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).

Oil lamp in the form of a shield with spouts at the bottom, of decorative motifs and profile of individual crowned with laurel wreath.
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This bronze, cast, and gilt Hanukkah lamp from France is decorated with the head of a warrior wearing a laurel wreath, most likely meant to depict Judah Maccabee, leader of the uprising against the Greeks, hero of the story of Hanukkah.
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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.

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