“It has been rolling around for thousands of years with everyone treading on
it. Alas for the Jewish shoshana, the Jewish shoshana.”
“Pardon me for asking, but why are you singing at such a sad time? What
occasion is there for rejoicing?”
“Listen to me,” the rabbi [50] replied. “There are three levels of reaction
to troubles and suffering. The first is to scream that it hurts. That’s the lowest
level. The second level is to keep silent. That’s a slightly higher level. But
the third level, when troubles befall a person, or rather a people, is to sing,
to sing the troubles away. That was the way of the Baal Shem Tov¹⁵⁶² and his
disciples on their road into exile.” And another sweet, heartfelt melody rose
into the empty darkness:
With the wanderer’s staff in hand,
With no saviour, with no friend,
Unaccepted, driven out,
Always go, go, go
Ever onward, ever on.
With no home and no land,
No tomorrow nor today,
Where you sleep, you do not stay,
Always pain, pain, pain,
As long as strength remains,
As long as strength remains.¹⁵⁶³
The whistle of a locomotive roused the rabbi from the depths of his meditation
and musings — from the mystical, historical maze of thoughts about
the past, the future, and perhaps [51] the tragic present, the unending Jewish
pain and suffering — and put an end to the continuous melancholy melodies.
Oh, the train was leaving! They hurried on, walking faster and faster. At last
1562 Literally, master of good name, reference to Israel ben Eliezer (ca. 1700–1760), the founder of Hasidism.
1563 Partly paraphrased “Goles Marsh” (March of Exile), a song by the popular Yiddish songwriter Morris Rosenfeld (1862–1923). It was published in New York in 1908. Text and translation by Barbara Harshav and Benjamin Harshav, see Benjamin Harshav, The Polyphony of Jewish Culture, Stanford University Press, 2007, p. 220.
