I’m in a rage, so angry that I don’t know what to do

Leone Modena

17th Century

Sensitive Content

This text depicts acts of aggression. The text provides insight into Jewish history; however, The Posen Library does not condone or promote violence or oppression of any kind.
I’m in a rage, so angry that I don’t know what to do
because of what just happened when I went out with a few
good friends to take a walk in town, this lovely Sabbath day.
We joined a crowd of rowdy, shabby troublemakers. They
were throwing eggs at people strolling in the avenues,
and someone hollered, “Fire away!” Eggs flew, and hit us Jews.
We begged them to leave us in peace, but they would have their fun.
They chased us through the streets and lanes; all we could do was run.
Our hearts were in our mouths, as we tried to flee the fray;
we had to leap canals and garbage heaps to get away.
Roast them, dear Lord, boil them in hellfire, as if they were eggs!
But first, cut off those egg-shaped things they’ve got between their legs!
Then we will praise your name, sing Hallelujah and amen,
and swear we’ll never pass the Sabbath mixing with crude men.
We’ll study at our rabbis’ feet and follow their advice,
for they impart Your teachings that bring men to Paradise.

Translated by
Raymond P.
Scheindlin
.

Credits

Leone Modena, “I’m in a Rage, So Angry That I Don’t Know What to Do” (poem, Modena, 17th century). Published in: Leone Modena, The Divan of Leo de Modena = Divan le-Rabi Yehudah Aryeh mi-Modinah: A Collection of His Hebrew Poetical Works, Edited from a Unique Ms. in the Bodleian Library, ed. Simon Bernstein (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1932), 58–59.

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

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Creator Bio

Leone Modena

1571–1648

Leone Modena was born in Venice and spent most of his youth in Ferrara. In addition to acquiring a traditional education, he studied poetry, letter writing, music, Latin, and kabbalah. While awaiting ordination in Venice, Modena earned a living in a variety of ways, among them teaching, writing letters and poetry, preaching, and correcting proofs. Modena spent time in Ferrara, Florence, and other Italian towns before he was finally ordained in Venice in 1609. He later served as chief translator of Hebrew documents for the Venetian government. Known for delivering sermons in the Venetian synagogues so skillfully that he attracted Christian listeners, Modena published numerous books in Hebrew for Jews, as well as Historia de’ riti Ebraici (Account of Jewish Rites; 1637), an Italian-language guide to Jewish ritual originally commissioned for King James I. Particularly well known is his work Ari nohem (A Roaring Lion), which questioned the antiquity of the kabbalah. Ḥayye Yehudah (The Life of Judah) details Modena’s personal struggles, including his excessive gambling, several illnesses, and the deaths of infant children and two grown sons.

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