All Is God’s

A visitor came to the shtetl, A stranger, with unrest in his step . . . No-one recognized his unrest. No-one asked him: “Stranger, are you weary?” Across the blue sky the evening drew its curtain…

My most pious songs have I written On rising from my sinful bed. God has given me a wealth of sins, And God alone has saved me from my sins.

When God’s holy law is read out Do you think I forget one bold lust? And enjoying each lust with fearing, Do you think I know not God’s law?

A Jewish Wedding Deep in fields the klezmers can be heard Driving horses foaming at the mouth, Relatives, both poor and rich, arrive To Reb Sane’s daughter’s wedding feast. [ . . . ] But from a room…

My steps are set down stiffly on tired, empty paths. This morning a little town of Jews called me “Anti-Semite!” All of them in wrinkles and in rags out there pointing at me: “Him! That guy! We…

How can it be told in simple, quiet words? How can you gloss over the sharp outcry So that people will listen to it and be silent, With mute eyes, even without a sigh? Without a sigh, since every…