לק"י

קטעי תרגום באנגלית מספר "מסע תימן"

מאת התייר ר' יעקב ספיר ז"ל

שביקר בתימן בשנת התרי"ט לבריאת עולם

B"H

 Yaakov Sapir – Description of Ordinary Life in Yemen

(Yaakov Sapir, a Lithuanian Jew from Jerusalem, visited the Jewish community in Yemen in 1859 C.E., publishing an account of his travels soon thereafter. Perhaps one of the most momentous works ever to have been written in that century on the Jews of Yemen, a number of excerpts follow which have been taken from his book, "Masa' Teman," or "Journey to Yemen")

"…Their facial features clearly gave them away that they are Jews. The side-locks of their heads, which they call 'simonim'[1] (for it is a good omen to Israel), are long, [extending down] to their chests. Their beards, although they be not long, are grown like most of the inhabitants of this land. As for their appearance, it is swarthy [and] sun tanned. An imposing figure with an overgrown beard, they do not have. Yet, no hand with a razor has ever touched them, neither scissors. Their heads are shaven and covered with only a black habit, without wrapping it into a [crown-like] turban; imbued with rubbing oil with which they anoint their heads, while their entire bodies [are rubbed down] with melted butter (Arabic: samnah). Their garments are also utterly black, and not lacking in [fragrant] oil. A thick gabardine (Heb. talith), [made] like unto a black mantle and equipped with tassels, lay folded upon their shoulders,[2] beneath their burden, while the tassels hang down loosely over the ground. For it is, [both], their garment and their mantle. And all those who would but see them acknowledge that they are the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!"

"All of them rise early to the synagogue before the break of dawn, whether in summer or winter, while everyone brings with him a flask of hot coffee brewed from the hulls [of the coffee seed][3] and prepared by them on the previous night. . . . With a small cup, they drink while reading and chanting, and they honour each other with a cup of coffee. When the face of the eastern sky begins to shine just a little, they make haste to pray, and while as yet the sun has not broken forth [over the horizon], they have [already] concluded their prayer. For they are in a hurry to go forth unto their labours, since their labour is mostly outside [the city], in the villages amongst the gentiles, or in the distant market-places (in order that they might return to their houses in the evening). However, the prayer [itself] is not said in haste, or in a swift manner, only drawn-out and with pleasantness. They have no permanent emissary of the congregation (Heb. shaliah sibbur), and anyone wishing [to lead the congregation in prayer] may do so. For all of them know how to pray and to read… Only during the recital of the Qiryath Shema' (Hear O Israel, the Lo-rd is our G-d, etc.) will everyone answer and say [it] in unison. After the prayer, before [saying] 'Aleinu, they will not leave the synagogue until they have learned a little from the prophets, the Hagiographa, the Codes of Jewish law, or lore, which are told before them by the chief of the synagogue, and this they call, 'Shilush.' [4]. . . They do not enter the synagogue with their shoes, only barefoot (for they do not have socks), and they take their shoes off at the entrance, on the outside. They call shoes [by a euphemism], 'Hoos,'[5] out of respect, since their custom is also to take them off outside at their entering any large house, just as the custom is in all the countries of the east."

המקור:

"They are very well accustomed, whenever a man tells his friend [about] his troubles or his aspirations, to reply back unto him in consolation, 'Eheyeh Asher Eheyeh'[6] (אהיה אשר אהיה), or 'E-l  Sha-dai' (אל שדי), while this [expression] does not cease from their mouths… Over every speech or statement made, they will say, 'Borukh Teheyeh!' (ברוך תהיה) or, 'Borukh Attoh Laadho-nai' (ברוך אתה לה'), and they are not scrupulous about [infringing upon the commandment that says], 'Thou shalt not take the Lo-rd's name in vain.' [7] "

המקור:

"Mori Ya'ish Ha-Cohen, of the al-Maghori family, is a good and benevolent man, a [true] savant and one who is G-d fearing. His family traces their lineage back unto those priests from the ward of Yehoiarib,[8] and they are known as one of the distinguished families of San'a, who escaped here on account of persecution."

