VA YISA ET KOLO

[An obscure poem, translated and annotated, more or less.]


A talentless poet from Putten,
Could never find suitable rhymes;
Metre proved problematic,
Caesuras? Purely hypthetic
al; And the last line seldom made sense.

Commentaryof the Ba'al HaTuretz:

Putten (wells, sources of water) can be explained as a reference to Beersheba, as it says in Bereishis, Parshas Vayetzei, psookim 29:1 and 2: "Vayisa Yakov raglav va yelech artza veney-kedem" (Then Yakov proceeded with his journey, and came to the land of the Easterners).

[29:2]"Vayar ve hine ve'er basade ve hine-sham shelosha edrey-tson rovtzim aleyha ki min ha be'er hahiv yashku ha adarim ve ha even gedola al-pi ha be'er" (And he gazed, and behold! a well in the field, and behold! three flocks of sheep lying near it, for out of that well they watered the flocks. And the stone was great that lay over the mouth of the well).


The well represents the Torah, giver of life and wisdom, as it says in Midrash Rabbah: "The shepherds of Abraham argued with those of Abimelech, and each shouted, 'The well is ours!' Then Abraham's shepherds said, 'It belongs to them for whom the water will rise when their sheep approach to drink.' On seeing the flocks of Abraham, the water immediately rose."


But what about the stone upon the mouth of the well? This is alluded to by the difficulty mentioned in the second line of the poem. For an explanation we must again look to Parshas Vayetzei.

From psookim 29:8 through 11 we can infer that the well belonged to Abraham: "Vayomru lo nuchal ad asher yeasfu kol ha adarim vegalalu et ha even me al pi ha be'er ve hishkinu ha tzon" (And they said: 'We cannot (water the sheep), till all the flocks are gathered together and they (the flocks) roll the stone from the well's mouth - and then we water the sheep').

[29:9]"Odenu medaber imam ve Rachel ba'a im ha tzon asher le aviha ki roa hiv" (While he spoke with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she tended them).

[29:10]"Vayehi ka'asher ra'a Yakov et Rachel bat Lavan achi imo ve et tzon Lavan achi imo vayigash Yakov va yagel et ha even me al pi ha be'er va yashke et tzon Lavan achi imo" (And it came to pass, when Yakov saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Yakov went up, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother).

[29:11]"Va yishak Yakov le Rachel, va yisa et kolo, va yevke!" (And Yakov kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept).


In short, the problem is solved, a suitable match (a rhyme) is found, and Yakov (the poet) expresses joy and relief.


The presence of both Jacob and Rachel at the well shows the significance of both to the tradition - only through the agency of both do the sheep get water from the well, and from the symbolic significance of the acts of both (like so many other pairs in the tradition), their descendents draw strength and hope.


The suitability of Yakov and Rachel, is, alas, not mirrored in the rhymes of our hapless poet - manifestly not a Yudah Halevi or Dovid Kimchi. Indeed, even the lashon of the original poem (the version above is a translation) represents a questionable choice.


Clearly it is not in any form of Biblical or Mishnaic Hebrew (although arguably it shows some resemblance to Modern Israeli). Nor is this poetry in the tradition of the psalms, or of the mediaeval Spanish poets - Nahum and his gardens, Ibn Gabirol and the seasons, or Yudah Halevi spiritedly writing of spring and love.
No, this verse exemplifies a harsher reality, one of despair and angst. Our poet has thrown classical allusions and style to the wind. There is no pretense at traditional format, nor even any parallelism of line. Ideas, once expressed, are not echoed - each line stands frighteningly on its own, recalling the loneliness of the man of faith in an environment not of his making.
The brutal abruptness of the final line seems to say "do not try to make any sense of it, the workings of the master of the universe are beyond our human understanding". You must have faith.

---Baal HaTuretz

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For the truly curious, here is the original poem:


Een zwak begaafd dichter uit Putten,
Kon nooit de passende rijmwoorden vinden.
Ook het metrum hield hij,
Nimmer vol tot het eind;
Zodat de laatste regel meestal niet zo geweldig liep.

-----Anoniem

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NOTE: There is much disagreement among scholars about the textual accuracy of both the original and the translation. The RASMIB (Rabbi Steg mi Boropark) writes "the differences between the versions strongly suggest that the translator was working from a second century Alexandrian manuscript rather than the original. Additionally, the mismatching of the lines in both the original and the translation indicate that this is not the original text, but lulei demistifina a redacted version, possibly from the hand of R, but equally possibly the work of P. Such texts, with their internal inconsistencies and stumbling narrative flow, add to the body of evidence for the documentary hypothesis. Like so many other passages from scripture. Really, the evidence is overwhelming, I can't understand why anybody would believe otherwise. For crap's sake, read Graff Wellhausen!"

Disturbing, if true.

Tzarich iyun.