Imahot (Mothers), conjures two mothers: 1) The biblical character Sarah, who left her Moon-worshipping family to follow Abraham on his Divinely-inspired quest for a new land. Originally named Sarai, Sarah is re-named Sarah ("Princess") in a moment of spiritual re-birth; this piece describes Sarah as having been "born of" Sarai. Written in Hebrew, the language of the Torah, the first verse imagines Sarah in the desert, stealing from her tent at night to pray to the God of her ancestors, the Moon. Here, Sarah says the first lines of Psalm 121 (I lift up my eyes ... from where will my help come?) in her own private moment of prayer.
2) The second verse is about my mother, Hazzan Susan Rhea Kalb Roemer z"l, whose Hebrew name, Shoshana, had the same meaning as her mother's name, Raizl (Rose). In this verse, Shoshana turns her face toward the sun that she loved, and exclaims, as she often did, that life is good and beautiful! The first half of this verse is written in Yiddish, which my mother grew up hearing in her Russian and the Polish family. The second half is written in Hebrew, the language of Jewish blessings.
Aman, aman, Sarah bat Sarai
malchina et shirei chalomotai
Ba'emtza ha laila, imenu Sarah
mitganevet el michutz la'ohel
lehitpalel la'levanah:
Esa einai el he-harim
Meyayin yavo ezri?
Aman aman, Shoshana bas Raizl
Zing zhe mir fun glik und mazl
Ba'or haboker, imi Shoshana
panta el hashemesh
v'lahesha bracha:
Ma tovim, tovim u'yafim
Ma tovim hachayim!
Translation:
Sarah, born of Sarai,
composes the songs
of my dreams
In the middle of the night
our mother Sarah
slips from her tent
to pray to the Moon:
I lift my eyes
unto the mountains
From where
will my help come?
Shoshana, born of Raizl,
sing to me
of joy and good fortune!
In the light of the morning
my mother Shoshana
turned toward the sun
and whispered a blessing:
How good
and how beautiful
is life!
credits
from EZUZ,
released May 26, 2020
Music, Lyrics, Arrangement, Lead Vocals: Jessi Roemer
Support Vocals: Meara Lebovitz, Naeemah Maddox, Karinne' Andonian, Deb Roemer
Flute: Eve Friedman
Percussion: Joseph Tayoun, Jim Hamilton
Drum Kit: Jonathan Singer
Bass & Keyboards: Loren Gildar
Oud: Billy Yalowitz
Violin: Ben Rosenthal
Recorded, Engineered, Mixed and Mastered at Rittenhouse Soundworks, PA by Jim Hamilton and Brian Boland
Originally sung by Holocaust survivors in Yiddish, Polish and French, this moving album is now available in a gorgeous LP package. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 11, 2022
