Eli, Eli

Eli, Eli . . .

 

Eli, Eli, lomo asavtoni  . . . in Hebrew means God, God, Why have you forsaken me?

In feier un flam ( fire and flame ) hot men uns gebrent, ( they were burning us )

Iberal hot men uns gemact tzu shand un shpot  ( they were trying to shame us )

Doch obzuwneden hot uns keiner nit gekent, ( we were trying to do what was written in the Torah to do )

Fin dir mein Gott,(from you, my God) mit dein helliger Toire un mit dein gebot. ( The words you put in our Torah)

Tog un nacht ( day and night ) nor ich tracht ( all I think about ) fin mein Gott, ( is my God )

Ich heit mit Moire, ob dein Toire, dein gebot ( what you are telling us  in the Torah is what we are trying to do )

Oh, rethe mich , rethe mich fin gefar ( Rescue me, rescue me from what is happening )

Wie a muhl ( once in a while ) die u ves fon bei sen gzar. ( ????? )

Her mein gebeit ( hear my cries ) Mein ge vein ( and my prayers )

Helfen kenst du Nor du a lein ( only you and you alone can help )

Shma Yisroel, adoinai elokenu, adoini echod. ( Here, oh Israel, The Lord our God....The Lord is one. ) 

The "Shama" is the holiest of prayers

 

Traditional Jewish hymn in Hebrew & Yiddish ( transcribed phonetically )

Adapted by George Sandler ( unverified ) 

Comments and phonetic translation courtesy of Barbara Friedman

 

"Eli, Eli" is a popular "Yiddish" folk song.

 

Notes: ~ "Yiddish" is a dialect of Hebrew spoken in Eastern Europe and brought over to the United states by the refugees.  The translation is not word for word but merely "idealized" into thoughts!  The above words are written phonetically with loose translation.  It is a real "tear jerker" if you know the meaning. The interesting fact about this song is that the first two lines are in the "Hebrew" language and the repeated two lines in the middle are also, in the "Hebrew" ...but the rest of the song is in "Yiddish"!

 

| 1953 Cover | Back to Lyrics |

With Mitchell Ayres and His Orchestra

with chorus conducted by Mitchell Ayres

Recorded at Manhattan Center, New York City

Produced by Charles Grean

Recorded November 17, 1953

A Perry Como Discography 

& Digital Companion

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