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Zol Shoyn Kumen Di Geule (Let Our Salvation Come)
Performer: Sidor Belarsky (1898-1975)About the song:
The song had its beginning as a poem by Shmerke Kaczerginski (1908-1954). Kaczerginski was a poet from Vilna, a folklorist and a partisan fighter. He was among the first to collect and publish the songs of the ghettoes and concentration camps. "Zol Shoyn Kumen Di Geule" was written shortly after World War II, and expresses the eternal hope and longing for redemption that lives in the heart of the Holocaust survivor amid the memories of so much death. In translation, the chorus says "May our redemption arrive! The Messiah will soon appear!"
As a member of the "paper brigade" assigned by Germans to confiscate the most valuable sacred and scientific Jewish books for shipment to Germany, Kaczerginski was in a position to hide or smuggle out some of the most precious volumes for safekeeping. After the war, with indomitable spirit, he visited many former concentration camp inmates to give them encouragement and advice in their disheartened state. It was from this experience that he wrote "Zol Shoyn Kumen De Geule." He died at the age of 45 in 1953 in a plane crash, leaving behind a wife and daughter.
About the performer:
This recording is sung by one of the great voices in Yiddish music, Sidor Belarsky. Trained in the State Conservatory in Leningrad, he emigrated to the United States in 1930 after he impressed the president of Brigham Young University with his talent and ability. He quickly established a reputation as a fine vocal teacher and performer. He was respected for his ability to interpret the Yiddish and Hebrew folk song, and dominated the Yiddish concert stage for more than four decades, until his death.
Kaczerginski credits Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook with composing the melody; however this particular melody was conceived by Belarsky.
Refrain:
S'iz a dor fun kule-khayev, zayt nit keyn naronim --
S'tantsn beymer in di velder, shtern oyfn himl,
Translation
Ongezolyet oyfn hartsn, makht men a lekhayim,
Oyb der umet lozt nit ruen -- zingen mir a lid.
Iz nito keyn bisl bronfn -- lomir trinken mayim,
Mayim-khaim iz dokh khayim -- vos darf nokh der yid?
Zol shoyn kumen di geule
Meshiekh kumt shoyn bald!
Un fun zindikn -- Meshiekh gikher kumen vet!
Akh, du tatele, in himl, s'betn bney rakhmonim;
Ze, Mishiekh zol nit kumen a bisele tsu shpet...
Reb Yisroel, der mekhutn, dreyt zikh in der mit,
S'vet zikh oyfvekn Meshiekh fun zayn tifn driml
Ven er vet derhern undzer tfiledike lid.
When you're feeling low, take a little drink!
If sorrow persists, then let's sing a song.
If there is no whiskey, we can drink water.
Fresh water is life itself, and what more does a Jew need?
May our salvation arrive!
The Messiah will soon appear!
It is a guilty generation, do not be misled, but for the sinning, the Messiah will come sooner.
Oh, Lord above, we beseech You -- see that the Messiah does not come too late!
Trees are dancing in the woods, stars are dancing in heaven, and Reb Israel whirls in their midst.
The Messiah will waken from his slumber when he hears our prayerful song.
(Click on image of sheet music to view enlarged version)
