I’ll make a little chamber

Abraham Bukrat

Early 16th Century

In Praise of the Soul’s Torah Study, Addressed to a Scholar

Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the roof; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick . . . (2 Kings 4:10)

I’ll make a little chamber inside my spirit, and build it,
I’ll set up its walls not from stones or mortar,
But rather I’ll take my blood and fat, to mix with earth,
For construction, and for wood will be sapphire stones.1
I’ll use my heart’s walls instead of cedars of Lebanon,
And my veins instead of nails for its planks.
I’ll use the sides of my ribs as steps,
When you want to come up to eat its lovely bread,
I’ll equip you there with a bed, and in place of purple blankets,
I’ll spread out its sheets with the membranes of my loins.
A table, and tasty bread, and poles, and a gold border—
Command to make these out of the riches of my soul.
I’ll make you a chair there, with a candlestick,
And use the fat of my flesh as its good oils.
My heart will be its cup, my ears its flowers,
And its [my heart’s] inner portions and sections will be its base and its sections.2
We’ll rejoice and delight there, we’ll sit and expound
Torah and wisdom and all types of knowledge.
We’ll examine and expound the roots of the Torah,
Until we understand and know what its sockets are based on.
She [the Torah] is what I covet, she is my beloved,
And through her my soul has relief, and she removes its anguish.
For her, my right hand has truly made a bed
Inside this little chamber, with a table in front of her,
The table’s cloth and settings for her, and its tasty treats and drinks,
Are the discussions and contemplation to reveal her hidden secrets.
The chair is where you’ll sit when you open your mouth to shed light
On the path of my thoughts, which will have many great joys.
The candlestick’s light is for the light of the Law, not for our light,
With your company, my soul has light for all its cloudy places.
This is the candlestick for which my soul greatly yearns,
For this is its dance, its lyre, and its orchestra.
It rejects all delights, all food and drink,
But it yearns for knowledge, which is its first fruits.3
It chooses it over gold and gems,
More than quartz and beryl and all choicest pearls.
Therefore, when my soul sees you, take my daughter [my soul],
Be her nurse, be the treasure for her upbringing!4
She says: I will serve you, sir, and minister to you,
And I’ll make you a little chamber inside my spirit and build it.
I have firmly planted and affixed this for you, sir,
In a reliable place, as a tent-peg and a corner.
Today, my right hand has made you a place—
A little chamber, inside my heart.

 

Translated by

Gabriel 
Wasserman

.

Notes

[I.e., my soul, which is as precious as sapphire. Meaning of Hebrew uncertain.—Trans.]

[All these are elements of the candelabrum in the Temple.—Trans.]

[Apparently, knowledge is the most choice fruit, the most desired thing, for the soul.—Trans.]

[Meaning of Hebrew uncertain.—Trans.]

Credits

Abraham Bukrat, “I Made You in My Spirit (Hebrew),” in Hebrew Poetry in North Africa (Ha-shirah ha-ivrit be-tsafon afrikah), ed. Efraim Chazan (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2003), 211–12.

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

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Creator Bio

Abraham Bukrat

Late 15th Century–Early 16th Century

Abraham Bukrat was forced to leave his home in Málaga, Spain, in 1492. He first lived in Algiers, then Oran and Tlemcen, before settling in Tunisia, where he served as a rabbi and teacher. Abraham wrote a well-known and meticulous supercommentary on Rashi’s biblical commentary (Sefer ha-zikaron), which he finished in Tunisia in 1507. He was also a talented poet, and some of his poems have been preserved in manuscript, among them works composed in both Spain and North Africa. These include a long and detailed lament describing the expulsion from Spain, an important historical source that includes information about the fate of the exiles as well as data regarding their numbers, and another praising the rabbi of Málaga. He also penned riddles, using wordplay and linguistic games. However, the gloomy atmosphere in which the Jews of Spain lived before the exile permeates some of his poetry, which at times calls upon his fellow Jews to improve their ways.

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