המקור:

"On the eighth day of Tishri, I said to the man whose house I dwelled in, that he buy for me a rooster for the Kapparah (i.e. atonement), but he did not know what [I was talking about]. For they do not have this custom. Now I have already written an outstanding general rule [when it comes to them, viz.], how that in every halachic ruling or custom not expressly stated by Maimonides, of blessed memory, they too have not accepted it!" [9]

המקור:

"Here, I saw the custom of bringing the eight day old son into the holy covenant [of circumcision]. They will not make it earlier than at noon, until all the relatives [of the child] and their acquaintances have gathered themselves together from the nearby towns and villages. When I admonished them by saying, 'And Abraham rose early in the morning, [this] teaches us that those that are highly motivated press ahead with the commandment' (Pesahim 4.a), they answered me with the verse: 'In the selfsame day (lit., on the midst of that day) was Abraham circumcised, etc.' Now the plain sense of that Scripture, as also the exegesis brought down by the Sages of blessed memory, is that it was performed at the height of the day (meaning, at noon time). At noon the boy was brought, swaddled in a blanket, as he lay within a bowl-like basket made of woven straw (should be: fronds). And they set him down upon a mat [spread over] the ground, in the house of the child's father. Then the sandak (godfather) took him up [within his arms] while he, too, was sitting on the ground. Then the circumciser, who sat opposite to him, spread apart the child's legs. Then with the swiftness of the work of a cunning artificer, he circumcised [the infant], split and folded back the inner-lining membrane, and applied suction [to the wound], then sprinkled a medicinal powder, and applied a poultice - all while sitting down on the ground. He would then stand up and bless over the myrtle and over the wine, [by the blessing which says], 'Who maketh the covenant [etc.],' and [another] blessing over the child and his parents in the Aramaic language, as is their custom. Then they all broke forth into singing the songs of circumcision, which were compiled of old for such occasions. All of the melodies of their celebrated songs, whether for the Sabbath or the Festival Day, for the holy covenant [of circumcision], weddings [&c.] are both mixed in Hebrew and Arabic."

"Here is found a family of priests (Cohenim), and they are also from the remnant of Sanaa [formerly made to evacuate], [10] who are called 'the house of Pinheas,' seeing that they trace their lineage back to the offspring of Pinheas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest. The custom in all of this land is that when the holy Sabbath eve comes (i.e. Friday), or during a festive meal, they separate two loaves from their kneaded dough. The one [loaf] they burn in the fire, while the other they give to the priest who eats it in a state of ritual cleanness, while he makes the blessing, 'Who hast sanctified us through his commandments, and commanded us concerning the eating of the dough portion (Heb. hallah).' I have seen the like practice during the meal eaten at circumcisions. They would set before the priest two loaves. Over his loaf he would bless, '…concerning the eating of the dough portion,' while over the second one which was common [bread], '…who bringeth forth [bread from the earth].' At which he would distribute of it to those reclining, [and] who fulfill thereby their obligation at his blessing. For the [guests] reclining [at his table] will not bless by themselves, [saying] '…who bringeth forth [bread, etc.],' just as this ruling is brought down in the Talmud. Now as for that dough portion (Hallah), both he and the priests who are sitting with him will eat of it."

"And they have a separate melody for the reading of the Law (Torah), another for the Prophets, and another for the Hagiography, and yet another one for the readings in Job, Proverbs and the Psalms, which [latter] have been forgotten by the Ashkenazi Jews. So too, have they separate melodies for the [Aramaic] translation, [and] the Arabic translation; one for Halacha, another for lore[11], another for the Zohar, and one for the books on ethics. And all [are read] by drawing out [the words], and with a pleasant voice, intended to awaken one's mental concentration."

"And those who fear Hashem, the Mori,[12] [etc.] will wear another vesture made of four corners [and] equipped with tassels beneath their upper tunic…but their tassels are allowed to drag upon the ground. Also at night they will cover themselves with it, or [use it as] a bed lining beneath them; and it is used for all sorts of labour, to bring within it [that which he has acquired] from his selling or buying in the marketplace, as will they [take up within it] a load of wood."

