Monologues with Death: Ancient Aramaic Funeral Poems Michael D

Monologues with Death: Ancient Aramaic Funeral Poems Michael D. Swartz, The Ohio State University

Texts: Joseph Yahalom and Michael Sokoloff, Shirat Bene Ma‘aravah: Shirim Aramiyim shel Yedude Erets-Ysrael bi-Tequfah ha-Byzantit (Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1999), 304-9, 290-92. The notes mostly follow Yahalom and Sokoloff’s annotations.

#58: Another for children1

The earth quaked And was terrified When she saw The angel of death. He uprooted its foundations From their pins;2 5 He took them away In a windstorm.

He overturns villages And destroys cities And annihilates Their inhabitants; He constrains people To his prison And confines them Forever and for eons.3

10 He tramples down rulers And weakens the mighty And wrests children away From their mothers’ breasts; He wrests brides away From their ornaments And takes grooms away From their bridal chambers.

He separates kings From their wealth And sends fire Into their palaces; He turns scholars away From their sagacity4

1 A superscription, presumably meaning that this is a eulogy for a child in a collection among others. 2 That is, the earth was uprooted from the tent-pegs that anchor it; see Sokoloff, Dictionary of Palestinian Jewish Aramaic, s.v. gdr. 3 Gk.αἰὠνον.

He distorts faces5 And disfigures forms; He removes the prudent From their prudence; 20 He places darkness In their prisons He turns their clothes Into worms.6

Praise to Him Who can do this, For He gives And takes away. Act kindly On this day; 25 Whatever kind deeds one does Shall be repaid with kindness.

God7

#59: Eulogy for a youth

This rhyming poem takes the form of shirshur, a “chain” in which the last word of one stanza begins the next stanza.

Be consoled, O mourners Of all generations, So that you may be Equal to the righteous; Cast away weeping And halt the tears from your eyes. 5 Accept your judgment8 Like the faithful. The faithful, whose times have changed And their children have died during their lives And accepted judgment:

4 Gk. σοφία; As Yahalom and Sokoloff note (p. 203), this word is attested in Jewish-Hellenistic literature but not in rabbinic Hebrew. 5 See Yahalom and Sokoloff’s notes ad loc. 6 Lit., “He places worms in their clothes.” 7 Probably the lemma of a refrain which does not appear in the extant text. 8 An allusion to the concept of tsidduq ha-din, acknowledgement of divine justice, especially in the face of death.

Translations from the Aramaic by Michael D. Swartz ©2015. Please do not reproduce or distribute without permission. Adam was worthy, But he buried humble Abel. He was consoled again By the decree of the Ruler.

10 The Ruler, He Who created every soul, Will console your heart for your grief Over your young child; Like Terah, whose son died in front of him In a flame of ash,9 And so with Abraham and Nahor He was consoled again.

Be consoled, All mourners! 15 All their company shall see The consolation of Zion.10 One can be consoled for The elderly who die at seventy, But over a child who has not produced fruit Who can console?

Fruit that are plucked And unripe fruits that are picked, Plants that have not sent forth Their roots and branches— 20 The voice [ ] Crying and wrapped11 Raising voices Over children washed away.

Washed away [ ] From this world Their lily will shine In that world Under the tree [of life] They will find deserved rest 25 The three Fathers of the World12 Will receive them with love.

9 Referring to Haran; see Genesis Rabbah 38:13. 10 In the messianic era. 11 In mourner’s clothes? 12 The Patriarchs

He who completed the firmament Chose Aaron And dressed him in garments Of the high priesthood with knowledge;13 He swallowed Korah And his assembly in the earth 5 When they rose up To confront him.

The hero, with his staff, Made His glory known When it sprouted almonds overnight.14 With its taste and aroma He drove away the destructive angel, But from the hands of the Angel of Death He could not save his soul.

10 Nadab and Abihu Gave praise together; They were to offer Fragrance before the King. But before they went up With permission of experts A flame burned them And they died at the end of their days and months.

Eleazar attained The high priesthood 15 And wore its vestments And earned its honor. Joshua ben Nun w[as] strong And apportioned the land for the people. When his time came He could not save himself from death.

Phinehas, who made a covenant for his people, was good and holy when [ ]

13 That is, the eight garments of the High Priest. 14 See Numbers 17:21-24.