Lemele
Poet: Ber Shnaper (1903-1943)
Appeared as the closing poem in an anthology of poetry from Galicia, published in Vienna in 1936.
Music and adaptation of text: Chava Alberstein
Translation: Asya Vaisman Schulman, Yiddish Book Center
And here's the wood, and here's the altar
And the knife, too, has been prepared
Ready for the sacrifice, we're both waiting
But the lamb is still not here.
And here's the sun--a breast for suckling
And here's the day, still young and blue
And no one wants to lay himself down
And the lamb is still not here.
And none of us wants to go home
And no one wants to stay here
And none of us can be ready
And the lamb is still not here
And here's the wood, and here's the altar
And the knife, too, has been prepared
Ready for the sacrifice, we're both waiting
But the lamb is still not here
And here's the rope and the basket for bones
And here's the sack for hooves
And here's the fire laid out on the stones
And the lamb is still not here
And here the day will soon vanish
And here's the night, a black crow
And we, we will also vanish
And the lamb is still not here
And none of us want to go home
And no one wants to stay here
And none of us can be ready
And the lamb is still not here
And here's the wood, and here's the altar
And the knife, too, has been prepared
Ready for the sacrifice, we're both waiting
But the lamb is still not here
And here's the sun--a breast for suckling
And here's the day, still young and blue
And no one wants to lay himself down
and the lamb is still not here.
(א) אלהים יראה לו השה לעולה בני, ענה לו מענה שיוכל אדם להבינו לשני פנים, האחד, שיהיה בני, תשובת הקריאה, כמו הנני בני, כלומר בני, אלהים יראה לו השה, ר"ל הוא יודע מי יהיה השה והוא יזמיננו לנו, והשני אלהים יראה לו השה לעולה, ומי הוא השה, בני הוא. ויצחק הבין כי הוא יהיה השה, לפיכך אמר, (ב) וילכו שניהם יחדיו, כלומר בלב אחד, כי קבל הבן מאהבה למסור נפשו לאל ולהקריבו לפניו:
(1) ויאמר...אלוקים יראה לו השה לעולה בני, Avraham’s reply to his son is capable of two interpretations. One interpretation would be that the word בני is a response to Yitzchok’s cry or question, meaning “I am here my son; G’d will select the lamb for the burnt offering.” In other words: “don’t worry G’d already knows who is going to be the lamb for the offering. He will put it at our disposal.” The second interpretation of Avraham’s answer would arrange the words as follows: “G’d will select the lamb for the offering; who is the lamb? It is my son.” Yitzchok understood from this that he had been chosen to be the offering. This is why the Torah continues, significantly: (2) וילכו שניהם יחד, “they continued walking together,” i.e. of one mind and of one spirit.
(ד) ויעקד את יצחק, עקדו בידו וברגליו כדי שלא יבעט ואע"פ שברצונו היה וברצונו נעקד, פחד שלא תגבר עליו הרוח הכועסת, ואמר לאביו שיעקדנו יפה:
(4) ויעקד את יצחק, he bound both his hands and his feet so he should not involuntarily kick when the knife would strike him. This was in spite of the fact that Yitzchok was perfectly willing to be the offering. He was afraid that at the last moment he would rebel; this was why he asked his father to tie him securely. (Bereshit Rabbah 56,8)
(א) יראה לו השה. כלומר יראה ויבחר לו השה, ואם אין שה, לעולה בני ואף על פי שהבין יצחק שהוא הולך לשחט, וילכו שניהם יחדו בלב שוה:
(God) will provide himself the lamb: He will select the lamb, that if there was no sheep, For a burnt offering my son. And even if Isaac understood that he was going to be sacrificed they went the both of them as one with an equal heart.
A martyrology was created in response to the martyrs of the Jews of Mainz, that drew on a varied selection of Jewish text, including the Akedah, the binding of Isaac:
"The Jews of three cities in the Rhine Valley--Mainz, Worms and Cologne--were attacked by the crusading marchers, mainly Frenchmen, aided and abetted by the local townspeople. Jews were faced with teh choice of "baptism or death," and the Jewish chronicles that describe the massacres paint terrifying pictures of the ensuing bloodbath. The attacking Crusaders' religious frenzy was met with an equally fervent faith: most of the Jews preferred to die martys' deaths rather than accept Christianity, and in order to prevent forcible baptism of their families, particularly infants, they slew them with their own hands and then committed suicide."
--The Illuminated History of the Jewish People, ed. Nicholas De Lange
Jewish martyrdom. This illuminated Hebrew manuscript from the Rhineland (Mainz, 1427?) depicts familiar scenes from the apocryphal accounts of the persecution of Judaism under Antiochus IV. Medieval martyrs were strengthened by the memory of the victims of the Seleucid intolerance.
--The Illuminated History of the Jewish People, ed. Nicholas De Lange
Through what lenses are we reading the story of the Akedah in our own lives?