A Poetic Translation of Shir Hama’alot (Psalm 126)

A Poetic Translation of Shir Hama’alot (Psalm 126)

This post presents Shim’on Menachem’s poetic and nuanced translation and interpretation of Psalm 126, which is traditionally recited before the Grace After Meals by Ashkekazi Jews on Shabbat, holidays, and other days on which the penitential Tachanun prayer is not recited. According to Menachem, this post-exilic Psalm switches its narrative perspective between before and after the return from Babylon, between gratitude and longing for return, using words associated with joy that are tinged with more complicated emotions. Shimon Menachem, a writer and educator living in St. Louis, Missouri, submitted his work to The Open Siddur Project, an initiative that aims to liberate the creative content of Jewish spiritual practice as a collectively shared resource for students, scholars, artists, and educators to adopt, adapt, and redistribute.

Psalm 126

שִׁיר, הַמַּעֲלוֹת

They used to sing a song

On the steps of the Temple

The very place wiped out,

Put back together

Stone by stone.

בְּשׁוּב יְהוָה, אֶת־שִׁיבַת צִיּוֹן–    הָיִינוּ, כְּחֹלְמִים

Exile or return.

Which is the dream?

We left something behind

But no one remembers what or where.

אָז יִמָּלֵא שְׂחוֹק, פִּינוּ–    וּלְשׁוֹנֵנוּ רִנָּה

Our mouths are filled with laughter

And a taste of mockery

Our tongues with cries of joy

Tinged by knowing,

Somehow we are still in exile.

אָז, יֹאמְרוּ בַגּוֹיִם–    הִגְדִּיל יְהוָה, לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה

הִגְדִּיל יְהוָה, לַעֲשׂוֹת עִמָּנוּ–    הָיִינוּ שְׂמֵחִים

The miracle that people said could never happen

Happened.

We were as surprised as everyone else

Happy and unprepared.

שׁוּבָה יְהוָה, אֶת שְׁבִיתֵנוּ כַּאֲפִיקִים בַּנֶּגֶב

הַזֹּרְעִים בְּדִמְעָה–    בְּרִנָּה יִקְצֹרוּ

Mysterious Being,

Return our return.

Restore our restoration.

Bring us back to wherever we started

And we’ll be strong

Like stream beds in the desert

Etched and hard but ready for the flow.

Waters of weeping, saturating

Sprouting cries of joy

Fresh, green.

הָלוֹךְ יֵלֵךְ, וּבָכֹה– נֹשֵׂא מֶשֶׁךְ־הַזָּרַע

בֹּא־יָבֹא בְרִנָּה– נֹשֵׂא, אֲלֻמֹּתָיו

I was the one who trudged along

Sowing my trail of tears

And now I think I’m ready

For the golden sheaths they watered.

תהלים קכו׳ | Psalms 126, a poetic translation by Shim’on Menachem” is shared by Shim’on Menachem with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.