(Concerning the tomb of the poet, Shalom Shabazzi)  "At the place of his burial there is a large monument and a cave adjoining thereto, with a reservoir of water, and a prayer house containing a scroll of the Law written in his own handwriting. [There], at his tomb, a candle always illuminates, never to be extinguished. For the majority of their vows from all of the country are made in the name of this miracle worker, and his house of prayer. Moreover, all of the Jews who dwell in that small village make their income from this. Now the name of Mori Salam al-Shabazzi is precious even in the eyes of the gentiles, because of a certain incident that happened, and they swear only by his name…"

"The sight of the night of Ninth of Av [fast day] is terrible in its appearance and horrifying. After the silence of the evening prayer, they extinguished all candles (in the synagogue known as Bayt Mori Yehiya Ha-Lewi Alsheikh). Darkness enveloped all of us…. The Chief of the synagogue, Mori Yehiya al-Mansureh, an old man who had acquired wisdom, stood up and called out with weeping, 'Our brethren! This night is two-thousand and two-hundred and eighty [years] since the destruction of the first Temple, and one-thousand, seven hundred and ninety since the destruction of the second Temple, and we are not yet saved! Anyone in whose days the Temple has not been built, is as though it were destroyed in his days,' as well as other words of exhortation. All of the people burst forth into a great and terrible wail, and they began [the reading of] Lamentations and liturgical poems of a dirge-like nature, as is their custom; A voice of weeping and lamentation, of bitterness and sighing, with no relenting! I remembered the Ninth of Av [fast day] of last year, while I was in Alexandria of Egypt, but I did not see any liturgical poems, nor any mourning woman that wailed like these. Yet, here, [in] this renewed destruction, its mourning [seemed to surge afresh] each year. When they finished, some of them went to their houses, while some of them stayed behind still, all throughout the night in the synagogue, to do the Tikun Hatzoth, and the [reading from the] 'Three Wards.' In the morning, [the cases bearing] the Scrolls of the Law were clothed in black, and they put burnt ashes upon them. While taking out the Scroll of the Law from the ark towards the raised platform,[13] the overseer of the synagogue goes before it and says the liturgical poem, 'Bemoan, O Law! For thy glory has been profaned,' etc., and the congregation [repeats it] after him. They translate the reading [from the Law] and [from] the Prophets, according to their custom, as also [they will read it] in Arabic with a sad melody. After which, they read liturgical poems of a dirge-like nature gleaned [from several writings], and continued [in this state] until noon time. Most of them still remained in the synagogue with [their] small children and read [from the book of] Job, while the children read verse after verse, accompanied with the Arabic translation."

המקור:

"Anyone can go up to [the scroll of] the Law. He also reads [it] by himself. Their reading is with proper diction, and their way of chanting appeals to the heart.   

A small youth of about nine years old stands beside a scroll of the Law and translates each verse with an oscillating voice, [even] with a sweet and pleasant voice. The translator waits for the reader until he concludes [the reading of each verse], and so too practices the reader. The Haftarah is read with a special [Aramaic] translation that has been hand written with them, a translation which incorporates within it Midrashic literature.[14] The ears of those gathered in prayer are attentive to the voice of the reader and of the translator, to every scruple,[15] vowel or diacritical point.

A faithful witness over the vast expertise of the multitude, whether in the Scriptures or in the [Aramaic] translation, is the youth who served [me], a [boy] of eighteen years whom I hired to be my escort, [and] a helping hand in time of need.

On the holy Sabbath, during the section known as Mesora', we lodged in the small town, Thilla (45 klms. north-west of San'a). Most of the town's inhabitants had fled from the new king, and the number of those gathered in prayer was brought to a bare minimum. When they reached the reading of the Haftarah, with that translation which incorporated the Midrashic literature, they could not find a proper book [from which to read] – for many handwritten books had been hidden by the president of the synagogue. Then stood up Sa'eed, the servant, and said: 'Read before me, and I shall translate [each verse] by rote memory!'

The [Aramaic] translation in the mouth of Sa'eed was as it should be, precise in both its elocution and in its rules of grammar! Had I not seen and heard it, I would not have believed it! What makes this fact even more astonishing is that the translation carried with it an introduction and forward, like unto a homily, concerning the four lepers.[16]

The power of their memory is very great, just as the power of their keen eyesight, nothing being compared to them in other countries! The ritual slaughterers here show aptitude and skill, orally, in all the halakhic rules of slaughter based upon Maimonides."

המקור:

"כל עולה לתורה, הוא גם 'בעל-קורא'. קריאתם בטוב-טעמים, ונעימתם מושכת את הלב.

