The Wife of Dunash Will Her Love Remember אשתו של דונש הֲיִזְכּוֹר יַעֲלַת הַחֵן

הֲיִזְכּוֹר יַעֲלַת הַחֵן יְדִידָהּ בְּיוֹם פֵּירוּד וּבִזְרוֹעָהּ יְחִידָהּ
וְשָׂם חוֹתַם יְמִינוֹ עַל שְׂמֹאלָהּ וּבִזְרוֹעוֹ הֲלֹא שָׂמָה צְמִידָהּ
בְּיוֹם לָקְחָה לְזִכָּרוֹן רְדִידוֹ וְהוּא לָקַח לְזִכָּרוֹן רְדִידָהּ
הֲיִשָּׁאֵר בְּכָל אֶרֶץ סְפָרַד וְלוּ לָקַח חֲצִי מַלְכוּת נְגִידָהּ

Larinda Irene Higdon 31 Oct. 1913 - 31 Aug. 2006 & Jewell Jensen Higdon 11 Oct. 1912 - 26 Feb 1992

Will the husband remember his beautiful wife?
On the day of exile, her Bab on her arm,
he placed his wedding ring on her left hand.
And didn´t she clasp her bracelet upon his forearm?
On that day she took his coat, a memento, and he took her fan.
What will remain of the country, when he takes its culture with him?

translated into English by Mark Westergreen

 

Larinda was a dancer with Ted Mack and the Taborettes

In memory of my Grandparents Nanny Rin and Gene Higdon

בראשית Genesis 1 - 2:3 translated into English by Mark Westergreen with commentary

בראשית

Genesis 1 - 2:3

When Elohim set out to form the sky and the land, the land was within a chaotic deluge, and darkness covered its depths, and the breath of Elohim blew over the water: And Elohim commanded "Let there be light" and there was light. And Elohim knew that the light was good. And Elohim separated the light from the darkness. And Elohim named the light, Day,and the darkness he named, Night. So there was evening and there was morning, one day.

And Elohim commanded, "Let there be a canopy in the midst of the water and let it separate water from water." So Elohim stretched out a canopy and it separated the water beneath the canopy from the water above the canopy, and it was so. And Elohim named the canopy, Sky. So there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

And Elohim commanded, "Let the water under the sky be gathered together so the dry ground appears", and it was so. And Elohim named the dry ground, Land, and the gathered water he named, Seas. And Elohim knew that it was good. And Elohim commanded, "Let the land blossom with vegetation, plant yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, according to the seed", and it was so. And the land blossomed with vegetation, plant yielding seed according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit after the seed in them according to their kind. And Elohim knew that it was good. So there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

And Elohim commanded, "Let there be luminaries in the canopy of the sky to divide between the day and the night. And they will mark time, for seasons, for days and years. And they will be luminaries in the canopy of the sky to give light upon the land", and it was so. And Elohim made two great luminaries, the greater luminary to rule the day and the lesser luminary to rule the night, and the stars. And Elohim placed them within the canopy of the sky to give light upon the land. And to rule over the day and the night, and to separate between the light and between the darkness. And Elohim knew that it was good. So there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

And Elohim commanded, "Let the water teem with swarms of living creatures, and birds flying over the land against the canopy of the sky". And Elohim formed great sea creatures, and all life that springs from the water according to its kind, and every bird of the wing according to its kind, and Elohim knew it was good. And Elohim blessed them and commanded them "Increase and multiply and fill the water of the seas, and the birds increase within the land". So there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

And Elohim commanded, " Let the land bring forth living creatures according to their kind, in herds and swarms, and creatures of the land according to their kind". And it was so.
And Elohim formed the creatures of the land according to their kind, the herds according to their kind and every swarm of the ground according to its kind. And Elohim knew it was good.Then Elohim commanded, "Let us make humans in our image and after our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the herds, and over all the land, and over every swarm that moves upon the land". So Elohim formed humans in his image after the image of Elohim he formed them, male and female, he formed them. And Elohim blessed them and Elohim commanded them, "Increase and multiply, fill the land and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and over every living creature that moves upon the land". And Elohim commanded, "Here, I give to you every plant yielding seed that is upon the surface of all the land and every tree with seed in its fruit. They will be your food. And to all living creatures of the land and to all the birds of the sky and to all that moves upon the land that is alive every green plant for food". And it was so. And Elohim knew everything he had made, and it was very good. So there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Now the sky and the land, and all their hosts were completed. And Elohim completed on the seventh day his work that he did and he abstained on the seventh day from all his work that he did. And Elohim blessed the seventh day and he sanctified it for thereon Elohim abstained from all his work which he set out to form and make.

________________________________________________________________________________
translated into English by Mark Westergreen

ר' שמואל הנגיד אָמְרָה: שְׂמַח R´ Samuel HaNagid, "Be happy

אָמְרָה שְׂמַח בַּעֲבוּר הִגִּיעֲךָ אֵל אֱלֵי שָׁנִים חֲמִשִּׁים בְּעוֹלָמָךְ
וְלֹא יָדְעָה כִּי אֵין חֲלֻקָּה בְּעֵינַי בֵּין יְמוֹתַי אֲשֶׁר עָבְרוּ וּבֵינוֹת יְמֵי נֹחַ אֲשֶׁר אֶשְׁמְעָה
אֵין לִי בְעוֹלָם לְבַד שָׁעָה אֲנִי בָהּ וְהִיא תַּעֲמֹד כְּרֶגַע וְאַחַר כֵּן כְּעָב נָסְעָה

قالت اسعد لأن وصّلك الله الى خمسين سنة في عالمك
ولا تدري ان ليس اختلاف في اعيني بين أيامي الّتي مرّت وبين أيام نوح الّتي سمعتها
ليس لي شئ في العالم الا ساعة انا فيها وهى تستمر لحظة وبعدما كغيمة مضى 
أبو إسحاق إسماعيل بن النغريلة

She said, "Be happy, for God has brought you to a full fifty years in the world".
But she didn´t discern: there´s no difference between my past and Noah´s, of which I´ve heard.
I´ve nothing in the world except the present, it lasts but a moment, then like a cloud, it passes.

