Songs of Exile/The Prophet Jeremiah by the Cave of Machpelah

by Eleazar ben Kalir

Layout 2

THE PROPHET
JEREMIAH
BY THE
CAVE OF MACHPELAH

Elasar ben Kalir’s birthplace is unknown, and the dates given for his birth range from 800 to 1000 C.E. He was the creator of a new form of Piyutim, and was followed by an imitative school of Paitanim. His style is condensed, obscure, and full of allusions to Hagadic passages. Of this allusive style, the first line of the seventh stanza in the following poem (סח ילד בתלף) may be taken as an example. Tradition makes Jacob linger for fourteen years, on his way to Mesopotamia, in the houses of study of Shem and Eber. Other legends are told of Jacob’s love of learning.—Kalir’s compositions number over two hundred.

Stanza 1, line 12, Leviticus xxvi, 45.

Stanza 2, line 10, Jeremiah v, 12.

Stanza 3, line 6, Genesis xv, 1.

Stanza 5, line 6, Leviticus xxvi, 42.

Stanza 6, line 11, 2 Chronicles xxiv, 20.

Stanza 7, line 1, Jacob. See Bereshith Rabbah, 63: 6 and 68: 5; and Talmud Babli, Megillah 16^b and 17^a; line 12, Jeremiah li, 5.

The Prophet Jeremiah by the Cave of Machpelah

By Kalir

THE Prophet standing by the fathers’ graves,
With soul o’erwhelmèd speaks, for solace craves:
“How can ye lie at rest, beloved ones,
While sharpened swords consume your captive sons?
Where now, O fathers, lurks your merit rare
In that vast wilderness of land laid bare?
They cry each one with lamentation sore
For children banished, sons that are no more;
They pray imploring with a cry for grace
To Him who dwelleth in the realms of space;
Ah! where is now God’s promise made of old:
‘I will not my first covenant withhold’?”

    Changed is My glory,
    From them departed;
    They have not feared Me;
    Dread have they known not;
    From them I hid Me,
    And still they turned not,
    Nor to Me yearned they;
    Shall I restrain Me,
    Hearing them utter:
    “Our God He is not”?

Then Father Abraham with bitter cry
Implored, a suppliant lowly, God on high:
“Ten times in vain for them great trials I bore,
For woe! mine eyes have seen destruction sore;
Ah! where is now Thy promise made of old:
‘Abram, thou shalt not fear, thy shield behold’?”

    Far have they wandered,
    Erred after strange gods,
    And they have hewn them
    Cisterns which hold not;
    Shall I restrain Me,
    When they regard not
    My sacred mandates?

And thus did Isaac all his sorrow tell
Unto the Lord who high in Heav’n doth dwell:
“Wherefore was I appointed to be slain?
My seed is crushed and low in bondage lain;
Ah! where is now Thy promise made of old:
‘My covenant with Isaac I will hold’?”

    Unto My prophet
    Sorely rebellious,
    They have polluted
    My holy mountain:
    Lo, I am weary
    With ever hearing
    Their cry which riseth
    From the earth upwards;
    Shall I restrain Me,
    Seeing the slaughter
    Of Zechariah?

And then spake he with learning deep endowed,
His form with shame and bitter sorrow bowed:
“My little ones I reared with holy care,
How are they caught within the fatal snare!
Ah! dearly have I paid a thousandfold
My erring children’s debt of guilt untold.”
Thus spake the faithful shepherd in his woe,
Covered with ashes and in dust laid low:
“My tender sheep in genial shelter reared,
Lo! how are they before their season sheared!
Ah! where is now Thy promise made of old:
‘There shall not be one widowed in the fold’?”
With grievous voices all the air is rent;
With sobs doth Leah to her despair give vent,
And Rachel weeping for her children dead,
Zilpah with face of anguish, heart of dread,
And Bilhah grieving for the evil day,
Her hands to God uplifted in dismay.

    Turn, O ye perfect ones,
    Unto your rest again;
    I will fulfil for you
    All that your hearts desire:
    Down unto Babylon
    With you My Presence went;
    Surely will I return
    Your sons’ captivity.