cannot complete this work, my son- it's alright. It is not incumbent on you to complete.
But! And my voice gets stronger, more insistent- you may not walk away from it. You are not free to abandon it. It is your work; you may not turn your head away and laugh into your own mind or allow your eyes to glaze over, hearing nothing, seeing nothing of this world. It is your work! You must try. You are not free- we will not let.
And then, usually, my voice will break. Because we – my son, and our family, and so many others- we need a miracle. Sheyibaneh Beit Hamikdash- a prayer for redemption, for G-d to save us when all our efforts fail. This is what we need, G-d: Build his Temple and redeem us all.
And then I will end the song because big sister has had enough. And the moment is over, but the prayer goes on.
Here it is, with my translations following:
Lo alekha Hamlakha ligmor
Lo alekha ligmor
Ve'lo atah, ben khorin lehibatel mee-menah
Ve'lo atah ben khorin
Sheyibaneh beit hamikdash, sheyibaneh
Bimheira byameinu, sheyibaneh
Sheyibaneh hamikdash
Lots of repetition there but I love the song so much I had to sing it out in words. The song is mostly taken from Pirkei Avot, a book full of grandfatherly life-wisdom and here's one piece (my own translation):
The work is not incumbent on you to complete it
It is not incumbent on you to complete
And (But!) you are not free to abandon it
You are not free
Those are the words from Pirkei Avot. The ending- a classic Jewish prayer added to the above lines by an inventive Jewish composer who clearly knew the thoughts of my heart as I lie in the dark room with my children at night, each with their futures ahead and none so uncertain as Mendel's- goes like this:
May the Temple be rebuilt, may it be rebuilt
Soon, in our days, may it be rebuilt.
So many nights I lie next to my children and sing these words and think of the journey ahead for Mendel. And I think: My darling little boy, there is so much work ahead of you, and it's okay- really, it's okay- if you cannot complete it all. You will do your best to join our world, this world, but if you cannot complete this work, my son- it's alright. It is not incumbent on you to complete.
But! And my voice gets stronger, more insistent- you may not walk away from it. You are not free to abandon it. It is your work; you may not turn your head away and laugh into your own mind or allow your eyes to glaze over, hearing nothing, seeing nothing of this world. It is your work! You must try. You are not free- we will not let.
And then, usually, my voice will break. Because we – my son, and our family, and so many others- we need a miracle. Sheyibaneh Beit Hamikdash- a prayer for redemption, for G-d to save us when all our efforts fail. This is what we need, G-d: Build his Temple and redeem us all.
And then I will end the song because big sister has had enough. And the moment is over, but the prayer goes on.
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