Notes by Professor Eliezer Segal:
- On the Acrostic Style and
Biblical Phrases: "This inscription is particularly
elaborate and literary. Not only do individual lines make
up acrostics, but the first letters of all the lines
spell out the name as well. There is also a rhyme.The
writer was very learned."
- On the style of
translation: I have introduced a few stylistic
changes, identifications of biblical and other allusions
(which I usually try to translate in a manner similar to
the familiar King James Bible), etc.
- On the name "Golda Sobel": The name "Golda
Sobel" is certain --since line 21 is (as I did not
previously mention) an acrostic on the name.
- On the "attah" factor: I have translated the
last segment (from line 18) with masculine pronouns. In
Hebrew without vowels, most of it could just of easily
have been feminine, addressed to Golda Sobel, which seems
more appropriate to the context. However, the masculine
pronoun "attah" appears unmistakably in two instances,
and that is why I have treated the whole section as
addressed to Bendit.
Comments from Kalman and the corresponding replies
from Professor Segal:
- One of the baffling items that has been resolved with
respect to line 6 of Section-2, was with respect to the
words "Nagy Karoli" that
Professor Segal was positive in his translation. It turns
out that if we put these two words together as
"Nagykaroly" we get the Hungarian
name for the Romanian town Carei where my grandfather
lived.
[Professor Segal, commenting
on this, noted that "'Nagykaroly,' though apparently
written as two Hebrew words, only counts as one letter in
the acrostic, adding further support to your
identification."]
- Myself and my mother do not have a clue with respect
to the name "Golda Sobel" as my mother's mother name was
Regina.
[Professor Segal, in
response to this apparent mystery, noted that "the link
to Golda Sobel is not explained, and might be clarified
when I figure out the enigmatic abbreviation that
precedes the name."]
To see the relevant correspondence with Professor
Segal with respect to this translation, please click on
the letter icon at left.
Following is the full 2nd version
translation along with added Biblical phrases that are
embedded in the verse. The Hebrew text is a fully rhymed
poem with various types of acrostic, as
indicated.
For those interested, the 1st version of this translation is
also available. To see it, please click on the icon at
left.
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[Abbreviation:]
Here is buried:
(1)
A man of
precious spirit, a God-fearing person who "walketh
uprightly, and worketh righteousness"
[see
Psalms 15:2]
(2)
Our teacher Rabbi
B E N D I T
E L I M E L E C H
(peace unto him)
(3)
the son of our teacher Rabbi
Moses David Guttmann of blessed memory, from the children
of Nyiregyhaza (which
is a town in Hungary).
(4)
He died with a good name
(i.e.,
reputation) to the grief of
his wife and children, his relatives and friends
(5)
at the age of sixty-six to
the days of his life, the [week of] Ki Tetze
[the Torah reading beginning at Deuteronomy 21] 9
Elul 5706 [= 5 Sept. 1946]
(6)
[The
line is written so that the initial letters of the words
spell out the name "BENDIT":]
In the community of the
congregation Nagykároly
[former
Hungarian town now part of Romania and called
Carei]
the word of the God-fearers
you have cultivated [The
line is written so that the initial letters of the words
spell out the name "BENDIT"]
(7)
You have performed acts of
kindness and justice, and were involved in communal
affairs.
(8)
You helped build the mikvah
[=purification bath] and, You founded the burial
society for the holy people.
(9)
You listened to the opinions
of the holy ones, and walked in the counsel of your
teachers.
(10)
You lovingly supported the
pious ones and the students of Torah.
(11)
You taught good judgment
[cf.
Psalms 119:65] and,
You took hold of God's Torah.
(12)
[This
line is very difficult, and I am only
guessing.
The initial letters of the words spell out the name
"ELIMELECH":]
[?]
Your heart mourns bitterly,
since the time that it was as bitterness for you.
(13)
You could not be quiet
because of the grief of the tragedy that occurred.
[i.e.,
the Holocaust]
(14)
The
sucklings with men of gray hair
[Deuteronomy
32:25] were burned
in oppressive fire.
(15)
Your brothers and sisters
perished in a terrible death.
(16)
For the fate as the
surviving remnant that remained as a scattered sheep
[Jeremiah
50:17]
17) your eyes were blinded by tears as you participated
in their sorrow.
(1)
In the sickness of your
turbulent heart
(2)
your soul expired in purity.
[phrase
from Talmud Sanhedrin 68a; see Rashi to Makkot
19b]
(3)
[The
words in the following line form an acrostic of the name
"GOLDA":]
Your longing to go up to the land where your ancestors
trod,
(4)
[The
words in the following line form an acrostic of the name
"SOBEL":]
you expected to accomplish in purity within your
lifetime.
(5)
Suddenly death arose in our
window.
(6)
Woe that the crown is fallen
from our head! [Lamentations
5:16]
(7)
And thou shalt stand in thy
lot at the end of the days. [Daniel
12:13]
(8)
[?]
[preceded
by an abbreviation that I cannot translate]
Golda Sobel
[Probably
here reference is made to his "Golden Wife" left
behind]
(9)
[Abbreviation:]
May her soul be bound in the
bundle of life. [1
Samuel 25:29]
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