Week 37 (Book 7): The Elephant Is Saying

The Elephant Is Saying

You have enlarged my step[s] beneath me 

And my ankles have not slipped

How great are your works, G-d 

Your thoughts are tremendously deep

Let us arise early to the vineyards; 

Let us see whether the vine has blossomed

They gathered it morning by morning 

For not by strength will man prevail.

And they walked from nation to nation, 

From one kingdom to another people.

A double portion of bread, two omers for one, 

And all the princes of the community came and reported to Moses.

Each one according to his eating capacity 

And [when] the sun grew hot, it melted

Then He will say, "Where is their deity 

The rock in which they trusted?”

At her feet he sank, fell, lay; 

At her feet he sank (and) fell;

The feet of His pious ones He will guard, 

And the wicked shall be cut off in darkness 

The tiny grapes have developed, 

The pomegranates have lost their flowers

Like the moon, which is established forever, 

And it is a witness in the sky, eternally true. 

When they were few in number, hardly dwelling in it.

It came to pass on the sixth day that they gathered 

He let no man oppress them, and He reproved kings on their account.

There I will give you my love.

Week 38 (Book 7): The Lion is saying

The Lion is saying

He shall arouse zeal, He shall cry, 

Even roar, He shall prevail over His enemies.

I have pursued my enemies 

And have destroyed them; 

Those who strive with the Lord will be broken; 

Upon him will He thunder in Heaven; 

So they left it over until morning

As Moses had commanded 

He called a famine upon the land; 

He broke every staff of bread.

Who ate the fat of their sacrifices 

And drank the wine of their libations? 

Through the window looked forth, 

The mother of Sisera [peered] through the window;

Let them arise and help you! Let them be your shelter! 

And all the rest leave over to keep until morning  

Where he sank, there he fell down dead.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. 

And He will grant strength to His King, 

And raise the horn of His anointed one. 
    

"Do not touch My anointed ones, 

And do not harm My prophets.”

But You abandoned and You rejected; 

You became wroth with Your anointed.   

He sent a man before them; 

Joseph was sold as a slave.

So he said to them

That is what the Lord spoke 

Tomorrow is a rest day 

A holy Sabbath to the Lord 

The pots [of figs] have given forth [their] fragrance

And on our doorways are all manner of sweet fruits,

Bake whatever you wish to bake 

And cook whatever you wish to cook

G-d shall go out as a mighty man, 

Never turning back until they were consumed. 

And it did not become putrid

And not a worm was in it

Both new and old, Which I have hidden away for you, my beloved.

Week 39 (Book 7): The Bear Is Saying

Week 39: The Bear is saying,

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, 

The village that Kedar inhabits 

O, that you were like my brother, 

Who sucked my mother's breasts!

 

And Moses said, "Eat it today, 

For today is a Sabbath to the Lord; 

Today you will not find it in the field." 

Let the inhabitants of the rock sing, 

Let them shout from the peaks of the mountains. 

Let them give glory to G-d and tell of His praise in the islands. And Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house I would find you outside, I would kiss you, and they would not despise me.

See now that it is I! I am the One, 

And there is no G-d like Me! 

Six days you shall gather it, 

But on the seventh day, the Sabbath, on it there will be none. 

And the child was serving the Lord before Eli the priest.   They afflicted his foot with fetters;  His soul was placed in irons. You abrogated the covenant of Your servant;  Why is his chariot late in coming?  Why tarry the strides of his chariots? I cause death and grant life.  I strike, but I heal,  And no one can rescue from My Hand!  And I have consumed them,  And I have crushed them that they cannot rise;  Yes, they are fallen under my feet.  You profaned his crown to the ground. Until His word came, the saying of the Lord purified him. A king sent and released him,  A ruler of peoples [sent] and loosed his bonds.

Week 40 (Book 7): The Wolf Is Saying

The Wolf Is Saying

You breached all his fences 

You made his fortifications a ruin  

For every matter of iniquity

For the ox, the donkey, the lamb, the garment 

For every lost item which he says, "This is it," 

Some spiced wine, of the juice of my pomegranate. 

The matter of both of them shall come before the judge

To bind up his princes with his soul 

It came about that on the seventh day 

The people went out to gather, but they did not find 

And he made his elders wise

He who the judge finds guilty shall pay double to the other

Now the sons of Eli were base men 

They knew not the Lord  

He made him the master of his household

And the ruler over all his possessions

The Lord said to Moses, How long will you refuse 

To observe My commandments and My teachings? 