English and Arabic translations by Mark F Westergreen 

Comments:

The following quote is from the Jewish Encyclodedia: "Samuel's poetic compositions are distinguished for their elevation of thought; but they are devoid of elegance of form. It became proverbial to say, "Cold as the snow of Hermon, or as the songs of the Levite Samuel" (Dukes, "Naḥal Ḳedumim," p. 5)."

I do not agree with that verdict at all. I would´nt say this short piece is the greatest thing I´ve ever read, nevertheless, it´s following the rules of Arabic poetry within the Hebrew language, v. From Arabic to Hebrew , and its theme lies squarely in the tradition of Qohelet.

An understanding of the word سنة / שנה , and the disparity between the poet´s age and Noah´s purported lifespan reveals the ironic twist of this short poem. I also encourage readers to consult all entries in BDB under the following roots שנה - ישן as well. Perhaps both go back to an original bi-lateral root שן that carried the sense change, sleep, another year, old.

Here is a short commentary on Google Books by:  Shulamit Elizur, שולמית אליצור

I provide the following translation of her comments for those who do not read Hebrew:
    
     Opening with a quote by someone creates an expectation of a reply, and breaking the expected pattern by the lack of a response may signify something important. This can be demonstrated using one of the poems of Samuel HaNagid from his collection "Son of Qohelet". The poem opens with "She said" followed by a quote from an anonymous interlocutor directed to the poet. The words of the reaction in response to her ought to be written in direct speech. But the poet chose not to do so: He has no answer at all for the interlocutor, instead he reports his reflections upon hearing her words, thus eliminating and mocking them. Breaking the debate format occurs apparently in order to teach that what was heard at the beginning of the poem does not deserve a response. The interlocutor "doesn´t know" what the poet knows, so there is no way she´ll understand the reflective reply.

Links for line #1
BDB: v. Hiph`il under נגע

BDB אֵל

BDB אֶל

Gesenius on Hiph´il

Gesenius 117cc

Maskilon v. under נגע

Conjugation chart

יהודה עמיחי כלב אחרי האהבה A Dog After Love, Yehuda Amichai

כלב אחרי האהבה
 
אַחֲרֵי שֶׁעָזַבְתְּ אוֹתִי
נָתַתִּי לְכֶלֶב גִשׁוּשּ לְהָּרִיחַ
בְּחָזִי וְּבִבְטִני
יְמָלֵּא נְחִירָיו
וְיֵצֵא לִמְצֹא אוֹתָךְ
אֲנִי מְקַוֶּה שֶׁיִּמְצָא וְיִקְרַע
אֶת אֶשְׁכֵי מְאַהֲבֵךְ וְיִכְרת שִׁפְכָתוֹ
אוֹ לְכָל הַפָּחוֹת
יָבִיא לִי גֶרֶב שֶׁלָךְ בֵּין שׁינָּיו

A Dog after Love

After you left me
I let a dog smell
my chest and my belly.
It fills its snout
and sets out to find you.
I hope it finds
and tears your lover´s testicles
and bites off his prick.
Or at the very least
brings me your pantyhose
between his teeth.

translated into English by Mark F Westergreen

Comments________________________________________________________________ 

But one day in 1989, he sat down with the man who some call the most widely translated Hebrew poet since King David. Here's Henry Lyman to introduce him. Mr. HENRY LYMAN (Host, "Poets To a Listener') He is Yehuda Amichai, a warm-hearted bear of a man  

I like this poem because it is a dog poem, a jilted lover´s poem and it has a biblical undertone. As is often the case in human experience when a lover is jilted, it is not the ex-lover, but her new man who becomes the main object of scorn and hate. In this poem the jealous wish is quite violent. It is not only to prevent the new lover from having sex with her and from being able to procreate, but to cut him off from God´s people, or the community, entirely! The term שִׁפְכָה occurs once in the Tanakh at Deut 23.1-2 in connection with this very prohibition. Amichai´s Poetry is full of biblical allusions and connections.

To this end, the poet employs a dog. The term "dog" in the Bible is used as a euphemism for a male prostitute. Of course we all know the various connotations of the term in most modern languages, and I am certain if our sample size for biblical Hebrew was larger we would find the same usage. The title itself is an integral part of the poem and self-referential, as to the behavior of the narrator within the poem itself. He is behaving like a "dog", that is, like a low down, dirty scoundrel, in the modern sense of the term. Amichai certainly created and nurtured a larger than life image of himself within his poetry as a machismo filled lover of women. And this is a glimpse at its dark side.

But why does he want her stockings? Does he want a trophy to perserve a memory? Perhaps.
That would be in the nature of a dog, so to say. Does he want to expose her nakedness? Perhaps. That would cut her off from the Lord´s assembly as well (v.; Ex 20:26; 28:42; 1 Sam 16:8 & especially Ezek 16:8).

Actually, there is a bit of dissonance occurring between גרב וגבר (hero, man, stud, and stocking, pantyhose). By this line in the poem one expects to hear גבר but gets גרב instead. And a dog would do that too! Disappoint the expectations of its master who sent it out to do such a dirty job, only to return, looking up, happily wagging its tail with a pair of pantyhose hanging between its teeth.

Here is an interesting article discussing a judaistic perspective on dogs:  Of Canines and Commandments.

Euphemisms for "Penis" in Hebrew