נער קטון כבן תשע, ניצב לצד ספר-התורה, ומתרגם כל פסוק בסילסול בקול ערב ונעים. המתרגם ממתין לקורא עד תום, וכך גם נוהג הקורא. ההפטרה נקראת עם תרגום מיוחד בכתב יד אשר איתם, תרגום המשולב במדרש. אזני המתפללים כרויות לקול הקורא והמתרגם, לכל תג, תנועה או טעם.

עד נאמן על בקיאות רבה של רבים, במקרא ובתרגום, הוא הנער המשרת, בן השמונה-עשרה אשר שכרתי להיות לי למלווה, לאיעזר ואחיסמך. ביום שבת קדש פרשת מצורע, שהינו בעיר הקטנה תילא (45 ק"מ צפונית-מערבית לצנעא). רוב בני-העיר נמלטו מפני המלך החדש, ומנין המתפללים היה מצומצם ביותר. כאשר הגיעו לקריאת ההפטרה בתרגום משולב במדרש, לא מצאו ספר מתאים, כי ספרים רבים בכת"י הוחבאו ע"י נשיא ביהכנ"ס. אז עמד סעיד המשרת ואמר, קראו לפני ואני אתרגם על-פה.

התרגום בפיו של סעיד כמתכונתו, מדוייק גם בטעמו ודקדוקו! לולא ראיתי ושמעתי, לא האמנתי! העובדה המפליאה היא גם היות התרגום בעל פתיחה והקדמה, מעין דרוש, בענין ארבעת המצורעים.

"From their pronunciation of the alphabet, to their use of vowels, as well the cantillations which they read in concert with the diacritical signs of punctuation [written beneath and above the letters of the Law],[17] [all] are done in accordance with what was established for the language, and its proper usage. There is nowhere to be found amongst them the broken-tongue of the Sephardic Jews, neither anything similar to the hair strum of a language spoken by the Ashkenazi Jews. For the two of these have erred in [their] pronunciation of the [Hebrew] alphabet; having erred in the sound of the vowels, [and] having utterly abandoned the diacritical signs given for its cantillations. Both of these have brought destruction upon the accurate reading [of the Law]. Whether it were the soft accentuated letters of B'G'D'  K'P'T' or the hard accentuated letters of the same,[18] they have made no distinction; Or whether it was the letter Aleph or `Ayin, they made no distinction; or the soft-letter Beth with the Waw, [19] or Het with the soft letter Kaph, [20] or the dotted Kaph  with the Qof, [21]or Tet with Thau, [even] between the soft letter Thau and the Samach [22] they make no clear distinction! Wherefore, for us, [it would seem that] half of the Hebrew alphabet was made in vain by the pen of scribes, may G-d forbid! So it is with the vowels, each man turns and goes his own way. There be some who, reading the "qomes," [23] make it sound like a "patah." Others make the "sere" sound like the "segul," [24] while still others would have you read "qomes" instead of a "holam;" the fathers and their sons being mixed together! (For the first things treated herein are the fathers, while the latter things are their offspring.) They do not respect the face of a father, and their sons are like unto them! Now there be some who will change the "holam" for a "sere," [25] and a "shuraq" for a "hiraq," [26] or a "qomes" for a "shuraq," and "hiraq" for a "segul." And with regard to the vowel symbol known as the "shawa," [27] each man does that which is right in his own eyes! Some making it rest, while others  making it move! [28] Some "snatching it away," [29] while others causing it to wander. And with rules so perfectly distorted,[30] they go up and they go down. And they've made, thereby, the insignificant vowel a mark of excellence, and the vowel which was formerly strong, they've now turned into mere chaff! [All this] by the cantillations of those who assay to proof-read [the texts], and who whistle with the sounds of short lilting blasts and long sustained quavering blasts [of a trumpet]! etc. … They also reverse the first syllable accent with the second syllable accent, saying to what should be read as an accent on the second syllable, 'get thou up to the first!' And saying to what should be read as an accent on the first syllable, 'go down to the second!' This is not the case with our brethren, those who dwell in Yemen where, there, the tongue of the Arabian rules, [which language is also] the daughter of the Hebrew [language], and sister of the Aramaic. Now they are the inhabitants of the land of old, since the time of those who went into exile from the beginning, and they were never depleted by reason of moving from one exile to the next. Now as it would appear, the customs which they have arduously adhered to up until now, are the same as in former times, just as they received from [an unbroken chain of] tradition. They also raise their sons, from their youth up, upon the Hebrew dialect and its stringent application, and the diacritical signs of its punctuation, until at length one would think of it as his mother language. Therefore, they have exercised [31] a complete command of the language, and the very smell of the faithful tongue has never vanquished from them."

