Come, faithful community, let us sing
Joseph Shalom Gallego
Early 17th Century
Come, faithful community, let us sing
To Him who dwells on high, your creator, O Jacob.
Come, let us sing.
O garden dweller, raise song and hymns:
Young and old, all together, Jacob’s house.
Come, let us sing.
We will exalt His name, He, unique in His world.
We are His people, His servant Jacob’s seed.
Come, let us sing.
His essence is hidden on high, elevated above elevation.
He chose Zion and the House of Jacob.
Come, let us sing.
Burst with song and praise to Him of fearsome deeds,
Hidden, but revealed to the eyes of all Israel.
Come, let us sing.
He who dwells on high and examines all hearts.
Shone upon the ancestors, and still shines upon Israel.
Come, let us sing.
Eloquent praises suit Him well,
For His promises of good to the House of Israel.
Come let us sing.
My our eyes behold our people gathered
In Zion, God’s city, the dwelling of peace.
Come let us sing.
He, above human thought, devised good for His folk,
For He decided to dwell in my abode of peace.
Come let us sing.
Be strong, House of Jacob, Remnant Israel,
For God will bless His people with peace.
Come let us sing.
Translated by .
Raymond P.
Scheindlin
Other work by Shalom Gallego: Sendero de Vidas (1640).
Credits
Joseph Shalom Gallego, “Come, Faithful Community, Let Us Sing” (song, Amsterdam, early 17th century). Published in: Edwin Seroussi, “R. Yossef Shalom Gallego Author of Imrei No'am: A Cantor from Saloniki in Early 17th-Century Amsterdam, with Annotations on the Poets, the Poems by Joseph Shalom Gallego and an Analytical Index by Tova Beeri,” Asufot: Annual for Jewish Studies 6 (1992): 87–150 (131).
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.