Yedid Nefesh (My Soul's Beloved) - Yosef Goldman

Yedid Nefesh- "Beloved. My soulmate!"

From the Rising Song Records release Open My Heart, by Yosef Goldman, (December 2019)

This melody from the Sefarad-Yerushalayim (Syrian Jewish) tradition captures the intensity of longing for the Beloved. I love the treatment that Zach Fredman and the members of The Epichorus gave it, pairing the melody with a chaabi rhythm from North Africa. The juxtaposition gives the peice a dynamic tension that propels the piece into the ecstatic improvisation at the end, like an encounter with the divine that can't be fully contained.

The melody is written in Maqam Sigah, an Arab mode whose tonal center is the E half-flat. It's the mode that Syrian Jews use to read Torah. It's said to denote majesty and is used in the Syrian tradition for prayers on the weeks that we read about the construction of Tabernacle and priestly service.

Yosef Goldman- vocals
Zach Fredman- oud, musical direction
Megan Weeder Gould - violin
Uri Sharlin- keyboard
Daniel Ori- bass
Rich Stein- percussion

Videographer: Shmulie Lowenstein
Audio Engineer: Don Godwin


YEDID NEFESH
Attributed to R' Elazar ben Moshe Azikri ca. 16th c.
(translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)

יְדִיד נֶפֶשׁ אָב הָרַחֲמָן,
מְשׁוֹךְ עַבְדְּךְ אֶל רְצוֹנָךְ,
יָרוּץ עַבְדְּךְ כְמוֹ אַיָּל,
יִשְתַּחֲוֶה אֶל מוּל הֲדָרֶךְ,
יֶעֱרַב לוֹ יְדִידוֹתֶיךָ,
מִנֹּפֶת צוּף וְכָל טָעַם:‏

י You who love my soul
Compassion’s gentle source,
Take my disposition and shape it to Your will.
Like a darting deer I will flee to You.
Before Your glorious Presence Humbly I do bow.
Let Your sweet love
Delight me with its thrill
Because no other dainty
Will my hunger still.

הָדוּר נָאֶה זִיו הָעוֹלָם,
נַפְשִׁי חוֹלַת אַהֲבָתֶךָ,
אָנָא אֵל נָא רְפָא נָא לָהּ,
בְּהַרְאוֹת לָהּ נֹעַם זִיוֶךָ,
אָז תִּתְחַזֵּק וְתִתְרַפֵּא,
וְהָיְתָה לָּהּ שִֹמְחַת עוֹלָם:‏

ה How splendid is Your light
Which worlds do reflect!
My soul is worn from craving
For Your love’s delight.
Please, good God, do heal her
And show to her Your face,
So my soul can see You
And bathe in Your grace.
There she will find strength
And healing in this sight.
Her joy will be complete then
Eternal her delight.

וָתִיק יֶהֱמוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ,
וְחוּסָה נָא עַל בֵּן אֲהוּבֶךָ,
כִּי זֶה כַּמָּה נִכְסוֹף נִכְסַפְתִּי
לִרְאוֹת בְּתִפְאֶרֶת עֻזֶּךָ,
אֵלֶּה, חָמְדָה לִבִּי,
וְחוּסָה נָּא וְאַל תִּתְעַלָּם:‏

ו What pity stirs in You
Since days of old, my God!
Be kind to me Your own child
Begotten by Your love.
For long and longing hours
I yearned for Your embrace
To see my light in Your light
Basking in Your grace.
My heart’s desire is
To harmonize with Yours
Do not conceal Your pity
Hide not that light of Yours.

הִגָּלֶה נָא וּפְרוֹס חָבִיב עָלַי
אֶת סֻכַת שְׁלוֹמֶךָ,
תָּאִיר אֶרֶץ מִכְּבוֹדֶךָ,
נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בָּךְ,
מַהֵר אָהוּב כִּי בָא מוֹעֵד,
וְחָנֵּנוּ כִּימֵי עוֹלָם:‏

ה Help, my Lover, spread
Your canopy of peace.
Enfold all human beings
Give all pain surcease.
Your presence on this earth plane
Do make known to us
And we shall respond then
With song and with dance.
Rush, my love, be quick,
The time for love is now,
Let Your gentle favor
Grace us as of old…

Goldman