A Supplication for the Day of Atonement

1565

For Yom Kippur, with the help of God, may He be praised.

Another supplication [teḥinah]. I have founded it as the former ones, have established it, and upheld it.

I the young one, Meir, son of our honourable teacher and master, Rabbi Moses de Boton, may the All-Merciful protect and save him! Here in Salonika, 5325 [1565]. Thus did I say:

Master of the universe! As a roaring lion there rises within me the impulse of the thoughts of my heart. Two, the smallest plurality, whisper to me, while the One sits opposite me. This one with a letter of greeting, and that one with a writ of refusal, they gather together against me. They gave their fragrance in fear of the Lord and His light, and then they spoke, each to his neighbour.

The Good Urge said:

Every barefoot one among you shall pass over before your God.

And the Evil Urge says:

I have washed my feet, how can I soil them?

The Good Urge said:

Let your shoes be of reed-grass or of straw.

And the Evil Urge says:

They hurt your feet!

The Good Urge said:

The Lord shall guard the feet of his pious ones, and shall gather in their dispersed.

And the Evil Urge says:

Do not rely on miracles!

The Good Urge said:

Let my soul be afflicted with fasting for my rebelliousness.

And the Evil Urge says:

I could perish in my fast!

The Good Urge said:

All those who eat [on Yom Kippur] shall be held guilty.

And the Evil Urge says:

Behold, in strife and contention you fast!

The Good Urge said:

Let not well water come to your lips, nor be an abhorrence,

And the Evil Urge says:

But wellsprings are for quenching one’s thirst!

The Good Urge said:

The Lord said to me, do not go near a woman.

And the Evil Urge says:

If the woman be not willing!

The Good Urge said:

Rejoice in the wife of your youth, and do not soar on high.

And the Evil Urge says:

A handful does not satisfy a lion!

The Good Urge said:

Do not anoint your head with oil.

And the Evil Urge says:

If your olives drop off!

The Good Urge said:

Keep theft and violence away from you.

And the Evil Urge says:

But have precious silver!

The Good Urge said:

Many afflictions shall ensnare every transgression.

And the Evil Urge says:

For no fault of mine, they pursue me!

The Good Urge said:

First among every holy thing is the man of prudence.

And the Evil Urge says:

First in the reckoning of sins!

The Good Urge said:

Let a person never place his hand beneath his belt.

And the Evil Urge says:

One is accustomed to check one’s pocket!

The Good Urge said:

Return, O man, to pray before the God of faithfulness.

And the Evil Urge says:

I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on?

The Good Urge said:

Heaven forfend you should smite a man on the day of wrath.

And the Evil Urge says:

Your hands are not bound!

The Good Urge said:

Be silent, and admit words of righteousness and truth.

And the Evil Urge says:

Be not as one dead!

The Good Urge said:

It is good to go to the wise, and learn their laws.

And the Evil Urge says:

The words of the wise are like goads!

The Good Urge said:

Look, for at the end the Lord shall judge the difficult thing.

And the Evil Urge says:

The eyes of the fool are on the ends!

The Good Urge said:

Abandon the lust of your heart, and afflict yourself before the eternal God.

And the Evil Urge says:

Between the usual and the unusual, the usual takes precedence!

The Good Urge said:

Sanctify this day above all days of the year.

And the Evil Urge says:

Whoever changes is at a disadvantage!

Translated by Jonathan Chipman.

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Credits

Meir de Boton, “A Supplication for the Day of Atonement,” ed. Uri Melamed, trans. Jonathan Chipman, from Studies on a Rabbinic Family: The de Botons, eds. M. Ben-Sasson, W. Z. Harvey, Y. Ben Naeh and Z. Zohar (Jerusalem: Misgav Yerushalayim, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1998), p. 152. Used with permission of Misgav Yerushalayim: The Center for Research and Study of the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.