Hymn for the Second Meal

Isaac Luria

ca. 1565

Prepare the feast
  of perfect faith,
the delight of the Holy King.
  Prepare the feast of the King.
This is the feast
  of the Ancient Eminence;
the Lesser Presence and Field of Apples
  assemble with Him for the feast.

*

I’ve arranged this meal
  of the Sabbath morning
and call from it now
  to the Ancient Eminence,
that His light be cast
  through the Sanctification,
with fine wine
  which gladdens the soul.
May He send us goodness
  so we see His worthiness;
may He show us His secret
  in a whisper expressed,
disclosing the meaning
  of the twelve loaves—
His Name’s letter
  doubled and thin—
and the heavenly bond
  all lives within.
May the power increase
  so She reaches His head.
Rejoice, you reapers,
  aloud and give voice—
and utter a word
  sweet as nectar:
before the Lord
  of all worlds,
in veiled words
  you’ll speak new things
to adorn the table
  with the mystery’s treasure,
deep and hidden
  and not to be uttered:
These words will then
  be woven as heaven
and new horizons—
  and so that sun’s
oil of anointing
  will flow from on high
as He turns to His Bride,
  who has waited alone.
I wash my hands
  with a single vessel
for the other side
  which is insubstantial.
With three I call
  through the cup of the blessing
to the cause of causes,
  the Holy of Old.

Translated by
Peter
Cole
.

Credits

Isaac Luria, “Hymn for the Second Meal,” from The Poetry of Kabbalah, ed. and trans. Peter Cole, co-ed. Aminadav Dykman (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2012), pp. 154–56. Used with permission of Yale University Press.

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

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Creator Bio

Isaac Luria

1534–1572

Isaac Luria was one of the most significant figures in Jewish mysticism, famed for pioneering a new conception of theoretical kabbalah. Luria was born in Jerusalem and, following the death of his father, was raised by his maternal family in Egypt. There Luria studied rabbinic literature and halakhah, while working as a merchant. He embarked on esoteric studies and lived in seclusion on an island in the Nile (allegedly for seven years). In 1569/70, he settled in Safed, where he studied kabbalah with Moses Cordovero. Luria soon began to develop his own innovative kabbalistic system. However, aside from delivering a few homilies in synagogues, he did not often teach in public. Luria himself wrote very little; his teachings were recorded by the disciples that gathered around him. Famed for his saintly conduct, Luria was highly conservative in his interpretation of Jewish law. He was also a poet; his hymns for Sabbath meals, replete with kabbalistic symbolism, appear in prayer books.

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