A Beautiful Song about the Messiah

Jacob Tausk

1666

Sunday, 1st Tammuz, 5426

Foreword

In the words of this honest song,
Many pious Jews will delight.
Women and children, young men and young women,
This honest song will please the heart of every Jewish child.
In all your life in this world,
You have never read a song as glorious as this.
Even rabbis may read it,
The whole world will rejoice in it.
Because God, blessed be He, caused us to live in these generations,
And granted us a Jewish king.
And also many of His prophets emerged,
What they write to us give us strength in all our limbs.
In this song you will also read great wonders about our king,
They will cause your hearts to rejoice.
What a pious and brave hero is he,
Shabbetai Tzvi is his name.
All our tribes stand ready with Elijah the prophet,
To bring us to the Holy Land with great rejoicing. [ . . . ]
All of you should hurry with joy,
To buy this extremely honest song.

1

In some places where our brothers live, they know nothing of these matters,
That the Messiah is coming very soon, shortly,
Now dear people,
Listen with great joy,
Amen and amen and amen.

2

Think, my dear brothers in all places,
Of how we will come to the land of Israel, traveling and riding,
God, blessed be He, will not let us remain in exile,
We will soon hear the blows of the Messiah’s shofar,
Amen and amen and amen.

3

I have seen and heard great exultation in Amsterdam,
As letters with good news arrived, what rejoicing took place,
How the Portuguese took out the Torah scroll,
And danced and leapt around before it,
Amen and amen and amen.

4

God Himself built the Temple; it will remain standing forever,
Our enemies have no power; they will be unable to mock us,
Therein will we hear the sounds of organs and flutes,
Praising our beloved God,
Amen and amen and amen.

5

Therein will we hear the rejoicing of organs and flutes,
Inviting us all over the land to delight,
There will be no more exile,
All will live in great joy,
Amen and amen and amen.

6

Whoever wishes to celebrate should come without ado,
Our king is crowned, this we have heard,
How he is a pious man,
He has performed many of God’s wonders,
Amen and amen and amen.

7

They send messengers to all lands pronouncing the joy,
That we should prepare for our sojourn here soon to end,
Whosoever has no money or property,
All will give aid one to another,
Amen and amen and amen.

8

Every day we hear wonders of the miracles that took place there,
We also will brace ourselves to see the rejoicing,
Our trade is in a good state,
Don’t save your property or money,
Amen and amen and amen.

9

Do not dally, my brothers, do not hoard your money,
When we arrive in the Holy Land we will be reborn,
The Beloved God will give to us,
What He promised us,
Amen and amen and amen.

10

Jews, my dear brothers, continue to rejoice,
The Beloved God has given us our king,
He will give help to all,
We have hoped for his arrival for so long,
Amen and amen and amen.

11

Everywhere that our brothers are to be found and that the joyful news has been announced,
They will journey day and night to reach Jerusalem,
Your trade is well established,
We can come without money.
Amen and amen and amen.

12

Beloved God, let the redemption come soon, without great terrors,
Our exile has lasted so long, you will not leave us trapped,
We have suffered great anguish,
Put an end to our exile soon.
Amen and amen and amen. [ . . . ]

17

I will begin to describe our king, how he fights on our behalf,
How people fear him wherever he goes with his company,
They give him whatever he desires,
He has no need of gun or sword,
Amen and amen and amen.

18

Our king visited the Turks in their capital city,
Our brothers were informed, how they rejoiced,
He spoke thus to the king,
“I must have the crown from your hands,”
Amen and amen and amen.

19

“I do not know the Jewish God; therefore I will not hearken unto you,”
Like Pharaoh he behaved and hardened his heart,
Our king performed great wonders before him,
He was terrified, as were all his people,
Amen and amen and amen. [ . . . ]

28

Come here my dear brothers, I will describe to you some of the wonders,
How they clearly pronounce that we will not long remain in exile,
When the Turkish king imprisoned the king Messiah, the pious man,
All the doors opened up before him,
Amen and amen and amen. [ . . . ]

34

All the Turks in their land will shake with fear,
When Elijah the prophet will blow the Messiah’s shofar, their sorrow will awaken,
Elijah will blow with great resonance.
And they will fall upon their faces,
Amen and amen and amen.

35

In all the world where our brothers reside, in all the lands,
Perform acts of kindness for the poor; the redemption is near at hand,
Be pious, my dear children,
So you should be worthy of the redemption,
Amen and amen and amen. [ . . . ]

52

We will feel the great joy in all our limbs,
In the land of Israel we will recognize each other as sisters and brothers,
Now we know nothing of others,
Until we will soon be gathered together,
Amen and amen and amen. [ . . . ]

65

Come here my dear brothers, we will not recall our sorrows,
The Turks will be our slaves and they will wash our glasses,
We will wink at each other,
And drink to the health of King Shabbetai Tzvi,
Amen and amen and amen.

66

We will do no work other than learning Torah,
God will protect us; we will have no fear,
Many will recognize that our God,
Created heaven and earth,
Amen and amen and amen. [ . . . ]

72

Prepare yourselves, dear people, God, blessed be He, will give us the land of Israel, the beloved land,
We will live there in joy,
There we will enjoy our hearts’ desires,
Milk and honey will flow for us,
Amen and amen and amen.

73

Blind, lame and sick Jews—God will heal them,
God will help all those that were sick,
Broken hearts will become joyful,
Only You have the power to do this,
Amen and amen and amen.

74

Dear people, listen to me, I will acquaint you with the writer,
He is called Yankev Tausk of Prague, that is his name,
He made this song very beautiful,
First according to the alphabet and afterwards signed his name,
Amen and amen and amen.

75

Dear brothers listen to me and prepare well,
So that we will soon reach Jerusalem, each in his own time,
It will come to pass this year,
Amen, so may it be true,
Amen and amen and amen.
The song has come to an end,
God, blessed be He, sends us to the land of Israel, soon in our days.

Translated by
Rebecca
Wolpe
.

Credits

Jacob Tausk (Taussig), “A Beautiful Song about the Messiah” (song, Amsterdam, 1666). Published in: Max Weinreich, Bilder fun der yidisher literaturgeshikhte fun di onheybn biz Mendele Mokher-Seforim (Vilna: Tomor, 1928), pp. 232–252.

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

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Creator Bio

Jacob Tausk

17th Century

Jacob Tausk (Taussig), of Prague, was a devoted follower of Shabbetai Tzvi. The only information known about him is gleaned from his poem “A Beautiful Song about the Messiah,” which was published in Amsterdam in the summer of 1666, at the height of the excitement regarding Shabbetai Tzvi. Indeed, it triumphantly announces the imminent redemption of the Jewish people. Tausk was not concerned with poetic or artistic conventions; the poem faithfully reflects the spiritual state of the Jewish masses at the time of its composition, allowing us to hear the voice of the people.

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