The wisest of her princesses answer her 

She too returns answers to herself

For I raise up My hand to heaven 

And say, 'As I live forever.’ 

Israel came to Egypt and Jacob 

Sojourned in the land of Ham

For You have girded me with strength for the battle 

You have subdued under me those that rose up against me 

I would lead you, I would bring you to the house of my mother

Who instructed me; I would give you to drink

Week 41 (Book 7): The Fox Is Saying

The Fox Is Saying

When I sharpen the blade of My sword
And My hand grasps judgment
Woe to him that builds his house without justice
And his chambers without lawfulness

When (one) cooked the flesh,
With a three-pronged fork in his hand
Are they not finding (and) dividing the spoils
A damsel, two damsels to every man

He gives you bread for two days
Let each man remain in his place
The servant of the priest would come
[And] Aaron whom He chose

And this was the due of the priests from the people

(Whenever) any man would slaughter a sacrifice
That uses his friend’s service without wages
And does not give him for his hire

I will bring vengeance upon My adversaries
And repay those who hate Me
Them that hate me, that I may cut them off
And of my enemies You have given me the back of their necks

All wayfarers have plundered him
He was a disgrace to his neighbors

He turned their heart to hate His people 

To plot against His servants

See that the Lord has given you the Sabbath
Therefore, on the sixth day He sent Moses His servant
His left hand would be under my head, 

And his right hand would embrace me. 

Let no man leave his place on the seventh day

So the people rested on the seventh day

And He made His people very fruitful

And He made it stronger than its adversaries

Week 42 (Book 7): The Hound Is Saying

The Hound Is Saying

Let the righteous rejoice in G-d
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem; 

Why should you awaken, and why should you 

Arouse the love until it is desirous?

And he would thrust into the fire-pot
Or into the pot, or into the cauldron, or into the pan
They looked about, but there was no one to save them
[Even] to the Lord, but He answered them not

Everything which the fork would pick up
The priest would take therewith
I will intoxicate My arrows with blood
And My sword will consume flesh

He turned their water into blood
And it killed their fish
A spoil of dyed garments to Sisera
A spoil of dyed garments of embroidery

So would they do to all Israel
Who came there in Shiloh.
From the blood of the slain and the captives
From the first breach of the enemy

You raised the right hand of his adversaries
You caused all his enemies to rejoice

He sent darkness and it darkened,
And they did not disobey His word.
In order that they see the bread that I fed you
In the desert when I took you out of the land of Egypt 

They placed upon them the words of His signs
And His miracles in the land of Ham.
Moses said, "This is the thing that the Lord commanded
Let one omerful of it be preserved for your generations"

The house of Israel named it manna
And it was like coriander seed
[It was] white, and it tasted like a wafer with honey
Praise is befitting to the straight.

Week 43 (Book 7): The Cat Is Saying

The Cat Is Saying

I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them
And I did not return until they were destroyed.
Sing out praise, O you nations, for His people!
For He will avenge the blood of His servants

Inflict revenge upon His adversaries,
And appease His land [and] His people.
Their land swarmed with frogs
In the rooms of their monarchs.

And [they] would say to the man who slaughtered,
'Give meat to roast for the priest,
And he will not take from you cooked meat, but raw.  
Dyed garments of embroidery for the neck of the spoiler.'      

If you rise up like a vulture, and place your nest among the stars,
From there I shall bring you down, says G-d.
Then I ground them as the dust of the earth,
As the mud of the streets I did tread upon them, I did stamp them down.

You even turned back the sharp edge of his sword,

And You did not raise him up in battle.
So may perish all Your enemies, O Lord;
But they that love Him [are] as the sun when it goes forth in its might.

He commanded and a mixture of noxious beasts came,
Lice throughout all their boundary.
Also, before they would make the fat smoke,
And the servant of the priest would come,

And Moses said to Aaron, take one jug and put there an omerful of manna,
And deposit it before the Lord to be preserved for your generations.
He made their rains into hail, flaming fire in their land.

Who is this coming up from the desert, embracing her beloved?

As the Lord had commanded Moses,
Aaron deposited it before the testimony to be preserved.

Under the apple tree I aroused you; there your mother was in travail with you; 

There she that bore you was in travail.