A Supplication for the Day of Atonement
Meir de Boton
1565
For Yom Kippur, with the help of God, may He be praised.
Another supplication [teḥinah]. I have founded it as the former ones, have established it, and upheld it.
I the young one, Meir, son of our honourable teacher and master, Rabbi Moses de Boton, may the All-Merciful protect and save him! Here in Salonika, 5325 [1565]. Thus did I say:
Master of the universe! As a roaring lion there rises within me the impulse of the thoughts of my heart. Two, the smallest plurality, whisper to me, while the One sits opposite me. This one with a letter of greeting, and that one with a writ of refusal, they gather together against me. They gave their fragrance in fear of the Lord and His light, and then they spoke, each to his neighbour.
Every barefoot one among you shall pass over before your God.
I have washed my feet, how can I soil them?
Let your shoes be of reed-grass or of straw.
They hurt your feet!
The Lord shall guard the feet of his pious ones, and shall gather in their dispersed.
Do not rely on miracles!
Let my soul be afflicted with fasting for my rebelliousness.
I could perish in my fast!
All those who eat [on Yom Kippur] shall be held guilty.
Behold, in strife and contention you fast!
Let not well water come to your lips, nor be an abhorrence,
But wellsprings are for quenching one’s thirst!
The Lord said to me, do not go near a woman.
If the woman be not willing!
Rejoice in the wife of your youth, and do not soar on high.
A handful does not satisfy a lion!
Do not anoint your head with oil.
If your olives drop off!
Keep theft and violence away from you.
But have precious silver!
Many afflictions shall ensnare every transgression.
For no fault of mine, they pursue me!
First among every holy thing is the man of prudence.
First in the reckoning of sins!
Let a person never place his hand beneath his belt.
One is accustomed to check one’s pocket!
Return, O man, to pray before the God of faithfulness.
I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on?
Heaven forfend you should smite a man on the day of wrath.
Your hands are not bound!
Be silent, and admit words of righteousness and truth.
Be not as one dead!
It is good to go to the wise, and learn their laws.
The words of the wise are like goads!
Look, for at the end the Lord shall judge the difficult thing.
The eyes of the fool are on the ends!
Abandon the lust of your heart, and afflict yourself before the eternal God.
Between the usual and the unusual, the usual takes precedence!
Sanctify this day above all days of the year.
Whoever changes is at a disadvantage!
Credits
Meir de Boton, “A Supplication for the Day of Atonement,” ed. Uri Melamed, trans. Jonathan Chipman, from Studies on a Rabbinic Family: The de Botons, eds. M. Ben-Sasson, W. Z. Harvey, Y. Ben Naeh and Z. Zohar (Jerusalem: Misgav Yerushalayim, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1998), p. 152. Used with permission of Misgav Yerushalayim: The Center for Research and Study of the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
