נַעַר הָיִיתִי
Na‘ar Hayiti
“I was young…” — the close of the Grace after Meals
Sung by Rabbi Jonathan Cohen and family. From the family’s recordings of Western Sephardi home singing.
Text & translation
נַעַר הָיִיתִי גַּם זָקַנְתִּי וְלֹא רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק נֶעֱזָב, וְזַרְעוֹ מְבַקֶּשׁ לָחֶם. כָּל הַיּוֹם חוֹנֵן וּמַלְוֶה וְזַרְעוֹ לִבְרָכָה.
Na’ar hayiti gam zakanti v’lo ra’iti tzaddik ne’ezav, v’zar’o m’vakesh laḥem. Kol ha-yom ḥonen u-malveh, ve-zar’o livrakhah.
I was once young and oblivious, but as I mature, I pledge never to let a righteous person be forsaken or to allow their children to beg for bread. If we are thus ever merciful, and help others, our own children will grow to be a blessing for us.
מַה שֶּׁאָכַלְנוּ יִהְיֶה לְשָׂבְעָה, וּמַה שֶּׁשָּׁתִינוּ יִהְיֶה לִרְפוּאָה, וּמַה שֶּׁהוֹתַרְנוּ יִהְיֶה לִבְרָכָה, כְּדִכְתִיב וַיִּתֵּן לִפְנֵיהֶם וַיֹּאכְלוּ וַיּוֹתִירוּ כִּדְבַר יְיָ.
Mah she’akhalnu yihyeh lesov’a, umah sheshatinu yihyeh lirfu’a, umah shehotarnu yihyeh livrakhah, kidikhtiv vayyitten lifneihem vayokhlu vayyotiru kidvar Adonai.
So may what we have eaten be a source of satisfaction, and let what we’ve drunk be for healing. But what we have left over, let it be used to help others, as it is written: “And he placed it before them and they ate, but left some over for others, as Adonai had declared.”
בְּרוּכִים אַתֶּם לַיְיָ, עוֹשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ.
B’rukhim attem la-Adonai, oseh shamayim va’aretz.
You are all precious to Adonai, Creator of heaven and earth.
בָּרוּךְ הַגֶּבֶר אֲשֶׁר יִבְטַח בַּיְיָ, וְהָיָה יְיָ מִבְטַחוֹ. יְיָ עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן, יְיָ יְבָרֵךְ אֶת עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם.
Barukh haggever asher yivtaḥ ba-Adonai, v’hayah Adonai mivtaḥo. Adonai oz l’ammo yitten, Adonai y’varekh et ammo vashalom.
Blessed are they who trust in Adonai, for Adonai will be their assurance. Adonai, grant God’s people strength; Adonai, bless God’s people with peace!
כִּי הִשְׂבִּיעַ נֶפֶשׁ שׁוֹקֵקָה, וְנֶפֶשׁ רְעֵבָה מִלֵּא טוֹב.
Ki hisbia nefesh shokekah, v’nefesh re’evah mille tov.
For God has nourished a wanting soul, filling a hungry soul with goodness.
הוֹדוּ לַיְיָ כִּי טוֹב כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ. הוֹדוּ לַיְיָ כִּי טוֹב כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ.
Hodu la-Adonai ki tov ki l’olam ḥasdo. (×2)
Give thanks to Adonai Who is so good, Whose love never ends! (×2)
עוֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו, הוּא בְּרַחֲמָיו יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ, וְעַל כָּל עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְעַל כָּל יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵל, וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן.
Oseh shalom bimromav, hu b’raḥamav ya’aseh shalom aleinu, v’al kol ammo Yisrael, v’al kol yosh’vei tevel, v’imru amen.
May the One Who creates harmony in the heights of space, in maternal love cause peace to flow down upon us, upon all the Family of Israel, and all the inhabitants of the globe! Now answer, “Amen!”
Singing translation by Marc Michael Epstein.
About this song
The verses that bring the Grace after Meals to its close — Psalm 37:25, Jeremiah 17:7, and Psalm 29:11 woven together — lifted out and sung as a table hymn in its own right.
Beyond London the song often begins a few lines in, where it goes by its first words there, Mah she’akhalnu. The Western Sephardim carry a remarkable wealth of melodies for it, from the plaintive despedida to settings borrowed for weddings.
In the living tradition
These are not museum pieces. The same songs are sung today at Kehillah Kedoshah Zikhron Zvi, the egalitarian Western Sephardi congregation of the Hudson Valley — the community at the endpoint of the Program’s Sephardi Liturgy project.