The Plea

ס'געבעט

text by Yossel Birstein (1920 - 2003)


I come now from caves, from forest and field.

Wonderful – wonderful God – is your world...

What am I to do with myself?

More than alarm felt for my home town,

the fear pursues every step of my own...

What am I to do with myself?

How cruel it is here. How quiet, how still.

I too am made numb and tired of it all...

What am I to do with myself?

I envy the stone that someone has thrown

into a well, where it sinks straight down...

What am I to do with myself?

Your call: Let light be! has dimmed and turned dark.

My life is laid waste. But not yet my heart...

What am I to do with myself?

translated by Beni Gothajner