A person descends to Sheol

Phineas ha-Kohen be-Rabbi Jacob

Late 8th Century

A person descends to Sheol and does not ascend.
Their glow fades, and they decay in the dust.
The sound of a leaf pursues them,
and, like rot, they decay.
They decay forever and lose all hope.
Their potential and yearning fies away like a dream.
Their soul mourns for them, for its desires have been pursued.
Their acquaintances say, “Where are they?”
The Rock of eternity will perform wonders,
on the day when He reveals Himself, to open the sealed [graves].
Now may He awaken the sleepers, for His [own] sake.
The Living God justly brings death and mercifully brings back life.
With mercy may You remember the nation that rejoices in You.
Yah, hear their prayer, and may they take delight at the resurrection.
O lofty One, they will declare the sanctity of Your noble name and be jubilant,
when the day is revealed when from dust they will awake.
They will awake, in joyous song, Your beloved ones.
The dust will be removed, and they will stand up from [their] graves.
He who keeps kindness will open the graves,
and when You swallow up death, there will be a return of the lost and dispersed people.
The lost and dispersed people together will call out Your name,
masses and masses of them, praising in joyous song at the resurrection.
They will all come, to laud Your name.
When You announce consolation, they will awake and sing with gladness.

As it is written: Your dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust, for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead (Isaiah 26:19).

And it is said: And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one (Zechariah 14:9).

And it is said: The Lord shall reign forever, even your God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise the Lord (Psalms 146:10).

And it is said: But You are holy, O You who inhabit the praises of Israel (Psalms 22:3).

Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

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The poem, a meshalesh (part of a kedushta–a poem written for the blessings in an Amidah that has a Ke-dushah) written for a mourner, is about death and

resurrection. It begins with a description of the death of the individual but then turns from the individual to the communal, looking forward to the fnal resurrection, when God will open the sealed graves and bring the dead back to life. The “lost and dispersed” Jewish people in exile will be returned and will come together in jubilation. The poem ends with triumphant biblical quotations from Isaiah, Zechariah, and Psalms. It is meant to adorn the third blessing of the Amidah, which concludes “who redeems Israel.”

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Creator Bio

Phineas ha-Kohen be-Rabbi Jacob

Phineas ha-Kohen be-Rabbi Jacob was a prolific Palestinian paytan (liturgical poet) whose works were almost entirely forgotten until the modern period. Very little can be said about his life, other than that his hometown was a small village outside Tiberias. Phineas composed piyyutim in classical styles that had been employed by earlier fgures in the land of Israel, integrating midrashim and linguistic themes popular during his period. He frequently refers to the Muslim conquerors of Palestine. His poems speak of many long-forgotten practices of Palestinian Jewry and preserve perspectives on the Jewish calendar and other aspects of Jewish life particular to that community. Phineas may have been a communal leader or the head of a center of learning.

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