המקור:

"מבטאם בהאותיות ותנועות ונגינתם בהטעמים עפ"י יסודי הלשון וצחותה. אין בהם מעלגת לשון הספרדים ולא מאין בינת שפת האשכנזים. כי אלה ואלה שגו במבטא האותיות, תעו בהגה התנועות, פקו טעם הנגינות. אלה ואלה שחתו הקריאה הנכונה. בין רפיון בג"ד כפ"ת לחזקן לא יבדילו, בין אלף לעין לא יבדילו, בין בית רפה לואו, בין חית לכף רפה, בין כף דגושה לקוף, בין טית לתיו, בין תיו רפה לסמך לא יפרישו. ותהי לנו מחצית האותיות כשוא עשה עט סופרים חס ושלום. כן עם התנועות, איש לדרכו יפנו וינועו. אלה הקמץ יפתחו והצרי יסגלו. החולם יקמצו. האבות והבנים יחדיו(כי הראשונים אבות והשניים תולדות). לא ישאו פנים לאבות ותולדותיהן כיוצא בהם. ואלה ימירו חולם בצרי, ושורוק בחיריק, קמץ בשורוק,וחיריק בסגול. ובשוואין איש הישר בעיניו יעשה. יניחו ויניעו, יחטפו וינודו, ובכללים בלולים יעלו וירדו. והיה התנועה הקלה לתפארת, והחסון לנעורת, ובנגינת מהגים ומצפצפים בצלצלי שברים תרועה וכו'

"The [Jewish] people of San'a practice stringency with regard to themselves in marriage & in purity of lineage, and do not inter-marry with the [Jewish] dwellers of villages, as do also the Cohenim,23 and they say about certain of the villages that they are descendants of slaves, or [from] the proselytes that they brought along with them. There is a small town about an hour's  walking distance from San'a, its name is "Bayt Farweh." They say that it is certain that once they were their slaves, but they had rebelled against them, and that they are loose in conduct even unto this day. They say, moreover, that up until two-hundred yeas ago each family still possessed a register of his pedigree, [that is], until there came unto them a wise and wealthy man from Egypt, Rabbi Aaron al-'Araqi Ha-Cohen, of blessed memory. Now he was the king's money-changer, who had a good rapport with him and was held in very high esteem. He also acted as benefactor to Israel, rendering many services unto them, and came to settle there [in that city], and [at length] sought to take a wife for his son, Rabbi Shalom, from among their daughters. Yet, they refused to do so, since he had no genealogical record [to prove his line of descent.] So he said to them: 'Bring unto me your family registries.' [As they did not suspect anything], they brought unto him [their records]. He then said [to them]: 'All of Israel are of good descent!' And so he burnt all of their family registries. No record remained, save only one family's, [that of] Rabbi Saleh's family. Now concerning that family registry I made every effort to see it, but to no avail.33  A certain man [of this family], who seemed to be the most praiseworthy of them all, Rabbi Abraham the scribe, may his light shine, who also happens to be the Chief of that synagogue (and in whose house I sat for several weeks), promised to show it to me, which had been stashed away with his [other] precious belongings in the storehouse which he owns in the citadel  43belonging to the gentile part of the city. (For, indeed, noble landlords possess goods & commodities  sufficient enough to fill up stores, or else possess stores which they rent out, and are in safekeeping within the citadel.) When he finds it, [he said] he'll bring it to me. Before I left [San'a], I implored him with many entreaties [about this registry], yet did he not bring it to me. For truly, the hour was well-spent and it was time for me to go, for reasons which you shall hear more about…"

המקור:

"There is a certain family in San'a, called 'the Danite family.' Now I spoke with distinguished persons belonging to them, and they told me that the chief of their fathers' house was from the tribe of Dan, who dwell in a land unknown. It was him, along with another [man] from the tribe of Asher who dwells with them, who went astray in a wasteland, and could not find their way back to their place of habitation and their tribe. And so they walked wheresoever they listed, until at length they arrived here, at San'a. Now the man of Asher died here, after his arrival, but the man of Dan married here a woman, and he begat sons and daughters, whose descendants they happen to be, and [who] are called after his name, 'the Danite,' until this very day." END.

המקור: